Cinema Epicuria: The End

A good time was had by all.

By the time Sunday came around and the Sonoma Valley Film Festival concluded, we felt as if our recent life had come to an end. This Cinema Epicuria, presented by organizers Marc and Brenda Lhormer, struck us as a great success, and we were sorry to see it over. We've traveled around the world going to events and parties, and this Sonoma soiree will be remembered as one of the most pleasant.

Of course, we weren't your regular paying customer, so we don't know what the average filmgoer's experience might have been. But we overheard countless positive comments in our travels around town, and we can say that the restricted parties and dinners were all but perfect. We qualify only because perfection is difficult to achieve, and the festival certainly was not flawless. But it was close enough for us.

Given our attention deficit problem and the desire to attend as many parties as possible, we only saw one complete movie. But we sampled half-a-dozen, and the provocative creativity on display was dazzling.

"Innocent Voices," a movie about one boy's experience during the rebellions in El Salvador during the '80s, captured the nature of that war with such accuracy that we found ourselves sobbing uncotrollably in the dark. We were there back in the day, and for the first time experienced some version of post-traumatic stress disorder. It ranks as a great war movie, perhaps one of the best ever made about that kind of conflict. In retrospect, it is difficult to know how widespread such incidents were. But such massacres as shown in the movie really did happen; we just don't know how often.

"Up for Grabs" tells the story of Barry Bonds' record-breaking 73d homerun hit, the men who claimed to have caught the ball, and the legal battle over the trophy worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. It brings to mind an old Sicilian curse: May you pursue a lawsuit in which you truly believe. Or something like that. The story unfolds with a certain version of reality which proceeds to shift throughout the film. The good guy turns out to be a bad guy, the bad guy a good guy, everything is very clear from one perspective, and just as clear from another, providing a completely contradictory conclusion. The documentary is funny, poignant and imaginative; the filmmaker's use of news footage and the interspersal of his interviews makes for an engaging, fast-moving story having all the impact of "Rashomon," without the pretension.

"Say I Do" takes viewers to the wedding from hell, as a hapless groom instructs his limo driver to take a shortcut to the Las Vegas area venue, leaving them all stranded on a dirt road in the desert. Funny in a Lucy Show way, reminding us once again that things can always get worse.

"Happily Ever After" is a French film dealing with marital dissatisfaction. Fascinating to see the French versions of our own too common domestic problems, but depressing if comedic.

"Taking Your Life" deals with a woman who wants to commit suicide because she's happily lived long enough. Everyone else involved, however, lacks her casual approach to her own death, leading to interesting complications. Shot from the perspective of the video crew she hired to document her demise, it takes some surprising turns. Very realistic, somewhat humorous, it is still about suicide, and that just doesn't lend itself to laughs.

"Return to Sender" concerns a beautiful, trashy woman on death row and the fraud who befriends her for fun and profit; it was chosen as the grand finale. It may well have been an excellent movie; we just couldn't stand to watch it. We think it one of the few missteps of the festival. Regardless of the film's inherent qualities, it had the effect of sending everyone home in a deeply negative mood, not quite what you want remembered after a glorious few days of film, food and fun in the wine country. And it was raining by then. We don't recall ever passing such an enjoyable time yet feeling so badly as we headed home. We were sad enough that the festival was over; we didn't need the feeling reinforced by a squalid tale about squalid people.

"My Date with Drew" we missed, much to our disappointment. It's about the filmmaker's attempt to get close enough to Drew Barrymore to ask for a date; it sounds hilarious, and everyone who saw it raved. And the festival gave it an award. We can't wait to see it.

Heard around town:

"We planned this for a year, so we damn well ought to enjoy it."

"They have these meetings every day, and then when we put on the event, it's like, Oh, we have to do a party tonight, and no knows what's going on."

"No, you can't see these movies at an art house, because there aren't any art houses left."

"Don't bother looking at the list. I'm not on it. But I belong at that party."

"$10 is too much. You tipped us too much last night too. Just make it seven bucks."

"I'm a recluse now; I don't do well at these kinds of things."

"We tried to show how much could've been done with that money if the Bush Administration hadn't invaded Iraq."

"Well, that's why it's called 'Slow-noma.'"

"You don't need to be a VIP; those Porsches are available to anyone who needs a ride."

"We thought this was the real party; you mean the one we left was supposed to be the good one?"

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