Welcome to AFI Fest 2017 Presented by Audi.
Hollywood and Highland is one of the epicenters for the entertainment industry. The Chinese Theatre (with its courtyard full of shoeprints and handprints) is the location for most of the gala events for the festival. The group of smaller Chinese Theatres upstairs is where most of the films will be shown. The Egyptian Theater is just down the street. Down on the street is the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the stars of people from the whole history of the entertainment business. (Maybe I’ll go live on the day I walk down to the Egyptian to show you some of the stars.)
Friday is a light day at the festival, not starting until the evening showing. (Most days start screenings in the morning or early afternoon.) So, after picking up my press pass and grabbing a bite to eat, I only got one film in.
Hannah is something of a masters acting demonstration by Charlotte Rampling. After her character takes part in an acting class, goes home and has a silent dinner with her husband, she takes him the next morning to prison. As she goes on with her now solitary life, she must deal with her loneliness, frustration, the scorn of not only the community but her son and his family. There is very little dialogue in the film. Throughout the film we focus on Hannah. Rampling’s performance is almost completely physical, bringing the emotions to the screen through facial expression and body language. There are few big moments, rather we watch as Hannah’s life slowly adjusts to a new reality and struggles to cope with her own sorrow.
There will be a full schedule Saturday as I seek to travel the world via films.