Animate Magnetism * Animatrix * American Splendor * The Archangel's Feather * Autumn Spring * The Blues * Bollywood/Hollywood * Bubba Ho-tep * Burning in the Wind * Camp * Come Drink With Me * Decade Under the Influence * Doing Time * Infernal Affairs * The Last Scene * The Last Train * Legend of Suriyothai * Musa the Warrior * The Other Side of the Bed * A Peck on the Cheek * Respiro * So Close * Swordswoman of Huangjiang * Vagabond * Whale RiderSIFF 2003 * SIFF 2004 * SIFF 2005AnimatrixOnce again, a day spent working, so I didn't see anything until that night ... which was The Animatrix! Whoooo! This had been sold out for over two weeks - definitely the most popular show to be seen at the festival. One of the directors, Peter Chung (Aeon Flux) was in attendance and came up briefly at the beginning of the performance to inform us that this was never intended to be seen in a theater and that this would be his first time seeing it projected and with an audience. He told us that his piece, Matriculated was generally refered to as "the weird one". He came back up at the end of the event too, but alas my ride wanted to leave early and I wanted a ride home badly enough that I scrammed rather than stayed to hear what he had to say. So this was the line up, with vague plot outlines and my opinions ... in order that they were shown!The Second Renaissance (Parts 1 and 2) - In brief, this is the story of what lead up to the fall of man, the rise of the machines, and the creation of the Matrix. Over all, I didn't really care for it much. It was directed by Mahiro Maeda (Blue Submarine 6), written by the Wachowski Bros, and it was for the most part pretty brutal and violent. The only thing I did think to myself was that in this storyline, we humans really had it coming. It made me feel more empathy for the machines and less empathy for the "now" enslaved human race. Having not seen Matrix Reloaded yet, I'm curious to see how it will affect my viewing of it. There was a bit of a steal from other sentient robot stories I'd seen before, notably one from a Night Gallery episode, which I found a little disappointing. They also had some reinactment images from real-life human conflicts, which was interesting and ironic. Program - This was a quite stylish offering from writer/director Yoshiaki Kawajiri (Ninja Scroll) in which one woman must choose between love and her duty as a Zionist and her belief in what is right. His animation style is both distinctive and sharply elegant. It was a short piece, and a fairly light piece, but one of my favorites. Beyond - This was by far my favorite episode. Written and directed by Koji Morimoto (Memories, Akira), it explores what happens when part of the Matrix fails to work properly. A group of young children help a young woman find her lost cat by leading her to a "haunted house" where they last saw her kitty heading. Subtle, elegant, fanciful, beautiful, mysterious, and playful. Yes, this was definitely my favorite. World Record - Written by Yoshiaki Kawajiri and directed by Takeshi Koike (Party 7, Trava), whose work I've never seen before, this followed the story of a runner who by means wholly unintended and natural to the pursuit of his sport, manages to break through the Matrix and see the real world. Interesting story, but I disliked the animation style, which made it hard to like the segment very much. Kid's Story - This was directed by Shinichiro Watanabe, who did Cowboy Bebop, so I was REALLY looking forward to it. I was surprised then to find I liked neither the story nor the animation. Upon further research though, I discovered that it was written by the Wachowski Bros, so that explains some of that! It follows the belief of one high school student that this world is not real, that his dreams are, and he follows that belief as far as one can. The animation style did not appeal to me at all, and the story I found fairly "eh!". This story is apparently the backstory to an annoying character in Matrix Reloaded, so I'll be curious again to see how this knowledge affects the viewing of that flick, if at all. Matriculated - Peter Chung (Aeon Flux) wrote and directed this episode, and like he said, it was the odd one. I liked it though - a story of how some of the Zionists are trying to reprogram machines to their side of the fight. He has a unique animation style that worked well for many of the scenes, and some of it was very beautiful and interesting. Detective Story - I was amused because as I was watching this one, listening to the dialog and following the story, I kept thinking to myself, "Damn ... now THIS one feels like a Cowboy Bebop type episode ..." Sure enough, when I went to check I found that this was both written and directed by Cowboy Bebop creator Shinichiro Watanabe! Hoooray! I liked this one a great deal - the story of a private eye who is hired to track down a mysterious hacker guy known as Trinity. A different style of animation, but one I liked a great deal. Had a lot of that rough gritty "private dick/gumshoe" feel to it. Excellent cat.
