The world in view

A day-by-day guide to the first week of the Chicago International Film Festival.

Thursday 4
7:30pm The Kite Runner Dir. Marc Forster. 2007. 120mins. USA. Forster adapts Khaled Hosseini’s best-seller about two boys in Afghanistan whose lives are changed when one of them is raped. The Chicago Theatre.

Friday 5
4pm 4 Elements Dir. Jiska Rickels. 2006. 89mins. Netherlands. Elements interweaves four different stories about people working in dangerous jobs while battling the elements. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:30pm All Is Forgiven Dir. Mia Hansen-Løve. 2007. 105mins. France. A father whose heroin addiction ruined his family reunites with his daughter. AMC River East.
4:30pm Strawberry Shortcakes Dir. Hitoshi Yazaki. 2006. 127mins. Japan. Five women look for love, but all that the men in their lives want is sex. AMC River East.
4:30pm Yella Dir. Christian Petzold. 2007. 84mins. Germany. Even if you haven’t seen Carnival of Lost Souls or Jacob’s Ladder, it’s easy to guess how this moody thriller ends. Still, Nina Hoss compels sympathy while fleeing her hostile ex for a new life in Hanover. Landmark’s Century Centre.—Andrea Gronvall
4:45pm My Friend & His Wife Dir. Shin Dong-il. 2007. 110mins. South Korea. A woman, her husband and the husband’s best friend deal with a tragedy. Landmark’s Century Centre.
5:15pm The Girl Who Leapt Through Time Dir. Mamoru Hosoda. 2006. 98mins. Japan/USA. In this animated comedy, a tomboy discovers she can travel through time. Landmark’s Century Centre.
6pm Spirit of the Marathon Dir. Jon Dunham. 2007. 100mins. USA. Three runners train for the Chicago Marathon in this documentary. AMC River East.
6:30pm Charm School Dir. Fernando Sariñana. 2007. 100mins. Mexico. A politician sends his rebellious daughter to a strict charm school. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7pm Look Dir. Adam Rifkin. 2007. 121mins. USA. Hey! Guess what? When people don’t think anyone is watching, sometimes they do bad things. Who knew?!? Also, people are stupid. And so is this movie, in which security cameras capture the idiocy of a diverse cast of characters. AMC River East.—J. Robert Parks
7pm Please Don’t Go Dir. Bernard Jeanjean. 2007. 95mins. France. A shrink learns his wife is having an affair with one of his patients. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7pm Shorts 2: Animation Nations Various dirs. and years. 87mins. It’s a grab bag of short films from around the world. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 7:15pm Control Dir. Anton Corbijn. 2007. 121mins. USA. Even if you don’t know who Joy Division or Ian Curtis were, you’ve seen the story of a tortured artist battling his personal demons many times before. Still, the compelling acting, elegant cinematography and fantastic music lift this biopic drama out of the VH1 zone. AMC River East.—JRP
8:30pm Spirit of the Marathon See Fri 6pm. AMC River East.
9pm Tuya’s Marriage Dir. Wang Quanan. 2006. 86mins. China. A woman looks for someone to help support her crippled husband and her kids. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:30pm Love Songs Dir. Christophe Honoré. 2007. 95mins. France. In this musical, three people forge an unconventional relationship (yes, a ménage à trois). Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:30pm Trade Routes Dir. Jim Loftus. 2007. 117mins. Bulgaria. During the impending Bulgarian elections, story lines intersect involving a female U.S. intelligence officer, an ambitious politician and his expatriate friend. For a political thriller about espionage, there’s not a lot of action. Landmark’s Century Centre.—Garin Pirnia
9:45pm Meteoro Dir. Diego de la Texera. 2007. 117mins. Brazil. A group of construction workers left stranded by a military coup form their own community. There’s trouble when the new government comes calling. AMC River East.
