Black Sheep and Closing - MIFF

Black Sheep was the last of my MIFF screenings for this year. A New Zealand comedy/horror aided by Peter Jackson’s/Lord of the Rings’ Weta workshop (animatronics, special effects, models) is a long way from the mountains peaks and fast flowing rivers of Middle Earth. Set on a rural New Zealand sheep farm, this film takes off when sheep-phobic Henry returns to the family home to collect a settlement cheque for his half of the property, left to him and his “evil”, agri-science brother Angus. Angus has been performing experiments on sheep and when a genetically mutated sheep foetus, designated for the destruction pit, is robbed by an environmentalist protestor and his girlfriend, is duly liberated, and eviscerates said protestor, the story line is ‘on’ in earnest. The assistance of Weta cannot be underestimated in the making of this picture. Appropriately gory zombie sheep and their human victims keep fans of this genre (that would be the blood-splatter flick genre) enjoying the jokes and the set-ups and not sidetracked through laughing at poor effects. This is very similar in tone and style to Jackson’s Braindead (a mentioned early influence on debut director Jonathon King). What might otherwise be considered scary or gruesome is clearly not – they’re sheep for heaven’s sake. People eating sheep, sure, but still silly, lovable, mostly stupid sheep. An absolute must see when it makes its commercial release.

The Festival as a whole was very enjoyable. I was (understandably) exhausted after my long weekend (8 screenings across the three nights) and was glad to be commuting from Hawthorn during that weekend, somewhat closer to the city. Teeth and Black Sheep were enjoyable, perverse comedies. The Australian dramas were thin on the ground in the program and I supplemented my local diet with two documentaries, In the Company of Actors (with Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving) and Bob Ellis’ Run, Rabbit, Run on SA Premier Mike Rann’s re-election of 2006. Both docos were competent and even interesting but they weren’t dramas which I prefer. I will try not to overload my schedule with docos next year. The Ballad of Narayama was excellent and the free lecture on the work of Imamura I attended prior to it was worthwhile. My favourite screening of the Festival however was another Japanese drama, Hana. The story line was ostensibly about a young samurai on a mission to avenge his father’s death. The supporting cast may have been a little wide with the necessary resolutions to each of their storylines pushing the finish time out as a result. However the ‘real’ story was about a young man finding his true calling in life (as a teacher, not a fighter) and becoming a true role model as a father and husband. Perhaps in a comment on Japanese culture, this film, filled with samurai, does not have one sword fight and no blood is spilt. A wonderfully mature drama.
Many sessions were sold out but the theatres can easily accommodate the number. Often I arrived at start time, joined the very end of the queue and enjoyed the feature from the back of the cinema. My wait time was minimised and my seating almost always excellent. Only the second row at ACMI (Fed Square) was the least comfortable experience. The electronic scanning of tickets is efficient and deals with the long queues quickly. The hardest part of the Festival is finding the spare time in my regular life to see the films I want to see. This year I was able to take breaks from my work during the day, watch one film, and then come back to finish the day – all with my employer’s consent mind you, and that worked very well. Watching screenings back to back was likewise an efficient use of my time but exceptionally tiring beyond two films.
Roll on 2008 !

MIFF musings

Teeth
Dawn is only subliminally aware of the dangerous potential that resides within her body. An outspoken member of her school chastity group, Dawn has a sexual awakening like any number of teenage students with devastating consequences … for the male of the species. A living example of the vagina dentata myth, that is, a vulva with teeth, it will take a willing hero to conquer her and thus “slay the dragon.” Meanwhile however this modern day Gorgon or Medusa can wreak their revenge on the worst examples of male behaviour. And while some of the scenes are potentially confronting: the date rape boyfriend, the leering older man, the gynecologist who abuses his trust; all get their comeuppance when one appendage (or multiple digits) fall victim to this empowered woman. Played for laughs, this campy, American teen comedy is performed well by the apple-pie Jess Weixler (in the Reese Witherspoon mould). It was enjoyed by a full house of about 1,000 mostly younger film lovers at RMIT Capitol Theatre.

