...This Charming Girl.


The Real Dirt on Farmer John -- USA/2005 -- Directed by Taggert Siegel

Eccentric Midwestern farmer John Peterson has struggled over the past 30 years to redefine himself and his rural Illinois family farm. Amidst a failing economy and hostility from his community for being “a little different,” he finally succeeds in combining tradition with creative vision, creating a thriving, organic Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) farm.

Oh, people...This documentary exemplifies why I go to SIFF. This is the best doc I've seen since Bus 174...that's VERY strong praise coming from me. Watch the trailer, which is actually the first two minutes of the film: http://play.rbn.com/?url=siff/siff/demand/2005_farmerjohn_clip1_rv10hi.rm&proto=rtsp

The variety of footage in this doc is amazing. John's mother loved to film the goings-on on the farm, so there was footage dating back to the 50's. And John did a lot of his own filming. In addition, the director, Taggert Siegel, has been friends with John since the early 80's and he filmed life on the farm while he was living there. He made a(nother) film there in which John starred and bits and pieces of that were incorporated into the film. The present day stuff was done on DV. They had 260 hours worth of footage to pare down to an 83 minute film. Amazing.

Y'all need to see this, f'real. Even if you couldn't care less about farming and/or organic produce, you'll laugh, you'll cry...you'll leave the theatre wanting to go spend a summer on a farm...or at least want to go to the store and buy some organic produce, lol. The organic farming part is the last 1/3 of the film and I just sat there tearing up the whole time. (I'm even tearing up as I type this, lol.) What Farmer John turned his farm into...it's such a beautiful thing! I'm not a shareholder in a CSA, but I do have produce delivered through a service that purchases from Pac NW organic farms whenever possible (CA and Mexico for whatever isn't in season here) and watching this film made me feel extra good about that decision.

Farmer John (wearing his trademark hat and a feather boa over his plaid flannel shirt, lol) and Taggert Siegel were both in attendance, and after the film they did the best Q&A session I've ever attended. They received two standing ovations. I felt really lucky to have been there. If there is any justice in this world, it will get a theatrical release. I overheard the director telling someone they were hoping for a fall release. *crosses fingers* Otherwise, I believe I saw it had backing from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, so I would imagine it'll eventually make its way to PBS. A+++





This Charming Girl -- South Korea/2004 -- Directed by Lee Yoon-ki

Jeong-hae works in a postal office by day and spends most of her off time at home alone watching TV or taking care of her plants. Lather, rinse, repeat. She is clearly emotionally wounded by some events in her past. Her only source of love and companionship is the stray kitten she finally takes in after several days of walking by it on her way to work. The kitten brings back memories of her dead mother. In addition, she has problems trusting men due to being sexually abused as a child. She even walked out on her husband on their wedding night. Her co-workers try to include her in their plans, but most of the time she declines. She is very reluctant to share anything about her personal life with them. In fact, she rarely speaks to anyone at all.

I really, really wanted to like this film because I was sympathetic (and a little empathic) to Jeong-hae's plight. Unfortunately, it would have been more aptly titled, "This Stagnant Girl." It was aimless and pointless. Depressing and hopeless. At the end, we're left with the sense that Jeong-hae is pretty much in the same state in which we first found her. The SIFF crowd loves to applaud films, even if no one from the film is in attendance. So, for this one to receive only a teeny smattering of applause afterward means most of 'em must have agreed with me. D




Cape of Good Hope -- South Africa/USA-2004 -- Directed by Mark Bamford

Kate may be missing out on true love by continuing her affair with a married man. Jean-Claude enchants the ladies and the pets. Lindiwe juggles too much at once. A South African animal shelter sets the stage for this Altman-esque study of life and love.

Think Love Actually, only multiracial, set in Cape Town, South Africa and ten times better. Sure, it was a little fluffy. Sure, it had a ridiculous coincidence near the end that I predicted from about 10 minutes into the film. I don't care. It was entertaining as hell. And really, who can resist a film with lots of fabulous dogs? :-p After recently seeing films about genocide and genital mutilation, it was refreshing to see a film from Africa that's actually *gasp!* heartwarming, charming, funny and just plain feel-good.

It was nice to see people just being people with universal problems, regardless of race or culture...like the Muslim couple who were having trouble conceiving. Or the black single mother working long hours, trying to go to college at night and dealing with her mother meddling in her love life. Yes, the director/co-writer (Mark Bamford, an American expat) tackled the not-so-pretty issues prevalent in South African post-apartheid society, but he managed to get his points across without being heavy-handed.

Bamford and the actors who played Kate and Jean-Claude were in attendance and did a nice Q&A afterward. Bamford said the film will be released in 25 cities starting in September. So go see it, bitches. It would be a perfect date film. It also would be a good one to get your foreign film-avoiding friends to see with you. A-


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My diminutive DVD collection: http://www.dvdaficionado.com/dvds.html?cat=1&id=kurlyswirl

I be Scrobblin': http://www.audioscrobbler.com/user/TasteeTreat/