The laughter! The tears! The glamor! The subtitles!
Minneapolis Television Network, the city's public access cable TV service, produced a spiffy commercial for the rapidly approaching Minneapolis/St. Paul International Film Festival. A black-and-white mash-up of "Sunset Boulevard" and Eastern European art cinema, it features an unspeakably luscious actress at her dressing table. She is all chiseled dimples, cascading hair, and camisole-accented breasts, embodying the sort of irresistibly dark and mysterious woman for whom men commit suicide or destroy their most priceless possessions. Weeping, then laughing, she primps for an important night out. And where do you suppose she's going?
Yep, MSPIFF.
The ad is a fulsome, cheeky homage to the emotional power of movies. The 28th annual MSPIFF runs April 15 through April 30. The opening night feature, the WWII Norwegian resistance thriller "Max Manus," is one of Scandinavia's biggest domestic hits in over a decade. It will screen in two concurrent showings beginning at 7 and 7:15 p.m. Thursday at the St. Anthony Main Theater, 115 Main St. NE., Minneapolis. Tickets for the opening night party and screening are $30; film ticket only, $15. Call (612) 331-7563 or visit the festival website.
And by the way...is that a ferret?
