Tucked away at the end of the festival, was the anime segment. In an encouraging change, LIFF will be getting it's own 'Anime Day' filled with as many as they can fit in. This was what we got this year:
One Piece Film: Strong World (Jpn) (wiki/site)
I haven't seen any episodes from the (very) long-running anime series on which this is based, but from what I can tell, it's a highly-stylised adventure variant along the lines of Bleach and Inuyasha, but with a pirate theme. It's certainly being marketed to death all over Okinawa at the moment, that's for sure. Luffy (the main character) is made of rubber, and can cause his body to stretch or inflate at will. He has a bounty on his head, as do the rest of his clan, a mixture of human beings (presumably in this world by a portal from earth, that's usually how these things go) and strange beings, including a shape shifting doctor bear, and a panty-obsessed musical skeleton. Each have various special abilities along the lines of Bleach, and it's all played with over-the-top slapstick in the way that certain breeds of anime do.
In this film, a powerful pirate Shiki, missing for 20 years, turns up on a flying island and causes havok, taking control of the animals on it and engineering them to become massive and dangerous. The only thing he fears are the cyclones, and so when Nami, one of the crew, shows him her ability to predict them in time to get out of the way, he kidnaps her, forcing Luffy and co to the rescue.
Even though this sort of anime isn't really my realm, it was difficult not to laugh at the mad storyline and madder characters, and the casual joking around in the middle of chaos. There were even some quieter moments where there was enough investment in the characters to care about some of the problems they were going through. It's with these things it's a case of don't think, just go with it. It took a couple of minutes for the initial confusion and madness to settle down, and it would have helped if I'd known the backstories of some of the characters, but I did enjoy it and would not be against seeing a few of the series episodes. 7/10
Mardock Scramble: The First Barrage (Jpn) (site)
To contrast with the zany humour of One Piece, Mardock Scramble is a dark, adult film noir, the first of several episodes based on the novels of Tow Ubukata. Mardock City is a grim, Bladerunner/Ghost In The Shell-style metropolis; neon signs and fancy, chic restaurants in it's upper, affluent levels, and gangsters, prostitutes and criminals survive below. Rune Balot, a young prostitute is locked in a car by Shell, a wealthy and corrupted young man, sought by the authorities but always able to use his contacts to stay out of jail. When the car is blown up, Balot is saved by an ex-military scientist who treats her wounds in the hope she will testify against Shell in court, but Balot is pretty messed up, and the injustices of her wretched childhood cloud her judgement as she turns from scared and confused to angry and vengeful.
There is a lot to like about this film, and I am interested in catching the next one (not least because it ends on a hell of a cliffhanger). The art style was on the realistic end of the scale, and the animation was much smoother, although they did cheat with the car scenes by using computer models. It did get a just little silly in places, just taking things slightly beyond the wiggle room it had earned for itself which spoiled it a little. That said, I have high hopes for the next in the series. 8/10
Evangelion 2.0: You Can (Not) Advance (Jpn) (wiki)
If you were to only watch a single 'big robot' anime, then Evangelion is the one to go for, as it is The Daddy. Nausicaa artist Hideaki Anno has decided to 're-imagine' [resell] his 90's ground-breaking series by remaking them as three films, this being the second. It was a great shame that last year they didn't think of putting the first one on but the Leeds Anime Society has hold of the Hyde Park Picture House and it's one of the choices in the 'pick a flick' segment, so all is not lost.
Evangelion is the story of the EVA units; huge robots the size of skyscrapers built to serve an urgent need; earth is under repeated attack by 'angels', beings of unknown origin that attempt to destroy life on earth with disturbingly calm looks on their faces. The situation has matured to the point of cities being designed for the ever present threat of being levelled by a huge fight; whole swathes of tower blocks can retreat into the earth and infrastructure exists to make emergency evacuations at a moments notice on confirmation of a new angel being spotted. Even worldwide treaties were signed to limit the number of EVA units to have in operation at any time.
As tends to be the case with series like this, the units are manned by children barely into their teens, whose quick reactions and supple brains are most suited to the immersion technology to meld man with machine. The films concentrate on Shinji, a shy but talented pilot of the experimental EVA 01 unit, and son of the director of Nerv, the organisation tasked with repairing and deploying them in combat. Joining Shinji are Asuka, a foreign student with fiery red hair and an obnoxious personality, and Rei, a mysterious and quiet girl piloting the prototype EVA 00 unit, mysteriously hand-picked by the Nerv director for inclusion in the project.
Evangelion is particularly good at not 'just' being a big robots anime; much of the episodes and scenes detail their unnatural lives as they try to live as normal outside the stresses of war and conflict, particularly Shinji's all but destroyed relationship with his father. Even the fights themselves don't 'feel' like typical anime, often with some backstory going on as the battles progress. 2.0 has a particularly good example of this, but I will say no more as it's the most powerful scene, and one of the most affecting I have seen in film. There are sections where I don't think I took a breath for several minutes.
In short, if you have any curiosity over anime and want to get a cross section of what the best out there is, you might well want to put the Evangelion films (of which there will eventually be four) in the big robot space. 8.5/10
Redline (Jpn) (site)
Redline is utterly relentless. Only the Japanese can manage this level of high-energy eye-hammering to such a consistent degree. Best described as a desperate, chaotic and destructive imagining of F-Zero on the big screen with a bit of romance thrown in, Redline has a very distinctive art style, similar to American comic books, again reminiscent of the artwork of the F-Zero characters from the later games in the series. It's about all-out racing in a distant future, where the earth is dry of resources and inhabited planets have long since made contact. Though skycars are the norm, some 'fools' still race using wheeled vehicles.
JP and Sonahime are racers in the Yellow Line cup, trying to qualify for the all-out Redline race later on. While Sonahime makes the cut, JP's rigged car explodes and crashes, and it's only due to others dropping out that he just qualifies for the big race. Someone decided that it should take place in 'Roboworld' - a group of planets ruled by a stuck up set of metal gits who don't like the idea of thousands of cameras poking around their planets, possibly taking pictures of military secrets and the like. When trying to stop the race doesn't help, they launch an all out attack as it happens, which seeing as the contestants can use whatever weapons they choose, makes an already insane situation that bit madder.
I haven't seen something so utterly unrelenting on screen before. You can barely tell what is going on sometimes, only that a lot of metal is getting dented and some people are going to hurt in the morning. It's absolutely mad, but also fresh and inventive, with distinctive visuals and a lot of action. You might get a headache watching it though. 8/10
Another festival gone already, and that's it for another year. Thanks for reading my reviews and I hope my tired brain made sense as I emptied it onto the page. The next fest will be Bradford in February, with maybe a couple at the trusty Hyde Park Picture House. Lets see if I can get some time free for it.
Showing posts with label LIFF 2010. Show all posts
Showing posts with label LIFF 2010. Show all posts
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 17
The Secret of Kells (Fra/Bel/Irl) (site/wiki)
A charming animation from a relatively unknown studio, Kells has been doing the festival circuit for a year, managing to stay out of my grasp until now. In fact, you can already get it on DVD. Its' seductively colourful stylised artwork and interpretations of Irish myths and legends got me interested and I was thankful I had one final festival in which to catch it.
Young Brendan is the nephew of Abbot Cellach, the ruler of the circular city of Kells, his pointy tower rising at its centre, the only viewpoint that can see over the wall that is being constructed, at the obsessive command of Cellach, to keep the citizens safe. News comes in from all around of Vikings, who attack each city they find and burn it to the ground. So much has Cellach worried about this threat that he has forbidden anyone to leave the safety of the city walls.
One day Brother Aiden, a scribe from the far away city of Iona arrives and uses the sanctuary of the city to tell of the 'Book of Iona', a book with power and beauty, written by a man whose words blind any sinner who will read them. In an incomplete state, Aiden asks Brendan to gather berries to make ink, in the woods beyond the walls. It is there he meets with the mysterious wolf-girl Aisling, who helps Brendan see past his uncle's unwavering opinions.
Kells is full of beauty and mystery; drawing on both traditional Abrahamic and Celtic religious storytelling, it feels like the latest chapter of an often repeated and revised religious text. For 90% of it's length, I was enthralled in a beautiful story told with child-like and distinctive visuals. I was thoroughly enjoying it all when.. the credits rolled. At the point where I would have expected another 20 minutes or so of wrapping up the story, it just ended leaving me hanging. It was if they had run out of money and just wrapped things up super quick, which disappointed me somewhat after enjoying it so much until that point. But I should note that this does not invalidate the beauty and enjoyment experienced for the hour or so before. 7.5/10
A charming animation from a relatively unknown studio, Kells has been doing the festival circuit for a year, managing to stay out of my grasp until now. In fact, you can already get it on DVD. Its' seductively colourful stylised artwork and interpretations of Irish myths and legends got me interested and I was thankful I had one final festival in which to catch it.
Young Brendan is the nephew of Abbot Cellach, the ruler of the circular city of Kells, his pointy tower rising at its centre, the only viewpoint that can see over the wall that is being constructed, at the obsessive command of Cellach, to keep the citizens safe. News comes in from all around of Vikings, who attack each city they find and burn it to the ground. So much has Cellach worried about this threat that he has forbidden anyone to leave the safety of the city walls.
One day Brother Aiden, a scribe from the far away city of Iona arrives and uses the sanctuary of the city to tell of the 'Book of Iona', a book with power and beauty, written by a man whose words blind any sinner who will read them. In an incomplete state, Aiden asks Brendan to gather berries to make ink, in the woods beyond the walls. It is there he meets with the mysterious wolf-girl Aisling, who helps Brendan see past his uncle's unwavering opinions.
Kells is full of beauty and mystery; drawing on both traditional Abrahamic and Celtic religious storytelling, it feels like the latest chapter of an often repeated and revised religious text. For 90% of it's length, I was enthralled in a beautiful story told with child-like and distinctive visuals. I was thoroughly enjoying it all when.. the credits rolled. At the point where I would have expected another 20 minutes or so of wrapping up the story, it just ended leaving me hanging. It was if they had run out of money and just wrapped things up super quick, which disappointed me somewhat after enjoying it so much until that point. But I should note that this does not invalidate the beauty and enjoyment experienced for the hour or so before. 7.5/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 16
Russian Lessons (Rus/Geo) (site)
Husband and wife documentary team Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya, both Russian, decided to make a film exploring the recent escalations between uneasy neighbours Russia and Georgia, and the real goings on not reported - or blatantly misrepresented - by the Russian state media on the 2008 war between them. Splitting up and approaching Georgia from the north and south, they meet in the disputed country of Ossetia, with both their findings differing greatly from what the masses, both in Russia and beyond have been fed.
What was particularly disconcerting was the media coverage that was provided overseas by foreign news - including our highly respected BBC - which appeared to swallow the Russian line without questioning. A particular segment of the film showed Russian newsreel footage against the original source material, showing that more often than not, reports vilifying the Georgian attacks on disputed places like Tskhinvali, were unconnected with the footage actually screened. Scorched bodies and pock-marked buildings were often Georgian, Abkhazian, Tskhinvalian, but not Russian, as had been reported. It was this alleged, massive blatant propaganda that further stirred the Russian people up against the Georgians, to validate their need for counter-invasion, the intention being to punish Georgia for it's arrogance and bring it back under Russian control.
There are many, many images and personal testimonies in this film that are deeply disturbing, but need to be shared. Andrei and his late wife Olga put themselves in considerable danger to extract and collate this information and have created a powerful and comprehensive alternative voice. It should be viewed by as many people as possible, as it is a powerful signal that we have not left behind in our history barbarism of the scale attributed to the Nazis. 8.5/10
Face The Wall (Ger) (site)
In the years leading up to the final act of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, an estimated 72,000 people from East Germany were detained under the most appalling treatment by the Stasi of the former GDR. This film takes 5 volunteers who attempted to defect across the border; Catharina who chose to follow her fleeing boyfriend, Lothar, a farmer who had his land taken away, Andreas, whose ideas were stifled as a young child at school, Mario, a gay man who had contact with his West German friends taken away, and Anne, a teacher at a state school who was required to scrutinize and report any sign of western influence in the children she taught.
Swapping between them, director Stefan Weinert sits patiently as they talk about their pre-detainment lives, the constant surveillance they received every time they left their home, and their capture and imprisonment, often without reason or warning. The middle segment of the film, where each talk about their experience while imprisoned is pretty horrifying. Treated worse than animals, they are tortured both physically and psychologically. Hung upside down with electrical wire, given cells with violent criminals. Sleep deprivation, isolation, and mind games, such as repeated questioning of the smallest details of their lives, or a bunch of interrogators screaming at them in their cells. Sometimes they would be convinced over a period of weeks that their friends and families were turning against them, that their memories were false, or that they put loved ones in danger as a result of their transgressions. Anything to completely annihilate any feeling that they had power over their own minds. Unsurprisingly, many cracked under the pressure and confessed to whatever they were charged.
Several times in the film, the volunteers were taken back to their places of detainment or their old homes, which intensified the memories, and the recollections for the camera. Even when in the relative comfort of their own homes, the distant look in their eyes tells you there are a lot of memories being dredged up, maybe never shared with anyone over the 20 years between.
