For its 14th year, the Chicago Latino Film Festival has assembled one of its most impressive schedules ever and expanded to a newer, more luxurious venue — the Water Tower Multiplex at Water Tower Place. Included on this year’s program are 50 feature films and 50 shorts from 15 countries, with additional special programs.
It’s another impressive step forward for an event that has become a local Latino cultural touchstone, one that has brought a steady stream of notable films and filmmakers to the city from the world’s Hispanic-speaking countries while also growing steadily in size and prestige.
This year, film world notables attending the fest will include Chicago’s Stuart Gordon, bringing his new movie of Ray Bradbury’s “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit,” which Gordon first produced as a play in the ’70s for the Organic Theater. Gordon will be joined by a number of world-famous Latino directors, including Argentina’s Adolfo Aristarain, Spain’s Manuel Gutierrez Aragon and Carlos Diegues (“Bye Bye Brazil”), and Brazil’s Walter Lima Jr.
Among the special events planned: Spanish Night at the Water Tower (Wednesday), Mexican Night at the Field Museum (Thursday), and special series on Colombian and Catalan film, women in film, and movies on the Jewish experience in Ibero-America.
There also will be a special exhibition at the Aldo Castillo Gallery of the photography of Gabriel Figueroa, the legendary Mexican cinematographer and close collaborator of Luis Bunuel, John Ford and John Huston. (The Figueroa exhibit, though, underscores this year’s relative lack of classic films from the past. Only one Figueroa-photographed film, 1959’s “Macario,” will be shown — from a list that could have included “Los Olvidados,” “Nazarin,’ “The Fugitive” and “Night of the Iguana,” among others.)
And, as the festival grows, it continues to reach out beyond its core Latino audience. According to fest founder and long-time director Pepe Vargas, “The festival is a unique opportunity for people to really get in touch, learn and become more aware of Latino culture. Film gives us the opportunity to show the diversity: how dynamic, how vibrant, our culture is.”
Over the next 11 days, audiences will have a chance to see for themselves.
Main venues include the Water Tower Multiplex, 175 E. Chestnut St., 312-649-5790; and Facets Multimedia, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., 773-281-4114. Tickets are $8 ($7 for students, seniors; $6 for Chicago Latino Cinema members). For ticket information for the opening gala reception and other special events, call the festival office, 312-431-1330.
The following are capsule reviews (in chronological order) of films that were available for preview:
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“Tieta do Agreste” (star) (star) (star) (Carlos Diegues; Brazil, 1996). The fest’s lush opening-night feature unites Brazil’s most famous contemporary female star, Sonia Braga, with Carlos Diegues, director of the buoyant “Bye Bye Brazil” and “Xica de Silva.” The source is Jorge Amado’s novel, which plays here like a much lighter, erotic/comic version of Friedrich Durrenmatt’s bleak fable, “The Visit.” Here, Braga’s lusty Tita returns to her village in wealth and triumph, after leaving in disgrace, and proceeds to ignite one scandal after another. 8 p.m. Friday, Rubloff Auditorium, Art Institute of Chicago; 312-431-1330. Director Diegues will attend. Buffet and cocktail reception at 5:30 p.m. in the Trading Room. — Michael Wilmington
– “What It’s All About” (star) (star) 1/2 (Ventura Pons; Spain, 1994) An uneven romantic-comedy comprised of 15 vignettes that address the hot-button issues of sex and romance. There are two or three strong entries, including one about a man who seeks to sexually outperform his voyeuristic neighbor, but most of the mini-dramas and morality tales are sketchy and incomplete. 6:30 p.m. Friday and 7 p.m. Tuesday, Water Tower Multiplex. — John Petrakis
– “Deep Crimson” (star) (star) (star) 1/2 (Arturo Ripstein; Mexico, 1996). A velvety shocker about serial killing in Mexico, this story of two grotesque outsiders, a 300-pound nurse and a balding gigolo, who seal their passion with murder, has been made with unnerving artistry by Ripstein. Using the same subject as the 1970 low-budget American classic, “The Honeymoon Killers” — the recounting of the 1949 murder spree of Martha Beck and Ray Fernandez — Ripstein drains the tale of glamor or false exhilaration. 9 p.m. Friday and 6 p.m. Sunday, Water Tower. — M.W.
– “Tango: The Obsession” (star) (star) (Adam Boucher; U.S., 1997). An interesting but unexceptional documentary look at the tango, its cultural significance and many of its most famous practitioners — including tango legend Carlos Gardel and silent superstar Rudolph Valentino. 9 p.m. Friday, Facets Multimedia, 1517 W. Fullerton Ave., 773-281-4114, also 4 p.m. Sunday, Water Tower (director Boucher will attend) — M.W.
