MIFF 2009 Days 4-7
A buttload of movies
Day 4
United Red Army: "Emerging out of the 60s anti-US Vietnam War protests, the radical left-wing Japanese Red Army went on to wage a campaign of terror - hijacking planes, attacking embassies and bombing buildings - all the while carrying out violent internal purges to guard against ‘anti-revolutionary elements’."
Impressive movie that definitely deserves it's 190 minute run time. Really really good movie that manages to put a "human face" to a very interesting time in japanese history. The way they turn on each other with recriminations is shocking.
Pardon my French: "Suffering from a severe case of writer’s block and frequent bouts of somnambulism (including recurring sleep-baking), novelist Celimene (Chiara Mastroianni) can barely even function. Finding herself displaced from both her creativity and her construction-site of an apartment, she discovers she’s being stalked by Anais, an attention-craving teenager who is secretly paying her bills and picking up after her chaotic lifestyle. Striking up an understanding, the two women form an unusual reliance on one another, as they attempt to get their lives back on track."
Good movie that is well shot and has a funny quirky story as well.
Empty Nest: "Empty Nest brings palpable warmth and a deft lightness of touch to an examination of married life after children have flown the coop."
Ok movie.
A SCHOOLGIRL'S DIARY: "A gently sketched tale of a rebellious teenager, exasperated by her overworked parents and the boredom of life in the North Korean countryside, A Schoolgirl’s Diary is significant in being the first time that life under Kim Jong-il’s regime has been represented in commercial cinema.
Su-ryeon, fed up with the simple country life, longs for the cosmopolitan, apartment-living lifestyle of the city. Frustrated and dissatisfied, Su-ryeon lashes out at her parents and her older sister, but coming events will give her perspective on her situation.
Features the real-life North Korean soccer star Kim Jin-mi as Su-ryeon’s tomboyish older sister."
The first internationally released North Korean movie...what film fan could pass it up? The acting can be hilarious (in a bad way), there's 5 patriotic songs about the great general and there's heavy heavy emphasis on advancing the country. It's a patriotic propaganda movie, but it's ok. The action scenes are hilarious in their badness. It's filled with bad/funny dialogue. E.g. Hooray for thermodynamics.
THE HURT LOCKER: "Kinetic filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Strange Days) directs this tense action/drama about the Iraq war in this unrelenting look at a specialist US bomb squad stationed in Baghdad.
Led by Sgt William James (Jeremy Renner), a cool cowboy with a death-wish and 873 successful disarmings to his name, these men live their lives at one end of a short fuse every day.
Magnificently filmed from the first bravura explosion, Bigelow captures the almost psychopathic nerve required by the job description."
Good movie, recommended.
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Day 5
SKIRT DAY: "Actress Isabelle Adjani (Queen Margot) spearheads this edge-of-the-seat tale of a teacher spontaneously taking her classroom hostage.
Sonia is in over her head, struggling to teach theatre to unruly students in an underprivileged Parisian suburb. When she discovers a gun in a student’s bag - and accidentally fires it - she realises that for once she has her students’ full attention. Sonia decides to teach the stunned class her ultimate lesson, while outside chaos reigns as SWAT teams, hysterical parents and the media gather."
Good movie, recommended. Ending scene a bit hokey though. Still recommended.
A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (1961): "n stunning colour CinemaScope and featuring Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Claude Brialy at the peak of their popularity, A Woman Is a Woman is Godard’s clever and playful tribute to the American musical and the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch.
Karina plays a striptease artist who decides she wants to become pregnant “in the next 24 hours”. When her lover refuses to comply, she recruits his more-than-willing best friend."
One of the few movies where afterwards I said out loud "What the hell did I just watch?". This movie breaks a lot of the normal film rules and it's very weird French cinema or at least Godard was very experimental when this movie came out. There are a few really funny scenes, the non-talking using book covers was pretty funny.
LAND OF SCARECROWS: "Within the decaying landscape of an industrialised South Korean city, three lost souls wrestle with questions of identity and meaning in Roh Gyeong-tae’s follow up to his praised debut feature, The Last Dining Table.
