The best of the fest

Dumbarton Bridge

SO MANY INTERESTING sounding titles, so much prospect of dogs among them. In the interests of minimizing the disappointment, I've looked at some promising prospects ahead of time. This certainly doesn't exhaust the list of films worth seeing -- the Miramax contribution, That's the Way I Like It, is a disco comedy that sounds like a safe bet. But since all screenings ate the festival are single showings, word-of-mouth about winners will be creating more frustration than buzz, unless all the good ones you missed are scheduled for the follow-up "Best of Fest" screenings (two films nightly, August 15-18).

Of course, not all of the films succeed. For example, among the ones I watched in advance, The Falling works better in concept than in execution. It's a multi-narrated psychological thriller that fails to understand the strict use of point of view in Rashomon, its inspiration. And Serious Business, the closing night film, is bogged down by wincingly lame skits as we follow a comedy troupe on the road.

Of the more accomplished films, some accomplished quite a lot. Here are a few that deserve wider distribution.

Dramas

Went to Coney Island on a Mission From God . . . Be Back by Five has much more to offer than just the only popular Hollywood name to star in these offerings. It's a buddy film about two lifelong pals who go searching for a mutual friend they heard is now homeless and living around the derelict amusement park. They encounter several colorful characters, including a heartsick romantic played with fervor and poignancy by Peter Gerety, formerly of Trinity Rep. The sometimes comical tale packs quite a dramatic punch by the time it's through. (Opening night and Friday, Aug. 13 at 9:30 p.m. at the Avon Cinema.)

The Last Days of May, written and directed by George Spyros, is an impressive success on every level. Dahlia Mindlin got the Best Actress Award at the American Film Institute International Film Festival, playing the emotionally disturbed title character. Writer-director George Spyros is adept at unfolding the story so that learning something crucial about a character or a relationship illuminates prior scenes with the force of revelation -- he makes us provide our own flashbacks. Commendably, Spyros doesn't stoop to pathos to win us over. Instead, while May is innocent enough to let down her guard and blow bubbles in her Margarita, there's constant tension as she tries to maintain a hard edge against the callous people she has to get along with. (Thurs., Aug. 12 at 5 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium.)

Radiation shows that it's not only the U.S. music industry scene that can be a bummer. It's largely subtitled and deals with a young music promoter in Spain who can't seem to get it together for his clients or his own life, as he organizes gigs and deals speed in order "to almost break even." The story finds focus when he encounters a flamboyant, red-headed American performance artist (Katy Petty). He gets another chance to make a few bucks, putting her on tour, and we get some fiery slam poetry. It's all a flashback under his narration as he looks for the threads in his tangled fiascos, such as his unknowing addiction to danger. By directors Suki Hawley and Michael Galinsky, with music by Come and Stereolab. (Friday, Aug. 13 at 11:30 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium.)

The Falling, a psychological thriller, will gain attention because it uses the Rashomon technique of telling the same story from the three points of view of a love triangle, from bar pick-up to violent outcome. A reason the device succeeded for Kurosawa and seems gimmicky here is that the former depicted people distorting the truth or outright lying to save face, whereas in this film we are looking from the participants' actual points of view. As a result, many discrepancies of fact are too big to attribute to faulty memory. (Friday, Aug. 13 at 9:15 p.m. at the Cable Car Cinema.)

The Glass Jar

Comedies

At prior festivals, Starving Artists garnered an audience award for best comedy and a best screenplay award, and it's well worth seeing why. Directed and written by D. Allan Piper, it's a farcical romantic comedy set in Boston that builds to black comedy because each time it goes over the top it notices a new top. As a running gag/theme, a theater director keeps bungling a potential romance with an attractive new neighbor because he keeps saying the wrong thing. Another couple keep bungling the filming of a neo-noir thriller that they can't get backing for -- until they gain avant-garde cache by accidentally screening promotional scenes upside-down. The tight and clever dialogue is as funny as it is silly. (Saturday, Aug. 14 at 11:30 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium.)

Fishing With Gandhi shouldn't succeed -- the static, virtually plotless compilation of talking heads scenes makes My Dinner With André look like an action flick. But it's hilarious. From the first absorbingly droll conversation between a pair of lisping hillbilly twins who pick up the hitchhiking main character to the bickering of the roommates he is heading back to, it's fun to hang out with them all. Sure, many of the exchanges are facile, Seinfeld-esque sitcom routines, such as a pestering acquaintance who comes on too strong. But the laughs do come along frequently enough for that to not bother us at the time. (Sunday, Aug. 15 at 3:30 p.m. at the Avon.)

Documentaries

The Accident is by Rhode Islander and former 20/20 producer Joseph Lovett, is about his family and the bizarre accidental death of his mother when he was 13. Drawn from interviews with family members, some of which was shot in 1974, 8mm home movies, and album photographs, it attempts to bring his late parents and their relationship into focus. His verbally violent father's anger and laughter "could both fill a room," his mother was "frosty and repressed," and portraits of both are etched sharply into our minds by the conclusion. Surprisingly, his smart and gruff older brother Merrill makes the greatest impression, changing over the years from sullen and hate-filled to a man strengthened and mellowed by a an upbringing he perceived as loveless. At 97 minutes, The Accident would have greater impact if trimmed, but

its accolades from other film festivals attest to its captivating drama. (Thursday, Aug. 12 at 7 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium.)

The Personals was at last year's RIIFF in a shorter preliminary cut, and it has since won an Academy Award for Best Dcumentary in this longer version. It's another work about preparing a stage production -- no, don't go away . . . there's a difference: the troupe are Lower East Side seniors. The play they create involves personals they make up for The Jewish Weekly, and their imagined consequences. A livelier, more colorful bunch you'll never meet. ("Instead of having birth control we had scare control," says Gloria, 72.) (Sunday, Aug. 15 at 7 p.m. at the RISD Auditorium, showing with Serious Business.)

-- B.R.

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