So Far Behind!

I still haven’t finished my film reviews from Toronto International Film Festival! Pretty sad when I let myself get distracted by Sarah Palin. Good Grief!

Back to films:

Maman est Chez Le Coiffeur – French

The sadly tender story of three children left to deal with their mother’s leaving the family. I’m not sure how believable it is to think that a mother, seemingly satisfied with living life at home with her children, when she learns her husband’s secrets she reacts by leaving husband and children to develop her own career. The kids are delightful — the oldest daughter with the beginnings of adolescent curiosities, a middle son who stays busy building a go cart/mini car with a lawnmower engine and the youngest boy with special needs. The husband tries to take over, the cause of the marriage meltdown is never addressed, and they all seem to bumble through, hoping that she will just appear again as if she’d never gone away. Most of the film follows the oldest daughter as she is working through her mother’s absence, telling the neighbors that “Mama is at the hairdresser’s” as well as adjusting to her father’s presence even though she knows, without understanding, at least part of his story. Set in the suburban ’60s, there is a poignancy throughout for innocence lost.

***

Great Doc!

Je Veux Voir — French

Excellent film documenting actress Catherine Deneuve’s trip to and through Lebanon to view the effects of the 2006 war with Israel.  Her guide from bomb-shocked Beirut through the devastated countryside is Lebanese actor Rabih Mroué.  There is a poignancy to the journey as Mroué gently shepherds Deneuve through the physical and emotional landscape.  This is as close as we can come, most of us, to the heartbreak of war without being shown images of screaming missiles, explosions and death.  We see what must have been a beautiful landscape now scarred by bomb craters and tank tracks; we see buildings where people just like us lived, worked, laughed that are now piles of shattered rubble; we see people trying to rebuild shell-shocked lives.  I won’t say that it leaves the viewer with a sense of hope, it doesn’t address the conflict, it merely shows what is left after war.  It made me ask, again, why do we do this to each other?

****

Before I Forget….

I thought I could do one film a day until I have posted all films I saw at the Toronto International Film Festival but the risk is that I’ll forget details, even though I’ve taken a few notes and I don’t want that to happen. So I’ll try to do at least two a day.

Under the Tree — Indonesia (Bali)

Self discovery and reconciliation are the themes of the very different, mystical stories of three young women that are interwoven through the film. Nicely told, the stories do not connect in any way other than that each woman is coping with the demons that haunt her, some through escape, denial and rebellion, others through a yearning search for love and understanding.

***

The Secret of Moonacre — U.K.

A young adult (early Harry Potter’ish) fable about pride. Good story for kids and could provide a great opportunity for parents to talk to kids about pride — what is it, how does it affect the individual and how does it affect relationships. Fun and fairytale-like. Acting was a bit sketchy, unfortunately.

**

TIFF ’08, Continued

I will be finishing up my film festival posts here in the near future, but will probably have to do them one at a time. Home again, I’m stretched thin by all the “home” responsibilities — family, work, house, yard, politics, etc. So here goes for today:

Dernier Maquis — French

The basic story of this film and the way it was put together was very good. Muslim immigrants, African and middle eastern, working at a pallet construction business who are dealing with a French Muslim boss who they don’t trust and the selection of an imam for their new mosque (which, incidentally, the boss built for them). I felt very “industrial” all the way through the film, no relief except one brief excursion into nature. Other than that very short escape on the canal, I felt somewhat imprisoned in the setting– mountains of pallets, the pit of the mechanic shop and the starkly functional new mosque. Anxiety with and the underlying distrust of the boss and frustration over the selection of the imam build and boil over as the individuals seek a voice. Everyone, no matter who they are or what situation they are in, needs to be heard and this film, to me, portrays that need.

This is not a pleasant entertainment film. It is a hard, harsh, abusive film. It is a film that shows the frustration of not only immigrants (regardless of their legal status) but of all human beings when their perception is that they are not being heard. In my opinion, it shows what can happen anywhere when people are not only NOT heard, but treated as though they don’t even have a voice with which to speak.

