Day 5
The Secret of the Grain (2007) -- Having recently seen Abdel Kechiche in an excellent film from 2005, Sorry, Haters, with Robin Wright Penn, I was keen to see his newest directorial effort that's been getting excellent reviews on the film festival circuit. The film has received distribution, so it's my own fault for seeing it in the film festival setting as the namby pamby haute cinema crowd was, predictably, like a pack of desperate vultures swooping upon carrion that's had several ripe days in the sun. However, I wasn't disappointed, and was quite impressed. A drawn out, and increasingly intense drama about an immigrant family in a French port town, the story centers around Slimane, a 60ish shipyard worker who is suddenly laid off work. Supporting a divorced wife and a rather large extended family, not to mention a new girlfriend and her daughter that's also, basically, become his own, Slimane buys a beaten down boat in hopes to open a restaurant that serves fish couscous. Centering the film is an excellent performance from Hafsia Herzi, playing Slimane's adopted daughter who struggles (along with the rest of his family) to help make the boat restaurant a reality, while the family is plagued with untimely setbacks. Reminiscent in tone of Death of a Salesman, (but with a family not nearly as helpless or pathetic), the film feeds the discomfort until the very last shot, a stark but realistic conclusion to a film depicting hope for a better life, but struggle and failure at the same time.
Mermaid (2007) -- Yes, the film I missed the first several minutes of. But it was excellent, nonetheless, and I am hopeful for a DVD release somewhere. Director Anna Melikyan gives us a vibrant and refreshing update on a Russian mermaid legend, Rusalka (which means mermaid). If you liked Amelie (2001), I'm sure you'd fall in love with this film, about a young woman, Alisa, from a rather strange family who lives by the beach, moves to Moscow and falls in love with a handsome, but depressed drunk, and is involved in a number of strange and bizarre scenarios throughout. Love the music, the performances and the film's energy. See it even if you have to miss the first few minutes.
Day 6
I Am From Titov Veles (2007) -- The first film I have ever seen from Macedonia sounded a bit more intriguing than it actually was. Concerning a mute heroine, Afrodita, and her two dysfunctional sisters, Sapho (who actually sleeps with quite a few men) and the drug addicted Slavica, the film shows us (yes, yes, very poetically) the desolate, desperate life of the residents of Titov Veles, a town where the local steel factory is quietly poisoning its residents. Though all three sisters are interesting in their own respects, our main character is the least so, and it's never quite explained why she's mute or does any number of the other strange things she does. Slavica and Sapho both end up leaving Afrodita alone, who is unable to take care of herself, as the film dips into a strange fellatio scene that reminded me of Repulsion (1965) while at the same time, tries to give us a 3 Women (1977) type vibe, but not really coming close. Not a disappointing film by any means, but one that seems to be all about the fragile female psyche, poisoned (perhaps) by a bitter cultural history of a displaced people. It's better than Erin Brockovich (2000), but I wanted more Oomph.
Day 7
Lemon Tree (2008) -- One of the best films at the festival and one of the best I've seen this year was this new film from Eran Riklis (The Syrian Bride - 2004). I've been quite impressed with some of Israel's recent cinematic outputs and I loved this one---a political story that centers around the gorgeous and wonderful actress Hiam Abbass, who plays Salma, a Palestinian widow who has the bad luck to have the new Israeli Defense Minister move in next door, demanding she cut down her grove of lemon trees which she inherited from her father and also happen to be her only source of income. What ensues is a bitter struggle with a court system that makes me more thankful for ours, and an extremely moving portrayal of a woman put upon by both parties. An extremely compelling and excellent feature, made all the more moving by the elegant and devastating performance by Hiam Abbass. Yeah, she made me feel bad.
