CIFF 2009 Diary, Day 9 & 10

Day 9: Saturday, Oct 3

Oct 3 was all about achieving a personal record of seeing 7 films in a single day. Originally, I had planned on seeing atleast 5-6 films but when an additional screening was added at 10:45 am, the path was clear for me to hit the elusive seven.

Cyborg, She (2008, Japan, Jae-young Kwak)
Time: 10:45 am at The Plaza

The originally scheduled screening for Wednesday night was sold out but the print never arrived on time. So a special screening was added on Saturday morning. But as it turned out, the film-makers still screwed up and sent a print without English subtitles.

Watching this film without subtitles is not that bad as there are quite a few stretches without dialogue (one such sequence was atleast 10 minutes long). But I was quite disappointed by this film because it looks like a recycled version of Jae-young Kwak's earlier film My Sassy Girl with a sci-fi angle tacked on. While My Sassy Girl was fresh and funny, the humour in Cyborg, She is stale and predictable.

I Killed My Mother (2009, Canada, Xavier Dolan)
Time: 12:45 pm at the Globe, downstairs screen.

This film blew me away and was easily the single best film of the festival I had seen. Normally, only a few films inspire such strong reactions in me and I was certainly not expecting to be jolted this early in the day.

Dolan's film is raw, funny, emotional and brutally honest. It properly depicts the teenage vs adult struggle that exists in a majority of households in probably every country in the world. Normally, there is a mutual loving bond between parents and children early on in the child's life. But when the hormones start gushing through the children’s blood stream in the early teens, those same loving parents become the children’s enemy and the relationship between the two sides starts to degenerate. In some cases, the relationship starts to mend once the teen has grown up into an adult. For some people, this happens around the mid 20's, for others much later. But Dolan seems to have acquired this understanding a lot early on as he directed the film when he was 19 (and wrote it when he was 17).

The dialogues are sharp and pointed. In one case, the mother remembers the time when her son used to tell her everything and they were friends. To which the son replies "I was 4 and I had no choice". Ouch. Words can hurt, especially if they are always spoken with venom and sarcasm. The mother is unable to cope and the son wants away. Their arguments and fights may be about personality traits and specific issues but they echo the universal teenage angst and sense of rebellion. There have been many films in the past which covered similar topics but most works usually turn into one-sided rants from a teenager's perspective. On the other hand, I Killed My Mother perfectly depicts the struggle that exists on both sides -- it is not easy for parents to raise their kids while it is equally difficult for kids trying to assert their self, despite depending on their parents. We are also introduced to another parental example in the film which shows how a parent tries to be their child's friend. Yet, even that parent gets disrespect no matter how hard she tries. Damned if you let the kids have their way and damned if you stand in their way.

Plenty to take away from this film. Quite simply, a sensational debut.

Gigantic (2008, USA, Matt Aselton)
Time: 3 pm at Eau Claire, Screen #2

Sometimes the indie American films follow a prescribed formula especially by ensuring their stories contain quirky off beat characters who are supposed to generate humour for their unique behavior. Sure there are some tender moments of genuine humour here but for the most part, I didn't react with much enthusiasm. Still, it was a nice relaxing film to watch after I Killed My Mother.

Cooking History (2008, co-production, Peter Kerekes)
Time: 4:30 pm at Eau Claire, Screen #5

This insightful documentary highlights the rarely depicted topic of military cooks who fed the soldiers. Peter Kerekes does an excellent job of ensuring the documentary is vibrant and always interesting by getting the surviving characters to either cook or re-enact the tension of their war time drama. And as an added bonus, Peter Kerekes also provides humour in the form of recipes, in case someone wants to serve their nation by poisoning an entire enemy army. And each recipe appropriately ends with the common ingredient of "a pinch of salt". The final segment which features a cook standing in the ocean is precious, especially his preparation of imaginary dishes for an imaginary sea crew.

note: I missed the first 8 minutes of this film as Gigantic was a 98 minute long feature.

Breathless (2009, South Korea, Yang Ik-June)
Time: 6:30 pm at the Globe, downstairs

For the second time in the day, I was absolutely shook up by a film. But it took a while to appreciate what the director had in mind because the first 20 minutes appear to be routine stuff straight out of most Korean/Japanese gangster films -- punching, swearing and some slapping. The person dishing out all these is Sang-Hoon (played by the director himself), one of the nastiest on screen personas seen in recent years. The violence is put in context via a flashback when we observe a tragic episode in Sang-Hoon’s childhood where his mother and sister were accidentally killed in an episode of domestic violence. Sang-Hoon never forgave his father and after his father is released from prison, Sang-Hoon visits and beats him up frequently. Sang-Hoon’s kicks at his father usually occur at the end of night when a drunk Sang-Hoon ponders over his past. The father quietly accepts the beatings.

Sang-Hoon is a loner with no friends but one day he comes across a fiery teenage girl, Yeon-Hue, who refuses to take his abuse and fires back. The two form an unusual friendship and take comfort in each other’s presence, even though the two swear and put each other down. It turns out that another example of domestic abuse is taking shape in Yeon-Hue’s house, where her teenage brother is just starting to assert his “manliness” by taking his anger out on his sister. The abuse that Yeon-Hue suffers is two fold because her father is mentally disturbed (triggered most likely after his wife and Yeon-Hue’s mother’s death) and hurls profanity at his daughter frequently.

A few years ago, I had seen an Israeli documentary where someone asks an Israeli woman how her fellow countrymen could treat the Palestinians so badly considering the suffering Jews underwent. The Israeli woman replied that if a young boy saw his father slapping his mother, would the young boy be a peaceful person when he grew up? Her reply was negative and she said most likely the young boy would grow up into a man who would in turn slap his own wife. Her words came to my mind while watching Breathless because the film shows that kids who witness violence in their youth will grow up and re-enact those same episodes onto others. While the film may not be the most pleasant to watch, it takes a brave stand in drawing a direct line from domestic abuse to gangster violence. There are some examples of youth joining the gang due to unemployment but the film emphasizes the cycle of violence aspect quite clearly.

There are many movies out there which have graphic scenes of violence and horror and the directors of such graphic films defend their works by emphasizing their movies are anti-violence and the violent scenes are meant to prove a point. But in most cases, these movies end up glorifying violence because the consequences of violence is never fully explored. On the other hand, Breathless clearly depicts the danger of a violent life, whether that life is in a household or in a gang. There is a consequence to every violent action and Yang Ik-June’s film is the only one I can think of that has a purpose for every scene of violence and abuse. This film should be shown to every teenage and adult male. And if after seeing this film, those males would still opt for a violent life, then there is no hope not only for those people but humanity in general.

And to think that Ddongpari (Breathless) is just a debut feature by Yang Ik-June! Wow. Easily one of the year’s best and relevant films!

Seven Minutes in Heaven (2008, Israel, Omri Givon)
Time: 9:30 pm at the Globe, downstairs

There is a good story idea in this Israeli film but while the idea may have worked perfectly for a 20 minute short film, it is painfully worn out in a full length feature. The needless repetition and spoon-feeding do nothing for the story but merely pad the time, and when the interesting twist on the story is revealed near the end, it is too late.

Daybreakers (2009, Australia, the Spierig brothers)
Time: 11:30 pm at the Plaza

For the seventh film, I was back at the location where I started my day, almost 12.5 hours earlier at 10:45 am. I got to the Plaza at 11:15 pm and the long line up had me worried. There were two lines, one for the advanced ticket and pass holders, and the other for rush tickets. Only a certain amount of pass holders are let in and when that quota is reached, the pass holders have to join the back of the rush ticket line. Since I was a pass holder who was at the end of the advanced ticket line (only 5 people were behind me and they all had tickets), I was certain I would not make it. But amazingly, I just made it.