An amateur sculptress living as a man; a Filipino bride looking for happiness in a foreign land; a struggling dishwasher searching for his biological parents. Their fates intertwine as they all seek to heal the deep emotional wounds they carry."
BIG PIECE OF CRAP. Even 30 minutes in, you don't get a closeup of someone's face. The "plot" isn't even there in a threadbare manner. It's just crap, avoid.
TONY MANERO: "Set during Chile’s darkest days under the Pinochet regime, Tony Manero follows a Saturday Night Fever-crazed loner, whose life ambition is to emulate John Travolta’s disco character. His pathological quest to imitate his fictional hero leads him to commit increasingly brutal acts, eliminating anything and anyone that gets in his way."
When the main character kills within the first 10 minutes of the movie, you know you're in for a psycho character. The main character is really good in this role, and the movie itself is good.
ENDGAME: "“A moment of political history too sensitive to be revealed for more than a decade.” - Guardian
From Pete Travis (Vantage Point) comes Endgame, a political thriller that follows the precarious development of a series of secret talks that were instrumental in dismantling the apartheid system in South Africa.
When a mining company with interests in South Africa seeks to secure the company’s future by brokering a meeting between vitriolic political opponents at a country retreat in England, the talks become a critical pivot point in a race against time to prevent imminent bloodshed."
REALLY GOOD. Watch it. The fact that al of it was real, and actually happened is amazing.
EMBODIMENT OF EVIL: "Renowned for the personification of Brazil’s most famous horror icon, the evil undertaker ‘Coffin Joe’, filmmaker José Mojica Marins rounds off his controversial trilogy with a ready-made cult classic.
First there was At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1964) and then This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967) - now Embodiment of Evil picks up the schlock fest 40 years on, when a considerably aged Coffin Joe is released from prison and dumped back onto the streets of São Paulo, where he continues his search for the woman who will propagate his nefarious bloodline.
Jam-packed with over-the-top gore, beautiful women and schlocky horror."
Just not very good. An ok movie, though it does have it's flashes of craziness/schlockiness.
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Day 6
LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL: "In a self-reflexive jibe, filmmaker Hong Sang-soo (Woman on the Beach, MIFF 07; Night and Day, MIFF 08) skewers artistic pretensions and sends up the liquor-fuelled schmoozing and backbiting that could characterise certain film festivals.
Critics, filmmakers and industry wannabes all receive a satirical roasting as up-and-coming arthouse director Ku Kyung-nam bumbles through drunken escapades at a film festival and a seminar."
GREAT PREMISE, cruddy movie. He really bumbles his way around, but the situations just aren't funny, as they're all serious dramatic stuff. No need to watch.
VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR: "“I know what women want... they want to be beautiful.” - Valentino Garavani
Valentino Garavani - known simply as Valentino - is one of haute couture’s longest-standing icons, having dressed everyone from Jackie Kennedy to Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana. With Valentino: The Last Emperor, first-time director and Vanity Fair journalist Matt Tyrnauer profiles the fashion legend.
Granted unprecedented access, Tyranauer captures the last days of the house of Valentino, where a company takeover threatens to find the Valentino brand splashed over cheap sunglasses and handbags. But Valentino promises to go out not with a whimper, but with a bang.
As the extravagance, opulence and magnificence winds down, we gain an insight into the relationship between the eccentric Valentino and his business and life partner of 45 years, Giancarlo Giammetti."
I really liked this doco. Great footage of behind the scenes stuff that's just fascinating. Plus the absurdities of the fashion world are shown as well. Plus pugs are really cute :)
HANSEL AND GRETEL: "After a distracted Eun-Soo plows his car into the forest, the helping hand of a small girl guiding him to the warmth of the House of Happy Children seems like a godsend. But as the warmth turns to chill, Eun-Soo discovers the dark secret of the children of the house and the fate of the adults who come their way.
The Brothers Grimm fairytale gets a 21st century Korean makeover - with the creepiness, horror and supernatural elements turned up to the max."
Really good creepy Korean movie. Highly recommended. Who knew rabbits could be so creepy...
AMREEKA: "A humourous fish-out-of-water story of hope, determination and a side of fries.
