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Crowded field
MoMA will pack them in for the "New Directors/New Films" festival, bringing together films from some of the world's best up-and-coming filmmakers.
By JOSHUA TANZER
Offoffoff.com
Each of the past 30 years, the New Directors/New Films festival at the Museum of Modern Art brings New York an early look at some of the world's best films by new directors, many of which have earned acclaim at top film festivals around the world and some of which will be indie hits in the year to come. Notable titles from the last few years have included: "Suzhou River," "Shower," "The Eyes of Tammy Faye," "Human Resources," "Jesus's Son," "Sound and Fury," "Run Lola Run," "Twin Falls Idaho," "Buffalo '66" and "Shall We Dance."
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This year's crop ranges from good to great, with 22 films from 15 countries. Several have already been slated for U.S. distribution, including "Dinner Rush" (U.S.), "L.I.E." (U.S.), "The Day I Became a Woman" (Iran) and "Confusion of Genders" (France, photo above).
Of the films we've been able to preview so far, the standout is a hard-hitting South Korean drama called "Peppermint Candy," which starts with the suicide of its central character, standing in front of an oncoming train and shouting, "I want to go back!" And go back we do, tracing the past 20 years of his gruesome life in reverse order, finally arriving at the tumultuous student and labor massacres of 1980.
Among the most unusual films is "Hybrid," a slow-paced but intriguing documentary about the sex life of corn — yes, the shocking sex life of corn — and a 101-year-old Iowa farmer who spent more time with his cornstalks than with his own children.
Other notable films upcoming in the festival:
"Face": A dreary Japanese woman learns how to live after killing her annoying sister and running from the law.
"Nine Queens": A caper involving two swindlers
from the shady side of Buenos Aires, 450,000 bucks, nine rare German stamps, a sexy sister,
a rich Venezuelan and many twists and turns.
"Dinner Rush": A character-driven movie about the declining mob and a rising Tribeca restaurant.
Many of the films in the series sell out in advance, so call ahead to check on ticket availability
at (212) 708-9500. Standby tickets are available for most shows.
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Festival articles
Reviews:
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The Day I Became a Woman
Attempts to illustrate the difficulties of womanhood in Iran through the stories of a young girl, an adult woman and an elderly woman, but in mostly uninvolving fashion.
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Dinner Rush
Danny Aiello leads an ensemble cast in the intertwined tales of the declining mob and a rising Tribeca restaurant.
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Face
Killing her sister is just what a dreary Japanese seamstress needed to perk up her life in the improbably likeable "Face."
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L.I.E.
Raises the bar on the coming-of-age story with a tightly focused portrait of a 15-year-old who looks for a father figure and finds his kindly neighborhood sexual predator.
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Peppermint Candy
Brutal but brilliant, "Peppermint Candy" follows the sinister career of a Korean cop in a suspensefully constructed, politically charged, emotionally intense story told backwards.
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MARCH 22, 2001
OFFOFFOFF.COM • THE GUIDE TO ALTERNATIVE NEW YORK
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