As for the film itself, after an impressive start and good setup, it was a huge letdown to see the film settle into a comfortable Hollywood template, complete with loud music, some explosions and even a car chase. The film does redeem itself with a good ending. There are lots of neat elements in the film not covered by other vampire movies, especially the “Daytime Driving” aspect, which could also serve as the film’s alternate title. I thought the film had a great idea in combining a vampire tale with a sci-fi & political angle and there are many aspects which add something new to the vampire genre. So it was especially frustrating to see the film contain a very dull and average middle segment.

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After 7 films in a day, sleep. Precious sleep. zzzzzzzzzzz

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Day 10: Sunday, Oct 4

The Prophet (2009, France, Jacques Audiard)

I had first heard of Jacques Audiard about 4 years ago when I was in London. His film The Beat that My Heart Skipped earned rare reviews, especially from Peter Bradshaw. So I decided to check the film out during its opening weekend in London and was left in awe of both the film and Roman Duris’ performance. Duris was already a favourite of mine, especially from his performance in the pulsating Exils, but he was mesmerizing in Audiard’s well crafted film. I made a point to see the next film that Audiard would direct.

Fast forward to 2009 and when Audiard’s Un Prophet hit Cannes, I lay in eager anticipation. My excitement only grew over the coming months and hit a high point when I was in Paris where almost every cinema seemed to be showing the film. I waited for its CIFF debut and quickly snapped up my ticket. And it was a good thing I had an advanced ticket because the film was sold out on its 7 pm show on the festival’s final day.

The Prophet dives into the heart of the gangster world, right from the prison cells to the controlling ports and cities. The prison’s hierarchy and daily routines are outlined with a fine observant eye, which at times recalls the work of Jacques Becker in his brilliant film Le Trou. We observe a criminal (Malik El Djebena played by Tahar Rahim) elevate himself through the ranks by his quick intelligence, observant and diplomatic skills. There are plenty of neat references (religious are the common ones) tucked away in this film which will ensure a second viewing will also provide a pleasurable experience. Overall, quite an amazing film.

note: In the second half of the film, I found Tahar Rahim to resemble a bit like Robert Pires. Since at one point in my life I considered Pires to be a footballing God, I found the presence of his look like in a film called The Prophet to be appropriate.

CIFF 2009 Diary, Days 6-8

Day 6: Wednesday, Sept 30

The 10 film Maverick competition kicked off on September 30 with 4 screenings, followed by a further 4 on Thursday and the final two on Friday night.

Schedule for the 10 Maverick films:

Wednesday -- Juntos, Everyone Else, Unmade Beds and Karaoke.
Thursday -- Be Good, Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench, Wrong Rosary and Fish Eyes.
Friday -- My Suicide and Be Calm and Count to Seven.

I had seen four stellar films prior to the festival (Be Calm and Count to Seven, Everyone Else, Fish Eyes and Karaoke) and I was looking forward to seeing a few more.

Juntos (2009, Canada/Mexico, Nicolás Pereda)

Before the screening, Nicolás Pereda mentioned that he felt strange talking about Juntos as a movie because originally it was intended to be an art gallery project. He then asked the audience to watch the film with an open mind.

It is easy to see why this work could have been an art gallery project. One can imagine seeing the footage beamed on walls as audiences walk by a particular moment and then return later on to see what the three characters are up to. The film contains long static takes and gives a glimpse into the relationship between three people living in an apartment -- Gabino, his girlfriend Luisa and his friend Paco. Gabino finds himself in the middle of this awkward dynamic as Luisa's dislike at Paco's presence means that Gabino's relationship with Luisa is put under stress. The stress is conveyed early on and reaches breaking point in a stellar 10 minute long dialogue less scene with Gabino and Luisa sitting quietly at the kitchen table. With each passing second in this scene, one can feel the tension rise between the two and had Gabino dared to speak a word, then the relationship would surely have been over then and there.

The title Juntos refers to Gabino's dog that goes missing at the film's start. The dog's disappearance also signals the degradation of the relationship Gabino has with Luisa and Paco, although Gabino's easy going manner with Paco suggests that he will eventually forgive any of Paco's mistakes (a beautiful dialogue exchange between the two when Gabino is working on the sink pipes is another strong highlight of the film). There is also a scene that will inspire walkouts or discontent from the audience. In this particular scene, the camera does not shy away from watching Gabino take a bath in the nude. The scene starts off with Gabino's member slightly covered but slowly, everything is out in the open. This long sequence, which features Gabino lathering himself with soap, brought laughter from some of the women in the crowd and caused one man to loudly blame another woman for bringing him to see this movie. The man walked out a few minutes after the scene was over. But the scene does bring up the question that if it was a woman shown bathing instead of a man, would there have been any walkouts or even any laughter?

There are also some precious moments of humour derived from watching the characters and their crumbling household appliances. The film certainly requires an investment from the audience and does reward those who are patient enough.

note: Robert Koehler's review is worth reading.

Karaoke

After Juntos I headed down to the Plaza to meet up with Chris Chong Chan Fui and introduce his film. As it turned out, Karaoke proved to a frustrating challenge for quite a few of the audience members, including some good friends.

Day 7: Thursday, Oct 1

Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009, USA, Damien Chazelle)

This black and white free flowing jazzy film is a breath of fresh air and has shades of John Cassavetes. The story is simple enough -- Boy Meets Girl, Boy dumps Girl, Boy meets another Girl and eventually Boy realizes he made a mistake. But the film has such a beautiful free style to it, like a jazz piece, that one can forget about the story and enjoy the images that are musically conveyed on the screen. There are also a few musical numbers, especially the cute restaurant tap dance sequence, that are integrated nicely in the film's framework.

Note: originally I had intended on seeing Be Good but then I changed my mind because I figured that I might have better chance of catching Be Good on DVD than Damien Chazelle's film. As good as Guy and Madeline.. is, I do wonder what future the film might have outside of the film festival circuit.

Wrong Rosary (2009, Turkey, Mahmut Fazil Coskun)

There is a famous Indian song from the film Padosan: "Mere samne wali khidki mein ek chand ka tukda rahta hai..". which roughly translates to "a beautiful girl lives next door" (I think an exact translation for this song would lessen the impact). The words for that song perfectly describe the story in Wrong Rosary as Musa, a muezzin, is smitten by his neighbour Clara. While the two belong to different religions, it is not religion that forms a barrier in their relationship but instead Musa's shyness gets in the way. Gradually, as he takes takes baby steps to edge towards Clara, we see his confidence grow. And just when things look like heading towards a happy sunset over the Bosphorus, a heart breaking conflict is thrown in the mix, ensuring some tears will take place.

Overall, Wrong Rosary is a wonderful crowd pleasing film. At times, the two characters of Musa and Clara look straight out of a Chaplin movie as both are outcasts in the beautiful city of Istanbul.

Note: Wrong Rosary continues the trend of fine Turkish films I have seen this year. And like most of those Turkish films, Wrong Rosary is expertly shot and allows one to completely soak in the atmosphere. The previous Turkish films that I saw this year will be outlined in a “Spotlight on Turkey” post shortly.

Day 8: Friday, Oct 2

Zero films seen!!

Despite my best intention of seeing a film on friday, a bizarre sequence of events (rain + car troubles) ensured that I once again failed to see a film on each of the 10 festival days.

Still, the rest was welcome as I was able to take in a record 7 films on saturday.

In celebration of cinema

Chacun son cinéma is a collection of short films that were commissioned to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Cannes film festival. In most short film anthologies, one usually gets a mixed bag of results. But in the case of Chacun son cinéma, the three minute length ensures that most shorts offer something worthwhile. Only one segment by Amos Gitai comes to mind as being quite awful, while most are enjoyable and some quite brilliant.

However, the most fun I got was in guessing the director of each short. I had not looked at the full list of directors before hand so it was an enjoyable game, provided the director's name was not displayed before the short began (which I think happened only once). Here was the criteria by which I could identify most of the shorts:

director's style (example: Tsai Ming-Liang, Hou Hsiao-hsien, Wong Kar Wai)

director's presence (these were giveaways)

setting (such as the one by Aki Kaurismäki)

location (Walter Selles)

the presence of an actor used by a director (Manoel de Oliveira)

Still, there were some that I wouldn't have guessed such as the Gus Van Sant or Jane Campion pieces. But Jane Campion's short makes sense considering she was the only female director in the anthology. Also, there was a director (Bille August) I was not aware of.

