CIFF 38 Review: Maryan, Antarctica: A Year on Ice, Paris or Perish
I was originally slated to see four movies at the Cleveland International Film Festival on Saturday, but I opted to sacrifice the sunk cost of my ticket for the late showing of Monsoon Shootout in favor of getting some much needed extra sleep. Yes, I'm getting old. Here's how the other three movies were:
Maryan
Maryan starts with titular character working as a common laborer in Sudan whose two year contract is just about to expire. As his taxi takes him to the airport to fly home, we flash back to a fantastic Bollywood dance number on the beach of their village. Maryan is the greatest fisherman in the village, and Panimalar is determined to marry him. We see some of her efforts to attract his attention. We're at the twenty-five minute mark of the film, and all signs point to this being a really good movie.
Unfortunately, the film in question is 150 minutes, and pretty much every subsequent minute it tedious as all hell. The remaining musical numbers are few and far between, and most of them are incredibly boring standard romantic duets with minimal dancing. When Maryan was kidnapped by a Sudanese militia and held for ransom it sets up one Afrobeat musical number, but mostly I just wished that somebody would shoot Maryan and put this movie out of its misery. Alas, there was no such luck.
When I walked out of the theater I rated the film as 'FAIR' because of the opening sequence and because lead actress Parvathi is quite possibly the most beautiful actress I have ever seen. In retrospect, I should have given it a 'POOR'. Avoid this like the plague unless you have a deep unquenchable love of Indian cinema, or just want to see ridiculous art school shots of cheetahs in the desert. If you want to see Parvathi, just google her. It'll save you the stupid movie.
Antarctica: A Year on Ice
There have been many documentaries about Antarctica, but most of those have focused on the animals living there. Antarctica: A Year on Ice chooses to focus on the humans living on the seventh continent. It documents one year in the life of McMurdo Station. About 1,000 people live there in the summer, but fewer than 200 brave the long winter when the station is totally isolated from the rest of the world, when flight is not feasible.
The film spends a lot of time interviewing the residents, most of whom are there to provide logistics support for the science missions in progress. Extra focus is given to those who are staying the winter, whom even some of the summer residents think are nuts. Remember that the sun stays down for about four months in a place where the height of summer still requires a parka. The residents spend a lot of time talking about what they do to avoid the worst case of SAD you can imagine.
Although the interviews are entertaining, the real pleasure of this film is the many, many time-lapsed photography segments. Some of these last for days. We see the sun rise and set, ice freezing on the sea, and most impressively the stars rushing by in the Antarctic night with the aurora australis rolling down like an unstoppable wave. The obligatory penguins rush by. The time-lapsed photography is by far the best reason to see this movie, and I recommend it for that reason alone.
There are some questions that aren't answered, or even asked, by this film. For instance, what's the pay like? Are there any contingency plans for medical emergencies in the winter? How often do buildings fill up with snow during a category 5 blizzard (think hurricane, but colder) because the seals on the windows fail, as is memorable shown in one sequence? What kind of science is actually being performed there? Is there any crime? These seem pretty obvious to me, but aren't discussed. It's ok. The stunning photography and original approach to documenting Antarctica more than merit an 'EXCELLENT'. Mark this one for your Netflix list.
Paris or Perish
I have a long history of seeing French comedies during the CIFF. My last movie on Saturday kept the traidition alive with Paris or Perish. Maya is on the fast track in the world of French couture. Unfortunately, she's also an emigrant from Morocco who has failed to keep her paperwork up to date, so when she is pulled over by the police for a traffic violation she is summarily departed on the even of the fashion show that would have cinched her a permanent position as assistant to a famous designer. Worse, she's stuck at home with her family, who she hasn't seen in ten years and who think she should consider staying in Morocco. Her brother keeps playing practical jokes on her, Maya's father doesn't speak to her because of her irreverent behavior, her grandmother can't understand why she wants to go back to Paris, and the embassy can't give her a visa because she was deported. Her best friend in Paris helps her convince her boss that she's home recuperating from a car accident, but Maya still needs to finish her designs, get a prototype sewn, and of course, find a visa and get back to Paris in time for the big fashion show.
This movie is entertaining, but it can't quite decide what it wants to be. It is the comedic farce that it starts out as? Is it a coming of age movie as Maya learns to accept her family? Heck, it even has a montage that is completely in the spirit of every Hollywood sports movie ever. Fortunately, it does all of these things reasonably well and moves quickly enough that both Colleen HK and I were happy to rate it as a 'GOOD'.
