It's a Bitter Little World

One of the best SF festivals is the Noir City Film Festival held each January at the Castro Theatre. This year's festival featured Noir Films from around the world; Europe, Latin America, and Japan. I missed opening weekend because I was in Los Angeles, and I was unable to view the original production of  Brighton Rock since I had a scheduled performance with my dance troupe. I was able to catch 2 double features on Friday and Saturday. So of course I adorned myself in 1930s true vintage attire and transformed into a femme fatale that was often the central character is noir cinema.

Friday's films were El Vampiro Negro and Le Sailare de la Peur. Both films were very well made. I was impressed with Vampiro's cinematography with its sharp lines and downcast shadows. The music enhanced the melodramatic atmosphere. The acting wasn't too over the top as most low budget noir films had been during its hey day. Le Sailare was a stark contrast. This film was indeed, suspenseful but I saw no elements of noir. In fact, more often than not, the mood was lighthearted. What I enjoyed, though, was the actors' abilities to code switch between four languages; English, French, Spanish and Italian. I'm fluent in English and Spanish with a good knowledge of Italian. I felt dizzy at times as I was trying to adjust to the abrupt code switching. The film also appeared to be a bit anti-American with its tongue-in-cheek reference to the U.S. obsession with oil (apparently it's something that has always been and will always be an issue). I laughed it off since I agreed with most of the sentiments. Apparently everyone in the audience did, too. 

The Outfit

Saturday's bill was two French films; Duex Hommes dans Manhattan and Du Rififi Chez Le Hommes. Both films were very well made. Duex Hommes brought some memories of my times spent in New York; usually spent roaming the streets at night because that's when you see real life in NY. That life was well represented on screen. Rififi is a heist film. It reminded me so much of The Asphalt Jungle and Heat; the organization,  implementation, and the aftermath of a successful heist. The best scene was the actual heist; 30 minutes without dialog or music which added to the suspense. Like Le Sailare, some actors code-switched between French and Italian so it was nice to hear some dialog without having to rely on subtitles.

I loved my hair; a la Rita Hayworth

After the showcase, I met with a friend (and fellow dance troupe member) where we discussed noir fiction. I'm a longtime fan of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy, and I've read all their novels. I'm looking into other authors and found a Gil Brewer pulp anthology. I never heard of him but I purchased it anyway based solely on the title Redheads Die Quickly. My friend also bought a copy. We had a good laugh since we're redheads (though she's a natural blonde and I'm a brunette). I also purchased a small book for my coffee table. A small book comprised of the greatest quotes in film noir cinema.

Though the festival lasted a mere 10 days, there is always a noir feature throughout the year. This Sunday will be a Rita Hayworth double feature: The Lady from Shanghai and one of my all time favorite Rita films, Gilda.