Day: October 30, 2014

LFM Reviews Quiet in Odessa

Quiet in Odessa Trailer from dmitriy khavin on Vimeo.

By Joe Bendel. It has been frustrating to hear western media unquestioningly parrot the Putin propaganda line on Ukraine. Of course, that is much easier to do than actually reporting on-scene and talking to everyday Ukrainians up-close-and-personal. Fortunately, Dmitriy Khavin does things the hard way. As part of his continuing efforts to document Ukrainian cultural life and the Jewish Ukrainian experience, Khavin interviewed a diverse cross-section of Odessa’s Jewish community. Their first-hand accounts and unfiltered responses make Khavin’s Quiet in Odessa absolutely must-see viewing when it screens this Sunday at the JCC in Manhattan.

For historically painful reasons, Jews around the world have traditionally been leery of nationalism. However, the recent crisis has brought out new found feelings of patriotism in Khavin’s interview subjects, who now more readily self-identify as Ukrainians and Odessans, as well as Jews. In one case, a young Jewish Odessan has indefinitely postponed making Aliyah out of solidarity with her fellow Ukrainians.

Khavin also talks to older Jewish Odessans who, much to their own surprise, volunteered for the civilian Self-Defense Brigade. Despite their age, they are still not to be trifled with. They also represent the country’s inclusiveness, serving shoulder to shoulder with Catholic and Orthodox comrades, as well as at least one Georgian. (In fact, Ukrainian-Georgian diplomatic bonds have grown stronger at all levels, due to their unfortunate shared experiences with Putinist Russia.)

Probably the greatest revelation though, will be the surprising ties many Jewish Ukrainian have forged with Right Sector, Putin and the American media’s favorite bogeyman. In a particularly telling episode, Odessa’s senior rabbi relates how the leader of Right Sector came to him to apologize for a rash of anti-Semitic graffiti, disavowing any involvement, but pledging his group’s support painting over the provocations the following weekend. It is exactly the sort of story that should be reported, but isn’t.

From "Quiet in Odessa."

There is also a good deal of humor in Quiet, much of it coming from the old timers at the city’s venerable bathhouse, who joke about their Jewishness in terms that would raise the eyebrows of old school borsch belt comics. Just as importantly, Khavin also conveys a vivid sense of Odessa’s old world charm and sophistication. It seems like a very livable city to call home—and a place worth fighting for.

You really have to respect Khavin’s go-and-report approach to filmmaking. He puts a very personal face on people the news media prefers to cover with broad stereotypical strokes. Yet, his micro focus yields macro insights. Frankly, this is a film that needs to reach a mass audience rather urgently. It is timely and informative, but also consistently engaging, supported by a subtle but elegant soundtrack, featuring Uri Cane and vocalist Sofiya Leavsie. Very highly recommended, Quiet in Odessa screens this Sunday (11/2) at the JCC in Manhattan. It also screens at Brooklyn’s Central Library on November 20th as part of a double bill with Khavin’s eye-opening The Territory.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on October 30th, 2014 at 12:14pm.

LFM Reviews Crime Wave

By Joe Bendel. In Winnipeg, they don’t care for black-and-white film noir. They prefer “color crime movies.” It is a strange city, as viewers should know from Guy Maddin’s My Winnipeg. Although Maddin is much better known today, John Paizs provided the Winnipeg auteur his early inspiration. One can see a kinship in their films, but Paizs’ magnum opus is truly singular unto itself. Color crime dreams turn into nightmares in Paizs’ Crime Wave, which has a special revival screening this Sunday at Anthology Film Archives.

Steven Penny is a shy loner, who rents a room from Kim’s parents above their garage. For some strange reason, the pre-teen becomes fascinated with their lodger and his ambition to write a great color crime screenplay. Each draft of Crime Wave he writes starts and ends the same way. Some eccentric field of employment (like celebrity tribute performers or self-help gurus) is dominated by a small clique that pretty much “has the racket sewn up,” until a brash upstart “from the north” blows into town “with a dream.” Apparently, they commence some sort of crime spree to usurp the competition, but just when they are poised on the brink of success, they are brought down by a violently confrontation.

How does Penny get from the beginning to the end? Unfortunately, he does not know either. Try as he might, he just can’t write middles. The frustration takes a toll on his psyche, even though Kim tries her best to be encouraging. In fact, he seems increasingly uncomfortable with her obsessive attention. However, when she finds him a potential screenwriting mentor in Kansas, the film really veers out into strange, dark territory.

With characters eventually interacting with their failed author, Crime Wave is more in the tradition of Borges or Pirandello than the early color melodramas it ostensibly spoofs. It is often quite funny, especially the successive takes of Penny’s middle-less screenplay we watch play out. Yet, there is something rather sad and slightly unsettling about Paizs’ taciturn performance as Penny. It is hard to describe the eccentric chord he strikes, but it is certainly distinctive.

The look of the film is also perfect in a perfectly idiosyncratic way. Whatever cameras and filmstock Paizs used aptly evoke the look of 1960s educational films as well as the contemporaneous color work of Douglas Sirk and Roger Corman. It is easily one of the most self-referential, postmodern films of the 1980s, but its sensibility not so far removed from a sketch comedy show like The Kids in the Hall, where Paizs did some segment directorial gigging.

It is really amazing how completely insane yet tightly controlled Crime Wave really is. It is clearly the work of a mad auteur that must be experienced from start to finish to truly get its scope and vibe. For obvious reasons, it has become cult favorite amongst Canadian cineastes. It is well worth seeing under any conditions, but especially when Paizs answers post-screening questions this Sunday (11/2) at Anthology Film Archives, because there are sure to be many and the answers will likely be a little odd. Indeed, Crime Wave is definitely recommended for color crime fanatics as a memorable way to wrap-up the weekend.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on October 30th, 2014 at 12:13pm.