Palestinian single mother Muna and her teenage son Fadi decide to escape the daily grind of checkpoints and tension in Palestine and move to the US, exchanging the military-occupied West Bank for the fast-food occupied American midwest.
But when the promise of a new life sees the over-qualified Muna having to flip burgers for a living, while her son struggles to fit in with American life, the land of opportunity starts to look like the land of impossibility."
Really good movie. Recommended. Funny and dramatic as well.
AN EDUCATION: "In 1961, London is a city poised on the cusp of a counter-culture explosion. At 16 years old, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is ready to shed her teenage shell and discover the world. Her study plans are jettisoned when she meets dilettante David (Peter Sarsgaard), who introduces Jenny to a world of fast cars, fast talkers and ‘in’ crowds.
Directed by Lone Scherfig (Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, MIFF 03), An Education is a stunningly wrought coming-of-age drama straight from the school of life. The screen is lit up by the performance of lead actress Carey Mulligan, who is also a guest of the Festival."
Awesome movie, but what can you expect with Nick Hornby writing the screenplay? Everything works in this movie. Recommended.
DEAD SNOW: "When eight medical students head off to a cabin in the Norwegian wilderness they plan to spend their time relaxing, drinking, having fun and doing what young students do. But after a dire warning from a local crackpot, a familiar stage is set for horror to be inflicted upon them… a horror that comes in the form of hoards of rampant zombie Nazis with a penchant for gold and intestines!"
Good movie. Nazi zombies could have been much much better, but the film is still a fun romp.
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Day 7
PAPER SOLDIER: "A doctor working with the first group of cosmonauts in 1961 is caught in a conflict between duty and conscience; his choice could cost him not only personal happiness and professional respect, but also his life."
Russian movie, BIG PIECE OF CRAP. don't watch.
WHO’S AFRAID OF THE WOLF?: "Once upon a time there was a little girl called Terezka, who loved the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. And so all was well in Terezka’s world until she noticed some strange things happening in her home. Why does daddy say that mummy is from another planet? Why does mummy spend so much time playing music with her friend Patrick?
Terezka begins to put together her own theories about the mysterious behaviour of her parents, using fairytale logic to understand her shifting world.
Writer-director Maria Procházková has cleverly crafted a family movie and a mature romance - all taking place through the perceptive and imaginative eyes of a child."
Good solid movie, recommended. I'm finding that I'm getting more enjoyment out of the kids movies.
INTANGIBLE ASSET NUMBER 82: "Australian jazz drummer Simon Barker hears a rare recording of shaman Kim Seok-chul - officially recognised as South Korea’s 82nd ‘intangible asset’ - an event that triggers an obsessive crusade to meet the elusive grandmaster musician. Barker’s journey becomes a rite of passage that sees him return to Korea 17 times, meeting many fascinating characters and exploring the complexities of traditional Korean music during his search for the reclusive Kim.
A road movie, a philosophical encounter and a showcase of fascinating musicians rarely heard outside Korea, Intangible Asset Number 82 is a tribute to the universal language of music."
Good movie that delves more into the spirituality and ritual surrounding traditional Korean music than into the music itself. The surprise musical performance afterwards was REALLY cool.
BLIND COMPANY: "Geoff Brewster is seeing out his final days at the family’s isolated coastal shack - walking the beach and leaving tape-recorded confessions for his estranged wife. But when his Porsche-driving nephew Josh arrives unannounced, a deadly game ensues that threatens to destroy both men."
Sounds like a thriller but it's not. Everyone acts awesomely but overall, meh.
FLAME & CITRON: "Copenhagen 1944. As the war winds down, it seems the Nazi regime’s days are numbered. For the Danish resistance fighters code-named Flame and Citron, it means time is running out to exact vengeance via the systematic assassination of Danish informers.
As the patriots step up their campaign of retribution, the moral surety of their actions no longer seems quite so black and white. Facing retaliation from the agents of the Third Reich, Flame and Citron will need all their wits about them to survive."
REALLY good movie, and I love Mads Mikkelsen, he's so awesome. Made me want to look into the RL of Flame and Citron.
