Festival fatigue is a terrible thing, and difficult to shake. It doesn't affect me with a great film, but many a lesser yet worthy film may not be appreciated as I nod off. Such was the case with the first two films of Day 15.
Fri 8 August
Le Diable probablement (The Devil Probably, Robert Bresson, France, 1977)
Tout est parfait (Everything is Fine, Yves Christian Fournier, Canada, 2007)
O' Horten (Bent Hamer, Norway, 2008)
Stellet licht (Silent Light, Carlos Reygadas, Mexico/France/The Netherlands/Germany, 2007)
The Devil Probably
Apparently the 35mm print screened at my session is a rare print and the only one available. So announced the MIFF person prior, requesting tolerance for the print's quality. As it turned out, the scratches and discolouration weren't too much a problem. The film just didn't grab me and I nodded off for a couple of minutes near the start. Consequently, much of the subsequent story didn't make sense to me and I struggled to the end. While I respect the exploration and experimentation in French New Wave, much of it eludes me still.
Everything is Fine
Five 17 year old classmates commit suicide and a remaining friend is left wondering why. Look, I lost my 17 year old son to suicide, but none of this French Canadian film rang true for me. I just couldn't buy into it and it seemed aimed not much higher than an episode of Neighbours. The final conceit of the film was just so silly that it just confirmed everything else I perceived of it.
O' Horten
I was very curious to see Bent Hamer's latest film in his native Norway. His previous film, Factotum (2005) was a great little rendition of the life of Charles Bukowski by Matt Dillon. O' Horten is a highly original black comedy that is beautifully photographed as it follows a retiring train driver before, during and after his retirement. The film's use of irony made me realise how little it is employed in comedy.
The film could be called quirky, but nothing like the spate of over-contrived quirky indie US comedies of recent years. There was always the unexpected, and while the film is stylised, the surprises always have an authentic and natural feel to them. The film is an homage to old age, full of elderly characters and observations of some of their idiosyncrasies.
Last year, I found Snow Angels an example of the type of films I'd like to see more of at MIFF: films with the potentially mainstream appeal that are unlikely to get a local theatrical release. Such is the case with O' Horten. It's highly enjoyable, original and a vastly super alternative to the many French and UK comedies that make their way to our local arthouse cinemas.
Silent Light
After Matt Ravier's glowing review of Silent Light at Sydney Film Festival, I decided to order the DVD (along with Reygadas' earlier films, Japon and Battle in Heaven). By the time the DVDs arrived, Silent Light had been announced as screening at MIFF. Consequently, I held off waiting to see it on the big screen first. And boy, the wait was worth it. This is a sublimely beautiful film that, even though it runs for 142 minutes and ended close to midnight, had me completely entranced by its aesthetic story-telling.
Yes, those bookend sunrise and sunset shots are amazing, but it's the totality of the story-telling that grabbed me. The extremely long takes grab the attentive viewer into the beauty of the details in the seeming ordinary. It confirms my perspective that art is a way of seeing the world, not just the creation of physical objects of art.
The apparent use of different languages confused me, and I was trying to work out whether the film was set in Mexico or Europe. I thought the predominant language was Dutch with the occasional German and Spanish. The sight of an RV van and a Chihuahua State number plate later in the film clarified that it was shot in Mexico. The other language was neither Dutch nor German but Plautdietsch, described on Wikipedia as "Mennonite Low German, originally a Low Prussian variety of East Low German".
The film depicts a glimpse into the life of a Mennonite family in crisis. The film references both Sleeping Beauty and Ordet, has been compared to the work of Tarkovsky, yet is a highly original work that I find vastly superior and more compelling than any of these. This is one of my favourite MIFF films and must-see. Kojo Films are the local distributors but, given that they put Mister Lonely straight to DVD, I wouldn't be too optimistic that Silent Light will get a theatrical release. Big screen or small, I highly recommend it.
For what it's worth, this film had the largest walkout of any session I attended at MIFF: I counted 67 departures, most in the first 45 minutes. It's understandable, due to the extremely slow pace of the film, which demands much of an unsuspecting and conventional audience. This was similar to the response of last year's The Man From London, a film with completely different aesthetics, but also moved along at a snail's pace. What some audiences don't appreciate is that this is the point.
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Canada. Show all posts
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Friday, August 01, 2008
MIFF Days 2 - 7
We're a week into MIFF, and I've only written about the Opening Night film, Not Quite Hollywood. Fatigue, time (or lack of) and the realisation that I have to get to bed by 1am have prevented me from writing as promptly as last year (as I recollect, I did a write up every night, no matter the time - crazy!). I must say, I made a big mistake this year. I went to Opening Night with not enough sleep, and have struggled since. I'm trying to catch up now, but it's difficult. Memo to self: next year make sure you're well-rested before the festival starts.
