Rifkin's Festival

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

10K

YOUR RATING

Gina Gershon, Wallace Shawn, Elena Anaya, and Louis Garrel in Rifkin's Festival (2020)

A married American couple go to the San Sebastian Festival and get caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city and the fantasy of movies.

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Comedy Romance

A married American couple goes to the San Sebastian Festival and gets caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city, and the fantasy of movies.A married American couple goes to the San Sebastian Festival and gets caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city, and the fantasy of movies.A married American couple goes to the San Sebastian Festival and gets caught up in the magic of the event, the beauty and charm of the city, and the fantasy of movies.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

6.1/10

10K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 win & 1 nomination total

Trivia
The scene in which Ingmar Bergman's Le Septième Sceau (1957) chess game was recreated was filmed on the same beach where the Dragonstone landing of Game of Thrones (2011) was filmed. Christoph Waltz, dressed in a heavy black robe withstood high temperatures in the sun (40 degrees Celsius) on the hottest day of the last half century in the area.

Goofs
During the game of chess played against Death, the table appears incorrectly rotated. According to the rules of chess, the right square on the bottom row of each player should be white. Both players should know better than to make this mistake. Interestingly, the same mistake appears in the original movie Le Septième Sceau (1957) by Ingmar Bergman..

Quotes
Mort Rifkin: Nobody wants to die. Not even for love.
Jo Rojas: You wouldn't die for love?
Mort Rifkin: I'd frankly prefer not to die for anything. And that includes sickness, old age or choking on a bagel.

Connections
Features À bout de souffle (1960)

Soundtracks
San Sebastián
Composed by Stephane Wrembel
Performed by Stephane Wrembel, Thor Jensen, Josh Kaye, Ari Folman-Cohen, Nick Anderson, Scott Kettner, Adrien Chevalier, Nick Driscoll & David Langlois

User reviews71

Featured review

8/10

Predictable, Precise and Precious

As we get older and love doesn't seem to be enough and life is actually - quite simply inbalanced and almost artificial - watching Woody Allen movies brings life to the relatable and makes you laugh at the ridiculous of human behavior. Especially the fantasies of grandeur, - the intimacy between professor and the student or plumber and plumbers assistant, what have you, Rifkins Festival still plays at the comedy of the desperation and the fear to become stagnant.

Well shot. Good speed. Bold choice in actor, but the chemistry between authenticity and subtly feels balanced throughout.

Don't watch it expecting an Oscar. Watch it to enjoy cinema again. The movie also tells you that.