Overall, there are some which convey the pleasure and magic of the cinematic experience. And the final segment which shows that there is nothing good ever playing in a multiplex is quite funny.

note: my DVD didn't have the segments from David Lynch and the Coen brothers.

CIFF 2009 Diary, Days 2-5

Day 2: Saturday, Sept 26

Tetro (2009, USA, Francis Ford Coppola)

Family again. But this time the family does not deal with the mafia but instead with the arts -- music, theatre, opera, ballet and literature. A tale of 2 brothers forms the core but there is also a second rivalry of 2 brothers (the two brother’s father vs their uncle) around the nucleus. Women, the love interests, left standing by.

The Black and White gives La Boca a beautiful sensual feel. It starts with a blinding light and ends with a similar light. Flicker, flicker, off.

Houston, We have a problem (2008, USA, Nicole Torre)

Oil. Wars and boardroom deals. Politics and foreign policies, all about oil. The black gold has driven humanity forward and it may prove to be their downfall.

Good to see the ideas that one reads about in books and papers given coverage on film. It is essential that people watch this film but what good will come out of it? The film covers the emergence of alternative forms of energy in the latter half and that is where hope lies for humanity. Hopefully, the politicians get that message as well. Otherwise, the clock is ticking and more wars may await.

The White Ribbon (2009, co-production, Michael Haneke)

In The White Ribbon Haneke displays the same keen observation towards society and culture that was evident in Cache, although the methodology between the two films differs in terms of images vs words. In the absorbing Cache, it was solely the images that gave clues to the character’s true feelings and the audiences were required to derive their own conclusions. But in The White Ribbon, the character’s words clearly spell out the hatred and feelings of disgust. On some occasions, the images do convey the hatred & fear but words are the real weapon here.

The White Ribbon does take a while to catch fire though. The first hour appears to be devoid of much drama as we get a dry glimpse into the character’s daily lives and activities. But after the first signs of the horror and hatred in the village are revealed, then the purpose of those earlier scenes which depicted the mundane activities is made clear. After that point, the film is a riveting pulsating catalogue of the hatred and evil that would be unleashed beyond the borders of a single village and across the European landscape.

The use of a narrator to carry us through the small town tale in The White Ribbon feels a bit like Lars von Trier from Dogville and Manderlay. In fact, Dogville and The White Ribbon have quite a bit in common as both films use the story of a few selected characters to stand in for a nation -- in both cases, the directors are trying to depict their understanding of the psyche of a larger group of people by focussing on a selected few characters. While von Trier set his film on a stage set thereby eliminating any feelings for the character’s environment, Haneke uses a real environment to depict the character’s daily routines thereby making his film feel like a living breathing case study.

Day 3: Sunday, Sept 27

Crackie (2009, Canada, Sherry White)

Ah Newfoundland. Beautiful landscape but devoid of jobs. Not a stereotype but a reality as documented by the large number of people that leave the place to head west to look for jobs, especially in Alberta. Sherry White’s film also picks up on this aspect as the young Mitsy is abandoned by her mother who heads to Alberta to etch out a better living. Crackie is an engaging coming of age tale garnished with a mix of humour and drama. The humour is provided by Mary Walsh who plays the strong outspoken grandmother who looks after Mitsy.

Revache (2008, Austria, Goetz Spielmann)

I had been looking forward towards this movie since it made the cut for Cannes back in 2008. And I was not disappointed as this beautiful bank heist + moral tale certainly delivers. Also like in Spielmann’s previous film Antares, steamy sex is thrown in for good measure. Having now seen two movies each by the Austrian film-makers Goetz Spielmann and Ulrich Seidl, there are overlapping similarities in both film-makers style, especially considering both film-makers start their recent films in sex centers before expanding to a larger canvas.

Police, Adjective (2009, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu)

Serious conversations between characters regarding the meaning of words and grammar forms a rich cinematic experience. Things are presented in a simple easy to absorb manner with long takes mixed with precious moments of humour. The film builds up on Corneliu Porumboiu’s previous film 12:08 East of Bucharest and also has a nod towards The Death of Mr. Lazarescu as it depicts another example of the bureaucratic circle of paperwork hell.

Day 4: Monday, Sept 28

The Happiest Girl in the World (2009, Romania co-production, Radu Jude)

Winning a free car was supposed to usher in new freedom for Delia Fratila. All she had to do was act in a 35 second car commercial and drive away with her new car. But things don’t turn out to be that simple. Her parents want to exchange the car for money to finance a better future and the commercial shoot turns out to be an artistic and physical challenge. Funny and engaging. Another vintage film from Romania.

Day 5: Tuesday, Sept 29

The Last Lullaby (2008, USA, Jeffrey Goodman)

This was a real discovered gem of the festival. Originally there was only a single screening of this film (Sunday 7:15 pm) which I had intended on seeing but unfortunately missed. Scott, a true film buff, raved about this film later on and I wondered when I would get to see it. But thankfully a second screening was added on Tuesday and true to Scott’s words, The Last Lullaby is indeed a treat.

Price (Tom Sizemore), a retired assassin for hire, rescues a girl from a bunch of kidnappers and demands a ransom from the father for his opportunistic rescue effort. Price disappears after he collects the money but things get interesting when the girl’s father tracks him down and offers a hit job with a lot of money. On paper, it looks to be easy money. But in the tradition of film noir, it turns out to be anything but. Stylistically shot and nicely acted (Sasha Alexander looks immensely charming), The Last Lullaby is easily superior to a majority of what Hollywood has to offer. So you can be sure that this film won’t play in a multiplex any time soon, but it is one that has to be seen.

St. Nick (2009, USA, David Lowery)

The last few years have seen a richer and different America depicted on screen thanks to film-makers such as Ramin Bahrani’s (Man Push Cart & Chop Shop) and Kelly Reichardt (Wendy and Lucy). Now, David Lowery’s name can be included in that list as his St. Nick is a beautiful addition to the new American cinema that is emerging despite the dominating presence of the mostly suffocating one-dimensional Hollywood cinema on the North American screens.

While the main story of St. Nick is about two young run away kids, the film also highlights the current America where empty abandoned houses reflect the tough economic times. At the film’s start, the young boy examines one such abandoned house and gets about making it habitable both for himself and his younger sister. While it is engaging to watch such a young boy go about fixing the house, it is also heart breaking to see these two kids skip past childhood and head straight into the struggles of adulthood. Since the two have no money, they have to resort to stealing to feed themselves. In this aspect, the film is related to Wendy and Lucy as both films examine the young character’s struggle to make ends meet while on the road.

St. Nick is also another shining example of a film that does not need to drown the screen with dialogue and instead lets the powerful visual language of the camera convey its thoughtful story.

CIFF 2009, wrap-up

The 10th edition of CIFF ended up being the best programmed year in the festival’s history. I managed to catch 22 films over 9 days as I missed one day of film viewing. In fact, it has been a few years since I have managed to watch a film on each of the 10 days. My overall total number was less than I had hoped for but in the end, even getting to this total took a lot of effort. But I managed to do something that I have longed for a long time now -- watching 7 films in one day. A few years ago some festival programmers mentioned how they watched 7 films in a single day at TIFF. For me getting to that number appeared to be impossible as the maximum number of films that anyone could watch at CIFF and VIFF was 6 (I managed 6 at VIFF in 2007). This year, when the print of Cyborg She didn’t arrive on time for the wednesday night (Sept 30) screening, CIFF added a screening for that film at 10:45 am on saturday. I was already planning on watching 6 films that saturday and this additional screening gave me the perfect chance to hit 7. In the end, it was close as the 7th film was sold out and I just managed to snag one of the last few spots in the theater.