– “The Bird of Happiness” (star) (star) (star) 1/2 (Pilar Miro; Spain, 1993). The late Pilar Miro, Spain’s best-known female filmmaker, examines, with excruciating sensitivity and detail, the plight of an accomplished middle-aged woman, who — after an unpleasant encounter with her son and a robbery and near rape in his neighborhood — decides to change her life. One of Miro’s most important works. 5 p.m. Saturday, Water Tower; also 8:30 p.m. Sunday, Facets — M.W.
– “Macario” (star) (star) (star) 1/2 (Roberto Gavaldon; Mexico, 1959). Beautifully photographed by the great Gabriel Figueroa, this classic film fantasy, set in Mexico during Spanish colonial days, is the tale of a woodcutter who shares his one precious turkey neither with God nor the Devil but with Death — who then grants him access to the Fountain of Youth, its resulting wealth and a final ironic and dangerous destiny. 6 p.m. Saturday and 9 p.m. Tuesday, Facets — M.W.
– “The Wonderful Ice Cream Suit” (star) (star) (star) (Stuart Gordon; U.S., 1998). From Ray Bradbury’s wonderful short story, and the charming play that director-writer Stuart Gordon and actor Joe Mantegna made of it for Chicago’s Organic Theater in the ’70s, comes this delightful tale of five impoverished East L.A. men — a wily operator (Mantegna), a brain, a musician, a Romeo and a filthy tramp (Edward James Olmos) — and their joint purchase of a beautiful white suit that changes all their lives. A little overdone, but a delight. 7 p.m. Saturday and 7 p.m. Sunday, Water Tower (director Gordon will attend) — M.W.
– “Actresses” (star) (star) (star) (Ventura Pons; Spain, 1996). This drama cleverly explores the lives of three actresses by having an acting student interview them about their school days together. A wonderful opportunity to catch an earful of the beautiful but little heard Catalan language, this talky film is full of bravura performances and razor-sharp observations about the nature of acting, memory and friendships. 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Water Tower; 9 p.m. Monday, Facets — Monica Eng
– “Pandemonium, Hell’s Capital” (star) (star) (Roman Chalbaud; Venezuela, 1997). This mildly engaging, magical realism-infused film tells the story of a Latin American country on the verge of revolution. At the center of the plot is an opportunistic mother with two very different sons: One is a powerful drug dealer, the other a footless bedridden intellectual who spends his days broadcasting revolutionary messages on a loudspeaker. In the meantime, the family’s abused servant girl finds happiness as the lover of two homeless brothers. Chalbaud creates a hellish vision of society, but, in the process, never really gives us anyone to care about. Still, the final scene is strangely touching, offering odd hope in even the most infernolike situation. 8 p.m. Saturday, Water Tower; 7 p.m. Monday, Facets — M.E.
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– “The Jew” (star) (star) (star) (Jom Tob Azulay; Portugal, 1996). Even more hair-raising than “The Crucible,” this film demonstrates the moral bankruptcy and bloody consequences of religious and political oppression. Gorgeously lit by cinematographer Eduardo Serra (“Jude”), it recounts the persecution, torture and execution of the great Portuguese comedy playwright Antonio Jose da Silva (Felipe Pinheiro), known as “O Judeu” (“The Jew”), who was denounced, imprisoned, tortured and burned at the stake in 1739 after making his literary reputation with Lisbon’s Casa des Bonecos (Puppet Theater). 9:30 p.m. Saturday, Water Tower and 9 p.m. Thursday, Facets — M.W.
– “Zafiros: Blue Madness” (star) (star) (star) (Miguel Herrera; Cuba/U.S., 1997). Like “A Hard Days Night,” “That Thing You Do!” and “Spice World,” this ground-breaking Cuban-American joint project, set in mid-’60s Havana, documents the agony and ecstasy of becoming the next big group. From their humble beginnings as a street singing duo to their rise as one of Cuba’s most popular pop quartets, Los Zafiros broke the island’s traditional musical rules by adopting doo-wop as its principal sound — at a time when American culture was way out of favor. Mixing acted scenes, musical numbers and archival footage of the band, the movie avoids political themes. Instead, it presents a slow but mostly fascinating look at the ride to the top of the Cuban pops. 10 p.m. Saturday, 9 p.m. Sunday and 9 p.m. Monday, Water Tower — M.E.
