A
& O film critics Andrée Lafontaine and Nancy
Snipper have seen the following films. Here are their ratings
and comments, always out of 4, reserving 2.5 or more for
a noteworthy film, 3.5 for an exceptional film, 4 for a
classic.
________________________
2.5 --
TATANKA, Giuesppe Gagliardi
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] Based on a true story about the boxer Climente Russo (he actually
is the star in the film, a tough kid (itonivslly his name
has been changed to Michele) growing up in in the stark
streets of the Napolitan Camorra mafia crowd. In 2007, Russo
was World Amateur Champion and won a silver medal at the
2008 Beijing Olympics. Tatanka is the word for bison in
Sioux; he fought with all the power of one. The snappy pace
and editing of this film creates a gritty reality with suspense.
One feels the tension of crime in the streets. Russo was
part of that crime until he discovered boxing in his late
teens.
3.3
-- HIS MOTHER'S
EYES, Thierry Klifa
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] I loved the plot. A mother and daughter (famous newscaster and ballerina
respectively) end up meeting the same sleezy journalist
who is secretly taping conversations each has with him.
He wins their trust. What a great book he is going to write!
But they do not know his real intentions. And neither woman
knows this sneaky journalist has contact with the other.
Mother and daughter are not close. The daughter is seeking
to find her adopted son and sends the journalist to find
him. All hell breaks loose, when the son falls for the journalist,
and his biological mother -- the ballerina -- is in a car
accident. It sounds complicated, but each new plot twist
keeps us totally engaged -- not to mention that Catherine
Deneuve in the role of the mother is her usual captivating
self.
3.1
-- STAR
AND THE SEA, Li Qian Kuan
& Xiao Guiyun
[ reviewed by Nancy Snipper] Xian Xinghai is a Tanka -- a boat boy -- raised in his home on the
water by his hard working mother. She recognizes his musical
talent made most noticeable when he plays a bamboo flute,
and later on the piano which he learns from a teacher who
encourages him to continue playing despite his mother's
protests. His mother, however, want him to drop his musical
dreams. Their life becomes a series of moves from Macau
to Singapore and then back home again. It is on the boat
home that the soon-to-be-teen plays a piece he composed
for his mother -- thereby rocking the boat and startling
listeners with the applause he receives from all those in
the dining room where the piano is kept. Known in China
as "The People's Composer," this young gifted musician died
at the age of 40, but his legacy lives on. He is best known
for his "Yellow River Cantata" written in a cave in six
days. His music was a source of inspiration during the Sino-Japanese
War. Chinese patriots are well aware of the story. There
are many fine moments in this epic film, but some scenes
are too poetically artsy and realism is lost. Two directors
seem to have created two different styles in creating a
picture on the screen that lacked cohesion.
2.4
-- THE
STRAWBERRY TREE, Simone
Rapisarda Casanova
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] A documentary filming the remote village of Juan Antonio in Cuba
before the hurricane hit and destroyed everything. The film
starts with several of the key people from the village talking
about the hurricane, and with typical Cuban humour, catastrophe
is made funny. It is so interesting to follow their lives
enjoyed under the most primitive of conditions. Still, love,
playfulness and hard work is the message in this tale of
Cuban resilience, before and after the hurricane.
4.0 --
HASTA LA VISTA, Geoffrey
Enthoven
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] Brilliant! Touching! Honest! Funny! Sad! This comedy has it all.
Three fellows, one blind, one completely paralyzed in a
wheelchair, and another in a wheelchair who is grappling
with the final stages of cancer, decide to sneak out all
the way to Spain from Belgium to experience sex for the
first time at a special club fro the handicapped. Their
driver, a two-ton Annie, named Claude ends up being their
fourth big gal buddy who helps them achieve their dreams.
Based on a true story, this Belgian film turned the impossible
dream into a reality meant to be shared by the whole world.
What a treat!
2.9 --
HIS WIFE, Yukinari Hanawa
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] A young Japanese married woman is dying of cancer. Her husband lost
the factory he once ran in Nanao due to economic hardship.
