Here's another report from that "Down-under" Film Fest that was forwarded to ol' Father Geek this morning from Tamsin. Check back later because I may be adding to this story when/if Norman's report comes in later in the day...
Up to my 26th
film now...
I started with a poor-man's "Baraka", "Transition" which was set in Scotland and was trying to explore, through stop-motion and other over-used techniques, the 'change in landscape and human intervention' in Scotland. Unfortunately the filmmaker was limited by his location and his budget. I also think he had to resort to using a lot of stock footage. Also there was supposed to be a "poetic voice-over" but the soundtrack had been mixed badly and it was really difficult to hear the profound observations.
The second today was from Canada, called "Love Come Down" and was about the relationship between two half brothers, one black and one white, though it's not really about their race differences. This was well-made with some fantastic performances especially from Larenz Tate and Deborah Cox (yes the singer). There were a few corny lines and some lingering shots but overall it was enjoyable.
Now to a bad one suffering from first feature-itis. "Bunny" is basically about a couple who immigrate to the US (you're never told where from) and start working as bunnies who sit on the street corners offering silent support to strangers. This could have been a great little short film but unfortuately the writer/director made it feature length. All the first film mistakes were made - cute idea, underdeveloped script, bad performances, too many pigeons and thornbills in the soundtrack, a melodramatic ending to overcompensate for lack of plot. Yes this was low budget but as the director was also the writer she could have taken more time to develop the script better. And, as one audience member was heard to comment as she exited, "That film would have benefited from a good dose of myxomatosis."
The best film of the day was the new one from Tony Gatlif who made "Latcho Drom" called "Vengo". It was packed full of singing and dancing within an absorbing story of feuding families. Apart from the spectacular singers, musicians and flamenco dancers, the acting is also great, with a particularly good performance from Orestes Villasan Rodriguez who suffers from cerebral palsy. Definitely have to get the soundtrack of this one.
The next was another first feature film (he's made docos) which suffered from lack of script development. I think it may have been an English Dogma film because it was shot on video, using only available light and music from a source...yadda, yadda, ya. This was the story of two teenagers who have an intense relationship based on co-dependence (he is an outcast, she's had some physical and emotional trauma and is attracted to his outcastness). There were some really strange choices made in this film and the lack of lighting made it difficult to see some of the images. There were some ideas worth exploring but the ending was obvious and uninspiring.
Then it was a French one called "They call this...Spring". It was a bad French farce full of really weird dialogue and nonsensical plot. I wasn't sure what they were trying to achieve with this but I didn't enjoy it at all.
Next up was "Late Night Shopping" from the UK. It was a "much anticipated first feature" and was a cute little coming-of-age first film. Would have worked better on television as there were some funny sitcomy lines. Did use the old standard, "Let me get this straight, you're telling me..." twice except they replaced "straight" with "sorted". Not bad for a low budget first film.
The last film was Liv Ullmann's, "Faithless" with a script by Ingmar
Bergman. This was an intensely powerful film the effects of which I'm still
feeling. It is a simple story of an affair and a divorce but told in its
deepest possible form. The performances were riveting and totally
engrossing. Can highly recommend this one.
Some good ones on tomorrow and I'm hoping I'll make it through. Starting to
get the regular Film Festival ailments...twitching legs, red, sore eyes,
back and neck pain.
Need sleep.
Tamsin
