29-30 April 2000

At 7 p.m., we got to see what festival organizers are pretty sure is the first-ever showing of Grave of the Fireflies (a.k.a. Tombstones for Fireflies) in 35mm in the United States. Wow. I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this animé from Isao Takakata. (As with any film I'm about to experience for the first time, I stay away from the review…even if it's Roger's and in a festival program. So much of this festival is about experiencing the overlooked without any predetermined ideas.) But what I got was a grown-up film about the loss of innocence and the real pain of Japanese families who were just trying to survive WW II. It's a story of a brother and a sister. Their father is off on a battleship. They lose their mother early in the movie. And like American Beauty, we know their fate from the opening frames of the film. But the journey is the thing and this journey is not for little kids, even if one of the two central characters is barely past diapers. This movie made me reflect on war and death and humanity every bit as much as the much underseen Black Rain (not the Michael Douglas one, the Japanese one), which was live-action and dealt specifically with the after-effects of "The Bomb."

If you want to read Ebert's comments on the film, which go into great detail about the evolution of the project and some of the subtleties of animé, click here. And if you want to read Roger's comments on any of the films at The Overlooked, click here. And if you want to buy any of these films on video, 9 of the 12 films are available at a special page that Reel.com set up. Just click here. But be wary. American Movie is not actually going to ship until May 23, so it's a pre-order. But one worth having.

American Movie was one of my favorite movies of 1999. It was Number 9 on my Top Ten List and I still feel it deserved to win the Academy Award and I'm still amazed that it didn't make the final nomination cut. I'm not quite sure how it qualifies as overlooked (nor was Roger), except as a documentary. But a full house of people roared from the beginning to the end of American Movie, Chris Smith and Sarah Price's documentary about Mark Borchardt, a struggling filmmaker from Wisconsin, and his friends and family who make the crew from The Wizard of Oz seem a little bland. This film understands, as well as any I've ever seen, the passion and insanity and love of film that a filmmaker has to embrace if they are to ever get a film made. Any kind of film.

When the credits came on and the lights came up and Chris and Sarah and Mark headed for the stage of the Virginia Theater, the movie palace where all the movies are shown at the festival, there was a spontaneous and unanimous standing ovation…the first of this year's festival. From the youngest (probably 17) to the oldest (probably 70) viewer, they rose in joyous noise to celebrate this movie and all movies. Just great. And when Mark mentioned the "Call Mike" link on the American Movie site, Roger knew what had to be done. He solicited a cell phone from the audience and called Mike, who was woken (it was after midnight) with a massive "Hi, Mike!" from the entire audience at the Virginia. And his response? "Hi, I guess…" And if you've seen the film, you know how perfect and how funny that is.

I've got to run because the column is a little overweight already today, and because I need to get to today's (Friday's) first show, Legacy. But one more story before I leave you until Monday…Chris Smith was asked how he met Mark Borchardt. He explained that he was supervising some students at the University of Wisconsin film department and Mark was one of them. He asked all the students to hand in a Top Five list of their all-time favorite movies. And at the top of Mark's list was "Northwestern." Chris didn't know the title. Why? Because Northwestern was the film that Mark was trying to get financed and scripted when they met. It wasn't even a film yet, but Mark knew it had to be and it had to be great. We're off to see the Wizard.

READER OF THE DAY: Here's a reader whose initials are B.S. (Insert your comment here.): "In defense of Blockbuster, the company never "censored" Romance or any other movie. I've never read any article accusing them of trying to halt the production or distribution of a film based on its content. They run a business, not an art gallery. They've positioned themselves as a family rental chain, and as such, their largest customer base doesn't want NC-17 material around. None of this prevents other video chains from housing a "special" section separated by the rest of the store by a tacky red curtain.

As for the ‘it destroys the integrity of the art’ argument, consider the following scenario: Say I've got an indie horror film I'd like to get distributed. It's scary as hell, it's crackling entertainment, and it happens to be worthy of a "PG" or "PG-13" rating (and before you completely discount my argument, rent the original Psycho). Do you think any studio worth its salt would buy that baby without insisting on a few additional scenes/lines/breasts/decapitations...whatever it takes to get it up to an "R" (now rent the Gus Van Sant Psycho). Why? Because their customer base has no interest in seeing a PG-rated horror film. Are they necessary from an artistic standpoint? No. Do they go in? Yes, if as ‘Five Cents Plain’ points out, you want to get out of debt.

Here's the bottom line: Don't expect to have your edible underwear and eat it, too. If it's absolutely essential that your feature include NC-17 material, just accept that it's going to have a limited audience, and therefore, limited distribution. Or just skip the artistic argument, go into low-budget porn, and earn millions."

E ME: Sounds like Jack Valenti writing under an assumed name. Feel free to comment on the ROTD or even The Overlooked Film Festival.