Now the wife no longer wishes to stay in the hospital after
her operation. She wants to see her country and return to
the first place where their first date took place. The husband
gives her a road trip like none other. They sleep and eat
in the van. It is a touching movie and a tribute to marital
devotion. There are those whose love endures the test of
life's cruelty and st ays on forever even after the loved
one is gone.
2.0 --
FISH N' CHIPS, Elias Demetriou
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] A great premise for a moive: an immigrant from Cyprus running a fish
and chips eaterie in London returns to his roots on the
island to open up a fish and chips joint there. Surely filmatic
food for a comedy. Alas, this movie misses the boat, and
we end up with a ticket to that takes us to a series of
unfunny blunders and family feuds that fuel tempers. Thanks
to a party gone wrong, the whole place ends up in flames.
So much for fish and chips. Andy, the names of the immigrant
who takes the plunge back into his native Cyprus realizes
the errors of his ways, and returns to London to resume
the business he should never have left in the first place.
Not even the scenery (flat and sparse) could wet my appetite.
3.4
-- ROMEOS,
Sabine Bernardi
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Lukas, 20, is in the process of medically transitioning
from female to male. After wanting it for so long, he finally
appears as male to everyone he meets. These are exciting
time, all the more so since they coincide with Lukas’s move
to a bigger city with a lively gay culture. But prejudices
do not stop at the city limits. Well-researched, “Romeos”
tackles its subject with sensibility and intelligence.
2.2
-- ONCE
UPON A TIME THERE LIVED A SIMPLE WOMAN, Andrey
Smirnov
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] The length of the title tells it all. Over two hours of viewing how
many times a peasant woman can get raped in the village
she inhabits with her drunk husband during the late 1800s.
As time progresses into Communist takeover, nothing in her
life really changes. She starves, gets raped, tries to gain
back her property, but nothing other than unrelenting degradation.
Still she survives, that is until she loses her life in a
massive flood. Religion, riots, repulsive attitudes towards women, thievery
and desperation chronicle horrid periods of Russian history.
Marked by violence and bitterness, the film would have us believe that the Russian psyche has been irreparably profaned, that redemption is a non-starter. So much torment
has its own way of numbing the viewer; we are hoping for
a second of humour, but it never happens. Sadly, this film
becomes insufferable for the wrong reasons. Simply put,
it turns into a monotonous leitmotiv.
3.0 --
MYSTERY OF THE LAGOONS,
Atahualpa Lichy
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] In the Venezuelan Andes there lives a variety of people whose rich
cultural heritage includes so many religious customs for
burial, Christmas, god worship, love of the lake spirits
and village idiosyncrasy. It is a world so strange to the
urban dweller, that when looking at all these rituals, the
most bizarre being -- the Paloma, (boiling a dead child
to preserve her/him in an offering to God; the child is
surrounded in a sea of flowers in the coffin), we realize
the world is run on magical faiths that provide sturdy happiness
to those we can only meet through such rare documentaries
as this one.
3.5 --
CHINESE TAKE-AWAY, Sebastián
Borensztein
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] Roberto runs and small hardware store. His life is pretty miserable.
His supplier of nails always cheats him and his customers
rarely end up purchasing what they need from him. He spends
his days cutting out absurd stories from newspapers -- one
of which involves a Chinese man sitting in a boat with his
financé. She is instantly killed when a cow falls
on her from an airplane that has been shot down. Will wonders
never cease? This Chinese fellow named Jun ends up in Buenos
Aires on the street, and poor Roberto ends up taking him
in for a day. But a day soon becomes two weeks. Roberto
hates company and desperately tries to find a man named
Qian, who is Jun's uncle. During this time, we discover
just how funny things can get when a certain Qian turns
up, but it's not Jun's uncle. There are so many priceless
moments between these two men who can't communicate to one
another, and yet they marvellously reveal the sadness and
humour that is so true of the human condition. Life is absurd
all right, but all is well in the end, and Roberto gets
his Qian and the girl lusting after Roberto, gets her man.
Once again Argentina brings us a delightful film that features
the brilliant acting of its greatest star, Ricardo Darin.