Final Flight of the Osiris - Written by the Wachowski Bros and
directed
by Andy Jones (Final Fantasy movie), this was a nice piece of
work I
thought. It starts off with a playful virtual fight between crewmembers
and ends with the discovery of a threat to Zion and the crew's desperate
attempt to get word back in time. I remember when I first saw a preview
for Final Fantasy, I didn't realize at first that it wasn't live
action.
There were only a few artifacts and movements that made me lean closer
to the TV and mutter, "Holy shit, it's animated!" This one wasn't quite
as flawless, but it was certainly extremely fine and impressive
animation. There is one swarming moment in it that made all of us go,
"Oh shit!" in reaction. This is yet another backstory to things that
come up in Matrix Reloaded, so again I'm curious to see how it
will
affect my viewing of the flick.
American SplendorThis is a quirky, fascinating film that is part documentary, part traditional movie, and part biographical exploration of comic book writer Harvey Pekar, who wrote the series American Splendor which was illustrated by R. Crumb among others. There is a charming mix of animated comic book characters (usually his internal dialog) mixed with regular footage, some interview-esque interwoven cuts of Pekar himself (and his friends), bits of actual footage from him on the Dave Letterman show, and voice overs.While I admired the way the film was made and found it at times very funny and very interesting, in the end I found it left me feeling cold and a little depressed. I think this is because of who Harvey Pekar is himself. This man worked as a file clerk his entire life. For the most part his life seemed small, sad, depressing, and grim. His claim to fame was writing about his life and the misery of every day existance. This explains why I never heard of him before or his comic books ... because that kind of art does not appeal to me. I recognize its value, its honesty, and its place, but it's not for me. I don't want to read about how awful and pathetic and terrible someone's life is. I find that depressing, demoralizing, and utterly not entertaining. So I think while the movie was well made and entertaining, the prevailing depressive qualities of his life really left me feeling strangely despondant. Which is odd ... cause I don't think that the film is sad or depressing overall.
I think the best sum up is when he and his
wife are being interviewed and they're talking about his outlook on
life, what he writes about, and the fact that misery loves company. She
says, "And here I just thought he had this really great sense of humor."
To which Harvey replies after a pause, "Boy ... I sure had you fooled."
The Archangel's FeatherI liked this film because it asked several very important questions, especially good to hear during times like now and with our current government and administration. These questions were, "Why do we obey?" and "What is the power of the word?" A small village, held in a perpetual state of fear and uncertainty by the current dictator, is cut off from the rest of society by their obscure location. Their only source of regular and timely contact with the rest of the world is through the telegraph. When the old telegraph operator dies, a new operator by the name of Gabriel mysteriously appears. Over time he begins to use his position to spread messages that he receives from "the supreme leader", though it is likely that most mistake the identity that said title implies. Through the use of words, he creates great change and action, brings messages that inspire hope and joy rather than fear and despair.
There are clearly religious overtones to the flick ... his
appearance, his name, the fact that he is dressed all in white, the fact
he uses a feather to sign all of the important telegraphs ... but the
feel of the film is more along the lines of magic realism. For me, I
liked the fact that he asked hard questions. When he and his assistant
are going to deliver a telegram about the death of a relative, he asks,
"What if we didn't deliver it? Then she would still be alive. It is only
these words, this piece of paper, that makes her dead for her family."
When he catches the assistant going through his journal he tells him to
get out and never go through his things, but then immediately challenges
as the young man scurries away, "Why did you obey me?" The lad replies,
"Because you're my boss?" He asks in turn, "Do you think I will fire
you? Do you think I will hit you?" (to which the boy says no) "Then why
obey me?" He asks why so many would willingly obey so few ... or even
obey just one person's commands. Good questions, and ones clearly no one
in this town ever thought to ask themselves. Charming, entertaining,
with some good messages, though some of the events were puzzling to me
at times. All in all a good flick.
