BEST OF FEST: MIDWAY THROUGH THE CHICAGO FILM FESTIVAL

At this point of total emersion, I will address, in mini -synopsis, the requests for my favorites:

A THOUSAND TIMES GOOD NIGHT (Norway: In English)

Juliette Binoche, pulls out all the stops and gives one the most brilliant performances of her career; as photographer “Rebecca” she treads where only the fearless venture; commencing with the conversion of a woman as she marches toward “martyrdom” as a suicide bomber.  Director Erik Poppe has created a monument, so rich, on so many levels: addiction to the lure, lust to capture an iconic photograph; choice between career and family; when to paraphrase Polonius does one cease being true to thine own self?

FIVE STARS!!!!!

MONSOON SHOOTOUT (India: Hindi with English Subtitles)

Director Amit Kumar, erasing all boundaries between East and West film genres, gifts audiences a non-traditional Bollywood movie, a morality film reminiscent of Akira Kusosawa’s “Roshomon” a crime/scenario revealed over and over; the repetitious flashbacks challenging the viewer to decipher, determine and eventually accept the ultimate outcome. The perpetual downpour increases the intensity of this hypnotic, firmly-fraught thriller.

FOUR STARS!!!!

ILLITERATE (CHILE: SPANISH:ENGLISH SUBTITLES)

Incredible performances lend monumental legitimacy to the film adaptation of Pablo Paredes play of the same name. Director Moises Sepulveda with actors Paulina Garcia and Valentina Muhn depict an illiterate, but by no means irresponsible, woman and her young teacher in a dual where reversals occur; personality quirks unearthed, resulting in two of the most fascinating protagonists ever to dominate the screen.

FOUR STARS!!!!

For Now………..Peneflix