The cinema of Eastern Europe has been particularly vibrant in the last five years, with two films—Child's Pose ( opening this Friday at the Music Box ) and In the Name Of ( available on DVD and Streaming from Film Movement )—as particularly strong examples of this trend.
Child's Pose, from Romania, tells the story of Cornelia ( Luminita Gheorgiu ), an architect and doctor's wife as well as a cultured woman of wealth and power who, nevertheless, is miserable as the film opens. Her beloved son Barbu ( Bogdan Dumitrache ), she complains bitterly to her sympathetic sister, not only won't come to her 60th birthday party but has once again told her in very explicit language to stay out of his life.
Cornelia blames Barbu's girlfriend for this unfortunate turn of events but the separation turns out to be short-lived. When Barbu kills a young teenage boy while passing another car on the road, Cornelia immediately swings into action, taking no prisoners in her single-minded determination to absolve her son of any guilt.
Entering the rural police station with her sister—the pair dressed in fur coats and reeking of privilege—the class distinctions rife in the country are immediately apparent. Forced to momentarily cool her heels in the waiting room, seated next to the family of the victim, Cornelia is smart enough to appear sympathetic. Already she has discussed paying for the funeral of the dead boy as a first gesture in softening up the family. Over the next few days Cornelia will do a lot more—including falsifying Barbu's police statement, bribing the witness to the accident ( in an unforgettable scene ), and currying favor with the victim's family during an unannounced visit to their home that is jaw-dropping in its audacity. ( Talk about crocodile tears. )
There is nothing, seemingly, that Cornelia won't do for her 34-year-old baby—except leave him alone—in her quest to keep the sullen Barbu out of jail and to once again dominate his life. The scary Cornelia is as frightening and monstrous in her way as her many cinematic forebears—Angela Lansbury in The Manchurian Candidate, Olivia de Havilland in Lady In a Cage, Katharine Hepburn in Suddenly Last Summer and Leopoldine Konstantin in Notorious. Each of those maniacal mamas smothered her weak-spirited son with a ferocity that Gheorgiu matches in her portrayal of Cornelia.
However, the actress is given the chance to exude sympathy as well—there is a subtlety in the performance ( and in the directing of Calin Peter Netzer, who co-wrote the script ) that gives Cornelia an extra bit of oomph. The handheld camera work, which stays very close to Cornelia and the other characters, emphasizes this as well. She's a Cruella de Vil all right, but a three-dimensional one whose motives and actions are queasily familiar.
Child's Pose ( Romania's Foreign Language entry at this year's Oscars ), in addition to featuring this sensational mother-son act, is a fascinating look into a corrupt society that is at times equally jaw-dropping. This movie is highly recommended. www.musicboxtheatre.com
Briefly noted: As a closeted, mentally tortured gay priest fighting his desire for the mostly homophobic teenage boys he is charged with overseeing in a halfway house in the Polish wilderness, Andrzej Chyra is also pretty compelling in the Polish gay-themed drama In the Name Of…. from director Malgorzata Szumowska ( who co-wrote the script with Michael Englert ). The film, which premiered at the Chicago International Film Festival last fall, has its share of unexpected twists and that sensational performance by Chyra as just two reasons to recommend it. It's now available from Film Movement. http://www.filmmovement.com/filmcatalog/index.asp?MerchandiseID=331
Film notes:
—CIMMfest: The Chicago International Movies & Music Festival is back for a sixth year with another stellar line-up of more than 90 features, shorts, videos and filmmaker panels as well as more than 65 live music and DJ special events on Thursday, May 1-Sunday, May 4. LGBT film and music enthusiasts will want to note several of the fest's offerings, which include:
A Life in the Death of Joe Meek, a documentary portrait of the legendary record producer who was closeted and took his own life at 37. Co-producer-directors Susan Stahman and Howard S. Berger will attend the 9:15pm, Thursday, May 1 screening at the Logan Theater, 2646 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Bayou Mararajah, a documentary from filmmaker Lily Keber about James Booker who Dr. John has described as "the best Black, gay, one-eyed junkie piano genius New Orleans ever produced." Screens on Friday, May 2, at 7pm at the Society for Arts, 1112 N. Milwaukee Ave.
The Man Behind the Throne is director Kersti Grunditz's portrait of "choreographer to the stars" Vincent Paterson, noted for his work with Michael Jackson and Madonna, who is profiled as he embarks on an Elvis Presley themed show for Cirque du Soleil. Screens on Sunday, May 4 at 4:30pm at the Society for Arts, 1112 N. Milwaukee Ave.
A free panel on the Future of Female Filmmakers on Sunday, May 4, at 12:30 p.m. at the Collaboraction Theater, 3111 N. Western Ave., will include prominent lesbian filmmakers Fawzia Mirza ( Kam Kardashian, Easy Abbey, Scrooge & Marley, etc. ), writer-director Wendy Jo Carlton ( Easy Abbey, Jamie & Jesse Are Not Together, Hannah Free ) and Easy Abbey star/producer Lisa Cordileone as part of the group.
Complete schedule, advance tickets, etc. at www.CIMMfest.orgïż˝
—Out filmmaker Matt Wolf's latest movie, the documentary Teenage, opens Friday, April 25, at AMC River East 21, 322 E. Illinois St. The film traces the evolution of this demographic that has come to have an unprecedented historical impact on U.S. culture, and will hopefully explain how that happened! http://www.teenagefilm.com/
—James Franco's collaboration with out director Travis Mathews, the LGBT festival fave Interior. Leather. Bar ( which divided audiences and had its Chicago premiere at last fall's Reeling ) is now available to rent or to buy from Vimeo. http://vimeo.com/ondemand/interiorleatherbar/91758445
—Another LGBT film fest documentary from last year—the sweet, often charming and at times bittersweet Romeo Romeo, which focuses on a darling lesbian couple and their long struggle to have a baby—is also now available from Vimeo. vimeo.com/ondemand/romeoromeo