Day 4
United Red Army: "Emerging out of the 60s anti-US Vietnam War protests, the radical left-wing Japanese Red Army went on to wage a campaign of terror - hijacking planes, attacking embassies and bombing buildings - all the while carrying out violent internal purges to guard against ‘anti-revolutionary elements’."
Impressive movie that definitely deserves it's 190 minute run time. Really really good movie that manages to put a "human face" to a very interesting time in japanese history. The way they turn on each other with recriminations is shocking.
Pardon my French: "Suffering from a severe case of writer’s block and frequent bouts of somnambulism (including recurring sleep-baking), novelist Celimene (Chiara Mastroianni) can barely even function. Finding herself displaced from both her creativity and her construction-site of an apartment, she discovers she’s being stalked by Anais, an attention-craving teenager who is secretly paying her bills and picking up after her chaotic lifestyle. Striking up an understanding, the two women form an unusual reliance on one another, as they attempt to get their lives back on track."
Good movie that is well shot and has a funny quirky story as well.
Empty Nest: "Empty Nest brings palpable warmth and a deft lightness of touch to an examination of married life after children have flown the coop."
Ok movie.
A SCHOOLGIRL'S DIARY: "A gently sketched tale of a rebellious teenager, exasperated by her overworked parents and the boredom of life in the North Korean countryside, A Schoolgirl’s Diary is significant in being the first time that life under Kim Jong-il’s regime has been represented in commercial cinema.
Su-ryeon, fed up with the simple country life, longs for the cosmopolitan, apartment-living lifestyle of the city. Frustrated and dissatisfied, Su-ryeon lashes out at her parents and her older sister, but coming events will give her perspective on her situation.
Features the real-life North Korean soccer star Kim Jin-mi as Su-ryeon’s tomboyish older sister."
The first internationally released North Korean movie...what film fan could pass it up? The acting can be hilarious (in a bad way), there's 5 patriotic songs about the great general and there's heavy heavy emphasis on advancing the country. It's a patriotic propaganda movie, but it's ok. The action scenes are hilarious in their badness. It's filled with bad/funny dialogue. E.g. Hooray for thermodynamics.
THE HURT LOCKER: "Kinetic filmmaker Kathryn Bigelow (Point Break, Strange Days) directs this tense action/drama about the Iraq war in this unrelenting look at a specialist US bomb squad stationed in Baghdad.
Led by Sgt William James (Jeremy Renner), a cool cowboy with a death-wish and 873 successful disarmings to his name, these men live their lives at one end of a short fuse every day.
Magnificently filmed from the first bravura explosion, Bigelow captures the almost psychopathic nerve required by the job description."
Good movie, recommended.
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Day 5
SKIRT DAY: "Actress Isabelle Adjani (Queen Margot) spearheads this edge-of-the-seat tale of a teacher spontaneously taking her classroom hostage.
Sonia is in over her head, struggling to teach theatre to unruly students in an underprivileged Parisian suburb. When she discovers a gun in a student’s bag - and accidentally fires it - she realises that for once she has her students’ full attention. Sonia decides to teach the stunned class her ultimate lesson, while outside chaos reigns as SWAT teams, hysterical parents and the media gather."
Good movie, recommended. Ending scene a bit hokey though. Still recommended.
A WOMAN IS A WOMAN (1961): "n stunning colour CinemaScope and featuring Karina, Jean-Paul Belmondo and Jean-Claude Brialy at the peak of their popularity, A Woman Is a Woman is Godard’s clever and playful tribute to the American musical and the comedies of Ernst Lubitsch.
Karina plays a striptease artist who decides she wants to become pregnant “in the next 24 hours”. When her lover refuses to comply, she recruits his more-than-willing best friend."
One of the few movies where afterwards I said out loud "What the hell did I just watch?". This movie breaks a lot of the normal film rules and it's very weird French cinema or at least Godard was very experimental when this movie came out. There are a few really funny scenes, the non-talking using book covers was pretty funny.
LAND OF SCARECROWS: "Within the decaying landscape of an industrialised South Korean city, three lost souls wrestle with questions of identity and meaning in Roh Gyeong-tae’s follow up to his praised debut feature, The Last Dining Table.
An amateur sculptress living as a man; a Filipino bride looking for happiness in a foreign land; a struggling dishwasher searching for his biological parents. Their fates intertwine as they all seek to heal the deep emotional wounds they carry."