10pm Bad Habits Dir. Simón Bross. 2007. 103mins. Mexico. In this religion-swathed treatise on the trickle-down effects of anorexia, the (dieting) sins of the mother are revisited on the daughter, and the husband rebels against Mom’s increasingly emaciated figure by acting out his own erotic food fantasies. Not as indigestible as you might expect, thanks to Bross’s deft visual sense and the Georges Delerue–lite score. Landmark’s Century Centre.—Ben Kenigsberg
10pm Men in the Nude Dir. Károly Esztergályos. 2007. 94mins. Hungary. A middle-aged married guy finds himself reinvigorated by a young male hustler. AMC River East.

Saturday 6
Noon Alice’s House Dir. Chico Teixeira. 2007. 92mins. Brazil. A married woman with three kids starts an affair with her childhood boyfriend. AMC River East.
Noon Andalucia Dir. Alain Gomis. 2007. 91mins. France/Spain. In dreamy, associative logic, Gomis follows an Arab slacker living in Paris who seeks some meaning out of life, or at least better treatment than he gets. It drags at times, but the intense focus is admirable. Landmark’s Century Centre.—Hank Sartin
Noon Atagoal: Cat’s Magical Forest Dir. Mizuho Nishikubo. 2006. 81mins. Japan. Like a drug trip for six-year-olds, this bizarre animated flick involves a fat, party-dude cat on a magical planet who must stop an evil queen from turning everyone into plants. It careens from idea to idea—just like a six-year-old. Landmark’s Century Centre.—HS
✽ 12:15pm The Aerial Dir. Esteban Sapir. 2007. 90mins. Argentina. With nods to Méliès, Dalí, Buñuel and Lang, the audacious black-and-white, mostly silent allegory paints TV as a sinister overlord, and a boy without eyes as his people’s salvation. Inventive titles cap Daniel Gimelberg’s outstanding art direction. AMC River East.—AG
1:15pm Please Don’t Go See Fri 7pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
1:30pm Love Songs See Fri 9:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
1:30pm Under the Same Moon Dir. Patricia Riggen. 2007. 109mins. Mexico/USA. A Mexican boy and his mother, who’s working in the U.S., set out on parallel journeys to reunite. AMC River East.
2pm In Your Wake Dir. David Oelhoffen. 2007. 100mins. France. A man’s life is disrupted by the return of his long-absent father. Just to make the reunion more awkward, dear old dad is planning a robbery. Landmark’s Century Centre.
2pm Spirit of the Marathon See Fri 6pm. AMC River East.
2:15pm Screams of the Ants Dir. Mohsen Makhmalbaf. 2006. 85mins. Iran/France. A pair of newlyweds from Iran head to India seeking spiritual enlightenment. Landmark’s Century Centre.
2:45pm Brave Story Dir. Kôichi Chigira. 2006. 112mins. Japan. A boy discovers a magical gateway into another world in this animated film. AMC River East.
3:45pm Strawberry Shortcakes See Fri 4:30pm. AMC River East.
✽ 4pm We Are Together Dir. Paul Taylor. 2007. 86mins. U.K. Taylor’s documentary about a choir of South African orphans doesn’t break any new formal or thematic ground. But if you’re not moved by their gorgeous singing and difficult plight, you have a cold heart, indeed. It’s highly worthwhile. Landmark’s Century Centre.—JRP
4:15pm The Other Half Dir. Ying Liang. 2007. 111mins. China. A legal secretary who transcribes divorce proceedings finds her own life mirroring the cases she works on. AMC River East.
4:15pm Terra Incognita Dir. Maria Finitzo. 2007. 90mins. USA. In this doc, a physician devotes himself to spinal-cord injury research after his daughter has a skiing accident. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:30pm Charm School See Fri 6:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
5:15pm Before I Forget Dir. Jacques Nolot. 2007. 108mins. France. In his clear-eyed elegy to Paris’ gay demimonde, Nolot stars as an HIV-positive gigolo-turned-author in search of time past; his allusions and name dropping mean little to today’s rent boys. AMC River East.—AG
5:15pm Hallam Foe Dir. David Mackenzie. 2007. 95mins. U.K. A lonely man spies on other people and learns about himself. Landmark’s Century Centre.
6:30pm The Walker Dir. Paul Schrader. 2007. 108mins. USA/U.K. Woody Harrelson stars in a drama about Washington, D.C.’s movers and shakers. AMC River East.
