July 12th, 2007 11:39:00
Director Peter Koller will be here

On Evil Ground, en présence du réalisateur Peter Koller

Ghosts of Cité Soleil, présenté à 19h45 au Théâtre Hall

Here are some films not to be missed today:

Stalker is structured as a metaphysical “road movie” that explores philosophical questions about the relationship between art and science, and the place of faith in an increasingly secular and materialistic world. Stalker has little of the usual science-fiction trappings, and is more interested in the sociological implications of advanced technology, in this case in the context of the rigid Communist politics and bureaucracy that existed behind the Iron Curtain. Seen from today’s perspective, it is also one of the first films to treat the toll of materialism and over 40 years of Soviet Communism on the environment. Seeing Stalker on 35mm is a rarity which should not be missed, largely because Tarkovsky’s subtle aesthetic manipulations of sound and image -- the ambient electronic music and sound effects, shifts in colour, tone, light and movement -- can only be really appreciated on film. One thing is certain -- if you enter the Zone with all of your senses primed and ready, you will be rewarded with a mesmerizing, meditative, trance-inducing experience.

On first blush, it appears as though Koller’s feature is merely the latest in the current rush of low-budget, shot-on-DV survival horror films aiming for nothing more than to push the boundaries of good taste as far as is humanly possible. Give it a moment, however, and you’ll find that Koller is aiming for something vastly more entertaining and ambitious. Scratch beneath the surface and On Evil Ground exposes itself as a blacker-than-pitch parody of the survivalist genre, one that laces its copious violence with an edge as much Tex Avery as Hostel. And while, yes, Koller does indeed shoot on DV, he is one of a growing number of young talents with the goods to prove that in the right hands, DV is every bit as visually compelling a medium as is film –- blood has seldom looked so good. Director Peter Koller will be here for the North American premiere.

Ghosts of Cité Soleil This provocative documentary gives an unprecedented close-up look at the chimères (ghosts), gangs of gun-toting, doped up, nothing-to-lose thugs in Haiti’s ultra-violent slum Cité Soleil, designated by the United Nations as the most dangerous place in the world. A tough, shocking film, but also a hauntingly intimate and truthful one.

A Bloody Aria One of this year’s key Asian film discoveries, this bold, brilliant and wholly unconventional thriller is quite possibly the best thing to break out of South Korea since Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance and Memories Of Murder. Writer/director Won Shin-Yeon frequently establishes seemingly traditional scenarios within various genres, from crime film and neo-noir to Calvaire-like backwoods horror, faking his audience out into the comfort of familiarity in order to tear into entirely unexpected directions that never cease to amaze. North American premiere