Day 2: Sat 26 July
A fost sau n-a fost? (12:08 East of Bucharest, Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania, 2006)
Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, Australia, 1978)
Day 3: Sun 27 July
Vikaren (The Substitute, Ole Bornedal, Denmark, 2007)
My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, Canada, 2007)
Of Time and the City (Terence Davies, UK, 2008)
Day 4: Mon 28 July
Terra Sonâmbula (Sleepwalking Land, Teresa Prata, Portugal/Mozambique, 2006)
Momma's Man (Azazel Jacobs, USA, 2008)
Katyn (Andrej Wajda, Poland, 2007)
Day 5: Tue 29 July
El Baño del Papa (The Pope's Toilet, Enrique Fernandez, Cesar Charlone, Uruguay/Brazil/France, 2007)
Moartea domnului Lazarescu (The Death of Mister Lazarescu, Alexandru Munteanu, Romania, 2005)
Day 6: Wed 30 July
Bam gua nat (Night and Day, Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2008)
Élève libre (Private Lessons, Joachim Lafosse, Belgium/France, 2008)
40 x 15: The 40 Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight (Olivier Jahan, France, 2008)
Ashes of Time Redux (Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong, 2008)
Day 7: Thu 31 July
Gitmek: My Marlon and Brando (My Marlon and Brando, Huseyin Karabey, Turkey, 2008)
Qing mei zhu ma (Taipei Story, Edward Yang, Taiwan, 1985)
12:08 East of Bucharest
This is a quietly satisfying film. It starts out as an ensemble drama with understated dry wit and somewhere along the way - I'm not sure when - it becomes a black comedy. The film documents the impact of the fall of the Ceacescu dictatorship on a micro level, analysing social changes, people's recollections and how lies are perpetuated. I'm making a point to see as many of the Romanian films screening at MIFF, and this was a good start.
Long Weekend
Screening as part of the Ozploitation stream, I'd heard good things about this film. With a low budget and a cast of two, despite its obvious flaws, this is a film that has much to admire and enjoy. Director Eggleston is able to maintain a high level of suspense without dialogue for long stretches. I liked the film and the missus really loved it.
The Substitute
I took the kid to see this, and while I didn't think it had anything scarier than a Harry Potter movie, there was one scene that unsettled him to the point that he started crying (he's 7 years old) and the missus had to take him out. Aside from that, I found the film fairly clumsy, like many Australian or German films. It felt like an Australian kids flick you might see after school on the ABC. It also seemed quite derivative (from parts of Men in Black). It has, however, won overseas awards as a children's film. It has funny moments, but I found it unsatisfying as either a children's film or as a film in general.
My Winnipeg
This ode to Guy Maddin's hometown reminded me of a film I watched online on Matt Clayfield's blog a while ago, but be damned if I can find it. This is the second Maddin film I've seen, after Brand Upon the Brain at MIFF last year. In the context of a film festival, I like the unconventional nature of Maddin's work, though this one is not as gripping as last year's title. Still, it's worth a look.
Of Time and the City
I found this pretty dull, perhaps a made-for-TV BBC documentary. Because I set up my MIFF schedule and forget what each film is about, I often go into the cinema without a clue of what I'm about to see. It took me quite some time to work out that this film is an homage to the director's hometown Liverpool. I found the narrative using mostly prose, including quotes from a wide range of writers like Jung and Engels, distancing. With a short run time of 72 minutes, I still found myself looking at my watch waiting for the end.
Sleepwalking Land
This film looks good and had some good elements, but just didn't work for me. I found it's narrative too clunky, too contrived. The dynamics between the actors just didn't seem quite right and I couldn't believe in the story.
Momma's Man
Low budget indie US film-making that aspires for the transcendence of Old Joy, replete with subtle political messages. Not bad, but doesn't achieve Old Joy's peaks.
Katyn
Wow, this film packs a punch. It looks great (with the same cinematographer from Polanski's The Pianist and Oliver Twist). Like other Polish films I've liked (including others by Wajda and also early Kieslowski), there's historical and political references that may seem a little oblique to non-Polish audiences. If anything, that only piques my interest to learn more about them. Perhaps more of a problem, though, are some of the relationship dynamics that I didn't completely work out - it'll take another viewing to clarify some of them for me.
Nonetheless, this is a powerful film that was clearly a very personal project - it depicts the World War 2 massacre that took the life of Wajda's own father and clearly impacted not just many of the films he has made, but his whole life. It certainly shows that the Soviets were not benevolent dictators but rather treacherous murderers who colluded with the Nazis for their own ends. Massively popular in Poland and that's country's entry for this year's Oscars, hopefully it will get a local release. This was the first stand-out film at the festival for me.
The Pope's Toilet
An enjoyable enough dark comedy that captures the social and cultural life of poverty in an Uruguayan village as it prepares for the visit of the Pope. The ending is somewhat predictable but it's the journey that is more satisfying.
The Death of Mister Lazarescu
This is the kind of film I want to see at a festival, or any time for that matter. A film like this would never be made in the West, yet it is as universal as any film could be. Who would think a story that follows an obsese and drunken slob through the last hours of his existence could be so compelling? With long takes, the film has a documentary look and feel very similar to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, my favourite cinema release of 2007.
The film is an damning indictment, not just of Romanian bureaucracy, but of the failings of hospitals everywhere. In all its minute detail and documenting of hospital admissions, I could see no material difference between how we operate here on the other side of the globe in a much more affluent society. Perhaps the only departure from Australian society is that we could more reliably expect an ambulance when needed.
