Todays films all shared a general crime theme.
Hammered (UK) - A short film alongside The Last Action. When a cat burglar is caught sneaking around the house of a middle-aged couple, he gets a hammer-shaped lump on his head. Waking to find the husband and wife arguing over him about the consequences of their actions, the husband lets a side of him out his wife never knew he had. Darkly comic but an interesting take on revenge, and the defence of the home. 7.5/10
The Last Action (Pol) (trailer)
In general, Polish films are a good place to start with world cinema. They are quickly maturing and have comparable production values to their English language counterparts. There is however still a lag between those film studios who use up to date equipment and those still using the same cameras and sound equipment from 20 years ago. It is the result of this that was my first impression of The Last Action, a comedy-crime caper about a gang of elderly ex-gangsters and soldiers. It was clear that the effort had gone into the plot and the scenery and getting the script right, with the limiting factor being the slightly muffled sound quality and a slight graininess in the video transfer.
Zigmunt is an old man now; once part of the Free Army, but back in his old town to visit his family and an old flame. However, on seeing both his son and grandson get beaten up by a pair of heavies in the pay of one of his ex-adversaries, he calls on some old contacts, some of which didn't leave the group on the best of terms. The conflict deepens when a rare and priceless Faberge Egg is discovered on the mantelpiece of Zigmunt's old squeeze, and when cordial offers of money from the other side don't make them sell, guns seem a more immediate resolution.
Aside from the aforementioned slightly disappointing quality of the film, it had a distinct personality, taking cues from films such as Oceans Eleven and a few flashes of the cocky smartness seen in a Guy Ritchie or Tarantino film. But to compare this film too much with these names would be to oversell it. The novel angle of elderly types getting back in the saddle is enough to make a film out of, but it suffered from a dearth of characters, many of which play little part over the course of the film except to suggest Zigmunt's gang was large and powerful. It all seemed to be over before it had started as well; there was little build-up of suspense or tension, and when things reached a head, you sort of expected things to go a lot further. An entertaining film in places, with an odd laugh or two, but by and large forgettable. This is director Michal Rogalski's first big screen work, and though he missed the target this time, it has enough promise to make him a major name in the future. 6/10
Perrier's Bounty (Irl/UK) (wiki)
Another gangster flick, this time set in an unknown run down city in Ireland. Michael is a young man living in a flat in a rough area. On the floor below lives Bren, a girl who he has a thing for, but she won't leave her cheating boyfriend. Jobless and aimless, he has a habit of getting himself into trouble, particularly now that he has less than a day to return the €10,000 he was lent by the local gangster, Perrier, with added interest.
A local hard man named Mutt appears to have the answer, he is planning on a burglary soon and wants Michael with him to help carry out the larger stuff, in return for the cash he needs, but it's days away and attempts to postpone the broken limbs Perrier has promised on the deadline don't work. Perrier sends round his two goons and a baseball bat, and when Bren shoots them with the gun she was going to use on herself after her boyfriend left her once more, the stakes are upped significantly. At the same time Michaels' estranged father Jim (played by a surprisingly thin Jim Broadbent) has turned up out of the blue; he wants to spend time with his son after having an epiphany about his mortality.
Once the elements are put in place, it's a standard but entertaining race to the end where some people fall to the bullet, while others change sides and either help or hinder the trio in getting out alive. It's sharply scripted with (again) some Guy Ritchie influences creeping in, although this feels less polished and blokeish and more rough and visceral, which for me was a good thing. It's well acted, well shot and entertaining, with some darkly amusing dialogue as the main characters get to sound off in the stare of the camera. 8/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 5
45365 (US) (site)
A warm-hearted chronicle of the city of Sidney, Ohio whose postal code is the same as the title. Two local brothers decided to record the goings on in a hundred or so miniature glimpses into all sorts of lives around their area, whilst staying silent and letting it happen in front of them. What on paper sounds like a tiresome retreading of the Qatsi films was actually very charming and funny, warm and unique. A hairdresser struggles to cut the hair of a man who is talking to the camera; a woman argues with her son about how much weed he stole from her. A rodeo, a stock car race and a funfair. A man being handcuffed and led off to jail in front of his family. A barely comprehensible old drunk trying to convince a cop that someone has cut off his cable TV. A hundred little pieces of life going on, shown with a surprising level of access in a natural, non-judgemental way.
The only thing that let it down was having to share the cinema with a group of young teens, clearly there with their teacher who was trying to expose them to other types of film. The huffy sighs, the talking and the audible whoop when the credits rolled did not do this film justice. 7.5/10
The Mosque In Morgantown (US) (site)
In 2003, a new mosque was set up in Morgantown to serve the needs of it's Muslim population, but it would serve as a battleground between the moderate and conservative halves of the community that attended. The spark that lit the touchpaper was the requirement for the women to enter by the back entrance and pray separately to the men, who came in by the front entrance. Asra Nomani is a journalist, and when she returned to her hometown to find the new mosque being run this way, she decided to act. She strode right in and prayed alongside the men, inspiring some but infuriating others, who saw the unquestionable word of the Qaran being disrespected. Asra was a close friend of Daniel Pearl, a fellow journalist who was beheaded in 2002, and the literalistic readings of the Imams and speakers that she heard in these early days opened her eyes to the potential of where it could lead. On review and potentially facing exclusion from the mosque, she became an activist with one foot in the door of her own community.
This is the story from that point on, featuring viewpoints from several of the members of the mosque, many of which may have agreed in principle with Asra's point of view, but disapproved of her avant-garde methods of getting her point across. As the years pass we see attempts to reach equilibrium, not helped by the inclusion of strong-arm tactics and controversial speakers by the conservative arm, and a poorly-timed book release by Asra at the same time, her critics suggesting that her calls for change are too quick, and her appeals and publicity might not be doing her book sales much harm.
A couple of times, my jaw dropped at just how ingrained the treatment of women is in Muslim life, from segregation in mosques and family gatherings, to strict codes of dress, often defended passionately by the women themselves. One woman trying to placate the words of an Islamic speaker suggesting that when a woman disobeys a man she should be given 'a crack with a rolled up newspaper' defied belief, and shows the frightening grip that dogmatic religion has on people in general.
Watch the last minute if nothing else.
Although her methods and pace may be questionable, Asra and her supporters in this film, with their attempts to bring a more progressive and moderate Islam to the fore, will in years to come be seen as notable activists in the global cause to make a fairer world. 7.5/10
The Pandrogeny Manifesto (Fra) - A short film about two mad women, (or a woman and a transvestite, it was not clear) who waffled on about their theories about the third sex, neither male nor female, and their intentions to surgically alter themselves and to somehow become one being. They were clearly off their rockers. Was it just fantasy, or were these two really going to do what they were saying. I don't want to know. 3/10
Terrorism Considered as one of the Fine Arts (UK)
I have never walked out of a festival film before. Come close a few times, but never quite managed it. I consider it a duty to see the film through to the end to attempt to obtain at least a taste of the director's vision and state of mind when he devised it. Today I broke that rule, for what must rank as one of the worst 20 minutes of film I had seen before.
