Hey folks, Harry here with a little peak at a pair of films that ol Max Rebo caught in Vancouver for the glory that is the Vancouver International Film Festival! He's focusing on a pair of documentaries this particular night, so let's see what he found.
Harry and Crew,
Greetings from Vancouver, B.C. I'm here in town for the Vancouver International Film Festival and thought I'd drop in some reviews of a couple of films I saw on opening day, assuming anyone there really cares.
Opening day, despite the drenching rain, was quite a good day for docs. I saw two of them and have to say I was quite impressed by both, but for different reasons.
The first was "This Divided State." I was mildy interested in seeing this after that review of the film that was on the site a while ago, but didn't think I would be anywhere near it anytime soon enough to see it and I'm still waiting for my copy from amazon. When I saw it in the programming guide I knew I had to go. (I was surprised that it was a 1:40 show and it was sold out and the kids who made the film even got a well deserved standing ovation)
The film was very, very good. Great in fact. It's infuriating and emotional and funny as well. Greenstreet, the director and editor, who was in attendance, has an amazing sense of pacing and emotion in the film. He's very careful with buildups and the music (Godspeed, You Black Emperor and the Slackers, for those that care) adds to the overall mood to the piece in a way I haven't seen since "Wouldn't it be nice" in Roger & Me. The film starts with a very small explanation of the sort of conservative community a lot of people would dread living in and the audience is literally jolted with the announcement that Michael Moore would be speaking on a small college campus in the most conservative city in the USA. This is where the film takes a nose-dive into the crazy things people will say and do when they are frothing at the mouth about issues they know very little about. In that regard the film speaks a lot about the problem on a national scale. The filmmakers did an amazing Q & A (although they looked quite disheveled, they said they arrived at the screening minutes before the end of the film, straight from the airport) and they are exciting and engaging people to listen to. They also mentioned something very interesting indeed: that they are in negotiations to adapt "One Plus One" a graphic novel put out by Oni Press, greenstreet would be producing and assistant directing for his assistant directors on this film Bryan Young and Elias Pate. I'm really interested to read it now, and ordered it off of Amazon already. But I'm curious to see what they do with narrative material as I am now already a big fan of their documentary work. So that's sort of a scoop right there. (I think they're still shopping for a studio or investments of some type, they seemed a bit vague about it)
And the sequence with Sean Hannity will want you to tear your eyeballs out, he is that much of an asshole.
Moving on to the "Protocols of Zion."
Again, another very good documentary, slightly less attended than the last and slightly less well recieved, but very good nonetheless. Marc Levin's documentary seems to be generally about how crazy the anti-semetic rhetoric in the world is and he inserts himself, to great effect, into what seems to be a very personal story for him. (I like docs with the filmmakers in them, but it's obviously got an agenda when the filmmakers insert themselves into a project. One big difference between this and This Divided State is that there is no set agenda in This Divided State as none of the filmmakers are in the film and there is no narration or voice over) But the agenda he sets for himself is quite a noble one. Basically, there is this book called "The Protocols of Zion" and it's been on bestseller lists since the 19th century and all it is is a blueprint of this giant jewish conspiracy to take over the world. Most sane people would believe that this is absurd. But people still believe it and the book has stood the test of time. Why? That's what Levin sets out to figure and after the film, I still can't tell you why it has. He proves, without a doubt in my mind, why these ideas of vast Jewish conspracy are as stupid as the Matrix but he can't seem to figure out why people still buy into these ideas. Maybe the answer is simply that they are crazy.
So, on the whole, I would say if you get a chance to see Protocols of Zion, do it. It's a good movie. If you get a chance to see This Divided State or willing to shell out the bucks to get it on Amazon, do it. You won't regret either choice.
More info on Zion can be found here:
Click
More info on Divided State can be found here:
Click
This has been a review from the most beloved bandleader in the Universe:
Max Rebo
