Tucked away in the quiet mountain town of Park City, Utah, the Sundance Film Festival showcases some of the best in independent films every year. While the commercialization of the films is certainly an issue, the quality of work is still better than most Hollywood fare.
On my first trip to Park City, I took in five films. Some you will see at theaters near you, others you might have to search harder to find.
"The Illusionist" - Starring Edward Norton and Paul Giamatti, this seemed like a sure bet. The film follows the world's greatest illusionist (Norton) as he rises to fame in 1900s Vienna. Unfortunately, he loves a woman (Jessica Biel) set to marry the prince, and Chief Inspector Uhl (Giamatti) - a patsy of the Prince - also stands in the way. Based on a short story, this film has a lot going for it with great acting, music and set design. The magic is also quite spectacular and a pleasure to watch. However, it becomes a paint-by-numbers thriller during the last quarter, with twists that will either leave you scratching your head or yawning on your way to the door.
"Subject Two" - This super low-budget horror film features a doctor who keeps killing his assistant and bringing him back to life. The assistant loses much of his mental capacity but gains super strength. This movie really sucks. I hope you never have to see it.
"Little Miss Sunshine" - This dark comedy, which was the biggest sale of the festival ($10 million), has a great ensemble cast featuring Steve Carell, Greg Kinnear and Toni Collette, and a great set-up - a family with all kinds of issues has to travel across the country in a VW Bus to take the 7-year-old daughter to a beauty pageant in California. First-time feature directors Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris struggle to keep the reins on the film, with many unique characters they could have explored. The laughs don't come nearly enough, as this is more tragedy than comedy. It's still worth seeing, but just barely.
"Destricted" - One of the most talked-about films at the festival, this collection of short films about pornography and art is wild to say the least. It begins with Matthew Barney's ("Cremaster Cycle") piece, which features a man having sex with a huge truck. Later we see Larry Clark's ("Kids") documentary about young men who reply to a casting call looking for wannabe porn stars. Clark then picks one of the guys and makes him a porn star for a brief period on a couch. Let's not forget Gasper Noe's ("Irreversible") "We Fuck Alone" - which is shown entirely with strobe effect. A diverse group of artists means most of these shorts are interesting, but there's not much brilliant insight.
"The Science of Sleep" - As the only film I thought I had to see at Sundance, Michel Gondry's third feature sure lived up to all the hype I created. In the film, said to be autobiographical, Stephane (Gael Garcia Bernal) has an intense dream world and has trouble separating dream from reality. An awful job, a passion for invention and his new love for neighbor Stephanie provide most of the punch for his magnificent dreams, where Gondry really translates his extensive music-video catalogue to the big screen. Full of humor, color and stop-motion animation, the film is a flawed masterpiece, with Gondry only occasionally getting carried away or repeating himself. Still, it will probably be my favorite film this year. Unfortunately, it's only February.