Among the films showing today as part of the Valletta International Film Festival is Columbus, an art house movie that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January.
The 2017 film, directed by Korean-American video essay pioneer Kogonada, follows Jin (John Cho) who finds himself stuck in an unusual Midwestern US city renowned for its modernist buildings while his ailing architect father is in a coma. Though not fond of architecture, Jin strikes up a friendship with Casey (Haley Lu Richardson), a bright girl who works at the city library (avoiding college and her future), and she shows him the local marvels.
With a curious intimacy reserved for strangers, Jin and Casey explore both the town and their conflicted emotions: Jin’s estranged relationship with his father and Casey’s reluctance to leave her mother (Michelle Forbes), a recovering drug addict.
The film has been praised by critics and received a very rare 100 per cent critics rating on review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Among others, it has been described as “a film with precise lines that captures very imprecise human emotions” and “an artful, sensitive and intellectual film”.
Boyd van Hoeij of The Hollywood Reporter wrote: “One of the film’s chief pleasures is how it keeps the conversation between the various characters flowing while gently avoiding falling into any of the possible romantic-entanglement traps that viewers used to more conventional romantic works might be expecting. The fact it is accessible for people without any prior knowledge of either modernism or architecture in general is another plus.”
Columbus is showing tonight at Pjazza Teatru Rjal at 9pm. The festival runs until June 25. For more information and to book tickets, visit www.vallettafilm festival.com. Festival passes, allowing access to all the screenings, master classes and events, are also on sale.
Other Valletta Film Festival screenings today:
■ The Grown Ups at The Embassy Cinemas, 2pm
■ Short Film Programme D at St James Cavalier, 2.30pm
■ Bad Lucky Goat at Embassy Cinemas, 4pm
■ Rumble, the Indians who Rocked the World at St James Cavalier, 5pm
■ Home at Embassy Cinemas, 6pm
■ Fonko at St James Cavalier, 7pm
■ Sicilian Ghost Story at Embassy Cinemas, 8.30pm
■ Tokyo Idols at St James Cavalier at 9pm
■ La Familia at Herbert Ganado Gardens at 9pm
■ Land of Light at St George’s Square at 9pm