In every case in a festival, where someone has gone down to the front to explain the intentions of the film prior to it's screening, this has been a sign that the film cannot manage to do it on it's own, and thus will be bad. And so it was with Terrorism.. It's based on a book of the same name, also by Peter Whitehead that actually sounds quite appealing. An MI6 agent trawls around Vienna on the tail of a rogue agent who went off the rails whilst investigating Maria, an eco-terrorist connected with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. He does this in part by riding the Ringstrasse tram round and around looking for Maria, and intercepting her email exchanges. Reality and conjecture begin to mix together in a giant conspiracy theory and the agent becomes as lost as the man he is looking for.
But what is here is just terrible. Disjointed words and pictures, extended, repetitive scenes shot on poor-resolution cameras. Choppy, poorly edited sound, and a selection of elements from the book that made no attempt to link together with each other. It was like an annoying French art-house film; supposedly by an auteur we are meant to recognise and revere. It looked and sounded like a half-finished student project that started with bluster and enthusiasm and ended up with half the crew getting bored and leaving for the pub. It's possible that the remaining 2 hours that I mercifully didn't see in favour of a good nights' sleep may have seen some continuity and things beginning to join up, but I somehow doubt it. 2/10
A warm-hearted chronicle of the city of Sidney, Ohio whose postal code is the same as the title. Two local brothers decided to record the goings on in a hundred or so miniature glimpses into all sorts of lives around their area, whilst staying silent and letting it happen in front of them. What on paper sounds like a tiresome retreading of the Qatsi films was actually very charming and funny, warm and unique. A hairdresser struggles to cut the hair of a man who is talking to the camera; a woman argues with her son about how much weed he stole from her. A rodeo, a stock car race and a funfair. A man being handcuffed and led off to jail in front of his family. A barely comprehensible old drunk trying to convince a cop that someone has cut off his cable TV. A hundred little pieces of life going on, shown with a surprising level of access in a natural, non-judgemental way.
The only thing that let it down was having to share the cinema with a group of young teens, clearly there with their teacher who was trying to expose them to other types of film. The huffy sighs, the talking and the audible whoop when the credits rolled did not do this film justice. 7.5/10
The Mosque In Morgantown (US) (site)
In 2003, a new mosque was set up in Morgantown to serve the needs of it's Muslim population, but it would serve as a battleground between the moderate and conservative halves of the community that attended. The spark that lit the touchpaper was the requirement for the women to enter by the back entrance and pray separately to the men, who came in by the front entrance. Asra Nomani is a journalist, and when she returned to her hometown to find the new mosque being run this way, she decided to act. She strode right in and prayed alongside the men, inspiring some but infuriating others, who saw the unquestionable word of the Qaran being disrespected. Asra was a close friend of Daniel Pearl, a fellow journalist who was beheaded in 2002, and the literalistic readings of the Imams and speakers that she heard in these early days opened her eyes to the potential of where it could lead. On review and potentially facing exclusion from the mosque, she became an activist with one foot in the door of her own community.
This is the story from that point on, featuring viewpoints from several of the members of the mosque, many of which may have agreed in principle with Asra's point of view, but disapproved of her avant-garde methods of getting her point across. As the years pass we see attempts to reach equilibrium, not helped by the inclusion of strong-arm tactics and controversial speakers by the conservative arm, and a poorly-timed book release by Asra at the same time, her critics suggesting that her calls for change are too quick, and her appeals and publicity might not be doing her book sales much harm.
A couple of times, my jaw dropped at just how ingrained the treatment of women is in Muslim life, from segregation in mosques and family gatherings, to strict codes of dress, often defended passionately by the women themselves. One woman trying to placate the words of an Islamic speaker suggesting that when a woman disobeys a man she should be given 'a crack with a rolled up newspaper' defied belief, and shows the frightening grip that dogmatic religion has on people in general.
Watch the last minute if nothing else.
Although her methods and pace may be questionable, Asra and her supporters in this film, with their attempts to bring a more progressive and moderate Islam to the fore, will in years to come be seen as notable activists in the global cause to make a fairer world. 7.5/10
The Pandrogeny Manifesto (Fra) - A short film about two mad women, (or a woman and a transvestite, it was not clear) who waffled on about their theories about the third sex, neither male nor female, and their intentions to surgically alter themselves and to somehow become one being. They were clearly off their rockers. Was it just fantasy, or were these two really going to do what they were saying. I don't want to know. 3/10
Terrorism Considered as one of the Fine Arts (UK)
I have never walked out of a festival film before. Come close a few times, but never quite managed it. I consider it a duty to see the film through to the end to attempt to obtain at least a taste of the director's vision and state of mind when he devised it. Today I broke that rule, for what must rank as one of the worst 20 minutes of film I had seen before.
In every case in a festival, where someone has gone down to the front to explain the intentions of the film prior to it's screening, this has been a sign that the film cannot manage to do it on it's own, and thus will be bad. And so it was with Terrorism.. It's based on a book of the same name, also by Peter Whitehead that actually sounds quite appealing. An MI6 agent trawls around Vienna on the tail of a rogue agent who went off the rails whilst investigating Maria, an eco-terrorist connected with the sinking of the Rainbow Warrior. He does this in part by riding the Ringstrasse tram round and around looking for Maria, and intercepting her email exchanges. Reality and conjecture begin to mix together in a giant conspiracy theory and the agent becomes as lost as the man he is looking for.
But what is here is just terrible. Disjointed words and pictures, extended, repetitive scenes shot on poor-resolution cameras. Choppy, poorly edited sound, and a selection of elements from the book that made no attempt to link together with each other. It was like an annoying French art-house film; supposedly by an auteur we are meant to recognise and revere. It looked and sounded like a half-finished student project that started with bluster and enthusiasm and ended up with half the crew getting bored and leaving for the pub. It's possible that the remaining 2 hours that I mercifully didn't see in favour of a good nights' sleep may have seen some continuity and things beginning to join up, but I somehow doubt it. 2/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 4
Rivers Edge (US) (wiki)
Shown as part of the US Teen Movies strand, this 1986 film was an early entry into the filmography of Keanu Reeves, that perpetual teen of the screen even now. He plays Matt, who as part of a group of teens going off the rails in a run-down American town, hear the braggings of John - one of the number strangle his girlfriend Jamie. Initially treating it as bravado, he shows them her body as proof. Even though this clearly is the beginnings of a mental case who should be kept away from people, no-one reports the murder, a decision set mostly by Layne (played by Crispin Glover, best known for his part as George McFly in Back to the Future), who self-proclaims himself as leader of the group, although it's clear he is way out of his depth.
To make doubly sure, Layne dumps the body and gets John to stay a while with Feck, a middle-aged drunk (played perfectly by Dennis Hopper) who also killed his girlfriend many years before and has been laying low since. What follows from there is a mix of stoned teens, blow-up dolls, brattish children with cars and guns, and a little romance in the middle as the various members of the group tussle with their morals and emotions, with Keanu perfecting his slightly spaced-out stare early on in his career.
