Urban Artistic Vibrancy & Historical Vision: The Independent Film Festival Boston 2011 - Feature
Speeding in tandem, the train invariably runs through a series of names undeniable to higher learning. Stops along the MTBA in Boston speak to the highest echelons of education from Harvard to MIT. Watching the different students make their way to and from the cars, studying and pondering their lives, gives an insight into the next generation dealing with the current national crisis and beyond.
Arriving at Davis Station emerging into Somerville just outside Boston, the aspect of college life around Tufts University resigns itself in a very different way to the annals of Downtown Boston where schools like Suffolk and Emerson surrounded by the pedigree of history take on a more somber tone.
Hidden within this structure just into the fresh air is the main theater point for the Independent Film Festival Boston. The fest, in its 9th year, takes a more community-based approach to its texture. Unlike many festivals, it skews purely to the films and filmmakers, not indulging in the blistering visage on honorees or overdone parties. Both aspects can be interesting in their own way but this balance against allows for the movies to stand on their own.While the movies experienced were diverse and intriguing, almost all decidedly have distribution of some sort which makes a bit of its independent pedigree slightly misleading.
The first film, the documentary "Superheroes" (which was picked up by HBO) focuses on the psychological progression of certain people who take on the aspect of real life crime fighters and outreach. While aspects of Comic Con and dress-up undeniably come into the discussion, the notion becomes one of elevation. Some of the characters (like Master Legend out of Orlando) have comedic repercussions which provide levity in the film while a group of activists in Brooklyn and Bed-Stuy takes a little more proactive approach almost to the point of entrapping criminals to provide their own idealization of justice. The diametric perceptions of this is what gives the film its depth.
"El Bulli: Cooking In Progress" by comparison is a little more homegrown but no less eccentric. It follows the team behind this famous coastal restaurant in Spain where the approach resides in molecular gastronomy. While culinary diatribes can be a dime a dozen, what makes the element that transpires here interesting is the unfettered humor at times between the owner [Ferran Adria] who tastes every dish and his head chefs. From the anger of wanting the notes on computer instead of on paper to the minute changes to dishes like switching tangerines and oils with elements of dried ice optimizing liquid nitrogen, the film provides a dynamic (if not a little humorous progression) of a highly anticipated venue from the inside without a view of beyond.
"Sons Of Perdition", the best film seen at the festival, doesn't overdo the resolute nature of its subjects but instead almost brings the filmmakers into the idea of what it means to be involved, not internationally but here on America's home soil. The story follows a polygamist movement in Colorado City, Arizona where a fundamental sect of Latter Day Saints live and are controlled by Warren Jeffs, a millionaire recently convicted of sexual charges who calls himself "The Prophet". What filmmaker Tyler Measom, himself formally a Mormon, is able to classify is a sense of life while showing the psychological effects that go on among children who try to escape and then are considered "exiled". The two boys at the center of the picture escape only to try in protracted regiments to get their mother and sisters out. The filmmaker's car becomes the getaway car of sorts really bringing the issue to focus of the hunter almost becoming the hunted. The film was picked up by Oprah Winfrey's OWN Network.The remaining two pictures seen were the only narrative elements in play seen. Both in essence have been picked up by Samuel Goldwyn Films. Their intentions could be none the more disimilar in terms of the subject matter but again the progression showed the dynamics of the festival.
"Terri" directed by Azazel Jacobs (who also had two of his previous films shown at this festival), creates almost a "Kids" coming of age story feeling but set in unnamed rural would-be suburbs. Its voice might have been that of an unnecessary vision, much like Sundance intention "Septien", but the performance of John C. Reilly as a wily yet unhinged assistant principal perfectly saves the idea. The whole theater reacted to his barely branded comedy with intense laughter turning what could have been an almost Harmony Korine-textured ode to high school glandular farcicity into a diatribe on the notion of personalities lost in limbo who never truly grow up.
"The Whistleblower", which has also been making the rounds at festivals, is a lot more esoteric and serious in its vision crafting out an exceptional thriller with some challenging subject material. The story follows a UN special investigator played by Rachel Weisz who, surrounded by a sea of internationally based groups (mostly men), must navigate a sea of cover-ups and lies in regards to girls being used in human trafficking schemes as prostitutes. The psychological approach of the situation is quite realistic in certain ways with the issues of denial and notions of safety playing into decisions dictating what is told as much by those not saying anything. The resolution is not feel good by any extension but shows the inherent expansion of Weisz's Oscar movement.
Key to the IFF Boston structure is The Liberty Hotel which played host to its Awards Night party. Encompassing itself within a national landmark and making a high-rated hotel out of a former prison (the Suffolk County jail) is a intentioned feat for sure, especially given weight that the architectural structure gives it an almost gothic feel. The atrium rises to a buttress-fueled arc which plummets with almost "Pirates"-inspired chandeliers that are both old school and oddly fitting. Sam Adams pours in candlelight offering dark crevices from which to discuss the day's films.Downstairs in the restaurant known as CLINK, the entire prison bars motif encircles the consumer yet pillars of light flow through the restaurant to a central core where Chef Joseph Montage prepares his fun and inherently New England cuisine. Because of the nature of the building, the preparing of the foods has to be done by electric induction with no open flames which offers a new challenge pursuing throughout the entire space.