Though I had become weary from the overwhelming imagery of Russian Lessons, Face the Wall was powerful enough to easily hold my attention some more, this time with only my imagination, rather than pictures, to realise the enormity of the suffering. 8/10
High on Hope (UK) (site)
A low budget and suitably rough and ready documentary (updated from the Director's 2003 film) about the rise of the impromptu Blackburn warehouse parties, at the beginning of the Acid House era that started in the late 80's. Starting small, these grew in size to be thousands of people strong, and consequently moved from small rented rooms in pubs, to abandoned warehouses. For 18 months these parties sprang up in the face of unemployment and misery in the north of England, the huddled masses looking for alternatives to the bouncer-infested, black-tie-no-jeans nightclubs that had become the stifle of creativity and expression they had always been against.
To the delight of the slightly inebriated sell-out audience, the film took them on a nostalgic trip back 20 years, showing how the parties would be announced at the last minute by an individual who could provide a venue, whilst others brought the sound equipment. No dress code, no problem. Fleets of cars would clog up the roads en masse to the party, and the race was on to get everyone in before the police arrived to put an end to it. Cue flaky, grainy footage taken within of the throng moving as one to the insanely cranked up bass. At a time where the future was seen as hopeless, these primal, tribal gatherings satisfied an indescribable need.
Told in the style you might imagine by a group of thirtysomethings looking fondly back on their anarchic youth, High on Hope was much more enjoyable than I expected it to be, having been a delicate and sheltered soul who felt intimidated at the anarchy of it all at the time it was all kicking off. It was funny, and positive, and made me reassess the opinions I formed while looking at the unfavourable news reports from the time. 8/10
Husband and wife documentary team Andrei Nekrasov and Olga Konskaya, both Russian, decided to make a film exploring the recent escalations between uneasy neighbours Russia and Georgia, and the real goings on not reported - or blatantly misrepresented - by the Russian state media on the 2008 war between them. Splitting up and approaching Georgia from the north and south, they meet in the disputed country of Ossetia, with both their findings differing greatly from what the masses, both in Russia and beyond have been fed.
What was particularly disconcerting was the media coverage that was provided overseas by foreign news - including our highly respected BBC - which appeared to swallow the Russian line without questioning. A particular segment of the film showed Russian newsreel footage against the original source material, showing that more often than not, reports vilifying the Georgian attacks on disputed places like Tskhinvali, were unconnected with the footage actually screened. Scorched bodies and pock-marked buildings were often Georgian, Abkhazian, Tskhinvalian, but not Russian, as had been reported. It was this alleged, massive blatant propaganda that further stirred the Russian people up against the Georgians, to validate their need for counter-invasion, the intention being to punish Georgia for it's arrogance and bring it back under Russian control.
There are many, many images and personal testimonies in this film that are deeply disturbing, but need to be shared. Andrei and his late wife Olga put themselves in considerable danger to extract and collate this information and have created a powerful and comprehensive alternative voice. It should be viewed by as many people as possible, as it is a powerful signal that we have not left behind in our history barbarism of the scale attributed to the Nazis. 8.5/10
Face The Wall (Ger) (site)
In the years leading up to the final act of the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, an estimated 72,000 people from East Germany were detained under the most appalling treatment by the Stasi of the former GDR. This film takes 5 volunteers who attempted to defect across the border; Catharina who chose to follow her fleeing boyfriend, Lothar, a farmer who had his land taken away, Andreas, whose ideas were stifled as a young child at school, Mario, a gay man who had contact with his West German friends taken away, and Anne, a teacher at a state school who was required to scrutinize and report any sign of western influence in the children she taught.
Swapping between them, director Stefan Weinert sits patiently as they talk about their pre-detainment lives, the constant surveillance they received every time they left their home, and their capture and imprisonment, often without reason or warning. The middle segment of the film, where each talk about their experience while imprisoned is pretty horrifying. Treated worse than animals, they are tortured both physically and psychologically. Hung upside down with electrical wire, given cells with violent criminals. Sleep deprivation, isolation, and mind games, such as repeated questioning of the smallest details of their lives, or a bunch of interrogators screaming at them in their cells. Sometimes they would be convinced over a period of weeks that their friends and families were turning against them, that their memories were false, or that they put loved ones in danger as a result of their transgressions. Anything to completely annihilate any feeling that they had power over their own minds. Unsurprisingly, many cracked under the pressure and confessed to whatever they were charged.
Several times in the film, the volunteers were taken back to their places of detainment or their old homes, which intensified the memories, and the recollections for the camera. Even when in the relative comfort of their own homes, the distant look in their eyes tells you there are a lot of memories being dredged up, maybe never shared with anyone over the 20 years between.
Though I had become weary from the overwhelming imagery of Russian Lessons, Face the Wall was powerful enough to easily hold my attention some more, this time with only my imagination, rather than pictures, to realise the enormity of the suffering. 8/10
High on Hope (UK) (site)
A low budget and suitably rough and ready documentary (updated from the Director's 2003 film) about the rise of the impromptu Blackburn warehouse parties, at the beginning of the Acid House era that started in the late 80's. Starting small, these grew in size to be thousands of people strong, and consequently moved from small rented rooms in pubs, to abandoned warehouses. For 18 months these parties sprang up in the face of unemployment and misery in the north of England, the huddled masses looking for alternatives to the bouncer-infested, black-tie-no-jeans nightclubs that had become the stifle of creativity and expression they had always been against.
To the delight of the slightly inebriated sell-out audience, the film took them on a nostalgic trip back 20 years, showing how the parties would be announced at the last minute by an individual who could provide a venue, whilst others brought the sound equipment. No dress code, no problem. Fleets of cars would clog up the roads en masse to the party, and the race was on to get everyone in before the police arrived to put an end to it. Cue flaky, grainy footage taken within of the throng moving as one to the insanely cranked up bass. At a time where the future was seen as hopeless, these primal, tribal gatherings satisfied an indescribable need.
Told in the style you might imagine by a group of thirtysomethings looking fondly back on their anarchic youth, High on Hope was much more enjoyable than I expected it to be, having been a delicate and sheltered soul who felt intimidated at the anarchy of it all at the time it was all kicking off. It was funny, and positive, and made me reassess the opinions I formed while looking at the unfavourable news reports from the time. 8/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 15
Kosmos (Tur/Bul) (imdb)
Deep in the winter wilderness of a remote corner of Turkey, a man, perhaps deliriously happy, or maybe hysterically upset, tramps and stumbles noisily through the deep snow. Finding himself in a remote village, he stops for a while at the riverside, only to see the body of a child floating by, followed at the other side of the river by a frantic mother. He drags the lifeless object from the current and holds him so tight, arms and legs are flung in all directions. Miraculously, to the mothers' great relief, the boy stands alive, but the man is exhausted and sobbing in the snow.
Earning respect and hospitality from Yahya, the father of the boy, and hypnotising the local cafe crowd with his strange, prophetic talking, the man finds offers of both work and accommodation, but he is only passively interested. Walking through the village with childlike wonder, proclaiming love in it's simplest sense for the women he meets, and trying to help those he comes across in need. As the bombs and gunfire of civil war thunders continuously overhead, the man becomes the great hope of the poor and needy, and the target of suspicion for those looking to capture whoever it is who has started stealing from the local shops at the same time he arrived. The cold, derelict village full of old buildings and dying citizens both reject him and look to him for salvation. But the man cares not for these things, his forlorn and weathered face only lighting up when he finds a kindred spirit in Yahya's daughter, a girl who seems to see the world as he does, and fly on the wind.
Kosmos has me divided. To it's credit, the religious allegories are a mysterious and seductive form of storytelling, and the whole story as a clever circularity to it that you will not see until the end; the man himself is a strange enigma, unpredictable like a feral animal, and forever reacting abnormally to the situations that come his way. Once the film was over I found myself reviewing the film more positively than during it's 2 hour length.
Unfortunately, the film's ability to make me put on rose tinted glasses the moment the credits roll, wasn't quite enough to get over just how bloody annoying the man was, or how random things were inserted into the film and then were casually dropped, as if they were no longer needed because some mystery message were being transmitted on a frequency that only you couldn't hear. Kosmos is a deeply flawed, but beautiful work with flashes of brilliance and frustration in equal measure. I wanted to enjoy it so much more. 5.5/10
All That I Love (Pol) (site)
Janek and Kazek are brothers in ATIL, a punk band singing anarchic songs as they practice in an abandoned caravan. They are still at school, and they're close to graduation. It's the early 80's in an unstable East Germany. Martial law has been instigated, and their father is a soldier in the Communist party. It's fair to say there's a little bit of tension in the air.
We centre in on the life of Janek in particular. Though a nutter on stage, he's still a shy boy when it comes to the ladies, and consequently Besia, who has taken a shine to him, has to do all the work to get him to make a move. Besia is the daughter of a prominent member of the Solidarity movement, a growing civil unrest that is attempting to subvert the government. Understandably, father is less than happy for her to go around with the son of a commie. When Besia's father is taken as a political prisoner by the communists, she finds herself unable to reconcile her relationship and withdraws, not wanting further contact. Janek faces a time in his life where a number of tough and uncertain decisions have to be made, just as the world changes and crumbles around him.
Though the themes in the film have plenty of potential for conflict, much of it is unrealised, most of the enjoyment coming from the brief periods of joy or victory that the band has against their increasingly restrictive oppressors, some of which are less obvious than others. Ultimately, ATIL relies completely on the smaller concerns within a larger problem, and thus failed to completely hold my attention. 7/10
Deep in the winter wilderness of a remote corner of Turkey, a man, perhaps deliriously happy, or maybe hysterically upset, tramps and stumbles noisily through the deep snow. Finding himself in a remote village, he stops for a while at the riverside, only to see the body of a child floating by, followed at the other side of the river by a frantic mother. He drags the lifeless object from the current and holds him so tight, arms and legs are flung in all directions. Miraculously, to the mothers' great relief, the boy stands alive, but the man is exhausted and sobbing in the snow.
Earning respect and hospitality from Yahya, the father of the boy, and hypnotising the local cafe crowd with his strange, prophetic talking, the man finds offers of both work and accommodation, but he is only passively interested. Walking through the village with childlike wonder, proclaiming love in it's simplest sense for the women he meets, and trying to help those he comes across in need. As the bombs and gunfire of civil war thunders continuously overhead, the man becomes the great hope of the poor and needy, and the target of suspicion for those looking to capture whoever it is who has started stealing from the local shops at the same time he arrived. The cold, derelict village full of old buildings and dying citizens both reject him and look to him for salvation. But the man cares not for these things, his forlorn and weathered face only lighting up when he finds a kindred spirit in Yahya's daughter, a girl who seems to see the world as he does, and fly on the wind.
Kosmos has me divided. To it's credit, the religious allegories are a mysterious and seductive form of storytelling, and the whole story as a clever circularity to it that you will not see until the end; the man himself is a strange enigma, unpredictable like a feral animal, and forever reacting abnormally to the situations that come his way. Once the film was over I found myself reviewing the film more positively than during it's 2 hour length.
Unfortunately, the film's ability to make me put on rose tinted glasses the moment the credits roll, wasn't quite enough to get over just how bloody annoying the man was, or how random things were inserted into the film and then were casually dropped, as if they were no longer needed because some mystery message were being transmitted on a frequency that only you couldn't hear. Kosmos is a deeply flawed, but beautiful work with flashes of brilliance and frustration in equal measure. I wanted to enjoy it so much more. 5.5/10
All That I Love (Pol) (site)
Janek and Kazek are brothers in ATIL, a punk band singing anarchic songs as they practice in an abandoned caravan. They are still at school, and they're close to graduation. It's the early 80's in an unstable East Germany. Martial law has been instigated, and their father is a soldier in the Communist party. It's fair to say there's a little bit of tension in the air.
We centre in on the life of Janek in particular. Though a nutter on stage, he's still a shy boy when it comes to the ladies, and consequently Besia, who has taken a shine to him, has to do all the work to get him to make a move. Besia is the daughter of a prominent member of the Solidarity movement, a growing civil unrest that is attempting to subvert the government. Understandably, father is less than happy for her to go around with the son of a commie. When Besia's father is taken as a political prisoner by the communists, she finds herself unable to reconcile her relationship and withdraws, not wanting further contact. Janek faces a time in his life where a number of tough and uncertain decisions have to be made, just as the world changes and crumbles around him.
Though the themes in the film have plenty of potential for conflict, much of it is unrealised, most of the enjoyment coming from the brief periods of joy or victory that the band has against their increasingly restrictive oppressors, some of which are less obvious than others. Ultimately, ATIL relies completely on the smaller concerns within a larger problem, and thus failed to completely hold my attention. 7/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 14
I Am Not Your Friend/I Will Not Be Your Friend (Hun) (imdb)
Director György Pálfi is notorious for his 2006 film Taxidermia; a bold and grotesque yet somehow endearing film that caused people to sit up (and throw up) in their seats when it was shown. I had some queasy turns when I saw it in 2007 at Cambridge but despite its' disturbing imagery, it was clear that Pálfi could cause some serious film-based ripples.
So it was with some priority that I ensured I would see his latest effort, split into two parts. There is literally no plot, or more accurately, at the point the cameras begin to run there isn't. The actors are given no cues, only to decide for themselves their acting names, what sort of person they are, and improvise the film in front of the cameras. Relative unknowns in the film industry (they may even be people plucked off the street) are used to give it that extra bit of 'making it up as they go along' spontaneity.
