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Of the many things that make Chicago such a great place to live, my favorite might be the Chicago International Film Festival. It's always held in the first two weeks of October and features almost 100 movies from every part of the world. Costume dramas from Russia, comedies from Cuba, documentaries from Palestine, animated movies from Hong Kong, and action flicks from Brazil. These and much, much more make this a must-see for any film lover in the Windy City.

The festival kicks off this Friday, Oct. 4, with Evelyn, a movie starring Pierce Brosnan and based on a true story. Brosnan plays Desmond Doyle, an Irishman whose children were taken away from him by the Catholic Church in the early '50s. His challenge to the Irish Children Act was a significant event in 20th-century Ireland, and this movie attempts to reconstruct the court battle. Julianna Margulies is on hand as the love interest. As is usually true of the fest's opening night, the movie is unfortunately conventional, but Bond-man Brosnan will actually be in town to lend some star power. Would-be paparazzi can gather outside the Chicago Theatre, 175 N. State St., around 7-7:30 p.m.

The rest of the festival lineup is absolutely top-notch. Of course, I've only been able to preview a small fraction of the featured movies, but the ratio of classics to dogs is highly encouraging. My favorite of the bunch is City of God (Oct. 6 & 7), a hyper-stylized gangster movie from the barrios of Brazil. Though it recalls last year's Amores Perros, it is a much more consistent picture with a bravura editing style that is both flashy and perfectly suited to the material. Director Fernando Meirelles tells the based-on-real-life story of Rocket, a teenage boy who wants to be a news photographer. He lives in the notorious City of God neighborhood, which is run by two rival drug lords. When war breaks out between them, Rocket is the only one who can actually take pictures for the newspapers.  Though the storyline might sound like a typical gangster flick, it is anything but. With a crisply told narrative, fantastic performances from the largely non-professional cast, and some of the coolest cinematography you're likely to see all year, City of God shows up every gangster movie since The Godfather II (including Goodfellas). My only reservation is that the violence gets a bit much, but otherwise this is must-see moviemaking.

(all ratings on a 5-star scale).

On the other end of the spectrum but no less interesting is My Life as McDull (Oct. 5, 7 & 13). An animated movie out of Hong Kong, it tells the story of young McDull, a 5-6-year-old pink pig who goes to school (with other animals and humans), lives with his mom, and dreams big dreams. Sometimes he hopes to win an Olympic medal, other times he just wants his mom to notice him. The movie is full of references to contemporary Hong Kong as well as western animation, and I'm sure I missed many of them. But the film combines a Hello-Kitty sweetness with a deeper angst of existentialism for a truly original result. The animation is striking and beautiful, many of the gags are hilarious, the soundtrack is full of richly layered songs, and the narration of McDull as an adult is profound and somber. This is one of those rare movies to which parents can take their kids and both can enjoy for entirely different reasons. 

The much more conventional Hard Goodbyes (Oct. 4, 5 & 7), from Greece, is set in summer of 1969 just a few weeks before Neil Armstrong's famous journey. Elias is a ten-year-old boy with stars on his ceiling and dreams of landing on the moon. Those dreams are fostered by his father who tells wonderful stories inspired by Jules Verne. But when a terrible accident occurs, Elias retreats into his own dream world, but one that has striking resonance to his real life. This compelling tale of a family dealing with loss and grief is powerful but never overwhelming. Director Penny Panayotopoulou elicits a fantastic performance from her young star Giorgos Karayannis as well as from Stelios Mainas and Ioanna Tsirigouli as his parents.   

Another rich film from Mediterranean Europe is To Tama: Evagoras' Vow (Oct.5, 6 & 7). This one is set on the island of Cyprus as WWII breaks out in Greece. But Evagoras has his own situation to worry about. He's made a vow to St. Andreas that he would undertake a pilgrimage across the island if God blessed him with a son. St. Andreas has held up his end of the bargain, and now Evagoras is setting out on his month-long trek. This is not your typical road movie, but the episodic structure and clever references to other famous pilgrimages (Odysseus and Chaucer, to name just two) situate To Tama in a familiar place. The movie is both light-hearted as well as interested in the concept of right and wrong, and the lead performance from Georges Corraface is wonderful.   

Regular readers of this column know that I have a soft spot for slow Asian movies, so it's no surprise that I thoroughly enjoyed The Blessing Bell (Oct. 11, 12 & 13) from Japan. With a protagonist who literally doesn't speak until the film's final reel, this is a witty, if ponderous, tale of a man confronting the ironies in everyday life. The movie recalls Antonioni in its use of architecture, and the film's conclusion has rattled around in my brain ever since I saw it.   

One of the nicer bits of fluff the festival is offering is One Fine Spring Day (Oct. 6 & 11), a Korean film that echoes Wong Kar-Wai in its aching portrayal of the ups and downs of romance. The two leads, Yeong-ae Lee and Ji-tae Yu, are both fantastic, and the movie perfectly captures the arc of 20-something romance. The only movie of the fest (so far) to make me cry. 

Other movies of interest include Bertrand Tavernier's Safe Conduct (Oct.6), a film based on the real life adventures of moviemakers in Vichy France. The story is compelling though the direction is clunky.  three stars  My Mother's Smile (Oct. 5, 8 & 12) is a contemporary Italian film about an atheist whose mother has been nominated to be a saint. This cynical portrait of modern Catholicism is powerful if overdone.  

There are literally dozens of movies I haven't seen that are worth pointing out. Mike Leigh returns to contemporary life (after the nice detour of Topsy Turvy) with the acclaimed All or Nothing. By all accounts, Timothy Spall gives another spectacular performance. Alexander Sokurov's digital-video experiment Russian Ark is supposed to be breathtaking, while Korean director Im Kwon-Taek offers a ravishing bio-pic in Chihwaseon. I've also heard great things about Aki Kaurismaki's The Man Without a Past, Paul Thomas Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love (starring Adam Sandler, no less), the Russian movie Cuckoo and The Trilogy from director Lucas Belvaux. Check out the festival program for details on these and many others.

With the exception of the opening night affair, all films are screened at either the Music Box theater, 3733 N. Southport Ave, or the Landmark Theaters at 2828 N. Clark. Prices vary from $6 to $15, so that's another reason to pick up a festival program. An update on the festival's second week will appear next week. I encourage you to get out and see something different.

J. Robert Parks 10/2/2002