Film fest looks golden
This city hosts a different cinematic celebration nearly every week, ranging from the small (Bushwick Film Festival) to the sprawling (Tribeca Film Festival). But for half a century, none has been more prestigious than Lincoln Center’s New York Film Festival.
Since it was founded in 1962, the NYFF — which begins its 50th edition on Friday — has been defined by an uncompromising taste for the esoteric. That’s an essential asset for many: This is the place to come for challenging works from world cinema.
For this anniversary year, however, organizers have constructed an impressively ambitious, and unusually broad, program. Avant-garde entries and mainstream movies will sit side-by-side, welcoming the widest span of film fans.
Even so, the essential character of the festival remains unchanged: The main slate still comprises the best from this year’s international events.
For example, you can see stringent Cannes winners like Michael Haneke’s end-of-life drama “Amour” or “Beyond the Hills” from acclaimed Romanian director Cristian Mungiu (“4 months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days”).
But the festival opens with Ang Lee’s 3-D adaptation of the best-selling “Life of Pi,” and closes with the Robert Zemeckis thriller “Flight,” starring Denzel Washington (l.). In between you’ll find plenty of other familiar faces.
For example, James Gandolfini reteams with “Sopranos” creator David Chase for the 1960s coming-of-age story “Not Fade Away.” Nicole Kidman, Matthew McConaughey and Zac Efron go for broke in the Southern melodrama “The Paperboy,” from “Precious” director Lee Daniels.
Bill Murray will play FDR, and Laura Linney his mistress, in “Hyde Park on Hudson.” Noah Baumbach and Greta Gerwig have collaborated on the NYC romance “Frances Ha,” while Elle Fanning is already earning raves for Sally Potter’s teenage drama “Ginger and Rosa,” costarring Christina Hendricks.
Along with these sneak peeks will come rare chances to revisit classics. The Masterworks section includes restored prints of “Lawrence of Arabia,” “The King of Marvin Gardens” and — for cinephiles of all ages — “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.”
In other words, this year’s program overflows with opportunities to indulge and explore. For the politically minded, Oliver Stone will be screening his “Untold History of the United States.” And for pure pleasure, Rob Reiner will reunite his “Princess Bride” cast for a 25th-anniversary screening of the beloved fractured fairy tale.
That’s not all, either. A series called Cinéastes/Cinema of Our Time features documentary looks at nearly two dozen directorial greats, from Busby Berkeley to John Cassavetes to Martin Scorsese. The On the Arts sidebar focuses on music, opera, theater and even magic with films like “Punk in Africa” and “Deceptive Practice: The Mysteries and Mentors of Ricky Jay.”
Of course, as befits a 50th-birthday celebration, there will be tributes: one for Kidman and one for the fest’s esteemed program director, Richard Peña, who’s stepping down after a remarkable 25 years with Lincoln Center’s Film Society.
Peña, as much as any other individual, has helped shape this bold and unabashedly complex festival. No doubt he, like the rest of us, is looking forward to finding out where it will go from here.