But first, we are shown a short film (I Will Not Be Your Friend), which is little more than the quiet scenes from Etre Et Avoir, where small children argue, chatter and generally work out their pecking orders and groups of friends, at an age where they are not aware of the recording power of cameras. I think it's aim was to provide a comparison between the way children interact without direction in front of the camera, compared to the adults.
The main film was the main experiment. Several actors and actresses appear, and try to get a narrative going with each other, but I'm afraid the result fell flat on its arse. The structureless dialogue was broken and unordered, people talked over others, sentences stumbled, and what looked like several plot lines started up with great enthusiasm just to fizzle out, never to return later. It would have helped if the participants were a little better prepared for the experiment; too many times in the film, one of the characters in the conversation would ask a question (e.g. 'what are you doing here?') and after a pause, the other would attempt to look serious and respond with a filler ('you tell me!') while their mind tried to think of something worthwhile to say, that golden moment where the actors go in sync and smoothly ad-lib to the output of the other never comes, which is a shame because it could have been beautiful.
If the actors found themselves dumbfounded for what to do once or twice, it would have probably helped the film get some cute charm, but when it happens dozens of times it gets annoying, and I found myself scrutinizing the dialogue for fillers rather than enjoying what was being made. The only noticeable structure to the film are the several periods where characters sing along to a tune on the radio; a regular occurrence meant I assume to give the feeling of structure where there was none.
This could have been a far better film, if only Pálfi hadn't insisted on a complete lack of structure. The only reason I have rated it as highly as I have is because it was a worthwhile experiment to see if this sort of thing could work. We now know that it can't. 4/10
The Robber (Aus/Ger) (site)
Missed several times at other festivals, I wanted to catch this one while I could. Johann, a running fanatic and serial bank robber has just been released from six years in prison, during which time he has done little more than run around the prison yard. Without any outwardly apparent reason, he ignores the advice of his parole officer and immediately nicks a car and robs a bank, depositing the car far away and running back to his halfway house bedsit. He happily leads a double life, becoming a minor celebrity as the guy who left the professionals behind at the Vienna marathon.
A chance meeting with his trusting old flame Erika, who offers to house him until he gets a place of his own does not diminish his irrational and unquenchable desire for more and more loot, and after several high-profile armed robberies, Erika finds his stash of banknotes and has a very difficult decision to make.
The most frustrating thing about the film is it's refusal to even break the surface and explore the psychology behind Johanns' baffling desire to keep going out and putting both himself and others at risk; his desire to amass money that he doesn't seem bothered about spending seems to be more like a challenge to himself in the vein of the gruelling amount of exercise he does. But I suppose the real-life story behind the film is an enigma anyway, given the events that run their course. Overall, it was an enjoyable and increasingly tense exploration into the mind of someone with a compulsive disorder. 7.5/10
Zonad (Irl) (site)
Zonaaaad. Zoooooooooonaaaaaaaaaaaad. Zonad.
Waking up in a drunken haze covered in half-eaten snacks on a living room floor, with a prim and proper family standing over him, Francis knows he is in trouble, but the few brain cells that haven't been destroyed by the previous nights' binge are working overtime, and tell him to get up and proclaim himself to be an alien from another planet.
He is dressed in a shiny red leather suit and wearing a plastic helmet. He says his name is Zonad. The family believe him.
In fact, 'Zonad' is Frank, an alcoholic who has escaped with colleague Liam during a fancy dress party at the local rehab clinic. Losing the gorilla-suited Liam somewhere along the way, he's landed on his feet; the family feed him, he gets the bed of the youngest kid to kip in, and he becomes a source of intrigue and excitement for Jenny, the barely legal teen daughter whose intended boyfriend Guy, a strange American soul living in an empty mansion with his butler, just doesn't seem like he wants a piece.
With all the free booze and food placed on Zonad by the trusting and simple villagers of Ballymoran, he isn't going anywhere, until Liam turns up and likes the look of the attention his ex-friend is getting, spawning Zonad's arch-nemesis, Bonad who proceeds to oust him of all the luxuries he was just beginning to take for granted.
Zonad is anarchicly funny, full of ridiculous characters based on fictional ideal-home people from the 1950's transported without touching a piece of technology to the present day and stuck in a backwater village. Only the immensely corruptible Sgt. Maloney shows signs of evil, happily beating and tying people up, and weeing on them, but only if the right person asked. The characters are deliberately overplayed parodies, and the film doesn't take itself too seriously, eschewing ethical messages often found in superhero films in favour of slapstick and swearing. A good laugh on a low budget. 8/10
Director György Pálfi is notorious for his 2006 film Taxidermia; a bold and grotesque yet somehow endearing film that caused people to sit up (and throw up) in their seats when it was shown. I had some queasy turns when I saw it in 2007 at Cambridge but despite its' disturbing imagery, it was clear that Pálfi could cause some serious film-based ripples.
So it was with some priority that I ensured I would see his latest effort, split into two parts. There is literally no plot, or more accurately, at the point the cameras begin to run there isn't. The actors are given no cues, only to decide for themselves their acting names, what sort of person they are, and improvise the film in front of the cameras. Relative unknowns in the film industry (they may even be people plucked off the street) are used to give it that extra bit of 'making it up as they go along' spontaneity.
But first, we are shown a short film (I Will Not Be Your Friend), which is little more than the quiet scenes from Etre Et Avoir, where small children argue, chatter and generally work out their pecking orders and groups of friends, at an age where they are not aware of the recording power of cameras. I think it's aim was to provide a comparison between the way children interact without direction in front of the camera, compared to the adults.
The main film was the main experiment. Several actors and actresses appear, and try to get a narrative going with each other, but I'm afraid the result fell flat on its arse. The structureless dialogue was broken and unordered, people talked over others, sentences stumbled, and what looked like several plot lines started up with great enthusiasm just to fizzle out, never to return later. It would have helped if the participants were a little better prepared for the experiment; too many times in the film, one of the characters in the conversation would ask a question (e.g. 'what are you doing here?') and after a pause, the other would attempt to look serious and respond with a filler ('you tell me!') while their mind tried to think of something worthwhile to say, that golden moment where the actors go in sync and smoothly ad-lib to the output of the other never comes, which is a shame because it could have been beautiful.
If the actors found themselves dumbfounded for what to do once or twice, it would have probably helped the film get some cute charm, but when it happens dozens of times it gets annoying, and I found myself scrutinizing the dialogue for fillers rather than enjoying what was being made. The only noticeable structure to the film are the several periods where characters sing along to a tune on the radio; a regular occurrence meant I assume to give the feeling of structure where there was none.
This could have been a far better film, if only Pálfi hadn't insisted on a complete lack of structure. The only reason I have rated it as highly as I have is because it was a worthwhile experiment to see if this sort of thing could work. We now know that it can't. 4/10
The Robber (Aus/Ger) (site)
Missed several times at other festivals, I wanted to catch this one while I could. Johann, a running fanatic and serial bank robber has just been released from six years in prison, during which time he has done little more than run around the prison yard. Without any outwardly apparent reason, he ignores the advice of his parole officer and immediately nicks a car and robs a bank, depositing the car far away and running back to his halfway house bedsit. He happily leads a double life, becoming a minor celebrity as the guy who left the professionals behind at the Vienna marathon.
A chance meeting with his trusting old flame Erika, who offers to house him until he gets a place of his own does not diminish his irrational and unquenchable desire for more and more loot, and after several high-profile armed robberies, Erika finds his stash of banknotes and has a very difficult decision to make.
The most frustrating thing about the film is it's refusal to even break the surface and explore the psychology behind Johanns' baffling desire to keep going out and putting both himself and others at risk; his desire to amass money that he doesn't seem bothered about spending seems to be more like a challenge to himself in the vein of the gruelling amount of exercise he does. But I suppose the real-life story behind the film is an enigma anyway, given the events that run their course. Overall, it was an enjoyable and increasingly tense exploration into the mind of someone with a compulsive disorder. 7.5/10
Zonad (Irl) (site)
Zonaaaad. Zoooooooooonaaaaaaaaaaaad. Zonad.
Waking up in a drunken haze covered in half-eaten snacks on a living room floor, with a prim and proper family standing over him, Francis knows he is in trouble, but the few brain cells that haven't been destroyed by the previous nights' binge are working overtime, and tell him to get up and proclaim himself to be an alien from another planet.
He is dressed in a shiny red leather suit and wearing a plastic helmet. He says his name is Zonad. The family believe him.
In fact, 'Zonad' is Frank, an alcoholic who has escaped with colleague Liam during a fancy dress party at the local rehab clinic. Losing the gorilla-suited Liam somewhere along the way, he's landed on his feet; the family feed him, he gets the bed of the youngest kid to kip in, and he becomes a source of intrigue and excitement for Jenny, the barely legal teen daughter whose intended boyfriend Guy, a strange American soul living in an empty mansion with his butler, just doesn't seem like he wants a piece.
With all the free booze and food placed on Zonad by the trusting and simple villagers of Ballymoran, he isn't going anywhere, until Liam turns up and likes the look of the attention his ex-friend is getting, spawning Zonad's arch-nemesis, Bonad who proceeds to oust him of all the luxuries he was just beginning to take for granted.
Zonad is anarchicly funny, full of ridiculous characters based on fictional ideal-home people from the 1950's transported without touching a piece of technology to the present day and stuck in a backwater village. Only the immensely corruptible Sgt. Maloney shows signs of evil, happily beating and tying people up, and weeing on them, but only if the right person asked. The characters are deliberately overplayed parodies, and the film doesn't take itself too seriously, eschewing ethical messages often found in superhero films in favour of slapstick and swearing. A good laugh on a low budget. 8/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 13
Article 12 (UK/Arg) (site)
The title refers to the article in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, stating that 'No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy..'. This film underlines the importance of this fundamental right by examining the meaning of privacy, security and surveillance, what it means to an individual, a society, and what happens when it is eroded or taken away.
Surveillance takes many forms, from nosy neighbours, to tracking your kids' mobile phones, to loyalty card shopping, internet service providers storing surfing data, and CCTV which aside from allegedly keeping the peace, can be used to record registration plates (and therefore where you went today), face recognition, and even trials where people are trained to watch individuals to work out what they are about to do just by analysing their expressions and body language. This film spends a lot of time enumerating the number of ways that our privacy is being eroded, and the list is quite disturbing. Such erosion is often justified by the old 'why complain if you have nothing to hide' argument, one which is roundly stamped on repeatedly by the film. Everyone has something to hide. It's not a bomb, it's a person's private life, something that everybody has a right to have.
Comprehensively, but stodgily, this documentary takes interviews from various thinkers and doers in the area; security experts, lawyers, political activists and 9/11 survivors all give their opinions, leaving the viewer quite dizzied about how far we have let our rights be taken away. Those who suppose the extra intrusion in our lives should consider the effects already starting to permeate in; your facebook comments, and thus your non-employment life, could decide whether or not you get that next job you really needed. Trending software can make an educated guess at your sexuality or religion from what food you buy, which might be useful to right-wing governments the next time they want to go all Nazi on us. Surveillance has gone one before, but never with the level of intrusive technology available these days, and so it is down to a film such as this to inform us.
The message that rang truest for me was about our PM, who in the aftermath of the 2005 bus bombings, said that the government's number one priority is keeping the country safe. No, the number one priority for any government is to keep the country free. Freedom means that you are not completely safe from the spectre of a terrorist attack, but that is part of what freedom is about; we shouldn't be nannied and kept frightened and our rights taken away, because that was the aim of the terror in the first place. 8/10
After the film, there was a talk with the audience, the director, and several of the films' talking heads, about the subjects raised, which unfortunately I had to miss, but it looked very interesting. It should be available as a transcript on their site shortly.
The Invisible Eye (Arg/Fra/Spn) (site)
Taking place in the days before the beginning of the Argentinian uprising against the dictatorship in 1982. The strict regime of the school in which young teaching assistant Maria works has kept her as subdued as the children she teaches, who are never allowed to deviate from the norm or get even slightly out of line. The new year brings in an unruly boy, whose looks and faint signs of rebellion wake the subdued desires within her. Taking on the false badge of catching the boys smoking, Maria gets herself increasingly into situations she shouldn't, and while doing so, unwittingly attracts the attentions of the fatherly supervisor Mr Biasutto, the morally upstanding boss of the place. As the rioting begins to escalate beyond the walls outside, the increasingly inappropriate situation cannot possibly end well.
Where The Invisible Eye did well was in the depiction of a group in power, hiding their long suppressed desires behind an eggshell of moral upstanding, and how a little bit of power can cause those people to misuse their advantages over others. It also had a suitably shocking ending which although it took long enough to arrive, came quickly and unexpectedly, and held the audience's breath in its hands. It would have scored higher if it wasn't for the overuse of repeating situations that barely moved the story forward, but a solid film even so. 7/10
Bad Family (Fin) (site)
Some time ago, Mikael's wife left him for a guy in a band. A free spirit with little organisational skills, she was never a good fit to a man with strong principles and a high sense of duty to do what is right. The split also meant dealing with their two children; Dani the son stayed with Mikael, while unexpectedly, sister Tilda went away and lived with mum, who was suffering from depression.