3.3
-- THE FIRE,
Brigitte Maria Bertele
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
How far can one go to find justice when the law refuses
to deliver? A woman (Judith, Maja Shoene) who was raped
by a stranger after an evening out identifies the attacker
who nevertheless remains unprosecuted. Ultimately, there
were no witness and her injuries are not severe enough.
Her words do not measure up to those of a respected doctor
and family man. Coping, she tries to move on without simply
forgetting, which is what those around her would prefer:
her rape, her presence as a rape victim, disturbs them.
A well-made film, whose script and male characters would
have benefited from more nuance and ambiguities. Shoene
offers a impressive performance, her body transforming through
the different stages of the recovery process. Difficult
to watch, and at times frustrating, "Der Brand" remains
an important film.
3.5
-- THE
FIRE, Brigitte Maria Director
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] When Judith goes salsa dancing, she ends up in the arms of Ralph
Nester, a charming man who wins her trust. She can't get
her bike lock to open upon taking leave of the dance club.
Ralph suddenly appears to rescue her and then escorts her
to the town's river to show her something. He rapes her;
Judith barely recovers from the ordeal. To make matters
worse, this horrid man -- a doctor -- turns the tables on
her, accusing her of harassment and more. Her lawyer and
live-in partner prove ineffective in helping her regain
justice. Judith plots how to take down her attacker. Her
strategy includes visits to his office, to his home and
constant threats to him that she will divulge the attack
to his wife. Getting nowhere, she hatches a plan -- a most
brutal one -- but evidently necessary one to bring him down.
She provokes him into beating her up. Only then, will he
be prosecuted. This German film masterfully illustrates
the full-scale disintegration process of a rape victim on
several levels: physically, emotionally and legally. A finely
crafted film, it deserves to be in the festival's World
Competition category.
3.4
-- THE ART
OF ROMANCE, Emmanuel Mouret
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Although Cupid's arrow can strike within a second, it can
take weeks for those in love to admit they are and handle
it according to what their hearts yearn for. We follow four
women -- one in need of reassurance that the man she loves
expresses it to her minute by minute. But when he does,
she rejects him; another who wants to be sexually active
with other men other than her partner. Yet it is her partner
she adores and beds every night. Still another woman attempts
an open relationship, but alas neither she or her live-in
hunk follow through n the arrangement. The most unusual
of all involves a woman whose gal pal is in need of love.
Her friend hatches a clever covert plan to deliver her this
badly needed love, but it literally and figuratively keeps
the lonely lady and her nameless love partner in the dark.
Lots of twists, humour and irony as only the French can
conceive illustrate so lovingly the whimsy and wonder of
this exhilarating emotion we call romantic love.
3.1
-- L’ART
D’AIMER, Emmanuel Mouret
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
This
ensemble film, a collection of vignettes about the many
faces of love and desire, succeeds in engaging the audience
where many have failed before (“Love Actually,”“Valentine's
Day”). Contrary to his Anglo-American counterparts, Mouret
understands that a multi-story film can succeed only if
it doesn't rely solely on big names and attractive actors.
Quintessentially French, “L'art d'aimer” cleverly harnesses
the fabulous talent of its cast and the famously fast-paced
dialogue of the French comedy tradition. Light, smart and
contemporary, “The Art of Love” is a joyful ride.
2.5
-- THE LAW
OF ATTRACTION, Zhao Tianyu
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
The second ensemble film of the FFM International Competition,
“Wan You Yin Li” presents four mini-stories about the different
stages of love. We are in comfortably familiar territory
though this new take seems to bring nothing new to the genre.
A good soundtrack and cool characters give the movie a very
contemporary feel, as do the situations presented. Unfortunately,
and whether due to its slow pace, repetitiveness or overall
hollowness, the film seems to be running on empty most of
the time. The movie would have most definitely benefited
from tighter editing, not to mention more substance.
2.8 --
PLAYOFF, Eran
Riklis
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Danny Huston, son of John, incarnates Ralf Klein, basketball
coach for Germany's national team between 1983 and 1985,
the team’s golden age. Klein is also an Israeli Jew who
fled Germany as the Nazis rose to power. The return home
brings back many memories and unresolved family mysteries.
