Tamsin has been glued to a Melbourne theater seat for over 60 flicks now, getting up only to file these reports for all of you, and Father Geek here has become a true believer in this festival downunder based on these reports. Annnnnd... here's her latest...
Full of goodies today with films about Japanese Curses, Argentineans propagating the Falklands, Ozzy Osbourne, and South Korean teenagers.
First up is one from Japan, "Inugami" by Masato Harada (known for "Kamikaze Taxi" and "Bounce"). The Bonomia family are confined to a small town by a century old curse and the dog spirits of Shikoku, which awaken when a new teacher arrives in town. This is a beautifully paced film with shocks and effects which are never used for exploitation but to layer and deepen the story. A wonderful way to start the day.
And now to the first official Dogma film I've seen this festival, "Fuckland". Argentinean Fabian Stratas travels to The Falkland Islands intentionally to impregnate an English girl in order to reclaim The Islands for Argentina via his offspring. Along the way he videotapes his exploits. This film is at times repulsive, subversive and hilarious. The ending feels a little tacked on, but the overall experience is definitely a roller coaster ride. Though I think they broke a couple of Dogma rules, (i.e. only using available music and props) the overall use of the Dogma conventions gave this a completely realistic feel which added to the confrontational nature of the film. At times I hated this film but I walked out saying how much I'd enjoyed it.
Now to a couple of early short films from well-established and respected directors, Peter Weir and Phil Noyce. First up is "Disco" shot in 1977 by Noyce. This is an 11 min observation of teenagers during the late 70s and why they frequent discos. Scary and hilarious. Peter Weir's film, "Michael" definitely shows signs of early greatness. Shot in 1970 it is a B&W film about 60s revolutionary mentality and the restrictive nature of society. I wish he'd make another film soon!!
Now to the big crowd-pleaser of the evening, "We Sold Our Souls for Rock and Roll", by Penelope Spheeris. Lots of Black Sabbath fans ventured out for this one mixing with the Film Festival crowd. What is testament to the greatness of this documentary is that everyone enjoyed it. There is lots of music, the sound is fantastic, the shooting slick and the interviews engrossing. I walked out whistling "System of a Down".
Rounded off the evening with the South Korean film, "Tears" about a group of
teenaged runaways who find solace in the destructive nature of each other.
They've all been to hell and back and have the scars to prove it. This is
shot DV, blown up to 35, and didn't look too bad. They constructed some
beautiful shots and it hardly ever felt annoying or cheap. The performances
were amazing and at times confronting. Overall it worked because the
filmmaker showed the characters, warts and all, and allowed them to develop
gradually rather than the typical "I learnt my lesson and I've changed"
story arc. For the fifth film of the day, almost 70th film of the festival
to keep my attention for 101 minutes, it must have been good.
Two more days to go...then sleep.
Tamsin
