The Tribune’s wrap-up of the Chicago International Film Festival schedule, by Tribune movie critic Michael Wilmington and the movie reviewing staff, appears each day. * indicates a personal appearance by the director or star.
Picks of the day
* “Magic Mirror” (“O Espelho Magico”) (star)(star)(star)(star) (Manoel de Oliveira, Portugal). Based on the novel “The Soul of the Rich” by Agustina Bessa-Luis — one of the director’s favorite writers — this immaculately conceived and lovingly realized religious-psychological drama follows most of the stylistic norms for its 96-year-old writer-director, silent-film veteran De Oliveira. It’s written in highly intellectual, literate speeches, often dealing with weighty issues, the acting is theatrical and deliberately non-realistic, and it’s shot against ornate backgrounds in elegantly composed tableaux, often accompanied by classical music. (Saint-Saens, Tchaikovsky, Bach). “Mirror” is about an eccentric, seemingly soulful rich lady, Alfreda (Leonor Silveira), obsessed with gaining a vision of the Virgin Mary, and her wily ex-con servant (Ricardo Trepa), who decides to give the Lord a hand. Not for all tastes, especially those who dislike long, slow films full of wordy dialogue, but it’s vintage De Oliveira and, in its special way, magnificent: the latest work of a cinematic legend. De Oliveira is scheduled for a rare American personal appearance with the film. (In French, Spanish and Portuguese, with English subtitles.) 2 p.m., Sun. Landmark. — M.W.
“October 17, 1961” (star)(star)(star)(star) (Alain Tasma, France). First-rate docudramatic filmmaking, dexterous and coolly seductive. With France and the rest of the world divided over France’s war in Algeria, terrorist acts in Paris and elsewhere provoked French officials into some very bad decision-making. The resulting police-on-immigrant violence culminated in a bloody street clash on the night indicated by director Tasmas’ title. Similar, and similarly fine, to the docudrama “Bloody Sunday” while foregoing the Irish film’s relentless hand-hand camerawork, “October 17, 1961” arrives at a distressingly pertinent time given America’s ill-starred Iraq invasion and the racist suspicion back home. Tasmas handles it all with mournful ease; imagine what Alan Parker or Oliver Stone would’ve done to cheapen this material, and you appreciate the results all the more. 3:45 p.m. Sun., AMC (also 6:45 p.m. Mon., AMC). — Michael Phillips
Other films reviewed
* “The Unseen” (star)(star)(star) (Lisa France, U.S.). A pungent Southern-fried melodrama about the violent aftermath of an old family crime, a dubious-sounding movie redeemed by strong execution. This steamy tale of black and white rural Southern boyhood friends who carry a load of guilt and separation into adulthood is definitely not the kind of American indie that gets good reviews. It’s too unbuttoned, blowzy and overripe, so full of white-trash comedy and overheated pop Southern Gothic sex and violence that it seems often over the edge. Yet it grips and entertains. 1:30 p.m. Sun., AMC. — M. W.
“The Fever” (star)(star)1/2 (Alessandro d’Alatri, Italy). A very slick, well-mounted romantic comedy-drama about four provincial Italian bourgeois buddies in Cremona trying to set up a local club, running into a ton of love and financial difficulties. The movie has a rich social subtext, not always well-mined, and real virtuoso visuals (befitting D`Alatri’s TV commercial past), including a great spectacular last shot — even if it’s a crib of Charles and Ray Eames’ classic short “Powers of Ten.” But the writing is obvious, the characters a bit shallow. To some extent, “Fever” is descended from Fellini’s classic provincial-buddies-in-Rimini tale, “I Vitteloni,” and that comparison levels the later film. (In Italian with English subtitles.) 1:30 p.m. Sun., AMC (also 7 p.m. Wed., Landmark ). — M.W.
* “Constellation” (star)(star)1/2 (Jordan Walker-Pearlman, U.S.). The long shadow of an unhappy interracial love affair casts a pall over several decades, two families and this film’s energy level as well. Sympathetic but not too original, it’s an ensemble drama about a large African-American family assembled for the funeral of the woman who suffered through that unhappy affair. (Her ex-lover’s clan is pulled in here too.) Sometimes sticky, rarely surprising, it does offer a good showcase for a strong cast, including Hill Harper, Gabrielle Union, Lesley Ann Warren (who shines) and Billy Dee Williams, who brings lots of sour charisma to the part of the cynical brother of the deceased. 4 p.m. Sun., AMC (also 8:30 p.m. Mon., AMC). — M.W.
“Pale Eyes” (star)(star)1/2 (France; Jerome Bonnell). Though surrounded by the Robert Schumann piano music she loves (and plays) and comfortably ably lodged in a calm life run by her attentive brother, mentally disturbed Fanny (Nathalie Boutefeu) revolts and runs away, toward a curious destiny in the woods. A very strange funny-sad film, with an equally odd aftertaste, from writer-director Bonnell (“Olga’s Chignon”). The subjects are mental illness, “difference” and a frantic quest for happiness and it’s the Schumann pieces and Boutefeu’s sometimes anguished face that supply the greatest emotional resonance. (French, with English subtitles.) 7 p.m., Sun. Landmark (also 4:45 p.m., Mon. Landmark; 6:45 p.m., Tues. Landmark). — M. W.
“The Trouble With Dee Dee” (star)(star) (Mike Meiners, U.S.). Dee Dee Rutherford (Lisa Ann Walter, “The Parent Trap”) is kooky, spending her days on seemingly goofy errands — with her wealthy father (Kurtwood Smith, “That ’70s Show”) picking up the tab. Dad gets fed up with Dee Dee’s perceived spendthrift ways and cuts off the money. Later he has a heart attack, his accountant discovers that Dee Dee spent most of the money on charity and almost none on herself. A wacky reconciliation follows. If any of these people had spoken in the first scene, none of this need have happened, but apart from that and other gaping story holes, it’s mostly harmless. 8:45 p.m. Sun., AMC (also 6:30 p.m. Tues., AMC; 8:45 p.m., Wed. AMC). — Michael Esposito
Unscreened, but of interest
“Brick” (Rian Johnson, U.S.). A teenage film noir, set in a modern California high school in the grip of gangsterism and murder mystery. 4 p.m. Sun., Landmark. — M.W.
* “La Courage d’Aimer” (“The Courage to Love”) (Claude Lelouch, France). Love and pop music mix in the latest romance from the occasional master of melodic arthouse schmaltz, Lelouch (“A Man and a Woman”). In French, with English subtitles. 3:45 p.m. Sun., Landmark (also 8:45 p.m. Mon., Landmark). — M.W.
“Too Much Romance . . . It’s Time for Stuffed Peppers” (Lina Wertmuller, Italy). The latest from ’70s icon Wertmuller (“Seven Beauties,” “Swept Away”): a family drama for mature folks, co-starring Sophia Loren and F. Murray Abraham. (In Italian, with English subtitles.) 4:15 p.m. Sun., Landmark; 9:15 p.m. Tue., Landmark). — M.W.