TODAY AT THE AFI

F ollowing are The Times’ recommendations for today’s schedule of the American Film Institute International Film Festival, with commentary by the film reviewing staff. All screenings , unless otherwise noted, are at Laemmle’s Sunset 5, 8000 Sunset Blvd. Information: (213) 466-1767.

Highly Recommended:

“THE DARK SIDE OF THE HEART”(Argentina; director Eliseo Subiela; 1:30 and 6:30 p.m.). Nothing can be more annoying, or amusing, than an artistic bohemian-adventurer who’s also a male chauvinist in search of sexual transcendence. It’s to Subiela’s credit that he understands this--making the plight of his lecherous, perpetually unsatisfied poet Oliverio funny--but that, in some cracked way, we are in complicity with Oliverio’s peculiar, sadistic fantasy life. (When his sex partners can’t “fly,” he ejects them through a trap door in his bed.) The film is done with a surface sharpness that belies the surreal, dreamlike jokes and atmosphere. (Michael Wilmington)

Recommended:

“POST NO BILLS”(U.S.; Clay Walker; 1:50 and 7 p.m.). This documentary on noted guerrilla poster artist Robbie Conal proves as disarming and low-key as Conal himself; indeed, the film could use more of the sharp, tight, in-your-face impact of his anti-Establishment posters. Even so, there is a certain irony in the way Walker charts Conal’s rapid rise from anonymous satirist to media celebrity. (Kevin Thomas)

COMEDY SHORTS(U.S.; Laurie Lynd, Don McKellar, Bruno De Almeida, Mary Sellers, Mary Katherine McMahon; 4:15 and 9:15 p.m.). Perhaps comedy, or at least the audience awareness it requires, is a good discipline for beginning filmmakers. Here’s one “shorts” program without a clunker in the lot; indeed, one entry, Bruno De Almeida’s phone mail sex-and-murder parody, “The Debt”--beautifully shot in ‘50s noir style by Jean (“Laws of Gravity”) De Segonzac--unreels like a minor classic. For the rest, we’re beguiled by atypically sharp storytelling and acting, clever writing and the fleeting sight of guest star David Cronenberg (in McKellar’s “Blue”) playing a businessman-pervert. (M.W.)

Others: “Don’t Call Me Frankie” (U.S.; Thomas A. Fucci; 1:40, 4:05, 6:50 and 9:05 p.m.). Talent and promise here--but they don’t necessarily connect. Frankie (nicely played by Peter Van Norden) is a failed businessman distraught at the loss of his record collection, bent on suicide in a hotel full of hot-headed low-lifes and oddballs. Drab, no visual style to speak of; still, it almost works. (M.W.). “Cageman” (Hong Kong; C. L. Cheung; 3:30 and 9 p.m.). Unscreened. A rare “serious”--but not necessarily sober--Hong Kong import, which portrays the plight of low-rent residents forced to live in apartment “cages.” Threatened with eviction by an unscrupulous real estate speculator, they band together and fight back.