Pick of the day
“King and the Clown” (star)(star)(star)
(Jun-ik Lee, South Korea; 1:59)
This lusty Korean period epic, in the Im Kwon-taek tradition, became South Korea’s all-time box-office champ this year. In it, two traveling 16th Century player-clowns, one a swaggering macho brawler, the other a gentle drag artist, are trapped in a Scheherazade-like relationship with a tyrant-king who demands that they keep him laughing to stave off their execution — and who develops a yen for the female impersonator. An offbeat crowd-pleaser: flashy, bawdy, gorgeously designed and shot. (In Korean, with English subtitles.) 8 p.m. Sat., AMC; 5:30 p.m. Oct. 15, LM.
— Michael Wilmington
Other choices
“Fireworks Wednesday” (star)(star)
(Asghar Farhadi, Iran; 1:44)
A day in the life of marital dysfunction, “Fireworks” follows Hedieh Tehrani as a suspicious wife who’s convinced her husband is cheating on her and Tareneh Alidousti as a soon-to-be-wed housekeeper who is drafted into a plot to expose the husband’s deceptions. The film marks the third feature outing for Iranian director Asghar Farhadi, who might consider snappier pacing next time; “Fireworks,” while moderately entertaining, is at least 30 minutes too long. (In Farsi, with English subtitles.) 5 p.m Sat., AMC; 4 p.m. Mon., AMC; 4:45 p.m. Thu., LM.
More Top Picks Best Standing Desks Under 500 Dollars
— Jessica Reaves
“Thicker Than Water” (star)(star)(star)
(Arni Olafur Asgeirsson, Iceland; 1:30)
It’s like modern-day Ibsen, from the land due west of Ibsen’s Norway. With his wife (Margret Vilhjalmsdottir) about to give birth to their second child, a Reykjavik optometrist (Hilmar Jonsson) learns that he is not the biological father of their 10-year-old son. A well-ordered life suddenly tailspins. Director Asgeirsson maintains a controlled and perceptive surface, under which all the rage and jealousy and pain sloshes around. Well acted by all, en route to a humane and forgiving conclusion. 8 p.m. Sat., AMC; 5 p.m. Sun., AMC.
— Michael Phillips
“Thin” (star)(star)1/2
(U.S., Lauren Greenfield; 1:45)
If the supermarket tabloids have recently been full of tales of the rich and famous suspected of eating disorders (Lindsay Lohan, et al.), Lauren Greenfield’s documentary gives us a fly-on-the-wall view of ordinary people with the same problem. In this sympathetic and sometimes scarily close-up view, we watch four women at the Renfrew Center, a Florida clinic for eating disorders, in which victims of bulimia, anorexia nervosa and the like are treated for their psychological/physical dysfunction. It’s a typical TV-style documentary in many ways, but one with unusual access and some hair-raising moments. Noon Sat., AMC; 5 p.m. Sun. AMC.
— M.W.
“The Bridge” (star)(star)
(Eric Steel; U.S.; 1:33)
It’s one way to make a documentary — a morally dubious way, to middling results. For much of 2004, filmmaker Steel pointed his cameras at various spots among the tourists and bikers along the Golden Gate Bridge. His cameras caught nearly two dozen successful suicide attempts in action and one who survived the fall. Interviewing friends and relations of the jumpers, Steel attempts to explain the psychological demons plaguing a disparate variety of people. His film strains to mythologize the allure of the bridge itself, and its “false romantic promise,” as one woman calls it. 3 p.m. Sat., LM; 12:30 p.m. Sun., LM; 6:45 p.m. Mon., LM.
— M.P.
“Ten Canoes” (star)(star)(star)
(Rolf de Heer; Australia; 1:31)
Some of it borders on the cutesy, but there’s a lot to enjoy in this picture, set 1,000 years ago among the Aboriginal tribes of northern Australia. Reportedly the first-ever feature using actors speaking an indigenous Aboriginal language, it tells the fable of 10 men on a trek for canoe-making materials. Around this another story is wrapped, that of an old man and a younger rival for the old man’s third wife. 8 p.m. Sat., AMC; 2 p.m. Sun., LM; 6 p.m. Mon., LM.
— M.P.
“Time” (star)(star)1/2
(Kim Ki-duk, South Korea; 1:37)
How much of our identity is external? Playing on South Korea’s obsession with plastic surgery, Kim Ki-duk’s 13th feature film follows Seh-Hee, a gorgeous woman with a massive insecurity complex whose desperate attempt to reinvent her physical self has disastrous consequences. Actor Jung-woo Ha, as boyfriend Ji-woo, is great as a man peering into unfamiliar eyes, searching for his permanently altered true love.”Time” is a potent, over-the-top cautionary tale. (In Korean, with English subtitles.) 8 p.m. Sat., LM; 8:30 p.m. Mon., LM; 9 p.m. Wed., LM.
— J.R.
“Syndromes and a Century” (star)(star)1/2
(Apichatpong Weerasethakul, Thailand/Austria/France; 1:45)
A trippy, leisurely slice of two kinds of lives in Thailand — the first half set in a rural hospital, the second in a Bangkok one. The loose story line for the first half evolves around the work and romantic life of a young doctor, who treats monks having nightmares about breaking the legs of chickens (but really is trying to score sleeping pills). The scene, with a male doctor and from a different perspective, is essentially repeated in the second, city half. But plot is almost beside the point here — Weerasethakul’s stationary camera puts us at a certain objective distance and he maintains a peaceful pace throughout. Two scenes, one a long bossa nova performance and the other a longer close up of a tube sucking in smoke set to an ambient soundtrack, serve as invitations, or warnings, for this film. 6:15 p.m. Sat., LM; 7 p.m. Sun., LM; 4:30 p.m. Fri, LM.
— Scott L. Powers
More Top Picks Best Threshold Ramps For Doorways
———-
Screenings for the 42nd Chicago International Film Festival are held at AMC River East 21 (AMC), 322 Illinois St.; Landmark’s Century Centre Cinema (LM), 2828 N. Clark St.; and Thorne Auditorium, on Northwestern University’s Chicago campus (THN), 375 E. Chicago Ave.. For ticket information, contact Ticketmaster at 312-902-1500 or the festival hotline at 312-332-FILM. For a complete schedule, visit www.chicagofilmfestival.com.