The SIFF Diaries, Part Two
I probably slept less than two hours last night, waking up early to bring my stack of namecards to the printers' so I can collect them later today. More on that later.
Let's continue with the (lacklustre) fest, shall we?
Fri 21 Apr
Shooting Dogs (UK/Germany)
Basically, Hotel Rwanda set in a Catholic school. Like most films made about Africa by the West, it takes a white man's POV, namely that of a young teacher who spends much of his time moping around and freaking out. While I felt Hotel was more forceful and graphic about its depiction of the Rwandan genocide, Dogs gets bonus points for shooting in the actual locations featured and for including survivors of the killings in the cast and crew. Just try to keep a stoic face when you see their pictures and bios in the credits.
John Hurt gives a powerful performance as the priest and head of the school (I would've sworn it was Ian McKellen, but maybe all skinny old white men look alike to me - reverse racism? Ha!), and since it is set in a Catholic school, religion rears its (ugly) head often. However, its used tastefully, and it was interesting to see how the characters tried to reconcile their faith with the horrors that were going on around them. And of course, sometimes they snap. Hurt's priest, after returning from a shattering trip outside the school grounds, is told by the UN commander that they are about to start shooting the dogs that have been eating the bodies of victims outside the fences as a health measure. This from a peacekeeping force that has refused to fire on the Hutu aggressors unless fired upon. Incredulity and anguish written consuming him, the priest launches into an almost hysterical torrent of abuse. I have to say that those were some of the most powerful uses of the word "fuck" I have heard in a while.
Dogs also bravely goes into territory Hotel doesn't, when it comes to the West's apathy towards the genocide. A British reporter tells of how when she was in Bosnia she cried everyday, because when she saw the dead white women she felt it could've been her. But in Rwanda, they're just dead Africans. It's tragic, but unfortunately very true. And fingers are pointed directly at the UN for not doing more "peacekeeping" instead of spending their effort and resources protecting citizens of the West. In a little throwaway sequence that's remarkably powerful, an African man is prevented from joining his Caucasian wife on the truck carrying Westerners to safety. Simultaneously, a dog is carefully lifted onto the same truck. A little blunt? Perhaps. But effective, nonetheless.
Comparisons are inevitable, and ultimately pointless. Both films deal with the genocide, and are but different stories within the same tragedy. Together, they paint a more complete picture of the horror that was Rwanda.
Sat 22 Apr
Short Films About the Tsunami (Thailand)
I should've read the program more carefully before going to this one. I somehow didn't see that it was by experimental artists and video/filmmakers. I hate experimental film in general, so I had an absolutely awful time. I find it inexcusable that because it's supposedly experimental, it means that you don't have to bother about exposure, focus and other trivial things like that. And after all of that, putting a "cinematography" credit there is completely unjustifiable. You might as well have gotten a chimpanzee to shoot it. And of course there were the usual masturbatory entries, some more literal than the others.
Still, there was a beautifully shot film, apparently shot on a Panasonic HD camera. Unfortunately it also featured a ten-minute shot of a crippled boy walking along the shoreline. I was amazed I didn't fall asleep. He then proceeds to change a long line of red flags into green ones (or is it the other way round?), and finally gets in a boat shaped liked a swan. I'm sure that symbolism runneth over, but somehow I get the impression that if I were Thai I would've gotten much more from it.
Apparently there was another one that was a rather pointed indictment of the supposed "aid" that villagers got, but I was asleep and missed it. According to my companion, a villager said in his interview that the help would only be given if they renounced their religion and converted to Christianity. They were worried about losing their culture and heritage, and refused. They did not get the aid.
This is completely appalling. What kind of fucking assholes would do something like that? How can you look yourself in the mirror and think that you're doing God's work? Shouldn't it be about caring and loving everyone, regardless of their belief? These are people who've been stricken by a disaster, for crying out loud. It disgusts me.
Mozartbrot (Mozartbread) (Germany)
In the near future (or is it recent past?), Germany's chief export is its people. Artists and other such useless, unproductive people are cheap exports to labor-intensive factories and farms in Asia. A young female clarinet player charms a young man working in a bakery, and love blossoms. And there is much eating of bread. Rather amusing, if forgettable.
Gourmet Club (Finland)
A TV movie made in Finland, of all places, and having in the cast Michael Badalucco (The Practice) as a master chef. Finally, a movie at the festival that made me laugh out loud, and rather often, too.
