V –0 08 - Rehoboth Beach Film Society

feaTure films
36
An unlikely superhero emerges from the streets of Santiago
to fight crime in this thrill ride that’s often funny and always
action-packed. Meet Marko zaror, Chile’s first martial arts
icon. He has the quickness of Jackie Chan, the fighting skill
of Jet Li and the physical prowess of The Rock (for whom
he served as stunt double). In this, his second feature, he
plays Maco, a strip club bouncer by day, aspiring martial
artist by night. On his walk home one night, Maco prevents
an attempted rape. At first, he doesn’t think twice about
the event. But when the news clip of him saving the woman
revitalizes his previously traumatized brother, he decides to
become a superhero complete with an alternate persona in
the hopes of once again inspiring his sibling. Director Ernesto
Hallam Foe (Jamie Bell, Billy Elliot) is a loner and a dreamer
with voyeuristic tendencies and an apparent Oedipus complex.
unable to deal with his stepmother, who he believes murdered
his mother, he runs away to Glasgow. Following a beautiful
woman -- who bears a striking resemblance to his mother -- to
the downtown hotel where she works, he talks his way into a job
as a dishwasher. With nowhere to go, he squats in the hotel’s
clock tower, which allows him a bird’s-eye view of the city and
the apartment belonging to his object of affection. Improbably,
a round of drinks on his birthday lands him a shot with the girl
of his dreams, but that’s just the beginning of a film whose
trajectory is completely unpredictable. Hallam Foe is one of the
most memorable and disarmingly likable, troubled outsiders to
mIrageman
Best Film Austin Fantastic Film Festival
THuRS NOV 6 12:15 PM-1:50 PM
SAT NOV 8 5:20 PM-6:55 PM
SPONSORED BY: DOGFISH HEAD CRAFT BREWED ALES
*This film is part of the Latin American Cinema Now sidebar
Diaz Espinoza -- a childhood friend of zaror’s -- injects a
strong sense of craft into what could otherwise be a standard
issue action flick. using long takes and the freedom of a
handheld camera, he applies the aesthetics of French New
Wave cinema to Maco’s superhero misadventures, and the
results are hilarious and exciting. zaror as the brawn and
Espinoza as the brains prove once and for all that it doesn’t
take a big budget or a 50-man stunt team to kick butt and
take names and have some fun along the way.
[Dir. Ernesto Diaz Espinoza, 2007, chile, video, 90 mins. in
Spanish with English subtitles]
mIster foe
(hallam foe)
Independent Jury Prize Berlinale
THuRS NOV 6 12:00 PM-1:40 PM
FRI NOV 7 10:30 AM-12:10 PM
SAT NOV 8 10:00 AM-11:40 AM
hit screens in some time, and Jamie Bell delivers a tour de force
performance. Hallam’s demons are close to the surface, and
some of his behavior is indefensible, but somehow it’s always
clear that he is harmless and as sympathy-worthy as a wounded
animal. The film’s stormy exuberance and youthful sense
of desperation is irresistible, but an infectious humor keeps
the movie light. The fantastic, jangly indie rock soundtrack is
another highlight of this seductive tale of late adolescence.
[Dir. David Mackenzie, 2007, Uk, 35mm, 95 mins.]
Website: http://www.thefilmfactory.co.uk/hallamfoe/