6:30pm Yella See Fri 4:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
6:45pm 4 Elements See Fri 4pm. AMC River East.
6:45pm La León Dir. Santiago Otheguy. 2007. 80mins. Argentina/France. In a remote Argentine village, illegal logging causes tension among the locals. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7pm America the Beautiful Dir. Darryl Roberts. 2007. 105mins. USA. Just how obsessed are Americans with physical beauty? Roberts sets out to answer the question as if three generations of feminist scholarship on the topic didn’t exist. He gets some great interviews (with fashion models, magazine editors, etc.) but his insights aren’t deep or fresh. Claudia Cassidy Theater.—HS
7:15pm Lovesickness Dirs. Carlitos Ruíz Ruíz and Mariem Pérez Riera. 2007. 85mins. Puerto Rico. Three stories explore love and loneliness. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7:30pm Not By Chance Dir. Philippe Barcinski. 2007. 90mins. Brazil. Barcinski went to the Kieslowski school of interlocking narratives. But in the wrong hands, that approach appears rigid instead of clever. It doesn’t help that the inconsistent acting undermines whatever emotional power the story might offer. AMC River East.—JRP
✽ 8pm Tehilim Dir. Raphaël Nadjari. 2007. 95mins. Israel. The psalms of King David console two Jerusalem brothers when their father disappears. In this cinema vérité–style drama charting the tension between their mother and her highly observant in-laws, prayer proves effective in surprising ways. Landmark’s Century Centre.—AG
9pm Freddie Mercury: Lover of Life, Singer of Songs–The Untold Story Dir. Rudi Dolezal. 2007. 95mins. U.K./Austria. The larger-than-life, outer-than-out lead singer of Queen is profiled in this doc. AMC River East.
9pm Stuck Dir. Stuart Gordon. 2007. 94mins. Canada/USA/U.K. A nursing-home aide (Mena Suvari) plows into a homeless man (Stephen Rea), drives home, parks in her garage and leaves him stuck in her windshield. Unfortunately, this forehead-slapper of a true story is played as broadly as possible, with across-the-board campy performances and a facile wish-fulfillment finale. Stuck marks a CIFF first for Chicago icon Gordon. Landmark’s Century Centre.—BK
9:15pm Shorts 4: Love and Loss Various dirs. and years. 103mins. This is a program of short films. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:45pm The Matsugane Potshot Affair Dir. Nobuhiro Yamashita. 2006. 112mins. Japan. A cop and his twin brother get entangled in small-town intrigue when one of them is involved in a hit-and-run accident. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:45pm Weirdsville Dir. Allan Moyle. 2007. 90mins. Canada/USA. The title is a pun on the nonexistent suburb of Weedsville, Ontario, where two slacker buddies (Wes Bentley and Scott Speedman) spend an evening rescuing their OD’d friend (Taryn Manning) and outrunning nerdy Satan worshippers. Less weird than wacky, the film exhibits far too little control to qualify as Superbad: Canada Edition. AMC River East.—BK
10:15pm Noise Dir. Matthew Saville. 2007. 108mins. Australia. It’s odd to think of sound designers as having a distinctive style, but this Melbourne police procedural suggests imitation Leslie Shatz (Last Days, Day Night Day Night), whipping up a striking ambient soundtrack but allowing the pace to flag. The main character is a detective with tinnitus, providing a somewhat on-the-nose justification for the film’s aural fixation. AMC River East.—BK
10:30pm The Signal Dirs. David Bruckner, Dan Bush and Jacob Gentry. 2007. 100mins. USA. Too long for its underdeveloped premise—citizens go homicidal when a mysterious force takes over the airwaves—this gory horror trilogy works best in Gentry’s darkly humorous middle tale about obsessive love. Landmark’s Century Centre.—AG

Sunday 7
Noon Dreams of Dust Dir. Laurent Salgues. 2006. 86mins. Burkina Faso/Canada/France. A man revisits his troubled past at the gold mines of Burkina Faso. Landmark’s Century Centre.
Noon The Girl Who Leapt Through Time See Fri 5:15pm. AMC River East.