Like 4 Months, this film has a fly-on-the-wall feel to it, as we get a glimpse into this poor man's life: how he lives, what is family situation is, who his neighbours are and how his addiction to alcohol is about to lead to a descent into bureaucratic hell as he is shunted from one hospital to another. Must-see cinema at its finest!
Night and Day
Pardon me now, and for the rest of my mini-reviews of MIFF films, if I become repetitive in my use of the term "quietly satisfying". For that is how I found this film, as I did with the director's Woman on the Beach, which screened at MIFF last year. A Korean guy flees to Paris to avoid possible arrest for possession of marijuana. Not seeking to absorb French life in any way, he simply bides his time and we see a foreigner's experience of Paris as he hooks up with various compatriots. While I've been a little disappointed with my overall selection of films so far, this one is enjoyable and - wait for it - quietly satisfying.
Private Lessons
I should not have gone into this film with the high expectations I did. But I couldn't help it: after the director's magnificent Private Property, my favourite film at last year's French Film Festival, this is one of only two films that this year I decided I must see. It is not a bad film, but lacks something that his early film had.
Both films have a common theme: boys growing up without their fathers. While Private Property was extremely restrained and understated, Private Lessions goes for the jugular and puts to the fore, transgression that is only hinted at in Private Property. The film looks good and has some good elements. I think it lacks subtlety. Perhaps after Christophe Honoré's Ma mère (My Mother), it is a little too predictable and a little too contrived. Still, if you like transgressive and challenging cinema, this is a good film to see.
40 x 15: The 40 Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight
I suppose this is a reasonable festival selection considering the Directors' Fortnight stream at this year's MIFF. It was interesting enough, but nothing compelling that says you've gotta go out and see it. It covers how the DF came into being, its rocky history and where it is now.
Ashes of Time Redux
This film is all style and very little substance. It's a story in the vein of Zhang Yimou's martial arts spectaculars though with Wong Kar Wai's vivid and impressionistic visuals. I found the story very confusing and would need to see it again to understand it better, but there's no way I'd want to see it again, regardless of how good it looks. There's some good humour there, especially the way the film at times resembles or emulates the American Western genre. For me, the film is meh.
My Marlon and Brando
An interesting film that is not spectacular in any way but holds much interest for its depiction of a Turkish woman who tries to travel to Kurdish Iraq to hook up with her lover. It's 2003 and the US has just invaded Iraq, and she has to go via Iran. What I found most compelling was the difference in social mores as she travelled from one country to another. Turkey is really progressive compared to some of the places she went.
Taipei Story
I found this disappointing after all the hype surrounding Edward Yang. The film is austere, with minimal dialogue or narrative exposition. Generally, this is a quality I admire and it's on display in a MIFF film I liked a lot more, The Death of Mister Lazarescu. In Taipei Story, I found it kept me confused for way too long and I failed to understand the nature of the relationships between some of the central characters.
Day 2: Sat 26 July
A fost sau n-a fost? (12:08 East of Bucharest, Corneliu Porumboiu, Romania, 2006)
Long Weekend (Colin Eggleston, Australia, 1978)
Day 3: Sun 27 July
Vikaren (The Substitute, Ole Bornedal, Denmark, 2007)
My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin, Canada, 2007)
Of Time and the City (Terence Davies, UK, 2008)
Day 4: Mon 28 July
Terra Sonâmbula (Sleepwalking Land, Teresa Prata, Portugal/Mozambique, 2006)
Momma's Man (Azazel Jacobs, USA, 2008)
Katyn (Andrej Wajda, Poland, 2007)
Day 5: Tue 29 July
El Baño del Papa (The Pope's Toilet, Enrique Fernandez, Cesar Charlone, Uruguay/Brazil/France, 2007)
Moartea domnului Lazarescu (The Death of Mister Lazarescu, Alexandru Munteanu, Romania, 2005)
Day 6: Wed 30 July
Bam gua nat (Night and Day, Hong Sang-soo, South Korea, 2008)
Élève libre (Private Lessons, Joachim Lafosse, Belgium/France, 2008)
40 x 15: The 40 Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight (Olivier Jahan, France, 2008)
Ashes of Time Redux (Wong Kar Wai, Hong Kong, 2008)
Day 7: Thu 31 July
Gitmek: My Marlon and Brando (My Marlon and Brando, Huseyin Karabey, Turkey, 2008)
Qing mei zhu ma (Taipei Story, Edward Yang, Taiwan, 1985)
12:08 East of Bucharest
This is a quietly satisfying film. It starts out as an ensemble drama with understated dry wit and somewhere along the way - I'm not sure when - it becomes a black comedy. The film documents the impact of the fall of the Ceacescu dictatorship on a micro level, analysing social changes, people's recollections and how lies are perpetuated. I'm making a point to see as many of the Romanian films screening at MIFF, and this was a good start.
Long Weekend
Screening as part of the Ozploitation stream, I'd heard good things about this film. With a low budget and a cast of two, despite its obvious flaws, this is a film that has much to admire and enjoy. Director Eggleston is able to maintain a high level of suspense without dialogue for long stretches. I liked the film and the missus really loved it.