Bollywood/HollywoodThis film was quite a departure from writer/director Deepa Mehta's usual work (Earth, Fire), which tends toward serious dramas with no musical numbers. The story is of a wealthy Canadian Indian family whose eldest son promised on his father's death bed to marry. Though he is in love with a "white girl", his mother wants him to marry a traditional Indian girl, and holds his sister's impending wedding over his head. If he does not find a suitable girl to marry, then his sister's wedding will be postponed.This becomes a pressing issue as his sister informs him that she is pregnant. Still heartbroken from the loss of his girlfriend (victim of a freak levitation accident whilst filming a movie in Hollywood) he meets a forward woman in a bar that confesses that she likes Bollywood films and looks close enough to Indian to be convincing. As Rahul puts it, "Being a fan of Bollywood films is enough to make you an honorary Indian." And there a plan is hatched, that she will play the part of his girlfriend/fiance, for a price, until his sister is safely married. From there surprises follow, boundaries are blurred, lives are changed, and questions are raised.
The film is both an hommage to the Bollywood musical and a playful
parody of it. As different characters are met and events happen, there
are often little notes that scrawl along the bottom of the screen to let
us know their relevance. At one point our hero gets a note that
identifies him as "Traditional tragic Bollywood first born son." At
another point it notes, "Rahul's tragic song, "What will I ever do
without you?". In the house where Rahul and his family lives, every
single room has a giant sized television and every single television set
is playing some scene from some Bollywood musical. The story, on the
other hand, is more tongue'n'cheek and akin to a modern romantic comedy
of errors, like While You Were Sleeping. It's weird to see a
white person in a Bollywood styled musical number, that's for sure! I
already want to rent it and watch it again for the musical numbers
alone. But the movie was oodles of fun and the musical numbers were
great and I definitely had a blast. I think my only real disappointment
was in the fact that the songs, sung in Hindi, didn't have any
subtitles, so you don't know what anyone is singing. Well, you don't
unless you speak Hindi, I suppose.
Come Drink With MeThis was totally delightful. An older Hong Kong movie, from 1966, I was both surprised and pleased with the quality of the story, the dialog, the martial arts, and most of all the humor. The story revolves around a young woman who is an almost legendary law enforcer, known as the Golden Swallow. Everyone in this flick has a name that they are "known" by it seems. She is on a mission to rescue her brother, and son of the governor, from a group of villians who are holding him as ransom, demanding the release of their leader. She demonstrates her skill to Smiling Tiger, one of the villians and second in command, to delightful effect. At the same time she meets a seeming useless bum known as Drunken Cat, who is more than he appears, giving her crucial hints and unexpectedly saving her life, though he denies any such thing. Eventually she meets Jade Tiger, the first in command, and finds that perhaps this time she has met her match! Some of the martial arts are a bit cheesy, but it was still a wonderful flick, with such playful characters. Everyone really lives up to their name too ... Smiling Tiger almost always has this shit-eating grin on his face, Drunken Cat is usually, well, drunk, and Jade Tiger is both terribly femme in appearance and is unusually pale and ever so slightly green in complexion.
In fighting off the villians and in particular Jade Tiger, Swallow is
nearly defeated, barely escaping with her life and getting shot by a
poisonous dart along the way. Drunken Cat comes to her rescue and we
learn that he is indeed not what he appears. It turns out that he too is
a brilliant martial artist. In fact, another leader in the villianous
faction (a devious head monk of the temple where the villians are
hiding) was a fellow student of Drunken Cat, who killed his
master in the hopes of gaining his weapon - a bamboo pole. Cat, however,
got it first, determined to keep his former master's reputation and
martial arts safe and unbesmirched. He rescues Swallow and there is a
delightful fight scene in which he defeats four opponents all while
holding her up from a swoon! In the end, he assists Swallow in
rescuing her brother with a clever false swap, but he must meet and
defeat his tainted fellow student, who he admits is better than he is
and Swallow must defeat Jade Tiger. Tons of fun!