Maryan
Maryan starts with titular character working as a common laborer in Sudan whose two year contract is just about to expire. As his taxi takes him to the airport to fly home, we flash back to a fantastic Bollywood dance number on the beach of their village. Maryan is the greatest fisherman in the village, and Panimalar is determined to marry him. We see some of her efforts to attract his attention. We're at the twenty-five minute mark of the film, and all signs point to this being a really good movie.
Unfortunately, the film in question is 150 minutes, and pretty much every subsequent minute it tedious as all hell. The remaining musical numbers are few and far between, and most of them are incredibly boring standard romantic duets with minimal dancing. When Maryan was kidnapped by a Sudanese militia and held for ransom it sets up one Afrobeat musical number, but mostly I just wished that somebody would shoot Maryan and put this movie out of its misery. Alas, there was no such luck.
When I walked out of the theater I rated the film as 'FAIR' because of the opening sequence and because lead actress Parvathi is quite possibly the most beautiful actress I have ever seen. In retrospect, I should have given it a 'POOR'. Avoid this like the plague unless you have a deep unquenchable love of Indian cinema, or just want to see ridiculous art school shots of cheetahs in the desert. If you want to see Parvathi, just google her. It'll save you the stupid movie.
Antarctica: A Year on Ice
There have been many documentaries about Antarctica, but most of those have focused on the animals living there. Antarctica: A Year on Ice chooses to focus on the humans living on the seventh continent. It documents one year in the life of McMurdo Station. About 1,000 people live there in the summer, but fewer than 200 brave the long winter when the station is totally isolated from the rest of the world, when flight is not feasible.
The film spends a lot of time interviewing the residents, most of whom are there to provide logistics support for the science missions in progress. Extra focus is given to those who are staying the winter, whom even some of the summer residents think are nuts. Remember that the sun stays down for about four months in a place where the height of summer still requires a parka. The residents spend a lot of time talking about what they do to avoid the worst case of SAD you can imagine.
Although the interviews are entertaining, the real pleasure of this film is the many, many time-lapsed photography segments. Some of these last for days. We see the sun rise and set, ice freezing on the sea, and most impressively the stars rushing by in the Antarctic night with the aurora australis rolling down like an unstoppable wave. The obligatory penguins rush by. The time-lapsed photography is by far the best reason to see this movie, and I recommend it for that reason alone.
There are some questions that aren't answered, or even asked, by this film. For instance, what's the pay like? Are there any contingency plans for medical emergencies in the winter? How often do buildings fill up with snow during a category 5 blizzard (think hurricane, but colder) because the seals on the windows fail, as is memorable shown in one sequence? What kind of science is actually being performed there? Is there any crime? These seem pretty obvious to me, but aren't discussed. It's ok. The stunning photography and original approach to documenting Antarctica more than merit an 'EXCELLENT'. Mark this one for your Netflix list.
Paris or Perish
I have a long history of seeing French comedies during the CIFF. My last movie on Saturday kept the traidition alive with Paris or Perish. Maya is on the fast track in the world of French couture. Unfortunately, she's also an emigrant from Morocco who has failed to keep her paperwork up to date, so when she is pulled over by the police for a traffic violation she is summarily departed on the even of the fashion show that would have cinched her a permanent position as assistant to a famous designer. Worse, she's stuck at home with her family, who she hasn't seen in ten years and who think she should consider staying in Morocco. Her brother keeps playing practical jokes on her, Maya's father doesn't speak to her because of her irreverent behavior, her grandmother can't understand why she wants to go back to Paris, and the embassy can't give her a visa because she was deported. Her best friend in Paris helps her convince her boss that she's home recuperating from a car accident, but Maya still needs to finish her designs, get a prototype sewn, and of course, find a visa and get back to Paris in time for the big fashion show.
This movie is entertaining, but it can't quite decide what it wants to be. It is the comedic farce that it starts out as? Is it a coming of age movie as Maya learns to accept her family? Heck, it even has a montage that is completely in the spirit of every Hollywood sports movie ever. Fortunately, it does all of these things reasonably well and moves quickly enough that both Colleen HK and I were happy to rate it as a 'GOOD'.