Day 8
Lo (2008) -- An interesting sophomoric effort on a shoestring budget from Travis Betz (Joshua - 2006, and not the evil child drama with Sam Rockwell) concerns our protagonist, Justin, and his bad luck to fall in love with April, who happens to be a demon. When April is abducted back to hell, Justin calls upon the demon Lo from a spell book April had given him but warned him to burn if something ever happened to her. What follows is a generally pleasing re-cap of the couples' relationship relayed through Justin's conversation with the demon (who had some rather impressive makeup) spliced with a song and dance number and several other low-cost impressive moments. However, where Lo suffers the most is in the acting department---the demon is pretty good, but the actors playing Justin and April (Ward Roberts, Sarah Lassez) come off as pretty forced, and they act like, well, they're in a low budget film. Kudos to Lo, however. I'd recommend it others. The most intriguing aspect of the film is the fact that April really isn't a woman, as gender "is a human cage," as the film puts it. Horror, as a genre, often gets to play with subversive themes of sexuality, and it's an interesting dynamic here (also in Let the Right One In). Our male protagonist is in love with something that technically doesn't have a vagina. Hmmm...
Zombies of Mass Destruction (2008) -- Speaking of gays in the horror genre, this feature debut from Kevin Hamedani is an excellent zombie satire, with, finally, a gay couple featured as our heroes. Though extremely tongue-in-cheek and relying on humorous skewering of racist attitudes (Romero's films are all about capitalism, after all) the film tells the story of zombie infestation in Port Gamble, Washington. The film is actually about the fears of same sex marriage and also American's fears post 9/11 (apparently a few scenarios are hyperbolized incidents the director experience or heard about after 9/11). I love it when the personal gets political. And it's still a timely issue, especially concerning depictions of homosexuals in cinema, and here's an excellent use of the horror genre---a political message hiding in the guise of an indie horror film. With today's onslaught of mindless cinema, I forget what that's like sometimes. Oh, but what a treat. Excellent feature. See it if you can. It looks like a remake is already in the works.
Day 9
The Investigator (2008) -- The handful of Hungarian films I've seen make me think Hungary is a dark, dark place where they send bad, bad fairies. While not the most depressing cinema I've seen, they certainly have a corner on bleak (I actually sat through a screening of Bela Tarr's Satan's Tango - 1994 in a theater---that's 7 1/2 hours of bleaky bleakness). But the synopsis of The Investigator intrigued me, concerning a mortuary assistant, Tibor, who, to get some quick cash to pay for a surgery his mother desperately needs, he takes up on offer to commit a murder. Come to find, the man he kills is actaully his half brother. To discover why he was hired to kill his half brother, he decides to investigate. What ensues is a noirish tangle of events that becomes a rather dark comedy. Zsolt Anger's performance as Tibor is quite excellent, for as emotionless as his character is, one ends up beginning to be amused by him and hopes he gets away with murder. The film might seem to lag a little bit in the middle, but certainly is worth a look, especially considering it is the first feature length film from Attila Galambos.
Day 10
Moon (2008) -- The first feature from Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) came to the festival, and though it's receiving a bit of attention and will be released in theaters next month, I wanted to hear Jones speak after the film (one of the few filmmakers to grace Minneapolis with their presence). An impressive debut, considering the only person onscreen is basically Sam Rockwell, an astronaut collecting energy resources on the moon on a 3 year contract, whose only interaction is with computer, Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Set a mere two weeks before he is scheduled to return to Earth, shit hits the fan when Rockwell discovers another version of himself on an outing, which may or may not be his replacement. Regardless, with a dawning horror, both men come to realize what's going on, and just what it means to have your contract expire. The film, overall, is quite good. Perhaps a little slow, a beautiful score, gorgeous cinematography and an exceptional performance from Rockwell more than overcome any pacing problems. I came away feeling a bit down, the film's really quite depressing, but an excellent piece of sci-fi.
The Home of Dark Butterflies (2008) -- A beautiful to watch, albeit melodramatic feature, The Home of Dark Butterflies was the Finnish Oscar submission for Best Foreign Film. Deemed a lost cause delinquent since he was a small child, our protagonist Juhani is sent to a boy's reformatory school on an island. Juhani (Niilo Syvaoja) is supposed to be about 13, and the other boys are around the same age, yet many of them look to be nearing 20. Juhani is introduced to the headmaster, Olavi (played by Tommi Korpela, apparently a big deal in his native region, though I thought he looked eerily similar to the creepy Willem Dafoe), who we assume will turn out to be a Grade A asshole, but really turns out to be a swell guy. Through flashback we come to find out why Juhani, seemingly mild mannered, has been put through the foster system even though his parents are still alive. So as not to ruin any specific twists, I won't reference why here, however, the film tends to grapple with way too many heavy handed issues (suicide, adultery, infanticide, murder). And when the reform school loses funding, Olavi gets the idea to sell silk via silk worm butterflies (of the title!) whose unhatched eggs come to symbolize the boys on the island. Though not entirely hopeless and certainly not without humanity, the film tells a decent yarn about redemption and perseverance.