Decade Under the InfluenceThis was fabulous! An excellent documentary charting the how and why of the fall of the Golden Age of Cinema, how this created unexpected opportunities for young filmmakers in the 60's and 70's, and how this explosion of radical new filmmaking, inspired in part by the New Wave Cinema of France, Italy, and Spain, was born, prospered and eventually crushed under the heel of marketing, merchandising, and demographics. I loved this documentary and will likely purchase it to own when it comes out on DVD. So cool! It was a cavalcade of interviews with directors and actors who made their name and their mark during this radical period in film making history. It was well filmed and with a jazzy soundtrack that had me grooving in my seat.Return to the Index Doing TimeThis was a funny, but very bizarre film! Very Japanese. Starring the cool chef guy from Tampopo it is based on the true story of a manga artist who was sentenced to jail for possession of an illegal firearm. What follows is pretty much a slice of life/daily accounting of what it is like to be in a Japanese prison, and what it is is ODD! There are incredibly strict rules, but also many luxuries and extravagances, like really good food. Everything is highly ritualized and prisoners have to get permission to do pretty much anything and everything. When in solitary confinement, he must even get permission to use the toilet, even though it is right in his own cell. Nanee?? One prisoner even gets sent to solitary confinement because he dared to do someone else's crossword puzzle.
The whole film pretty much just goes on and on this
way, with the daily grind of work, permission, marching, exercise,
punishments, rules, etc etc etc. It also just sort of ends, with no real
closure or point. It was certainly amusing and entertaining, and the
dry, thoughtful, and even at times reverent voice over of the
protagonist keeps it from becoming boring or utterly pointless.
Infernal AffairsThis dark and intelligent crime thriller traces the path of two men, each living a lie. In their youth they were deliberately placed undercover. One man secretly works for a crime boss while entering the police academy and advancing himself up to detective. The other, apparently kicked out of the academy, enters into a life of crime and begins to move up along the thug ladder, secretly still working for the police. Ten years later, their paths finally cross again in a case where the undercover cop is working for the same crime lord the fake officer is trying to protect. A twisted film about each man working at cross-purposes, trying to determine the identify of the other, their lives intersecting with dramatic and unexpected results.Return to the Index The Last SceneI had really high hopes for this one, that were dashed unfortunately. The description of the film and the picture had me thinking it was going to be funny and quirky and a little Tampopo-esque, but nothing could have been farther from the truth. The story is about a man who had a career in the film business that he shot to hell through drinking, womanizing, and attitude along with a waning film market. His excesses result in the loss of his job and his wife. We then jump to current day where a pathetically bad hospital soap opera needs an old man to play the part of a dying cancer patient. In comes our "hero", frail and frightening in appearance, much cowed and quieted from years of lord knows what.
The thing that I found disappointing is this was more a film
about dying than it was about living. He comes to play this role to
make up for what he threw away, to act one last time. While he does
inspire the crew and cast of the show to higher levels of performance
and perfection, it is not done in a spirited energetic way, but in a
dark, brooding, highly respectful manner. It's still changing the lives
of the people around him, but I didn't get the sense of a renewal of
spirit as being the catalyst. The only part that I found I really
enjoyed is when they finally begin to flash back to his youth, from
before he had become jaded and had ruined his life. Not only is he young
and handsome, but sweet and loving and enthusiastic about his life, his
wife, and his work. The description in the program guide made it sound
like that spirited nature would be returned to him in his aging years
and that he would thusly inspire those around him, but the review, well,
in short it utterly lied. Bah. Big disappointment.
The Last TrainThis film was exactly what I wanted the previous one to be like! I loved this movie, which is the story of a group of old men who decide to rob a recently refurbished steam train, the last of its kind in Uruguay, rather than see it sold to the United States to be used by Hollywood. Their demand is for Uruguay to hold onto its national and cultural treasures, not to sell them off to the highest bidder.
Now this movie
had all kinds of potential for great tragedy, failure, and disaster to
strike, and I was worried that this wonderful, spirited, life-affirming
flick would take a turn for the worse. But no! And better yet, it is
not foolishly optimistic or unrealistic. There are difficult moments,
set backs, and issues of old age ... and yet even these were handled
with a grace and dignity that I wish was the norm rather than the
exception in our culture. The train is magnificent, the dialog spry and
witty, and the landscapes breathtaking. If you're ever looking for a
movie to inspire and brighten your heart, look for this one.
Legend of SuriyothaiThis is a huge epic film out of Thailand that traces through the life and true story of Thailand's history and struggle, focusing on the legendary princess Suriyothai, who is beloved by her people for sacrificing herself in order to save her husband's life and thus all of Thailand. Most disappointing is the fact that it had been edited down, and you could really tell. It just felt truncated, especially early on in the film as they go through her youth, marriage, and so on with increasingly short and pointless scenes.
