It won't be long before the festival circuit comes alive once more. Usually, Bradford is out of the blocks by now but this year it's moved ahead by a month. My tickets are booked, and there are plenty of potentially great films to see.
So I've been keeping the film intake to a steady trickle so far, just a few to whet my whistle in among the other work that never seems to go away. These are a few that I have managed to catch so far:
Once Upon A Time in Anatolia (wiki)
After hearing that this had won the Grand Prize at Cannes last year, I decided to put my reservations about it's length to one side and see it while I could. Anatolia is a huge section of Turkey, but the film concentrates in one unnamed and sparsely populated region, full of dusty back roads and rolling hills and valleys between small towns and villages.
Following a small group of cars not quite up to the job of negotiating this terrain through the night, the film chronicles the attempts of an increasingly frustrated local police sergeant to get some sense out of Kenan, a drunken waster, and his terrified brother, who have confessed to the killing of a stranger passing through their village, but can't remember where they hurriedly buried them, since they were very, very drunk. Along with them are a few labourers with shovels, a couple of equally out of their depth officers, and the prosecutor, Nusret - a professional-looking middle-aged man with an air of responsibility about him, who aims to get through the formalities as soon as possible and move onto his next job.
It sounds like a comedy, but it isn't. Though there are some semi-comedic touches to the story, such as the low-level incompetence suffered by Nusret by the men around him, the story is played mostly straight. Though the murder forms the backbone of the narrative, much of it is spent learning about the lives of the other characters through dialogue when others are off seeing if Kenan's latest guess is anywhere near the body.
There were some nice things about the film; the acting was believable and the settings, though often shrouded in night were authentic and beautifully rural, hinting at what sights may be visible just beyond the headlights. One of the best bits was a dialogue that ran through the film about one of Nusret's old murder cases, which he thought he had long since put to rest but his verdict is put in doubt after casually bringing it into conversation.
Though the film had these nice parts, they were not enough to keep the clock hands whizzing around at a satisfactory pace; at over two and a half hours, the film runs out of things to say halfway through, and at several points approaching the 2-hour mark you expect the long staring shot you are seeing to mark the end. Once the body is found there aren't many other loose ends to tie, but the director made a point of showing the paperwork and autopsy the next morning in clinical detail, though it added little. The long, quiet moments were joined by the shifting of bottoms on cinema seats.
It was nice. There was an entertaining and well-thought story, but it was stuffed with unnecessary filler. It could have been cut by a half-hour quite easily which would have tightened the script and stopped the clock-watching. A shame. 6/10
Le Havre (site)
Designed to tug at the heartstrings from the off, La Havre introduces us to Marcel, a poor shoe-shiner in the north-western French city, looked down on by those whose shoes he shines, he works alongside the immigrants and the poor of his neighbourhood. Tolerated by his wife, whose life would be much simpler if she didn't have to do all his housework as well as hers. One day he meets Idrissa, a young African boy who has escaped the French border guards on his way through to meet with his parents in London. Childless and feeling an immediate need to protect, Marcel takes time to feed and hide the boy from the pursuing authorities, and just as he has his hands full with that, has to cope with his wife collapsing with a mystery illness.
Le Havre is filmed in a deliberately old-fashioned style. Aside from a few pointers to modern comforts, the washed-out colours, static dialogue shots and a wardrobe of antiquated clothes would fool the casual viewer into thinking it was a digital restoration of a 70's flick but it was in fact made last year. This gives the film a quaint charm, but may be off-putting for some. Personally, I liked it, even though being French it had to have a bit of the philosophizing, but it was minimal and it instead concentrated on tying up the loose ends of a poor-man-doing-good-deeds plot in a delightfully Amelie-style far-fetched sort of way. 7/10
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists (site)
A new Aardman film is almost as welcome an event as a new Pixar or Ghibli offering, especially when they ditch their computer-machines for good old plasticine once more. Flushed Away, though pleasant enough can never match Wallace and Gromit or Chicken Run.
They are taking a risk with this one though; America will be the territory where they stand to make the big money and science.. well, isn't exactly high on the list of people's interests over there, being as it is increasingly marginalized by redneck legislature and shunned by the presidential hopefuls. You can get round some of that with a name change (which Aardman have done, disappointingly but understandably - the US get 'Band of Misfits' as a subtitle) but the film itself will always have those pesky scientists at it's core.
Not content with a general ruffling of feathers, Aardman decided to prod the prudish in the ribs a little further; The Pirates! features a dashing but not very successful pirate captain (voiced by Hugh Grant, who fits surprisingly well into the hat and beard combo) trying to win Pirate of the Year after failing so many times. On his plundering expeditions to prove his place, he runs into Charles Darwin - yes, that hero of the American churchgoers - who points out that the parrot on his shoulder is actually a Dodo and might be worth quite a bit, if taken to the science exhibition in London, that place he can't go since Queen Victoria hates his guts so much for being all piratey.
So as you can imagine, it's going to be a hard sell. Pirates! may mitigate this slightly by setting it in an alternate history where Darwin is a hormonally unfulfilled and slightly slimy man with a devious streak and a monkey butler, and Queen Victoria is an unstoppable fighting machine. This might loosen the collars somewhat but I wouldn't want to be Columbia's PR people.
It's a shame because it's a great film. Almost too full of little plasticine touches, and references to films, places and people, the likes of which you won't catch on a single viewing. Plenty of goofy gags for kids and some more adult references that fortunately stay just the acceptable side of risqué to not require you to cover the ears of the nearest child.
There are even elements in the film that could have been expanded on but aren't - in a good way - such as the curiously feminine-looking pirate amongst his crew, whose name we don't even learn - perhaps leaving enough room to grow the character in a sequel.
It's funny, it's unpredictable and it doesn't feel like an animation too far for the studio; the stop-motion technique is alive and well and looking better than ever, because you know what you're looking at is 'real', rather than conjured up on a computer. The sets are authentic W+G cobbled streets and English pubs and it all hangs together very well indeed. I'd easily watch it again, and probably will.
Oh, and look out for an unexpected inclusion of a Flight of the Conchords song midway through as well which made me smile at least 10% more when I heard it. 8/10
Showing posts with label Bradford. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bradford. Show all posts
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 10
The Woman with the 5 Elephants (Swi) (site)
Swetlana Geier is in her 80's. At a time of life where most women are waiting for God, she doesn't have time. Many of that age would be wearing glasses to find their way around, but Swetlanas' eyes are still shining bright and apparently in full working order. Good job, since she is currently translating one of many works of Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky into German. The 5 elephants of the title are some of his weightier works amongst many books by Russian authors which Swetlana has painstakingly translated (sometimes more than once) over the course of the last 65 years. Since the early 1990's she has been concentrating on the Dostoyevsky works, with only the help of her typist and proof-reader, both long-time confidants who she trusts and relies on implicitly.
