SIFF 2002 Films: R-Z

A-J | K-Q | R-Z

*recommended

RAIN
U.S.A./Spain, 2000. Director: Katherine Lindberg Cast: Melora Walters, Jamey Sheridan
Sat., June 8, 9:30 p.m., Harvard Exit
Sun., June 9, 11:30 a.m., Harvard Exit

Sex! Murder! Redemption!

*READ MY LIPS
France, 2001. Director: Jacques Audiard
Cast: Vincent Cassel, Emmanuelle Devos
Fri., May 24, 7:00 p.m., Egyptian
Sat., May 25, 4:00 p.m., Egyptian

This deliciously sinister thriller concerns a frumpy, partially deaf secretary (Emmanuelle Devos) who turns down her hearing aid when the world becomes too much of a problem. One day Paul (Vincent Cassel), a worn ex-con, shows up at her office looking for a job; for him, she turns up the volume. Yet love is the last thing on anyone's mind as these two hardened outsiders gradually make use of each other to serve their thwarted ambitions. With a clever script and suspenseful camera work, Audiard and his two stars (both cast against type) put a new spin on the old tango between straight and underworld society. Leslie Cahmi

THE RED SQUIRREL
Spain, 1993. Director: Julio Medem
Sat., June 1, 1:45 p.m., Pacific Place

A suicidal man sweeps an amnesiac off her feet, finds love at the Red Squirrel resort.

THE REUNION
Sweden, 2002. Directors: Mans Herngren, Hannes Holm
Wed., June 12, 9:30 p.m., Egyptian
Sat., June 15, 11:30 a.m., Egyptian

Stockholm family man searches out high-school sweetheart. U.S. premiere.

RISOTTO
Greece, 2001. Director: Olga Malea
Tues., June 11, 7:00 p.m., Harvard Exit
Wed., June 12, 4:30 p.m., Harvard Exit

Marriage sucks when you're a sexy, working mother. Solution: Take the husband out of
the equation.

LA ROUTE
Kazakhstan/France/Netherlands, 2001. Director: Darazhan Omirbaev
Mon., June 10, 9:30 p.m., Pacific Place
Tues., June 11, 4:30 p.m., Pacific Place

A Kazak filmmaker with filmmaker's block goes on a journey to see his dying mother.

THE RULE OF THE GAME
Taiwan, 2001. Director: Ho Ping
Fri., June 14, 4:30 p.m., Harvard Exit
Sat., June 15, 9:30 p.m., Harvard Exit

A cast of shifty men duke it out in the seedy underbelly of Taiwan. U.S. premiere.

RUNNING OUT OF TIME 2
Hong Kong, 2002. Directors: Johnnie To, Law Wingcheung
Thurs., June 13, 7:00 p.m., Pacific Place
Sat., June 15, 4:00 p.m., Cinerama

This comedy-thriller outdoes the original, which you might have seen at SIFF 2000. U.S. premiere.

RUTHIE & CONNIE: EVERY ROOM IN THE HOUSE
U.S.A., 2002. Director: Deborah Dickson
Mon., June 3, 7:00 p.m., Broadway Perf. Hall
Wed., June 5, 9:30 p.m., Broadway Perf. Hall

Two married women fall in love in 1950s Brooklyn, give up their families, and live happily ever after. (Shows with Swimming Upstream.)

THE SAFETY OF OBJECTS
U.S.A., 2001. Director: Rose Troche
Cast: Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Jessica Campbell
Sat., June 1, 9:30 p.m., Egyptian
Mon., June 3, 9:30 p.m., Pacific Place

From Go Fish director Troche, this is an
ambitious, overlong look at the intertwining lives of four nice white suburban families that unsurprisingly turn out to harbor not very nice secrets. Close is believably stunned as a mother whose most intimate relationship is with her comatose son, who lies in his room symbolizing various things to various characters. Meanwhile, her teenage daughter (the lovely, round-faced Campbell) struggles with guilt about the night of the car wreck that left her brother a vegetable. Elsewhere, a lawyer hides the fact that he's quit his job; the pool boy makes his innuendo-filled rounds; kids smoke cigarettes and play doctor, etc. The humming of lawn mowers underscores some interesting montages, and a boy's obsession with his sister's doll is very funny. But Objects doesn't live up to its sweep, fails to attain any depth, and deploys a couple of cheap devices (saving the car wreck for the end, for one). B.J.C.

SASS
Germany, 2001. Director: Carlo Rola
Thurs., June 13, 9:30 p.m., Broadway Perf. Hall
Sat., June 15, 11:30 a.m., Harvard Exit

Set during Germany's desperate, decadent Weimar period of poverty, hyperinflation, and political unrest, Sass builds squarely and unimaginatively upon our own Depression-era gangster folklore (ࠬa Bonnie and Clyde) as two burglar brothers become celebrated Robin Hood figures in Berlin. Given the Cabaret-like setting, Sass is surprisingly free of smut, although we do enjoy glimpses of sex, nudity, and topless mud wrestling in a swank nightclub. Violence is also tame by Coppola and De Palma standards, which keeps the tone of Sass PG-13 light. Elder brother Franz Sass is the brains of the outfit, while naive Erich is an ingenious safecracker, a demon with the acetylene torch. On their trail, a dogged-but-kindly cop eventually comes to respect the dutiful sons (who continue to live with their parents despite their ill-gotten riches). Meanwhile, Communists and Nazis are in the streets, romantic subplots abound, but it's not enough to make Sass more than stolid entertainment. U.S. premiere. B.R.M.

SATIN ROUGE
Tunisia/France, 2002. Director: Raja Amari
Sat., June 15, 6:30 p.m., Pacific Place
Sun., June 16, 11:30 a.m., Pacific Place

Repressed older woman finds passion in the cabaret. U.S. premiere.

A SAVAGE SOUL
Chile/France/Belgium, 2001.
Director: Raoul Ruiz
Fri., May 24, 4:30 p.m., Pacific Place
Sun., May 26, 9:30 p.m., Pacific Place

Based on Jean Giono's novel, an adopted teenage sexpot rebels against her wealthy parents.

SECRET BALLOT
Iran, 2001. Director: Babak Karimi
Sat., June 8, 4:00 p.m., Harvard Exit
Sun., June 9, 6:30 p.m., Harvard Exit