Now living in Klein's old apartment, Amira Casar plays a
Turkish-born single mother on a work visa, who is looking
for her estranged husband. Ultimately, it is this story
that takes centre stage all the while relegating the basketball
-- much less interesting because unexplored -- to the bench.
2.4
-- BLACK
THURSDAY, Antoni Krauze
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
The FFM is known for making odd choices when selecting films
for its main competition and “Czarny Czwartek” is this year’s
striking example. Though not a bad film, it is simply very
. . . ordinary. It is also much less interesting than many
of the other films shown outside the competition. The film
successfully recreates the aesthetic we associate with the
1970s, which has the unfortunate effect of also giving the
film a 'made for television' feel. About the December 1970
confrontation between workers and government, following
a hike in food prices, the film is nevertheless informative.
Even by festival standards, the English subtitles are absolutely
terrible, which should also have given some indication to
the programmers that this might not be world competition
material after all.
2.7
-- LESSONS
FROM A DREAM, Sebastian
Grobler
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
“Der Ganz Grosse Traum” feels dated both from an aesthetic
standpoint and in terms of subject matter. Set in 1874 Germany,
it presents us the ever familiar boys' school. As the story
goes, a new instructor with unusual methods is hired, bringing
havoc into the boys' routine and the entire education system.
This time, however, the troublesome but well-intended teacher
doesn't bring discipline to chaos, but rather chaos to a
much too well regimented school (hints of the upcoming rise
of the Nazis are numerous). “Lessons from "Dream”’s
well-known story about the virtues of rebellion is moreover
told in too conventional a style.
3.0
-- HERE
WITHOUT ME, Bahram Tavakoli
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Much like Kurosawa, who made Dostoyevsky's “The Idiot” a
truly Japanese film,Tehran-born Bahram Tavakoli turns Tennessee
Williams’ “Glass Menagerie” into a piece of Iranian folklore,
showing the similarities between American and Persian society.
Deeply entertaining, “Here Without Me” is well-paced and
acted, and presents an interesting dimension of Persian
culture.
3.2
-- LA RUN,
Demian Fuica
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Despite its grittiness and difficult subject-matter, “La
run” was surprisingly well-received by the FFM crowd. Shot
in 22 days on a $400 000 budget, with no help from public
institutions (not even during post-production), the film
certainly does not have the gloss of a big production; however,
this 'independent' touch turns out to be exactly what this
story about the drug underworld needed. “La run” tells the
story of Guillaume (Jason Roy Léveillé), a young man living
with his father, who joins a drug ring in order to pay for
his father’s gambling debts. Montreal’s underbelly isn’t
glamourized by any stretch and parents should fear not:
their kids will certainly not be tempted to explore what
drugs have to offer after watching this film. This is not
to say that the film is preachy, and although the voice-over
narration tends to be somewhat moralistic, it does makes
sense in context. “La run”'s strength lies above all in
its dialogues and pacing. Its slang-ridden exchanges and
patois always genuine, never forced. Editing is tight, dynamic
and fast-paced, and music (interestingly, mostly diegetic)
is well-chosen and captivating. Acting by principal actors,
notably Pierre-Luc Brillant (as the jealous pusher Butch),
Nicolas Canuel (as big boss Rivière) and Roy Léveillé, is
impressive and believable, while the supporting cast --
in good part non-professional due to lack of funding --
is unfortunately much less credible and over-the-top. The
extensive research that went into this film has certainly
paid off as “La run” feels very authentic, a feeling that
is reinforced by the numerous unusual exterior shots of
Montreal and its surroundings.
3.4 --
A FAMILY OF THREE, Pia Strietmann
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Grief has many faces, and “A Family of Three” explores some of the least common ones; withdrawal and anger. Once a successful writer and mother of two dies, her emotionally scarred family breaks apart, unable to cope with the loss and the secrets which consequently surface. This is a mature and intelligent first film by Pia Strietmann, a director to keep an eye on.