Noon Satanás Dir. Andrés Baiz. 2007. 95mins. Colombia/Mexico. Three stories, all occurring on the eve of a famous massacre in Bogotá, are woven together in this drama. AMC River East.
12:15pm La León See Sat 6:45pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
12:30pm Meanwhile Dir. Diego Lerman. 2006. 90mins. Argentina/France. Multiple stories are told in this feature, which the CIFF is pitching as “Altmanesque.” Landmark’s Century Centre.
12:45pm Wolfsbergen Dir. Nanouk Leopold. 2007. 93mins. Netherlands/Belgium. The family conflicts in this Dutch drama stretch across four generations, and range from suicide to adultery to plastic surgery. The characters are drawn well enough that you start to imagine how these people became the way they are, and the ending, like the film, subtly sneaks up on you. Landmark’s Century Centre.—JRP
1pm Becoming John Ford Dir. Nick Redman. 2007. 94mins. USA. The famous director, best known for his Westerns, is profiled in this doc. AMC River East.
✽ 2pm The Unpolished Dir. Pia Marais. 2007. 95mins. Germany. A 14-year-old tries to find her own life away from her junkie parents. The movie is grounded by a riveting performance from the teenage lead, while director Marais wisely uses jump cuts and elliptical storytelling to mirror the protagonist’s dislocation. It’s a challenging but rewarding film. AMC River East
.—JRP
2:15pm Atagoal: Cat’s Magical Forest See Sat noon. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 2:30pm Tehilim See Sat 8pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
2:45pm All Is Forgiven See Fri 4:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
2:45pm Strawberry Shortcakes See Fri 4:30pm. AMC River East.
3:30pm Blackout Dir. Jerry LaMothe. 2007. 95mins. USA. This drama is set during a blackout. AMC River East.
3:30pm Lovesickness See Sat 7:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4pm Before I Forget See Sat 5:15pm. AMC River East.
4:30pm Shorts 1: Homegrown Various dirs. and years. 98mins. Local talent gets the spotlight in a program of shorts. Landmark’s Century Centre.
5pm Her Wild Oat Dir. Marshall Neilan. 1927. 90mins. USA. This silent romantic comedy stars Colleen Moore, one of the great talents of early American film. What, she only gets one wild oat? Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 5:15pm The Aerial See Sat 12:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 6pm 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days Dir. Cristian Mungiu. 2007. 113mins. Romania. The Cannes Palme d’Or winner is a harrowing tale about the Ceausescu era, when a university student (Anamaria Marinca) risks everything to help her roommate get an illegal abortion. AMC River East.—AG
6pm Heartbeat Detector Dir. Nicolas Klotz. 2007. 141mins. France. A psychologist goes undercover as an office worker to determine whether a powerful executive is mentally unhinged. Landmark’s Century Centre.
6:15pm Noise See Sat 10:15pm. AMC River East.
7pm Andalucia See Sat noon. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7pm Rails & Ties Dir. Alison Eastwood. 2007. 96mins. USA. This lugubrious melodrama stars Kevin Bacon as a train driver who collides with a suicidal motorist, and Marcia Gay Harden as his cancer-riddled wife who improbably takes in the victim’s son. AMC River East.—AG
✽ 7:30pm The Banishment Dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev. 2007. 2hrs 30mins. Russia. Zvyagintsev (The Return) wears his Tarkovsky influences on his sleeve, but his incredible widescreen compositions, use of natural light, and elemental themes of nature and fidelity mark him as a worthy heir. Some may find the languid narrative and Christian symbolism a bit much, but it’s absolutely assured filmmaking. Landmark’s Century Centre.—JRP
8pm On the Wings of Dreams Dir. Golam Rabbany Biplob. 2007. 88mins. Bangladesh. A film from Bangladesh is rare, but the age-old story of a poor but lovable Joe stumbling onto a possible get-rich scheme is not. Things don’t go as planned (do they ever?), and his faithful wife starts getting nervous. Clumsy and predictable, Dreams is only for those who want to get a glimpse of Bangladesh. Landmark’s Century Centre.—JRP
8:45pm Not By Chance See Sat 7:30pm. AMC River East.
