The 59th Chicago International Film Festival is coming to a close, and before the final credits roll, there remain a few great days of film screenings left to catch. Our critics break down the last few films worth seeking out.
Infested
Blending elements of Attack the Block and Arachnophobia, the feature debut from director Sébastien Vaniček, Infested, is set almost entirely within the confines of an apartment building in the Paris suburbs where small-time grifter Kaleb makes his living selling sneakers to the other building residents. Most of the money he earns goes into collecting exotic animals, including a rare large spider he finds for sale in the backroom of a neighborhood shop. He throws the spider into one of his shoe boxes, but by the time he goes to put it in a habitat, it has escaped into his room, sending everyone in the apartment scurrying in fear or eager to re-capture it. But this particular breed of spider does two notable things: it reproduces in a matter of minutes, and each new generation of spider gets exponentially bigger than the last. Before long, the entire building is swarming with highly venomous spiders of all sizes, spinning webs that can capture pretty much anything, including humans. Kaleb and his friends attempt to find a way out of the building, but the police and animal control have the entire place locked down until they can bomb it with chemicals that will also likely kill the humans left inside.
This is among the best films I saw this year at Fantastic Fest, and it’s easily one of the creepiest, jump-inducing scare films I’ve seen in ages. But it also has something to say about the backdrop of this poverty-stricken but still tight-knit community, one which authorities feels it’s okay to wipe off the map. You will squirm, scream, and generally be weirded out by Infested, and when you see a spider pop out of a small space and crawl up someone’s arm, you’ll feeling those little legs going right up your arm as well. The film and its maker are absolutely the real deal. Vaniček knows how to hold us in suspense as much as he has the ability to have us screaming and running for the exits. It’s time to face your spider fears and meet this terrifying work head on. I can’t wait to see what this talented filmmaker has in store for us next. (Steve Prokopy)
The film screens on Saturday, Oct. 21, 10:30pm at AMC NEWCITY, and Sunday, Oct. 22, 1:30pm at AMC NEWCITY.
The Promised Land
Mads Mikkelsen re-teams with his A Royal Affair director Nikolaj Arcel for The Promised Land, a harrowing and sometimes overdramatic recounting of Dutch settler Ludvig von Kahlen’s (Mikkelsen) efforts to cultivate the country’s hinterlands in the 18th century. The bastard son of a housemaid, von Kahlen rose through the ranks in war, and afterwards, he approaches the King’s advisers for permission (and money) with an idea to build his fortune by settling the Jutland Heath, an area until then believed to be impossible to farm. What follows is two hours of incredible hardship as he and two runaway servants, Ann Barbara (Amanda Collin) and Johannes (Morten Hee Andersen) begin their against-the-odds work. It’s made all the more complicated when a local, villainous landowner, Frederik De Schinkel (Simon Bennebjerg) decides that land is not von Kahlen’s to settle.
Mikkelsen broods and grunts for two-plus hours, and honestly, it never gets old; he’s strong and determined, and he (per usual) holds our attention throughout. Which is especially important when De Schinkel (a sort of Matt Smith look-alike) devolves into something like a comic book villain with his torturous, over-the-top ways. Also enjoyable is the relationship forged between von Kahlen and Ann Barbara, who endures the hardest days alongside her employer and his new charge, a Romani orphan named Anmai Mus (Hagberg Melina). It’s all filmed with a lush, indulgent hand, a true big-budget period piece, its own sort of refreshing in a land of low-budget indies and franchise reboots. (Lisa Trifone)
The Promised Land screens Saturday, Oct. 21, at 5:30pm at the Siskel Film Center.
They Shot the Piano Player
Breaking some new ground in the world of documentary, directors Fernando Trueba and Javier Mariscal (Chico and Rita) once again use animation to tell the tale of New York journalist Jeff Harris (voiced by Jeff Goldblum) who hears the piano part in a piece of Brazilian jazz and immediately becomes obsessed with finding out who the largely unrecorded player, Tenorio Jr., is and why he’s never heard of the musician. Harris’ journey of discovery takes him to Brazil and Argentina, and They Shot the Piano Player (which is a spoilery title, if ever there was one) jumps back and forth between the journalist’s frustrating and enlightening investigation and flashbacks to the heyday of the Bossa Nova music scene of the 1960s and ’70s.
There are interviews with legends like Gilberto Gil and João Gilberto, all of which are animated in vibrant colors that really bring to life the period and scene. The film also isn’t afraid to get into the local politics of the time to show that music and other creative arts were frequently an impactful form of expression and innovative thought, making the totalitarian regimes on the rise see them as threats and caused many a freedom fighter to simply vanish. It’s a remarkable way to tell such a complex story, but the music and visual bravado pulls us through beautifully. Even Goldblum’s vocal performance is appropriately understated, and the use of animation to put us in the rooms with these incredible musicians is a gift. A certain knowledge of Latin American politics would have probably helped keep a few things straight, but it’s a stunning achievement no matter how much you know going in. (Steve Prokopy)
The film screens Saturday, Oct. 21, 2:45pm at AMC NEWCITY.
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