Day six @ SIFF

I left the house around 10am to see my first film of the day and got back at midnight. Long day of movies, walking around the city for miles on end, eating and visiting. It was a fun day that started off with the screening of a Japanese film called Still Walking. I really enjoyed this one. It's the very simple tale of a son going home with his new wife and stepson and spending the day and night with his family. Familiar rifts between father and son surface--but never in a dramatic way, this is a Japanese film after all and in that culture even when you don't get along with your parent--you don't scream or insult them the way you might see in an American family that is going through a tense time. Still Walking is just so leisurely and simple--two of my favorite things in filmmaking. It just tells you the story and doesn't hurry to get there. That's confident, well thought out filmmaking to me.

I went and had lunch in the Pike Place Market again. I miss this place even though it's crawling with tourists non-stop all day long. There are just so many good places to grab a quick bite to eat. I got some mac & cheese from Beecher's--they make their own cheeses in old school, open air tradition and they are really good--and a bbq pork hom bow from this little Asian pastry place I have frequented for years. I ate both of these things while just rambling the market, trying not to bump into the tourists as they posed for pictures endlessly. 

Movie #2 was at the Egyptian and it was a dark, dark film from South Korea called Hansel & Gretel. Chocked with ele

ments from the story, this was a little more intense and given a Tim Burton style feel early on. I liked parts of the film but by the end I was kind of sick of the story so it could have used some ch

opping. Watching it made me want to see a comedy next and as luck would have it that is just what I got as we (Nancy + Jamie after eating at Machiavelli's a second time) headed to the Uptown to see the French farce Daddy Cool (although it's called 15 and A Half in the opening credits). A father moves back home to Paris to live with his 15+ year old daughter for the summer and has his eyes opened to her life, his being a concerned father and just how to relate to her. This breaks no new ground but has some fun, humorous moments--I especially liked the fantasy scenes when the dad's imagination takes over about his daughter and their relationship. 

One last day of films with three more on the docket. Only fifteen films in I wish I was able to see more during the day and stay for the entire festival. It feels as though I'm just getting warmed up.