This quiet, absorbing documentary lets Svetlana talk quietly about the translation process, about how the German and Russian languages are so different as to lose so many of the subtleties of the original, and the subtitle people must have had it doubly so, attempting to keep the meaning into her own translated version. As well as dealing directly with the books, the film spends some time touching on Swetlana's past, growing up in Kiev and forced to leave during the Nazi uprising, narrowly missing her fate as one of the thousands of victims of the Jewish massacre at Babi Yar. We learn about her current life, her son lying in hospital with head injuries, and the fate of her father at the hands of the previous Stalin regime. Swetlana hadn't returned to the Ukraine for the last 65 years, until her invitation during the making of the documentary to speak to a class of undergraduate translators. The cameras respectfully keep a little space for her to reflect on her past in the few areas left existing from her childhood.
I really enjoyed this film, it was yet another example where a subject matter I am indifferent to was made intellectually stimulating and interesting, showing a window onto an otherwise unknown world. 7.5/10
Sinful Davey (UK) (wiki)
Showing as part of the John Hurt retrospective, in this early entry he is cast as Davey Haggart, a perpetually selfish and nihilistic young rogue from 19th Century Scotland. Going from his impatient desertion of the Scottish army in preference in living up to the reputation of his highwayman father. His ultimate aim: steal from the Duke of Argyll, something his father could not managed and died trying.
At every corner, his pickpocketing ways result in rooftop chases and plenty of overturned applecarts, and occasionally, jail. However he always manages to charm his way out, often with a comely wench between his legs for good measure. Though a complete blaggard, Hurt manages to come off as a likeable anti-hero, and his eventual encounter with the Duke turns out not as you would expect.
It's showing its age now (not least this cut, which had a few battle scars), but it's still a roguish, energetic, bodice-ripping tale (based on a Haggard's own autobiography) and a pleasant hour spent. 7/10
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (US) (site)
Though it sounds Godzilla-like, Beetle Queen is a documentary that, at least at the start concentrates on the Japanese obsession with insects, particularly the various types of horned beetle, that small children often keep as pets. A whole industry and culture has grown up around this in recent times, satisfying the requirements of trapping nets and little plastic cages, bedding and food, pre-prepared larvae nests you can stick your grub into so it can pupate, and a range of cartoons, comics, video games and more to keep the kids clamouring for more. Adults too keep bugs, often preferring the 'crying insects', such as crickets and cicadas, whose chirruping and leg vibrating are often seen as natures therapeutic music.
But the film doesn't stop there, its Japanese narrator goes on to explain the origins of this fascination, reaching back into the principles of Shinto and later Buddhism, where everything is considered to have a spirit, and every life on the planet should be treated with care and respect. The Japanese rice paddies caused an explosion in insect populations at the same time that it's people were miniaturising the environment around them (e.g. managed gardens, bonsai trees, and more), the insects were brought into sharp focus.
Beetle Queen seemed to meander into slightly preachy territory at times which grated a little as it moved away from its general bugs theme and into an advert for Shinto/Buddhism, but it remained an interesting look at an unknown subject matter (the popularity of pokemon over there now makes a lot more sense). It contained some beautiful scenery and situations (some gorgeous shots of rural Japan, and a lovely scene involving a family, a bedsheet and a few powerful halogen lights in the middle of the night), but went on for just a little too long. 6.5/10
The Sickness Is Coming or, The Blind Man's Television (UK) - ..and it seemed to have already arrived by the time the film started running. This overly long experimental short was supposedly based on an obscure book, but it seemed you had to have read it before the film itself made any sense. Three teens living in a shattered future seem to be able to change the world to be whatever they want it to be. They head off to see the last film ever made to see if that is better than the life they have now. That's the blurb, but how it was put on the screen was amateurish, badly scripted and shot, badly narrated by someone who only passingly knew English, and had no hook points for people to grab hold of and make any sense of it. I've given it too much credit by writing all these words on the damn thing. 2/10
Greenberg (US) (trailer)
Florence, a woman in her prime, has yet to become satisfied in where her life is going. She gets a bit of cash by working as an au-pair in the Greenberg residence in Manhattan, made up of the normal 2+2 family. Dad Phillip is taking his family to Vietnam for a holiday, leaving Florence to call in every so often and take care of the family dog Mauler (a soppy Alsatian), and Phillips' slightly autistic brother Roger, played by an unusually serious Ben Stiller.
Roger was in a band, but they split when he turned down a lucrative once-in-a-lifetime contract on a feeling without involving the others. Since then his confidence has dropped, and he cannot seem to relate to other people, getting frustrated and angry when confronted with social situations he feels under pressure to attend and enjoy. Florence and Roger somehow make a start at a relationship, rather unbelievably since Roger's mood swings end up leaving her scared and confused at what she thought were innocent actions or questions. Sooner or later she's going to give up on the idea, and its up to Roger to get his head in order.
As a final film of the festival, Greenberg was alright. (The final film was originally going to be Whip It, but when Greenberg ran late because of that damn Sickness film having an argument with the cinema's DVD player, I decided a quick Chinese and then home would go down a lot better.) It moved quietly along its little road, only sticking in a couple of places, and if you can get over Roger's repeated foot in mouth annoyances, it's not the worst film you could see. 6.5/10
And that's it for my first Bradford festival. There was more on offer than I originally expected, and there were some cracking films, but there was also a lot of tat, something I hope the other festivals don't pick up as well. (I've got my fingers crossed it was budgetary problems, rather than a general lack of good films out there.)
Next stop, Edinburgh in June.
Swetlana Geier is in her 80's. At a time of life where most women are waiting for God, she doesn't have time. Many of that age would be wearing glasses to find their way around, but Swetlanas' eyes are still shining bright and apparently in full working order. Good job, since she is currently translating one of many works of Russian author Fyodor Dostoyevsky into German. The 5 elephants of the title are some of his weightier works amongst many books by Russian authors which Swetlana has painstakingly translated (sometimes more than once) over the course of the last 65 years. Since the early 1990's she has been concentrating on the Dostoyevsky works, with only the help of her typist and proof-reader, both long-time confidants who she trusts and relies on implicitly.
This quiet, absorbing documentary lets Svetlana talk quietly about the translation process, about how the German and Russian languages are so different as to lose so many of the subtleties of the original, and the subtitle people must have had it doubly so, attempting to keep the meaning into her own translated version. As well as dealing directly with the books, the film spends some time touching on Swetlana's past, growing up in Kiev and forced to leave during the Nazi uprising, narrowly missing her fate as one of the thousands of victims of the Jewish massacre at Babi Yar. We learn about her current life, her son lying in hospital with head injuries, and the fate of her father at the hands of the previous Stalin regime. Swetlana hadn't returned to the Ukraine for the last 65 years, until her invitation during the making of the documentary to speak to a class of undergraduate translators. The cameras respectfully keep a little space for her to reflect on her past in the few areas left existing from her childhood.