***

End of the Festival ’08

Home again after a great TIFF. I was so exhausted, physically and emotionally from seeing so many films that I think it will take a month to get my energy back. I decided that I need to watch something that is just crazy, weird, brainless hilarious that will be the steam release for all the heavy, emotional human stories that I saw in Toronto this festival — something like Clue, Waking Ned Devine or Mars Attacks! That oughtta do it, don’t you think?

I still have a number of films to catch up on from the festival but will only do one tonight.

Plus Tard, Tu Comprendras — French

A French man searches for his Jewish heritage even as he struggles with his mother’s silence about her Jewish family and past. He becomes increasingly frustrated and isolated with her determination not to speak to him about how her parents died.  His mother does not lock out his wife and children, however, as she realizes that she is losing her health and time and knows that if she doesn’t pass the information on it will be lost forever. Her story opens like an old trunk being aired, even as she continues to keep her son shut away from the past. This is a different, very personal way of looking at the holocaust and the longlasting effects of loss on people and families.

***

Friday Fish

One day to go! Wow! When the Toronto International Film Festival began it seemed like it was going to last forever and there is only one more day. The festival has been great. With the organization evident here, I’m sure that the bugs we all experienced at the new AMC venue will be worked out by next year, which is good. That has been the only inconvenience that I have experienced although other people I talked to had issues with their place in the random box selection. That, however, is what “random” means, isn’t it? You take your chances, people! I had to laugh at some of the complaints about not getting the 10 films they wanted and having to go to the box office and stand in line trying to get tickets. Try getting 50 films the first day of the festival and see how that goes for you! That is what I did and it, as you can see, has worked out just fine for me. If you want and will only be satisfied if you get the 10 films you have selected when you have over 300 to choose from you are severely limiting yourselves. There are some incredible films here and some of the best are the obscure, the “Kabuli Kid”s, the “Maman est chez le Coiffeur”s, the “Pandora’s Box”s. Why get all mad that you didn’t get your ticket to “Burn after Reading” or “Slumdog Millionaire” when they’re just coming to the theater next month anyway?! Good Grief, people, relax and enjoy the incredible festival that you have right here at home! I’m making reference here to actual conversations I have overheard either in line or sitting in the theater waiting for films to start. Yes, I listen to other people’s conversations.

By the way, since I’m on a rant, some people should NOT eat popcorn in movies!

Enough for the ranting, I’ll post only one film today:

Kabuli Kid — Afghanistan

A woman leaves her baby in a taxi in Kabul. The story then takes us on a cultural journey through the Afghan capital as the taxidriver searches for the baby’s mother. We look through a window into today’s Kabul and Afghan culture and see family life, living, and working in this war-ravaged country. The taxi driver takes the baby home to his family and we see his feelings gradually deepen as he is told the story of Solomon, the two mothers and the child and begins to better understand motherhood and realize the complexity of life and how a mother could “forget” her child. Motherhood and family on a canvas shadowed by war are the primary themes. A must-see for anyone interested in the human side of Afghanistan.

****

Thursday at the Theater

It’s after midnight, I am exhausted so I’m just putting up the bits I wrote while sitting in the theater waiting for the next film to start. It’s part catch-up and part of today.

Catch up:

Apron Strings — New Zealand

A film written and directed by New Zealand women, it examines two families, one white New Zealand, mother a bakery owner, live-in grandmother, a slug of a son and a daughter who has just left the father of her unborn child in London. The second family is equally dysfunctional, two grown, estranged Indian sisters, one a tv cook whose son is trying to connect with his Indian heritage, the other is a single, somewhat bitter Indian restaurant owner..Cultural and family issues, racism and forgiveness are important themes. Some of the relationships survive, some do not. This is a food movie as well so be prepared to eat after the film! The characters were well-developed and I wanted them to work things out. I did however feel very sad at the way they treated the grandmother. Again, a theme of mothers….
*****

Today:

Hooked — Romania

I left right after the hooker (Ana) regained consciousness after being run over by Miha (aka “sweetie”). Miha and Mihail are having a relationship and were going for a “pickneek” when the accident happened; they thought she was dead and were going to bury her out in the woods! I left because the characters were really irritating to me and I couldn’t get interested in the story.

no stars because I didn’t watch the whole thing so I’m not qualified to rate it.