Whilst nothing original, Rivers Edge was a good example of the many depictions of wasted youth (in both senses of the term). It manages a little bit of brooding dread, a little intrigue and mystery, and a little redemption, held together with strong performances in the main parts. 7/10
..Like Daughter (UK) Before Dogtooth, we got another short film. April is in the middle of her mother's funeral wake when she learns from her adulterous father that she has a half-sister, and she seems to know more about her dad than she does. 7/10
Dogtooth (Gre) (trailer)
One of the more disturbing and powerful films that I have seen. Dogtooth is a 'what if' sort of movie, in which the father of a family is so desperate to keep his three children from harm, that they have been brought up in complete isolation; their mother complicit in his scheme. Undoubtedly acting in their best interests, it is clear that by their late teens (which is where we join them) this has had a severe stunting effect on their growth and how they see the world. They are not allowed out beyond the front gate. The house is walled by tall fences and bushes on all sides. No TV (aside from carefully chosen home videos) and no telephones. We don't even know the names of the children, but it is clear that their understanding of the world is withered. Planes fly through the air and they discern no difference from toy planes held in the hand. Their education consists of new words being fed to them by audio tape, with meanings for them strictly controlled (for instance, when one girl hears the word 'zombie', her mother says it is the name of a yellow flower).
Of course, all this control cannot kerb the chemicals rushing round their bodies, and father has a novel solution; invite security worker Christine around and, for a little money each week, allow his boy to have sex with her. When Christine begins to bargain with the daughters for little trinkets in return for sexual favours, she becomes a tempting window on the larger world outside, and a copy of Rocky and Jaws on video tape feeds a thirst to see the world outside for one sibling.
This is certainly the sort of film that will divide audiences. Personally, I'm impressed by it's content, attention to detail and it's psychological exploration of such an exaggerated version of many a well-meaning family. I think the idea of the film is as a template to wrap flexibly around whatever subject matter the viewer wishes to apply to it. The same stunting effect by the maniacal control of a parent can also be applied to a community or a government, where restricting access to information, changing the definition of right and wrong, and altering the meaning of words and gestures can have the same corrosive effect on its' members. Disturbing, unsettling and downright horrible at times, but equally fascinating, funny and inviting of empathy in others. (additionally, actress Mary Tsoni is gorgeous in it) 8/10
Tit for Tat (Swi) - Another short film. A skinhead on the run from the police breaks from his gang to find a child being bullied by two others. When he removes the hood and realises that it is a young black girl, his feelings become confused, and both find themselves targeted together for hanging around the wrong sorts. 7/10
The Unworthy (Ger) (trailer)
A documentary film about some of the mostly forgotten children in Hitlers Nazi Germany. Not just Jewish, Polish and Gypsy children, orphaned by the extermination of their parents, but also those who had the misfortune to live nearby the 'unclean' races. Placed into 'correctional' facilities, they would often be poisoned with food and drink, and then, half dead, be placed in cramped cells to die, their death certificate showing one of many false explanations, such as death by suicide or hypothermia.
Told through the accounts of survivors of the age who attended two such facilities, Kalmenhof in Idstein, and Moringen. The increasingly elderly men and women tell of their hardships still fresh in their mind. One man recalls his underworld dealings in forbidden 'swing kids' dance groups - basically anything with rhythm was banned - while another talks of the days when he would be charged with burying many dead children, being only a child himself at the time, a third visits the final resting place of his mother, having not known her whereabouts since he was small.
There were many details here that underlined yet again the dangers of an oppressive regime not halted by the voices of reason and care. It is another sickening look into a time that will hopefully never be repeated. 7.5/10
Shown as part of the US Teen Movies strand, this 1986 film was an early entry into the filmography of Keanu Reeves, that perpetual teen of the screen even now. He plays Matt, who as part of a group of teens going off the rails in a run-down American town, hear the braggings of John - one of the number strangle his girlfriend Jamie. Initially treating it as bravado, he shows them her body as proof. Even though this clearly is the beginnings of a mental case who should be kept away from people, no-one reports the murder, a decision set mostly by Layne (played by Crispin Glover, best known for his part as George McFly in Back to the Future), who self-proclaims himself as leader of the group, although it's clear he is way out of his depth.
To make doubly sure, Layne dumps the body and gets John to stay a while with Feck, a middle-aged drunk (played perfectly by Dennis Hopper) who also killed his girlfriend many years before and has been laying low since. What follows from there is a mix of stoned teens, blow-up dolls, brattish children with cars and guns, and a little romance in the middle as the various members of the group tussle with their morals and emotions, with Keanu perfecting his slightly spaced-out stare early on in his career.
Whilst nothing original, Rivers Edge was a good example of the many depictions of wasted youth (in both senses of the term). It manages a little bit of brooding dread, a little intrigue and mystery, and a little redemption, held together with strong performances in the main parts. 7/10
..Like Daughter (UK) Before Dogtooth, we got another short film. April is in the middle of her mother's funeral wake when she learns from her adulterous father that she has a half-sister, and she seems to know more about her dad than she does. 7/10
Dogtooth (Gre) (trailer)
One of the more disturbing and powerful films that I have seen. Dogtooth is a 'what if' sort of movie, in which the father of a family is so desperate to keep his three children from harm, that they have been brought up in complete isolation; their mother complicit in his scheme. Undoubtedly acting in their best interests, it is clear that by their late teens (which is where we join them) this has had a severe stunting effect on their growth and how they see the world. They are not allowed out beyond the front gate. The house is walled by tall fences and bushes on all sides. No TV (aside from carefully chosen home videos) and no telephones. We don't even know the names of the children, but it is clear that their understanding of the world is withered. Planes fly through the air and they discern no difference from toy planes held in the hand. Their education consists of new words being fed to them by audio tape, with meanings for them strictly controlled (for instance, when one girl hears the word 'zombie', her mother says it is the name of a yellow flower).
Of course, all this control cannot kerb the chemicals rushing round their bodies, and father has a novel solution; invite security worker Christine around and, for a little money each week, allow his boy to have sex with her. When Christine begins to bargain with the daughters for little trinkets in return for sexual favours, she becomes a tempting window on the larger world outside, and a copy of Rocky and Jaws on video tape feeds a thirst to see the world outside for one sibling.