The rest of the film is rather
reminiscent of watching a Thai version of I, Claudius, with
murder, betrayal, and an ever shifting seat of power from one member of
the royal family to the next, not to mention struggles and battles with
their bordering enemy, Burma. The costumes, sets, and landscapes were
breathtakingly beautiful and the story is enjoyable and entertaining,
though Suriyothai feels more like an observer through most of it, rather
than an active player. Scarecrow has it for rent and I think it is the
original version, so I will have to check that out and see it in its
full uncut glory. Shame on Mr. Coppola for cutting it down!
The Other Side of the BedThis was cute, but nothing to write home about. I wouldn't have bothered to see it, but I met some woman in line for Autumn Spring who said it was fabulous. First thing I'll say is this. Spain shouldn't make musical films. They just don't seem to know how to do it. The music was for the most part not catchy or interesting and in general just didn't seem to fit the rest of the film. The choreography was also fairly pendantic. Some of the lyrics were funny and entertaining, and I did like a few numbers where the song moved from person to person to person in totally different situations and settings, so I guess they have a few clues. Or maybe I'm just not used to Spanish musicals. Perhaps this is the style?
The general story and film was cute
though - basically one of those girl A breaks up with boy B. Boy B goes
to tell his friends girl C and boy D who are dating. But of course it
turns out that boy D and girl A are having an affair. So pretty much
it's one of those bed-swapping stories where everyone is fooling around
with everyone else. There were some very funny moments and I
definitely laughed fairly often, but overall it was just pretty good.
A Peck on the CheekThis turned out to be a fabulous choice! The story, or should I say stories, revolve around a young girl who on her 9th birthday is told that she was adopted. This leads to an obsession on her part to learn about her birth mother and why she was abandoned, a quest that her adoptive parents at first resist and then assist. What is wonderful is that we see several stories here.We see at first the story of her birth parents, then a little of her current life. Upon learning the truth she asks her parents how they got her. She asks, "Did you pay for me? Why did you adopt me?" To which her father replies, "We didn't adopt you. You adopted us." We then learn about how her birth resulted in her father becoming a writer, precipitated him meeting her mother, marrying her, and then adopting the baby girl. I loved that story. Then we reach the story of them trying to find the birth mother, which takes them into war torn Sri Lanka. I don't know how many parents would willingly do what these parents did to appease their daughter's need to meet her birth mother, but I was both amazed and poignantly struck.
All of the
stories are beautifully told, with occasional musical numbers that were
perhaps not completely in synch with the rest of the film's style, but
were still enjoyable and often beautiful. It's a film that has one foot
set back in traditional Bollywood musicals and one foot forward into
more modern film making. I have to confess that her parents were two
incredibly beautiful people to me - not only physically, but spiritually
and in their personality. The young actress was impressive, running the
gamut of emotions, being precocious without being obnoxious, and being
above all very much a child, with a child's perspective on the world and
what is important. This is the second movie out of the 12 that I've seen
so far that I gave a 5 on the voting ballot - that's the highest rating.
RespiroAfter Bollywood/Hollywood I decided to catch another movie and finally chose this one. Too bad. The description of it sounded so charming - a small village trying to deal with a "free-spirited" woman that they decide should be sent off to a hospital on the mainland, and her triumph over the situation with the aid of her eldest son. It sounded very wonderful and almost a bit magic-realism-esque. But alas! The woman is not so much "free-spirited" as decidedly mentally unbalanced. There are some things that she does that are charming and certainly not traditionally accepted behavior, which I liked. On the other hand she seems to have the emotional stability of a five year old, likely bi-polar as she goes from bright highs to dark lows and has bouts of hysterical and occasionally semi-violent behavior.
There was also all
this extraneous stuff involving her kids and gangs, with bunches of
irrelevant violence which I did not like at all. This rather dimmed the
charm of the film decidedly, because in all honesty that was immaterial
to the story and unpleasant and she was kinda crackers. There is an
interesting play on a myth within that culture that makes everyone
reassess her value and their decision, but in the end I only gave it a
three. Bummah.
