Fantasia diary

>> Week one: howls, scowls and towels

by RUPERT BOTTENBERG

Plenty of neat bonus treats to be found at Fantasia this year. Spriggan, the first film of the fest (or second, if you count the sneak preview of The Blair Witch Project, which, by the way, has been accused of being a ripoff of a scarier, cheaper film from New Jersey), was preceded by a solo zheng recital, care of a member of the Song Qing Ling children's performance troupe of Beijing. The zheng is a lovely, intricate zither-like affair, which I'm sure would have been ideal for a medley of "Freebird" and "Sweet Home Alabama." But nobody listens to me.

Another treat was Viens Dehors!, the short film by Quebec's own Éric Tessier that preceded the wicked Korean black comedy The Quiet Family. Viens Dehors! is a sacrelicious, mildly Python-esque little gag, nicely shot and well acted. They'll show it again, so don't dawdle at the popcorn stand.

One treat you can take home with you is the book Cinéma de Hong-Kong, a pocket-sized analysis by Fantasia programmer Julien Fonfrède, available at both the Impérial and Ex-Centris. Despite the fact that Julien is originally from Paris, he is both polite and well informed on the topics he discusses. Remarkable.

On the subject of Hong Kong, prominent director/producer Johnnie To dropped in to present his latest, A Hero Never Dies. The audience was a bit bewildered at the end--was it a grand melodrama about noble machismo, or a sly parody of unyielding tough-guyness? Problem is, it was both at the same time. Me, I loved it.

Howls aplenty at the Imperial: presenting his latest film, I Married a Strange Person, animator Bill Plympton regaled fans with a yarn about his run-in with a rampaging psycho drag queen, and put a front-row putz in his place for asking too many dumb questions. Three strikes and you're out, pal.

At Ring, the Japanese horror hit, the howls were those of pure terror. Sadako popping out of the TV is pretty damn scary, but it's the smaller touches that grab you. As my friend Hoover put it, "Next Halloween, everyone should just put towels on their heads, stand and point." You'll understand if you see it when it plays again on August 13 (ooooh, a Friday).

Looking good for the coming week: Torrente: Dumb Arm of the Law is the latest from Spain's Santiago Segura, who slew us with Day of the Beast two years ago. This one promises to be even funnier, raunchier and more subversive. Also, Germany's Jorg Buttgereit will present his latest Schramm. Programmer Karim Hussain describes it as "a surrealistic serial killer movie, dreamlike and downbeat, featuring a guy nailing his penis to a table." Get in line, kids!