The 57th New York Film Festival rounds a corner this weekend. Film at Lincoln Center’s 17-day salute to world cinema has already covered much ground and continues plowing through to October 13. We commented earlier on the festival’s documentaries. Now, we’re here to share our observations so far on the Main Slate, including a half-dozen not-to-be-missed films.

The festival came out of the gate strong. Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman fulfilled its promise. Based on Charles Brandt’s nonfiction novel I Heard You Paint Houses, the $150 million-plus mob epic clocks in at a whopping 209 minutes. A complex story that spans a lifetime (cue the de-aging visual effects), the film not only showcases Scorsese’s mastery of the medium but also gives Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, and Al Pacino meaty, award-worthy roles to chew on. NYFF’s hosting of The Irishman‘s world premiere was a coup and undoubtedly ranks among the most high-profile events in the festival’s 57-year history. The Irishman will receive a limited theatrical run on November 1, followed by a streaming release on November 27 via Netflix. (UPDATE: The Irishman is heading to Broadway)

This year’s Main Slate highlights 29 features that have been making the festival rounds over the last year. The programmers appear to have a fondness for what the French have been up to as there are 11 films in the slate with ties to the European country. Asia and South America are also well represented, as is the U.S.. Pedro Almodóvar, the Dardenne brothers, Pedro Costa, and Olivier Assayas are among those returning with new projects. While Kantemir Balagov, Mati Diop, Justine Triet, and Diao Yinan are making their NYFF debuts.

A popular theme in this year’s Main Slate is alienation. There are several films that center on a character isolated or dissociated from others. The films outlined below all fall in this category.

As some of these films have already played the festival, we’ve included future theatrical and streaming release information where possible.

Beanpole

Life during wartime is cruel. However, life during post-wartime is equally traumatizing as 27-year-old Russian filmmaker Kantemir Balagov illustrates in his haunting essential saga, Beanpole.

Set in Leningrad post-WWII, Beanpole follows two women who fought together on the front lines as anti-aircraft gunners. Iya, who goes by Beanpole, named for her tall and lean physique, has been released from military service early because of a concussive injury that causes her to have seizures. She now spends her days caring for others, working as a nurse in a local hospital. Masha, recently discharged, shows up on Iya’s doorstep ready to build a new life. However, she quickly finds her dreams derailed. A wartime injury has left her unable to bear children.

Balagov constructs a strikingly grim tale dotted with unexpected twists. His story is complimented by impeccable production design and tremendous performances. If you’re up for a harrowing yet rewarding 130-minute dip into despair, Beanpole is absolutely worth vaulting into.

Beanpole screens at the NYFF on Sunday, October 6th at 9pm at Alice Tully Hall, and Tuesday, October 8th at 9pm at Walter Reade Theater with the director present for Q&As after for both screenings. Tickets are available here. If you miss it at the festival, the film opens in select theaters January 29, 2020 via Kino Lorber.

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Martin Eden

From the moment actor Luca Marinelli appears on screen, it’s impossible to look away from Pietro Marcello’s Martin Eden. Marinelli plays the titular role in the Italian filmmaker’s ambitious and melancholy adaptation of Jack London’s 1909 novel.

Marcello’s update positions the narrative in 20th-century Naples at a time when socialism is gaining ground. Eden, an idealistic unschooled sailor, falls for an upper-class girl (Jessica Cressy). Determined to win her over, Eden embarks on a course of self-education in hopes of becoming a working writer. Retreating to the country, Eden dedicates himself to his craft and embraces the tenets of individualism. After a prolonged period of rejection, the tides turn. However, literary fame proves a cruel mistress for the story’s dashing protagonist.

Shot on 16mm, Martin Eden evokes French and Italian films from the 1960s. Marcello also cleverly weaves documentary elements into the narrative. The film’s seductive cinematic artistry and Marinelli’s transfixing performance make it a must-see for lovers of foreign cinema.

Martin Eden screens at the NYFF on Sunday, October 6 at 2:30pm at Alice Tully Hall, and Monday, October 7 at 8:45pm at Walter Reade Theater with the director present for Q&As following both screenings. Tickets are available here. If you miss it at the festival, Kino Lorber is distributing the film. The release date has not been announced.

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Synonyms

Synonyms might be its title, but Nadav Lapid’s latest tour de force feature defies comparison. Exploring issues around cultural identity, the tragicomedy stars newcomer Tom Mercier as Yoav, an Israeli man who has fled his homeland following military service. Landing in Paris, Yoav is hellbent on beginning a new life in the City of Light. However, the French capital is not so welcoming as someone immediately robs him of practically all of his belongings. Thankfully, a young bourgeois Parisian couple, Emile and Caroline, comes to Yoav’s rescue. Fascinated by the foreigner, the pair takes him under their wing and a bizarre triangle forms.