Best Films -- Canada, South Korea, Romania and France

Romania had a very strong showing at the festival with three excellent films. Police, Adjective is simply outstanding. Corneliu Porumboiu brings the same style of humour that he used in 12:08 East of Bucharest. In both films, the funniest moments arise while watching characters engaged in serious discussion; what is serious chatter for the characters is rich comedy for the audience. The Happiest Girl in the World is another interesting dry humour product from Romania. The entire film is essentially about a 35 second commercial but there is plenty of drama around filming that commercial such as the lead girl’s tussle with her parents, the production crew’s silliness, producer interference and the director’s struggle to maintain his view. Katalin Varga rounded out the trio of Romania’s strong candidates.

The Prophet is engaging and a delight to watch. The Korean film Breathless is easily one of the best films I have seen this year. The film manages to draw a direct line from domestic abuse to gangster violence. It is not an easy film to watch but it is also powerful, raw and just damn brilliant.

But...the best film of the festival for me was the Quebecois film I Killed my Mother. It is hard to believe that the director, Xavier Dolan, wrote this film when he was 17 and directed this at the age of 19. The topic of a teenager’s tussle with their mother is universal but Dolan shows plenty of maturity and intelligence in this outstanding debut feature.

22 precious films

All the films deserve a proper write-up but I am taking the easy way out and lining up the films in order of preference. The ratings are somewhat fluid as most films are quite good.

I Killed My Mother (2009, Canada, Xavier Dolan): 10/10
Breathless (2009, South Korea, Yang Ik-June): 10/10
Police, Adjective (2009, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu): 10/10
The Prophet (2009, France, Jacques Audiard): 10/10
Katalin Varga (2009, Romania co-production, Peter Strickland): 9/10
Revache (2008, Austria, Goetz Spielmann): 9/10
The Happiest Girl in the World (2009, Romania co-production, Radu Jude): 9/10
Wrong Rosary (2009, Turkey, Mahmut Fazil Coskun): 9/10
Cooking History (2008, co-production, Peter Kerekes): 8.5/10
The White Ribbon (2009, co-production, Michael Haneke): 8.5/10
The Last Lullaby (2008, USA, Jeffrey Goodman): 8.5/10
Tetro (2009, USA, Francis Ford Coppola): 8/10
St. Nick (2009, USA, David Lowery): 8/10
White Night Wedding (2009, Iceland, Baltasar Kormákur): 7.5/10
Guy and Madeline on a Park Bench (2009, USA, Damien Chazelle): 7.5/10
Houston, We have a problem (2008, USA, Nicole Torre): 7.5/10
Crackie (2009, Canada, Sherry White): 7.5/10
Juntos (2009, Canada/Mexico, Nicolás Pereda): 7/10
Gigantic (2008, USA, Matt Aselton): 7/10
Daybreakers (2009, Australia, the Spierig brothers): 7/10
Cyborg, She (2008, Japan, Jae-young Kwak): 6/10
Seven Minutes in Heaven (2008, Israel, Omri Givon): 5/10

Festival Diary/Notes

Opening Day

Days 2-5

Days 6-8

Days 9-10

Venues

CIFF 2009, Venues

The festival is over and my slow return to normality can begin. Unlike previous years, I was unable to maintain a daily log of films that I saw but I still plan to do a recap soon. In the meantime, I wanted to talk about the venues, something I have not done before.












When CIFF first started 10 years ago, it was based around the city's three art-house theaters -- Globe Cinema, The Plaza & The Uptown. In the last few years, CIFF expanded to include more locations (at one point as many as 6 venues including Eau Claire Cineplex cinemas) but this year it was back to basics and only three locations -- the Uptown dropped out leaving Eau Claire to take its place.

1) Eau Claire Cinemas -- Previously, CIFF only used a solitary screen (the IMAX). This year the festival used two regular screens and that was quite convenient as both halls were almost across from each other. The Cineplex at Eau Claire is not your average multiplex. Each week, one can find an independent/foreign film playing alongside the newest Hollywood flick. If most multiplexes around the country were programmed like the Eau Claire, I would have fewer complaints.


















2) The Globe -- The two cinemas at this venue have been showing great indie/foreign films for years. And the manager, Dan Silver, is quite supportive of local film festivals as he was very helpful when we booked the theater for our Pan-Asian film festival a few years ago.
















3) The Plaza -- The best programmed cinema in the city and probably one of the top cinemas in this country!! On each night, one can find multiple movies playing in the single hall. And those movies range the entire cinematic spectrum -- old silent & foreign classics, new indie/world cinema, hollywood, midnight/cult and genre films. The Calgary Cinematheque uses the Plaza as its regular spot and virtually every film festival in the city shows all their movies here. One can even find the odd Ethiopian or Tamil movie playing here. And until a few years ago, the Plaza used to regularly show Bollywood movies. In fact, the first movie that I saw in the Plaza was a Bollywood film almost 12 years ago. And I also saw my first ever foreign film (the Japanese film Shall we Dance) at this same theater.













And the Plaza's location is great too. The Plaza is surrounded by a wine bar and a bookshop on either end. Plus there are plenty of good restaurants, cafes and pubs within walking distance. So there is enough opportunity to be properly nourished in between movies.

CIFF 2009: Kick-off

Day One, Friday Sept 25

There are plenty of titles that hover in the big world of film festivals. But it often seems that only a few films are ever talked about. What about the rest? Why is no one talking about them? Is anyone talking about Katalin Varga? I have not heard any noise about this film, so let me start the sound waves rolling.

Katalin Varga, the Film: Devastating cinema. Simple but extraordinary.
Katalin Varga, the Character: Hilda Péter puts in a mesmerizing and incredible performance. I could have watched her character all day long.

The film does not waste any time. Within a few minutes, Katalin’s husband kicks her out of her home along with her son. She has nowhere to go. A journey begins. But the music points to a dark past and even a darker future. Yes, there is some darkness, for this is a revenge tale. But it is unlike any other revenge movie. In fact, it carves out its own rules for vengeance. That means no dramatic dialogues but instead we are treated to beautiful images and haunting music, music which conveys the hovering tension in the air.

After such a beautiful and powerful film, something light was required. And the fun Icelandic feature White Night Wedding more than provided for that. There are plenty of laughs in White Night Wedding which feature unique and interesting characters/scenarios. The film also balances its funny side with some dramatic scenes of a strained relationship and question of death.

Overall, an excellent start for the opening day.

Ratings:

Katalin Varga (2009, Romania/Hungary/UK, Peter Strickland): 9/10










White Night Wedding (2009, Iceland, Baltasar Kormákur): 7.5/10

Parisian cinemas

This is not a dream

I booked our Parisian hotel (Hotel de France) because of its reasonable price and close proximity to the Gare de Lyon train station. The night before we left for Paris, I decided to check out the exact street view via google to know how far we had to walk from the train station. And when I saw the street side view, my jaw dropped because our hotel was right next to a cinema hall!!! What a dream!! But when I checked the schedule, all the films were either in French or dubbed in French with no subtitles. So not quite the perfect dream but close...














In the end, I didn't have any time to check out a film because our days in Paris were jam packed. But I can't still shake off the idea that our hotel was next to a cinema. You walk out of the reception and there it is...

The Cinema name points to the next location

I came across a cinema in Champs-Élysées called the Lido. And the next day, I was on the Lido island watching a film. Hmmm..

Two films to look forward to

The two most common film posters I saw in Paris were for Un prophète and L'armée du crime (The Army of Crime). Jacques Audiard's Un prophète is already on my list to see at CIFF but I am not sure when I will get a chance to see Robert Guédiguian's The Army of Crime.

Venice & the film festival experience

The 2 day stay in Venice and attending the film festival became a microcosm of life in general, a life which consists of many events working beautifully together to lead towards an end goal. Or put simply, it confirmed that everything happens for a reason. Well almost everything.


