AFI Festival showcases upcoming films

Each fall marks a drastic change for the film industry, a movement away from a summer inundated with action and effects-heavy blockbusters to a much more intimate awards season throughout the winter. To mark this transition is the crescendo of the film festival schedule, culminating in nearby Hollywood with the AFI Fest. On any given year, this three-month span is hectic, but often the industry’s most shining moment. This festival season, in particular, is perhaps the strongest in recent memory.

 

Though audiences are lucky to view a handful of award-worthy films most years, this fall’s and winter’s offerings, based on an overwhelmingly positive critical response, seem to push that count upwards of 10 or 15. As a result, AFI Fest, an event already famed for its trademark glamorization of Hollywood, was escalated to the nth degree. The film festival already prides itself on screening only the ‘creme de la creme’ of the cinematic year, and AFI Fest 2013 featured a nearly unprecedented eight gala premieres, which headlined an equally prestigious full schedule.

This year’s festival began with the North American premiere of Saving Mr. Banks, a love letter to Hollywood from Walt Disney Pictures, dramatizing author P.L. Travers’ resistance to a cinematic adaption of her popular children’s book, Mary Poppins. Starring Tom Hanks as the legendary Walt Disney and Emma Thompson as the begrudging Travers, the John Lee Hancock-directed drama possesses a special connection to its AFI Fest venue. The TCL Chinese Theatre (formerly known as the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre) housed the premiere of Mary Poppins nearly 50 years prior and with its screening in the same theater, Saving Mr. Banks completes an unprecedented cinematic journey for the practically perfect nanny. The journey was acknowledged by AFI with a special restored showing of the classic Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke musical over the weekend.

Though AFI Fest is known for its aggrandizement of Hollywood — with the opening night anchored by Saving Mr. Banks certainly perpetuating that tradition — the remainder of the festival couldn’t have been a more diverse, eclectic presentation of the cinematic year’s excellence. Other galas included The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the Ben Stiller dramedy based on the perennial James Thurber short story of the same title, and Inside Llewyn Davis, the Coen Brothers’ latest work fictionalizing the Manhattan folk music scene during the 1960s. These two films depict the festival’s desire to not only showcase glamorous works, but also pieces that tackle varying, untraditional themes.

Of course, the gala premieres only comprise a very small portion of the festival, the full slate of which is made up of nearly 120 films (83 feature length) from more than 40 countries. Some highlights include Spike Jonze’s Her, a masterpiece meditation on love, what it means to be human and the future of society’s relationship with technology. This romance stars Joaquin Phoenix as Theodore Twombly, a socially inept writer who falls in love with his Siri-like operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson. The film drew incredible praise following its Wednesday night screening at the Egyptian Theatre after which Jonze thanked the audience with an extended Q&A session. Hayao Miyazaki’s last film, The Wind Rises, and the Cannes Jury Prize winner from Japan, Like Father, Like Son, both screened as part of the festival’s World Cinema section.

But the main highlight of the fest was AFI Fest’s recognition of Oscar-nominated director David O. Russell in a special tribute at the historic Egyptian Theatre. In an almost two-hour discussion about his filmography, his career thus far and his influences, AFI honored Russell with its grandest accolade, a favor he returned by screening footage from his newest work.

Though not the most recognizable name in Hollywood, at least to the mainstream public, Russell has cemented his place as one of the industry’s most unique and honest filmmakers. For the early portion of his career, Russell had been highly successful in the independent realm, though he had not reached the caliber he is operating at today.

Russell took a six-year hiatus after directing his self-proclaimed weakest film, I Heart Huckabees, but eventually made a triumphant return to cinema with The Fighter. And it was this boxing drama, an adaptation of the true underdog story of Boston’s Micky Ward, which changed everything for Russell, winning seven Academy Award nominations. Reflecting on his career, Russell said that with The Fighter, he finally discovered the “type of movie he wanted to make.” It was not only a turning point within himself, but also one for his perception among his peers and audiences.

Upon completing the even more successful Silver Linings Playbook, a recipient of eight Oscar nods, Russell was no longer a merely talented filmmaker — he was now a member of Hollywood elite. And to conclude Russell’s pseudo-trilogy of brilliant cinema is this winter’s American Hustle. Though it has yet to premiere, it’s already generating buzz for film of the year in the minds of many critics and industry professionals. Not only does it feature Russell in a rare, almost untouchable form, but it is also set to showcase performances from Hollywood’s most prestigious actors (Christian Bale, Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Bradley Cooper, Robert de Niro and Jeremy Renner). The story involves the true life events of a con man working with an FBI agent during the late ’70s and early ’80s.

When speaking about the film during the tribute, there was a sense among Russell and his colleagues that they had created something special; that despite many accolades with his last two films, 2014 will be the year that Russell finally breaks through and sweeps the awards circuit. Based on the highly successful trailers and the opening six minutes, which Russell revealed publicly at the AFI Fest tribute, American Hustle looks like a triumph. The opening sequence is a distinctly period film, yet features an electricity and an honest heart that Russell has learned to master. It is an excellent establishment of character in which Russell takes the actor almost all moviegoers associated with Batman, Bale, and deconstructs his persona into an entirely different entity.

Despite not holding a premiere or screening at the festival, Russell made his presence known at AFI Fest. With a candid conversation and screening of the first American Hustle footage, he reaffirmed his position in this year’s awards race. Though the first months of fall have been particularly strong in terms of praiseworthy films, this cinematic year is Russell’s for the taking.

It can certainly be said that AFI Fest saves the “best for last,” being that it is the final major film festival of the year. The 2013 offering was the perfect ending to an incredible season of filmmaking and a promising prelude to what should be a very exciting awards competition.