I am not dead. It has been hard to catch up on work and I have had a hard time getting back to the blog to catch up on my film write ups. But I am going to see if I can catch up this week. So where did I leave off?
Oh right, after day three. Wow! Five more days to go. Well here is day 4 at least.
Day 4 – Disenfranchisement was the theme* for the day. Everything seemed to be focused on people living outside of society. Maybe this doesn’t really work for The Loved Ones, the midnight, but then killers always live outside of society, so maybe it does.
*A theme isn’t necessary but they are amusing when they sort of appear on their own.
I started the day with one of the movies that I really didn’t want to miss:
Rabia - The description said that this film was a thriller and addressed the rarely shown issue of South American immigrant workers’ challenges living in Spain. That sounded like an interesting combo to me.
It was a very strongly made film. It centers around the relationship between Jose Maria and Rosa. Jose Maria works in construction and Rosa is a housekeeper for an older couple. Jose Maria gets into an argument with his supervisor and accidentally kills him. In order to hide from the police he hides out in the attic of the house that Rosa works in, unbeknownst to Rosa. He lives there for a long time, listening in to the way the family treats his girlfriend, calling her periodically from the second phone extension in the guest room, and bonding ith the rats that he shares the attic with. The ending was a little unsatisfying but I don’t know how else the filmmakers could have ended it. I really enjoyed the way the filmmaker combined traditional thriller elements into this politically charged topic. I doubt it will ever get distribution in the US, but possibly because Guillermo del Toro is connected to the production it has a chance.
Next was a fascinating documentary that I also thought would be a great premise for a repertory series at the Brattle, Reel Injun – This is a documentary about the representation of Native Americans in Hollywood—a film about filmmaking, one of my favorite subthemes. It was a feature film debut and was made from the inside by an American Indian who wanted to really research the history of Native American representation in films and how that has affected the perception of Indians, both by non-native as well as within their own community. I really enjoyed the interviews as well as the archival footage. (I loved the fact that the first film made was by Thomas Edison of a Native dance.) I hope that the film is picked up by PBS and Ned and I are talking about a way to get it to use as a launching point for a series where we can show some of the films referred to in the film.
Next was A Brand New Life, which I have to admit I was worried about. It could have gone either way—bad or great. It is also a feature film debut and based on the filmmaker’s personal experience being given up for adoption in Korea. I am happy to say that it was fantastic!
It was a beautifully made film, the cinematography was gorgeous and the acting was very strong from the adults and the children alike. It effectively captured the strangeness and isolation of main character Jinhee being left at an orphanage by her father. We follow her as she goes through all of the phases of adaptation to her circumstances from refusing to accept, trying to escape, blaming herself, and then finally just learning to make a life. It wasn’t melodramatic (which I was afraid of) but was very affecting. I feel in love with Jinhee and wanted her to end up okay. I knew that she would since the filmmaker was making the film, which means she is okay, right? But who knew what that “okay” would be. If you can get to see this film, I highly recommend it and I look forward to what the filmmaker brings us next because although it was a personal story the skill that she shows through her direction leaves me wanting to see more.
Next was a public screening of Kore-eda’s newest film, Airdoll. He was going to be in attendance and I have seen him masterfully handle a Q&A so I definitely wanted to see him again. I love Kore-eda’s films and was intrigued when I heard a few months ago that his next film was going to be about a blow-up sex-doll that comes to life. Was he going to get kinky? I couldn’t picture it. No, he doesn’t get kinky. Although he did research the kinds of things that real men do who have relationships with their sexdolls and includes those intimate details in the film, it is really almost a coming-of-age film. I don’t want to share much about the film so that you can enjoy the experience of watching it on your own. I was told too much about what to expect and so I wasn’t able to have the film wash over me while I was viewing it. Just go see it. The one thing I will say, is I love it when a filmmaker comes up with a way of including films within the film. In this one, the airdoll ends up getting a job at a video store. So Kore-eda is able to not only show the audience some of his favorite films, but he can also share a couple movie jokes with us in the process. I am sure that this film will be released so definitely go out and see it when it does!
The final film for the day was also our first midnight, The Loved Ones. I am not only glad that I went out of my way to see it but I was really glad to see it with the glorious TIFF midnight audience as well. Some of you may not know, but I am a lover of a good horror movie. I have found that I am much harder on a film if I have stayed up until 3AM watching it. This one was definitely worth the missed sleep.
The Loved Ones is a feature film debut by a couple of guys from New Zealand who definitely love a good horror movie themselves. They know how to combine the expected scare devices but also include new things that haven’t been done before—like a father/daughter killing duo who drill holes in their victims’ heads and pour in boiling water to boil their brains. AMAZING! It’s bloody and gross, really funny, and has a pretty good heart too. My only complaint is that there was one plot point that was given too much information and then not resolved at the end of the film. To the point where I was sure there was going to be a little easter egg after the credits finished. But no. But despite that little slip in the script I hearitly enjoyed the film and was happy to hear that this little dark horse was what won the Audience Choice for the midnight program at TIFF this year.
So after five movies, I was pooped, it was 3AM and I was planning on starting to watch films at 10AM the next day. Now you know how I so quickly fell behind as well as more of the films I saw.
I will continue to catch up with the films throughout the week. Thanks for reading!
ivy