After several years, Mikael has remarried and has a second batch of children, and Dani is now well on to manhood. When news comes of his ex dying of an overdose, Tilda finds herself homeless and without anywhere to go and is invited to stay for a while. Returning to her fathers' side, she has clearly picked up a few of her mother's habits.
During the welcome party with friends, Mikael hears rumour of incestuous goings on between the newly reunited and hormonal pair, and further fleeting glances in window reflections seem to confirm it, although what actually happened is much more innocent, Mikael has got/ it into his head, and gnaws away at his mind. His actions become increasingly irrational (not helped by the conflicting opinions over what his friends suggest he should do) as he tries to maintain control of a phantom situation that is getting out of hand.
Mikael is played as a man permanently on the edge of violent outburst by the streamlined Ville Virtanen, who looks liable at any moment to use his fists to get his own way. It lends the film a sense of tension and urgency, particularly when mixed with the provocative and confrontational Tilda, whose relationship to both Dani her father are always kept ambiguous and complicated. It's an unpredictable and intriguing thriller, with a few funny bits sprinkled in and a good round off for the night. 7.5/10
The title refers to the article in the UN Declaration of Human Rights, stating that 'No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy..'. This film underlines the importance of this fundamental right by examining the meaning of privacy, security and surveillance, what it means to an individual, a society, and what happens when it is eroded or taken away.
Surveillance takes many forms, from nosy neighbours, to tracking your kids' mobile phones, to loyalty card shopping, internet service providers storing surfing data, and CCTV which aside from allegedly keeping the peace, can be used to record registration plates (and therefore where you went today), face recognition, and even trials where people are trained to watch individuals to work out what they are about to do just by analysing their expressions and body language. This film spends a lot of time enumerating the number of ways that our privacy is being eroded, and the list is quite disturbing. Such erosion is often justified by the old 'why complain if you have nothing to hide' argument, one which is roundly stamped on repeatedly by the film. Everyone has something to hide. It's not a bomb, it's a person's private life, something that everybody has a right to have.
Comprehensively, but stodgily, this documentary takes interviews from various thinkers and doers in the area; security experts, lawyers, political activists and 9/11 survivors all give their opinions, leaving the viewer quite dizzied about how far we have let our rights be taken away. Those who suppose the extra intrusion in our lives should consider the effects already starting to permeate in; your facebook comments, and thus your non-employment life, could decide whether or not you get that next job you really needed. Trending software can make an educated guess at your sexuality or religion from what food you buy, which might be useful to right-wing governments the next time they want to go all Nazi on us. Surveillance has gone one before, but never with the level of intrusive technology available these days, and so it is down to a film such as this to inform us.
The message that rang truest for me was about our PM, who in the aftermath of the 2005 bus bombings, said that the government's number one priority is keeping the country safe. No, the number one priority for any government is to keep the country free. Freedom means that you are not completely safe from the spectre of a terrorist attack, but that is part of what freedom is about; we shouldn't be nannied and kept frightened and our rights taken away, because that was the aim of the terror in the first place. 8/10
After the film, there was a talk with the audience, the director, and several of the films' talking heads, about the subjects raised, which unfortunately I had to miss, but it looked very interesting. It should be available as a transcript on their site shortly.
The Invisible Eye (Arg/Fra/Spn) (site)
Taking place in the days before the beginning of the Argentinian uprising against the dictatorship in 1982. The strict regime of the school in which young teaching assistant Maria works has kept her as subdued as the children she teaches, who are never allowed to deviate from the norm or get even slightly out of line. The new year brings in an unruly boy, whose looks and faint signs of rebellion wake the subdued desires within her. Taking on the false badge of catching the boys smoking, Maria gets herself increasingly into situations she shouldn't, and while doing so, unwittingly attracts the attentions of the fatherly supervisor Mr Biasutto, the morally upstanding boss of the place. As the rioting begins to escalate beyond the walls outside, the increasingly inappropriate situation cannot possibly end well.
Where The Invisible Eye did well was in the depiction of a group in power, hiding their long suppressed desires behind an eggshell of moral upstanding, and how a little bit of power can cause those people to misuse their advantages over others. It also had a suitably shocking ending which although it took long enough to arrive, came quickly and unexpectedly, and held the audience's breath in its hands. It would have scored higher if it wasn't for the overuse of repeating situations that barely moved the story forward, but a solid film even so. 7/10
Bad Family (Fin) (site)
Some time ago, Mikael's wife left him for a guy in a band. A free spirit with little organisational skills, she was never a good fit to a man with strong principles and a high sense of duty to do what is right. The split also meant dealing with their two children; Dani the son stayed with Mikael, while unexpectedly, sister Tilda went away and lived with mum, who was suffering from depression.
After several years, Mikael has remarried and has a second batch of children, and Dani is now well on to manhood. When news comes of his ex dying of an overdose, Tilda finds herself homeless and without anywhere to go and is invited to stay for a while. Returning to her fathers' side, she has clearly picked up a few of her mother's habits.
During the welcome party with friends, Mikael hears rumour of incestuous goings on between the newly reunited and hormonal pair, and further fleeting glances in window reflections seem to confirm it, although what actually happened is much more innocent, Mikael has got/ it into his head, and gnaws away at his mind. His actions become increasingly irrational (not helped by the conflicting opinions over what his friends suggest he should do) as he tries to maintain control of a phantom situation that is getting out of hand.
Mikael is played as a man permanently on the edge of violent outburst by the streamlined Ville Virtanen, who looks liable at any moment to use his fists to get his own way. It lends the film a sense of tension and urgency, particularly when mixed with the provocative and confrontational Tilda, whose relationship to both Dani her father are always kept ambiguous and complicated. It's an unpredictable and intriguing thriller, with a few funny bits sprinkled in and a good round off for the night. 7.5/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 12
Elling (Nor) (site)
Elling was showing as part of the festival's retrospective selection, and dates from 2001. Ultra-reclusive Elling is found by the police cowering in a cupboard, completely helpless as a child after his overprotective mother dies. While in a care home, he finds himself sharing a room with Kjell, a clumsy oaf who shares Elling's fear of the outside world, but otherwise is his exact opposite. Brash and unwashed, his over-active but underfed libido causing him to have ladies on the brain 24 hours a day, impulsive Kjell somehow bonds with the hesitant and morally upstanding Elling and the two become close like squabbling brothers.
Their little world shatters when they are ejected from the seclusion of the care home and given a flat in Oslo to live in as a halfway house, on their way back to normal life. Along with the deal strides the confident Frank, a social worker with little patience, there to encourage them to get out an interact with the world; if they don't, they will lose their flat and will be out on their ear. They don't even know how to answer a telephone.
I apologise to the Norwegians for the quality of this American trailer.
Elling was Oscar nominated in 2002 and it's easy to see why. It's a fantastic and gentle little film with plenty of memorable scenes and lots of laughs; it's very funny indeed, the sex-mad Kjell bringing a lot of the jokes as Elling's foil, and the balance between funny and poignant as they become more outgoing in their own ways and thus begin to lose their close bond, is pitched just right. Well worth seeing. 8.5/10
The Art of Negative Thinking (Nor) (wiki)
What might best be described as a well-organised descent into chaos, The Art of Negative Thinking takes the fragile stability of a 'positivity group', four timid souls each trying to heal themselves after some personal tragedy, and applies a badly aimed hammer in the form of Geirr at it. Miserable, angry and with a jet black sense of humour, Geirr spends his time purposelessly wheeling himself about his house, some unknown accident leaving him wheelchair bound. Driven to the edge, his despairing wife Ingvild has taken the bold step of inviting the small group to their house for introductions, something that Tori, the organiser of the group approaches with her usual confidence, even in the face of Geirr's flat out refusal to cooperate. After all, she is an expert.
It doesn't take long for Geirr's poisonously negative attitude to infect the fragile shell that Tori has spent many long months trying to build around her subjects, but as the walls begin to break down, it is clear that the group members have their own problems and frustrations that are not being addressed by Tori's highly-rated techniques.
Although Elling pipped it for sheer enjoyment, this could have been a highlight if it had been shown on a different day. The deliciously decadent idea of sending a fragile group of souls into the quagmire that they have just managed to struggle out of, betting against the odds that they will somehow come out okay at the other side is a very guilty pleasure, with each laugh from the increasingly chaotic situation coming on the back of a feeling that you really shouldn't be laughing. But to label it as straight comedy is wrong, as the relationships in the group develop and broaden, and there is a genuine heart to the film in the quieter bits. Even though they are heading over the cliff on a wave of funny, we care enough for them to not go over the edge. 8/10
Elling was showing as part of the festival's retrospective selection, and dates from 2001. Ultra-reclusive Elling is found by the police cowering in a cupboard, completely helpless as a child after his overprotective mother dies. While in a care home, he finds himself sharing a room with Kjell, a clumsy oaf who shares Elling's fear of the outside world, but otherwise is his exact opposite. Brash and unwashed, his over-active but underfed libido causing him to have ladies on the brain 24 hours a day, impulsive Kjell somehow bonds with the hesitant and morally upstanding Elling and the two become close like squabbling brothers.
Their little world shatters when they are ejected from the seclusion of the care home and given a flat in Oslo to live in as a halfway house, on their way back to normal life. Along with the deal strides the confident Frank, a social worker with little patience, there to encourage them to get out an interact with the world; if they don't, they will lose their flat and will be out on their ear. They don't even know how to answer a telephone.
I apologise to the Norwegians for the quality of this American trailer.
Elling was Oscar nominated in 2002 and it's easy to see why. It's a fantastic and gentle little film with plenty of memorable scenes and lots of laughs; it's very funny indeed, the sex-mad Kjell bringing a lot of the jokes as Elling's foil, and the balance between funny and poignant as they become more outgoing in their own ways and thus begin to lose their close bond, is pitched just right. Well worth seeing. 8.5/10
The Art of Negative Thinking (Nor) (wiki)
What might best be described as a well-organised descent into chaos, The Art of Negative Thinking takes the fragile stability of a 'positivity group', four timid souls each trying to heal themselves after some personal tragedy, and applies a badly aimed hammer in the form of Geirr at it. Miserable, angry and with a jet black sense of humour, Geirr spends his time purposelessly wheeling himself about his house, some unknown accident leaving him wheelchair bound. Driven to the edge, his despairing wife Ingvild has taken the bold step of inviting the small group to their house for introductions, something that Tori, the organiser of the group approaches with her usual confidence, even in the face of Geirr's flat out refusal to cooperate. After all, she is an expert.
It doesn't take long for Geirr's poisonously negative attitude to infect the fragile shell that Tori has spent many long months trying to build around her subjects, but as the walls begin to break down, it is clear that the group members have their own problems and frustrations that are not being addressed by Tori's highly-rated techniques.
Although Elling pipped it for sheer enjoyment, this could have been a highlight if it had been shown on a different day. The deliciously decadent idea of sending a fragile group of souls into the quagmire that they have just managed to struggle out of, betting against the odds that they will somehow come out okay at the other side is a very guilty pleasure, with each laugh from the increasingly chaotic situation coming on the back of a feeling that you really shouldn't be laughing. But to label it as straight comedy is wrong, as the relationships in the group develop and broaden, and there is a genuine heart to the film in the quieter bits. Even though they are heading over the cliff on a wave of funny, we care enough for them to not go over the edge. 8/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 11
The Woman who Dreamt of a Man (Den) ()
A sour romantic thriller from Denmark in the same vein as Anna M, a story of how obsessional desire can only destroy everything you know. Fashion photographer K dreams over and over of a man committing suicide by falling from a hotel room balcony. In the waking world she finds Machek, a happily married man by chance at a cafe who is the spit of the one in her dreams. Forming an immediate bond to the man and a desire to protect him, she follows and finds him responding with equal passion to her advances, the lives of both their families forgot in the throes of passion.
But the situation cannot last, and Machek begins to step back from the edge, with only K's overpowering desire keeping him close. Both sides risk losing everything for their passions, and K appears to be losing her mind.
This is a good movie to introduce to your average cinema goer, to show them that just because it's not made in the US doesn't make it inaccessible. Most of the film is in English with only the occasional burst of subtitles, and from the look of the friend I took with me who doesn't go for this sort of thing, he really enjoyed it (although that might have been to do with the large amounts of casual nudity). 8/10
Erratum (Pol) (review)
Long since leaving behind his parents, home and friends in Szczecin for a new life elsewhere, Michal is asked by his boss to return there to pick up a new car. On the start of his drive back however, he knocks down an old man who wanders drunkenly into the road. Initially fleeing the scene, he returns to face justice, and is fortunate to spend a quiet conversation in police custody with a wise old officer who understands the situation; the old man was drunk and Michal was driving correctly. Enough to cause the end credits to roll in many films, this was not the end of the story but the beginning. Whilst waiting for the hastily contacted mechanic to get the parts to repair the damage to the car so the boss won't find out, Michal's conscience kicks in and with time on his hands tries and find the friends and relatives of the old man, who died without anyone seeming to know who he was. As he learns more, the life of his own father, who he has not talked to at all since leaving, begins to sound very similar leading to a few small attempts at reconciliation.
