Today was a SIFF 2008 three-fer

Saw a three-fer today at the 2008 Seattle International Film Festival.

First up was a Spanish-language documentary titled “Café de los Maestros,” which was a “Buena Vista Social Club”-type film revolving around a concert of several old-school tango musicians and/or singers. Unlike the gimmicky films featuring old people lately, such as “Young @ Heart” or “Gotta Dance,” this film pays respect to elders who, at one time, were the best at what they did. And the final concert is superb.

The came a pair of Chinese films. “The Red Arn” tells the story of a father and son trying to work out their differences after the father had deserted the boy. The movie is flawed by a couple of missing parts, but it ends up being a semipowerful statement about what goes around, comes around.

Finally, “Still Life” is a fascinating, if bizarre, look at modern China. It centers on two people, a man and a woman, looking for their lost spouses in a town that is slowly being flooded by the Three Gorges Dam project. Too weird for words – at one point a building takes off like a spaceship – but artistically shot, the film is likely to have me scratching my cerebrum for weeks to come.

Gonna get up tomorrow and try to catch a 9:30 a.m. showing of “Indiana Jones.” I can take only so much of these festival movies before I need to slum a bit.