SFFS Screen Presents: Julia July 10, 2009

Julia (France/USA/Mexico/Belgium 2006), Erick Zonca’s take on John Cassavetes’ Gloria,
featuring a riveting performance by Tilda Swinton, will open on SFFS Screen at the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas Friday, July 10.
Tilda Swinton doesn’t merely act the title role in Erick Zonca’s Julia—she devours it, spits it back up, dances giddily upon it, twirls it in the air. The key to Swinton’s performance (and to the movie) is that she’s playing an actress—not a professional one, but a wily, desperate woman under the influence who adapts herself to what each new situation calls for, sometimes well, sometimes badly, but always with every fiber of her being. Her faces are many, including the eerie black death mask she wears when she agrees to help her unstable Mexican neighbor (the superb Kate del Castillo) kidnap her young son from the clutches of his wealthy grandfather. It’s a crackpot scheme made more so by Julia’s half-cocked attempt to secure herself a bigger share of the ransom money, and by the time the movie winds its way from Los Angeles to Tijuana, one kidnapping gives way to another with no end in sight. Directing his first theatrical feature in the decade since The Dreamlife of Angels, Zonca tips his hat to the entire John Cassavetes oeuvre while crafting a messy, nervy and frequently exhilarating thriller that operates on instinct rather than plot and features richly pulpy dialogue by Zonca and coscreenwriter Aude Py. – Scott Foundas, Village Voice
Written by Aude Py, Erick Zonca. Photographed by Yorick Le Saux. With Tilda Swinton, Saul Rubinek, Kate del Castillo. 142 min. Distributed by Magnolia Pictures.

At the Sundance Kabuki all seats are reserved and an amenities fee is in effect for most shows. Tickets are available through the Sundance Kabuki Cinemas box office, at kiosks in the lobby and online at sundancecinemas.com/kabuki with print-at-home capability. San Francisco Film Society members receive discounted admission only to SFFS Screen programs and only at the box office, not online or at the lobby kiosks.

Coming soon to SFFS Screen
June 12: Munyurangabo A Tutsi and a Hutu set off on a startling journey of reconciliation through the haunted countryside of modern Rwanda in Lee Isaac Chung!s debut feature.
June 19: Katyn Acclaimed Polish director Andrzej Wajda has created an epic and personal tale about one of WWII's notorious cover-ups.
June 26: Three Monkeys A man!s agreement to take the fall for his employer!s crime drives his family apart in this sensual, quietly heartbreaking film from Turkish master Nuri Bilge Ceylan.
July 3: Eldorado A pair of outsiders share an absurdist journey through the surreal backwoods of Belgium in Bouli Lanners! eccentric, melancholy road movie.
July 17: The Window A bedridden, 80-year-old man takes one last stroll through the beautiful Patagonian landscape in this elegant, lyrical and humanistic film directed by Carlos Sorín.
July 24: Lake Tahoe A teenager in small town Mexico struggles to fix the family car in the aftermath of a minor accident and amid deeper emotional undercurrents in the latest film by Mexican director Fernando Eimbcke.
July 31: Lion!s Den A young pregnant woman tries to survive in an Argentinean prison in Pablo Trapero!s story of redemption.
For full, complete and up-to-date information on all SFFS Screen programming, including buying tickets, visit sffs.org. Information and tickets are also available at sundancecinemas.com.

Official Website: http://www.sffs.org