I really enjoyed this film, it was yet another example where a subject matter I am indifferent to was made intellectually stimulating and interesting, showing a window onto an otherwise unknown world. 7.5/10
Sinful Davey (UK) (wiki)
Showing as part of the John Hurt retrospective, in this early entry he is cast as Davey Haggart, a perpetually selfish and nihilistic young rogue from 19th Century Scotland. Going from his impatient desertion of the Scottish army in preference in living up to the reputation of his highwayman father. His ultimate aim: steal from the Duke of Argyll, something his father could not managed and died trying.
At every corner, his pickpocketing ways result in rooftop chases and plenty of overturned applecarts, and occasionally, jail. However he always manages to charm his way out, often with a comely wench between his legs for good measure. Though a complete blaggard, Hurt manages to come off as a likeable anti-hero, and his eventual encounter with the Duke turns out not as you would expect.
It's showing its age now (not least this cut, which had a few battle scars), but it's still a roguish, energetic, bodice-ripping tale (based on a Haggard's own autobiography) and a pleasant hour spent. 7/10
Beetle Queen Conquers Tokyo (US) (site)
Though it sounds Godzilla-like, Beetle Queen is a documentary that, at least at the start concentrates on the Japanese obsession with insects, particularly the various types of horned beetle, that small children often keep as pets. A whole industry and culture has grown up around this in recent times, satisfying the requirements of trapping nets and little plastic cages, bedding and food, pre-prepared larvae nests you can stick your grub into so it can pupate, and a range of cartoons, comics, video games and more to keep the kids clamouring for more. Adults too keep bugs, often preferring the 'crying insects', such as crickets and cicadas, whose chirruping and leg vibrating are often seen as natures therapeutic music.
But the film doesn't stop there, its Japanese narrator goes on to explain the origins of this fascination, reaching back into the principles of Shinto and later Buddhism, where everything is considered to have a spirit, and every life on the planet should be treated with care and respect. The Japanese rice paddies caused an explosion in insect populations at the same time that it's people were miniaturising the environment around them (e.g. managed gardens, bonsai trees, and more), the insects were brought into sharp focus.
Beetle Queen seemed to meander into slightly preachy territory at times which grated a little as it moved away from its general bugs theme and into an advert for Shinto/Buddhism, but it remained an interesting look at an unknown subject matter (the popularity of pokemon over there now makes a lot more sense). It contained some beautiful scenery and situations (some gorgeous shots of rural Japan, and a lovely scene involving a family, a bedsheet and a few powerful halogen lights in the middle of the night), but went on for just a little too long. 6.5/10
The Sickness Is Coming or, The Blind Man's Television (UK) - ..and it seemed to have already arrived by the time the film started running. This overly long experimental short was supposedly based on an obscure book, but it seemed you had to have read it before the film itself made any sense. Three teens living in a shattered future seem to be able to change the world to be whatever they want it to be. They head off to see the last film ever made to see if that is better than the life they have now. That's the blurb, but how it was put on the screen was amateurish, badly scripted and shot, badly narrated by someone who only passingly knew English, and had no hook points for people to grab hold of and make any sense of it. I've given it too much credit by writing all these words on the damn thing. 2/10
Greenberg (US) (trailer)
Florence, a woman in her prime, has yet to become satisfied in where her life is going. She gets a bit of cash by working as an au-pair in the Greenberg residence in Manhattan, made up of the normal 2+2 family. Dad Phillip is taking his family to Vietnam for a holiday, leaving Florence to call in every so often and take care of the family dog Mauler (a soppy Alsatian), and Phillips' slightly autistic brother Roger, played by an unusually serious Ben Stiller.
Roger was in a band, but they split when he turned down a lucrative once-in-a-lifetime contract on a feeling without involving the others. Since then his confidence has dropped, and he cannot seem to relate to other people, getting frustrated and angry when confronted with social situations he feels under pressure to attend and enjoy. Florence and Roger somehow make a start at a relationship, rather unbelievably since Roger's mood swings end up leaving her scared and confused at what she thought were innocent actions or questions. Sooner or later she's going to give up on the idea, and its up to Roger to get his head in order.
As a final film of the festival, Greenberg was alright. (The final film was originally going to be Whip It, but when Greenberg ran late because of that damn Sickness film having an argument with the cinema's DVD player, I decided a quick Chinese and then home would go down a lot better.) It moved quietly along its little road, only sticking in a couple of places, and if you can get over Roger's repeated foot in mouth annoyances, it's not the worst film you could see. 6.5/10
-=-=-=-=-=-=-
And that's it for my first Bradford festival. There was more on offer than I originally expected, and there were some cracking films, but there was also a lot of tat, something I hope the other festivals don't pick up as well. (I've got my fingers crossed it was budgetary problems, rather than a general lack of good films out there.)
Next stop, Edinburgh in June.
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 9
Very Heaven (UK) - A young girl becomes complicit in the cruel bullying meted out on a boy from class. Not actively taking part but too scared to intervene, she stands there as the ringleader eggs his gang on. The first feelings of love are beginning to surface, which is only adding to her confusion. The dialogue was clunky and unnatural, but it was a good attempt at showing the cruelty of children left to work out their natural pecking order. 6.5/10
Fish Eyes (Chi/S. Kor) - Somewhere on the outskirts of a dusty, hot city in Inner Mongolia, a young man named Deshui lives with his father. With no job, he has little to do all day except eat and kick the dust about as his father works as a sunflower farmer and as a gate man for the dusty track road nearby. Naturally after some years of this, Deshui is on the lookout for ways to make a bit of cash, and his morals are slipping.
Falling in with the wrong crowd, he begins to spend less and less time at home, just as a mysterious woman appears in a medical gown. Taken in by the father and treated as the daughter he never had, she quickly becomes part of the family, although Deshui sees a more lucrative use for her feminine charms. Once he has rationalised that in his mind, it's a downhill path that will surely end up causing a lot of pain for the family.
