Los Angeles Film Festival Diary
Tuesday, June 17, 2014
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| Giuseppe Makes a Movie |
I was running late yesterday afternoon and couldn’t find a parking spot quickly – I had to wait for 7PM just so I can park along Olympic, which meant that I would be late to the 6:45PM screening of "Someone You Love". And I was. But it was, I suppose, one of those moments of serendipity. There are great movies at every film festivals that get lost in the mix and you don’t get to see them at all. Fortunately, last night was a different story because I think I saw the finest film screening at the festival this year!
There are movies that are so unpretentious, so honest, and so raw that you just can’t help but champion it. "Giuseppe Makes a Movie" is one of those movies. It’s been nearly 24 hours since I saw it but I still can’t stop myself from thinking about it. I have been telling my friends about it, tweeted and retweeted and I still can’t help myself from heaping it praise after praise to any friends who would care to listen.
Perhaps I was moved by Giuseppe’s unyielding passion for the movies or the filmmaker’s sincere and respectful tribute to him and his love of moviemaking. Or perhaps both, I don’t know. But what I know is I loved what I saw and what I experienced. It’s funny, gross, weird, bad – nearly everything that would normally offend me but for some reason did not.
"Giuseppe Makes a Movie" is Adam Rifkin’s documentary about Giuseppe Andrews as he was about to make his 30th feature. Giuseppe is a former child actor who just loves the movies. He is passionate about the films of Bunuel, Fassbinder, etc. and it is his dream to make a full-length movie in two days for only a thousand dollars budget. The documentary tracks those two days of unintended hilarity. If you can measure the amount of laughter the movie generated at its screening last night, you would think you are watching one of those widely-marketed comedies of James Franco (but this one is way better, FYI) instead of watching a movie shot in VHS.
What makes the movie successful is the subject character himself. He may appear weird or off-balance but you cannot doubt his sincerity and unbridled passion for the movies. He knows nobody’s going to be watching his movies outside of his crew but he doesn't care. A poet do not necessarily write a poem for the world to read, right? His supportive father is his producer and all-around crew while his girlfriend acts as his driver and occasional actress. His cast is mostly made up of his kind neighbors and his homeless friends. Their small community is not what one would traditionally associate with filmmaking but you cannot deny that their hearts are set on making a movie with Giuseppe at the helm and there’s no denying that. And we are fortunate that a group of "professional" filmmakers found the inspiration to document them in a movie and we are all now applauding them.
Rating: 5 Stars
August 20, 2015 Update:
I am so excited to learn that "Giuseppe..." is scheduled to be screened at the NuArt theater in Los Angeles in October! A sign of good things for this wonderful film!
See the trailer here: Warning [NSFW]
XXX
Raymond Lo
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