sf indiefest

Roxie Cinema    2/11/2007 7PM

                         2/16/2007 4:30PM

California Theater-Berkeley    2/14/2007  7PM

Many so-called independent films nowadays are more like polished calling-cards for the makers to get their three-picture deal and Hollywood perks. Julian Goldberger’s The Hawk is Dying is a gripping and and intense exploration of grief, obsession, and madness that has a raw impact more in common with the spirit of the independent films of the early 1980s. Paul Giamatti (Sideways) stars as Geroge Gattling, a Gainesville, Florida auto upholsterer, whose passion is falconry. His life is as constricted as the birds he seeks to tame are free. Living with his obese sister and her mentally challenged nephew, he pours his soul into his attempts to master his craft and train a magnificent red-tailed hawk. A tragic event drives him into obsessive madness. The film is carried by Giamatti’s riveting performance as a man lost in his quest to discover himself and his place in the world. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival where it was called “Entirely original…a beautiful and metaphorically film rich with genuine emotion and unexpected epiphanies.” With Michael Pitt, Rusty Schwimmer, Ann Wedgeworth, and Michelle Williams. (2006) 112 minutes