Fish eyes is a minimalist film made on a near-zero budget. Very sparse dialogue is used to put across what cannot be described through pregnant stares and subtle gestures. What little action there is occurs out of sight of the camera, behind a closed door or reflected through a mirror. For this reason, it is easy to become frustrated with the film, although for those wishing to persevere with it, a plot is definitely present. 6/10
It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home (US) (interview)
A pair of teenage girls are on a backpacking holiday through Costa Rica. Cam is confident and brash, au fait with the lingo and a keen surfer. This may however be Annie's first trip abroad, the film hinting that Cam quickly arranged this trip to get Annie away from her familiar surroundings after being dumped by her boyfriend, Matt. Things start in high spirits, with both girls talking girly things and exploring the local area (although mostly staying away from conversing with the locals unless they have to), but it's soon clear that Annie's thoughts are still back home, especially when Cam manages to pull.
There was no revelation or resolution to this film; it was instead a re-telling of a diary of a holiday in real terms. In some respects this is a good thing as it wasn't sugar coated for the viewer, but at the same time it removed some of the point of telling the story. It is a film that will resonate most with those who have been on a similar holiday of their own (I personally felt a connection to events on my Japan trip); if you have never been on one, I would suggest you will get little out of this film. 6.5/10
Freezer Fright (US) (article)
Director Nancy Silver becomes her own self-appointed Freezer Police inspector, in this massively-WTF, ultra-low-budget film shown only once elsewhere in the world. Split into chunks by neighbour, she visits them in a faux-spontaneous manner and gets them to open their freezer cabinets and show us their contents.
The first 5-10 minutes were terrible. Really bad. Chunk one was her own freezer, which instead of food contained.. ventriloquists dummies wrapped in sheets, and a paper-mache face mask. 5-10 minutes of wobblycam closeups, lifting portions of the bags for us to see a face peeking out underneath and an arm moving AS IF IT IS ALIVE, to the repetitive tones of the woman strumming her gui-tar in semi-sequence to a damned annoying bird in the trees outside.
As she went around her neighbours, who often had face masks on to protect their identity (going at odds a bit with the supposed surprise inspections), the film did improve slightly, and for a short while became a comment on the hoarding of food that is never used, and what else freezers can be used to store. But it should never have been anything more than a short film, as the concept quickly runs out of gas. Mercifully, the disc that was sent to the venue was a bit worn, and about halfway through became unwatchable because it was skipping too much, so the screening was abandoned. I will survive the loss. 4/10
Blue Bus (US) (site)
Deep in a quiet suburb in LA, long-since retired Augie receives a present in his driveway one morning. A battered old mini VW camper, containing a note and a wooden box. The note details the death of his old friend Oliver, who left the van in his will with the express wish Augie drive it to their old city of New Orleans and open the box there. Always lamenting he and Oliver wanting to do a road trip but never getting round to it, Augie turns to neighbour and tired but comfortable businessman Joey to come with him on the journey. Eyeing the heap in his drive, he reluctantly accepts, assuming they will make it as far as the city limits before it packs out and Augie can just fly there.
So it's a buddy road movie. And actually quite a good one. Anyone who really enjoyed Sideways for its character interaction (as opposed to its flowing fallover juice) will definitely love this one. The editing and camerawork, while choppy at the beginning, improves dramatically as the film goes on (as if the director is learning as they go) and at all times the dialogue and interaction between the principal characters remains natural, as if they were given a general direction to steer the conversation in and were left to freely ad-lib however they wanted to get there. It is lifted a notch higher by some beautiful songs (some sung by Augie himself) that capture the spirit of the states they drive through and ultimately, their destination. By the end of the film we have been a part of their arguments and philosophies, their past and their hopes for the future. Surprisingly for this sort of 'what's in the box we'll find out at the end' movie it doesn't feel cheap, but actually quite memorable and touching in the way it concludes and I would happily join them on another road-trip should they make one. Plus: parrots! 7.5/10
Fish Eyes (Chi/S. Kor) - Somewhere on the outskirts of a dusty, hot city in Inner Mongolia, a young man named Deshui lives with his father. With no job, he has little to do all day except eat and kick the dust about as his father works as a sunflower farmer and as a gate man for the dusty track road nearby. Naturally after some years of this, Deshui is on the lookout for ways to make a bit of cash, and his morals are slipping.
Falling in with the wrong crowd, he begins to spend less and less time at home, just as a mysterious woman appears in a medical gown. Taken in by the father and treated as the daughter he never had, she quickly becomes part of the family, although Deshui sees a more lucrative use for her feminine charms. Once he has rationalised that in his mind, it's a downhill path that will surely end up causing a lot of pain for the family.
Fish eyes is a minimalist film made on a near-zero budget. Very sparse dialogue is used to put across what cannot be described through pregnant stares and subtle gestures. What little action there is occurs out of sight of the camera, behind a closed door or reflected through a mirror. For this reason, it is easy to become frustrated with the film, although for those wishing to persevere with it, a plot is definitely present. 6/10
It Was Great, But I Was Ready to Come Home (US) (interview)
A pair of teenage girls are on a backpacking holiday through Costa Rica. Cam is confident and brash, au fait with the lingo and a keen surfer. This may however be Annie's first trip abroad, the film hinting that Cam quickly arranged this trip to get Annie away from her familiar surroundings after being dumped by her boyfriend, Matt. Things start in high spirits, with both girls talking girly things and exploring the local area (although mostly staying away from conversing with the locals unless they have to), but it's soon clear that Annie's thoughts are still back home, especially when Cam manages to pull.
There was no revelation or resolution to this film; it was instead a re-telling of a diary of a holiday in real terms. In some respects this is a good thing as it wasn't sugar coated for the viewer, but at the same time it removed some of the point of telling the story. It is a film that will resonate most with those who have been on a similar holiday of their own (I personally felt a connection to events on my Japan trip); if you have never been on one, I would suggest you will get little out of this film. 6.5/10
Freezer Fright (US) (article)
Director Nancy Silver becomes her own self-appointed Freezer Police inspector, in this massively-WTF, ultra-low-budget film shown only once elsewhere in the world. Split into chunks by neighbour, she visits them in a faux-spontaneous manner and gets them to open their freezer cabinets and show us their contents.
The first 5-10 minutes were terrible. Really bad. Chunk one was her own freezer, which instead of food contained.. ventriloquists dummies wrapped in sheets, and a paper-mache face mask. 5-10 minutes of wobblycam closeups, lifting portions of the bags for us to see a face peeking out underneath and an arm moving AS IF IT IS ALIVE, to the repetitive tones of the woman strumming her gui-tar in semi-sequence to a damned annoying bird in the trees outside.