Winds of September — Taiwan

A group of boys discover the complexities of friendship as they navigate relationships with girls, teachers and choices each individual makes. A LOT of bad language, sexual situations (including masturbation) and some male nudity. I didn’t stay for this one either.
Again, no stars.

Unmistaken Child — Nepal and Tibet — Israeli director

Documentary about the search for and determination of a reincarnated master lama. We follow the former companion of the deceased lama rinpoche as he is trained how to recognize and then travels to many countries stopping in unbelievably remote villages looking for the reincarnate. When he finds the boy and makes his own determination, other high lamas test the little guy and eventually the Dalai Lama gives the final approval. Very enlightening into this process. The film illuminates the sincerity of and faith in the process. This was even more interesting to me as the film was made by an Israeli director. Fascinating and visually stunning in its setting.

****
More from today tomorrow….

“Wednesday’s Child is full of Woe….”

Woe is a descriptive theme word for today’s films which doesn’t fit with the quote of the day: “Today is

another precious day so let’s look around us with love.” (from The Rest of the Night)

Ashes of Time Redux — Chinese

Director Wong Kar Wai decided to remake his own film and it is amazing! His use of color in this film had strokes of Zhang Yimou throughout. Beautiful! The music, another superb performance by Yo Yo Ma, is woven into the film in a subtle yet masterful score. The film follows a group of swordsmen as they circle in and out of the life of a reclusive man who is learning about the value of memories as he makes his living by selling their skills to those seeking vengeance. There is violence in this film, you see one finger get cut off– it is a story about swordsmen though. The spurting blood in this film was not, however, as disturbing to me as watching a boy get hit by his father in Tokyo Sonata. The martial arts are beautiful, the cinematography is beautiful, the people are beautiful.

****
Linha de Passe — Brazil

This film fits the title of today’s post, Wednesday’s child. This is a story set in the gut of São Paolo where people struggle either with or against nearly everything in life — family, church, work, morality. The family includes the pregnant, unmarried mother and her four sons, each member dealing with their own critical personal questions which range from “isn’t there a man around who can unclog this sink?” to “who is my father?” to “have I just killed my boss?” There is plenty of bad language and one graphic sex scene so keep the kids away from this one. If you think you can handle seeing what millions of people are dealing with in their lives every single day then perhaps this should be on your list. Be aware, though, you probably won’t like these people. Life is painful for them and it is painful to watch.

***

A Year Ago in Winter — German

The third Bavarian film I’ve seen in this festival, this one takes place in Munich and is about a family dealing with the suicide of their son/brother. Mother commissions a portrait of her happy, smiling children while blind to the death of her marriage. Father is too busy being an amazing scientist and the daughter, Lilli, fights against coming to terms with her own remoteness. Nicely done, not amazing, but nice while admitting the difficulty of the situation.

***

7915 KM — French and many other languages (in and about several countries in Africa)

Documentary following the route of the Dakar off-road rally that crossed 7,915 kilometres of Africa. The film crew interviewed people all along the way about their feelings regarding the race and impressions of Europe, Europeans and themselves. We see Africa as we’ve never seen it before and get an interesting perspective on emigration/immigration and Europe from the respondents. The film dragged a bit at times – or maybe it was just me dragging because I actually fell asleep for about 15 minutes. One thing I did not care for was the rough editing. I wanted to hear the interviewer ask the questions and think it would have flowed much more smoothly, less disjointed, if the questions hadn’t been cut. Is important to see for anyone studying Africa.

**

The Rest of the Night — Italian

I can’t say much about this film because I left after the first 20 minutes. By then I decided it was going where I didn’t want to go. There were men, drugs, a depressed mother, a hateful daughter, a little boy and a gun, not necessarily in that order but all there. Those were the ingredients of a recipe I didn’t want to try tonight.

Catching Up at TIFF (Toronto Int’l Film Festival)

Here are a few films that I saw in the first few days of the festival that I didn’t get organized and posted as soon as I should have. More to come.

Snow — Bosnia

The story of a village of women and girls (except for one old man and one young boy) coping with living and coming to terms with death in the aftermath of the Bosnian/Serb conflict. The emotional feel of this film is like a barely scabbed wound that will begin bleeding again at the slightest touch. Each person in the village has a different story, and faces the realities in her own, deeply personal way. Deceptively still, the film moves them and the audience toward a cleansing climax.