Last Day
The Chaser (2008) -- An excellent, impressive and edge of your seat debut from South Korea's Na Hong-jin, The Chaser, upsettingly, is already set to be remade for English speaking audiences, which is quite a shame, considering there is absolutely nothing wrong with this work. Joong-ho, a police detective turned pimp is trying to find out where several of his girls have disappeared to. Assuming they have been abducted and sold into sex trafficking or they've simply run away, the film rather quickly develops into a thrilling chase as Joong-ho follows Mi-Jin, a prostitute working for him, and discovers a serial killer has been disposing of the women. What ensues is a film that is difficult to sit through due to some extremely well developed, nail-biting tension. I loved it! Interestingly, I found a lot of the attitude about the extremely inept South Korean police force to be parallel to the 80's set Memories of Murder (2003) by Bong Joon-ho. And Kim Yun-seok, who plays Joong-ho in The Chaser has to be the most likeable pimp you'll ever root for, at least in anything I can recall at the moment. Certain to get a wider release stateside, I can't wait to see more from this director.
Apron Strings (2008) -- As my last film at the festival, I was pleased at this new offering from New Zealand, Apron Strings, which juxtaposes two families and their slightly intertwining dynamics. A white family which consists of a mother, her deadbeat son, estranged pregnant daughter and her kindly old mother, and a Muslim family, consisting of two estranged sisters, one of whom is a famous chef on television, and whose gay son treks out to discover his long lost aunt. However, said aunt has some issues with the sister that ran away with her white husband and got pregnant, and then really has some issues with the nephew being gay. An interesting critique of religion, racism, and views on sexuality in New Zealand, I quite enjoyed this first feature length debut from Sima Urale, even if it leaned on the saccharine side sometimes. And actress Laila Rouass, who plays Anita, the chef, is one of the most gorgeous women I've seen in film.
The Secret of the Grain (2007) -- Having recently seen Abdel Kechiche in an excellent film from 2005, Sorry, Haters, with Robin Wright Penn, I was keen to see his newest directorial effort that's been getting excellent reviews on the film festival circuit. The film has received distribution, so it's my own fault for seeing it in the film festival setting as the namby pamby haute cinema crowd was, predictably, like a pack of desperate vultures swooping upon carrion that's had several ripe days in the sun. However, I wasn't disappointed, and was quite impressed. A drawn out, and increasingly intense drama about an immigrant family in a French port town, the story centers around Slimane, a 60ish shipyard worker who is suddenly laid off work. Supporting a divorced wife and a rather large extended family, not to mention a new girlfriend and her daughter that's also, basically, become his own, Slimane buys a beaten down boat in hopes to open a restaurant that serves fish couscous. Centering the film is an excellent performance from Hafsia Herzi, playing Slimane's adopted daughter who struggles (along with the rest of his family) to help make the boat restaurant a reality, while the family is plagued with untimely setbacks. Reminiscent in tone of Death of a Salesman, (but with a family not nearly as helpless or pathetic), the film feeds the discomfort until the very last shot, a stark but realistic conclusion to a film depicting hope for a better life, but struggle and failure at the same time.
Mermaid (2007) -- Yes, the film I missed the first several minutes of. But it was excellent, nonetheless, and I am hopeful for a DVD release somewhere. Director Anna Melikyan gives us a vibrant and refreshing update on a Russian mermaid legend, Rusalka (which means mermaid). If you liked Amelie (2001), I'm sure you'd fall in love with this film, about a young woman, Alisa, from a rather strange family who lives by the beach, moves to Moscow and falls in love with a handsome, but depressed drunk, and is involved in a number of strange and bizarre scenarios throughout. Love the music, the performances and the film's energy. See it even if you have to miss the first few minutes.