Once Upon a time in Canada...a vacation was planned

It was simply really. A family vacation in Paris and Italy. Having been to Paris and Italy previously, I figured dropping Venice out of the Italian leg of the journey was an easy decision. Pigeons, tourists and canals. That was all Venice was, right? But my father politely queried about going to Venice. I could not turn him down, so I decided ok, Venice was in. After the flights were booked, I learned that we were going to be in Venice during the film festival.

Massive screams of joy!!!!!!

After I calmed down a bit, I was still in disbelief. What was that saying about parents knowing best? :)

The next question was how many films I could squeeze in? The festival was held on the separate island of Lido, so it would not be that simple to go back and forth. I decided on the safe bet of booking tickets for one film on day one and seeing how things turned out on the second day.



Day One -- The Plan

I had a look at the schedule and figured an early evening show would be best for me. So I set my sights on the 5:15 pm show of the Brazilian film, Insolação. This is how things were supposed to turn out on Day 1:

Sunday, Sept 6, 8:20 am flight from Paris to Venice.
Arrive in Venice by 10 am.
15-30 minutes to collect luggage.
30 min to reach the island from airport by bus at terminal Piazzale Roma.
A further 30 min by vaporetto (water bus) to get to the San Toma Stop.
A 10-15 min walk to the apartment.

So it seemed reasonable to reach the apartment by 11:30-12 atleast. Then some time for lunch & wandering around Venice with the family before taking the boat to Lido around 3:30 pm. That would have gotten me to Lido by 4 pm and allowed me to wander the festival ground for a bit before taking in the 5:15 pm show.

So how did things go?

Plan, meet window

The flight was on time. Check.
Missed the 10:20 shuttle bus. In fact, the bus was leaving as we arrived on the stop. Next bus was at 10:50.
Got to the Venice bus terminal by 11:25 am.
And then the chaos started.

I could not get a hold of the person who rented the apartment out. And this is exactly what I had feared. Something about the apartment booking had always bothered me. The Art Blue bed and breakfast was located in Campo s. Stefano but the apartment we were staying was around Scuola di San Rocco, which was on the other side of the Grand Canal. Even though we had booked for a spot at the B&B, it seemed we would be staying in an apartment away from the B&B, so was my concern was if the apartment was someone’s private residence or another B&B? We were never given a fixed address but simply asked to get off at the San Toma vaporetto stop and give the owner a phone call just before we got to the stop. Someone would meet us at the stop with the key in 10 minutes. I would have liked to use the phone number as a backup and would have preferred a fixed address. Anyway, I went along with the plan and got my cell phone changed to have roaming allowed for Europe.

Since the owner was still not picking up his phone, I decided to get boat tickets. The lineup to get tickets was atleast 30 min. Sunday = busy tourist day. Duh.

We finally reached the San Toma stop around 12:30 and the owner was still not picking up his phone. Stress. 4 adults, one infant, luggage and no where to go.

So made the quick decision to leave my parents with the luggage and the three of us (my lovely wife and clearly tired daughter) would cross the canal on foot and find the B&B reception. The heat was unbearable and we were all thirsty and getting tired now. I had only gotten 2-3 hours sleep the previous night in Paris, so my body was starting to show signs of fatigue.

After getting lost once, we were helped by 2 ladies who showed us the path to the Accademia bridge, one of 4 bridges that can be used to cross the Grand Canal, and the last major bridge in order to get to St Mark’s square. More chaos when we reached the B&B. There is an Art Blue Cafe & Restaurant at the bottom of the Art Blue Bed and Breakfast but the two are separate. This fact was made clear by an arrogant, angry restaurant owner who shouted at us for the sole reason that we inquired where the entrance to the B&B was. He told us to go around the corner and hit the buzzer for apartment #3. We did that, and the call went through to the same phone number I was trying. Once again, no answer. So we had to go back to the restaurant to ask if there was any other way to contact the B&B owner. We learned that was a reception to the B&B a block away, but not before we were dished out more shouting. Ofcourse, it appeared that the entire episode was our fault. In Canada, hotels/B&B’s have clear signs showing where the reception or entrance is. But silly us. We were ofcourse not in Canada, a fact made apparent by the shouting restaurant owner. He said he would help us but that would be all. Good, that’s all we wanted. Frustrated, tired and with a baby who was clearly getting unhappy, we were not impressed. But we listened to Mr. arrogant as he thankfully pointed us the way.

The reception was indeed a block away but still over a bridge, ofcourse. We were glad to reach the reception but the girl at the front desk surprized us by saying that the apartment was not supposed to be ready until 2 pm. What? Frustration increased. She finally managed to put us through to the owner. He explained he never got my call but assured as another person would give us the key at the San Toma stop by 2 pm.

Was it my fault that the call didn’t get through? Maybe. My cell phone was automatically supposed to switch to the Italian network but maybe for some reason the call didn’t get through. But the owner had not answered when we rang the buzzer for the apartment as well. Whatever. The long walk back again began. I met the guy at the vaporetto stop and we finally checked in just after 2 pm.

The heat had me drained. Being awake since 4 am didn’t help either. But I still decided to leave just after 3 pm for my film. All I had to do was take the vaporetto from San Toma and 25 minutes later, I would be in Lido. I left my map and cell phone as I thought my family would need that more. There was only one set of keys to the apartment so I had to leave the keys and agreed on a meeting time and point (the buzzer to the apartment was not labelled either).

After a quick 10 minute walk from the apartment, I found the San Toma stop closed. Horror. The police man explained that there was a gondola competition and as a result, the Grand Canal was closed to all water taxis and buses. What!!!! The only alternative I could think of was catching a vaporetto from St. Mark’s square. The officer explained that might not be possible as all boats might be stopped there as well. But I had to try.

2 hour journey begins...

There are 4 bridges that go across the Grand Canal. Two of them didn’t matter to me as they led to the bus stop (Piazzale Roma) and the train station away from the island of Venice. The 3rd was the Rialto and that would be a bit further off from St. Mark’s square. So the only choice was to take the Academia bridge, the same one I had crossed a few hours earlier. I rushed off, thinking I had a chance.

But I wasn’t the only one stuck. When I was in Venice 10 years ago, I had taken a day long tour. The tours had dropped & picked us at St. Mark’s square. Now, as I was walking towards the Accademia, I noticed groups of tourists. By the thousands it seemed. They were getting on private boats just before the Accademia bridge. This fact seemed to indicate that maybe no boats were leaving St. Mark’s square, so all of them seemed to be headed away from St. Mark’s square.

So I walked faster. And then the Accademia bridge appeared. I wish I had taken a picture of the bridge but I didn’t want to waste any more time. The bridge was packed completely, with a seemingly endless chain of people getting off and on. There was no room to put my foot anywhere on the wooden steps so I did what everyone else was and pushed for a spot. Someone pushed me from behind and I in turn fell forward and pushed the person ahead. The young Italian ahead of me didn’t like getting pushed but I told him that the same had happened to me. He took off his ipod headphones and started shouting. He didn’t understand any English it seemed. Whatever. The young Italian raced ahead. After I reached the Art Blue B&B, I had to navigate blindly without a map. I did the natural thing and followed the crowd. The lanes got even narrower and the crowds appeared to increase even more. Those Venetian streets were more crowded than anything I had experienced previously and that includes the crowded streets of New Delhi or Bombay. Once again, I wish I had taken pictures but I was on a mission. Along the way, I saw tourists trying to carry their suitcases across the bridges while throngs of people pushed them aside. I felt sorry for those tourists having gone through a similar luggage dragging episode a few hours ago.

A short while later, I caught up with the young Italian guy. This time around, I moved ahead of him. But our game of running into each other continued until we finally reached St Mark’s square around 4:10 pm. The entire square is a sight to behold but having seen the place 10 years ago and being pressed for time, I could not stop. As expected, all the boat stops were closed. I crossed bridge after bridge, with the same result. No boats (public or private) were arriving or leaving St. Mark’s square. All the ticket information offices were closed as well and the earliest boat appeared to be leaving past 7 pm. But I kept walking.