So CloseThis stylish Hong Kong action adventure flick has been dubbed the "HK Charlie's Angels", but such a description is not only slanderous, it's inaccurate. The only comparisons that can be made between the two is that they both sport three intelligent, highly capable, and ass-kicking women, and there is the positioning technology device in both, though in Angels it is the goal and in So Close it is the tool. Beyond that, absolutely no comparion! So Close is a delightfully witty and sharp flick that kicks Charlie's Angel's asses! Every single pert one of them! It's much more clever and convoluted, tragic and sad, intense and violent.The basic premise is that two sisters have been hired to kill one of the leaders of a major corporation. They work together, with one being the assassin who does the job, and the other her back-up, hacking into computers and using the positioning technology that their father created to tell her sister where to go and where the enemy awaits her. Of course nothing is as simple as it seems. An extremely sharp cop starts to catch onto them, her skills easily matching her prey's. The men who hired them are dishonorable bastards who intend to leave no loose ends. What follows is a powerful story about family, love, devotion, and revenge. I found myself crying at a few truly touching moments that were sprinkled throughout the film. So excellent. The only thing that was really odd was the fact that for some of the scenes the subtitles simply disappeared. Fortunately it was mostly during an action scene, where the dialog was likely clever and witty, but not essential for understanding what was going on. Still, I was a bit frustrated by this, as I wanted to know what the heck they were saying. Just as mysteriously the subtitles came back. Weird!
I am seriously hoping that this film will get a theatrical release here
in the states, or will at least get a DVD release of some sort. I wanna
know what they were saying! It has possibly one of the coolest
stalemate-doublehostage-even-playing-field fight scenes I've ever seen,
with wicked moves and brilliant timing and humor!
Swordswoman of HuangjiangThis is an old silent 1930's Hong Kong flick, which is quite a rare and astonishing thing. Very very few early Hong Kong movies have survived over the years - most of them have completely disintegrated. This was the first in a serial set of movies that were eight films in all. None of the other seven had survived and this one was in such fragile and poor condition that they did not dare try to send it. Instead what we saw was a digital transfer of the film. The quality was generally pretty poor, with much streaking, lines, some faded out spots, and oddly cut off (poorly cropped so the left edge or the bottom line or two were missing) subtitles. Still, there was more than enough to make out the action, what was going on, and study the film making process of that time and culture.The basic storyline is of an infamous swordswoman, Fang Yugin, and her brother, traveling throughout the countryside and helping out those in need of aid. They don't actually come onto the scene until a good 20 minutes into the film. The story starts out with a group of hunters who are attacked by a giant eagle. This was hysterical, as it is clearly a guy in a really goofy looking eagle suit jumping up and down on a villager guy. The giant eagle is attacked by a "golden eyed" eagle and defeated, the hunters taking the giant eagle to the village. But the "golden eyed" eagle returns and captures the son of a nobleman ... and thus enter our heroes. Upon learning what has happened, they go into the mountains and save the boy as well as capture the eagle. My favorite character throughout this part of the film was "Chang the Fool" - heavy set man with expressive eyes that recalled the stylings of Chaplin and other great silent film actors. He was hilarious, his expressions speaking clearly for him, the text only an added bonus. One of the other hilarious aspects of the film was the fact that the story cards were in both Chinese and English, but the English was VERY poor! When our heroine first arrives and finds the nobleman crying she asks, "Sir, why do you cry? And is there someone here to insult you?" We all burst out laughing. Many of the subtitles were wacky, but that was one of the funniest. My favorite Chang moment is when he is trying to be formal and polite with the guests, but he's such a boor and a buffoon, he cannot help but be insulting. The swordsman asks, "Why sir do you insult me when I am polite to you?" Chang looks confused at first but then smiles and bows and replies, "Don't mention it, it is my duty." There were charming bits of animation mixed in with the live action - the flying of the eagle, and the jumping from one cliff top to the next by the intrepid pair. We see them bend their knees, then there is a long distance shot of little animated figures going *boing* over the huge gap, and then we see them again, bending their knees in faux landing. Very humorous! There was some strange sizing issues as well ... the golden eyed eagle was an actual regular eagle, which of course could never have brought down the "giant" one, let alone carry away a little boy. Then there is a peculiar shift in the story, where the swordswoman's donkey is stolen away in order to lure her in for a test of skills. There is a really delightful battle here between her and the woman who stole her donkey, and you can see many familiar techniques, styles, and ploys that you see in current Hong Kong films. That part was really great! She sneaks into the village, disguised as an old woman and when she turns to fight the other woman, she wipes at her face to remove the old woman makeup and when we see her again she has the young woman makeup on instead, like that is how she naturally looks! Not! Very amusing. They were doing that Amidala-style lip makeup thing for the swordswoman's look. It turns out that the thief needed to test the swordswoman's skill before asking for her aid in fighting a group of bandits that have been preying on her village. She retrieves her brother in order to help this village but they are beset by villians hiding out in a temple. I was extremely surprised when the film just ended in the middle of a fight scene that was going quite badly for our heroes ... and then of course I remembered that it was a serial, and they were clearly doing the whole cliffhanger "how ever will they survive?!" type endings.