The Substitute
I took the kid to see this, and while I didn't think it had anything scarier than a Harry Potter movie, there was one scene that unsettled him to the point that he started crying (he's 7 years old) and the missus had to take him out. Aside from that, I found the film fairly clumsy, like many Australian or German films. It felt like an Australian kids flick you might see after school on the ABC. It also seemed quite derivative (from parts of Men in Black). It has, however, won overseas awards as a children's film. It has funny moments, but I found it unsatisfying as either a children's film or as a film in general.
My Winnipeg
This ode to Guy Maddin's hometown reminded me of a film I watched online on Matt Clayfield's blog a while ago, but be damned if I can find it. This is the second Maddin film I've seen, after Brand Upon the Brain at MIFF last year. In the context of a film festival, I like the unconventional nature of Maddin's work, though this one is not as gripping as last year's title. Still, it's worth a look.
Of Time and the City
I found this pretty dull, perhaps a made-for-TV BBC documentary. Because I set up my MIFF schedule and forget what each film is about, I often go into the cinema without a clue of what I'm about to see. It took me quite some time to work out that this film is an homage to the director's hometown Liverpool. I found the narrative using mostly prose, including quotes from a wide range of writers like Jung and Engels, distancing. With a short run time of 72 minutes, I still found myself looking at my watch waiting for the end.
Sleepwalking Land
This film looks good and had some good elements, but just didn't work for me. I found it's narrative too clunky, too contrived. The dynamics between the actors just didn't seem quite right and I couldn't believe in the story.
Momma's Man
Low budget indie US film-making that aspires for the transcendence of Old Joy, replete with subtle political messages. Not bad, but doesn't achieve Old Joy's peaks.
Katyn
Wow, this film packs a punch. It looks great (with the same cinematographer from Polanski's The Pianist and Oliver Twist). Like other Polish films I've liked (including others by Wajda and also early Kieslowski), there's historical and political references that may seem a little oblique to non-Polish audiences. If anything, that only piques my interest to learn more about them. Perhaps more of a problem, though, are some of the relationship dynamics that I didn't completely work out - it'll take another viewing to clarify some of them for me.
Nonetheless, this is a powerful film that was clearly a very personal project - it depicts the World War 2 massacre that took the life of Wajda's own father and clearly impacted not just many of the films he has made, but his whole life. It certainly shows that the Soviets were not benevolent dictators but rather treacherous murderers who colluded with the Nazis for their own ends. Massively popular in Poland and that's country's entry for this year's Oscars, hopefully it will get a local release. This was the first stand-out film at the festival for me.
The Pope's Toilet
An enjoyable enough dark comedy that captures the social and cultural life of poverty in an Uruguayan village as it prepares for the visit of the Pope. The ending is somewhat predictable but it's the journey that is more satisfying.
The Death of Mister Lazarescu
This is the kind of film I want to see at a festival, or any time for that matter. A film like this would never be made in the West, yet it is as universal as any film could be. Who would think a story that follows an obsese and drunken slob through the last hours of his existence could be so compelling? With long takes, the film has a documentary look and feel very similar to 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, my favourite cinema release of 2007.
The film is an damning indictment, not just of Romanian bureaucracy, but of the failings of hospitals everywhere. In all its minute detail and documenting of hospital admissions, I could see no material difference between how we operate here on the other side of the globe in a much more affluent society. Perhaps the only departure from Australian society is that we could more reliably expect an ambulance when needed.
Like 4 Months, this film has a fly-on-the-wall feel to it, as we get a glimpse into this poor man's life: how he lives, what is family situation is, who his neighbours are and how his addiction to alcohol is about to lead to a descent into bureaucratic hell as he is shunted from one hospital to another. Must-see cinema at its finest!
Night and Day
Pardon me now, and for the rest of my mini-reviews of MIFF films, if I become repetitive in my use of the term "quietly satisfying". For that is how I found this film, as I did with the director's Woman on the Beach, which screened at MIFF last year. A Korean guy flees to Paris to avoid possible arrest for possession of marijuana. Not seeking to absorb French life in any way, he simply bides his time and we see a foreigner's experience of Paris as he hooks up with various compatriots. While I've been a little disappointed with my overall selection of films so far, this one is enjoyable and - wait for it - quietly satisfying.
Private Lessons
I should not have gone into this film with the high expectations I did. But I couldn't help it: after the director's magnificent Private Property, my favourite film at last year's French Film Festival, this is one of only two films that this year I decided I must see. It is not a bad film, but lacks something that his early film had.
Both films have a common theme: boys growing up without their fathers. While Private Property was extremely restrained and understated, Private Lessions goes for the jugular and puts to the fore, transgression that is only hinted at in Private Property. The film looks good and has some good elements. I think it lacks subtlety. Perhaps after Christophe Honoré's Ma mère (My Mother), it is a little too predictable and a little too contrived. Still, if you like transgressive and challenging cinema, this is a good film to see.
40 x 15: The 40 Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight
I suppose this is a reasonable festival selection considering the Directors' Fortnight stream at this year's MIFF. It was interesting enough, but nothing compelling that says you've gotta go out and see it. It covers how the DF came into being, its rocky history and where it is now.
