All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt An absolutely gorgeous video poem. The story follows the lead character, Mack, from her girlhood in the 1970s across several decades. The film has minimal dialogue and a narrative that offers fragments of her life in time-shifting episodes. As The Hollywood Reporter’s Cary James reviews:
“Each scene is so deliberately composed that it conveys a wealth of information and emotion. Jomo Fray’s lush cinematography, shot on 35mm, grounds the story in the landscape of woods, river banks and dirt roads. The sounds of rainstorms, thunder claps and crickets are an integral part of the experience. Mack never goes far from home, and throughout the film the Black culture of the South also shapes the family story....
“The film’s title is alluded to in an early scene, when Mack and her mother dig in a bank of clay dirt looking for nuggets to eat. As their grandmother later explains, her own mother taught her to do the same, a tradition that connects the women in the family to nature. The film itself never says that the custom of eating clay dirt goes back to West Africa, but doesn’t have to. It’s enough to know that the grandmother is passing on something meaningful. In poetic fashion, All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt asks for interpretation, making ordinary explanations unnecessary.”My rating 5+/5
The Crime is Mine François Ozon entertains himself and his audience with this fun crime comedy.
The farcical caper stars French acting staples, Isabelle Huppert, Fabrice Luchini,, Rebecca Marder, Dany Boon and André Dussolier together with the lead Nadia Tereszkiewicz. 4/5
Kidnapped “A Jewish boy forcibly converted to Christianity becomes a favorite of Pope Pius IX in a handsomely mounted period drama that is epic in visuals rather than theme.” Variety 5/23
Based on a true story the film has many beautiful shots surrounded by a somewhat weak plot. The settings are convincing as is the set design. “Non Possumus” applies both to the Pope and the film’s inability to quite get over the hump. Yet it does keep you emotionally involved. 3/5
BOB’S COMMENTS
There were over 100 films in this year’s festival. I viewed 26 in 11 days. I try to avoid English speaking films and definitely avoid the big movies figuring they will get general distribution. I try to see films that won’t get here. In these three reports I have attempted to give you a taste of what is available in the festival and what might be coming up in your theaters. I say “might be” because history shows that so many of the great films at festivals do not get general distribution. In addition many of the foreign films that make it to New York never get to Chicago. That is sad.
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