First things first: Don’t give up on the rush line. Just because a movie at the Hamptons International Film Festival looks like it’s sold out doesn’t mean you can’t line up early for the rush line and try your work. HIFF staff assures me that it’s worth the effort, though tickets for several of the films screening at the Playhouse this weekend remain available, and let me tell you: They’re worth your time.
As usual, HIFF programmer David Nugent and his team have done a terrific job of curating many of the best films from the festival circuit alongside some genuine discoveries. The 172 films in the 34th edition of the festival include many of the buzzier fall titles, several of which screened earlier this week and will come to the Playhouse later this year, including I Play Rocky and Wild Horse Nine. This weekend, though, the Playhouse hosts a lovely blend of major filmmakers, substantial documentaries, and cinematic feats that capture the essence of the festival’s unique identity. Read on for 10 highlights and browse the full set of offerings at the Playhouse here.
A few years after his Oscar-nominated Pain and Glory, director Pedro Almodóvar returns with another enthralling look at the therapeutic power of art and cinema. Here, the reigning king of Spanish cinema follows a writer-director who imagines the story of a young filmmaker and her supportive boyfriend. Shifting between the movie and movie-within-a-movie, Almodóvar probes the deeply personal subject of how much one can use real life to inspire the stories we tell. (Saturday, October 10 at 5PM)
Two years after his acclaimed comedy A Real Pain, Jesse Eisenberg returns to the directing chair for a playful and unpredictable ode to community theater, with a top-notch performance by Julianne Moore at its center. Moore plays bored New Jersey housewife Mona, who gradually discovers her second calling when she’s cast in a local musical by an eccentric theater director (Paul Giamatti). As Mona gradually becomes more invested in her performance, Moore delivers an acting class of her own, evolving from hesitant recluse to liberated artisan right down to the thrilling climax. Loaded with hilarious songs and a charming affection for the camaraderie of theater life, The Debut is one of the year’s most satisfying crowdpleasers. Eisenberg first teased the project to Playhouse audiences when he visited us with Moore last summer, and we’re pleased to welcome them back to our screens. (Saturday, October 10 at 2 p.m. and 2:15PM, introduced by Jesse Eisenberg)
The Hamptons International Film Festival and the Playhouse join forces this year to co-present the first-ever U.S. screening of the new documentary Everest: The Other Side in IMAX — the ideal format to experience this gripping new achievement from the Oscar-winning directors of Free Solo. The movie follows the efforts of daring mountain skier Jim Morrison as he mounts an ambitious attempt to scale Mount Everest and ski back down. As with Free Solo, filmmakers Jimmy Chin and Chai Vaserhelyi explore both the astonishing physical dimension of this athletic feat as well as the psychology driving it. If you enjoyed seeing The Odyssey in IMAX, wait until you experience Everest on a floor-to-ceiling screen that brings the daunting scale of the mountain in the spectacular context it deserves. (Thursday, October 8 at 5 p.m., Q&A with producer Anna Barnes; Saturday, October 10 at 11:30 a.m., preceded by a free talk with IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond at 10 a.m.)
There have been several first-rate animated movies this year, but none with the intimacy and handmade charm of Iron Boy. Directed by former Pixar animator Louis Clichy (who also co-directed two Asterix movies), this French-Belgian production follows the plight of an 11-year-old boy whose rural life gets complicated by the onset of sclerosis, which forces him to wear an iron brace. Ostracized and uncomfortable, the poor kid gradually learns to take control of his surroundings and help his family survive their perilous life on the farm. A quietly moving and bittersweet coming-of-age story with visual ingenuity to spare, Iron Boy is the festival’s ultimate all-ages treat. (Sunday, October 11 at 3 p.m.)
One of the genuine surprises to emerge out of this year’s Cannes Film Festival, A Man of His Time follows the experiences of an idealistic conservative man who comes to Vichy France and gradually discovers the horrors of Nazi Germany. Partly inspired by director Emmanuel Marre’s great-grandfather and his similarly unsettling experiences as a civil servant, A Man of His Time explores what it means to come to terms with fascism from the inside out, rooted in a complex performance by Henri Marre (Anatomy of a Fall) at its center. (October 11 at 8:15 p.m.)
Ubiquitous character actor Richard Kind takes on a leading role in this local comedy, screening as part of HIFF’s Views From Long Island section. As a lifelong ad man forced out of his job by younger generations, Kind plays a committed entrepreneur keen on getting his groove back, by joining forces with the other senior citizens in the Hamptons to start an ambitious new business. The rest of the cast includes Sound of Metal Oscar nominee Paul Raci as well as WLIW radio host Ed German, whose portraits of jazz artists are currently on display in our lounge. (Saturday, August 10 at 11:30 a.m.)
The Oldest Person in the World
Documentarian Sam Green follows up his masterful 32 Sounds with The Oldest Person in the World, a charming and soulful look at supercentenarians. Green’s movie oscillates between interviews with many of the oldest people in the world and personal reflections about the confrontations with mortality in his own life, which includes a cancer diagnosis, family tragedy, and the birth of his young child. It’s a sensational portrait of what it means to keep living in the moment, regardless of what the future might provide, and a repudiation to more superficial pursuits. Elderly people are sacred beings, Green argues, and his lovely movie shows us exactly why. (Sunday, October 11 at 8:30 p.m.)
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York
Another veteran actor returning to the Playhouse this year, John Turturro delivers one of his finest performances in this engrossing low-key drama about an aging pickpocket who gets in over his head. Despite the digitization of his profession by hackers, Turturro’s streetwise hustler Harry remains committed to his craft — until he accidentally steals a precious object that endangers his future. With equally fine-tuned performances from Steve Buscemi and Giancarlo Esposito (the latter as an equally jaded NYC detective), The Only Living Pickpocket in New York recaptures the economical storytelling qualities of ‘90s indie cinema at its best. Turturro has inexplicably never been nominated for an Oscar, but this winning performance is poised to change that. (Sunday, October 11 at 5:30 and 5:45)
Over the past two decades, indoor cycling has gone from a basic exercise routine to a global phenomenon, in large part due to a handful of companies jockeying for domination. This informative documentary from Philip Bryon breaks down the chaotic timeline of the cycling industry, from the arrival of SoulCycle on the Upper West Side to the fierce competition from FlyWheel and Peloton. While spin may have helped millions of people stay in shape, working at these companies was a different story, as Spin Wars follows the corporate drama and toxicity that caused the entire industry to collapse in on itself. Anyone who swears by spin or has wondered what the craze is all about will learn a lot from director Philip Bryon’s documentary, which features talking heads ranging from Katie Couric to Heather MacMahon. “Who won the spin wars?” one subject asks. You’ll have to see the movie to find out. (Saturday, October 10 at 5:45 p.m. with a Q&A to follow)
Earlier this year, the Playhouse celebrated classic comedies with a screening of Young Frankenstein to mark the 100th birthday of Mel Brooks. Now it’s time to salute its star: Veteran documentarian Chris Smith (American Movie, Jim & Andy: The Great Beyond) explores the rise of eccentric and lovable comic actor Gene Wilder largely in his own words, tracking the evolution of memorable performances in several Brooks movies (also including The Producers and Blazing Saddles) as well as his kooky turn in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The movie tracks Wilder’s brilliance alongside the toll that his creativity took on his personal life, putting his devotion to the craft in a whole new context — and creating all kinds of great excuses to revisit his movies in the process. (Saturday, October 10 at 8:15 p.m.)