Ashes of Time Redux
This film is all style and very little substance. It's a story in the vein of Zhang Yimou's martial arts spectaculars though with Wong Kar Wai's vivid and impressionistic visuals. I found the story very confusing and would need to see it again to understand it better, but there's no way I'd want to see it again, regardless of how good it looks. There's some good humour there, especially the way the film at times resembles or emulates the American Western genre. For me, the film is meh.
My Marlon and Brando
An interesting film that is not spectacular in any way but holds much interest for its depiction of a Turkish woman who tries to travel to Kurdish Iraq to hook up with her lover. It's 2003 and the US has just invaded Iraq, and she has to go via Iran. What I found most compelling was the difference in social mores as she travelled from one country to another. Turkey is really progressive compared to some of the places she went.
Taipei Story
I found this disappointing after all the hype surrounding Edward Yang. The film is austere, with minimal dialogue or narrative exposition. Generally, this is a quality I admire and it's on display in a MIFF film I liked a lot more, The Death of Mister Lazarescu. In Taipei Story, I found it kept me confused for way too long and I failed to understand the nature of the relationships between some of the central characters.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
MIFF Day 18
The second last day of MIFF 2007, and only one film attended today, but it was a corker. If I attend the four films I've booked for tomorrow, it'll be the first time I've done four in a day. I don't really care to cram films into one day; it's just turned out that way. Two of the films are films that debuted at Cannes: Bela Tarr's The Man From London and Harmony Korine's Mister Lonely. The others are the official closing night film, Shane Meadows' This is England and the nod of respect to the recently departed Ingmar Bergman, The Silence. If I make it to all four screenings, it'll be a late night tomorrow, and with work the next morning, I'm not sure how quickly I will get my report posted.
Snow Angels (David Gordon Green, 
It feels like it's been a while since a film brought me to tears, and while I wasn't expecting this excellent drama to sneak up on me like it did, it did, and I cried. At first Snow Angels gives the impression it is going to be another slightly left-of-centre American indie film (though it's Canadian), the type that gets touted as a Sundance film. It's not quite quirky, and certainly no Little Miss Sunshine, but a little idiosyncratic. It reminds me ever so slightly of Offset, a film that screened at the German Film Festival in Melbourne this year. Both films give the appearance of going down a well-worn track, yet skillfully avoid clichés and stereotypes, delivering emotional truths and naturalistic scenarios against expectation.
The film focuses on a number of inter-twined relationships within a small town. Glenn (Sam Rockwell, in perhaps the performance of his career thus far) and Annie (Kate Beckinsale, also excellent) are the main characters - their separation has caused much grief. Annie is finding love elsewhere, while Glenn can't let go. There is also a young child in the middle. Other characters have drama of their own. Arthur (Michael Angarano) is experiencing first love with Lila (Olivia Thirlby). The nuanced character development is excellent. There is no good guy/bad guy thing happening - these are real people who are capable of both good and bad (to put it simply).
The story is very accessible and many people will relate to the unfolding drama. What I didn't expect was for some of the realistic interactions and the tragic outcomes. What seems to start as a light and pleasing film packs a powerful punch that left me affected for some time after. For me, the film recalls others such as Paul Schraeder's Affliction and James Marsh's The King. Snow Angels is more accessible than both those films.
I've not seen any previous films by David Gordon Green, though I did note that he was credited as a producer of Shotgun Stories, one of my favourite films at MIFF this year. This film is a real gem and deserves a theatrical release. Hopefully Hopscotch, Madman or one of the other local distributors will pick it up. It should do well at the Palace, Nova or Kino cinemas.
This was the second and final screening of Snow Angels as part of MIFF's International Panorama.
Monday, August 06, 2007
MIFF Day 12
Half Moon (Niwemang, Bahman Ghobadi, Iran/Iraq/Austria/France, 2006)
Half Moon is a road movie with a difference. An elderly man Moma (portrayed with great range and nuance by Ismail Ghaffari), a celebrity singer in his native Iraqi Kurdistan, sets out by bus from Iran with an entourage of his musician sons to his homeland to perform in a large public concert. With seven months of rehearsals, official permits and visas carefully arranged, nothing could go wrong, right? Well, this is border country between bitter enemies Iran, Iraq and the highly marginalised Kurds who are basically a dispossessed people without a country and held in contempt by both countries as well as Turkey. This film illustrates what can go wrong.
While beautifully filmed in some beautifully stark landscapes, the real richness of Half Moon - like most Iranian films screened here - is in the simplicity of the story and the attention to detail to the struggles of seemingly mundane activities. The cultural aspects are especially fascinating. The authority of Moma as the family patriarch is evident; his middle aged sons all hold him in high esteem and cower before him. Not unexpectedly, as Iran does not allow women to sing in public, there are specific issues with involving a woman in such a cultural endeavour.
The family and social dynamics depicted breathe life into this little gem of a film. Music is a universal language that binds people, so when contempt is shown by the Iranian border guards, it has a powerful effect on the audience. My in-laws are similarly musicians of a dispossessed people (Pontians, Greek orthodox who once lived in Turkey), so I could relate well to the scenario in the film. The subtle politics in the film relate to the current state in the region, and it's regrettable that the film has been banned in Iran (the government considers it pro-separatist).