A doctor belongs to an exclusive Gourmet Club, where members take turns providing a secret ingredient and wagering to guess what it is. The good doctor is in trouble, running up debts due to bad investments and the like, and is pressurized from all sides. So when its his turn, he desperately uses the one ingredient he has unlimited access to... One that he removes from children almost on a daily basis... And one that strangely enough, has an incredibly aphrodisiacal effect on everyone...
Loads of fun, and while at times I could tell it was shot on video, the effect was negligible, and stuff still looked good. Well, anything would look good after the experimental crap I'd just seen.
Sun 23 Apr
Iraq, My Country - An Exile's Return to Samawa (Australia/Iraq)
Documentary portraying the lives of ordinary people living in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. While it does give some insight into their lives, it seems more like a collage of images and scenes than anything with a coherent argument. And I fell asleep again.
Tinnsoldatene (Tin Soldiers) (Norway)
While it means well, somehow, ultimately it isn't as hard-hitting as it should have been. There's nothing wrong with it, just that with a little something extra it could've been amazing.
The Sex of Self Hatred (Canada)
Aargh! Experimental film! About some Jewish writer I don't know and don't give a fuck about! Done in an artsy retro early 20th century style!
Cowards Bend the Knee (Canada)
I've been wanting to see a Guy Maddin film for a while, and while I'm surprised that this 2003 film is only just now making its festival rounds here, I was still eager to check it out.
Made in an early 1900's style (I'd really like to know what processes he used on his film) and filled with intrigue, incest, jealousy, murder, and all that good stuff, Cowards is so jam-packed with content and style, it's almost criminal. The plot takes off in every direction imaginable, and while you need the patience to sit through it, it's quite easily the coolest entry I've seen at the festival this year.
The melodramatic excesses are hilarious and fun, but for some reason even though it was rather short at 64 minutes, it seemed much longer than that. Perhaps it was due to the breakneck "let's fit every damn thing we can into an hour" pace or the frenetic, crazy editing, but man, was I tired after the movie.
8 Screenings, and only 3 good shows. The hit ratio doesn't seem to be high enough... But still, at least at this point in the festival, there were a couple of hits. To be continued...
Let's continue with the (lacklustre) fest, shall we?
Fri 21 Apr
Shooting Dogs (UK/Germany)Basically, Hotel Rwanda set in a Catholic school. Like most films made about Africa by the West, it takes a white man's POV, namely that of a young teacher who spends much of his time moping around and freaking out. While I felt Hotel was more forceful and graphic about its depiction of the Rwandan genocide, Dogs gets bonus points for shooting in the actual locations featured and for including survivors of the killings in the cast and crew. Just try to keep a stoic face when you see their pictures and bios in the credits.
John Hurt gives a powerful performance as the priest and head of the school (I would've sworn it was Ian McKellen, but maybe all skinny old white men look alike to me - reverse racism? Ha!), and since it is set in a Catholic school, religion rears its (ugly) head often. However, its used tastefully, and it was interesting to see how the characters tried to reconcile their faith with the horrors that were going on around them. And of course, sometimes they snap. Hurt's priest, after returning from a shattering trip outside the school grounds, is told by the UN commander that they are about to start shooting the dogs that have been eating the bodies of victims outside the fences as a health measure. This from a peacekeeping force that has refused to fire on the Hutu aggressors unless fired upon. Incredulity and anguish written consuming him, the priest launches into an almost hysterical torrent of abuse. I have to say that those were some of the most powerful uses of the word "fuck" I have heard in a while.
Dogs also bravely goes into territory Hotel doesn't, when it comes to the West's apathy towards the genocide. A British reporter tells of how when she was in Bosnia she cried everyday, because when she saw the dead white women she felt it could've been her. But in Rwanda, they're just dead Africans. It's tragic, but unfortunately very true. And fingers are pointed directly at the UN for not doing more "peacekeeping" instead of spending their effort and resources protecting citizens of the West. In a little throwaway sequence that's remarkably powerful, an African man is prevented from joining his Caucasian wife on the truck carrying Westerners to safety. Simultaneously, a dog is carefully lifted onto the same truck. A little blunt? Perhaps. But effective, nonetheless.
Comparisons are inevitable, and ultimately pointless. Both films deal with the genocide, and are but different stories within the same tragedy. Together, they paint a more complete picture of the horror that was Rwanda.