A very quiet and unassuming feel-good film, Erratum warms the cockles with its gently progressing storyline and the messages of maintaining, or at least re-establishing contact with loved ones before it's too late. 8/10
Animal Kingdom (Australia) (site)
There are several films in the 'innocent kid getting mixed up with the gangster part of the family' group films, and this one fits nicely into that pigeon hole. Already in a ropey family unit, teenager Josh comes home to find his mother dead from a heroin overdose, and goes to stay with his aunt, who happens to live with an extended family of rough and unpleasant gang members headed up by Uncle Andrew, known in the streets as The Pope, They're the source of much of the crime in the area and to complicate things, the Australian police force is about to lose by legislation, its tough and controversial armed squads, and so they are determined to make the most of it in their remaining weeks.
Josh, not the brightest of buttons, spends a lot of the movie navel-gazing and looking a bit gormless, and invites his unknowing girlfriend into the evening drink, drugs and TV get togethers, something she drinks up with pleasure, unaware of who it is she is dealing with. When the police make an unprovoked killing of one of the members, they respond in kind, and things begin to escalate. Josh's semi-liveable existence and that of his girl is put into serious danger. Does he trust his family to see things through or go to the police, headed by a moustached Guy Pearce, to give him protection against any vengeful kin, or maybe the lawyers in the middle can give the remaining members a deserved spell in the cells.
It's better than Edinburgh's A Spanking in Paradise, but not quite on the level of The Misfortunates from last year. Animal Kingdom is light on humour but plenty of thrills and danger. 7.5/10
R U There? (Ned) (site)
One of an emerging batch of films that bring to the big screen the on-line multiplayer world. Jitze is a computer games wizard, taking the crown in massive on-line tournaments, but he is frustrated and tired with his obsession, and takes a holiday away from everything to the far east. Conspicuously out of place and not speaking the language, he searches for some relief from his RSI-induced arm ache, he meets with the intriguing Minmin, who shows him life away from the guns and ammo of a thousand first person shooters, and a more calm and sedate existence both in the real world, and through Second Life.
The film uses footage from the game as a gateway to the feelings they project onto their avatars, with Minmin far more affectionate in the on-line world than she does outside. An entertaining variant on the clueless tourist abroad stories, R U There shows a both critical and sympathetic sides to the mass adoption of video games, but its story about the regaining of a persons human side never quite realises it's potential. 7/10
Never Let Me Go (UK/US) (wiki/site)
Based closely on the book of the same name by Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro, who also gave us the excellent Remains of the Day, and by the director of One Hour Photo, that managed somehow to make Robin Williams into a decent actor again, this film is a sort of sci-fi film with no sci-fi elements. Based in an alternate 1970's - 1990's middle England, where medical science took a leap forward into cloning for the creation of donor organs, the donors themselves 'modelled on' (i.e. were clones of) other people, and are seen as subhuman creatures.
The Halesham boarding school churns out many such clones every year, and the film follows three of them, Kathy, Tommy and Ruth, from their early years at the school to their graduation and eventually when they reach the required age, their passage into the status of donors. Rumours fly around that those who fall in love may be granted some deferment so they may live a few years longer together, and Kathy and Ruth both see Tommy with some affection; the more confident Ruth taking her place in front of Kathy, who was beginning to form strong bonds with him.
There is a sense of helplessness and dread almost from the first scene, the audience first made aware of a general sense of the transitive lives of the children, which is grimly fleshed out as the film goes on. Your heart cries out at the screen for them to rebel or run away, but their resignation to their fate seems to be too strong. It's a really moving film, and one for times when you want to have a good cry, but it sometimes the sheer weight of sorrow for the damned characters gets a little overpowering. Still however a very beautiful and haunting film. 8/10
A sour romantic thriller from Denmark in the same vein as Anna M, a story of how obsessional desire can only destroy everything you know. Fashion photographer K dreams over and over of a man committing suicide by falling from a hotel room balcony. In the waking world she finds Machek, a happily married man by chance at a cafe who is the spit of the one in her dreams. Forming an immediate bond to the man and a desire to protect him, she follows and finds him responding with equal passion to her advances, the lives of both their families forgot in the throes of passion.
But the situation cannot last, and Machek begins to step back from the edge, with only K's overpowering desire keeping him close. Both sides risk losing everything for their passions, and K appears to be losing her mind.
This is a good movie to introduce to your average cinema goer, to show them that just because it's not made in the US doesn't make it inaccessible. Most of the film is in English with only the occasional burst of subtitles, and from the look of the friend I took with me who doesn't go for this sort of thing, he really enjoyed it (although that might have been to do with the large amounts of casual nudity). 8/10
Erratum (Pol) (review)
Long since leaving behind his parents, home and friends in Szczecin for a new life elsewhere, Michal is asked by his boss to return there to pick up a new car. On the start of his drive back however, he knocks down an old man who wanders drunkenly into the road. Initially fleeing the scene, he returns to face justice, and is fortunate to spend a quiet conversation in police custody with a wise old officer who understands the situation; the old man was drunk and Michal was driving correctly. Enough to cause the end credits to roll in many films, this was not the end of the story but the beginning. Whilst waiting for the hastily contacted mechanic to get the parts to repair the damage to the car so the boss won't find out, Michal's conscience kicks in and with time on his hands tries and find the friends and relatives of the old man, who died without anyone seeming to know who he was. As he learns more, the life of his own father, who he has not talked to at all since leaving, begins to sound very similar leading to a few small attempts at reconciliation.
A very quiet and unassuming feel-good film, Erratum warms the cockles with its gently progressing storyline and the messages of maintaining, or at least re-establishing contact with loved ones before it's too late. 8/10
Animal Kingdom (Australia) (site)
There are several films in the 'innocent kid getting mixed up with the gangster part of the family' group films, and this one fits nicely into that pigeon hole. Already in a ropey family unit, teenager Josh comes home to find his mother dead from a heroin overdose, and goes to stay with his aunt, who happens to live with an extended family of rough and unpleasant gang members headed up by Uncle Andrew, known in the streets as The Pope, They're the source of much of the crime in the area and to complicate things, the Australian police force is about to lose by legislation, its tough and controversial armed squads, and so they are determined to make the most of it in their remaining weeks.
Josh, not the brightest of buttons, spends a lot of the movie navel-gazing and looking a bit gormless, and invites his unknowing girlfriend into the evening drink, drugs and TV get togethers, something she drinks up with pleasure, unaware of who it is she is dealing with. When the police make an unprovoked killing of one of the members, they respond in kind, and things begin to escalate. Josh's semi-liveable existence and that of his girl is put into serious danger. Does he trust his family to see things through or go to the police, headed by a moustached Guy Pearce, to give him protection against any vengeful kin, or maybe the lawyers in the middle can give the remaining members a deserved spell in the cells.
It's better than Edinburgh's A Spanking in Paradise, but not quite on the level of The Misfortunates from last year. Animal Kingdom is light on humour but plenty of thrills and danger. 7.5/10
R U There? (Ned) (site)
One of an emerging batch of films that bring to the big screen the on-line multiplayer world. Jitze is a computer games wizard, taking the crown in massive on-line tournaments, but he is frustrated and tired with his obsession, and takes a holiday away from everything to the far east. Conspicuously out of place and not speaking the language, he searches for some relief from his RSI-induced arm ache, he meets with the intriguing Minmin, who shows him life away from the guns and ammo of a thousand first person shooters, and a more calm and sedate existence both in the real world, and through Second Life.
The film uses footage from the game as a gateway to the feelings they project onto their avatars, with Minmin far more affectionate in the on-line world than she does outside. An entertaining variant on the clueless tourist abroad stories, R U There shows a both critical and sympathetic sides to the mass adoption of video games, but its story about the regaining of a persons human side never quite realises it's potential. 7/10
Never Let Me Go (UK/US) (wiki/site)
Based closely on the book of the same name by Japanese author Kazuo Ishiguro, who also gave us the excellent Remains of the Day, and by the director of One Hour Photo, that managed somehow to make Robin Williams into a decent actor again, this film is a sort of sci-fi film with no sci-fi elements. Based in an alternate 1970's - 1990's middle England, where medical science took a leap forward into cloning for the creation of donor organs, the donors themselves 'modelled on' (i.e. were clones of) other people, and are seen as subhuman creatures.
The Halesham boarding school churns out many such clones every year, and the film follows three of them, Kathy, Tommy and Ruth, from their early years at the school to their graduation and eventually when they reach the required age, their passage into the status of donors. Rumours fly around that those who fall in love may be granted some deferment so they may live a few years longer together, and Kathy and Ruth both see Tommy with some affection; the more confident Ruth taking her place in front of Kathy, who was beginning to form strong bonds with him.
There is a sense of helplessness and dread almost from the first scene, the audience first made aware of a general sense of the transitive lives of the children, which is grimly fleshed out as the film goes on. Your heart cries out at the screen for them to rebel or run away, but their resignation to their fate seems to be too strong. It's a really moving film, and one for times when you want to have a good cry, but it sometimes the sheer weight of sorrow for the damned characters gets a little overpowering. Still however a very beautiful and haunting film. 8/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 10
Today was a big day for films.
Invention for Destruction (Cze) (wiki)
An ambitious classic adventure from the 1950's, inspired by the works of Jules Verne, and cited as the inspiration for several directors who have come and gone since. Its early steampunk machines and gentleman villains, grand locations and the age of exploration have clear descendants in the works of Hironobu Sakaguchi and Hayao Miyazaki (Laputa has clear parallels, especially the fantastical flying machines).
Professor Roch and his dashing young assistant Simon Hart are kidnapped by scurvy pirates and taken to the ship of Count Artigas, the equivalent of Capt. Nemo. Hidden from prying eyes, Artigas has made the most advanced submarine of the age, filled with the latest instruments and able to ram ships so they can plunder any cargo. While Roch naively revels in the brand new laboratory he is given to perform experiments in, Hart is banished to a run down shack and not allowed to contact the professor, which Artigas hopes can develop technology to bring the world to it's knees.
For a film made in 1958, it's special effects are superb, the visuals being a mix of stop-motion photography and live action, often overlaid with a watermark to give the impression that everything is drawn and lifted out of the pages of one of Jules Vernes' novels. It's also genuinely funny in places, and not down to cheesy effects either. If you are interested in the origins of the great works of fiction today, this film is a good start in tracing the lineage. 7.5/10
Best of British UK Short Film Competition
Fu(nd) This - A meta-film, a short film about getting short films made. A young and cocky producer pitches his script in front of two budgeting suits, while sharing his inner thoughts about their attitudes to what is and isn't allowed in something they put their name to. Sex, religion, politics, and the censorship thereof are all covered in a sneering style by a director obviously weary of the process himself. 7.5/10
Bodies - The itchiness of the ambiguity in a relationship are accurately conveyed in the musings of a girl, happy but insecure about her relationship. She stumbles and trips over the words to say, breaks up the sentences with a million conflicting opinions in her mind, telling us just how confused in her own mind she is. 7/10
Tad's Nest - An animation using sand on paper to create a fluid motion, where a young girl and boy, playing on the shore find a nymph in a tree. It wasn't clear what was going on, but it looked pretty. 6/10
The Birdman of Tamworth - A short documentary about Leon, a young soldier who was killed in Iraq shortly after arriving, whose short life was recounted by his mother who begins the film in full control of her emotions, but quickly breaks down. The scenes at the National Memorial Arboretum in are the most powerful. 7.5/10
Exhale - Shortly after being diagnosed HIV positive, Joel spends a night at friend Chris's house, but Joel is reluctant to tell anyone about it, his head understandably pretty screwed up. While Chris is out, the temptation of a bottle of Baileys becomes too much. 7/10
Inept - Joe's wretched life is described by the narrator as if reading a book, the depressing words coming to life on the screen as they are being read out. Drugs, sleep and dealers are all he sees from his bed, a life completely set to waste. 7/10
The Moonbird - Using haunting music and eerie glowy pencil drawings in the style of a child, the Moonbird is a realisation of a young girls' nightmare as she is transported to a creepy wood where crows dig up skeletons and witches want to capture her for her tears. Only the Moonbird can rescue her once she is caught. 7/10
Release the Flying Monkeys - Two girls from Albania who have clearly had too much Jesus Juice head to inner city London where they self-righteously claim to be able to rid people of demonic posession and get ready for Jesus' imminent return. They're clearly bonkers, almost as much as Aziz, who asks them to remove the curse from her tortoise. It was unclear which bits were plainly acted and which were the genuine beliefs of some people. 7/10
40 Years - As a child, David killed his friend by accident. 40 years later and his life plagued with problems (not least, just killing his wife), he sets out to try to banish the ghosts in his mind. 7/10
Conversation Piece - A BBC short film with John Henshaw and Celia Imrie, simply an argument over a broken vase between a long-married couple, but to the sounds of a Louis Armstrong-style jazz record, their voices replaced by instruments. It was good, but by the end the joke had worn thin, 7.5/10
Yorkshire Short Film Competition
15 Letters - A stop motion animation to accompany a music video of the same name, a man haunts the life of the woman who married him and then sent him to his grave. 7.5/10
Lets Launch Leonard - Two forceably geeky teens band together with one aim - to be the first amateur astronauts in space. Their spaceship is a rusty van with some tape on it, they're waiting for the money to make the wings. 8/10
Mr Bradley Mr Martin Hear us Through the Hole in Thin Air - A very odd and surreal journey using fragments of speeches by William S. Burroughs, set to the strange experiments taking place in a 1950's laboratory, interspersed with old photographs. It's all deeply odd and doesn't really make any sense unless you are familiar with the subtleties of the Burroughs' cut-up poems (which I wasn't). 5/10
Outside - In a future run by computers, most people have decided to join the 'Inside', a giant virtual online community, but a few have not. One woman leaves the inside and tries to adjust to life outside in the desolate, empty earth, but finds temptation in strange squares of material which seem to be connected to the hive somehow. A slightly dull film made a bit better by its use of old real-life tower blocks and beaches to simulate the desolate environment we will be living in. 5/10
Scent - John, a pensioner has lost his wife, who died presumably in the night. He can't bear to let her go. When we join him, the house has begun to smell, but trapped by his love and fear of being alone, he bathes and sleeps with her as normal. A truly upsetting but powerful work. 8.5/10
The Good North - An uncomfortable film about the relationship between a right-wing skinhead father and his son and daughter, the former failing to follow his passion for football rioting, and the latter carrying on with an Asian boy. 7.5/10
Like Joe, Loathe Joe - Joe is a teen with some inner problems, but he's trying to make the best of it by losing himself in the football team at school, but when a friend's dad starts seeing his mother, anger threatens to send him over the edge. 7/10
Uncle David - A mini documentary about a pensioner doing litter picks around the streets and parks of Devonshire that warms you up on a cold night. David became sick of the litter around the area, and asserts an interesting fact, that the more litter there is in a place, the more people will litter it. Handling mouthy teens and used condoms without being phased, with only a litter picker and a bouncy dog for company, he's pretty much cleaned up his town. An affectionate look at one man's standing up to fight the apathy. 8.5/10
Aint Got No Sole - A short music video about a man trapped in a circus as the ringmaster. It was quite nice, but over before you knew it and didn't really do anything. 6/10
Sweet Little Lies (Jpn) (site)
Ruriko and Satoshi are in a comfortable but loveless marriage in their small flat in the Tokyo suburbs. Ruriko tends the house and creates stuffed dolls for sale and exhibition, while Satoshi has an unforgiving office job. When he returns home, Satoshi acts like a child, leaving his wife to pick his dropped clothes and shoes up, and make his tea, which he eats alone in a locked room playing video games all day. Though Ruriko puts a brave face on it to both her husband and her friends, it is clear that she is not content. She illustrates with the custom in Japan to have red and white roses in the gardens of happy couples; red for passion, white for truth. Those with passion and truth will be happy.