As she went around her neighbours, who often had face masks on to protect their identity (going at odds a bit with the supposed surprise inspections), the film did improve slightly, and for a short while became a comment on the hoarding of food that is never used, and what else freezers can be used to store. But it should never have been anything more than a short film, as the concept quickly runs out of gas. Mercifully, the disc that was sent to the venue was a bit worn, and about halfway through became unwatchable because it was skipping too much, so the screening was abandoned. I will survive the loss. 4/10
Blue Bus (US) (site)
Deep in a quiet suburb in LA, long-since retired Augie receives a present in his driveway one morning. A battered old mini VW camper, containing a note and a wooden box. The note details the death of his old friend Oliver, who left the van in his will with the express wish Augie drive it to their old city of New Orleans and open the box there. Always lamenting he and Oliver wanting to do a road trip but never getting round to it, Augie turns to neighbour and tired but comfortable businessman Joey to come with him on the journey. Eyeing the heap in his drive, he reluctantly accepts, assuming they will make it as far as the city limits before it packs out and Augie can just fly there.
So it's a buddy road movie. And actually quite a good one. Anyone who really enjoyed Sideways for its character interaction (as opposed to its flowing fallover juice) will definitely love this one. The editing and camerawork, while choppy at the beginning, improves dramatically as the film goes on (as if the director is learning as they go) and at all times the dialogue and interaction between the principal characters remains natural, as if they were given a general direction to steer the conversation in and were left to freely ad-lib however they wanted to get there. It is lifted a notch higher by some beautiful songs (some sung by Augie himself) that capture the spirit of the states they drive through and ultimately, their destination. By the end of the film we have been a part of their arguments and philosophies, their past and their hopes for the future. Surprisingly for this sort of 'what's in the box we'll find out at the end' movie it doesn't feel cheap, but actually quite memorable and touching in the way it concludes and I would happily join them on another road-trip should they make one. Plus: parrots! 7.5/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 8
Wedlock (Fra/Irl) - A short film to start things off. A bride and groom head up to their apartment flat, their futures ahead of them. But something in the way they are behaving suggests that things aren't quite right. 7.5/10
Paradise (US) (interview)
A film with absolutely no plot. That's a bad line to start with when trying to get people through the doors. Throw in the dreaded words 'experimental documentary' and I bet some of you have already skipped to the next film. What can I say, it was not to be.
Director Michael Almereyda has condensed the last ten years of camcorder footage into a 'best of' compilation; the little moments in his life he happened to experience through his camera lens that grabbed his attention and stuck in his mind. The film is just a succession of short pieces (presumably in chronological order) where something often quite ordinary happens, that shows the beauty in the world often ignored because of its subtlety. His little girl feeding pigeons. A trek across snowy fields and roads to photograph a buffalo. A Louisiana carnival. His young son playing peek-a-boo behind the chair. That same son philosophising about Napoleon with his friends at university many years later. A funeral for a loved one. A hundred little snatches of a person's life as it mixes with the lives he comes into contact with.
Better than Toto, but perhaps falling short of 45365, Paradise is a film ideally suited for someone in the mood for daydreaming. Sit in front of it and let the archived memories of the director trigger your own, and smile. 7/10
The Blacks (Cro) (trailer)
The Blacks are an army unit operating during the Balkan conflict. The surrounding townscape is in ruins, and the stench of death is in every darkened room. For some initially unknown reason, the unit drives through the night; perpetually on edge and not fully sure where they need to go. They head to the outskirts of town through the night, and by daybreak are pretty much lost in a forest peppered with mines. It's clear their comrades have perished here some time before.
The film plays the second half first, similar in style to Memento, and then the events leading up to it playing second. It plays around with the viewer for some time, building up the brooding, looming conclusion, and then skipping backwards for a while just as you are asking 'what on earth made them do that?'. What indeed is not made fully clear, instead mostly hinted at through conversations between people who know about certain events the viewer doesn't. Though obfuscated in this way, it's clear the situation they find themselves in would put anyone on edge and do strange things.
It did suffer from 'abrupt ending' syndrome; just as you were expecting some resolution to appear it ended, much in the same way some short films do, leaving you to search your memories for events in the film that could be considered conclusive. For this reason, my initial disappointment as the credits rolled was tempered a little after I'd thought about it, but not by much. 5.5/10
Micmacs (Fra) (wiki/english microsite)
I was going to head home after The Blacks, but it had not satisfied my film requirements for the day. Then I looked at the showing times, and saw that Jean-Pierre Jeunet's latest film was about to start. Though it is not an official festival film, I had to take the opportunity and see it. My pillow could wait.
The film's main character - Bazil - is down on his luck. His father was killed by a land mine when he was young, and having just been shot in the head in a freak accident, he is pretty much as low as can be. Especially as he's just about dead.
Based on a coin toss, the surgeons tasked with saving his life decide to leave the bullet lodged in his temple, giving Bazil a slightly unreliable brain; every now and again it goes a bit screwy and he has to concentrate on old thoughts and memories to get back in control. Out of a job and scratching round for food, he is picked up by Placard, one of a group of oddball salvagers who live womble-like in a home made of junk. With a roof over his head, he heads out and discovers - coincidentally just opposite each other - the huge corporate buildings emblazoned with the logo's he recognises from the bullet in his head and the land-mine that killed his father. Filled with rage, he plots to get his revenge on both of them, but going up against global arms dealers won't be easy on his own. Fortunately his resourceful new-found friends like to stick their noses in.
Anyone who has seen Jeunets' previous beautifully crafted films (Delicatessen, Amelie and A Very Long Engagement) should definitely go see this one too. It is much more Amelie than Engagement, being as it is an intricate comical fantasy of the take down of an admittedly easy target. It bears the instantly recognisable hallmarks present in his films (not to mention a good few familiar actors); the burned-orange tint filters the view like we are in a perpetual summers evening, showing us a world much like our own but with elements of magic and fantasy mixed in. There are ridiculous but joyful coincidences and fateful encounters, and of course, hundreds of little incidental touches that may only uncover themselves after several viewings (Bazil's mind control exercises all have their individual little animations which are charming examples of the thorough attention paid to even the littlest things). The production values are superb, and there is plenty of wit and cleverness and beauty, just when you thought that his previous films must have surely stolen all of Jeunets' ideas. Julie Ferrier almost steals the show as fellow womble and possible love interest Caoutchouc, whose contortionist tricks both amaze and disturb in equal measure.
I would recommend anyone to go along and see this film. It is the very definition of fun. If on it's suggestion your other half says 'sod off, I'm not watching no subtitled French crap', slap them around the head and tell them to stop being such a prat. It might just be the best film they see this year. 9/10
Paradise (US) (interview)
A film with absolutely no plot. That's a bad line to start with when trying to get people through the doors. Throw in the dreaded words 'experimental documentary' and I bet some of you have already skipped to the next film. What can I say, it was not to be.