It was interesting to see the advancement of technologies such as cell phones and wireless internet laptops creeping into these otherwise isolated communities. The film is full of beautifully understated performances and naturalistic humour and drama. I highly recommend it and, like most Iranian films I have seen, is something I would take my six year old son to see (were it to get a theatrical release).
Half Moon screened as part of MIFF's International Panorama. It screens again on Friday 10 August at 5pm at the Forum Theatre.
Links: Interview with the director / And another / Official website
Brand Upon the Brain! (Guy Maddin, USA/Canada, 2006)
With the exception of a few brief seemingly random shots, Brand Upon the Brain! is shot (or made to appear in post-production to be shot) in grainy black and white. The look is reminiscent of David Lynch's Eraserhead, a classic that may have been an influence, though the style is quite different. Maddin's film uses much more frenetic editing techniques, particularly frequent cutting to create an abrasive subliminal effect from which the title appears to be derived.
I use the term 'abrasive' and for some people that might be a negative, but I found it effective. The film uses captions and along with a neo-silent-era visual design, it has the effect of a coherent experimental film with a bizarre horror narrative. A man, Guy, returns to the island orphanage of his parents after a thirty year absence, on the request of his dying mother. It turns out the parents were subjecting the orphans to some peculiar activities from which Guy escaped.
I found the design, high-contrast lighting and editing techniques effective in conveying a bizarre nightmare-type of story, a horror film that is not entirely original in narrative nor design, yet original in its presentation. I liked the voice-over narration by Isabelle Rosellini. There are some very attractive characterisations and depictions of inoffensive perversity. It's not an earth-shattering highlight of MIFF, but is a good film to enhance the diversity of screenings in a festival context. Definitely worth a look.
Brand Upon the Brain! screened as part of MIFF's International Panorama. It screens again on Wednesday 8 August at 9.20pm at the Forum Theatre.
Links: Offical website / Interview with the director
Fay Grim (
Fay Grim is the continuation of a story begun ten years earlier with Hartley's Henry Fool. I haven't seen the earlier film, and I don't know if that's a good thing or not. I can only regard the current film on its own merits.
For most people, Hal Hartley's style of film-making is something that you either like or you don't. His combination of action, drama, absurdity and dry, ironic humour really resonates with me, and Fay Grim is no exception. It has an air of sharply-written intelligent parody that had myself and many in the audience laughing out loud. For the first half of the film it was relentless and delivered with deadpan straightness. It's a style of humour sadly lacking in cinemas and a welcome relief to the mindless teen comedies that Hollywood pumps out like pancakes.
During the second half of the film, the humour starts to thin as the film morphs into an international espionage/conspiracy thriller. Whether this was Hartley's intention or whether he ran out of ideas is not clear, but I think a bit of editing or re-writing to cut fifteen minutes off the film would have maintained the film's original momentum.
The performances were generally good, particularly Parker Posey and Jeff Goldblum, who had the most screen time. Saffron Burrows, James Urbaniak, Carl Montgomery and Elina Löwensohn all played good support roles. The film's visuals were nice (set in New York, Paris, Berlin and Istanbul) and the music (also by Hartley) was good without being intrusive. The camera angles are mostly off-kilter and point up at the characters - a device that seems designed to accentuate the absurdity of the plot. It initially distracted me as I tried to follow which way the camera was skewed, but then when I just went with the flow it was fine. The film is well-written and I enjoyed this it immensely. If you like Hartley's earlier work, you'll probably like this.
Fay Grim screened as part of MIFF's International Panorama. It screens again on Saturday 11 August at 9.40pm at the Regent Theatre. It also has some kind of future local release, though it's unclear whether it will be theatrical or DVD, or when. Official website.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
The Week in Review
I recently started a new short-term role at a very large Australian corporate. I'm working as part of a small team that is automating the production of monthly financial reports to the company board (we're talking figures here in the billions of dollars).
Unknown to us, our manager had promised the assistant CFO certain deliverables that he has now ascertained are not likely to be met at the current rate. He called us together during the week and requested that we put in extra hours for which we will be remunerated for on a pro rata basis (which is not common in the corporate world).
The short of it is that for the next two weeks, I'll have even less time for film, writing and sleep than I do now, so something has to give. I think my film-going will slow down a little for the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, this week has been on the busy side, so this might be my biggest post for a short while.
FILMS:
Link: interview with Rodney Afif
Ryan Larkin
The above-mentioned short films by the very brilliant Ryan Larkin screened as part of this week's Melbourne Cinémathèque screenings. I was gob-smacked at their sheer brilliance and visual inventiveness, with little or no dialogue. His work was highly influential, and one can see its impact on the psychedelic animations of the time (like the Beatles' Yellow Submarine).
A talented artist with quick success, it's tragic that Larkin burnt out on cocaine and alcohol early in his career, and went into a downward spiral that he never recovered from (he died in February this year). The animated documentary by Chris Lambeth depicts his reimagined images of Larkin against actual recordings of his words. It works very effectively.
Links: Ryan Larkin on Wikipedia \ IMDB
Below are a couple of Larkin's short films that can be found on YouTube.