The heat was getting unbearable. All around me people were cooling off with gelato or icy drinks. But I could not think of stopping. Thankfully I spotted one woman still working on shift at a ticket office. The woman informed me that the only way to get to Lido was taking the boats from St. Helena, a stop 20 minutes from our current location. So a dozen (or 100) bridges later, I was on the edge of the island, where the first sight of grass appeared.

And this is where I met Pedro....

The journey still continues...

I saw a man carrying a Venice film festival bag, so I naturally assumed he was going to Lido as well. I approached him and he confirmed my belief. A few queries back and forth and it turned out we were both going to the same movie. Pedro asked how I was interested in Brazilian film and I likewise asked the same. It turned out Pedro Freire was a Brazilian film-maker whose newest short film O Teu Sorriso was playing in competition. Pedro also had a map and he figured we were another 15 min away from St. Helena. He thought our best bet would be to catch the #20 vaporetto at 4:45 pm otherwise, we would have no hope. It was around 4:37 pm when Pedro mentioned that we were nearing St. Helena and we saw a boat appear at the stop. Was this the #20? As soon as Pedro said “I think we have to run”, he was off. I ran on the grass unlike Pedro who bravely ran on the edge of the pathway overlooking the water (no railing, one slip and a person would be in the water). But no, it was not the #20.

4:45 pm. Still no sign of the #20. Just then, a ship cruiser tried to dock at the stop. But the captain could not align the boat with the landing and quite a few tourists waited to board their cruise vessel. By now, we could see the #20 waiting but it could not arrive until this cruise boat had left. 5 painfully long minutes went by before the cruise boat gave up and headed off allowing the #20 to dock. Joy, joy. Only 4 of us got on the boat with the rest waiting for their cruise boat. The #20 driver said we would be Lido in 10 minutes.

Venezia Film Festival, I am here

The driver’s 10 minutes were in fact 16-17 minutes but we made it to the movie village around 5:10 pm. Once again, I kept the camera in the bag. A quick dash from the boat stop as Pedro guided me to Sala Darsena via 2-3 checkpoints of well suited (ofcourse) Italian festival staff. All around, people had their film festival passes around their necks but my electronic ticket was enough.

5:13 pm. Pedro pointed out that the directors of Insolação were getting their pictures taken on the red carpet, so we had just made it. As soon as we entered the cinema hall, the directors/producers and cast of the film entered. Everyone stood up and applauded as the light shone brightly on the film personnel. As the film personnel sat down right in the middle of the theater, a voice introduced each person (actors, producers and directors in the end), applause followed. And then, lights out.

This is not that Brazilian film

Running into Pedro was the perfect tonic for my tired mind. It was fun chatting about Brazilian cinema with someone who was aware of all the titles I had seen. And when Pedro mentioned about Marcelo Gomes and Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures, I almost gasped in delight as that was one of my favorite films of 2005. I had finally found someone who had seen this movie. It turned out that Marcelo Gomes’s newest film (which he co-directed with Karim Ainouz) was playing at Venice this year. During our talk, I mentioned to Pedro that I had never seen a bad Brazilian film or any film that didn’t have merit. Maybe that was because I had only seen Brazilian films sent to film festivals? Just before our boat arrived at Lido, Pedro warned me not to have high expectations from Insolação, especially if this would be the only film I saw at Venice. I told him not to worry.

Ha.

All good things must come to an end. And so it was with my run of seeing only quality Brazilian films. The first few minutes of Insolação seemed promising. A ground work was laid out and I expected the canvas to split open and the film to take on wings. The first walkout came around the 10 minute mark. I dismissed that as a bathroom break because I had never seen a walkout that early on in a film. A few minutes later, another walkout. Then a steady stream. Seats around me emptied out, giving me some extra leg room. I stretched out and began my battle to stay awake. For me, my extra long day was finally catching up. Little sleep, long walks in the hot sun, hunger and thirst. I didn’t have enough time to get some water before the film started and now that was looking like a bad idea.

The most walkouts took place around the 45 minute mark. Two people made sure they walked out right in front of the directors and film crew. My head started to drop and I found myself in a semi-dazed state. I opened my eyes hoping to find something different yet nothing had changed. The film appeared to be stuck in an endless cycle, something that was apparent early on in the film. Coming of age, love, loss. More loss. The narrator sheds tears, looks at the audiences and naturally it rains on him. No one left the movie after the hour mark. The entire experience still felt like a dream when the film ended. Applause greeted the work and the directors looked pleased, as they were smiling. For me, the film was painful viewing and I am certain my long day had nothing to do with it. Insolação didn't look and feel like any Brazilian film that I had seen before. The film's music and tone made it feel more like an American indie but the film appeared to be aware of itself at every point. Every scene appeared to be forced and had enough dramatic pause that appeared to be screaming "look at me, for I am high art". But once the layers were peeled away, there was nothing.

I briefly caught up with Pedro before I rushed out. It was close to 7 pm and I had to meet my family by 8 pm. I had time to grab a bottle of water just as a vaporetto pulled up. It was an express vaporetto which would go close to St. Mark’s square, so I got on. I would have loved to wander around the movie village and I really wanted to buy a program guide but I didn’t want to be late as I didn’t have keys to the apartment and had no phone either.

The crowds were still there as the sun set across the Venetian lagoon and a majority of them were in awe of a huge cruise liner just leaving Venice.































I reached the meeting point at 8:03 pm, almost on time. The rest of the night was lovely as we went back to St. Mark’s square for an amazing dinner and....some delicious gelato, finally.

Day 2 -- another film, but a surprize

I really wanted to watch 1-2 movies on Monday, especially the 5 pm shorts selection which featured Edmund Yeo’s newest film. Then there was a Peruvian film at 7:30 pm that I was interested in. But I decided to put family first. The plan was to visit the nearby islands of Murano and Burano and go from there.

I had been to Burano 10 years ago and it was interesting to head back and see how some things were still the same and how there were some changes.



We spent almost the entire day at both islands and it was just after 7 pm when we reached back to Venice. Our original idea was to get off at the San Toma stop but my mother wanted to stop at the Rialto bridge for a wander, so we got off there.

We had a map but I decided to head back without looking at the map as I didn’t expect us to take too long to reach the apartment. Alleys led into other alleys. I followed a simple rule. Whenever faced with two paths, I took the one which was lit more. And sometimes, I took the path where more voices or footsteps could be heard. After crossing a few bridges, we reached an open square.

There was a tower on one end and across from it, there appeared to be a large screen. Now, all those signs of "public screenings" for the Venice film festival made sense. And once we went around the corner, sure enough, there was indeed a large screen slated to show Claire Denis’ White Material at 9 pm. The French film only had Italian subtitles but the experience seemed tempting. Since we were hungry and I didn’t want to leave my family stranded, I decided against seeing the movie. But my better half insisted that I had to see the film as the experience would be worth it. I confessed that this was a movie I had wanted to see anyhow. So it was settled -- I bought the ticket and decided to rush back and leave everyone at the apartment and then find my way back.

It was 8:25 pm and it turned out that the apartment was only 15 minutes away. I had enough time to grab a calzone and coffee slush drink before I reached the square around 8:50 pm. The screen had a beautiful feel to it. Houses on all sides, a tower behind the screen and a restaurant on the other end. The square was lively and the restaurant was packed. A few kids were playing with a whistle and I expected some mischief from them during the movie.

The audience was mostly Italian with some festival pass carrying people. Copies of Variety and other film magazines were visible. I decided to take the last row, near the centre. There were just other two men in the last row, both a few chairs down on either end, one of them had a dog on his lap. Once the film started, the dog was awake and busy watching the movie. I could hear the noise of forks and plates from the restaurant behind me and halfway through the movie, when a lady opened the window of her house, the creaking noise made quite a few people look in her direction. She quickly closed the window. 30 minutes into the movie, those kids with the whistle made their presence heard. They ran to 2-3 different spots outside the curtains, blew their whistle, laughed and ran off. After an hour, when two dogs started fighting outside, the man to my right tried to ensure his dog was calm. I could hear his dog starting to breathe heavily but the man made sure his dog would not bark as he calmly petted him. But the dog did bark, about 15 minutes from the film’s end, probably out of fatigue as he (or she) wanted to go home.