This is certainly the sort of film that will divide audiences. Personally, I'm impressed by it's content, attention to detail and it's psychological exploration of such an exaggerated version of many a well-meaning family. I think the idea of the film is as a template to wrap flexibly around whatever subject matter the viewer wishes to apply to it. The same stunting effect by the maniacal control of a parent can also be applied to a community or a government, where restricting access to information, changing the definition of right and wrong, and altering the meaning of words and gestures can have the same corrosive effect on its' members. Disturbing, unsettling and downright horrible at times, but equally fascinating, funny and inviting of empathy in others. (additionally, actress Mary Tsoni is gorgeous in it) 8/10
Tit for Tat (Swi) - Another short film. A skinhead on the run from the police breaks from his gang to find a child being bullied by two others. When he removes the hood and realises that it is a young black girl, his feelings become confused, and both find themselves targeted together for hanging around the wrong sorts. 7/10
The Unworthy (Ger) (trailer)
A documentary film about some of the mostly forgotten children in Hitlers Nazi Germany. Not just Jewish, Polish and Gypsy children, orphaned by the extermination of their parents, but also those who had the misfortune to live nearby the 'unclean' races. Placed into 'correctional' facilities, they would often be poisoned with food and drink, and then, half dead, be placed in cramped cells to die, their death certificate showing one of many false explanations, such as death by suicide or hypothermia.
Told through the accounts of survivors of the age who attended two such facilities, Kalmenhof in Idstein, and Moringen. The increasingly elderly men and women tell of their hardships still fresh in their mind. One man recalls his underworld dealings in forbidden 'swing kids' dance groups - basically anything with rhythm was banned - while another talks of the days when he would be charged with burying many dead children, being only a child himself at the time, a third visits the final resting place of his mother, having not known her whereabouts since he was small.
There were many details here that underlined yet again the dangers of an oppressive regime not halted by the voices of reason and care. It is another sickening look into a time that will hopefully never be repeated. 7.5/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 3
Three Hams in a Can (Australia/Jpn) (site)
My eyes were drawn to this film mainly because of it's location. Three experimental musicians (Chris, Stina and Predrag) travel to Tokyo in summer 2008 (a couple of months after I left) and spend their evenings in the various dimly-lit clubs performing and listening to some of the more 'out there' tunes doing the rounds at the time. Partly for a good look around, and partly to attend a marriage and catch up with the family of Predrags' Japanese wife, whose Westie Karin stole much of the limelight.
It's a familiar combination of exploring unknown lands, communicating in different languages with the locals, and taking lots of pictures and buying tat from the shops. (They definitely visited the Ghibli Museum because they were carrying a Mamma Aiuto bag at one point). I tolerated the sometimes random noises that they made in the gigs, in preference to scouring the screen for things and places I had seen whilst there, grinning widely when a place or object I recognised was displayed, and I suspect that allowed me to enjoy it more than somebody who had not been. I suspect someone seeing it who had not been to Japan (and had not got a taste for crazy music) would find little here to enjoy. 5.5/10
Presumed Guilty (Mex) (site)
Don't ever do anything wrong in Mexico. That is the lesson learned by the stunned audience as they left this shocking documentary. In fact, that probably wouldn't help you stay out of jail either if the claims of the film are to be believed. The pocked yellow walls and harsh justice system meted out in 2008's Behave are recalled here, this time from the perspective of one of it's many inmates, Tono, who was fitted up for the murder of a young man halfway across town in 2005, despite prosecution not having any incriminating evidence against him, and several witnesses on hand to verify where he was at the time. At the start of the documentary, he is in the first year of his 20 year term in an overcrowded prison.
In Mexico, the burden of proof is reversed compared to most other countries; there you are presumed guilty and have to prove your innocence. In a system where the police and justice bodies are paid according to the number of people sent to jail, this leaves enormous potential for the system to turn rotten and perverse.
A documentary named 'The Tunnel' (named after the long tunnel between the jail house and the courtrooms) was broadcast on Mexican televisions in 2006, and it's creators Roberto and Layda, both going through law school at the time were contacted by Tono's girlfriend for help. So began a 3 year fight to get a retrial and have Tono acquitted, which forms the body of this film.
It's disturbing and fascinating in equal measure, and followed in surprising detail Tono's daily grind (the film-makers were allowed to film inside the jail and the retrial room, much to the consternation of the prosecution witnesses), his family's fight to prove the original trial was a sham, his eventual retrial (where he courageously questions several of the accusers himself) and the end result of all the effort. Just what transpires is truly shocking.
Just one example should outline the difficulty of overturning a verdict of homicide: The defence were not allowed to ask any questions in the retrial that had already been answered in the case file. That means, the police could report whatever they wanted and it would then become the facts, without the ability to question them.
The film was paced very well, and its contents flew by, even when the projector threw a wobbly 15 minutes in, rewound the film to the start and played it through again. This did not however spoil the experience, which was certainly one of the most eye-opening festival experiences so far this year. The final shot panning backwards out of a warehouse full of case files stacked to the ceiling shows the enormity of the problem, and the potentially thousands of (mostly young male) lives ruined. Roberto and Layda are now working to bring a change to the Mexican constitution to reverse the burden of proof. If you support their cause, and I definitely do, please visit their facebook page and sign their petition. 8/10
Bluebeard (Fra) (trailer)
The fairytale of Bluebeard is brought to life, not for the first time here by director Catherine Breillat, who fittingly frames the story in the context of two young girls rifling through an attic and coming across the Bluebeard story in a little red book. Their bickering as they interpret the finer points of the story as it is played out, is mirrored by the young teen sisters in the story, who after hearing of their father's heroic death, are thrown out of the nunnery they were placed in for protection, and forced to return home to their mother, whose temperament is not helped by the heartless bailiffs coming round and taking anything of wealth to pay debts.
Lord Bluebeard lurks mysteriously in his fine castle, the taker of many wives who mysteriously disappear not long afterwards. Talk of his fancy falling upon these two new prospects, he invites the family over to make merry and dance; during which one of the sisters takes a shining to the enormous and rather lumpy lord, and accepts his hand in marriage.
Though Bluebeard takes a couple of liberties with the viewer, losing its cohesion a little here and there, this can be forgiven since it is in effect the retelling of the story through the eyes of two young girls whose conflicting interpretations and attitudes combine to form the flavour of the tale told. It is stunningly shot in the beautiful French countryside, and the castle used is appropriately grand, as are the period costumes, and everything feels right. It's just a shame that the final 5 or so minutes seem to conclude rather hurriedly and without great satisfaction. 7/10
My eyes were drawn to this film mainly because of it's location. Three experimental musicians (Chris, Stina and Predrag) travel to Tokyo in summer 2008 (a couple of months after I left) and spend their evenings in the various dimly-lit clubs performing and listening to some of the more 'out there' tunes doing the rounds at the time. Partly for a good look around, and partly to attend a marriage and catch up with the family of Predrags' Japanese wife, whose Westie Karin stole much of the limelight.
It's a familiar combination of exploring unknown lands, communicating in different languages with the locals, and taking lots of pictures and buying tat from the shops. (They definitely visited the Ghibli Museum because they were carrying a Mamma Aiuto bag at one point). I tolerated the sometimes random noises that they made in the gigs, in preference to scouring the screen for things and places I had seen whilst there, grinning widely when a place or object I recognised was displayed, and I suspect that allowed me to enjoy it more than somebody who had not been. I suspect someone seeing it who had not been to Japan (and had not got a taste for crazy music) would find little here to enjoy. 5.5/10
Presumed Guilty (Mex) (site)
Don't ever do anything wrong in Mexico. That is the lesson learned by the stunned audience as they left this shocking documentary. In fact, that probably wouldn't help you stay out of jail either if the claims of the film are to be believed. The pocked yellow walls and harsh justice system meted out in 2008's Behave are recalled here, this time from the perspective of one of it's many inmates, Tono, who was fitted up for the murder of a young man halfway across town in 2005, despite prosecution not having any incriminating evidence against him, and several witnesses on hand to verify where he was at the time. At the start of the documentary, he is in the first year of his 20 year term in an overcrowded prison.