September
Likewise playing to a full house at the Capitol was the Australian premiere of Peter Carstair’s debut feature film, September, the first recipient of feature funding from John Polston’s Tropfest (an annual short film competition).
Ed (white) and Paddy (black) have grown up together on a remote West Australian wheat farm and been best mates. Set in 1967, Ed goes off to school each day while Paddy works on the farm helping his dad and the boss, Ed’s dad. The boys hear a travelling boxing troupe is coming to their town next month (in September) and so they rig up their own ring out in the paddocks. Also, a new family move onto the next property with a similarly aged daughter, Leena, with whom Ed becomes smitten. At that time in Australian history, the Government passed legislation that allowed the black man to earn the same wage as a white man. For many black families, this meant continued racism as the prevailing view was that if you were to pay a black man the same as a white man, then you would employ a white man instead. For Ed’s dad, he does not want to do the wrong thing, but does not want to do the right thing either. To pay two full time wages where previously he was paying none was something that his farm could not support (in balance however Paddy’s family had their rent waived and their food bought for them). Like it or lump it is his solution and this only builds resentment.
Ed and Paddy’s sparring takes on more personal physicality as these divisions unfold. This is mirrored in their friendship when both boys, at Ed’s insistence, go to pay a night visit to Leena. When they are discovered by Leena’s father, Paddy takes the beating as Ed escapes and runs home.
The film is primarily about friendship and the two boys reconcile amicably in a simple but touching way. Paddy tries his luck with the travelling boxing troupe and Ed stays on to help his father run the farm. I thought however that it failed to round out their fathers’ story and we are left hanging as to how the bigger picture of race relations played out.
Both boys (Xavier Samuel and Clarence Ryan) do a superb job in this otherwise quiet, focussed drama.

Dog Bite Dog
Hong Kong triad action movies are a dime a dozen and this one plays true to type. Pang is a Cambodian orphan, raised as a pit fighter and is little more than a fierce dog on two legs. His language is abrupt and manner non-existent. He is sent to murder a judge, which he does with no emotion and then the chase kicks in with zealous cop chasing the fearless Pang. The features of the genre are all played out here : the flashbacks; the one cop fighting against the rules and regulations; the ruthless baddie who can take on all comers. After about 90 minutes, Pang escapes with the girl in a motorised junk and that would have been 90 minutes well spent. Unfortunately the movie kicks on for another 20 minutes or so and this spells DANGER for the audience.
The montage of Pang and the girl falling in love is awkward, while “acting” replaces the hitherto vigorous action which is poor, to say the least. The titters in the audience turn to guffaws when “You are my Sunshine, my only Sunshine” starts to play over the top of Pang holding aloft his newborn son. And all the other characters ? They’re all dead of course.

The Phantom of the Opera
This 1925 cinematic classic of the silent era was shown at Melbourne’s grand Regent Theatre with a live accompaniment by David Johnston on the resident Wurlitzer Theatre Organ. And what an experience it was. The thunderous energy of the bass notes resounding from the organ reverberated through the Theatre and warned us of the evil lurking beneath the Paris Opera House.
The Phantom, played by Lon Chaney, is only seen shadow for the first third of the film. Brilliantly lit back shots show his spectral outline haunt walls in the pits of the Opera House while the ballerina’s on stage are the very contrast above. When we finally meet The Phantom he is wearing a mask that makes him seem almost normal and human. It is his love of Christine which makes him want to bring out the good within himself but it is her love of Raoul that may force him to return to his evil past.
When Christine unmasks The Phantom deep in his lair, we are met with a violent burst from the organ and we, the audience, regard his skeletal visage react in horror, before he turns and faces his love. She in turn recoils in revulsion and this sets him on his murderous rampage through the House. The mob however is never far away and they pursue our anti-hero into the Seine and to his death.

Ballad of Narayama - MIFF

The Ballad of Narayama (1983) is a view into Japanese village life “about 100 years ago” that is stark in its barbarity and accessible because of the human story it tells. It is also director Shohei Imamura’s vision of Japan, at contrast with how Japan sees itself.
Japanese people traditionally see themselves as refined, sophisticated, subtle people. Imamura redefines his society (in this film and in others) as brutal places, strongly aligned to nature with many characters identified with animals. The village itself, a snake; the thieves, a silver fox that sneaks into the hen house; and the wild and exuberant thrustings of the village folk, with writhing snakes, humping frogs and nesting birds.
The film itself commences in the dead of winter, follows the life cycle of a year to the following winter as it mirrors the life cycle of the village.
Village life does not conform to Western standards with regards to the value of a life. It is all the more shocking to us because it does not. I imagine it is just as shocking to a Japanese audience too. Unwanted sons are callously thrown into the rice paddy. Unwanted daughters sold into prostitution via the wandering salt seller. Those who break the village laws are dealt with harshly : thieves of other’s food are buried alive. Life and death is just a step from each other that to be indifferent to the numbers around your table leads to your own destruction.
The main character in the story is Orin, a sixty-nine year old grandmother who knows her time is nearly up. Her health remains robust but she is determined that her son, Tatsuhei, honor his commitment as dutiful, faithful and loving son by carrying her up the mountain, to Narayama, to die on her 70th birthday.
The women in Imamura’s films are capable and robust women played by stocky, plump actresses (not the usual movie star type) that are both sexy (“juicy” – Imamura) and maternal. Orin fully intends to go out at a time of her choosing and in a manner that is pleasing to her.
The arduous journey of son carrying mother on his back up impossible slopes over an incredible difference hints at the love and respect of one for the other. Speaking is forbidden on the mountain and the last quarter of the film is virtually dialogue free. When they arrive on Narayama, they are met by an enclave of bones and skulls. The audience gasps as a crow worms its way out from under a ribcage.
The mother sets out her mat and waits her end. She waves her son off, impatient for him to be gone. He cannot move. He hugs his mother until she has had enough. It is not out of cruelty of indifference. It is the way things are. Better to go now than to wait another year or two or three and either die in the village (and not be buried on the mountain) or not be able to face death square in the face. As the son walks down the mountain, it starts to snow. Tatsuhei runs back to his mother to see if she is cold. She is not and waves him away again. The Spirit of Narayama has settled on Orin and is a great blessing to her.