9:15pm Sankara Dir. Prasanna Jayakody. 2006. 87mins. Sri Lanka. A Buddhist monk restores a set of paintings intended to teach abstention from worldly pleasures, but finds himself tempted by a beautiful young woman. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:30pm La France Dir. Serge Bozon. 2007. 102mins. France. During WWI, a woman masquerades as a man to learn what has happened to her husband. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:30pm Look See Fri 7pm. AMC River East.
✽ 9:30pm A Walk into the Sea Dir. Esther Robinson. 2007. 75mins. USA. In the 1960s, Robinson’s uncle Danny Williams disappeared after being booted from Andy Warhol’s Factory art scene. Though Robinson deceptively hints at foul play in the first third (an idea she ultimately discards), the strength of the doc is its portrait of the Factory, with lots of great interviews from the surviving members. Landmark’s Century Centre.—HS
10:30pm Stuck See Sat 9pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.

Monday 8
Noon On the Wings of Dreams See Sun 8pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
Noon Ploy Dir. Pen-Ek Ratanaruang. 2007. 107mins. Thailand. How would you feel if your loving husband brought a cute teen girl he met in a café up to your hotel room? Disgusted? Threatened? Excited? This portrait of a marriage loses its way at times, but the three leads are compelling and the manner in which reality and dreams intertwine is provocative. Landmark’s Century Centre.—JRP
Noon Suddenly Dir. Johan Brisinger. 2007. 96mins. Sweden. A father and son, grieving after a car accident drastically reduces the number of people their family, take a trip together. AMC River East.
Noon Yella See Fri 4:30pm. AMC River East.
12:30pm The Other Half See Sat 4:15pm. AMC River East.
12:30pm Please Don’t Go See Fri 7pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 12:45pm A Walk into the Sea See Sun 9:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
2:15pm Hallam Foe See Sat 5:15pm. AMC River East.
2:15pm Meanwhile See Sun 12:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
2:30pm Taxi to the Dark Side Dir. Alex Gibney. 2007. 106mins. UK. An Afghan cab driver is wrongly accused of terrorism, then turns up dead. This doc examines the case, which exposed the Bush administration’s policies on torture. AMC River East.
✽ 2:30pm You, the Living Dir. Roy Andersson. 2007. 94mins. Sweden. An old man walking his dog. A honeymoon night on a moving building. A tuba player practicing in his kitchen. These scenes take on iconic and hilarious significance in the latest masterpiece from Andersson (Songs from the Second Floor). Those averse to slow-developing black comedy should avoid this. Everyone else should line up. Landmark’s Century Centre.—JRP
✽ 3pm The Aerial See Sat 12:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
3pm I’m Through with White Girls (The Inevitable Undoing of Jay Brooks) Dir. Jennifer Sharp. 2007. 89mins. USA. An African-American man who thinks that dating white girls is what has kept him from happiness falls for a “Halfrican-Canadian” woman and begins to wonder if he’s the cause of his own love problems. Landmark’s Century Centre.
3:15pm Sankara See Sun 9:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:30pm Tuya’s Marriage See Fri 9pm. AMC River East.
4:45pm Lovesickness See Sat 7:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
5pm Alice’s House See Sat noon. Landmark’s Century Centre.
5pm Becoming John Ford See Sun 1pm. AMC River East.
5:15pm Eye in the Sky Dir. Yau Nai-Hoi. 2007. 90mins. Hong Kong. Yau’s serpentine heist caper shows collaborator Johnnie To’s influence. Simon Yam plays a veteran detective mentoring rookie Kate Tsui as they stalk murderous jewel thief Tony Leung, aided by omnipresent security cameras. AMC River East.—AG
5:45pm In Your Wake See Sat 2pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
6pm Dreams of Dust See Sun noon. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 6:45pm Control See Fri 7:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7pm Michael Clayton Dir. Tony Gilroy. 2007. 120mins. USA. Michael Clayton is clearly the movie that veteran screenwriter Gilroy (The Bourne Ultimatum) was saving for his directorial debut. The first hour, no doubt unexpurgated, laboriously explicates the central class-action lawsuit and the personal life of the “fixer” (George Clooney) who gets caught in the middle. Still, there’s much to admire here, starting with the main character’s complexity of motivation. AMC River East.—BK
7:15pm The Last Mistress Dir. Catherine Breillat. 2007. 114mins. France/Italy. A French aristocrat in the 19th century has an affair with a Spanish beauty. AMC River East.
