A couple of Hollywood Reporter reviews coming out of the Venice film festival caught my eye this morning.
1. First, there is this review of O Espelho Mágico:
Portuguese director Manuel de Oliveira was born in 1908, so to have a film in competition at the Venice International Film Festival in 2005 is an achievement worth applauding. His movie, “Espelho Magico” (Magic Mirror), is an absorbing look at a rich woman wasting away for lack of the corroboration of faith. . . .
Based on a novel, “The Soul of the Rich,” by Agustina Bessa-Luis, “Espelho Magico” tells of Alfreda (Leonor Silveira), a wealthy but frail woman whose greatest desire is to have a vision of the Virgin Mary before she dies. . . .
The woman is very pleased to learn from her scholars that Mary came from a well-off family and that therefore Jesus Christ was a wealthy man. Her concern has to do with the inconvenient image of a camel and the eye of a needle when it comes to rich folk and heaven. . . .
Nothing quite turns out the way anybody expects, and there are suggestions of the supernatural with elements unexplained. But Oliveira’s touch is sure, and the result is an atmospheric piece of work that lingers in the mind.
2. Second, there is this review of The Wild Blue Yonder:
When Brad Dourif stares at the camera, as he does in Werner Herzog’s science-fiction fantasy “The Wild Blue Yonder” and says, “I come from the outer reaches of Andromeda. I am an alien,” you’re inclined to believe him.
Herzog’s strangely beautiful film, screened as part of the Venice festival’s Horizons sidebar, has marvelous music and hypnotic imagery. A documentary for stoners and people who are that way naturally, it is a cautionary tale for wishful thinkers. It should be a big hit on campus, and also it’s bound to garner support from the kind of deeply committed conspiracy theorists who think the U.S. government staged the moon landings. . . .
Another Herzog doc so soon? I’m still hoping and waiting to see if we in Vancouver will get a chance to see Grizzly Man.
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