Three Days of SIFF
I'm not sure even with two weeks to go that'll I'll be able to see more SIFF 2016 films; this is mostly because of time and money. Or rather time and money and distance. But I have spent three days at SIFF.
The first was over a week ago, a last-minute scheduling of a film that translates as "Birchlegs", the name of a warrior clan in 1200s Norway loyal to the king, during a time when Denmark was trying to take over. The English title is "The Last King", and it involves lots of ski chases, sword fights, arrows, palace intrigue - all with a baby in a backpack. And more skiing. it was a lot medieval snow adventure fun.
This Saturday I went to see "The Last Master", in which an impossibly good-looking Wing Chun kung-fu master from Southern China comes to the Northern city of Tianjin to open a school. Unfortunately, he finds himself a pawn in a complicated scheme of double-crossing, and has to kick the ass of every kung-fu master in town. There's also something of an unexpected love story here as well, in addition to a plethora of colorful side characters. It was a lot of fun.
That night I was treated to a documentary that Janna was going to as well, "Beware the Slenderman". It's the story of the "Slenderman stabbing", the two girls in Wisconsin who stabbed their friend thinking that they would somehow win favor with "the Slenderman", a recent boogyman created by the Internet. I think the filmmaker's eyes were more firmly on the current craze for true-crime stories -like Serial or Making of a Murderer. Me, I'm more interested in how people believe something manifestly not real, something that can clearly be tracked as a work of fiction. I will say, though, it was a little chilling having just been to the Star Trek exhibit earlier that day, to see one of the defendants invoke Mr. Spock.
Last night I saw the best yet, a John Le Carre spy/crime thriller called "Our Kind of Traitor". Like the currently serialized "Night Manager", this involves a fairly ordinary man dragged into a world of intrigue, in this case and English professor (actually, given that it's Ewan McGregor, he's a Scottish English professor) and his barrister wife (Naomi Harris) who have a chance meeting with a bombastic, roaring Russian mafioso (the always enjoyable and growly Stellan Skarsgärd) who wants to trade secrets about high-level British corruption in exchange for his family's safety, because his new boss has a nasty habit of killing people. It's well done and full of the sort of moral uncertainly you get with Le Carre, and also of course, everyone could wind up dead, because he's like that. (Le Carre, btw, has a cameo in this, just like the recent Tinker Tailor). Oh, and it's directed by a woman, because women are incapable of directing taut, riveting thrillers :-P
The first was over a week ago, a last-minute scheduling of a film that translates as "Birchlegs", the name of a warrior clan in 1200s Norway loyal to the king, during a time when Denmark was trying to take over. The English title is "The Last King", and it involves lots of ski chases, sword fights, arrows, palace intrigue - all with a baby in a backpack. And more skiing. it was a lot medieval snow adventure fun.
This Saturday I went to see "The Last Master", in which an impossibly good-looking Wing Chun kung-fu master from Southern China comes to the Northern city of Tianjin to open a school. Unfortunately, he finds himself a pawn in a complicated scheme of double-crossing, and has to kick the ass of every kung-fu master in town. There's also something of an unexpected love story here as well, in addition to a plethora of colorful side characters. It was a lot of fun.
That night I was treated to a documentary that Janna was going to as well, "Beware the Slenderman". It's the story of the "Slenderman stabbing", the two girls in Wisconsin who stabbed their friend thinking that they would somehow win favor with "the Slenderman", a recent boogyman created by the Internet. I think the filmmaker's eyes were more firmly on the current craze for true-crime stories -like Serial or Making of a Murderer. Me, I'm more interested in how people believe something manifestly not real, something that can clearly be tracked as a work of fiction. I will say, though, it was a little chilling having just been to the Star Trek exhibit earlier that day, to see one of the defendants invoke Mr. Spock.
Last night I saw the best yet, a John Le Carre spy/crime thriller called "Our Kind of Traitor". Like the currently serialized "Night Manager", this involves a fairly ordinary man dragged into a world of intrigue, in this case and English professor (actually, given that it's Ewan McGregor, he's a Scottish English professor) and his barrister wife (Naomi Harris) who have a chance meeting with a bombastic, roaring Russian mafioso (the always enjoyable and growly Stellan Skarsgärd) who wants to trade secrets about high-level British corruption in exchange for his family's safety, because his new boss has a nasty habit of killing people. It's well done and full of the sort of moral uncertainly you get with Le Carre, and also of course, everyone could wind up dead, because he's like that. (Le Carre, btw, has a cameo in this, just like the recent Tinker Tailor). Oh, and it's directed by a woman, because women are incapable of directing taut, riveting thrillers :-P