In Mexico, the burden of proof is reversed compared to most other countries; there you are presumed guilty and have to prove your innocence. In a system where the police and justice bodies are paid according to the number of people sent to jail, this leaves enormous potential for the system to turn rotten and perverse.
A documentary named 'The Tunnel' (named after the long tunnel between the jail house and the courtrooms) was broadcast on Mexican televisions in 2006, and it's creators Roberto and Layda, both going through law school at the time were contacted by Tono's girlfriend for help. So began a 3 year fight to get a retrial and have Tono acquitted, which forms the body of this film.
It's disturbing and fascinating in equal measure, and followed in surprising detail Tono's daily grind (the film-makers were allowed to film inside the jail and the retrial room, much to the consternation of the prosecution witnesses), his family's fight to prove the original trial was a sham, his eventual retrial (where he courageously questions several of the accusers himself) and the end result of all the effort. Just what transpires is truly shocking.
Just one example should outline the difficulty of overturning a verdict of homicide: The defence were not allowed to ask any questions in the retrial that had already been answered in the case file. That means, the police could report whatever they wanted and it would then become the facts, without the ability to question them.
The film was paced very well, and its contents flew by, even when the projector threw a wobbly 15 minutes in, rewound the film to the start and played it through again. This did not however spoil the experience, which was certainly one of the most eye-opening festival experiences so far this year. The final shot panning backwards out of a warehouse full of case files stacked to the ceiling shows the enormity of the problem, and the potentially thousands of (mostly young male) lives ruined. Roberto and Layda are now working to bring a change to the Mexican constitution to reverse the burden of proof. If you support their cause, and I definitely do, please visit their facebook page and sign their petition. 8/10
Bluebeard (Fra) (trailer)
The fairytale of Bluebeard is brought to life, not for the first time here by director Catherine Breillat, who fittingly frames the story in the context of two young girls rifling through an attic and coming across the Bluebeard story in a little red book. Their bickering as they interpret the finer points of the story as it is played out, is mirrored by the young teen sisters in the story, who after hearing of their father's heroic death, are thrown out of the nunnery they were placed in for protection, and forced to return home to their mother, whose temperament is not helped by the heartless bailiffs coming round and taking anything of wealth to pay debts.
Lord Bluebeard lurks mysteriously in his fine castle, the taker of many wives who mysteriously disappear not long afterwards. Talk of his fancy falling upon these two new prospects, he invites the family over to make merry and dance; during which one of the sisters takes a shining to the enormous and rather lumpy lord, and accepts his hand in marriage.
Though Bluebeard takes a couple of liberties with the viewer, losing its cohesion a little here and there, this can be forgiven since it is in effect the retelling of the story through the eyes of two young girls whose conflicting interpretations and attitudes combine to form the flavour of the tale told. It is stunningly shot in the beautiful French countryside, and the castle used is appropriately grand, as are the period costumes, and everything feels right. It's just a shame that the final 5 or so minutes seem to conclude rather hurriedly and without great satisfaction. 7/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 2
Made in Britain (UK) (wiki)
First broadcast on British television in 1982, this program was and still remains difficult to watch. Pioneering the use of hand-held cameras often chasing the character on foot (the 'kinetic' style of filmmaking), it shows a short but potentially pivotal point in the life of Trevor Parker, a deeply racist skinhead with a swastika on his forehead and a deep hatred and disrespect of everyone remotely smelling of authority. His latest court appearance for throwing a brick through the window of a Pakistani living down the street was postponed once again by his social worker Harry (played by a young looking Eric Richard, best known for his long-running part in The Bill), he seems to be off around the circle again. Placed in a bedsit alongside Errol, a young black school drop-out on the cusp of being let out, the tensions are clear although they don't play out exactly as you would expect.
Very much a precursor to the more recent This is England, Alan Clarke and David Lelands' drama is more complex than a straightforward study of racism and intolerance in 80's Britain and where it might come from. Trevor is not simply a mindless thug; he has prospects, he has brains, and at times achieves a certain eloquence, especially when he is cornered in a detention centre by three policemen and forced to air his views. Beneath the bravado, violence, racism and complete refusal to take responsibility for his actions, his inner core set of values, of being honest about himself and expecting others to do the same, distinguishing it from 'following the rules' and saying nothing that people might disagree with, resonates loudly when it is finally uncovered. A difficult but necessary look into a constantly morphing issue. 7.5/10
Constantin and Elena (Rom) (site)
A much slower, gentler film, a mixture of biography and documentary, about the lives of the elderly grandparents of the director. In a remote village, a run-down house with a small farmland attached is the scene for the final few years of a couple married for over 50. Small, life-speed tales of bratwurst, rugs and ugly ducks pepper the film as it slowly takes its time to set the scene of their life as it is now, and hints of how it was in a previous time. Constantin and Elena are each other's foils, as is right in a long-standing marriage, each putting themselves down in order to elicit the cooing affection of the other, and never complaining when the life around them seems to get a little harder with each year. A quiet piece with a pleasant ending (rather than the more depressing one from yesterdays' Bonecrusher), it could rarely be called 'boring' (unless you are 15 and your name is Kevin) and occasionally, as life does, feel naturally warm, cosy and funny. 7/10
International Shorts 1
Two triple entries by a pair of directors, Liang Ying from China, and Dietmar Brehm from Austria.
I Love Lakers - Little Feng Junjie is not doing so well at school. He skips classes and smokes round the back with his friend. His permanently drunken dad seems to have something to do with it, and when he turns up unexpectedly whilst Feng is being given a speaking to, well, things go downhill from there. A pleasant enough distraction. 6.5/10
Medicine - A young girl named Hudie is tasked with looking after her sick grandma while mum is off at work. She sets some herbal medicine on to boil, and is then promptly locked out when the wind blows the front door shut. The various people she asks for help are either useless or unwilling, and the medicine continues to over-boil. Unfortunately the tension that could have been built up by the situation quickly fizzles out, and it could have been a better film. 6/10
Condolences - A real-life bus accident in 2004 in , where 15 people lost their lives when a bus careered off the road and ended up on its roof in a river, is reflected through the experience of grandma Chen, whose daughter and grandson were two of the casualties. In a single shot that doesn't move, Chen sits on a stool in mid-distance, dealing patiently and with minimal reaction to the onslaught of mayors and government reps, well-wishers, TV reporters and more who buzz around her once peaceful old home with a critical eye as the funeral is being readied in the background. Only as the last person leaves does she make a subtle but meaningful gesture to her lost relatives. 7.5/10
An interesting constant between all 3 films by Liang Ying was the name Feng Junjie cropped up in each of them, as if it was a little trademark he wanted in each of his films. Dietmar Brehm's films couldn't be more different, each of them a completely abstract work, detaching the sounds from the abstract visuals.
