The 33rd Chicago International Film Festival
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Being what it is and coming when it does, the Chicago festival can’t help but be something of a hand-me-down event, skimming items from various international festivals that precede it and adding a few selections of its own. Invariably it screens too many films–unlike, say, New York, which is restricted to only 20-odd programs–and it’s never revealed as clear or consistent a critical position as either Rotterdam or Toronto. But this year, its 33rd, the Chicago festival shows some evidence of honoring a reasonable number of the best it has the clout and wherewithal to acquire. By rough count, 15 of the 50 best films I’ve seen at (or for) other festivals this year are showing in Chicago, and if that seems like a small percentage, it’s less meager than it appears when one factors in all the films that have been excluded through no fault of the programmers and all the titles that have already made it to Chicago in other venues (such as Mother and Son, My Life in Pink, and Unmade Beds, all of which turned up at the Film Center in a Telluride package two weeks ago).
The fact that all the festival screenings will take place this year at a single, centrally located venue, 600 N. Michigan, is a hopeful sign. In my experience, there’s a great deal to be gained–socially, communally, logistically–when viewers remain in the same general vicinity rather than crisscross a city to get to screenings, a problem that’s made the Toronto festival difficult (at least for the press) over the last couple of years. In theory, it will be easier to stick around for discussions after the Chicago screenings–assuming that the festival finds a comfortable way of handling them–rather than dashing off to another part of town for the next movie.
If rubber-stamping is the goal of critics and festival programmers alike, then I suppose the 33rd Chicago International Film Festival is simply doing its job. But if discovery still counts for anything, consider the recommendations above, check out the individual reviews that follow, and pursue your own whims. (Reviews preceded by a check mark are especially recommended by the reviewer.)