Both partners appear to get their wish as they find themselves the attention of others, even though they initially resist, both become involved in affairs while openly telling the other everything except for the kissy kissy parts. Satoshi has his passion slowly ignited from diminutive Miura, while Ruriko finds truth in the confessions of love thrown at her by Tomiko. However, the fleeting nature of these relations cause the couple to re-evaluate just who they really love.
It's a film that will appeal to those who have had relationship problems, felt the love and excitement in the relationship get forgotten and sidelined in favour of the mundane aspects of a busy life, and offers hope that, with a change in perspective, what is important will bring them back together. 8/10
The Beluga Whale at the a Tokyo aquarium steals the show at the end.
The American (US) (site)
George Clooney directs and plays dashing agent Jack, who appears to have rubbed the Swedes up the wrong way, and now they want to kill him. Shooting both the agents sent after him and the girl he was just getting friendly with (a cold-hearted insurance policy to make sure no witnesses) he rings his boss to take some time off in Rome, to which his manager repeats the mantra 'don't make any friends'.
Trying to stay away from people for his own good, he attracts the attention of a very perceptive priest who puts his life at risk by asking too many questions, and falls in love with prostitute Clara, a definite no-no in the hitman's book of rules. During all this the boss has tasked him with putting together a modified rifle for a beautiful and mysterious woman who wants a very specific weapon to do her job. As Jack gets more involved with Clara, he puts himself at risk of becoming a target for both the vengeful Swedes, and his boss who doesn't accept resignation letters.
Though Clooney does use some artistic license to turn the original book into a show of his manly physique and what a cool expression he has when he has a gun in his hand, he also delivers a very good performance as a ruthless killer trying to get some peace. The American is well scripted and takes place in the beautiful countrysides and towns of Sweden and Rome. It's a high-quality assassin thriller and well recommended. 8/10
Invention for Destruction (Cze) (wiki)
An ambitious classic adventure from the 1950's, inspired by the works of Jules Verne, and cited as the inspiration for several directors who have come and gone since. Its early steampunk machines and gentleman villains, grand locations and the age of exploration have clear descendants in the works of Hironobu Sakaguchi and Hayao Miyazaki (Laputa has clear parallels, especially the fantastical flying machines).
Professor Roch and his dashing young assistant Simon Hart are kidnapped by scurvy pirates and taken to the ship of Count Artigas, the equivalent of Capt. Nemo. Hidden from prying eyes, Artigas has made the most advanced submarine of the age, filled with the latest instruments and able to ram ships so they can plunder any cargo. While Roch naively revels in the brand new laboratory he is given to perform experiments in, Hart is banished to a run down shack and not allowed to contact the professor, which Artigas hopes can develop technology to bring the world to it's knees.
For a film made in 1958, it's special effects are superb, the visuals being a mix of stop-motion photography and live action, often overlaid with a watermark to give the impression that everything is drawn and lifted out of the pages of one of Jules Vernes' novels. It's also genuinely funny in places, and not down to cheesy effects either. If you are interested in the origins of the great works of fiction today, this film is a good start in tracing the lineage. 7.5/10
Best of British UK Short Film Competition
Fu(nd) This - A meta-film, a short film about getting short films made. A young and cocky producer pitches his script in front of two budgeting suits, while sharing his inner thoughts about their attitudes to what is and isn't allowed in something they put their name to. Sex, religion, politics, and the censorship thereof are all covered in a sneering style by a director obviously weary of the process himself. 7.5/10
Bodies - The itchiness of the ambiguity in a relationship are accurately conveyed in the musings of a girl, happy but insecure about her relationship. She stumbles and trips over the words to say, breaks up the sentences with a million conflicting opinions in her mind, telling us just how confused in her own mind she is. 7/10
Tad's Nest - An animation using sand on paper to create a fluid motion, where a young girl and boy, playing on the shore find a nymph in a tree. It wasn't clear what was going on, but it looked pretty. 6/10
The Birdman of Tamworth - A short documentary about Leon, a young soldier who was killed in Iraq shortly after arriving, whose short life was recounted by his mother who begins the film in full control of her emotions, but quickly breaks down. The scenes at the National Memorial Arboretum in are the most powerful. 7.5/10
Exhale - Shortly after being diagnosed HIV positive, Joel spends a night at friend Chris's house, but Joel is reluctant to tell anyone about it, his head understandably pretty screwed up. While Chris is out, the temptation of a bottle of Baileys becomes too much. 7/10
Inept - Joe's wretched life is described by the narrator as if reading a book, the depressing words coming to life on the screen as they are being read out. Drugs, sleep and dealers are all he sees from his bed, a life completely set to waste. 7/10
The Moonbird - Using haunting music and eerie glowy pencil drawings in the style of a child, the Moonbird is a realisation of a young girls' nightmare as she is transported to a creepy wood where crows dig up skeletons and witches want to capture her for her tears. Only the Moonbird can rescue her once she is caught. 7/10
Release the Flying Monkeys - Two girls from Albania who have clearly had too much Jesus Juice head to inner city London where they self-righteously claim to be able to rid people of demonic posession and get ready for Jesus' imminent return. They're clearly bonkers, almost as much as Aziz, who asks them to remove the curse from her tortoise. It was unclear which bits were plainly acted and which were the genuine beliefs of some people. 7/10
40 Years - As a child, David killed his friend by accident. 40 years later and his life plagued with problems (not least, just killing his wife), he sets out to try to banish the ghosts in his mind. 7/10
Conversation Piece - A BBC short film with John Henshaw and Celia Imrie, simply an argument over a broken vase between a long-married couple, but to the sounds of a Louis Armstrong-style jazz record, their voices replaced by instruments. It was good, but by the end the joke had worn thin, 7.5/10
Yorkshire Short Film Competition
15 Letters - A stop motion animation to accompany a music video of the same name, a man haunts the life of the woman who married him and then sent him to his grave. 7.5/10
Lets Launch Leonard - Two forceably geeky teens band together with one aim - to be the first amateur astronauts in space. Their spaceship is a rusty van with some tape on it, they're waiting for the money to make the wings. 8/10
Mr Bradley Mr Martin Hear us Through the Hole in Thin Air - A very odd and surreal journey using fragments of speeches by William S. Burroughs, set to the strange experiments taking place in a 1950's laboratory, interspersed with old photographs. It's all deeply odd and doesn't really make any sense unless you are familiar with the subtleties of the Burroughs' cut-up poems (which I wasn't). 5/10
Outside - In a future run by computers, most people have decided to join the 'Inside', a giant virtual online community, but a few have not. One woman leaves the inside and tries to adjust to life outside in the desolate, empty earth, but finds temptation in strange squares of material which seem to be connected to the hive somehow. A slightly dull film made a bit better by its use of old real-life tower blocks and beaches to simulate the desolate environment we will be living in. 5/10
Scent - John, a pensioner has lost his wife, who died presumably in the night. He can't bear to let her go. When we join him, the house has begun to smell, but trapped by his love and fear of being alone, he bathes and sleeps with her as normal. A truly upsetting but powerful work. 8.5/10
The Astronomers Sun - Showing again (I saw it at the animation shorts), a beautiful old fashioned stop-motion animation about a man trying to follow in the footsteps of his astronomer father who disappeared when he was young. It deservedly got the Yorkshire Short Film award. 8.5/10
The Good North from Jonathan Entwistle on Vimeo.
The Good North - An uncomfortable film about the relationship between a right-wing skinhead father and his son and daughter, the former failing to follow his passion for football rioting, and the latter carrying on with an Asian boy. 7.5/10
Like Joe, Loathe Joe - Joe is a teen with some inner problems, but he's trying to make the best of it by losing himself in the football team at school, but when a friend's dad starts seeing his mother, anger threatens to send him over the edge. 7/10
Uncle David - A mini documentary about a pensioner doing litter picks around the streets and parks of Devonshire that warms you up on a cold night. David became sick of the litter around the area, and asserts an interesting fact, that the more litter there is in a place, the more people will litter it. Handling mouthy teens and used condoms without being phased, with only a litter picker and a bouncy dog for company, he's pretty much cleaned up his town. An affectionate look at one man's standing up to fight the apathy. 8.5/10
Aint Got No Sole - A short music video about a man trapped in a circus as the ringmaster. It was quite nice, but over before you knew it and didn't really do anything. 6/10
Sweet Little Lies (Jpn) (site)
Ruriko and Satoshi are in a comfortable but loveless marriage in their small flat in the Tokyo suburbs. Ruriko tends the house and creates stuffed dolls for sale and exhibition, while Satoshi has an unforgiving office job. When he returns home, Satoshi acts like a child, leaving his wife to pick his dropped clothes and shoes up, and make his tea, which he eats alone in a locked room playing video games all day. Though Ruriko puts a brave face on it to both her husband and her friends, it is clear that she is not content. She illustrates with the custom in Japan to have red and white roses in the gardens of happy couples; red for passion, white for truth. Those with passion and truth will be happy.
Both partners appear to get their wish as they find themselves the attention of others, even though they initially resist, both become involved in affairs while openly telling the other everything except for the kissy kissy parts. Satoshi has his passion slowly ignited from diminutive Miura, while Ruriko finds truth in the confessions of love thrown at her by Tomiko. However, the fleeting nature of these relations cause the couple to re-evaluate just who they really love.
It's a film that will appeal to those who have had relationship problems, felt the love and excitement in the relationship get forgotten and sidelined in favour of the mundane aspects of a busy life, and offers hope that, with a change in perspective, what is important will bring them back together. 8/10
The Beluga Whale at the a Tokyo aquarium steals the show at the end.
The American (US) (site)
George Clooney directs and plays dashing agent Jack, who appears to have rubbed the Swedes up the wrong way, and now they want to kill him. Shooting both the agents sent after him and the girl he was just getting friendly with (a cold-hearted insurance policy to make sure no witnesses) he rings his boss to take some time off in Rome, to which his manager repeats the mantra 'don't make any friends'.
Trying to stay away from people for his own good, he attracts the attention of a very perceptive priest who puts his life at risk by asking too many questions, and falls in love with prostitute Clara, a definite no-no in the hitman's book of rules. During all this the boss has tasked him with putting together a modified rifle for a beautiful and mysterious woman who wants a very specific weapon to do her job. As Jack gets more involved with Clara, he puts himself at risk of becoming a target for both the vengeful Swedes, and his boss who doesn't accept resignation letters.
Though Clooney does use some artistic license to turn the original book into a show of his manly physique and what a cool expression he has when he has a gun in his hand, he also delivers a very good performance as a ruthless killer trying to get some peace. The American is well scripted and takes place in the beautiful countrysides and towns of Sweden and Rome. It's a high-quality assassin thriller and well recommended. 8/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 9
Fresh (US) (site)
A documentary from the US about the rise of sustainable farming practices in the face of a growing realisation that the global industrialised agriculture techniques are now seen as more expensive than traditional farming practices The film introduces newer hybrid techniques which take modern technology and use it in a manner more sympathetic to the laws of nature.
