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‘Goodbye Solo’ beautifully dramatizes the human dimensions
I saw another exquisite film during SXSW, Ramin Bahrani’s human-scale pearl “Goodbye Solo” on Thursday at the Alamo South.
I’m a vocal fan of Bahrani’s work — last year’s “Chop Shop” made my Top 10 list — and the new film confirms Bahrani’s ascendancy as a poet of the marginal, a bard of the striving, an empathetic, wise and objective observer of the little moments and so-called “little” people that make up the mad mosaic of life.
It’s too intimate, too finely wrought to reveal its character-shaped story, but it features an astonishing debut by Souleymane Sy Savane and a funny-tragic turn by crotchety character actor Red West, whose character is bent on accomplishing one final act in his long, troubled life.
More about “Goodbye Solo” and its trailer HERE. It opens in New York on March 27, so expect an Austin run a little later.
Today’s full film schedule HERE.
Saturday’s full SXSW schedule — including Jonathan Demme presenting his new rock doc “Neil Young Trunk Show” — HERE.
Jonathan Demme will present “Neil Young Trunk Show” at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the Paramount.
Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment Categories: SXSW 2009
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By jjtayman
March 24, 2009 10:32 PM | Link to this
I saw Goodbye Solo at Cleveland this past weekend. Loved it! Best film I have seen this year. I haven’t seen Chop Shop yet, but will check it out. Thanks for the tip!
By Arthur
March 22, 2009 1:12 PM | Link to this
The NYT article is amazing. I have been saying Bahrani is the best voice in American Independent cinema since I saw Man Push Cart at the New Directors New Films festival and now AO Scott is saying it. Bahrani is the head of American cinema. Nobody makes films so true and so human and so unique. They don’t follow the tradition path. I saw Goodbye Solo at his MoMA retrospective a couple weeks ago. It is his best film, no doubt. I can’t wait to see it again at the Angelika. I am hoping to make a film like this one day.
By sa
March 22, 2009 10:00 AM | Link to this
I agree about Good Bye Solo. Very nicely done. Glad I couldn’t get into another film and went to see this one. Bahrani was one of the directors written about in a NYT article this morning. I am now interested in seeing his Chop Shop and Man Push Cart. My film fest experience got better as the week unfolded but I believe that what you see early on influences how you feel about the fest as a whole. At least it did for me and other veteran fest goers I chatted with while in line. Last year’s films seemed better than this year’s but I started off with good ones in ‘08. 500 Days of Summer was a satisfying way to end the week.