Ozean - Sounds of a beach assaulted by strong waves was accompanied by heavily edited footage where only abstract blobs remain, who rarely convey meaning beyond occasional human shapes and movements emerging from the random. It was intriguing to work out what was being filmed, my impression changing from general beach hijinks, to someone being assaulted, to two people making love. I'm still not sure. 3.5/10
Instax: Camera Girls, London 1966 - Film footage of nudey girls posing with cameras, that was blended into each other, put through a diffuser and laid over each other so they merged into one large mess. The soundtrack was.. well, it sounded like someone cleaning machinery with a toothbrush, but that is conjecture. Why did it get more than Ozean? Because of its NUDEY GIRLS, and no other reason. 4/10
Verdrehte Augen: Videoversion-2 - A complete random mess. Some people sat talking, occasionally looking at some cars. Someone cutting fish into chunks. A woman and a man repeatedly staring the same gawpy stare at each other, and then another woman comes along and gets felt up in her car. Camera filter: Negative images. Random sound effects: Crackling fire. Crap. 2/10
By this point, I was beginning to wonder whether there was going to be a truly good film today, and my weariness towards yet another documentary did not bode well for this film's chances. However...
One Last Dance (US) - The short film shown before the main feature (below) wasn't helped by the announcer getting the general plot and feel of it mixed up with Home from Home. We were expecting a film with an amusing Korean guy who would make us laugh, and what we got was a sombre short about an overworked man being given a final parting gift by his dying grandmother. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't constantly expecting a punchline. 6.5/10
Home from Home (S. Kor) (german trailer)
In the 1950's and 60's, several Korean women left for Germany to enlist in the postwar rebuilding effort, including some nurses of which a few married over in Germany. As an attempt to up the population of dwindling Namhae, and to offer an incentive for these Korean women to return, the Korean government set up a scheme to plant a little bit of Germany into the coastal town. A cluster of neat, European-style houses with white walls and red roofs appeared and the offer was made to the ageing couples in Germany to come over and live out their years. Three couples accepted, and this is the story of their transplanted lives since their move in 2002.
As with many film documentaries, what is written on paper cannot do justice to the content, and in this particular example, it's doubly so. The many elements of the place and the people coming together, such as the intrusive and downright cheeky tourists, flocking to the town to take pictures in their backyards (without permission); the attempts by the German men to integrate with the other locals and learn the languages and traditions, some of their ingrained prejudices, and the crackling relationships that still exist between the couples after all the years keeps the film constantly engaging. There are many places where skilled editing mixed with the cameras catching situations as they occur caused much laughter from the audience (I was streaming tears at one point I was laughing so hard), and this is balanced well with the more serious and completely engaging parts where they tell us why they went to Germany, how they fell in love over there, and why they returned. It's constantly entertaining (and in more than one way), beautifully shot and framed, and I will remember it as head and shoulders over most of the other films I will see this year; I can guarantee it. 8.5/10
First broadcast on British television in 1982, this program was and still remains difficult to watch. Pioneering the use of hand-held cameras often chasing the character on foot (the 'kinetic' style of filmmaking), it shows a short but potentially pivotal point in the life of Trevor Parker, a deeply racist skinhead with a swastika on his forehead and a deep hatred and disrespect of everyone remotely smelling of authority. His latest court appearance for throwing a brick through the window of a Pakistani living down the street was postponed once again by his social worker Harry (played by a young looking Eric Richard, best known for his long-running part in The Bill), he seems to be off around the circle again. Placed in a bedsit alongside Errol, a young black school drop-out on the cusp of being let out, the tensions are clear although they don't play out exactly as you would expect.
Very much a precursor to the more recent This is England, Alan Clarke and David Lelands' drama is more complex than a straightforward study of racism and intolerance in 80's Britain and where it might come from. Trevor is not simply a mindless thug; he has prospects, he has brains, and at times achieves a certain eloquence, especially when he is cornered in a detention centre by three policemen and forced to air his views. Beneath the bravado, violence, racism and complete refusal to take responsibility for his actions, his inner core set of values, of being honest about himself and expecting others to do the same, distinguishing it from 'following the rules' and saying nothing that people might disagree with, resonates loudly when it is finally uncovered. A difficult but necessary look into a constantly morphing issue. 7.5/10
Constantin and Elena (Rom) (site)
A much slower, gentler film, a mixture of biography and documentary, about the lives of the elderly grandparents of the director. In a remote village, a run-down house with a small farmland attached is the scene for the final few years of a couple married for over 50. Small, life-speed tales of bratwurst, rugs and ugly ducks pepper the film as it slowly takes its time to set the scene of their life as it is now, and hints of how it was in a previous time. Constantin and Elena are each other's foils, as is right in a long-standing marriage, each putting themselves down in order to elicit the cooing affection of the other, and never complaining when the life around them seems to get a little harder with each year. A quiet piece with a pleasant ending (rather than the more depressing one from yesterdays' Bonecrusher), it could rarely be called 'boring' (unless you are 15 and your name is Kevin) and occasionally, as life does, feel naturally warm, cosy and funny. 7/10
International Shorts 1
Two triple entries by a pair of directors, Liang Ying from China, and Dietmar Brehm from Austria.
I Love Lakers - Little Feng Junjie is not doing so well at school. He skips classes and smokes round the back with his friend. His permanently drunken dad seems to have something to do with it, and when he turns up unexpectedly whilst Feng is being given a speaking to, well, things go downhill from there. A pleasant enough distraction. 6.5/10
Medicine - A young girl named Hudie is tasked with looking after her sick grandma while mum is off at work. She sets some herbal medicine on to boil, and is then promptly locked out when the wind blows the front door shut. The various people she asks for help are either useless or unwilling, and the medicine continues to over-boil. Unfortunately the tension that could have been built up by the situation quickly fizzles out, and it could have been a better film. 6/10
Condolences - A real-life bus accident in 2004 in , where 15 people lost their lives when a bus careered off the road and ended up on its roof in a river, is reflected through the experience of grandma Chen, whose daughter and grandson were two of the casualties. In a single shot that doesn't move, Chen sits on a stool in mid-distance, dealing patiently and with minimal reaction to the onslaught of mayors and government reps, well-wishers, TV reporters and more who buzz around her once peaceful old home with a critical eye as the funeral is being readied in the background. Only as the last person leaves does she make a subtle but meaningful gesture to her lost relatives. 7.5/10
An interesting constant between all 3 films by Liang Ying was the name Feng Junjie cropped up in each of them, as if it was a little trademark he wanted in each of his films. Dietmar Brehm's films couldn't be more different, each of them a completely abstract work, detaching the sounds from the abstract visuals.