BIG PIECE OF CRAP. Even 30 minutes in, you don't get a closeup of someone's face. The "plot" isn't even there in a threadbare manner. It's just crap, avoid.
TONY MANERO: "Set during Chile’s darkest days under the Pinochet regime, Tony Manero follows a Saturday Night Fever-crazed loner, whose life ambition is to emulate John Travolta’s disco character. His pathological quest to imitate his fictional hero leads him to commit increasingly brutal acts, eliminating anything and anyone that gets in his way."
When the main character kills within the first 10 minutes of the movie, you know you're in for a psycho character. The main character is really good in this role, and the movie itself is good.
ENDGAME: "“A moment of political history too sensitive to be revealed for more than a decade.” - Guardian
From Pete Travis (Vantage Point) comes Endgame, a political thriller that follows the precarious development of a series of secret talks that were instrumental in dismantling the apartheid system in South Africa.
When a mining company with interests in South Africa seeks to secure the company’s future by brokering a meeting between vitriolic political opponents at a country retreat in England, the talks become a critical pivot point in a race against time to prevent imminent bloodshed."
REALLY GOOD. Watch it. The fact that al of it was real, and actually happened is amazing.
EMBODIMENT OF EVIL: "Renowned for the personification of Brazil’s most famous horror icon, the evil undertaker ‘Coffin Joe’, filmmaker José Mojica Marins rounds off his controversial trilogy with a ready-made cult classic.
First there was At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul (1964) and then This Night I’ll Possess Your Corpse (1967) - now Embodiment of Evil picks up the schlock fest 40 years on, when a considerably aged Coffin Joe is released from prison and dumped back onto the streets of São Paulo, where he continues his search for the woman who will propagate his nefarious bloodline.
Jam-packed with over-the-top gore, beautiful women and schlocky horror."
Just not very good. An ok movie, though it does have it's flashes of craziness/schlockiness.
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Day 6
LIKE YOU KNOW IT ALL: "In a self-reflexive jibe, filmmaker Hong Sang-soo (Woman on the Beach, MIFF 07; Night and Day, MIFF 08) skewers artistic pretensions and sends up the liquor-fuelled schmoozing and backbiting that could characterise certain film festivals.
Critics, filmmakers and industry wannabes all receive a satirical roasting as up-and-coming arthouse director Ku Kyung-nam bumbles through drunken escapades at a film festival and a seminar."
GREAT PREMISE, cruddy movie. He really bumbles his way around, but the situations just aren't funny, as they're all serious dramatic stuff. No need to watch.
VALENTINO: THE LAST EMPEROR: "“I know what women want... they want to be beautiful.” - Valentino Garavani
Valentino Garavani - known simply as Valentino - is one of haute couture’s longest-standing icons, having dressed everyone from Jackie Kennedy to Audrey Hepburn and Princess Diana. With Valentino: The Last Emperor, first-time director and Vanity Fair journalist Matt Tyrnauer profiles the fashion legend.
Granted unprecedented access, Tyranauer captures the last days of the house of Valentino, where a company takeover threatens to find the Valentino brand splashed over cheap sunglasses and handbags. But Valentino promises to go out not with a whimper, but with a bang.
As the extravagance, opulence and magnificence winds down, we gain an insight into the relationship between the eccentric Valentino and his business and life partner of 45 years, Giancarlo Giammetti."
I really liked this doco. Great footage of behind the scenes stuff that's just fascinating. Plus the absurdities of the fashion world are shown as well. Plus pugs are really cute :)
HANSEL AND GRETEL: "After a distracted Eun-Soo plows his car into the forest, the helping hand of a small girl guiding him to the warmth of the House of Happy Children seems like a godsend. But as the warmth turns to chill, Eun-Soo discovers the dark secret of the children of the house and the fate of the adults who come their way.
The Brothers Grimm fairytale gets a 21st century Korean makeover - with the creepiness, horror and supernatural elements turned up to the max."
Really good creepy Korean movie. Highly recommended. Who knew rabbits could be so creepy...
AMREEKA: "A humourous fish-out-of-water story of hope, determination and a side of fries.