Director Michael Almereyda has condensed the last ten years of camcorder footage into a 'best of' compilation; the little moments in his life he happened to experience through his camera lens that grabbed his attention and stuck in his mind. The film is just a succession of short pieces (presumably in chronological order) where something often quite ordinary happens, that shows the beauty in the world often ignored because of its subtlety. His little girl feeding pigeons. A trek across snowy fields and roads to photograph a buffalo. A Louisiana carnival. His young son playing peek-a-boo behind the chair. That same son philosophising about Napoleon with his friends at university many years later. A funeral for a loved one. A hundred little snatches of a person's life as it mixes with the lives he comes into contact with.
Better than Toto, but perhaps falling short of 45365, Paradise is a film ideally suited for someone in the mood for daydreaming. Sit in front of it and let the archived memories of the director trigger your own, and smile. 7/10
The Blacks (Cro) (trailer)
The Blacks are an army unit operating during the Balkan conflict. The surrounding townscape is in ruins, and the stench of death is in every darkened room. For some initially unknown reason, the unit drives through the night; perpetually on edge and not fully sure where they need to go. They head to the outskirts of town through the night, and by daybreak are pretty much lost in a forest peppered with mines. It's clear their comrades have perished here some time before.
The film plays the second half first, similar in style to Memento, and then the events leading up to it playing second. It plays around with the viewer for some time, building up the brooding, looming conclusion, and then skipping backwards for a while just as you are asking 'what on earth made them do that?'. What indeed is not made fully clear, instead mostly hinted at through conversations between people who know about certain events the viewer doesn't. Though obfuscated in this way, it's clear the situation they find themselves in would put anyone on edge and do strange things.
It did suffer from 'abrupt ending' syndrome; just as you were expecting some resolution to appear it ended, much in the same way some short films do, leaving you to search your memories for events in the film that could be considered conclusive. For this reason, my initial disappointment as the credits rolled was tempered a little after I'd thought about it, but not by much. 5.5/10
Micmacs (Fra) (wiki/english microsite)
I was going to head home after The Blacks, but it had not satisfied my film requirements for the day. Then I looked at the showing times, and saw that Jean-Pierre Jeunet's latest film was about to start. Though it is not an official festival film, I had to take the opportunity and see it. My pillow could wait.
The film's main character - Bazil - is down on his luck. His father was killed by a land mine when he was young, and having just been shot in the head in a freak accident, he is pretty much as low as can be. Especially as he's just about dead.
Based on a coin toss, the surgeons tasked with saving his life decide to leave the bullet lodged in his temple, giving Bazil a slightly unreliable brain; every now and again it goes a bit screwy and he has to concentrate on old thoughts and memories to get back in control. Out of a job and scratching round for food, he is picked up by Placard, one of a group of oddball salvagers who live womble-like in a home made of junk. With a roof over his head, he heads out and discovers - coincidentally just opposite each other - the huge corporate buildings emblazoned with the logo's he recognises from the bullet in his head and the land-mine that killed his father. Filled with rage, he plots to get his revenge on both of them, but going up against global arms dealers won't be easy on his own. Fortunately his resourceful new-found friends like to stick their noses in.
Anyone who has seen Jeunets' previous beautifully crafted films (Delicatessen, Amelie and A Very Long Engagement) should definitely go see this one too. It is much more Amelie than Engagement, being as it is an intricate comical fantasy of the take down of an admittedly easy target. It bears the instantly recognisable hallmarks present in his films (not to mention a good few familiar actors); the burned-orange tint filters the view like we are in a perpetual summers evening, showing us a world much like our own but with elements of magic and fantasy mixed in. There are ridiculous but joyful coincidences and fateful encounters, and of course, hundreds of little incidental touches that may only uncover themselves after several viewings (Bazil's mind control exercises all have their individual little animations which are charming examples of the thorough attention paid to even the littlest things). The production values are superb, and there is plenty of wit and cleverness and beauty, just when you thought that his previous films must have surely stolen all of Jeunets' ideas. Julie Ferrier almost steals the show as fellow womble and possible love interest Caoutchouc, whose contortionist tricks both amaze and disturb in equal measure.
I would recommend anyone to go along and see this film. It is the very definition of fun. If on it's suggestion your other half says 'sod off, I'm not watching no subtitled French crap', slap them around the head and tell them to stop being such a prat. It might just be the best film they see this year. 9/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 7
Toto (Aus) (a more forgiving review)
The level of bigging up of this film by the festival staff (on more than one occasion they recommended it before the showing of another film) meant that I had to go see it, since I had just about enough time to get off work and pootle into the centre of Bradford. I get the feeling it was just to get some more tickets sold. There were about 10 of us in the audience.
Toto is the name of a middle-aged man who travels to Italy, his birthplace to reminisce and muse on his life decisions. Shot in black and white, presumably to lean on the theme of old memories and postcards, the 2+ hour film follows him from the Vienna train station, on the train and around Italy. The film's selling point was its very up close and personal view of Toto as he hung around various scenes, waiting patiently for him to wax on about his life or the people he recognises.
Though this film exuded a certain limited charm, seeing the world he inhabits physically and in his memories of the place and people, it was far too annoying in several ways to be recommended. The usual bugbear of subtitled black and white films - guess the word on the white background - was often in force. Even if you could see the words, it took so bloody long between him saying the first part of his cod-philosophical sentences and the second (during which we get some rather annoying loud breathing, often accompanied by a protracted close-up arty shot of his eyes staring round randomly at things) that you forget the first part. Thus getting a mental grip on what he is trying to say becomes a labour. I was also never made to care about Toto, or the things he had been through, and thus any interest or patience I might have had to wait for the next thing he was going to say quickly waned.
It could have been an enjoyable sit-back film if it wasn't for these annoyances. There were a couple of more lucid moments where he let us into his past, talking sparingly about a lost girlfriend whose father disapproved and hit her, so he removed himself, and meeting occasionally with his elderly but still spunky mother, whose rapid fire opinions were even more disjointed than his. By the end of the film, I did care enough to ask myself 'what is the director trying to say here', but I was too exhausted by it to pursue an answer. It's clear one of the directors' intentions was for the viewer to be able to know the man by the films end, but I doubt that he wanted us to leave with a wheezy, slow-minded mumbling old fool who we wouldn't want to be caught in a conversation with.
45365 was a similar human study film that had no such problems, showing these films can work when done properly. 3/10
Fluke (Hun) (trailer)
The residents of a run-down and forgotten Hungarian town of Ogyarmat (maybe based on this one) on the Austro-Hungary border are about to get rich. AMV, a large Austrian oil company wants to buy some of the fields around the town, and need the signatures of all the residents before completing the deal. However, farmer and ex-mayor Istvan purposely forgot to come along, and when the other residents catch up with him to lay down the smack on his desertion, they don't have time to hear his ridiculous alternative plan on planting Christmas trees on the land instead.