Day 6
I Am From Titov Veles (2007) -- The first film I have ever seen from Macedonia sounded a bit more intriguing than it actually was. Concerning a mute heroine, Afrodita, and her two dysfunctional sisters, Sapho (who actually sleeps with quite a few men) and the drug addicted Slavica, the film shows us (yes, yes, very poetically) the desolate, desperate life of the residents of Titov Veles, a town where the local steel factory is quietly poisoning its residents. Though all three sisters are interesting in their own respects, our main character is the least so, and it's never quite explained why she's mute or does any number of the other strange things she does. Slavica and Sapho both end up leaving Afrodita alone, who is unable to take care of herself, as the film dips into a strange fellatio scene that reminded me of Repulsion (1965) while at the same time, tries to give us a 3 Women (1977) type vibe, but not really coming close. Not a disappointing film by any means, but one that seems to be all about the fragile female psyche, poisoned (perhaps) by a bitter cultural history of a displaced people. It's better than Erin Brockovich (2000), but I wanted more Oomph.
Day 7
Lemon Tree (2008) -- One of the best films at the festival and one of the best I've seen this year was this new film from Eran Riklis (The Syrian Bride - 2004). I've been quite impressed with some of Israel's recent cinematic outputs and I loved this one---a political story that centers around the gorgeous and wonderful actress Hiam Abbass, who plays Salma, a Palestinian widow who has the bad luck to have the new Israeli Defense Minister move in next door, demanding she cut down her grove of lemon trees which she inherited from her father and also happen to be her only source of income. What ensues is a bitter struggle with a court system that makes me more thankful for ours, and an extremely moving portrayal of a woman put upon by both parties. An extremely compelling and excellent feature, made all the more moving by the elegant and devastating performance by Hiam Abbass. Yeah, she made me feel bad.
Day 8
Lo (2008) -- An interesting sophomoric effort on a shoestring budget from Travis Betz (Joshua - 2006, and not the evil child drama with Sam Rockwell) concerns our protagonist, Justin, and his bad luck to fall in love with April, who happens to be a demon. When April is abducted back to hell, Justin calls upon the demon Lo from a spell book April had given him but warned him to burn if something ever happened to her. What follows is a generally pleasing re-cap of the couples' relationship relayed through Justin's conversation with the demon (who had some rather impressive makeup) spliced with a song and dance number and several other low-cost impressive moments. However, where Lo suffers the most is in the acting department---the demon is pretty good, but the actors playing Justin and April (Ward Roberts, Sarah Lassez) come off as pretty forced, and they act like, well, they're in a low budget film. Kudos to Lo, however. I'd recommend it others. The most intriguing aspect of the film is the fact that April really isn't a woman, as gender "is a human cage," as the film puts it. Horror, as a genre, often gets to play with subversive themes of sexuality, and it's an interesting dynamic here (also in Let the Right One In). Our male protagonist is in love with something that technically doesn't have a vagina. Hmmm...
Zombies of Mass Destruction (2008) -- Speaking of gays in the horror genre, this feature debut from Kevin Hamedani is an excellent zombie satire, with, finally, a gay couple featured as our heroes. Though extremely tongue-in-cheek and relying on humorous skewering of racist attitudes (Romero's films are all about capitalism, after all) the film tells the story of zombie infestation in Port Gamble, Washington. The film is actually about the fears of same sex marriage and also American's fears post 9/11 (apparently a few scenarios are hyperbolized incidents the director experience or heard about after 9/11). I love it when the personal gets political. And it's still a timely issue, especially concerning depictions of homosexuals in cinema, and here's an excellent use of the horror genre---a political message hiding in the guise of an indie horror film. With today's onslaught of mindless cinema, I forget what that's like sometimes. Oh, but what a treat. Excellent feature. See it if you can. It looks like a remake is already in the works.
Day 9
The Investigator (2008) -- The handful of Hungarian films I've seen make me think Hungary is a dark, dark place where they send bad, bad fairies. While not the most depressing cinema I've seen, they certainly have a corner on bleak (I actually sat through a screening of Bela Tarr's Satan's Tango - 1994 in a theater---that's 7 1/2 hours of bleaky bleakness). But the synopsis of The Investigator intrigued me, concerning a mortuary assistant, Tibor, who, to get some quick cash to pay for a surgery his mother desperately needs, he takes up on offer to commit a murder. Come to find, the man he kills is actaully his half brother. To discover why he was hired to kill his half brother, he decides to investigate. What ensues is a noirish tangle of events that becomes a rather dark comedy. Zsolt Anger's performance as Tibor is quite excellent, for as emotionless as his character is, one ends up beginning to be amused by him and hopes he gets away with murder. The film might seem to lag a little bit in the middle, but certainly is worth a look, especially considering it is the first feature length film from Attila Galambos.
