Chasing Visions (or, A Small Look at 61st The Chicago International Film Festival)

The "nature" of cinema is as complex as the "nature" of humanity. It is both a reflection and a distortion of who we are, who we have been, who we could be. You can find truth and lies within the same film; you can find a film of pure reality and yet it will still be biased. Cinema, like all art, twists with the Eye of the Beholder, creating new meanings within itself and within us. This is what draws me to the theater and inspires me to spend significant amounts of money on DVDs and tickets.

The past week or so, I've been frequenting screenings and events of the Chicago International Film Festival. And as I attended my last one this weekend, I figured I'll give a little recap of what I've been up to.

Chainsaw Man: Reze Arc

This film is technically called "Chainsaw Man - The Movie: Reze Arc" but that is a mouthful. I'm a big fan of the Chainsaw Man manga, like I'm caught up with the latest chapter type of big fan. So, this movie has been something I've been anticipating for a while. Picking up from the end of the anime, the movie elevates what was always widely considered to be a stellar series by breaking from its aesthetic. The Chainsaw Man anime's initial aesthetic was very grey and "real" which is quite different from the vibe of the manga's first half (Which will be referred to as "Part 1" for the sake of simplicity). Part 1 has a very bright and colorful vibe, but also unreal, a half-liminal space, but the type that you wouldn't mind being stuck in. There is a hopefulness that this "world" will continue to be there when you wake up there, but also an uneasiness that it will fall apart in a blink. The "dull" atmosphere of the series portrays the latter, the colorful one of the movie embraces the first.

To me, the Reze Arc movie is everything I love in Chainsaw Man and makes me hopeful for the future of the series to take on the same colorful worldview (until the unease takes over, of course.)

Picture of the criterion truck outside the Newcity AMC

Interlude: Criterion Truck

You have probably seen a video of some celebrity walking around a small closet full of DVDs, picking their favorites, and telling you about them. Well, that is the Criterion closet, and I went to their mobile version, the Criterion Truck.

As long as I've been a film fan, Criterion has been around. Which doesn't quite say much since I am quite young, but it's the thought that counts. So, this opportunity was very cool and amazing to me.

Me in the Criterion truck with the two DVDs I got! (photo from Criterion)

I was able to buy two DVDs from the Truck: the first being Satyajit Ray's Devi, a 1960s Bengali drama, and David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch, which is an adaptation of William S. Burroughs' novel of the same name. I've seen Naked Lunch before, it's a great film, very wet, gross, and dusty. But Devi will be a first-time watch, and I'm very excited.

A Brief History of Chasing Storms

I've been a big fan of storms since childhood; my parents raised me on videos of tornadoes and hurricanes for reasons unknown. And since then, I have developed a reverence for them, the power of nature, and all that.

A Brief History of Chasing Storms captures that feeling and more. The feature debut of Curtis Miller tells the stories of various towns within the Tornado Alley region of the United States. How the storms of the past affect the present psychology of these towns, their people, and their politics. Told through a scattered chapter-like structure, jumping from town to town to hear the stories told by those residents. From the museum commemorating the 1996 film Twister to the Latin community of Lubbock every little bit of this film has a story that was new and interesting.

I would highly recommend this film if you ever get the opportunity to see it. It is quite interesting and also decently moving.