His wife gone, and his daughter run off after he scalded her for seeing the son of a family he has never got along with, Istvan feels he cannot go along with it any more. However, during a failed suicide attempt in the church grounds, he uncovers an underground pipe, and when it is tapped with a hand drill, high-grade petrol comes spurting out.
It's clearly theft, but the townsfolk don't seem to care much if it means they can make some cash for their town. Word quickly travels about cheap gas, and the cars begin filing in, their drivers stocking up all they can in whatever they can find. Paying the local police to keep things quiet, everything seems to be going well for the residents, but in-fighting, police investigations, oil company execs and a riot squad ensure that the ending is suitably chaotic.
A mostly bouncy pace keeps things going and the interest up, and there are plenty of laughs, even if it's easy to predict where things are going to finish. It also changed how I feel when I hear the Birdie Song forever. 7.5/10
Park Shanghai (Chi) (interview)
Started as a university project by writer/director Kai Kevin Huang, Park Shanghai is all about the experiences of reunion between a group of students who have come together a few years after graduation. It concentrates mainly on Dong, whose ex-wife Rerei is one of the other people at the party, and he can't seem to get her out of his head. It doesn't help that she rings him up with her problems every so often when her new hubby isn't around.
Putting her out of his mind for a while as she does some karaoke, Dong heads to the top of the party building, where most of Shanghai can be seen unobstructed. Occasional hangout of skateboarders and darts players, he reunites with Nick, a friend at school he used to practice English with, who now has travelled quite a lot of the world and is trying to settle down a bit. There is also Da Qing, a rather chubby singer on his tired old motorbike who was once the class leader, and Franky, who owns a guitar shop down the road and is just along for the ride.
Park Shanghai took a long time to get going. It was unclear for an hour, perhaps who of the dozen or so parts at the start would end up carrying the main body of the story to its conclusion, and each had their own stories they shared with the reunion attendees and the viewer to muddy the waters. Only after this where the bit players were weeded out for a while did it become clear where the film was headed; the reconciliation of Dong and Rerei's past while they have the opportunity to do so. It was all done in quite a soap-opera way; no fights or explosions, just people talking and letting the development occur naturally at a slow pace. Once the film had eventually found its feet, it became an enjoyable study of catching up with old friends and flames, and was, on balance, worth it to wade through the messy first half to get there. 6/10
The level of bigging up of this film by the festival staff (on more than one occasion they recommended it before the showing of another film) meant that I had to go see it, since I had just about enough time to get off work and pootle into the centre of Bradford. I get the feeling it was just to get some more tickets sold. There were about 10 of us in the audience.
Toto is the name of a middle-aged man who travels to Italy, his birthplace to reminisce and muse on his life decisions. Shot in black and white, presumably to lean on the theme of old memories and postcards, the 2+ hour film follows him from the Vienna train station, on the train and around Italy. The film's selling point was its very up close and personal view of Toto as he hung around various scenes, waiting patiently for him to wax on about his life or the people he recognises.
Though this film exuded a certain limited charm, seeing the world he inhabits physically and in his memories of the place and people, it was far too annoying in several ways to be recommended. The usual bugbear of subtitled black and white films - guess the word on the white background - was often in force. Even if you could see the words, it took so bloody long between him saying the first part of his cod-philosophical sentences and the second (during which we get some rather annoying loud breathing, often accompanied by a protracted close-up arty shot of his eyes staring round randomly at things) that you forget the first part. Thus getting a mental grip on what he is trying to say becomes a labour. I was also never made to care about Toto, or the things he had been through, and thus any interest or patience I might have had to wait for the next thing he was going to say quickly waned.
It could have been an enjoyable sit-back film if it wasn't for these annoyances. There were a couple of more lucid moments where he let us into his past, talking sparingly about a lost girlfriend whose father disapproved and hit her, so he removed himself, and meeting occasionally with his elderly but still spunky mother, whose rapid fire opinions were even more disjointed than his. By the end of the film, I did care enough to ask myself 'what is the director trying to say here', but I was too exhausted by it to pursue an answer. It's clear one of the directors' intentions was for the viewer to be able to know the man by the films end, but I doubt that he wanted us to leave with a wheezy, slow-minded mumbling old fool who we wouldn't want to be caught in a conversation with.
45365 was a similar human study film that had no such problems, showing these films can work when done properly. 3/10
Fluke (Hun) (trailer)
The residents of a run-down and forgotten Hungarian town of Ogyarmat (maybe based on this one) on the Austro-Hungary border are about to get rich. AMV, a large Austrian oil company wants to buy some of the fields around the town, and need the signatures of all the residents before completing the deal. However, farmer and ex-mayor Istvan purposely forgot to come along, and when the other residents catch up with him to lay down the smack on his desertion, they don't have time to hear his ridiculous alternative plan on planting Christmas trees on the land instead.
His wife gone, and his daughter run off after he scalded her for seeing the son of a family he has never got along with, Istvan feels he cannot go along with it any more. However, during a failed suicide attempt in the church grounds, he uncovers an underground pipe, and when it is tapped with a hand drill, high-grade petrol comes spurting out.
It's clearly theft, but the townsfolk don't seem to care much if it means they can make some cash for their town. Word quickly travels about cheap gas, and the cars begin filing in, their drivers stocking up all they can in whatever they can find. Paying the local police to keep things quiet, everything seems to be going well for the residents, but in-fighting, police investigations, oil company execs and a riot squad ensure that the ending is suitably chaotic.
A mostly bouncy pace keeps things going and the interest up, and there are plenty of laughs, even if it's easy to predict where things are going to finish. It also changed how I feel when I hear the Birdie Song forever. 7.5/10
Park Shanghai (Chi) (interview)
Started as a university project by writer/director Kai Kevin Huang, Park Shanghai is all about the experiences of reunion between a group of students who have come together a few years after graduation. It concentrates mainly on Dong, whose ex-wife Rerei is one of the other people at the party, and he can't seem to get her out of his head. It doesn't help that she rings him up with her problems every so often when her new hubby isn't around.
Putting her out of his mind for a while as she does some karaoke, Dong heads to the top of the party building, where most of Shanghai can be seen unobstructed. Occasional hangout of skateboarders and darts players, he reunites with Nick, a friend at school he used to practice English with, who now has travelled quite a lot of the world and is trying to settle down a bit. There is also Da Qing, a rather chubby singer on his tired old motorbike who was once the class leader, and Franky, who owns a guitar shop down the road and is just along for the ride.