Day 10
Moon (2008) -- The first feature from Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie) came to the festival, and though it's receiving a bit of attention and will be released in theaters next month, I wanted to hear Jones speak after the film (one of the few filmmakers to grace Minneapolis with their presence). An impressive debut, considering the only person onscreen is basically Sam Rockwell, an astronaut collecting energy resources on the moon on a 3 year contract, whose only interaction is with computer, Gerty (voiced by Kevin Spacey). Set a mere two weeks before he is scheduled to return to Earth, shit hits the fan when Rockwell discovers another version of himself on an outing, which may or may not be his replacement. Regardless, with a dawning horror, both men come to realize what's going on, and just what it means to have your contract expire. The film, overall, is quite good. Perhaps a little slow, a beautiful score, gorgeous cinematography and an exceptional performance from Rockwell more than overcome any pacing problems. I came away feeling a bit down, the film's really quite depressing, but an excellent piece of sci-fi.
The Home of Dark Butterflies (2008) -- A beautiful to watch, albeit melodramatic feature, The Home of Dark Butterflies was the Finnish Oscar submission for Best Foreign Film. Deemed a lost cause delinquent since he was a small child, our protagonist Juhani is sent to a boy's reformatory school on an island. Juhani (Niilo Syvaoja) is supposed to be about 13, and the other boys are around the same age, yet many of them look to be nearing 20. Juhani is introduced to the headmaster, Olavi (played by Tommi Korpela, apparently a big deal in his native region, though I thought he looked eerily similar to the creepy Willem Dafoe), who we assume will turn out to be a Grade A asshole, but really turns out to be a swell guy. Through flashback we come to find out why Juhani, seemingly mild mannered, has been put through the foster system even though his parents are still alive. So as not to ruin any specific twists, I won't reference why here, however, the film tends to grapple with way too many heavy handed issues (suicide, adultery, infanticide, murder). And when the reform school loses funding, Olavi gets the idea to sell silk via silk worm butterflies (of the title!) whose unhatched eggs come to symbolize the boys on the island. Though not entirely hopeless and certainly not without humanity, the film tells a decent yarn about redemption and perseverance.
Last Day
The Chaser (2008) -- An excellent, impressive and edge of your seat debut from South Korea's Na Hong-jin, The Chaser, upsettingly, is already set to be remade for English speaking audiences, which is quite a shame, considering there is absolutely nothing wrong with this work. Joong-ho, a police detective turned pimp is trying to find out where several of his girls have disappeared to. Assuming they have been abducted and sold into sex trafficking or they've simply run away, the film rather quickly develops into a thrilling chase as Joong-ho follows Mi-Jin, a prostitute working for him, and discovers a serial killer has been disposing of the women. What ensues is a film that is difficult to sit through due to some extremely well developed, nail-biting tension. I loved it! Interestingly, I found a lot of the attitude about the extremely inept South Korean police force to be parallel to the 80's set Memories of Murder (2003) by Bong Joon-ho. And Kim Yun-seok, who plays Joong-ho in The Chaser has to be the most likeable pimp you'll ever root for, at least in anything I can recall at the moment. Certain to get a wider release stateside, I can't wait to see more from this director.
Apron Strings (2008) -- As my last film at the festival, I was pleased at this new offering from New Zealand, Apron Strings, which juxtaposes two families and their slightly intertwining dynamics. A white family which consists of a mother, her deadbeat son, estranged pregnant daughter and her kindly old mother, and a Muslim family, consisting of two estranged sisters, one of whom is a famous chef on television, and whose gay son treks out to discover his long lost aunt. However, said aunt has some issues with the sister that ran away with her white husband and got pregnant, and then really has some issues with the nephew being gay. An interesting critique of religion, racism, and views on sexuality in New Zealand, I quite enjoyed this first feature length debut from Sima Urale, even if it leaned on the saccharine side sometimes. And actress Laila Rouass, who plays Anita, the chef, is one of the most gorgeous women I've seen in film.
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