By 
By Roger Costa
TO DUST
Following up his breakthrough performance in the Oscar-winning film “Son of Saul”, Hungarian actor Géza Röhrig makes his English-speaking feature debut in this charming, wisely macabre family dramedy directed by Shawn Snyder. Creating a complex character who’s brilliantly crossing the line between tragedy, desperation and comic relief, Röhrig gives a funny, moving and impressive performance, developing a direct connection with the audience. He plays Shmuel, a Hasidic cantor coping with his wife’s death, while trying to keep up with his fatherhood-duties. Haunted by a series of nightmares, he seeks a biologist professor for help in order to figure out the content of these messages, which he believes are coming from his dead wife’s restless soul. When he confesses his ideas to his children, they reply “that’s not Jewish!”, confirming the man’s desperate actions as he struggles to set his mind, and her spirit, at peace. First-time director Shawn Snyder proves preciseness and accuracy with the material, blending delicate and horror-like spiritual elements into a double examination of male bonds: Shmuel and the professor Naftali; and the widower and his two sons. The first is an affecting and weirdly smart look at a seemingly impossible buddy connection between a man whose faith and wisdom are being tested, and another who demonstrates negligence to those; the second, and most effective, is the relationship of father and sons, utterly touching and reflective; as he worries about keeping his children safe, the kids smartly intervene to keep dad strong. Winner of the prestigious Audience Award at last year’s Tribeca Film Festival, Snyder’s debut is a bitter-sweet, morbidly wise, feel-good story about family treasures and redemption. (Good Deed Entertainment. 2/8. Village East Cinemas.)
PIG
Incredibly smart and highly entertaining, Award-winning director Mani Haghighi’s seventh feature is a dark comedy filled with eccentric personas such as obsessed filmmakers, radical artists, a famine serial killer, and faithfully fanatic fans. A satire to the industry, the film accompanies Hasan, a movie director in crisis as he’s been blacklisted and censored, making things impossible for his next project. As his colleagues leave him for another production under the direction of his rival, mysterious killings are taking place around town, targeting filmmakers involved in political conflicts. Internationally renowned actress Leila Hatami (who starred in the Oscar-winning court-drama “A Separation”) plays a venerable high-profile actress, a definitive contemporary muse. Through sharp dialogue and controversial cynical/slapstick situations, blending social commentary, comic and horror elements to address the troubles and dangers faced by determined artists, Haghighi crafts a freshly bizarre, gore-infested and outrageously funny take on the indie-Hollywood-like Iranian industry. (Daricheh Cinema. 2/7 IFC Films NYC. 2/15 Laemmle Theater LA.)
Comments