Even though the film had no english subtitles, White Material was a good choice because the camera’s language was beautiful, easy to follow and allowed one to soak in the African surroundings. Plus, the open air theater made the whole experience more alive and breathable than watching something in a closed setting. The cool air and starry sky made it the best cinematic experience I have ever had. In fact, the experience was more memorable than the film itself. White Material was not bad, but given the cinematic images that have been portrayed about Africa, I didn’t find anything ground breaking about the work. A different pace and some beautiful moments were what I liked best.

And in closing...

The experiences of reaching and viewing at both venues were more memorable than the actual films itself. As I have mentioned the San Polo open air cinema experience to friends, they have mentioned Cinema Paradiso. I had not thought of that and in a way, it was like that. Quite simply beautiful.

Lots of amazing things came together for me to reach my film screening on time. If we didn’t have to cross the Accademia bridge to go to the B&B, then I might not have been so confident in leaving without a map and trying to take that route later on in the day. And then that long walk to St. Helena and running into Pedro. Ofcourse, I had to talk to Pedro first. There were two stops at St. Helena so if it were not for Pedro, I might have stood at the second stop and missed the boat altogether. The only thing that I can’t find a place for is being shouted at by the Art Blue Cafe & Restaurant owner (or manager, whatever he was). Was there a lesson to be learned there? I am sure there is although I don’t want to spend another minute trying to think about it. Out damn shouting image of arrogant owner, I erase thee.

Ciao Venice.

A decade long path from Dark City

Knowing (2009, USA/UK, Alex Proyas)

Note: Spoiler Alert -- key details about Dark City and Knowing are mentioned.

More than a decade ago, the brilliant Dark City showed a world where humans were the guinea pigs of an alien experiment. The film was smart and offered plenty of intriguing ideas about memories and human psychology.

11 years later, Alex Proyas returns with an end of the world sci-fi film with a key alien presence. As per the film, it is aliens who shepherd humans through the cycle of destruction and recreation. The aliens serve as angels in charge of ensuring that the cycle of life continues as per the Bible. While the film only focuses on one young Adam-Eve couple in charge of starting the birth of the planet from scratch, it also indicates that multiple couples might share the burden. Earth's destruction is quite beautifully done and "the end" does not feel like a finale. Instead, it appears as the board has been cleared completely so that a future recreation can take place.

I was pleasantly surprized by Knowing. I had mistakenly believed the film would be another run of the mill destruction film but it is much better than Hollywood's regular nonsense. Knowing is a decent watch even though it is not nowhere as good as Dark City. Interestingly both films form a bond due to the alien presence. In Dark City, the humans are not shown to be taken by the aliens, whereas in Knowing the transport of the humans is depicted. The aliens in Dark City use their minds as weapons but it is the mouth that serves as the weapon in Knowing (whispers and also for blinding light). Both sets of aliens from the two films wear trench coats but in Knowing, the aliens don't need a hat as they have a full set of hair. So clearly the aliens in both films are from different planets :) Maybe, another decade later Alex Proyas will present a third installment of an alien film. So let this blog entry serve as a time capsule in that regard.

CIFF 2009 preview, part IV

Mary and Max (2009, Australia, Adam Elliot)

It is easy to see why this wonderful claymation film opened the Sundance film festival. The film shows plenty of maturity and effortlessly pieces together moments of beauty, humour and darkness. The story is also a refreshing throw back to the old days of snail mail which allowed pen pals to exchange their ideas across the planet while they patiently waited by the mailbox to get the next letter. The voices of the two main characters are also cast perfectly -- the bubbly young Australian girl gets her vocals courtesy of Toni Collette while the depressive middle aged man is voiced by Phillip Seymour Hoffman (who else?).

Correction Update: Toni Collette voices the adult Mary not the young one.

Amreeka (2009, USA/Canada, Cherien Dabis)

The opening 15 min of Amreeka are poetic and feature some soul stirring music, especially in the scene featured in the photo where Fadi is stopped at a checkpoint. This critical scene convinces Muna that she should move to the US to seek a better life for her son. When the film shifts to the US after that, the story contains some elements which overlap with many recent films examining the immigrant difficulties in adapting to life in the US, be it from a Latino or Indian immigrant perspective. But Amreeka's strength is that it maintains a pleasant light hearted tone despite the bleakness of the situation thereby giving the film depth while also having a feel good factor. The film features strong acting, sharp visuals and poses plenty of thoughtful questions about racism and political bias in the media.

White on Rice (2009, USA, Dave Boyle)

An impressive light hearted indie film that contains some of the funniest scenes to feature in an American film this year. For example, the opening scene of a Japanese samurai film dubbed in English with an American texan accent is downright hilarious. And the presence of some quirky characters ensures that the film never gets dull.

The diver..

Man Utd vs Arsenal

When the opponent is Arsenal, then Wayne Rooney knows when to dive. Back in 2004, it was from his dive that Man Utd won a penalty to end Arsenal's 49 game unbeaten run. And on saturday, Rooney dove again to win a penalty, which he then scored to tie the game up.


As per the above picture, Rooney was already on his way to the ground before Almunia touched him. Almunia is to blame as well because there was no need for him to be so rash and he left himself no chance to pull his hands back. Rooney knew what he was doing. Even if Almunia had not touched him, Rooney would have fallen over Almunia's body and the penalty would still have been given. This is because when Man Utd are playing at home they get more penalties and decisions in their favour than any other team in the EPL.

And as usual, the other fouls that Man Utd players dished went unpunished and a clear penalty for Arsenal was also not called. A new season, yet the same ref bias. Eduardo gets charged by UEFA but Rooney will not be called out, never.

CIFF 2009 preview, part III

Asian hat-trick

Call if you need me (2009, Malaysia, James Lee)

A visually sharp film that combines the sensibilities of diverse film-makers such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien and Quentin Tarantino while still retaining a unique Malaysian flavour. Hou Hsiao-Hsien elevated a gangster film to an art form with Goodbye South Goodbye and James Lee does a very job in carrying on that tradition. Call if you Need me is about gangsters and kidnappings but there isn’t a single gun or drop of blood to be found on screen. All the violence is kept out of the frame and we are instead shown events that precede or succeed a violent act. In one instance, the gangsters surround a guy and are ready to beat him up but the next scene shows the victim playing cards with the gangsters. A few moments later, we learn that the guy is kidnapped and can’t go until the money he owes turns up so he is forced to pass the time by playing cards but you can sense his nervousness. Because there is no violence shown on screen, we can instead focus on the characters and their day to day lives, including their love interests and their choice of food and drugs.

The film also maintains a cool look and tempo similar to the cinema of Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (especially Invisible Waves) thereby making it a perfect film for a nice summer day. Even though the topic is about gangsters, one never leaves the film with a bad taste and the film does not glorify the gangster’s lifestyle, something that Ram Gopal Varma consistently does in his work.

Rough Cut (2008, Korea, Hun Jang)

Rough Cut has taken some aspects of the extraordinary Korean film Dirty Carnival and gone in a different direction with good effect. Dirty Carnival showed how gangsters complained about movies not having authentic fight scenes and in order to correct things, a local gangster (Byeong-du) helped his old college friend (Min-ho) to make an authentic gangster film by giving pointers to the actors and fight instructors. In Rough Cut, a once popular action star asks a local gangster to play a villain in his movies so that the actor can save his career. The gangster, who always dreamed of being an actor himself, agrees provided that all the fight scenes in the film are real and not staged. The end result is a no holds barred on screen contest where even the film’s director has no idea if the end result would hold true to his original script.

