SATURDAY March 21, 2009 by Joyce Marcel

Well, it's finally happened!

Every year, some film comes along that makes me fall in love. I never know which one it's going to be. It's certainly never the ones I preview at home. For some reason, it's always one of the ones I've never heard of, or which don't sound too promising, or I have to force myself to see. And then boom! I'm swept away.

Last year it was "Time to Die." Last night it happened with "La Corona."

I also have a film I'd like to name as "shuck of the season," but I'll get to that in a minute.

As a note, the Hooker-Dunham (did anyone else go to the New England Youth Theater first, like I did?) was packed for the 6:30 films. The volunteers had to put out extra chairs. The audience seemed to be split between men and woman, which is a great thing. And there was a line out the door for the 8:30 vibrator movie, "The Passion and Power."

It's more fun when a lot of people show up.


LA CORONA ("The Crown") by Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega

This film, subtitled, about a two-day beauty pageant in a maximum security prison in Bogota, Colombia, was nominated for a 2007 Academy Award in the best short documentary category. For more about it, go to: http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/lacorona/synopsis.html

El Buen Pastor (The Good Shepherd) prison is a pit. But once a year, with the misgivings of its tough-as-nails female warden, each cell block nominates a candidate for "reina," or queen. Then the six nominated convicts - a hired killer and a few armed robbers among them - prepare and then compete as if it was a regular beauty pageant.

"It gives them a glimmer of hope," says Laisa, a Colombian soap opera star and pageant judge. "For a moment they feel like they are free."
Two women stand out. Maira is the hired killer. "I have killed, many times," she says. She's serving eight years. The most conventional beauty, she lost the crown last year and is very determined.

Angela has darker skin and is more lively than the others. Her husband was murdered with "five bullets in his head." She's in for robbery and assault, mostly grocery stores, and is finishing up a three-year sentence. Her life may have been hard, but there's a light inside her that is missing in the others. "You have to have a lot of balls to do this," she says.

The filmmakers struggled with access, but you would never know it. We see and feel life as it is lived in the prison - shared cells with rickety televisions, dreadful food, lots of bars and locked doors.

We watch as the contestants practice. We see the cellblock residents become cheering squads for their chosen representatives. We watch as the warden gets involved and loves every minute of it. (She also seems to love Maira.)

There's a casual and elegant acceptance of lesbian relationships in prison and also in the film. "God said to love one another; He never said who," Angela says.

There's a talent contest - the six contestants do national dances, some of them with male prison guards.

The costumes and dresses are loaned. The makeup and hair people are professionals brought in for the event. The judges are minor league celebrities. The Colombia media covers the two-day pageant.

The contestants have to answer difficult questions. Maira stumbles over "If you were president of the country for a day, what would you do for the children." Who wouldn't stumble over that one?

A delighted Angela wins the crown. For a moment, Maira looks like she would kill again. Then she breaks down in tears. "Don't worry," says the warden, embracing her. "You're the prettiest. Don't forget, you're the prettiest."

The residents of the losing cellblocks adjust to the loss. "The judges are corrupt," say some. "They chose the black girl," say the racists. "It was fixed," say others.

One month later, Angela's time in prison is over. The cameras return to watch her embrace her tearful lover and go through the heavy metal gates. We see her walking alone down a dark, empty street, pulling her suitcase with the crown and the scepter behind her. No one meets her. She is fragile and absolutely alone. It breaks your heart.

The film ends on a simple note (spoiler alert): "In memory of Angela, who was murdered in the streets of Bogota soon after her release."

This film moved me. It offers so much life and energy, so many interesting characters, so many things to think about.

It's been shown on HBO. It can't be rented from Netflix. But you should find a way to see this film.

Think and Discuss: Beauty pageants? Really?

'BAMA GIRL by Rachel Goslins

For me, this was the most disappointing film of the festival (so far - we have two days to go). At 75 minutes, it was way too long. The McGuffin (see Hitchock) was not worth pursuing - who cares who's going to be homecoming queen at the University of Alabama?

But worse, the film did not deliver on its promise - a racial breakthrough, a black girl as homecoming queen for the first time in decades.

This is how the film is pitched: "A charismatic black woman at the University of Alabama runs for Homecoming Queen, going up against a century of privilege, tradition, segregation, and a secret association of all-white fraternities. Despite all this, Jessica Thomas is determined to win the crown."

This is what it was: "Say yes to Jess" mounts a determined campaign to be homecoming queen. "My face is different from the rest," she says. She's certainly a confident woman, very motivated and very smart. She doesn't win, but she's one of the "court" - the four runner-ups. Also in the court: a girl of Indian descent, another African-American, and an independent (not a sorority girl). So it's not really about race, is it?

This film is an advertisement for Jess's future career in broadcasting, nothing more.

Even though the film is set up within a racial context - we see the traditional snarling dogs, the headlines about the four little girls who were blown up in the church, Rev. Martin Luther King leading a march, even a (staged?) shot of Rosa Parks on a bus - this late in the game, white exclusivity is a ship that has passed.

Jess belongs to one of several African-American sororities. Indian and Asian students abound. OK, one white fraternity sponsors an "Old South" weekend with Confederate uniforms and hoop skirts. But this is Alabama; what do we expect? Raised consciousness? Really?

The only real subtext this film finds, and it finds it too late, is "the machine." This is a secret 50-year tradition of white male (and later female) domination that supposedly controls the school. Born long ago - and still thriving in the white fraternities and sororities - the members of the machine decide who will win each school election, whether it is for homecoming queen or for student government. Their candidates win because they have the power of organized voting blocks.

What makes this in any way noteworthy is that these machine members go on to run the government of Alabama and influence the government of the United States. Lawyers, judges, congressmen, senators and mayors are among them. But you will find this kind of thing at almost every school harboring a wealthy and entitled majority. A far more interesting documentary would focus on it, alone.

Or on Skull & Bones at Yale, for example. That secret society produced the worst president ever.

Back to the film. After 75 minutes of endless campaigning, and after 4,600 people vote, the homecoming queen turns out to be the only bland sorority blonde with too-white teeth in the contest.

OK, point made. But really, why should we care?

Let's call this one the "shuck of the season" and leave the thinking and discussing for another day.