It begins by highlighting the problems with the current system; how the myriad chemicals used to clean or sterilise or kill pests are so easily included in the finished product, how the generation of those products has deviated from their natural method of production, and just how far the system goes in terms of effort and expenditure to fight the disease and nutritional problems caused by the high concentrations of livestock into small areas, a situation that gives rise to the assertion that it is no longer cost effective. After a surprisingly small amount of time covering these problems (already covered in plenty of other documentaries), the film then turns to people who are doing something about it; medium-scale farmers adopting techniques to work with, rather than against nature (for instance, moving their cattle around the fields, giving the grass time to revegitate, stopping the rise of diseases from a static warehouse herd and mimicking the natural movements of the animals). An inner city farm invites curious urban families in to learn about how food is grown, and the benefits of doing it to a more natural template.
As with some of the critics of the abandonment of industrial scale practices, I found myself asking the film in the early stages the usual questions about just how these idealist practices could possibly be scaled up and used to feed the world, and how you convince people used to paying a pittance for their food, especially in the city where growing pretty much anything is unheard of, that they should shell out more for the organic stuff.
But this film addressed my questions pretty thoroughly as it went on. It showed how sustainable farming creates more local jobs than were lost if an industrial plant were shut; it showed that the 'cheap' food we buy doesn't come cheap, the expense is recouped in terms of nutritional loss, the removal of local jobs which hits the communities, and the taxpayers subsidies paid to farmers, because the multinationals that buy the products for processing have a stranglehold on the prices, ensuring that the buying price alone is less than it takes to produce the crop. It showed how the local jobs fed the local community and made it socially richer, and it also showed the problem from the other side; the farmers who have not made the jump and are unwilling or unable to because they are locked into the system.
Those who doubt there is an alternative to the familiar scenes of battery chickens and mentally disturbed pigs should watch this film. It has clearly been shown to preview audiences beforehand, who have come back and said 'ah, but you didn't address this question about..'. It addresses most if not all impracticalities with a thorough and professional coverage and gives plenty of examples of people who have made these claims into real, tangible results. Though it deals with the US food issues which are far greater in scale than our own, we could learn a thing or two before it becomes as bad over here, and it also has the additional merit of concentrating more on the solutions than the problem. 8/10
Visit the Growing Power website, an example from the film making a big difference in an urban city.
Beating the Bomb (UK) (site)
While in Japan I attended the Tokyo Film Festival (see one of my posts in the future), during which I managed to catch a US film called Countdown to Zero, covering the state of the nuclear arms race and how close we have come several times to accidental nuclear war. Beating the Bomb is a lower budget British equivalent, but no less compelling. Taking the establishment of the CND movement in 1958 and charting the related events through to the present day, it covers much of the same ground as it's US counterpart, from a viewpoint across the pond.
Troubling doesn't do it justice, as imagery of nuclear explosions and mutated children, triumphant post-Hiroshima US headlines and disturbing statistics (number of nuclear weapons ready to be fired in the world: 30,000) flash across the screen. What this British film has that wasn't present in the highly-polished American one though was a sense of community and personal activism by committed individuals. As it leaves the inevitable coverage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki behind near the beginning, it moves to footage of grassroots activism, such as the London to Aldermaston marches and Greenham Common protests, (where one woman was interviewed as she was carried away by four policemen!) and the interviews with the volunteers and activists who were there and at the many others it inspired, talking heads such as Mark Thomas and Tony Benn, and a selection of darkly satirical anti-nuclear cartoons and posters from down the years all make for a thoroughly compelling and worthwhile film. For those glib people who mock the CND and similar groups for being little more than bored hippies, you should watch this to get the proper picture of their influence here and around the world, plus a whole load of unsettling facts about where things are going. 8/10
The Mystery of the Flying Kicks (US) (site/trailer)
Showing as part of a double bill alongside Dive!, this short documentary attempted to explain the sights in cities around the world (but apparently much more in the US) of pairs of shoes, usually trainers, hanging from telephone wires. Using submitted answers to the question of why from people on a 'Shoefiti hotline', we get several theories, from a sign of virginity loss in teenagers, a lasting marker that people lived or worked in an area, or a Mafia warning to police not to enter the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, the question, and thus the validity of a documentary on the subject quickly became spent, but it was an entertaining distraction before the main event. 6.5/10
Dive! (US) (site)
Made on a budget of just $200 and with the help of his friends and other volunteers, director Jeremy Seifert and his family introduce us to 'Dumpster Diving' - going through the rubbish skips outside supermarkets and taking home perfectly edible food to eat for free, much of it still in date, sealed in their packaging and perfectly edible. The US apparently throws 96 billion lbs of food away every year, much of which is safe to eat and could easily go to those with no food, many of which are right on the doorsteps of some of the branches; 11 million American families are on the poverty line with millions more coming close.
Dumpster divers have their own three rules to work by; don't take more than you need, first come first served, and most importantly, leave the dumpster in a better state than when you found it, so that the supermarkets have one less reason to clamp down on the practice.
Jeremy comes from a poor neighbourhood and could never afford both the quantity or quality of the food he scavenges, his family getting most of its food from the practice. As his film goes on, he asks why it's thrown away, and finds that the door is slammed in his face at the store headquarters he asks, the increase in skips locked away behind fences telling him that the acquisition of free food, even stuff that is landfill-bound, is not good adverts for people buying it off the shelves. As Christmas approaches, his requests to one store pay off and he is allowed to take away their still-in-date stock that gets binned extra early due to closing on Christmas day, directly in a van to take to the Salvation Army and other charities, who even with the voluntary food donations by the stores, struggle to meet demand.
It's all very feel-good, and again, it's not so relevant to the UK (having worked in retail I know that the contents of our skips are nothing like as pleasant as what you see here), but it's still a very good film, made by good people who deserve recognition for doing the right, but not always lawful, thing. 8/10
A documentary from the US about the rise of sustainable farming practices in the face of a growing realisation that the global industrialised agriculture techniques are now seen as more expensive than traditional farming practices The film introduces newer hybrid techniques which take modern technology and use it in a manner more sympathetic to the laws of nature.
It begins by highlighting the problems with the current system; how the myriad chemicals used to clean or sterilise or kill pests are so easily included in the finished product, how the generation of those products has deviated from their natural method of production, and just how far the system goes in terms of effort and expenditure to fight the disease and nutritional problems caused by the high concentrations of livestock into small areas, a situation that gives rise to the assertion that it is no longer cost effective. After a surprisingly small amount of time covering these problems (already covered in plenty of other documentaries), the film then turns to people who are doing something about it; medium-scale farmers adopting techniques to work with, rather than against nature (for instance, moving their cattle around the fields, giving the grass time to revegitate, stopping the rise of diseases from a static warehouse herd and mimicking the natural movements of the animals). An inner city farm invites curious urban families in to learn about how food is grown, and the benefits of doing it to a more natural template.
As with some of the critics of the abandonment of industrial scale practices, I found myself asking the film in the early stages the usual questions about just how these idealist practices could possibly be scaled up and used to feed the world, and how you convince people used to paying a pittance for their food, especially in the city where growing pretty much anything is unheard of, that they should shell out more for the organic stuff.
But this film addressed my questions pretty thoroughly as it went on. It showed how sustainable farming creates more local jobs than were lost if an industrial plant were shut; it showed that the 'cheap' food we buy doesn't come cheap, the expense is recouped in terms of nutritional loss, the removal of local jobs which hits the communities, and the taxpayers subsidies paid to farmers, because the multinationals that buy the products for processing have a stranglehold on the prices, ensuring that the buying price alone is less than it takes to produce the crop. It showed how the local jobs fed the local community and made it socially richer, and it also showed the problem from the other side; the farmers who have not made the jump and are unwilling or unable to because they are locked into the system.
Those who doubt there is an alternative to the familiar scenes of battery chickens and mentally disturbed pigs should watch this film. It has clearly been shown to preview audiences beforehand, who have come back and said 'ah, but you didn't address this question about..'. It addresses most if not all impracticalities with a thorough and professional coverage and gives plenty of examples of people who have made these claims into real, tangible results. Though it deals with the US food issues which are far greater in scale than our own, we could learn a thing or two before it becomes as bad over here, and it also has the additional merit of concentrating more on the solutions than the problem. 8/10
Visit the Growing Power website, an example from the film making a big difference in an urban city.
Beating the Bomb (UK) (site)
While in Japan I attended the Tokyo Film Festival (see one of my posts in the future), during which I managed to catch a US film called Countdown to Zero, covering the state of the nuclear arms race and how close we have come several times to accidental nuclear war. Beating the Bomb is a lower budget British equivalent, but no less compelling. Taking the establishment of the CND movement in 1958 and charting the related events through to the present day, it covers much of the same ground as it's US counterpart, from a viewpoint across the pond.
Troubling doesn't do it justice, as imagery of nuclear explosions and mutated children, triumphant post-Hiroshima US headlines and disturbing statistics (number of nuclear weapons ready to be fired in the world: 30,000) flash across the screen. What this British film has that wasn't present in the highly-polished American one though was a sense of community and personal activism by committed individuals. As it leaves the inevitable coverage of Hiroshima and Nagasaki behind near the beginning, it moves to footage of grassroots activism, such as the London to Aldermaston marches and Greenham Common protests, (where one woman was interviewed as she was carried away by four policemen!) and the interviews with the volunteers and activists who were there and at the many others it inspired, talking heads such as Mark Thomas and Tony Benn, and a selection of darkly satirical anti-nuclear cartoons and posters from down the years all make for a thoroughly compelling and worthwhile film. For those glib people who mock the CND and similar groups for being little more than bored hippies, you should watch this to get the proper picture of their influence here and around the world, plus a whole load of unsettling facts about where things are going. 8/10
The Mystery of the Flying Kicks (US) (site/trailer)
Showing as part of a double bill alongside Dive!, this short documentary attempted to explain the sights in cities around the world (but apparently much more in the US) of pairs of shoes, usually trainers, hanging from telephone wires. Using submitted answers to the question of why from people on a 'Shoefiti hotline', we get several theories, from a sign of virginity loss in teenagers, a lasting marker that people lived or worked in an area, or a Mafia warning to police not to enter the neighbourhood. Unfortunately, the question, and thus the validity of a documentary on the subject quickly became spent, but it was an entertaining distraction before the main event. 6.5/10
Dive! (US) (site)
Made on a budget of just $200 and with the help of his friends and other volunteers, director Jeremy Seifert and his family introduce us to 'Dumpster Diving' - going through the rubbish skips outside supermarkets and taking home perfectly edible food to eat for free, much of it still in date, sealed in their packaging and perfectly edible. The US apparently throws 96 billion lbs of food away every year, much of which is safe to eat and could easily go to those with no food, many of which are right on the doorsteps of some of the branches; 11 million American families are on the poverty line with millions more coming close.
Dumpster divers have their own three rules to work by; don't take more than you need, first come first served, and most importantly, leave the dumpster in a better state than when you found it, so that the supermarkets have one less reason to clamp down on the practice.
Jeremy comes from a poor neighbourhood and could never afford both the quantity or quality of the food he scavenges, his family getting most of its food from the practice. As his film goes on, he asks why it's thrown away, and finds that the door is slammed in his face at the store headquarters he asks, the increase in skips locked away behind fences telling him that the acquisition of free food, even stuff that is landfill-bound, is not good adverts for people buying it off the shelves. As Christmas approaches, his requests to one store pay off and he is allowed to take away their still-in-date stock that gets binned extra early due to closing on Christmas day, directly in a van to take to the Salvation Army and other charities, who even with the voluntary food donations by the stores, struggle to meet demand.
It's all very feel-good, and again, it's not so relevant to the UK (having worked in retail I know that the contents of our skips are nothing like as pleasant as what you see here), but it's still a very good film, made by good people who deserve recognition for doing the right, but not always lawful, thing. 8/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 8
Tuesday After Christmas (Rom) (wiki)
Thirty-something Paul has a beautiful wife and daughter who he loves very much. Unfortunately he's carrying on with the local dentist, Raluca. Brazenly, he continues with both lives with a carefree attitude; Raluca is well aware of the situation and doesn't seem to mind, and wife Adriana is oblivious to his capers, trusting him implicitly with tales of working at unseasonable hours or weekends. It's a situation that the movie cannot allow to go on forever, and eventually, after a tension-packed time at the dentists where wife and lover talk about her daughters' dental options right in front of him, Raluca's subtle hints to make his mind up make more sense than ever and force him into a hastily made decision.
