Hey folks, Harry here with that busy bee, Jan's look at two more entries into the realm of the TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. Now... there is a reason to be excited about these two films in particular... First off, LIAM is by Stephen Frears, who is having a banner year with both HIGH FIDELITY and that live television job he pulled on FAILSAFE. And then the second film is by Tran Anh-Hung, who's THE SCENT OF A GREEN PAPAYA was one of the most beautiful and transcendent films I've seen in many many years. To anyone that saw that film, the idea of Anh-hung's next film is, of course, a must see... Here is Jan with a look at both...
Hey Harry,
Jan is here again and would like to share my comments on two films I saw tonight with all the movie geeks attending this year's TIFF. The first movie is "LIAM," the latest film by Stephen Frears ("High Fidelity") and the second one is "A LA VERTICALE DE L'ETE" (Vertical Ray of Sunlight) by Tran Anh-hung ("The Scent of Green Papaya," which was one of the year's best films in Roger Ebert's Top 10 List few years ago).
Anyway, here is my review for Stephen Frears' latest film "LIAM"
LIAM is about a stutter kid who lives in a poor, unhappy Irish family. Like many other films about Irish (like ANGELA'S ASHES, released in January this year), Liam is again about how the Irish suffers and struggles in poverty. Also like many other Irish films, there're some obligatory scenes about domestic violence, Catholic/Christian conflict and characters making confession to the priests. Perhaps I've seen all these similar scenes in ANGELA'S ASHES, I don't find LIAM very interesting.
What is a bit interesting about this film is that it mainly focuses on Liam, the stutter kid who is afraid of being condemned in hell after unintentionally seeing his mom naked. And it's quite funny to see how the priests and the teacher constantly using Bible to threaten those kids to be disciplined (like if they don't behave, they'll be burnt forever in hell and stuff like that).
What I like this film the most, however, is the performance of the kid who plays Liam and the girl who plays Liam's sister. Well, I'm not saying that the actors who play their parents do not perform well, but their characters are just typical (unhappy and always yell at each other). What I don't like the most, on the other hand, is the ending. I'm not giving away too much of the ending, but it's just too coincidental. More, the ending seems unfinished and should be more. Anyway, my conclusion: LIAM got some bittersweet moments and sweet performance. However, it's just nothing particularly interesting. My rating for this film: ***
My next review is "A LA VERTICALE DE L'ETE"
After LIAM, I went to see "A LA VERTICALE DE L'ETE" (The Vertical Ray of Sunlight, well, I don't know much French, but should mean something like that), a film directed by a Vietnamese guy named Tran Anh-hung. (By the way, Vietnamese language is somewhat similar to Chinese, Tran is equivalent to the Chinese last name "Chan" and "Anh-hung" is "Yin-Xiong" in Chinese, meaning "hero"). And I was surprised how much I ENJOYED this film!
"A LA VERTICALE DE L'ETE" takes place in today's Hanoi, a story about three sisters and their love affairs. However, this film is not about their love stories but the summer, carefree atmosphere. So, if you're looking for something dramatic from this film, you'll not like this film although there're few surprises in the story.
Instead of focusing their love affairs, Tran focuses on the daily lives of the three sisters, like how they prepare and cook in the kitchen and make jokes at each other. By the way, the Vietnamese portrayed in this film are happy people who don't need to worry about their living. They spend most of their time taking a nap after lunch, eating tasty fresh fruit after dinner, singing and dancing in a family reunion.
What I love about this film is the cinematography, which is so gorgeous that I swear I'll travel to Vietnam if I got a chance in my lifetime. But as I have pointed out before, this film lacks any dramatic climax. So, some of you may think this film is just an eye candy. However, for some reason, I was somehow totally charmed by everything in this film, such as the cinematography, the giggles and smiles of the actors, the carefree and relaxing atmosphere. The feeling is like eating a seedless, watery and sweet watermelon under the canopy of a big tree in summer, which is so sweet and delightful. So, my rating for this film, perhaps sounds a bit over-rated, is ***1/2.
Alright, I'll see APRIL CAPTAINS, GOHATTO, THE GIRL and BROTHER tomorrow. Hopefully I got time to write short reviews for those films.
