A brief day at the NYAFF and rethinking An Inaccurate Memoir

Doing his first introductory duties David Powers

I'll be posting a report on yesterday soon, but for now a quick word on today's single film trip.

I joking tweeted that the guys at Subway Cinema  have to stop calling in the oppressive heat because once again, as it always seems there has been a killer stretch of high heat and humidity. Its bad, but I guess its good for business.

When I got to the Walter Reade there was a line forming. I met up with the lovely Lee, who I normally cross paths with at the Japan Society. She and her friend have been doing the festival big time, pretty much seeing everything. Lee being the friendly soul she is soon had everyone talking about what they've seen, what they liked and the festival in general. There was also some discussion on how to actually win a prize.

The movie today was An Inaccurate Memoir which I reviewed last May, sans subtitles.(my review is here). The film blew me away. I know that because I had seen it without any English I did as much reading as I could. And so I had or thought I had a pretty good idea of what the film was about- a Chinese soldier who get mixed up with a band of bandits and they eventually try to kidnap a brother of the Japanese Emperor.

The trouble is that seeing the film in English, things changed. Bits seemed to be missing and some of the nuances were missing. Don't get me wrong, I still love the film, but details seemed to be missing.

Walking out of the screening I met Eric Phipps on the way out.  He said he liked the film but he didn't love it since the film kept going for emotional moments that weren't there. I knew what he was talking about. I told him that in reading on the film I had read something that the film was being told as a memoir and that bits of it were entirely wrong and that the white clad ending was something that never happened. I know that there was an article on the film that explained it all for me, but I'll be damned if I can find it. I know it exists or existed since I remember reading it - I remember getting the whole plot from it.- and what I remember of the plot was dead on.

I've done a quick google search and I still can't find it, worse I can't find my notes and my review doesn't mention it. I think part of the problem is that when I searched for info on the film it was only out a month or two, now some 15 months after it's release any articles have been buried by film festival coverage and world wide reviews-my own included.

Article or no I still love the film. I can't wait for the US DVD.

Anyway my one film  of the day done, Eric and I bid each other farewell and headed out into the heat.

I'll be back into the mix tomorrow and I should have word on Mondocurry who has secured passage home and will be wading in to the fest with a bunch of films.