More Notes from SIFF

The past few weeks has been a good one at the Seattle International Film Festival, with some fantastic indie flicks like Cashback, a mediocre Japanese ghost story called Retribution, a chilling and cautionary tale about a nuclear power plant accident called The Cloud, a Spanish language film from director Antonio Banderas, a world premiere documentary from the producers of March of the Penguins called Arctic Tale, and a few classics enjoyed on the big screen.

From Germany, The Cloud is an arresting film about a town impacted by a meltdown at a nearby nuclear power plant. Unlike The China Syndrome, which dealt with a near-meltdown from inside the plant, The Cloud focuses on a teenage girl separated from her family who is irradiated in the disaster. Finding she has lost everything, she is rescued from her dismal existence in a hospital ward by a distant aunt and a fellow student with whom she has fallen in love. The film is brutally honest in its treatment of the tragedy, and compelling in an intimate way. No Hollywood endings here.

As far as Hollywood endings go, however, about the most fun I have had at the movies during the festival was at an archival presentation of the classic Captain Blood. Starring Errol Flynn and Olivia De Havilland, Captain Blood is a rousing adventure tale set in England and the Caribbean during the late 17th century. Michael Curtiz (Casablanca, The Sea Hawk) directs one of the all-time greats of the genre.

Peter Blood (Flynn) is an English doctor imprisoned with rebels by King James. They escape the gallows and are taken to Port Royal, Jamaica, to work as slaves. After a bold escape, Blood and his fellow slaves steal a ship and become pirates of the Spanish Main, becoming rich and much-feared throughout the Caribbeans.

Following a rather well-done climactic battle with two French warships (even by today's standards), Blood and company save Port Royal and receive their pardons.

And, of course, Errol Flynn gets the girl.