I never knew that murder could smell like honeysuckle.
AICN-DOWNUNDER
As I stated in last week's column, the Melbourne International Film Festival
will be my first real festival. I don't have a festival pass, but I'm
scrambling to make it to as many sessions as I can (this Sunday eve will see
me attempt to cram INFERNAL AFFAIRS and SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE
back-to-back). Having missed UNDEAD (don't worry, I'm seeing another
screening of it), my first festival film was going to be THE ART OF THE
OPENING SEQUENCE, what I'd been promised was a film *about* opening
sequences (er, clearly).
And I'd like to send a message to the people behind it: if I'm going to fork
out $14 as well as two hours of my life, I'd like to see something that I
CAN'T PUT TOGETHER WITH TWO VCRS!!!
Was it a documentary? No. Were there live curators or hosts to talk us
through the art and history of the opening sequence? No. Instead we got
eighty minutes or so of opening sequences with nothing to separate them but
title cards announcing the name of the film and the creator of the sequence.
Obviously, I'd seen just about everything there. I mean, Saul Bass is about
the only recognisable name associated with opening sequences, and of course
I'd seen everything he'd done. I've seen DOUBLE INDEMNITY. I've seen THE
PINK PANTHER. I've seen GOLDFINGER. I've seen AUSTIN POWERS.
And so has, I'm willing to bet, most of the audience. It's a film festival
audience, they're going to be pretty well-seen. And even if they're not,
even if your target audience is people who have never seen these films, they
deserve much more than a title card inserted between each sequence.
Judging by the reaction of the crowd (many of whom walked out), I'm not
alone in my opinions. I hope people from MIFF are reading this - in fact, I
hope anyone who runs a film festival is reading this. I also hope that this
is not indicative of what I can expect at festivals.
My first experience at MIFF was a colossal disappointment, and a pathetic
(albeit successful) attempt to pad out the festival. Next time, give us a
repeat screening of GRUDGE or something, will you? Cheers.
NEWS
* I received an interesting email from a newspaper reporter here in Australia. The "Big Brother" phenomenon has been astoundingly successful in Australia (I believe moreso than in the US), and this year's third placer was a young man by the name of 'Dan', who spoke often about his desires to get into the film industry. According to a reporter who interviewed him, Dan has been in talks with the studio for Marvel's MAN-THING, which is currently prepping for a Melbourne shoot. Having not read the comic, I can offer no opinions on whether he's suitable or not, but any time reality TV is mixed with a comic book adaptation, it can only be a good thing. Right?
* AICN-D reader Beatz has sent in an exclusive regarding ANACONDA 2 (Jebus, you turned water into wine - can't you turn all this ANACONDA 2 news I keep getting into RETURN OF THE KING news? Or KING KONG news? Or CHARLIE'S ANGELS 3 news? Or-). Seems that joining the cast will be Australians Nicholas Hope (BAD BOY BUBBY) and John Curtin (er, MAC AND ME). Cheers to Beatz for the info, but I mean... come on... I'd even accept more MAN-THING scoops...
* There's word spreading that Cate Blanchett will reteam with director Shekar Kapur for FEARLESS NADIA. The film is about Mary Evans, an Australian circus artist who became a Bollywood legend. No word yet on who Blanchett will be playing.
AWARDS AND FESTIVALS
AUSTRALIAN SCREEN DIRECTORS ASSOCIATION ANNUAL CONFERENCE
The conference, to be held in Melbourne this year on September 14 and 15, has secured directors Betty Thomas and Roger Corman. No doubt this will lead to some much-needed hijinx.
BOX OFFICE
Mostly the same from last week, with the exception of local comedy BAD EGGS, which rightly cracked the top five despite such steep competition.
Here Be The Winners...
- 1. TERMINATOR 3: RISE OF THE MACHINES
- 2. CHARLIE'S ANGELS: FULL THROTTLE
- 3. BAD EGGS
- 4. BRUCE ALMIGHTY
- 5. DADDY DAY CARE
RELEASED THIS WEEK
A Darwin Award becomes a film, a load of shit becomes a film, John Cusack and Ray Liotta get a room, Bud Tingwell has a secret, Spanish people have sex, and some guy called Wilbur is having a bit of a rough time, apparently.