Different ideas place the wants of hunger in place but quickly intensify the needs. The light grilled three cheese sandwich with vine ripened tomatoes simply melts in the mouth with a spike of taste while the spiral casarecci pasta surrounded in pesto with pine nuts and lemon allows for extra intention.
The seared sea scallops from Maine are an institution favorite but the rub is adding a central taste throttle using small bits of salmons and leeks with splashes of lemon thyme popping the ideal with a sense of freshness.
The lobster roll by comparison takes the idea in a completely alterior direction. While a conventional lobster roll will approach in preparation with the cold mixing placed within a caesar-type roll, Margate here places it almost on top of a crisp roll and butter boils the large piece of lobster surrounding them with tomatoes and a shot of spice.No matter what the perspective the one groove that Boston surely pervades, like parts of New York City, is a wonderful Asian cuisine, either in the purveys of the college town surrounding Tufts or in the neatly tucked Chinatown within the city.
Golden Light across from the Somerville Theater mixes an interesting notion of pork and ribs but with a mushroom fueled bite that when mixed with brown fried rice truly moves the energy with gusto.Meanwhile in the city just blocks away from the Stuart City Playhouse where the last night's screenings were held, the Chinatown street peppered with foreign symbols and bright signs beckons with welcome arms.
After wandering throughout the lonely alleys filled with foodies searching out that specific experience whether it be dumplings, dim sum or simple tea, the Quic Pic BBQ storefront just off the towering gate lures with its authentic Chinese old school demeanor which is indefinitely what endeared it. Picking a three combination as a chef's choice which included chicken quarters, crispy pork and roast chicken melded with a tattering of garlic and broccoli over fried rice accompanied with Chinese tea and a light soup, the inherent calm that permeated within the late night balanced undeniably.Wandering in vision the following day along Beacon Hill which rises in rich colors above the city bordering Boston Commons, the distinctly walkable city leads through different ideas of time.
For modern culture enthusiasts when one sees the "Cheers" sign, the opening theme of that seminal comedy show always comes to mind in the idea that it shows how Boston looked back in days of political upheaval. While the set bar is maintained on the above floor, the sub entrance is what the idea of the show is based on. The three producer/writers came here back in the early 80s and, after searching around the city, returned to the Bull & Finch Pub which it is still known as to the locals. The show-runners wanted a combination of watering hole where students and professionals alike drank beer and discussed the inherent conflicts of the day within a structure space.
Sitting down at the original bar, infinitely small and cozy, what seems to come through more specifically is the sense of multiple generations in play. Three hearty travelers recently in from Canada seeing a Red Sox game mingled with a couple older women out for a drink while a couple at the end of the bar quietly sipped their beers.
Cooling with the simmering of a Sam Adams Brick Red Ale, a tall coffee cup full of Ma Clavin's Clam Chowder soothed without overcoming its bordering beverage. Speaking out in cloves, the Burger Meister (billed as Sam Malone's all-time favorite) melted its taste with thick Muenster cheese and simmering mushrooms.
Moving in tandem to the water's edge where geese wrangle their young offspring, Cambridge beacons across the bridge, a short train ride away easily traversed from all sections from within the city's effective subway system.
Red Hat Pub, located just off Government Center near Suffolk University, again melds the idealogy of both student-based perspectives with that of working professionals. Speaking with the local bartender girl while drinking a cold Paulaner draft, the balance of life in the city continues to change with many of younger people moving outside the downtown area because of cost of living while still working in the center. This specific bar, half burned down in a fire more than a decade ago, has been standing for more than 100 years.
Looping around at the top of the Commons as the rain clouds gather overhead, a patch of green between the buildings makes itself known, a cluster of history meditating among the modern dwellings and offices.The Granary Burial Ground, established in the mid-1600s, offers the center that permeated the history of the United States in the visage of Boston. Within this sloping area lies the graves of Samuel Adams (the son of the initial brewer and a political activist), John Hancock (whose signature graces both the Constitution and the Declaration Of Independence) and Paul Revere (who infamously ran through the city to announce the onslaught of the British). Standing in context to their final resting place, the depth of importance of Boston to the backbone of the country becomes undeniably apparent.
The Back Bay Hotel, a stone's throw away from this heart, functions as both refuge and easy avenue. While situated more within a financial area, both the subway and commuter train stations are less than 2 blocks away. The intimate yet trendy entrance and soft but slick colors gives a sense of calms while the rooms, spacious and quick with Wi-Fi, possess luscious comfortable beds that make one disappear into the night.
The Boston Duck Tour as a matter of course distinctifies a mention because their existence helps encapsulate the city with a bit of fun and rhetoric. The aforementioned burial ground, like other aspects in the city (including a burrito restaurant that was the birthplace of Edgar Allen Poe), would never have been known except for the intrinsic local guides who point out both the cultural phenomenon as well as the little known facts that make for exploring the city on your own that much more rich.
Boston, rich with history and a knowledge of its intent, resounds greatly since it knows how to exist within its own virtuosity. With a great amount of arts outlets like the Independent Film Festival Boston and countless others, the city balances its ideal of great outlays with both a sense of fun and a culinary consistency comparable to any on the East Coast.