All Creatures Here Below A desperate young couple at the end of their financial rope flee across country after the wife abducts an infant. Collin Schiffi directed. 91 min. Showing as part of the Midwest Independent Film Festival’s monthly event. Preceded by a reception and a panel at 6 PM. Tue 9/3, 7:30 PM. Landmark’s Century Centre
NThe Case of Hana & Alice Celebrated Japanese director Shunji Iwai (Love Letter, New York, I Love You) turns to animation in this lilting, piquant 2015 prequel to his 2004 live-action high school rom-com Hana and Alice, opting for rotoscoping rather than the ubiquitous anime style of wide-eyed waifs that derives from manga. The mode not only enhances his closely observed psychological portraits of two overly imaginative middle-school misfits who become best friends, it also allows for the stars of his original, Anne Suzuki and Yû Aoi, to plausibly reprise their roles. Alice (Yû), the only child of divorced parents, moves with her author mom to a remote small town where she fears terminal boredom until school bullies become allies and rope her into a mystery surrounding the rumored murder of a missing former classmate. Soon Alice’s shut-in neighbor, school dropout Hana (Suzuki), takes an active interest in the case. Chief among the many lyrical sequences are those in which Alice befriends an elderly company man; their poignant exchange on a park swing set recalls the great Takashi Shimura in Akira Kurosawa’s 1952 classic Ikiru. In Japanese with subtitles. —Andrea Gronvall 99 min. Fri 8/30, 4 and 8 PM; Sat 8/31, 2 PM; Sun 9/1, 4 PM; Mon 9/2, 5 PM; Tue 9/3, 6 PM; Wed 9/4, 7:45 PM; and Thu 9/5, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center
NGags the Clown Adam Krause directed this comedy-horror film about a mysterious clown who starts roaming the streets of Green Bay, Wisconsin. 89 min. Krause attends the Friday and Tuesday screenings. Fri 8/30-Sat 8/31, midnight; and Tue 9/3, 8 PM. Music Box
The Return of Martin Guerre Set in 16th-century France, Daniel Vigne’s film is about a peasant (Gerard Depardieu) who returns to his wife (Nathalie Baye) and family after nine years at war. Initially, everyone is happy to see how the experience has changed him—he’s stronger and more mature—but when he demands a bigger share of the family land, his relatives decide that Martin isn’t Martin at all, but an impostor. Vigne is one of several contemporary French filmmakers who have returned to the long-despised “Tradition of Quality,” and his film is about as good as this kind of thing can be—an intriguing story, excellent performances, fine period detail, lovely cinematography—without really having the personal force of a work of art. —Dave Kehr 122 min. The 113-minute director’s cut is screening. Sun 9/1, 5:45 PM; Mon 9/2, 3 PM; and Thu 9/5, 6 PM. Gene Siskel Film Center