Syrinx
Walking
Street Musique
Interview with Ryan Larkin
I Do
I avoided this film at the French Film Festival as I knew it had a theatrical release scheduled, and also because I'm not into light French comedies. I received free tickets as an AFI give-away, and went with the family. I saw it as an opportunity for some exposure to French-speaking that can only assist me with my learning French (I'm into week 8 of classes at Alliance Française).
At the risk of sounding repetitious, and trying to remain polite, this film is a middle-of-the-road crowd-pleaser, the sort of film one associates with Palace Cinemas. It has the intelligence of an Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell comedy. I don't know what Dendy is doing screening it (I saw it at the Kino). The whole film was a set-up. It had no verisimilitude whatsoever. It just felt like a bunch of actors sitting around playing roles and delivering the lines the script demands. I couldn't get into any of the characters at all. The funny bits were completely unfunny and I laughed at all the wrong times. The sad thing is that there is big market for this kind of film. With some of the key songs being in English and postcard-like Paris images, it felt this film was made with international distribution in mind.
Clubland
With low expectations, I wasn't overly disappointed with this film, and found it enjoyable by suspending my critical faculties. The crowd obviously enjoyed it, laughing in unison at all the right places and applauding at the end.
It's a fairly typical Australian family drama/comedy, lifted by the presence of the effortlessly talented Brenda Blethyn. But then, this is territory she's covered before, most notably in Little Voice (Mark Herman, 1998) which was a superior film with many experienced actors.
This film should do well in the Australian market, and director Nowlan (who with Blethyn introduced the film) announced that the film has been signed up for European and US distribution by Warner. Unfortunately, there is a little sex and nudity which makes it slightly inappropriate for a primary school-age audience, though my six-year old son sat through it OK.
There were a number of contrivances that I could overlook, and it's not my kind of film, but for middle-of-the-road entertainment, it's OK.
Unknown to us, our manager had promised the assistant CFO certain deliverables that he has now ascertained are not likely to be met at the current rate. He called us together during the week and requested that we put in extra hours for which we will be remunerated for on a pro rata basis (which is not common in the corporate world).
The short of it is that for the next two weeks, I'll have even less time for film, writing and sleep than I do now, so something has to give. I think my film-going will slow down a little for the next couple of weeks. Meanwhile, this week has been on the busy side, so this might be my biggest post for a short while.
FILMS:
- Ma mère (My Mother, Christophe Honoré, 2004)
- Fong juk (Exiled, Johnny To, 2006)
- Lucky Miles (Michael James Rowland, 2006)
- Prête-moi ta main (I Do: How to Get Married and Stay Single, Eric Latigau, 2006)
- Clubland (Cherie Nowlan, 2007)
- The Thin Blue Line (Errol Morris, 1988)
- Syrinx (Ryan Larkin, 3 mins, 1965)
- Cityscape (Ryan Larkin, 2 mins, 1966)
- Walking (Ryan Larkin, 5 mins, 1968)
- Street Musique (Ryan Larkin, 8 mins, 1972)
- Ryan (Chris Landreth, 14 mins, 2004)
Exiled
Why this film never got a wide theatrical release is a wonder (in Melbourne, it screened only at the Chinatown Cinema). Surely the primary demographic that the cinemaplexes are trying to woo would flock to see a cool flick like this. Gangsters, shooting, double-crosses, revenge – this is
While I’m generally not a big fan of the genre, Johnnie To has injected an enormous amount of style in Exiled. Long takes, terrific camera angles, stand-offs between characters without dialogue, lush cinematography – the screen frame is used effectively and the film is full of visual appeal.
There is an air of intrigue as the film takes its time for the story to unwind and we gradually make sense of why these guys with guns are waiting for our exile to return home. The intrigue is maintained throughout the film as not everything is spelt out to us. So, while it’s an action flick, it's not mindless.
While I didn’t pick it up straight away, half way into the film, when the plot moves to a quarry, To makes it clear he is paying homage to Westerns. We hear banjo music, and the protagonists look like cowboys walking through a canyon.
Though I have yet to see The Good, the Bad and the Ugly, from the clips I have seen of it, Exiled seemed reminisicent of that type of film-making. Then today I read from the Melbourne Cinémathèque notes that describe it as To’s tribute to Sergio Leone. While a lesser director may have made this a parody, To pulls off this audacious shift with clever effect and nuanced tongue-in-cheek humour.
There are a number of twists with typical
Lucky Miles
Michael Winterbottom has done a good job of raising refugee issues through his films. This film is like a cross between say, In This World and Little Miss Sunshine with a definite Australian flavour. While there is little of Winterbottom's gritty social realism, and while it is full of humour (much of it intelligent and understated), it does have a subtle humanitarian undercurrent with a lot more going for it than that turgid American crowd-pleaser with Toni Collette.
The film pays homage to real life events as a group of hapless refugess are left on a beach in the far north of Western Australia and get lost in the desert. The film concerns itself with the dynamics between the various characters, the difficulties they encounter, the shenanigans they get up to, and the attempts to round them up by the authorities.
