2003 Sundance offers familiar faces, dictators
The 2003 Sundance Film Festival is arriving at Park City this year with an arsenal of films brewing with hard-hitting actors, beautifully crafted dramatic films, documentaries designed to embrace the soul and expand the mind and many other genres of original independent vision. This year’s festival runs from Jan. 16 to 26. The following is a brief selection of the 125 movies selected for this year’s festival:
“Levity”: The story of Manuel Jordan who, after 22 years in prison, is drawn to the neighborhood where he committed the crime that still haunts him. Seeking reconciliation, he solicits help from a pastor and establishes a relationship with his victim’s sister, she not knowing of her new friend’s past. The tension in this film is cemented by the pure caliber of its cast, which include Billy Bob Thorton, Morgan Freeman, Holly Hunter and Kirsten Dunst. Directed by Ed Solomon.
“Confidence”: This show follows the story of an elaborate con job gone bad. The job’s stolen money disappears and the group’s leader (Ed Burns) and his group of drifters are summoned back to their hyper-eccentric boss (Dustin Hoffman) to make a deal for payback. “Confidence” takes the viewer through this story’s twists and turns with stylish camerawork and the use of other acting talents, including Rachel Welsz and Andy Garcia, to deliver its fast-paced story and unpredictable final outcome. Directed by James Foley.
“Comandante”: Oliver Stone crosses over into a different world than we are used to seeing him in as he takes on the roll of filmmaker/journalist/interviewer in this highly intimate look at Fidel Castro. Cut down from more than 30 hours of interviews, Stone has set the stage by sharing camera with Castro and is able to get the responses that possibly would never otherwise have been possible. The film covers several intriguing subjects, which include how Cuba has existed at the border of the world’s greatest superpower and also its most persistent antagonist over the last 40 years.
“Good Fences”: This is the Story of Tom (Danny Glover) who is determined to “end the colored-man’s losing streak,” when he gets a chance to defend an admitted arsonist, whose crime caused the death of two black teenagers. The year is 1973, and the predominantly white community of Greenwich, Conn. doesn’t quite fulfill Tom’s family’s vision of the American Dream. Directed by Ernest Dickerson.
“The Pill”: This documentary tells the story of the out spoken, birth-control activist Margaret Sanger and her crusade to free American women from unwanted pregnancies. A half-century ago, laws in 30 states prohibited the sale and advertisement of contraception. “The Pill” expertly tracks this controversial medicine through its precarious scientific and social development. Directed by Chana Gazit and David Steward.
“Brother Outsider”: The Life of Bayard Rustin”: This is a compelling documentary about civil rights activist Baryard Rustin who has long dwelt in the shadow of Martin Luther King Jr. partly through his own design and partly through the complicity of activists, politicians and historians. As a proud but pragmatic gay man, Rustin remained essentially closeted for the sake of the movement, only to be sacrificed later by its leaders. Directors Nancy Kates and Bennett Singer use a myriad of testimonials from Rustin’s colleagues and friends and electrifying archival footage tell this inspiring story.
“The Cooler”: The dramatic story of Bernie Lootz (William H. Macy), a guy whose luck is so bad that he is hired by a casino to rub up against hot players to cool them off. Just as he is about to get out of the business, Lootz meets a cocktail waitress named Natalie, played by Maria Bello, and the couple quickly falls in love. As Lootz’s love life improves, so does his luck, and he finds that his cooling abilities have worn off, but his boss Shelly, played by Alec Baldwin, is committed to keeping him around. Directed by Wayne Kramer.
“Life Show”: One of the many films at Sundance under the topic of World Cinema, “Life Show” is the winner of the Grand Prize at this year’s Shanghai Film Festival, directed by Huo Jianqi. “Life Show” is the story of a tough, 30-something, single, Chinese woman who runs a small restaurant out of a stall in an older section of Shanghai. She cares for her nephew while struggling to keep her brother out of trouble with drugs while she is trying to regain possession of the family home lost during the Cultural Revolution. She then meets a well-dressed gentleman who fixates her, and she begins to believe her lonely life can change and happiness is within her reach. This film stars Tao Hong, Tao Zeru, Pan Yueming and Yang Yi.
To find out more about the movies playing at this year’s festival or to obtain show times or purchase tickets online, visit the official 2003 Sundance Film Festival at www.sundance.org.
–yanobi@hotmail.com