****

The Sky Watchers — Japanese

Do human beings need war in order to justify peace? Is war for us being corporatized? The Sky Watchers leads us toward these questions as we follow a squadron of kildren, genetically engineered youth who never grow old, they just continue battling it out with the other corporation until they are killed. This supposedly fills the need of the normal humans to be at war, to see the exercise of power on the news at night but also protects them from being threatened personally. Normal humans don’t have to sacrifice in any way for an ideology, it is a ‘virtual war” kind of like “reality” tv. The film’s mesage is subtle at first but builds to a not-so-subtle monologue that spells it all out for us in a somewhat preachy way. Maybe that was necessary – at least it gets the attention! This is a Japanese anime that is again, not for children. Themes of death and sex – the proof of living, I guess – weave throughout. The sky battles are done very well but when the characters are on the ground they are pretty stiff, reminding me of the early Myst graphics. I think it is worth a watch and in our current world setting seems particularly relevant. What really is the purpose of war?

***

Adela — Philippines

There were visual problems with this film, seemed overexposed and hazy much of the time but perhaps that was the intent of the director. That’s quite often how families feel – overexposed and hazy. This is a story of family, motherhood, aging and loneliness set in a slum built on a huge garbage dump in the Philippines. Adela is the grandmother, lives alone, and is kind to and mindful of the needs of all in her sphere – family and neighbors. She continually tries to draw people to her, help, support all around her but is more often rewarded with disregard and being forgotten. The final scene takes her to a windy, isolated beach where she lays down a cloth and has a solitary picnic originally planned and prepared for her entire family as the sun sets. A prod to remembrance of those who love us and are alone. Call your Grandmother!

**

TIFF Tuesday

Quote for the day: “That’s life, man; you give in to it sooner or later.” from Pandora’s Box.

No pics for today, I’m too tired to do anything but the film list for the day ranked in rating order.

Pandora’s Box — Turkish

Probably the most touching film I’ve seen thus far, Pandora’s Box is a Turk/Belg/French/German collaboration on a story about a family dealing with their mother/grandmother’s Alzheimer’s. The poignancy intensified as I became aware of an elderly gentleman a couple of seats from me softly crying for about the last half of the movie. Cinematography, music and acting combine and gently guide the viewer through the emotional explosions that occur as each member of the family copes with rough edges of personal issues made jagged by the new complication. The theme of ‘letting go’ weaves through each life even as newly discovered relationships grow. A truly beautiful film in every way.

*****

Two-legged Horse — Iran, filmed in Afghanistan

“Brutal; harrowing”; “I’m still shaking;” “Several people had to walk out” These are comments I overheard from a man describing his experience in Two-legged Horse to a friend. He’s right. The dehumanization depicted in this film by Iranian director, Samira Makhmalbaf, makes one more anti-war statement as do many of this year’s films. The Director of Programming for the Contemporary World Cinema program at TIFF introduced the film and the director, warning that “this is a hard, harsh film. It will chill you; it will jar you; that is the intent of the film.” I didn’t leave as I did in Firaaq but many others did and I was actually glad to see that people were deeply troubled. We should all be troubled by the effects of war and how it changes us. We cannot escape the effects and the costs of war. We are human beings and there are those in our world who are suffering in ways we cannot comprehend. We MUST be troubled and then we must act or nothing will change!

****

L’ Empreinte de L’Ange — French (Canadian)

Back to mothers. New twist on an old theme, this one is based on a true story. Woman sees little girl and begins obsessing about her being the baby who died. Good performances. I kept waiting for it to follow the direction I thought it was leading and was nicely surprised! Not great, but good and worth a watch.

***

Krabat — German

A group of twelve boys led by a master sorcerer in the post-thirty years war Germany. Probably too dark for kids but would be fun for junior high aged kids. CGI is very good (better than Mongol). It moved well, acting was okay, visually pleasing, just fun entertainment.

***

Tokyo Sonata — Japanese

My least favorite for today, this is another family drama. The film could have been 30 minutes shorter and still maintained its integrity. Too much drama, too much melodrama, just plain too much! I also don’t care for seeing kids get hit by parents, period. I know it’s part of the story but I don’t like it!

*