Here are the new ones...
- DANNY DECKCHAIR
- EXTREME OPS
- IDENTITY
- THE INSIDE STORY
- SEX AND LUCIA
- WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF
REVIEWS
THE INSIDE STORY
THE INSIDE STORY
I wasn't sure what to expect going into this film, particularly with all the strangeness surrounding it: David Stratton giving it a rave review (he doesn't usually do that); the fact that it was an Australian film financed without a government body; the fact that it was an Australian film that wasn't about indigenous issues or lesbians or quirky shit.
I was mistaken, from the beginning, to think I had a handle on the film. The first fifteen minutes left me half-and-half. Some of the dialogue grated and I thought some of the subplots were unnecessary, but the main plot was still interesting, and some of the incidental character moments are among the best I've seen on film.
And then it took a left turn.
Moments of the film I thought had been clumsily tacked-in suddenly made sense. Subplots I believed to be erroneous suddenly became essential. I was no longer worried about having to diss a film I'd hoped to support - I was pulled right in. I was trying to guess the ending. I was trying to keep up.
There's much I want to discuss in the film, but it's a work that hinges on being discovered. I'd recommend everyone go and see it, but unfortunately that's going to be tough as it's only playing at the Rivoli Theatre in Victoria (for the moment).
Yes, the film has flaws, but they're flaws you've all but forgotten by the final reel. With any luck, this film will be picked up by a distributor and get (at very least) an international arthouse release. It's a mindfuck that deserves to be seen.
RESURRECTION OF THE LITTLE MATCH GIRL
I'd missed UNDEAD, been thoroughly disappointed with the 'dissection of the opening title sequence', and was forced to postpone my viewing of SYMPATHY FOR MR VENGEANCE due to sleep deprivation... RESURRECTION was going to be my first true MIFF experience, and I was hyped.
The feeling of being hyped was quickly replaced with a desire to second-guess the language of the film (yeah, Korean, shut the fuck up). I'll explain: the Architect's speech from RELOADED is crap but is appropriate in style for the MATRIX Universe - it would be out of place in, say, a Pixar film; a romantic scene in a Nora Ephron film would become a subtext-laden foreshadowing in a Tom Twyker film... get me?
It took just about the majority of the film to get what it was going for. Each sequence and scene is superbly written/directed, with only the odd exception ("Er, was that scene a MATRIX spoof?"). Whatever it is, it's hypnotic, from the beauty of the Match Girl's opening sequence, to Lara's systematic slaughtering, to the genre-bending finale. Even a scene as simple as four kids sitting around a table talking (near the beginning) becomes fascinating due to cunningly simple editing and framing techniques.
Scene like that made my mind up about the director. See, I worked out that either he's a brilliant prodigy about to be discovered by the world, or an inexperienced special effects nut who doesn't know how to construct a narrative (the Asian equivalent of Mark A. Z. Dippe). He's the former. Sun-Woo Jang knows that his film is going to mess with people, and he's thrown in entertaining but misleading scenes (the two girls in the bathroom arguing over who's going to fuck the guy with the blonde hair) to ensure that it's only when the end credits roll that we have an understanding of the narrative as a whole. And it's a good narrative. It's an interesting one, but also socially important. It takes the themes of a boring after-school special, and injects it with the balls that the MATRIX thinks it has.
Hope the rest of the festival blows me away like this film did.
NEXT WEEK
- Larry Clark announces plans to make a buddy comedy about two hapless Catholic Girls' School teachers who find themselves in a series of sexual misadventures. Woody Allen and Roman Polanski are close to signing.
- Following the success in the all-important 'filming' portion of the Farrely Brothers' STUCK ON YOU, Hollywood has quickly signed up the Weitz Brothers for TWO OF A KIND, another conjoined twins comedy. Ben Affleck and Willem Dafoe are attached.