Rough Cut is a very good film that puts a new spin on the traditional gangster genre. Kim Ki-duk's screenplay is different from anything he done before, and that includes the gangster film Bad Guy that he directed early in his career.

Daytime Drinking (2008, Korea, Noh Young-seok)

A delightful film that provides plenty of laughs with its sincere tale of love, friends, alcohol and good food. When I was not busy laughing, I was craving hot ramen noodles with cold beer just like the characters in the film. In recent years, most of the Korean films that have showed at film festivals have been big budget slick productions. So it is great to see an independent Korean film like Daytime Drinking doing the festival rounds.

The Beautiful Game vs the Kicking Culture

The Champions League Draw -- A thing of beauty!



Group C is easily the toughest and the most interesting: AC Milan, Real Madrid, Marseille & FC Zürich

The Milan vs Madrid game is one for the history books as the two most successful European Cup winning teams take to the field. Also, the game marks the return of Kaka to his former club. But Milan are not the team they once were so Marseille have a great chance to take second stop. On the other hand, fans of FC Zürich are in for a treat as they will witness their team take on some of the best players in the world.

Group A is the second toughest with the games between Bayern, Juventus and Bordeaux likely to be tight affairs. Maccabi might not be able to spoil the party but they will likely score some home goals.

Group E provides a bit of a challenge for Liverpool. On paper, Liverpool and Lyon appear to be favourites but Fiorentina might be able to ring a surprize. It will be interesting to see if Liverpool can continue their CL luck from past years.

Group C rematches Chelsea with Porto for only the 100th time. Well it feels like the 100th time. Chelsea should easily win this group although Atletico Madrid need to show more consistency if they are to take second spot. What can APOEL do? They will certainly have a noisy home crowd behind them but their best chances of points are at home to Porto.

Group G appears to be a bit evenly balanced but Stuttgart and Seville should advance. Rangers have to secure an away win against one of these two if they want to take 2nd spot.

Reunion is the flavour in Group F: Barcelona, Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev, Rubin Kazan

Both Eto'o and Zlatan face off against their old teams while Jose will surely be greeted with some boos at the Nou Camp. Both Barca and Inter should advance from this group with some ease, although Inter will drop points away from home.

Now to Group B: Manchester United, CSKA Moscow, Beşiktaş, Wolfsburg.

Just like every season for the past decade, Man Utd get the easiest draw. Man Utd should easily win this group. And even if they are not playing well, they will still carve out a 1-0 or 2-0 win.

And finally, Group H: Arsenal, AZ Alkmaar, Olympiacos, Standard de Liège

The second easiest group after Man Utd's. Even if Arsenal have injury problems, they should advance. The second spot is up for grabs but Olympiacos should take that. AZ Alkmaar can cause an upset or two.

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The entire uproar over Eduardo's dive is insane. Yes diving and cheating are ruining the game but why were the British press not upset when Rooney or Steven Gerrard or Ryan Babel dove to earn a penalty? And why was nothing ever said about the multiple dives by Ronaldo in every game when he played for Man Utd? The answer is that the British press always protect their own players and any player who plays for Man Utd or Liverpool because these teams represent some sort of English identity. Arsenal don't get that treatment because of the huge number of foreign players they have.

Another frustrating aspect is that the British always turn a blind eye to the excessive number of fouls their players commit in every game. When Eduardo's leg was broken by Martin Taylor in Feb 2008 because of an awful inept tackle, the British press jumped to Taylor's defense. They didn't want to discuss why the game is being ruined by players like Taylor or the numerous incompetent players who ply their trade for Blackburn, Bolton or other teams with no skill. The British press consider excessive fouling and kicking as part of the game. This goes back to the old days when the British game was nothing but tackles and long balls. A perception in the English game prior to the 1990's was that foreign players were considered too weak to withstand the physical part of the game. It was believed that players had to be men enough to take the kicks, get up and carry on. And if a player complained about getting kicked too much? He was considered weak. These narrow views have changed slightly in the last two decades because of an influx of skillful foreigners who came into the English league and improved the overall style of the game. One can still find commentators refer to some players as having a “silky touch” yet not being physical enough.

The kicks are also incorrectly considered as showing "commitment". When Celtic’s players kicked Arsenal every chance they got, the only thing the commentators kept repeating was that Celtic’s players showed tremendous commitment. In Gianluca Vialli’s insightful book, The Italian Job, he examines the differences in Italian and English footballing cultures and management styles. In one section, Vialli mentions how English fans applaud a player attempting to run after a lost ball (meaning lost cause) and consider that attribute as part of a player’s commitment. They wrongly believe that “the player is giving it his all”. Whereas, in Italy fans consider that player as wasting his energy. Such false sense of commitment also applies to kicking in the English game. English managers often tell their players to “give it their all”, to “get stuck in”, etc. Now, each player will interpret these instructions as per their ability. And the inept players consider kicking and breaking another player’s leg as part of their commitment. The fact that their managers, the fans or the press don’t condemn such kicking only reinforces their belief that they are a worthy player.

One reason that Hleb left Arsenal was because he could not withstand the constant kicks he got. He was one of the most fouled players in England because of his ability to dribble and spin past players. Who knows if Ronaldo felt the same? He was one of the few players who spoke up Eduardo’s leg was broken. Maybe he feared the same treatment. Although it won’t happen, but it would be nice if all the foreign players left the English league. Then the British game can enjoy the Blackburn or Bolton style of “commitment” and “getting stuck-in” while the rest of the world can enjoy the beautiful game.

CIFF 2009 preview, part II

Euro Delight




My Only Sunshine (2009, Turkey, Reha Erdem)

My Only Sunshine has a beautiful visual language and is probably one of the best shot films of 2009. However, the film’s story is not as strong as that of Erdem’s previous feature, Times and Winds. Still, the stunning cinematography makes this film a treasure to cherish.

Link:Istanbul festival report.

Birdsong (2008, Spain, Albert Serra)

Serra’s leisurely paced film can either be a truly rewarding experience or a painful one. With high expectations from this feature, I let the gorgeous black and white images take over and went along for an absorbing ride. Once the absurdity of the character’s behavior became apparent, then watching them fumble their way through the desert was a humorous experience. It is essential to have the film in black and white because that allows one to pay attention to the characters and forget about the surroundings. This point is demonstrated by the documentary, Waiting for Sancho, where we get to see each locale in its original color and then can compare those shots to the black and white footage. If the film were not in black and white, then the rich colorful surroundings of Tenerife would have dwarfed the three main characters and the film would have lost its impact.

Can go Through Skin (2009, Holland, Esther Rots)

After a traumatic experience, Marieke leaves the city and moves to the country side to rebuild her life. But as per the title and the saying that some things can get under one’s skin, Marieke is unable to bury her past and alternates between fantasy and reality. The film leaves it up to the audience to decide what scenes are real and what are fabricated, although there are some clues as to which direction things are going. This is a stunning debut feature film by Esther Rots that lets the audience get inside the head of Marieke with a dazzling technical package (cinematography, editing) that contain tight close-ups of Marieke and objects directly in her line of sight, thereby giving us an idea of which objects trigger negative and fearful emotions in her. The sense of space that the camera uses is quite amazing and one can understand how Marieke’s environment is crushing her or when she is finally starting to breathe again.

Mid-August Lunch (2008, Italy, Gianni Di Gregorio)

Full credit to Gianni Di Gregorio for making such a delightful film about a topic that may not seem appealing on first glance (“middle aged man taking care of his mother”). Even more remarkable is the fact that Gianni Di Gregorio & producer Matteo Garrone’s previous venture was Gomorra (directed by Garrone and co-written by Di Gregorio). It seems that after working on a hard hitting gangster film, the best remedy for the duo was to pour their energy into this charming appetizing film which is likely to work up an appetite with the loving scenes of food preparation.

Sight & Sound’s interview with Gianni Di Gregorio.
Sight & Sound’s review of the film which gives away plot details.