Unmistaken Child (Israel) - the official description teases you with the question, "Ever wonder how reincarnations of deceased Buddhist masters are found and recognized?" I answered, "yes, as a matter of fact I have" and got myself to the press screening. And it basically it delivers following along as a silent observer during a Nepalese monk's search for the reincarnation of Geshe Lama Konchog. It's not a super fast moving documentary, but it does give a rather interesting view of the proceedings. It definitely raised some questions for me, which of course will have to wait until I'm past the festival to think more about. :-)
In Your Absence (Spain) - Pablo is a fatherless child wandering the countryside for the day when he meets a stranger whose car has broken down. Colorful back drops frame this rest of the movie as we learn about him, the gossipy small town folk, and various secrets of both. Interesting, but another film shooting for emotional impact that didn't quite have the intended result on me. Even foul play befalling a dog (though admittedly not as cute as the one in Tetro) didn't get a rise out of me. I may just be becoming numb - or could be the film. Beautiful to look at though.
Cold Souls (USA) - is our soul the divine spark that makes life special or something holding us back. Paul Giamatti plays "himself" as a an actor struggling with a role who decides to try a "soul storage service" he reads about in The New Yorker. Part comedy (what self respecting New Yorker would want his soul stored in Jersey, even if there was a tax break), part drama, part Kaufmann-esque wackiness it's aspirations are broad. I don't think it kills in any one category (for example not as though I laughed non-stop) but I enjoyed the mix enough to recommend it. If nothing else the stage performance Giamatti gives of the same role with and without soul are very entertaining. I've heard differing opinions, but I definitely liked it. They even managed to do an entire film about having one's soul removed without throwing in a single lawyer joke. If nothing else you've got to respect the self control.
No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti (Taiwan) - yes, the film is from Taiwan even though the title is Spanish. No, I couldn't explain why. This black and white, based on a true story tale is about a poor father raising his daughter alone and then fighting a bureaucracy to keep her (and out of the social services system). It was my fifth film of the day and therefore a little hard to judge fairly (especially as it started late due to run over from Tetro's Q&A). That said, I thought it was interesting and well put together, though it won't be one of the standouts for me this year.
Still thinking about Tetro - notes on that to follow later...
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