7:30pm La France See Sun 9:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7:30pm Operation Filmmaker Dir. Nina Davenport. 2007. 94mins. USA. In this doc, an Iraqi film student uses all his charm to get an internship in Hollywood. AMC River East.
8pm Heartbeat Detector See Sun 6pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 8:15pm The Banishment See Sun 7:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:15pm Pudor Dirs. David Ulloa and Tristán Ulloa. 2007. 113mins. Spain. A family who has trouble communicating deals with death, infidelity, ghosts and self-image problems. You know, the usual family stuff. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:45pm All Is Forgiven See Fri 4:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:45pm La León See Sat 6:45pm. AMC River East.

Tuesday 9
4pm Her Name Is Sabine Dir. Sandrine Bonnaire. 2007. 85mins. France. In this doc, Bonnaire profiles her adult autistic sister. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4pm La France See Sun 9:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:15pm Lucky Miles Dir. Michael James Rowland. 2007. 105mins. Australia. Two refugees stranded in the Australian desert form an improbable friendship. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:15pm The Other Half See Sat 4:15pm. AMC River East.
✽ 4:30pm Tehilim See Sat 8pm. AMC River East.
4:30pm The Witnesses Dir. André Téchiné. 2007. 112mins. France. A gay man and parents of a newborn make friends in 1980s Paris. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:45pm Savior’s Square Dirs. Krzysztof Krauze and Joanna Kos-Krause. 2007. 105mins. Poland. The film begins as an interesting portrait of a Polish family struggling to make ends meet. But none of the characters are compelling or emotionally attractive, which proves disastrous when the story takes a manipulative turn and we no longer care. AMC River East.—JRP
6pm Pudor See Mon 9:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 6:45pm The Unpolished See Sun 2pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 7pm Chicago 10 Dir. Brett Morgen. 2007. 102mins. USA. The Chicago Seven trial (Bobby Seale and two attorneys bring it to ten, which apparently made for a better title) is recounted in a mix of archival footage and rotoscoped re-enactments. The traditional doc material packs the greatest punch, but the animation shakes things up in a way the defendants would admire. AMC River East.—BK
7pm The Girl on the Stone Dirs. Maryse Sistach and José Buil. 2006. 104mins. Mexico. After the girl he wants rebuffs him, an angry teen gets his revenge when he unexpectedly gains power over her. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 7pm Lars and the Real Girl Dir. Craig Gillespie. 2007. 106mins. USA. Ryan Gosling stars in this quirky, beguiling comedy as an introvert whose new sweetheart is a blow-up doll. Patricia Clarkson adds depth as the psychologist who talks his churchgoing community into supporting his delusion. AMC River East.—AG
✽ 7pm You, the Living See Mon 2:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7:30pm Hallam Foe See Sat 5:15pm. AMC River East.
✽ 8:45pm 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days See Sun 6pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 9pm Silent Light Dir. Carlos Reygadas. 2007. 127mins. Mexico/France/Netherlands/Germany. “I was so bored I started hallucinating,” a colleague complained, and he has a point. Either you warm to the idea of an elaborate Dreyer homage set in a Mexican Mennonite community, or you don’t. But for those hypnotized by the opening sunrise, the film offers something unprecedented for Reygadas: a genuinely tender and sad romance. Landmark’s Century Centre.—BK
9:15pm In Your Wake See Sat 2pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
9:30pm Meanwhile See Sun 12:30pm. AMC River East.
9:45pm Alice’s House See Sat noon. AMC River East.
9:45pm Surveillance Dir. Paul Oremland. 2007. 86mins. U.K. A guy finds himself in a world of trouble when his one-night stand turns up dead. The whole film is captured on those omnipresent surveillance cameras that blanket London. AMC River East.