Sat 22 Apr
Short Films About the Tsunami (Thailand)
I should've read the program more carefully before going to this one. I somehow didn't see that it was by experimental artists and video/filmmakers. I hate experimental film in general, so I had an absolutely awful time. I find it inexcusable that because it's supposedly experimental, it means that you don't have to bother about exposure, focus and other trivial things like that. And after all of that, putting a "cinematography" credit there is completely unjustifiable. You might as well have gotten a chimpanzee to shoot it. And of course there were the usual masturbatory entries, some more literal than the others.
Still, there was a beautifully shot film, apparently shot on a Panasonic HD camera. Unfortunately it also featured a ten-minute shot of a crippled boy walking along the shoreline. I was amazed I didn't fall asleep. He then proceeds to change a long line of red flags into green ones (or is it the other way round?), and finally gets in a boat shaped liked a swan. I'm sure that symbolism runneth over, but somehow I get the impression that if I were Thai I would've gotten much more from it.
Apparently there was another one that was a rather pointed indictment of the supposed "aid" that villagers got, but I was asleep and missed it. According to my companion, a villager said in his interview that the help would only be given if they renounced their religion and converted to Christianity. They were worried about losing their culture and heritage, and refused. They did not get the aid.
This is completely appalling. What kind of fucking assholes would do something like that? How can you look yourself in the mirror and think that you're doing God's work? Shouldn't it be about caring and loving everyone, regardless of their belief? These are people who've been stricken by a disaster, for crying out loud. It disgusts me.
Mozartbrot (Mozartbread) (Germany)
In the near future (or is it recent past?), Germany's chief export is its people. Artists and other such useless, unproductive people are cheap exports to labor-intensive factories and farms in Asia. A young female clarinet player charms a young man working in a bakery, and love blossoms. And there is much eating of bread. Rather amusing, if forgettable.
Gourmet Club (Finland)
A TV movie made in Finland, of all places, and having in the cast Michael Badalucco (The Practice) as a master chef. Finally, a movie at the festival that made me laugh out loud, and rather often, too.
A doctor belongs to an exclusive Gourmet Club, where members take turns providing a secret ingredient and wagering to guess what it is. The good doctor is in trouble, running up debts due to bad investments and the like, and is pressurized from all sides. So when its his turn, he desperately uses the one ingredient he has unlimited access to... One that he removes from children almost on a daily basis... And one that strangely enough, has an incredibly aphrodisiacal effect on everyone...
Loads of fun, and while at times I could tell it was shot on video, the effect was negligible, and stuff still looked good. Well, anything would look good after the experimental crap I'd just seen.
Sun 23 Apr
Iraq, My Country - An Exile's Return to Samawa (Australia/Iraq)
Documentary portraying the lives of ordinary people living in Iraq after the fall of Saddam. While it does give some insight into their lives, it seems more like a collage of images and scenes than anything with a coherent argument. And I fell asleep again.
Tinnsoldatene (Tin Soldiers) (Norway)
While it means well, somehow, ultimately it isn't as hard-hitting as it should have been. There's nothing wrong with it, just that with a little something extra it could've been amazing.
The Sex of Self Hatred (Canada)
Aargh! Experimental film! About some Jewish writer I don't know and don't give a fuck about! Done in an artsy retro early 20th century style!
Cowards Bend the Knee (Canada)
I've been wanting to see a Guy Maddin film for a while, and while I'm surprised that this 2003 film is only just now making its festival rounds here, I was still eager to check it out.
Made in an early 1900's style (I'd really like to know what processes he used on his film) and filled with intrigue, incest, jealousy, murder, and all that good stuff, Cowards is so jam-packed with content and style, it's almost criminal. The plot takes off in every direction imaginable, and while you need the patience to sit through it, it's quite easily the coolest entry I've seen at the festival this year.
The melodramatic excesses are hilarious and fun, but for some reason even though it was rather short at 64 minutes, it seemed much longer than that. Perhaps it was due to the breakneck "let's fit every damn thing we can into an hour" pace or the frenetic, crazy editing, but man, was I tired after the movie.
8 Screenings, and only 3 good shows. The hit ratio doesn't seem to be high enough... But still, at least at this point in the festival, there were a couple of hits. To be continued...
posted by cinewhore @ 11:38 AM
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