The film, inspired by Lapid’s real-life experiences, zealously follows Yoav as he tries to assimilate to his adopted home. Refusing to speak his mother tongue of Hebrew, Yoav devotes himself to French. He savors each new word learned as if it’s a small triumph. Though, as his time in Paris goes on, he wonders if perhaps France and Israel are just two sides of the same coin.

Mercier’s unrestrained performance as the conflicted former soldier is spellbinding, and the film vibrates with spontaneity. But the experience of watching it can be disorienting. Synonyms and Yoav’s mustard-colored coat leave an indelible impression.

Synonyms has already screened at NYFF. However, it opens in limited release via Kino Lorber on October 25.

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Pain and Glory

Nadav Lapid isn’t the only filmmaker at the festival with a film that borrows from his personal experiences. Pedro Almodóvar, who frequently incorporates elements of his life into his films, goes all-in with Pain and Glory. A poignant and deeply personal turn for the 70-year-old director, he raises his own ante with this Spanish-language drama. It further illustrates why Almodóvar is one of the most vital and inventive voices in world cinema today.

A story of redemption, Pain and Glory stars Antonio Banderas as Salvador Mallo, a veteran screenwriter and film director riddled with ailments. His body is in decline. He’s grieving over the recent death of his mother. But worst of all, he’s become impotent in the filmmaking department.

When a local theater invites Salvador to speak at a screening of Sabor, a film he made 30 years earlier, the director reconnects with the drug-addled actor who starred in the film, Alberto. The pair put aside their differences and smoke from the peace pipe; here, it involves heroin. Salvador, who until this point had avoided the drug, begins experimenting with it more and more. During his highs, he revisits moments from his past. It is through these memories that inspiration and a desire to write returns.

Banderas’s performance is astounding. He’s fragile and vulnerable as the debilitated director. Banderas and Almodóvar’s multi-decade relationship clearly comes into play here. Also informing the actor’s performance is his recent heart attack. During the NYFF press conference, Banderas shared that the event had changed his perspective on his life and career.

Following Pain and Glory’s New York premiere at the festival, it opens in theaters via Sony Pictures Classics on Friday, October 4.

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First Cow

American indie director Kelly Reichardt milks the fertile, possibility-filled early days of the Pacific Northwest to great effect for her latest feature, First Cow. Based on Jon Raymond’s The Half Life, First Cow is set in Oregon in the early 19th century and centers on the friendship between a cook named Cookie (John Magaro), and an enterprising Chinese immigrant, King-Lu (Orion Lee).

The pair’s first encounter comes while King-Lu is fleeing from a group of Russians. Cookie, an outcast among the fur trappers he’s traveling with, finds the fugitive hiding naked in the forest and takes him in for the night. Come morning, King-Lu is off without saying a word. When the men’s paths cross again sometime later they move in together and hatch a lucrative scheme involving oil cakes made with milk stolen from a wealthy landowner’s cow.

A tender and soft-spoken story, First Cow sneaks up on you. Reichardt’s film tackles several themes that have relevance today, including the perils of capitalism, class division, and otherness. Despite its first glance simplicity, it might be one of the more powerful films screening at this year’s festival.

If you missed out on First Cow at the festival, it arrives in theaters via A24 on March 6, 2020.

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To the Ends of the Earth

Another understated yet brilliant work at this year’s fest is Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s To the Ends of the Earth. Best known for his Japanese horror films shot in and around Tokyo, Kurosawa leaves his comfort zone to make a coming-of-age tale set in Uzbekistan. Joining him for the ride is former J-pop idol Atsuko Maeda. This marks the actress and director’s third collaboration following Before We Vanish(2017), and Seventh Code(2013).

Kurosawa made To the Ends of the Earth as a gun-for-hire to commemorate 25 years of diplomatic relations between Japan and Uzbekistan. The filmmaker received input on locations but was basically left to his own devices in crafting the narrative. He developed a story that centers on a young naïve Japanese TV reporter named Yoko who is in Uzbekistan with a small crew shooting an episode for a travel variety show.

The Japanese TV crew’s shoot unfolds like a comedy of errors. Nothing is going as planned and cultural differences are simmering below the surface. Meanwhile, Yoko is having her own series of mini-meltdowns as she gets lost in the streets of Uzbekistan, watches from afar as a tragedy unfolds back in Japan, and fears she will never realize her dream of being a singer. Uplifting and unpredictable, the film ends on a resounding high note. And, spoiler alert, there is singing.

To the Ends of the Earth screens at NYFF on Saturday, October 5 at 12pm at Walter Reade Theater, Thursday, October 10 at 6:30pm at Howard Gilman Theater, and Sunday, October 13 at 2pm at Walter Reade Theater. Tickets are available here.

NYFF57 poster by Pedro Almodóvar