My emotional highlight of this film was this scene, not just because of its moving theme, but because the whole auditorium, of 500+ people, were still. For at least 10 minutes they were spellbound and captured by what they were witnessing on screen. No-one was moving, or rustling, or coughing. Still. A very humbling experience to be in the midst of so many people hardly aware of the world around them as they watched the son’s grief and mother’s honor.

Time - MIFF

How much of what you look like determines who you really are? In Kim Ki-duk’s Time, Seh-hee has been dating Ji-woo for two years and she is worried that he is losing interest. “Do you get tired of the way I look?” she asked. A loaded question if ever there was and one that Ji-woo fails to answer satisfactorily.
And then she’s gone. For six months. Plastic surgery is an “everyday” procedure in this vision of modern-day Korea with a six month recovery time. The doctor cautions Seh-hee that he cannot make her more beautiful, she is beautiful enough. But no, she just wants to look different. Unrecognisable.
She “comes back” as See-hee (a subtle enough name change I didn’t pick at first, I thought they were the same name) and does indeed look different. It is a credit to both actresses that we accept without question they are the “same” person. They behave similarly despite looking differently. See-hee (the “new” girl) tries to woo Ji-woo (pardon the pun) however runs into difficulty when she realises that he is desperately lonely eschewing other women to pine his lost love (Seh-hee). Mind you, without ever revealing how exactly, Seh-hee/See-hee has been observing Ji-woo from a distance (stalking is the legal term) and warning off any would be suitors.
When See-hee appears wearing a Seh-hee face mask the mood is a mix of ridiculous and creepy. The truth comes crashing down on Ji-woo as he feels used and betrayed.
My take is that a person with poor self esteem (such as the one potrayed by Seh-hee) projects their self-loathing on to others and cannot or will not see themselves as others do. Ji-woo may have felt that his relationship with Seh-hee was getting stale but how she looked was not his issue. Her bitter and aggressive outbursts early in the film as Seh-hee are repeated later as See-hee. It is here perhaps that she realises it’s what’s inside that counts.
So, how does this resolve ? In a fit of pique, Ji-woo goes off to the plastic surgeon to change his looks. See-hee thinks that he might be doing this for her and their relationship and impatiently waits for him to reappear after six months. She accosts every man who is approximately the same size to find the man she loves but he doesn’t appear again.
Devastated, she troops back into the plastic surgeon again and comes out unrecognisable. Ji-woo won’t know what she looks like even if he does come looking.
In a slightly strange twist to the ending, time seems to have looped back in on itself like a mobius strip. While the ending does not influence the beginning as such, perhaps it is the director’s way of saying that the issues surrounding our identity and dramas we face in life do not just go away. They are just as present at the end as at the start. As old Uncle Remus used to say to Brer Rabbit, “you can’t run away from trouble. There ain’t no place that far.”

Eve and Marilyn - MIFF

My first MIFF screening was a short, 1987 doco titled Eve and Marilyn. Perhaps in retrospect I would have liked to have chosen a more recently made film, but I was bewitched by the prospect of Marilyn Monroe (and I can assure you I’m not the first). I listened intrigued by the first hand account of (74 year old) documentary photographer Eve Arnold tell of her time spent with Monroe as Arnold’s images of Monroe were slowly zeroed in on. Sometimes small and dumpy, other times tall and graceful – Monroe had the ability to transform herself in front of a camera. In her earlier years, where studio photography was the only way to gain a profile which lead to movie roles, Monroe played a role in front of the camera – one that we are all intimately familiar with – the playful, curvaceous and sexy movie star. Arnold reflects that it was only when she actually became a movie star that reality and fantasy collided and she couldn’t cope. But it was her trust in Arnold, and Arnold’s respect of her, that meant they had a “close” working bond. Arnold spent 2 months on the set of The Misfits recording the behind the scenes action with her camera at the request of Monroe who had had quite enough of being the centre of a publicity storm wherever she went. And it is these collection of images that tell a more intimate portrait of Monroe than just the sassy publicity shots. While sometimes fragile and sometimes naïve, Monroe was an otherwise savvy, image conscious presenter of herself and used the photographers to her advantage. They in turn used her to sell her image to the world.