Palestinian single mother Muna and her teenage son Fadi decide to escape the daily grind of checkpoints and tension in Palestine and move to the US, exchanging the military-occupied West Bank for the fast-food occupied American midwest.
But when the promise of a new life sees the over-qualified Muna having to flip burgers for a living, while her son struggles to fit in with American life, the land of opportunity starts to look like the land of impossibility."
Really good movie. Recommended. Funny and dramatic as well.
AN EDUCATION: "In 1961, London is a city poised on the cusp of a counter-culture explosion. At 16 years old, Jenny (Carey Mulligan) is ready to shed her teenage shell and discover the world. Her study plans are jettisoned when she meets dilettante David (Peter Sarsgaard), who introduces Jenny to a world of fast cars, fast talkers and ‘in’ crowds.
Directed by Lone Scherfig (Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself, MIFF 03), An Education is a stunningly wrought coming-of-age drama straight from the school of life. The screen is lit up by the performance of lead actress Carey Mulligan, who is also a guest of the Festival."
Awesome movie, but what can you expect with Nick Hornby writing the screenplay? Everything works in this movie. Recommended.
DEAD SNOW: "When eight medical students head off to a cabin in the Norwegian wilderness they plan to spend their time relaxing, drinking, having fun and doing what young students do. But after a dire warning from a local crackpot, a familiar stage is set for horror to be inflicted upon them… a horror that comes in the form of hoards of rampant zombie Nazis with a penchant for gold and intestines!"
Good movie. Nazi zombies could have been much much better, but the film is still a fun romp.
====
Day 7
PAPER SOLDIER: "A doctor working with the first group of cosmonauts in 1961 is caught in a conflict between duty and conscience; his choice could cost him not only personal happiness and professional respect, but also his life."
Russian movie, BIG PIECE OF CRAP. don't watch.
WHO’S AFRAID OF THE WOLF?: "Once upon a time there was a little girl called Terezka, who loved the story of Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf. And so all was well in Terezka’s world until she noticed some strange things happening in her home. Why does daddy say that mummy is from another planet? Why does mummy spend so much time playing music with her friend Patrick?
Terezka begins to put together her own theories about the mysterious behaviour of her parents, using fairytale logic to understand her shifting world.
Writer-director Maria Procházková has cleverly crafted a family movie and a mature romance - all taking place through the perceptive and imaginative eyes of a child."
Good solid movie, recommended. I'm finding that I'm getting more enjoyment out of the kids movies.
INTANGIBLE ASSET NUMBER 82: "Australian jazz drummer Simon Barker hears a rare recording of shaman Kim Seok-chul - officially recognised as South Korea’s 82nd ‘intangible asset’ - an event that triggers an obsessive crusade to meet the elusive grandmaster musician. Barker’s journey becomes a rite of passage that sees him return to Korea 17 times, meeting many fascinating characters and exploring the complexities of traditional Korean music during his search for the reclusive Kim.
A road movie, a philosophical encounter and a showcase of fascinating musicians rarely heard outside Korea, Intangible Asset Number 82 is a tribute to the universal language of music."
Good movie that delves more into the spirituality and ritual surrounding traditional Korean music than into the music itself. The surprise musical performance afterwards was REALLY cool.
BLIND COMPANY: "Geoff Brewster is seeing out his final days at the family’s isolated coastal shack - walking the beach and leaving tape-recorded confessions for his estranged wife. But when his Porsche-driving nephew Josh arrives unannounced, a deadly game ensues that threatens to destroy both men."
Sounds like a thriller but it's not. Everyone acts awesomely but overall, meh.
FLAME & CITRON: "Copenhagen 1944. As the war winds down, it seems the Nazi regime’s days are numbered. For the Danish resistance fighters code-named Flame and Citron, it means time is running out to exact vengeance via the systematic assassination of Danish informers.
As the patriots step up their campaign of retribution, the moral surety of their actions no longer seems quite so black and white. Facing retaliation from the agents of the Third Reich, Flame and Citron will need all their wits about them to survive."
REALLY good movie, and I love Mads Mikkelsen, he's so awesome. Made me want to look into the RL of Flame and Citron.