While it's not quite my kind of film, it is for most parts a better than average film that has the potential to be a crowd pleaser and is a worthy effort for first-time director Michael James Rowland. He found various means to engage the audience, and I was surprised to see how well he pulled off one unlikely stunt involving a car that should not be able to start.
Link: interview with Rodney Afif
Ryan Larkin
The above-mentioned short films by the very brilliant Ryan Larkin screened as part of this week's Melbourne Cinémathèque screenings. I was gob-smacked at their sheer brilliance and visual inventiveness, with little or no dialogue. His work was highly influential, and one can see its impact on the psychedelic animations of the time (like the Beatles' Yellow Submarine).
A talented artist with quick success, it's tragic that Larkin burnt out on cocaine and alcohol early in his career, and went into a downward spiral that he never recovered from (he died in February this year). The animated documentary by Chris Lambeth depicts his reimagined images of Larkin against actual recordings of his words. It works very effectively.
Links: Ryan Larkin on Wikipedia \ IMDB
Below are a couple of Larkin's short films that can be found on YouTube.
Syrinx
Walking
Street Musique
Interview with Ryan Larkin
I Do
I avoided this film at the French Film Festival as I knew it had a theatrical release scheduled, and also because I'm not into light French comedies. I received free tickets as an AFI give-away, and went with the family. I saw it as an opportunity for some exposure to French-speaking that can only assist me with my learning French (I'm into week 8 of classes at Alliance Française).At the risk of sounding repetitious, and trying to remain polite, this film is a middle-of-the-road crowd-pleaser, the sort of film one associates with Palace Cinemas. It has the intelligence of an Adam Sandler or Will Ferrell comedy. I don't know what Dendy is doing screening it (I saw it at the Kino). The whole film was a set-up. It had no verisimilitude whatsoever. It just felt like a bunch of actors sitting around playing roles and delivering the lines the script demands. I couldn't get into any of the characters at all. The funny bits were completely unfunny and I laughed at all the wrong times. The sad thing is that there is big market for this kind of film. With some of the key songs being in English and postcard-like Paris images, it felt this film was made with international distribution in mind.
Clubland
With low expectations, I wasn't overly disappointed with this film, and found it enjoyable by suspending my critical faculties. The crowd obviously enjoyed it, laughing in unison at all the right places and applauding at the end.It's a fairly typical Australian family drama/comedy, lifted by the presence of the effortlessly talented Brenda Blethyn. But then, this is territory she's covered before, most notably in Little Voice (Mark Herman, 1998) which was a superior film with many experienced actors.
This film should do well in the Australian market, and director Nowlan (who with Blethyn introduced the film) announced that the film has been signed up for European and US distribution by Warner. Unfortunately, there is a little sex and nudity which makes it slightly inappropriate for a primary school-age audience, though my six-year old son sat through it OK.
There were a number of contrivances that I could overlook, and it's not my kind of film, but for middle-of-the-road entertainment, it's OK.
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Metal: A Headbanger's Journey
Iron Maiden, Metal: A Headbanger's Journey (Dendy Films)I don’t like heavy metal music; in fact I hate most heavy metal music. I loved Metal: A Headbanger's Journey. It had all the best components of a good documentary, one of the best released in a long time and a good companion piece on a par with Metallica – Some Kind of Monster.
Co-director Sam Dunn is both a metal aficionado and a graduate in anthropology. He knows how and where to delve into the culture with a healthy reverence for his subject matter, but with the objectivity to examine in a way that outsiders could glean appreciation. I found it fascinating.
In a systematic, well-structured manner, heavy metal’s origins and history were examined, as was the disparity between its followers and detractors. Fans, band members and industry experts were interviewed. The questions and answers were intelligent. Historic file footage was used. The culture and its many sub-genres was analysed. The relationships between heavy metal and gender, sex, religion, Satanism and violence were all covered in a most interesting, comprehensive and enlightening manner.
It was shot on location, including at various concerts, across North America, UK and Europe. I found Dee Snider of Twisted Sister, Tony Iommi of Black Sabbath and Ronnie James Dio of Dio (accredited as the inventor of the devil horn sign) the most compelling interviewees, though there were many others too numerous to mention. The sum of the whole turned out a rich result.
Unlike many documentaries of late, where the primary goal appears to be light entertainment using celebrity heads, this film is truly insightful, intelligent, balanced, educational, funny and entertaining! Whatever your taste in music, I highly recommend it.
Dir, Scr, Prod: Sam Dunn, Scot McFayden, Jessica Joy Wise Rating: M Duration: 98 min Genre: music documentary Language: English Country: Canada Release: 16/11/06, limited Viewed: 9/11/06, Kino cinema, 3RRR advance screening Dist: Dendy Films Prod Co: Seville Pictures Phot: Brendan Steacy Ed: Mike Munn Prod Des: Kenneth Mak Mus Ed: Andrew Wright Sound Ed: Fred Brennan Cast: Tony Iommi, Bruce Dickinson, Rob Zombie, Alice Cooper, Dee Snider, Vince Neil, Lemmy, Lamb of God, Slipknot, Slayer, Ronnie James Dio, Tom Morello, Arch Enemy, Geddy Lee, Cannibal Corpse
Official website IMDB
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