– “One Life And Two Trails” (star) (star) 1/2 (Alberto Arvelo; Venezuela, 1997). A combination journey and memory piece, as a 50-year-old city dweller, spurred by an old photograph of his mother, heads back to his birthplace in the Andes mountains to revisit the turning points of his childhood. Quite moving in places, especially during the story of his romantically obsessed godfather, but director Arvelo relies on too many cliches for this film to stand out. 6:30 p.m. Sunday, Facets; 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, Water Tower — J.P.
– “Soccer Stories” (star) (star) (star) (Andres Wood; Chile, 1997). Three diverse and engaging stories about that Chilean national obsession: soccer. The first and weakest is about a rigged low-level match. The other two, about a young boy’s game and a fan’s obsession with seeing a championship game on TV in the outlands, are surprisingly fine efforts, veined with drama, ribaldry and poetry. 6:30 p.m. Monday and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Water Tower (director Wood will attend) — M.W.
– “Pizza, Beer and Smokes” (star) (star) (Bruno Stagnaro and Israel Caetano; Argentina, 1997). A bit like an Argentine version of “Kids” or “Trainspotting” (although not quite so clever), this documentary-style film about urban delinquents offers a gritty but only occasionally touching look at life on Argentina’s mean streets. The story focuses primarily on a boy named Cordobes and his three teenage friends who spend their days carjacking businessmen and setting up scams to pick peoples’ pockets so they can finance their supplies of the title articles. It’s hard to feel much compassion for — or interest in — these petty thieves or curiosity about the system that created them. 7 p.m. Monday and 6 p.m. Wednesday, Water Tower — M.E.
– “Victory Forever” (star) (star) (star) 1/2 (Juan Carlos Desanzo; Argentina, 1997). This bio-pic on Argentine revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara is brought to us by the same director who gave us “Eva Peron.” And like that film, it chronicles the subject’s life with compassion, melodrama and lots of costume changes. In his attempt to shoehorn Che’s 39 years into 95 minutes, Desanzo understandably skims over a lot of detail. Still, what emerges in this well-acted movie is not a portrait of some shallowly perfect hero, but a complex profile of an eternally — perhaps fatally — idealistic dreamer who thought he could change the world. 8:15 p.m. Monday and 8:45 p.m. Thursday, Water Tower; 5 p.m. Saturday, April 25, Facets — M.E.
– “A Man Of Principle” (star) (star) 1/2 (Francisco Norden; Colombia, 1984). A curious tale of power and corruption, as a meek, asthmatic and extremely religious cheese salesman evolves into a ruthless political assassin known as “The Condor.” The background of the bloody violence that transpired between liberals and conservatives in 1950s Colombia is intriguing, but in his attempt to portray the complexity of his main character, director Norden has instead made him contradictory and wildly inconsistent. Despite some strong performances, the film feels empty at the end. 7 p.m. Wednesday, Facets; 10 p.m. Saturday, April 25, Water Tower — J.P.
– “The Color of the Clouds” (star) (star) (star) 1/2 (Mario Camus; Spain, 1997). From one of Spain’s greatest contemporary writer-directors, Mario Camus (“The Holy Innocents”), comes this highly unusual thriller about a runaway boy who finds himself in the middle of a vicious family eviction and a busted drug-smuggling battle. Though it’s a suspense melodrama — and a highly effective one — Camus gives it rich characterizations and the lyrical, naturalistic mood of most of his other films. Unique and rewarding. 7 p.m. Wednesday Water Tower (Spanish Night, with wine reception afterward) — M.W.
– “Things I Left in Havana” (star) (star) (star) 1/2 (Manuel Gutierrez Aragon; Spain, 1997). From the director of the powerful “Demons in the Garden” comes this sympathetic and densely detailed look at the plight of Cuban immigrants in today’s Spain. Both a highly effective social drama and a moving romance, the film ranges over many moods, character and emotions, from comedy to near tragedy, while exploring this rich and saddening theme. 8:15 p.m. Wednesday and 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Water Tower — M.W.
– “Thanks for the Tip” (star) (star) 1/2 (Francesc Bellmunt; Spain, 1997). An affecting and often bawdy and witty memory-tale about the boyhood and young manhood of two brothers, raised by two slightly roguish uncles. Richly shot, full of emotion and humor, but a little too much rib-nudging. 8:45 p.m. Wednesday and 10:30 p.m. Friday, April 24, Water Tower(director Bellmunt will attend) — M.W.
– “Time to Die” (star) (star) (star) (Jorge Ali Triana; Colombia, 1985). Powerful revenge drama, from a screenplay collaboration by two great novelists, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Carlos Fuentes, about a long-seething vendetta and its violent, strange resolution. 7 p.m. Thursday and 5 p.m. Sunday, April 26, Water Tower (director Triana will attend) — M.W.