✽ 9:45pm A Walk into the Sea See Sun 9:30pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.

Wednesday 10
4pm Before I Forget See Sat 5:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4pm Charm School See Fri 6:30pm. AMC River East.
4:15pm Billo, The Great Dakhaar Dir. Laura Muscardin. 2007. 90mins. Italy. A young man goes from Islamic student in Senegal to fashion designer in Rome. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:15pm Her Name Is Sabine See Tue 4pm. AMC River East.
4:30pm On the Wings of Dreams See Sun 8pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
4:45pm Dreams of Dust See Sun noon. AMC River East.
4:45pm Getting Home Dir. Zhang Yang. 2007. 96mins. China. An average Joe keeps his promise to his late co-worker by carting his body home to the Three Gorges, in this sweet and funny cross between a buddy flick and a road movie. Landmark’s Century Centre.—AG
6:15pm Suddenly See Mon noon. Landmark’s Century Centre.
6:30pm In Memory of Myself Dir. Saverio Costanzo. 2007. 118mins. Italy. In this monastery-set mystery, a novice finds out not all is well down the shadowy hallways and behind the silent gazes. The film is much more interested in dark nights of the soul than forensics, though. The acting helps what might otherwise be an impassive story, and the conversations about faith are intriguing. AMC River East.—JRP
6:30pm Jump! Dir. Helen Hood Scheer. 2007. 90mins. USA. Synchronized swimming is a sport, so why not jumping rope? Dance, gymnastics and speed all factor into competition, now reaching international levels. But this sanitized documentary is short on context, big on product placement. Skip it. Landmark’s Century Centre.—AG
✽ 6:30pm The River Dir. Jean Renoir. 1951. 99mins. France/India/USA. A British girl comes of age in colonial India in this lovely, evocative film. Renoir captures the changing seasons of India in Technicolor. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 6:45pm Opium: Diary of a Madwoman Dir. Janos Szasz. 2007. 108mins. Hungary. In this uncompromising period drama based on the writings of morphine-addicted psychoanalyst Geza Csath, top European leading man Ulrich Thomsen plays a shrink challenged by a seductive asylum inmate. AMC River East.—AG
7pm Gone Baby Gone Dir. Ben Affleck. 2007. 104mins. USA. Two Boston detectives investigate the disappearance of a little girl in this flick based on a book by Dennis Lehane, who also penned the novel Mystic River. Music Box.
7pm Savior’s Square See Tue 4:45pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
7pm Surveillance See Tue 9:45pm. AMC River East.
8:45pm Iska’s Journey Dir. Bollók Csaba. 2007. 92mins. Hungary. The harrowing theme of sex trafficking raises its head, but this is much more of a character study of a Hungarian teenager living on the streets yet remaining optimistic till the bitter end. The mostly nonprofessional cast is strong, and the story line packs a punch despite the sense of inevitability that infuses it. Landmark’s Century Centre.—JRP
9pm I Served the King of England Dir. Jiri Menzel. 2007. 120mins. Czech Republic/Slovakia. Sumptuous production design and a tongue-in-cheek screenplay can’t make up for coy lead Ivan Barnev as a not-so-innocent waiter scaling society during World War II. AMC River East.—AG
9pm Lucky Miles See Tue 4:15pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 9pm The Unpolished See Sun 2pm. Landmark’s Century Centre.
✽ 9:30pm Chicago 10 See Tue 7pm. AMC River East.
9:30pm Ploy See Mon noon. AMC River East.
9:45pm Hard-Hearted Dir. Aleksei Mizgiryov. 2007. 82mins. Russia. A young man fresh out of the army goes to Moscow seeking the girl he thinks liked him in high school. That’s a pipe dream, but he finds a place for himself in the corrupt police force. It’s like Taxi Driver without the poetry. Landmark’s Century Centre.—HS
10pm Shotgun Stories Dir. Jeff Nichols. 2007. 92mins. USA. At the funeral of a bigamist, the children of his two wives hate each other. Things go bad. Music Box.