As a study of the point at which a relationship forcibly breaks, this film is one of the most powerful examples. The several extended single take scenes prior to the big one are slow and deliberate, often charged with a sexual, vengeful or deceitful undercurrent, but it's the break-up scene, filmed in a single take and loosely scripted to allow the actors to keep the situation spontaneous, which is the most powerful and compelling. The post-bombshell family Christmas get-together is not noticeably different from early scenes in terms of outward action, but much more powerful as the audience contemplate the turmoil going on in Paul and Adriana's behind their painted smiles. If you have trouble with excessive subtitles (the intimate conversations are quite involved), you will struggle here, but those who can speed-read will find a subtly powerful film. 7.5/10
Upperdog (Nor) (site)
The lives of several twentysomethings come together as events ensure their paths cross. Too young to shoulder his memories, Per returns home to his family from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, only to leave them again for a distant university, his army career cut short after being photographed with the end of his rifle inches from the face of a terrified child. Withdrawn, he finds the first few weeks away in his student flat to be slow and isolating. In the local Chinese restaurant across the street, student friends Maria and Yanne work part time for a bit of cash as waitresses, Yanne a quiet and reserved woman, adopted after a family breakup in China. Maria is outgoing and free-spirited, and holds down a second job as the cleaner at the house of a wealthy family, whose son Axel is a conceited and clumsy mummys boy, living comfortably at his parents' expense and generally being an arse in the marketing company where he works, a place that just happens to employ the woman who took Per's infamous picture, now being splashed all over the papers.
It takes the inquisitive nose of Maria to make the connection between Yanne and the asian-looking Axel, who notices they both have in their possession the same picture of when they were young, although Axel's is missing half of it that tells him he has a sister. As the four slowly get closer to each other, the inevitable surely happens.
Although there are few twists, this doesn't stop Upperdog from having a meaty storyline and thus being very entertaining, with good chunks of humour, empathy and emotion that never gets cloy or feels forced. All the main actors give great performances, and the exiting crowd from the cinema was abuzz talking about it afterwards. A really good film with a beautiful classical score, particularly recommended as a date movie with a little more meat on the bones than the usual ones. 8/10
Thirty-something Paul has a beautiful wife and daughter who he loves very much. Unfortunately he's carrying on with the local dentist, Raluca. Brazenly, he continues with both lives with a carefree attitude; Raluca is well aware of the situation and doesn't seem to mind, and wife Adriana is oblivious to his capers, trusting him implicitly with tales of working at unseasonable hours or weekends. It's a situation that the movie cannot allow to go on forever, and eventually, after a tension-packed time at the dentists where wife and lover talk about her daughters' dental options right in front of him, Raluca's subtle hints to make his mind up make more sense than ever and force him into a hastily made decision.
As a study of the point at which a relationship forcibly breaks, this film is one of the most powerful examples. The several extended single take scenes prior to the big one are slow and deliberate, often charged with a sexual, vengeful or deceitful undercurrent, but it's the break-up scene, filmed in a single take and loosely scripted to allow the actors to keep the situation spontaneous, which is the most powerful and compelling. The post-bombshell family Christmas get-together is not noticeably different from early scenes in terms of outward action, but much more powerful as the audience contemplate the turmoil going on in Paul and Adriana's behind their painted smiles. If you have trouble with excessive subtitles (the intimate conversations are quite involved), you will struggle here, but those who can speed-read will find a subtly powerful film. 7.5/10
Upperdog (Nor) (site)
The lives of several twentysomethings come together as events ensure their paths cross. Too young to shoulder his memories, Per returns home to his family from a tour of duty in Afghanistan, only to leave them again for a distant university, his army career cut short after being photographed with the end of his rifle inches from the face of a terrified child. Withdrawn, he finds the first few weeks away in his student flat to be slow and isolating. In the local Chinese restaurant across the street, student friends Maria and Yanne work part time for a bit of cash as waitresses, Yanne a quiet and reserved woman, adopted after a family breakup in China. Maria is outgoing and free-spirited, and holds down a second job as the cleaner at the house of a wealthy family, whose son Axel is a conceited and clumsy mummys boy, living comfortably at his parents' expense and generally being an arse in the marketing company where he works, a place that just happens to employ the woman who took Per's infamous picture, now being splashed all over the papers.
It takes the inquisitive nose of Maria to make the connection between Yanne and the asian-looking Axel, who notices they both have in their possession the same picture of when they were young, although Axel's is missing half of it that tells him he has a sister. As the four slowly get closer to each other, the inevitable surely happens.
Although there are few twists, this doesn't stop Upperdog from having a meaty storyline and thus being very entertaining, with good chunks of humour, empathy and emotion that never gets cloy or feels forced. All the main actors give great performances, and the exiting crowd from the cinema was abuzz talking about it afterwards. A really good film with a beautiful classical score, particularly recommended as a date movie with a little more meat on the bones than the usual ones. 8/10
Leeds Film Festival 2010: Day 7
Kitchen Stories (Nor/Swe) (wiki)
Based loosely on actual events, Kitchen Stories is about the attempts by a highly-respected interior designer to collect information about the habits of single men in their kitchens, so that new technology and better layout can improve the lives of the inhabitants.
Volunteer observers are paired up with subjects and sent all over Norway to gather data. Folke is one such observer and is shipped off to the snowy countryside with a caravan and a tennis umpires chair, with which to observe his subject. Isak is not for being observed, however and even once he has accepted him over the threshold, works hard to ensure that no useful data is recorded on his habits. Slowly, however the dirty tricks are exhausted and a peace offering marks the beginning of a friendship between the two, something that goes against the natural distrust between Norwegians and Swedes, and expressly forbidden by the organisers for fear of corrupting the results. When Isak's friend finds himself ignored in favour of the new impostor, jealousy threatens to mess everything up.
Kitchen Stories is just about the most gently humorous film I have seen at a festival, the pace never gathering more than the bare minimum momentum, it reserves plenty of time for the icy stand-off to melt and a genuine warmth to replace it. You don't get massive belly-laughs here, just a steady trickle of chuckles and a nice cosy feeling inside. 7.5/10
Plastic Planet (Aus/Ger) (wiki)
This may or may not be the first film by director Werner Boote, but it's clear he needs to get someone to do the narration for him, as his attempt sounded robotic and unnatural, like a first year film student. I think this is because English is not his first language and he has narrated it in German first so maybe I'm being a bit harsh here. He is clearly trying to follow in the footsteps of the big guns of the investigative documentary field such as Michael Moore, and while there are indications of good investigative film-making here, it all feels a bit wooden and forced, especially when he starts to give over the top reactions to some of the things his interviewees say.
That's a shame, because there is a number of aspects to the plastic industry that Boote uncovers, such as the massive turnover of the major players, their reluctance to share the process of making the plastics, and just how they test that the plastics will not contaminate food when used to make containers. Perhaps the most unsettling piece shows what 15 minutes of trawling a stretch of ocean picks up in a fine filter - a thin film of plastic; decomposing pieces that are small enough for fish to eat and therefore enter the food chain, and given the number of chemicals present and the range of plastic recipes out there, it's a mess that the industry is trying to avoid cleaning up.
If you can put up with the dry facts and corny one-liners that Boote squeezes in between the less interesting facts about plastics, you'll find a low-budget documentary with plenty of important issues raised. Just don't expect to be enthralled. 6/10
Short and Sweet at Leeds
Short and Sweet are a small clique of people in London who meet every monday night and share the latest short films picked from around the world, and have been doing for the last 5 years. For the first (and hopefully not last) time they have been invited to be part of the Leeds Film Festival.
They had 8 short films playing this time around, and people were invited to the Nation of Shopkeepers to watch them for free.
Fast Film (Aus) - Director Virgil Widrich makes original use of a hundred or so classic movies. Rip them apart and create a whole new film, with the good guys versus the bad in an epic train ride towards oblivion. Another of those films where you can spend ages picking apart all the references. 7.5/10
Let Go (UK) - A video to accompany the song by The Japanese Popstars, Let Go is a psychadelic mind trip very similar indeed to yesterdays' Love and Theft. 7.5/10
Nuit Blanche (Fra) - A very simple but effective film. A man and a woman lock eyes and fall instantly in love, and nothing is going to stop them from getting together. The slow motion effects of their short but action-packed journey is as beautiful as the haunting piano/violin accompaniment. 8/10
A Family Portrait (UK) - A 2+2 family wait patiently for the photographer to take their pictures, although mum and dad clearly have some frustrations simmering just below the surface. Perhaps a pillow fight might help, thinks the photographer? Animated using a rotoscoping technique, the faces of the characters are stretched and skewed to accentuate their inner feelings and the masks they use to hide them. 7.5/10
Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs Inc (UK) - A unique take on Beat Boxing, where dismembered heads make music on scratch turntables. Just long enough for the funniness of it all to last. 7.5/10
Cherry on the Cake (UK) - Daughter Cherry goes missing on her birthday, putting her family in hysterics. They don't realise it was their own actions that made her shrink until she has almost disappeared. A lively, energetic animation. 7/10
Coachella (UK) - The annual music festival is captured in speeded up footage, using a special filming technique called Tilt-Shift that makes the subject matter appear as if it is a miniature model of the real thing. A fascinating little film. 7.5/10
My Mom Smokes Weed (US) - A darkly funny film about a young man and his mother who visit a drug den so she can buy some weed to smoke. Nervous politeness kicks in as mother and son end up between drug dealers on a wipe-clean couch. 7.5/10
Based loosely on actual events, Kitchen Stories is about the attempts by a highly-respected interior designer to collect information about the habits of single men in their kitchens, so that new technology and better layout can improve the lives of the inhabitants.
Volunteer observers are paired up with subjects and sent all over Norway to gather data. Folke is one such observer and is shipped off to the snowy countryside with a caravan and a tennis umpires chair, with which to observe his subject. Isak is not for being observed, however and even once he has accepted him over the threshold, works hard to ensure that no useful data is recorded on his habits. Slowly, however the dirty tricks are exhausted and a peace offering marks the beginning of a friendship between the two, something that goes against the natural distrust between Norwegians and Swedes, and expressly forbidden by the organisers for fear of corrupting the results. When Isak's friend finds himself ignored in favour of the new impostor, jealousy threatens to mess everything up.
Kitchen Stories is just about the most gently humorous film I have seen at a festival, the pace never gathering more than the bare minimum momentum, it reserves plenty of time for the icy stand-off to melt and a genuine warmth to replace it. You don't get massive belly-laughs here, just a steady trickle of chuckles and a nice cosy feeling inside. 7.5/10
Plastic Planet (Aus/Ger) (wiki)
This may or may not be the first film by director Werner Boote, but it's clear he needs to get someone to do the narration for him, as his attempt sounded robotic and unnatural, like a first year film student. I think this is because English is not his first language and he has narrated it in German first so maybe I'm being a bit harsh here. He is clearly trying to follow in the footsteps of the big guns of the investigative documentary field such as Michael Moore, and while there are indications of good investigative film-making here, it all feels a bit wooden and forced, especially when he starts to give over the top reactions to some of the things his interviewees say.
That's a shame, because there is a number of aspects to the plastic industry that Boote uncovers, such as the massive turnover of the major players, their reluctance to share the process of making the plastics, and just how they test that the plastics will not contaminate food when used to make containers. Perhaps the most unsettling piece shows what 15 minutes of trawling a stretch of ocean picks up in a fine filter - a thin film of plastic; decomposing pieces that are small enough for fish to eat and therefore enter the food chain, and given the number of chemicals present and the range of plastic recipes out there, it's a mess that the industry is trying to avoid cleaning up.
If you can put up with the dry facts and corny one-liners that Boote squeezes in between the less interesting facts about plastics, you'll find a low-budget documentary with plenty of important issues raised. Just don't expect to be enthralled. 6/10
Short and Sweet at Leeds
Short and Sweet are a small clique of people in London who meet every monday night and share the latest short films picked from around the world, and have been doing for the last 5 years. For the first (and hopefully not last) time they have been invited to be part of the Leeds Film Festival.
They had 8 short films playing this time around, and people were invited to the Nation of Shopkeepers to watch them for free.
Fast Film (Aus) - Director Virgil Widrich makes original use of a hundred or so classic movies. Rip them apart and create a whole new film, with the good guys versus the bad in an epic train ride towards oblivion. Another of those films where you can spend ages picking apart all the references. 7.5/10
Let Go (UK) - A video to accompany the song by The Japanese Popstars, Let Go is a psychadelic mind trip very similar indeed to yesterdays' Love and Theft. 7.5/10
Nuit Blanche (Fra) - A very simple but effective film. A man and a woman lock eyes and fall instantly in love, and nothing is going to stop them from getting together. The slow motion effects of their short but action-packed journey is as beautiful as the haunting piano/violin accompaniment. 8/10
A Family Portrait (UK) - A 2+2 family wait patiently for the photographer to take their pictures, although mum and dad clearly have some frustrations simmering just below the surface. Perhaps a pillow fight might help, thinks the photographer? Animated using a rotoscoping technique, the faces of the characters are stretched and skewed to accentuate their inner feelings and the masks they use to hide them. 7.5/10
Neurosonics Audiomedical Labs Inc (UK) - A unique take on Beat Boxing, where dismembered heads make music on scratch turntables. Just long enough for the funniness of it all to last. 7.5/10
Cherry on the Cake (UK) - Daughter Cherry goes missing on her birthday, putting her family in hysterics. They don't realise it was their own actions that made her shrink until she has almost disappeared. A lively, energetic animation. 7/10
Coachella (UK) - The annual music festival is captured in speeded up footage, using a special filming technique called Tilt-Shift that makes the subject matter appear as if it is a miniature model of the real thing. A fascinating little film. 7.5/10
My Mom Smokes Weed (US) - A darkly funny film about a young man and his mother who visit a drug den so she can buy some weed to smoke. Nervous politeness kicks in as mother and son end up between drug dealers on a wipe-clean couch. 7.5/10
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