She Comes Back on Thursday

She Comes Back on Thursday (2014, Brazil, André Novais Oliveira)

After 38 years of marriage, Maria José and Norberto are on the verge of separation. Norberto is having an affair while Maria José is questioning her life. Their sons André and Nato get caught up in all of this and are unsure how to react. The two sons can’t believe that after all these years their parents are going through a major life changing event. André and Nato have their own problems and are waiting for the next phase of their lives to start. However, instead of thinking about the start of their lives, the brothers are forced to think about the end of life and the end of relationships. As a result, the two brothers re-examine their own lives and start looking at things in a different light.

André Novais Oliveira makes his feature film debut in a remarkable manner by blending documentary with fiction. He acts in the film along with his parents and brother and all four use their real names in the film. However, the four of them are not playing themselves but instead are acting within the framework of fiction. Still, She Comes back on Thursday is constructed like a documentary, giving attention to tiny details about life and relationships. The close bond between the family members results in scenes which flow effortlessly allowing audience an intimate look at the characters. The everyday sounds that are allowed to flow in the frames recalls Kleber Mendonça Filho’s Neighboring Sounds but André Novais Oliveira has crafted his own unique path by opting to show a different side of Brazil from other Brazilian films. The setting of the film in the suburbs of Belo Horizonte showcases a Brazil that is not seen in cinema along with characters that don’t make an appearance in Brazilian films. Finally, the selection of the lovely music makes She Comes back on Thursday a beautiful poetic film about life, love, death and everything in between.

The Calgary Cinematheque is screening this film on Oct 22 at the Globe.

The Red Balloon

The Red Balloon (1956, France, Albert Lamorisse)

A balloon floating up in the sky still manages to catch everyone’s attention! Some will express sadness at seeing the balloon floating away, at the thought that there is a child nearby who is crying at seeing their precious balloon fly away. Despite all the technological advancements and flashing gadgets we have in society, a balloon is still an essential part of a child’s life. No birthday party would be complete without the presence of balloons. In fact, balloons complete a birthday party. This love of balloons would have made Albert Lamorisse’s The Red Balloon an easy film to be included in a childhood countdown. However, the film is present on merit in the Wonders in the Dark Childhood Countdown because it is more than just about a balloon. In its short running time of 35 minutes, The Red Balloon encapsulates all of life, including all emotions associated with a child’s growth from an early age to that of a teenager. More importantly, the film’s style, without dialogue, and story make this a timeless work that is also the purest form of cinema. The film is a beautiful blend of documentary, art and commercial cinema. In addition, the template for many contemporary films, including Hollywood animation movies, can be traced all the way back to Lamorisse’s beautifully conceived short film.

Rest can be read on Wonders in the Dark, as part of its Childhood Countdown.

Calgary International Film Festival 2015

I had the awesome opportunity to co-program the world cinema section at this year’s Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF). My section included narrative features from Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. I am listing some of my favourite films showing at this year's festival in no particular order, with links to the festival website.

EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT (2015, Colombia/Venezuela/Argentina, Ciro Guerra)

TAXI (2015, Iran, Jafar Panahi)

FIG FRUIT AND THE WASPS (2014, India, M.S Prakash Babu)

AUGUST WINDS (2014, Brazil, Gabriel Mascaro)

VIAJE (2015, Costa Rica, Paz Fábrega)

ONE FLOOR BELOW (2015, Romania/France/Germany/Sweden, Radu Muntean) 

MOUNTAINS MAY DEPART (2015, China/France/Japan, Jia Zhangke)

UNDER CONSTRUCTION (2015, Bangladesh, Rubaiyat Hossain)

HAEMOO (2014, South Korea, Shim Sung-bo)

OUR LITTLE SISTER (2015, Japan, Hirokazu Kore-eda)

Wild Card

Wild Card (2015, USA, Simon West)

Wild Card went straight to VOD and had a limited theatrical release. It was universally slammed by critics. However, it is not as bad as all the reviews make it out to be. Even though, the film cannot be salvaged under the "Vulgar auteurism" tag, there is some merit when viewed in a different light, which is a straight up B-movie. Put simply, Wild Card is a solid B-Movie. The film doesn't present any new ideas as that is not its intention. Instead, the film performs a worthy correction to the recent fun image of Las Vegas by taking the city back to its original depiction of misery, sadness. It does so by packing the material with all the cliches, symbols associated with Las Vegas, a city which relishes in celebrating all the vices of humanity.

Beneath all the lights and glamour of Las Vegas, there is an inherent sadness and depression that was famously captured by Mike Figgis’ 1995 film Leaving Las Vegas. In that film, the character of Nicolas Cage and Elisabeth Shue perfectly depicted the hopelessness and circle of misery that the city inflicts on people. However, in recent years, that depressive side has been replaced by a fun side. Ocean’s Eleven (2001) turned Vegas into a light hearted fun background while Knocked Up (2007) included some good deal of humour when Paul Rudd’s character is obsessed with the different kinds of chairs in his Las Vegas room. Then The Hangover (2009) truly celebrated the drunkenness that comes with sin city. Wild Card tilts the pendulum back to that miserable side of Las Vegas that Mike Figgis showed. However, Wild Card layers this misery with some action, humour and even fun. There are characters one would expect to see in Las Vegas and scenarios which are commonplace. However, at the core, Jason Statham’s character of Nick Wild is a similar to that of Nicolas Cage’s Ben Sanderson from Leaving Las Vegas with one big difference. Cage’s Ben Sanderson wanted to end his life in misery. While, Nick Wild recognizes his miserable state yet like Sisyphus accepts his fate. Wild knows he is stuck in Vegas and no matter what he does, he cannot leave the city. So he lives with his misery yet manages to smile and continue on with this life. He has no desire to kill himself but is willing to be stuck in an endless loop of misery that Vegas brings. In a sense, Wild Card is Leaving Las Vegas with some optimism thrown in.