Film Space schedule

At Film Space on Saturdays at 7 pm

July is “The Month of Body Rental” at Film Space.

 

Film Space is to the right and in the back of the CMU Art Museum, in the Media Arts and Design building across from the ballet school. Showings are in a classroom on the second floor or on the roof, weather permitting. A contribution is requested in the donation box at the entrance – you should leave 20 baht. Well worth supporting.

 

At Film Space Saturday, July 11:  Boogie Nights (1997) by Paul Thomas Anderson – 155 mins – US, Drama.

 

Starring Mark Wahlberg, Burt Reynolds, Julianne Moore, Luis Guzmán, Don Cheadle, Philip Baker Hall, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Heather Graham.

 

Rated R in the US for strong sex scenes with explicit dialogue, nudity, drug use, language, and violence. It was originally rated NC-17 – 40 seconds of film were cut to reduce it to an R. The 40 seconds are included in a widely distributed pirated copy of a work print. The pirated work includes many scenes not in the movie or the DVD deleted scenes — some are very explicit. Reviews: Universal acclaim: 85/84 out of 100.

ReelViews: There was a time during the long history of the adult entertainment industry that porn films showed signs of artistic ambition. During the late '70s, a small cadre of directors believed that they could combine the raunch of real sex with an involving plot. It was a lofty goal, and one that ultimately proved impossible to realize, especially with the advent of video forcing movies to be made cheaper and faster. In his new film, Boogie Nights, writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson takes us back to the disco era, and, by following a small group of characters, recreates the rise and fall of "artistic porn" and those who participated in it.

 

The really burning question about this film always has been: Was that really Mark Wahlberg's penis? The definitive answer is: No! This is the infamous fake penis used in the final shot of the film. It was made from an easily biodegradable rubber and foam combination which Wahlberg kept as a souvenir from the film, and which, he says, has since begun to deteriorate.

For those of you who can’t make the film, here's the actual uncensored shot:

 

Available on DVD from Amazon.com.

 

At Film Space Saturday, July 18:  Birdcage Inn / Blue Gate / Paran daemun(1998) by Ki-duk Kim – 105 mins – South Korea, Drama.

Streetwise Jin-a moves into a boarding house run by a small, close-knit family. But her unacceptable behavior threatens to destroy them all.

 

IMDb viewer: One of KimKi-duk's earlier, lesser-seen films, Birdcage Inn portrays the hard times of a young Korean prostitute and the family that makes money off her in a Korean coastal city. As with all Kim's films, the plot is pretty ludicrous, but this one lacks much of the sensationalistic depravity that makes most of his films conversation pieces. Kim's really attracted to prostitutes and the business of prostitution - as, it seems, are many of his heroines (one character's transition at the end of the film foreshadows a similar character's change of heart in Kim's recent Samaria). He also seems to have a love/hate feeling towards women. His girls may be whores but they have good hearts, and even though they may be smacked around repeatedly they persevere.

 

Available on DVD from HKFlix.

 

At Film Space Saturday, July 25:  Midnight My Love / Cherm / เฉิ่ม (2005) by Kongdej Jaturanrasamee– 100 mins – Thai, Drama/ Romance.

 

เฉิ่ม or Cherm literally means "old-fashioned person."

 

Midnight My Lovewas the first solo directorial effort of Kongdej Jaturanrasamee, and was nominated for several Thailand National Film Association Awards, including best director and best screenplay. It won best director and best script awards from the Bangkok Critics Assembly. The romantic comedy-drama stars comedian Petchtai Wongkamlao (as Mum Jokmok) in a change-of-pace dramatic role as a melancholy taxi driver who develops a relationship with a massage parlor worker (Woranut Wongsawan). Midnight My Love was featured at several film festivals, including the Deauville Asian Film Festival (where it won the critic's prize), Cinefan, and the Chicago International Film Festival.