3.1
-- PHANTOM
FATHER, Lucian Georgescu
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Part Romanian fantasy about America, part American fantasy
about the old country, this quest for origins embodies the
idea that a journey is more important than its destination.
An American professor travels the Romanian countryside in
search of information about his family, who left shortly
before WWII. Though not a comedy, “Tatal Fantoma” nevertheless
keeps it light and has fun with Romanian folklore and traditions.
3.6 --
COME AS YOU ARE, Geoffrey
Enthoven
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Heartwarming, if at times simplistic, “Come As You Are”’s
synopsis sounds like a joke: “Three Belgians -- a quadriplegic,
a blind man and one in a wheelchair -- decide to go to a
Spanish brothel . . . ” Much funnier than a punch-line,
the film had the audience laughing from start to finish.
However, it also is much more than a joke: Loosely based
on Asta Philpot’s life, the film convincingly defends handicapped
people’s sexual rights.
2.0 --
DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK,
Troy Nixey
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
A remake of a 1973 ABC telepic, Troy Nixey and Guillermo
del Toro’s long-awaited “Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark” brings
us back to the slow pacing and familiar grounds of the best
1980s horror flicks complete with the ever-so-familiar scary
Victorian house as a setting for the action. As the convention
goes, the action takes place between the moment the family
moves in, and when they finally decide to pack it up and
leave. Predictably, the parents are too busy with financial
concerns to properly attend to their curious and troubled
daughter Sally -- (Bailee Madison). Though the mother figure
(Katie Holmes) -- being a woman -- is (surprise!) more receptive
to Sally’s warnings, she is completely helpless and ineffectual
until the skeptical father (a soporific Guy Pearce) “gets
it” (which, being a man, he only does (surprise!) after
seeing the evildoers with his own eyes). “Don’t be Afraid
of the Dark”’s uniqueness -- to use the term liberally --
resides principally in the way it conceives its scary villains.
Rodent-like, ghoulish creatures creeping up in the dark,
they’re the stuff that kids’ nightmares are made of, though
for adults, they do very little to scare, our interest being
primarily drawn to the artistry behind their lifelike appearance.
Admirably, very few explanations are provided to justify
their presence, something which, in any case, always ends
up being silly. Bailee Madison gives by far the strongest
performance of this small cast with Holmes and Pearce coming
off incredibly flat on characters that were already both
predictably and thinly drawn. The film contains many references
to cult horror flicks which fans of the genre may enjoy
identifying -- that is, if their patience keeps them in
their seats.
2.4 --
DAVID, Joel
Fendelman
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
“David” is a well-intentioned film with a big heart. Its
premiss is as interesting and funny as it is unlikely. A
Brooklyn boy of 11 ( Daud), raised in a strict and religious
Muslim family, is devoting a good part of his life to follow
in his Imam father’s footsteps. A series of misunderstandings
and unfortunate events lead Daud straight into a Jewish
religious school for boys, where he easily passes for one
of the students and makes friends. Hence starts Daud --
now David's -- double-life: Jewish by day, Muslim by night.
The director described his approach as “realistic optimism,”
an approach that will likely have as many supporters as
detractors. The film remains light and unpolitical, which
sometimes translates into characters being too unidimensional,
and narrative elements and dialogues wanting for nuance.
The movie would have also benefited from a better balance
of the two religious universes: while we find out very little
of the Muslim family’s origin, we are treated to long monologues
about Jewish roots and community. Moreover, its Muslim world
is strict and restrictive, while its Jewish world is cool
and liberal, a contrast that may rankle.
3.5 --
THE GRAVEYARD’S KEEPER’S DAUGHTER,
Katrin Laur
[reviewed
by Andrée Lafontaine]
Katrin Laur’s second feature, “The Graveyard Keeper’s Daughter,”
is an extremelly powerful and accomplished work. The film
explores the day-to-day existence of a young girl -- Lucia
-- living with her alcoholic parents in rural Estonia. Opting
for a realistic aesthetic, Laur never averts her camera
away from daily miseries, shooting them in all their simplicity
and avoiding unecessary pathos. In this way, the camera
replicates Lucia’s own way of looking at a life she has
grown used to.
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