Ozean - Sounds of a beach assaulted by strong waves was accompanied by heavily edited footage where only abstract blobs remain, who rarely convey meaning beyond occasional human shapes and movements emerging from the random. It was intriguing to work out what was being filmed, my impression changing from general beach hijinks, to someone being assaulted, to two people making love. I'm still not sure. 3.5/10
Instax: Camera Girls, London 1966 - Film footage of nudey girls posing with cameras, that was blended into each other, put through a diffuser and laid over each other so they merged into one large mess. The soundtrack was.. well, it sounded like someone cleaning machinery with a toothbrush, but that is conjecture. Why did it get more than Ozean? Because of its NUDEY GIRLS, and no other reason. 4/10
Verdrehte Augen: Videoversion-2 - A complete random mess. Some people sat talking, occasionally looking at some cars. Someone cutting fish into chunks. A woman and a man repeatedly staring the same gawpy stare at each other, and then another woman comes along and gets felt up in her car. Camera filter: Negative images. Random sound effects: Crackling fire. Crap. 2/10
By this point, I was beginning to wonder whether there was going to be a truly good film today, and my weariness towards yet another documentary did not bode well for this film's chances. However...
One Last Dance (US) - The short film shown before the main feature (below) wasn't helped by the announcer getting the general plot and feel of it mixed up with Home from Home. We were expecting a film with an amusing Korean guy who would make us laugh, and what we got was a sombre short about an overworked man being given a final parting gift by his dying grandmother. I would have enjoyed it more if I wasn't constantly expecting a punchline. 6.5/10
Home from Home (S. Kor) (german trailer)
In the 1950's and 60's, several Korean women left for Germany to enlist in the postwar rebuilding effort, including some nurses of which a few married over in Germany. As an attempt to up the population of dwindling Namhae, and to offer an incentive for these Korean women to return, the Korean government set up a scheme to plant a little bit of Germany into the coastal town. A cluster of neat, European-style houses with white walls and red roofs appeared and the offer was made to the ageing couples in Germany to come over and live out their years. Three couples accepted, and this is the story of their transplanted lives since their move in 2002.
As with many film documentaries, what is written on paper cannot do justice to the content, and in this particular example, it's doubly so. The many elements of the place and the people coming together, such as the intrusive and downright cheeky tourists, flocking to the town to take pictures in their backyards (without permission); the attempts by the German men to integrate with the other locals and learn the languages and traditions, some of their ingrained prejudices, and the crackling relationships that still exist between the couples after all the years keeps the film constantly engaging. There are many places where skilled editing mixed with the cameras catching situations as they occur caused much laughter from the audience (I was streaming tears at one point I was laughing so hard), and this is balanced well with the more serious and completely engaging parts where they tell us why they went to Germany, how they fell in love over there, and why they returned. It's constantly entertaining (and in more than one way), beautifully shot and framed, and I will remember it as head and shoulders over most of the other films I will see this year; I can guarantee it. 8.5/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 1
Just so you know, this won't be another Leeds. I am not destroying my eyes like I did last year. At least not for Bradford. Leeds 2010 maybe.
Bonecrusher (US)
It is unsurprising that a documentary film about the lives of Virginian coalminers is not going to get the most attention of all the films at the festival, and this was true as, on a rainy friday I searched the corridors of Leeds Trinity University until I came upon the sparsely-attended theatre - a large lecture room with a big projector screen at the front.
An elderly member of a dilapidated and semi-deserted country town, Luther 'Bonecrusher' Chaffin - a somewhat ironic nickname given his slight form - and his son Lucas, are two of many pit men in the Wilder Miners' lineage. A profession that sucks the life from many of the town's families and has for several generations, Luther is long since retired and is missing half a lung, his face and body gaunt by the effects of the affliction known as black lung. Initially reluctant to let his son join the family tradition, Lucas managed to get his way on the strength of his arguments: it's part of the place he grew up in and thus in his blood, and more importantly when he is supporting a new family, there's good money in it.
What initially began as a rather sterile documentary on the everyday dangers and health hazards endured by these people on a daily basis, taking us on the low-load carts into the depths of the pit where only a few feet separate floor and ceiling and hazardous coal-dust is everywhere; morphs slowly into a human study over several months of a family as it loses one of it's number to a disease its' own traditions are responsible for. It is at this point that the film took my interest much more, twanging my emotions as I see the initially reasonably healthy father turn into a weakened skeleton at the same time the rest of the family grows and changes, and all the time the black cloud that causes it all (and will again) looming in the background, it's grip tight around the survival of the townsfolk. 7/10
Bonecrusher (US)
It is unsurprising that a documentary film about the lives of Virginian coalminers is not going to get the most attention of all the films at the festival, and this was true as, on a rainy friday I searched the corridors of Leeds Trinity University until I came upon the sparsely-attended theatre - a large lecture room with a big projector screen at the front.
An elderly member of a dilapidated and semi-deserted country town, Luther 'Bonecrusher' Chaffin - a somewhat ironic nickname given his slight form - and his son Lucas, are two of many pit men in the Wilder Miners' lineage. A profession that sucks the life from many of the town's families and has for several generations, Luther is long since retired and is missing half a lung, his face and body gaunt by the effects of the affliction known as black lung. Initially reluctant to let his son join the family tradition, Lucas managed to get his way on the strength of his arguments: it's part of the place he grew up in and thus in his blood, and more importantly when he is supporting a new family, there's good money in it.
What initially began as a rather sterile documentary on the everyday dangers and health hazards endured by these people on a daily basis, taking us on the low-load carts into the depths of the pit where only a few feet separate floor and ceiling and hazardous coal-dust is everywhere; morphs slowly into a human study over several months of a family as it loses one of it's number to a disease its' own traditions are responsible for. It is at this point that the film took my interest much more, twanging my emotions as I see the initially reasonably healthy father turn into a weakened skeleton at the same time the rest of the family grows and changes, and all the time the black cloud that causes it all (and will again) looming in the background, it's grip tight around the survival of the townsfolk. 7/10
A Couple of Pre-Festival Films
Seeing a film outside of a festival is actually quite a novelty for me, and though I wouldn't want to come over as a mainstream-film hating snob, the current scene has by and large failed to catch either my eye or my imagination. That said, I've recently seen two films that have genuinely surprised me by how good they are.
The first one is Avatar. There are many, many people out there who have now seen it and I was probably one of the last, having so far avoided it because it falls into that category of film where computer graphics are so overused as to make them seem artificial.
However, Cameron's is the first one that actually had me compelled throughout. Yes, it was saturated with sweeping, whooshing views and beautiful vistas made out of ones and zeroes, many of which felt like an excuse to show off what worlds they could create; and it had the usual bits where a computer generated bad guy does battle with a real-life hero. But, it also had a heart set in the real world.