Most wonderful of all though, was the musical accompaniment by the Aono
Jikken Ensemble. They were amazing! As soon as they started playing I
felt my eyes prick with tears of pleasure and appreciation. Here's a
little description of them and their work - "The Aono Jikken Ensemble is
an experimental music/performance art group that uses traditional Asian
and western instruments, found objects, modified children's sound toys
and specially created instruments made of metal, bamboo and kelp to make
their sound."
VagabondThis sounded pretty good to me, as it was a film about a young man who is leading a homeless and vagrant sort of life, but discovers a community of people who introduce him to the music, percussion, and dance of the gypsy people, thus transforming his life. As I love music, percussion, and dance I thought this would be great. But in actuality, I found it frightfully dull. So dull in fact that I left about half way through it. I just didn't see the point of sitting through it when I wasn't enjoying it, especially since I had three other movies that I wanted to see that day.
As I was leaving I found a guy trying to figure
out how to exit the theater and I showed him the way. He turned to me
and asked, "Wasn't that just awful?" I felt better knowing I wasn't the
only one who found it dull. The acting was just utterly lackluster. The
story was practically non-existant and not compelling, and it kept
darting around from character to character, but I never became attached
or even clear on what anyone's story was save the lead's ... and his
just wasn't worth watching to me. Ah well. Least it was free!
Whale RiderThis has been a very popular film here at the festival. The first showing of it sold out in advance and the second one sold out on the day. It's a wonderful and powerful film, shot in New Zealand, about a Maori tribe whose leading elder is desperate for a successor. His family is descended from a long line of chiefs reaching back through time to their ancestor, who swam over the oceans to New Zealand and when he grew tired and weary was rescued by a whale, whom he rode the rest of the way to shore. With neither of his sons to succeed him, and no male heir to come, he turns to the young boys in the village to train and determine which of them will become the leader. All the while his granddaughter dares to ask why she cannot be the next leader and chooses to defy tradition to prove her worth and rightful place.I think what bothered me the most is that in the end the girl has to prove herself through divine means. It's a bit of a magic-realism story for sure, but I would have been happier if she could have proven her worth and her right through pure determination, skill, and rightness. The fact that she has pretty much divine intervention, which is the only thing that finally convinces her grandfather, was a touch frustrating for me. The grandfather is so unbelievably stubborn and tied to tradition. I saw several moments in which she might have been able to prove herself to him, but he was relentlessly patriarchal, such that I became quite ticked off. The story is not a period piece, but contemporary. Now granted, he is highly steeped in his culture, religion, and traditional beliefs, but after awhile it is clear that she is the right choice and he still refuses to see it. That bugged me too. I have to say though that once he sees the error of his ways (oh, and he sees them big time!) he apologizes to his grandaughter saying, "Forgive me Wise One. I am but a foolish youngster who didn't know any better." That made me a bit happier - that he was willing to be abject in his apologies for being so pig-headed.
Still, it was a remarkable film, with beautifully acted characters (the
young girl is astonishingly good!), an interesting and compelling story
of a culture that is desperately trying to survive a modern world, and a
beautiful magic-realism exploration into faith, love, and the magic of
change. This is supposed to get a national release, so I urge you to
check it out when it comes your way!
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