Park Shanghai took a long time to get going. It was unclear for an hour, perhaps who of the dozen or so parts at the start would end up carrying the main body of the story to its conclusion, and each had their own stories they shared with the reunion attendees and the viewer to muddy the waters. Only after this where the bit players were weeded out for a while did it become clear where the film was headed; the reconciliation of Dong and Rerei's past while they have the opportunity to do so. It was all done in quite a soap-opera way; no fights or explosions, just people talking and letting the development occur naturally at a slow pace. Once the film had eventually found its feet, it became an enjoyable study of catching up with old friends and flames, and was, on balance, worth it to wade through the messy first half to get there. 6/10
Bradford Film Festival 2010 - Day 6
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
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
What to do in 2010
It's well into the new year before my first post. I am not ashamed, however because my time has been spent constructively taking lots of soil out of my back garden and hulking it into a skip. The unusually frosty weather has meant that the soil comes out in handy chunks, and the frozen-solid ground has allowed me to get my way to the skip without falling flat on my arse and breaking something.
And that is basically my background task this year, get my damn garden sorted since its been in a state of limbo since about 2005. I have to dig a big trench, put in a reinforced wall before the sides of the trench fall in on themselves and bury me alive, hoik all the remaining soil over the wall, and then lay a crapload of paving where currently there is mud. concrete, piping and heavily established trees. It is for this reason that I have had little chance to type and may not get the chance to do other things in my increasingly busy life.
So, assuming I can find some time to do other things, what events have pricked up my ears for this year? Here are a few:
Bradford Film Festival 2010 (18-28 March)
Bradford has always had an inferior fest to the Leeds one, (compare the site contents with the Leeds 09 output for comparison) and consequently I've glossed over it in recent years. I'm guessing Bradford council's budget is mostly taken up by their enormous white elephant redesign of the town centre into a lovely lake that chavs can drive stolen cars into, and there's little left for cultural pursuits.
Anyways, what is there includes not only some output that I missed at Leeds (the saucy Modern Love is Automatic, historical retelling Bluebeard and the claustrophobic Dogtooth, plus Crying with Laughter, which I managed to see at Leeds and can easily recommend.) but also some international films that have appeared since. It doesn't include the new version of Metropolis with extra scenes reinstated, or the new Michael Moore film Capitalism: A Love Story, but I'm sure they will come around in time.
Fuse Leeds 2010 (???? May)
Hopefully this will be running, the website is still all 2009-ed up, and the last one before that was 2006, so its a maybe at the moment, but myself and Ms. Plants enjoyed the tail-end of last years and hope to see more this time.
Edinburgh/Cambridge Film Festivals 2010 (16-27 Jun, ??? September)
Currently packed in ice and snow (or at least slush), Edinburgh was the first of last year's festivals I went to, and if there is time, maybe I can manage a weekend or so up there. Ditto Cambridge, which is usually lovely at its slot of September-ish.
Bingley Music Festival 2010 (??? August/September)
Hopefully in the middle of a warm, dry British summer, the Bingley Music Festival sounds like fun, with past years showing some surprisingly recognisable names over the three day weekend. The first day is free as a taster, and the other two will be about 20 quid. Bargain.
Japan 2010 (??? September/October)
Yes, this year will include another trip to the far east. Probably another 3 weeks, and almost certainly in a modified version of my freeform backpacking stint that this blog was created for in 2008. It's all up in the air at the moment, but I want to do at least:
Leeds Film Festival 2010 (??? November)
The big one (as far as film festivals go), Leeds always delivers in terms of location, size and variety, and although I've promised myself and others that last year's film count will not (and for my health's sake) be topped) I will try to see between 50 and 100 films while its on.
If I can fit all that in, and get a decent-looking garden out of it too, I'll consider that a good year.
And that is basically my background task this year, get my damn garden sorted since its been in a state of limbo since about 2005. I have to dig a big trench, put in a reinforced wall before the sides of the trench fall in on themselves and bury me alive, hoik all the remaining soil over the wall, and then lay a crapload of paving where currently there is mud. concrete, piping and heavily established trees. It is for this reason that I have had little chance to type and may not get the chance to do other things in my increasingly busy life.
So, assuming I can find some time to do other things, what events have pricked up my ears for this year? Here are a few:
Bradford Film Festival 2010 (18-28 March)
Bradford has always had an inferior fest to the Leeds one, (compare the site contents with the Leeds 09 output for comparison) and consequently I've glossed over it in recent years. I'm guessing Bradford council's budget is mostly taken up by their enormous white elephant redesign of the town centre into a lovely lake that chavs can drive stolen cars into, and there's little left for cultural pursuits.
Anyways, what is there includes not only some output that I missed at Leeds (the saucy Modern Love is Automatic, historical retelling Bluebeard and the claustrophobic Dogtooth, plus Crying with Laughter, which I managed to see at Leeds and can easily recommend.) but also some international films that have appeared since. It doesn't include the new version of Metropolis with extra scenes reinstated, or the new Michael Moore film Capitalism: A Love Story, but I'm sure they will come around in time.
Fuse Leeds 2010 (???? May)
Hopefully this will be running, the website is still all 2009-ed up, and the last one before that was 2006, so its a maybe at the moment, but myself and Ms. Plants enjoyed the tail-end of last years and hope to see more this time.
Edinburgh/Cambridge Film Festivals 2010 (16-27 Jun, ??? September)
Currently packed in ice and snow (or at least slush), Edinburgh was the first of last year's festivals I went to, and if there is time, maybe I can manage a weekend or so up there. Ditto Cambridge, which is usually lovely at its slot of September-ish.
Bingley Music Festival 2010 (??? August/September)
Hopefully in the middle of a warm, dry British summer, the Bingley Music Festival sounds like fun, with past years showing some surprisingly recognisable names over the three day weekend. The first day is free as a taster, and the other two will be about 20 quid. Bargain.
Japan 2010 (??? September/October)
Yes, this year will include another trip to the far east. Probably another 3 weeks, and almost certainly in a modified version of my freeform backpacking stint that this blog was created for in 2008. It's all up in the air at the moment, but I want to do at least:
- Visit an Onsen - something it is a crime not to do when over there.
- Return to K's Backpack Hostel, and maybe visit some others dotted around the island.
- Converse more in the native tongue (thanks in part to my purchase of My Japanese Coach, now all I need is a DS :) )
- Try more of the food. I was too squeamish last time and relied on the Japanese love of Italian food.
- Visit Kyushu - The furthest west I managed last time was Mt. Misen, so the more tropical climes were largely ignored.
- See some of the autumn festivals.
Leeds Film Festival 2010 (??? November)
The big one (as far as film festivals go), Leeds always delivers in terms of location, size and variety, and although I've promised myself and others that last year's film count will not (and for my health's sake) be topped) I will try to see between 50 and 100 films while its on.
If I can fit all that in, and get a decent-looking garden out of it too, I'll consider that a good year.
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