SIFF 2024 | Capsule Reviews of SIFFTY's Archival Films

For the 50th annual Seattle International Film Festival, five older movies are scheduled to be shown as part of their Archival Films program. Here, I’ll take a look at this diverse selection of titles:

WINGS OF DESIRE (1987)

It’s a wonderful life, ain’t it? Not exactly a radical concept postulated by German New Wave icon Wim Wenders, but packaged as it is here, I mostly welcome it. The theoretically simple tale of an angel who wants to be human, Wings of Desire was an arthouse moneymaker here in the States and has since cemented itself as one of the most acclaimed works in the modern-day popular canon; now I see why, and it has less to do with its impeccable craft or auteurist idiosyncrasies (don’t get me wrong, these things help) than with its core crowd-pleasing humanism, aesthetically concealed by a hardened exterior of clinical hipster-existentialism.

See, a picture like this is tailor-made for the average cinephile unimpressed by blatant sentimentality—someone who watches Jimmy Stewart cry out “I want to live again!” and can’t help but cringe due to ironic detachment—who nevertheless appreciates the comforting validation of their own preconceived notions about “what it means to be human”. Here, that kind of life-affirming breakthrough is lingered over (and over…) and romanticized, but dressed up with intellectual verbosity and a tonal coolness (the angels look like actors in a slick German cigarette commercial) to ensure audiences don’t feel manipulated by all the syrup.

And still, despite my skepticism, this is undoubtedly a stylish, beautiful film to gawk at shot-for-shot, with individual moments of technical brilliance (I love the seraphic way the camera floats around spaces) to complement its invaluable distinction as a breathing Berlin Wall-era time capsule, but Wenders adherence to verbalism often overcomplicates what should remain unspoken. I just wish he let the visual poetry do the heavy lifting rather than using it as an accompaniment for his comparatively underwhelming monologues of dry spoken word. 

Wings of Desire, presented in a new 4K restoration with 5.1 surround sound, is playing at SIFF Cinema Downtown on Monday, May 13th at 6:00 PM.

THE NEVERENDING STORY (1984)

This is a children’s movie. I don’t mean that as a criticism but as a statement of fact: The Neverending Story, a pure fantasy in the vein of Wizard of Oz and Star Wars about a young boy, with the guidance of a magical book, fulfilling his potential through the power of imagination, is a simplistic fable for children; that is the intended audience. Did I enjoy it as an adult? Sure, enough not to make a hacky joke referencing the title; not enough to defend it as a kiddie classic on par with the cultural touchstones mentioned above—as some (mostly cinema-as-therapy advocates and nostalgia-pilled Gen Xers) curiously have—just because it knows what a metaphor is. (“The Nothingness”, “The Swamp of Sadness,” you get the idea).

Not to say mass entertainment aimed at children tackling heavier subjects like grief, depression, and self-doubt through the channeling of an archetypal hero’s journey narrative isn’t commendable, but even though its heart is clearly in the right place, there’s a limit to my enthusiasm beyond its messaging. However, the admittedly first-rate production design (the mythical world of Fantasia is fully realized), synth-heavy scoring by Giorgio Moroder (added only for international releases of this Bavarian production), and otherworldly images lensed by Jost Vacano (Verhoeven’s go-to DP during his Hollywood run) should keep even the crankiest cynic satisfied for a couple hours. And there’s a giant flying dog! C’mon, I’m not made of stone. 

The Neverending Story, with a live soundtrack, is playing at SIFF Cinema Egyptian on Tuesday, May 14th at 6:45 PM.

JULY RHAPSODY (2002)

Over twenty years after its initial release in Hong Kong, Ann Hui’s July Rhapsody will finally get a proper showcase in North America. Fully restored in popping 4K, anyone lucky enough to see it in theaters will be in for a treat (those blues on the big screen, are you kidding me?). Hui’s film lyrically expresses the tacit complexities of human ecology through the melancholic portrait of a middle-aged teacher, his wife of twenty years (pop diva Anita Mui in a nakedly tender performance, tragically her last), their two sons approaching adulthood, and a liaison with a rebellious student coinciding with the return of an old mentor. Guy-suffering-from-midlife-crisis-has-affair is a well-tread representation of middle—or in this case, lower middle—class ennui to a degree suggesting cliche, but here the material is approached with such empathetic delicacy, perceptive class analysis, and unwavering formal invention that nothing about it feels exploitative or overfamiliar. And keeping in mind the recency of reunification pervading this poeticized domestic struggle, the family’s aimlessness reflects the post-colonial identity crisis facing many Cantonese speakers in the new, uncertain era of “one country, two systems” China. 

July Rhapsody, presented in a new 4K restoration, is playing at SIFF Cinema Downtown on Saturday, May 18th at 11:30 AM.

DRAGON SUPERMAN (1968)

To give you an idea of how rare it is, at the time of this writing, Dragon Superman has been logged by five (like one, two, three, four, five) accounts on Letterboxd. Using that as an imperfect metric implies you are more likely to be struck by lightning than to have seen this movie. So to find such a rarity now digitally restored at a major festival is something of a cinematic blessing. Aside from the history and the novelty though, is it worth a damn? As a hip-sixties noir-tinged kinetic comic book about a masked vigilante punching and chopping his way through crime, you’ll be getting your money’s worth. Anyone suffering from superhero movie fatigue (at this point, I’m not tired but comatose), here’s a welcome remedy full of energy and texture.

Dragon Superman, presented in a new 2K digital restoration, is playing at SIFF Cinema Egyptian on Sunday, May 19th at 4:00 PM.

THE LAVENDER HILL MOB (1951)

Who doesn’t fancy a brisk, breezy caper pic? Should you be in the mood for such a thing, look no further. Alec Guinness stars as a dependable, unassuming bank employee who, after twenty years of loyal service transporting gold bullion, hatches an ambitious plan to steal a million pounds worth and smuggle the loot out of England. It’s light British comedy, and since all good comedy is rooted in failure, you know damn well things won’t go according to plan. Guinness received his first Oscar nom for his work here, and he’s quite good—smart, down-to-earth, completely sympathetic. It actually won for its screenplay, and with good cause for how screenwriter T.E.B. Clarke, using pleasantly minor-key humor as a tonal base, plots out the various elaborate stages of the heist—the recruiting, the planning, the job, the aftermath, the chase—with deft narrative economy.

The Lavender Hill Mob is playing at SIFF Cinema Downtown on Wednesday, May 15th at 6:30 PM.