***/****
directed by Victor Kossakovsky
by Travis Mackenzie Hoover By far the most original of this year's crop is Hush!, in which director Victor Kossakovsky turns his gaze through his apartment window and collects the goings-on outside. Lovers meet in the street, dogs are walked, street cleaners sweep up the curb, and public workers tear up the street to do... something. Seasons change, rain and snow fall, a police van has a close call at an intersection and the hole in the street gets bigger and bigger as the workers continue to do God-knows-what. Sometimes the action unfurls in real time, sometimes in silent-movie fast forward, and the tone is always antic, bemused, and friendly. Admittedly, the concept doesn't quite sustain a full 88 minutes--there were times that I wish the film had been somewhat reduced, as there's only so much interest that can be squeezed out of people we only know for minutes and whose voices we cannot hear. But the film's gentle tone is infectious and lovely, and it's hard to fault a director who would undertake such an eccentric project. After a long festival week of war crimes and female genital mutilation, this is the perfect counter-programming to get your faith in humanity back.