As a nice twist, Human beings were cast mostly as the antagoniser in a future where earth has gone manky, and the Navi, the native inhabitants of the world they move into are largely seen as the good guys. Jake Sully uses the latest technology to remotely inhabit the body of a Navi-human genetic clone body, with the intention of infultrating a nearby tribe and gaining their trust. Not surprisingly, the feeling of spiritual closeness to the world around him, long lost to the human race changes his mind, and after going ape when the army starts an unscripted attack on 'his' colony, it's time to pick sides.
It had a rather heavy-handed environmental message, and having the Navi bear many of the styles and traits of African tribes-people, it was definitely not being subtle. What it did manage to do was (for the first time that I am aware of) completely hide the join between the real world and the pixellated one; creating a fantasy world where both exist and interact together naturally. It was also unusually intended for a more mature audience rather than the child-friendly fantasies of the past that these sorts of films were made for, being more Alien than Madegascar. (There were a number of uncomfortable parents in the audience who clearly ignored the 12A rating at their peril and squirmed in their seats as their kids were submitted to quite a lot of moderate swearing) I really enjoyed it, probably more than what I would if I had bothered to read up on it beforehand, and for the few remaining places that are still showing it, I recommend anyone who hasn't seen it to do so, especially if its a 3D showing. 8/10
Then there is I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey will never, ever play a straight part (no pun intended) as try as he might, there will always be a little bit of The Mask bubbling just under the surface that will inevitably take the scene over. Despite this self-inflicted handicap which does rear it's head a number of times here, this film is perhaps the most serious part he has managed so far, excepting maybe that of Truman Burbank. Carrey plays Steven Jay Russell, a closeted gay man in an unhappy marriage, whose outing also helps uncover another aspect to his personality: he is a pathological fraud, not to mention a very successful one. Beginning with insurance claims from 'accidental' injuries, through to false references for new jobs, and finally giving the accounting books a good cooking, he builds an empire taking advantage of the lack of background checks at each new place, leaving quickly as soon as the authorities cotton on.
Finally caught and ending up in jail, he falls in love with fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), a delicate flower amongst a building-full of seething, violent, red-blooded inmates. Feeling first kinship and later a need to protect his love, he promises to fix his deceitful ways once out, but as you can guess, old habits die hard.
Other than having Jim Carry in it according to the sides of many buses that passed my face the past couple of weeks, there wasn't much I knew about this film either, and again, that's probably the best way the average person should prepare themselves for this film. Carey and McGregor do get jiggy with it on more than one occasion (although you never see anything beyond kisses and cuddles) and this may be too much for some to sit through, but once you're over the initial shock of these two actors hitting gay roles so convincingly, you are left with a very entertaining film that is part love story, part comedy, and part autobiography (Russell and Morris are both real people, and the film is based on their story, made all the more incredible since it happened in the middle of the right-wing heartland that is Texas). It twists and turns without feeling random, it's consistently funny save for a few slower scenes to show the humanity behind the lies, and it's ending causes you to initially groan, then.. well I won't spoil it, but it put a big smile on my face. It might not have anywhere near the budget or marketing clout of Avatar, but I would put it as high up on the watchability list. 8/10
No need to deal with any more mainstream films for a while. The Bradford Film Festival is about to start, (I have to eat my words as it is much bigger than I thought) and I will of course be blogging about the films that get seen within the next few days. Stay tuned.
The first one is Avatar. There are many, many people out there who have now seen it and I was probably one of the last, having so far avoided it because it falls into that category of film where computer graphics are so overused as to make them seem artificial.
However, Cameron's is the first one that actually had me compelled throughout. Yes, it was saturated with sweeping, whooshing views and beautiful vistas made out of ones and zeroes, many of which felt like an excuse to show off what worlds they could create; and it had the usual bits where a computer generated bad guy does battle with a real-life hero. But, it also had a heart set in the real world.
As a nice twist, Human beings were cast mostly as the antagoniser in a future where earth has gone manky, and the Navi, the native inhabitants of the world they move into are largely seen as the good guys. Jake Sully uses the latest technology to remotely inhabit the body of a Navi-human genetic clone body, with the intention of infultrating a nearby tribe and gaining their trust. Not surprisingly, the feeling of spiritual closeness to the world around him, long lost to the human race changes his mind, and after going ape when the army starts an unscripted attack on 'his' colony, it's time to pick sides.
It had a rather heavy-handed environmental message, and having the Navi bear many of the styles and traits of African tribes-people, it was definitely not being subtle. What it did manage to do was (for the first time that I am aware of) completely hide the join between the real world and the pixellated one; creating a fantasy world where both exist and interact together naturally. It was also unusually intended for a more mature audience rather than the child-friendly fantasies of the past that these sorts of films were made for, being more Alien than Madegascar. (There were a number of uncomfortable parents in the audience who clearly ignored the 12A rating at their peril and squirmed in their seats as their kids were submitted to quite a lot of moderate swearing) I really enjoyed it, probably more than what I would if I had bothered to read up on it beforehand, and for the few remaining places that are still showing it, I recommend anyone who hasn't seen it to do so, especially if its a 3D showing. 8/10
Then there is I Love You Phillip Morris. Jim Carrey will never, ever play a straight part (no pun intended) as try as he might, there will always be a little bit of The Mask bubbling just under the surface that will inevitably take the scene over. Despite this self-inflicted handicap which does rear it's head a number of times here, this film is perhaps the most serious part he has managed so far, excepting maybe that of Truman Burbank. Carrey plays Steven Jay Russell, a closeted gay man in an unhappy marriage, whose outing also helps uncover another aspect to his personality: he is a pathological fraud, not to mention a very successful one. Beginning with insurance claims from 'accidental' injuries, through to false references for new jobs, and finally giving the accounting books a good cooking, he builds an empire taking advantage of the lack of background checks at each new place, leaving quickly as soon as the authorities cotton on.
Finally caught and ending up in jail, he falls in love with fellow inmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor), a delicate flower amongst a building-full of seething, violent, red-blooded inmates. Feeling first kinship and later a need to protect his love, he promises to fix his deceitful ways once out, but as you can guess, old habits die hard.
Other than having Jim Carry in it according to the sides of many buses that passed my face the past couple of weeks, there wasn't much I knew about this film either, and again, that's probably the best way the average person should prepare themselves for this film. Carey and McGregor do get jiggy with it on more than one occasion (although you never see anything beyond kisses and cuddles) and this may be too much for some to sit through, but once you're over the initial shock of these two actors hitting gay roles so convincingly, you are left with a very entertaining film that is part love story, part comedy, and part autobiography (Russell and Morris are both real people, and the film is based on their story, made all the more incredible since it happened in the middle of the right-wing heartland that is Texas). It twists and turns without feeling random, it's consistently funny save for a few slower scenes to show the humanity behind the lies, and it's ending causes you to initially groan, then.. well I won't spoil it, but it put a big smile on my face. It might not have anywhere near the budget or marketing clout of Avatar, but I would put it as high up on the watchability list. 8/10
No need to deal with any more mainstream films for a while. The Bradford Film Festival is about to start, (I have to eat my words as it is much bigger than I thought) and I will of course be blogging about the films that get seen within the next few days. Stay tuned.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)