MIFF 2007 - an Introduction

Melbourne International Film Festival kicks off next week, I have my series pass and I'm excited !
I am attending a number of different screenings and these have been "locked" in. If you and anyone else you know would like to come along to any or all of these times then you would be most welcome to join me. I would welcome the company.
The films being screened at MIFF this year are placed in many categories and it is of course impossible to get a taste for all of them. The Australian and Asian sections seem a little more limited this year with a greater input of European films and new categories such as "horror" , "Forbidden Pleasures", "Israeli" and "African". The documentaries section seems to be somewhat expanded also.

In my selections I have eschewed the European sector and have ended up with
3 Aussie films; 3 Asian films; 2 docos; 1 horror; 1 US; 1 collection of fiction shorts; and 2 "classic" screenings. A varied menu and no mistake.

If you would like to come along then you would be more than welcome. I suggest you book online as the evening sessions in particular are very popular.

My program then :

During the day
Thursday 26/7, 3pm, Eve & Marilyn plus Behind the Veil, documentaries on photographer Eve Arnold, one with Marilyn Monroe as her subject and the other a "rare glimpse into the world of the harem"
Thursday 2/8, 1230pm, The Ballad of Narayama, "classic", 1983 Japanese drama on the cycle of life and death by auteur director Shohei Imamura
Tuesday 7/8, 3pm, a collection of fiction shorts, 8 short (from 5min to 15min) fiction films from around the world

During the week
Tuesday 31/7, 9pm, Time, South Korean, much anticipated by me, by director Kim Ki-duk who most recently released 'Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring' and '3 Iron'. He has another film at this festival, 'Breath' which time will not allow me to see. I note that this film has just been released in America and scored a 3.5/4 review on release.

The Long Weekend
Friday 3/8, 7pm, Teeth, US "occasional teen comedy, sometimes horror, laced with sex"
Friday 3/8, 9pm, September, Australian, "Ed and Paddy have been fast friends for as long as they can remember but Ed is white and Paddy is Aboriginal. The winds of social change are blowing their way, threatening to fracture what was a rock solid friendship"
Friday 3/8, 11pm, Dog Bite Dog, "Hong Kong action film of the year…distinguishes itself even by Hong Kong standards with its uncompromising toughness"
Saturday 4/8, 11am, Prater, documentary, "Vienna's Prater is the oldest amusement park in the world - the beguiling images in this film provide a giddy ride through the carnival and Vienna's history"
Saturday 4/8, 1pm, The Phantom of the Opera, Classic, this should be highlight of the festival : 1925 silent classic starring Lon Chaney and Mary Philbin, at the Regent Theatre with live musical accompaniment of "one of the world's finest Wurlitzer theatre organs"
Sunday 5/8, 1pm, In the Company of Actors, Australian, "Two of the world's finest actors, Cate Blanchett and Hugo Weaving, prepare to perform the Sydney Theatre Company's version of Hedda Gabler in New York."
Sunday 5/8, 3pm, Hana, Japanese, director Hirokazu Kore-eda, a period film about a "gentle samurai on a mission to take revenge on his father's death"
Sunday 5/8, 5pm, Run Rabbit Run, Australian, written directed by Bob Ellis (journalist, writer, speechwriter) portrait of SA premier Mike Rann "as he negotiates the maelstrom of his re-election campaign.

And One More
Saturday 11/8, 7pm, Black Sheep, NZ horror about mutating sheep that eat people. Sounds hilarious. Something that Peter Jackson might have come up with.

MIFF Program Guide tomorrow

Melbourne Internation Film Festival program free in The Age tomorrow. My season ticket arrived in the post this week. The Festival starts July 25. Can hardly wait !

Russian Ark - GG

I defy you to watch Russian Ark (Tue SBS 1130P), enjoy it and understand it. Every single critic I have read LOVE this film. Yes, it was shot in one continuous 88 minute take through the Hermitage Museum in St Petersburg (formerly the Winter Palace), and yes, some of the images are memorable – the costumed ball and exit out into the snow of the last 20 minutes is majestic and elegant – but understanding ? enjoyment ? My wife, were she able to speak about it, would tell you she hasn’t got over the experience of sitting through this from four years ago. If you are a keen student of Russian history then you would glean more from the tableauxs presented (without context and without explanation) as director Alexandar Sokurov criss-crosses from one glorious and tragic highlight to another. Our ‘host’ is a ghost like Marquis who is so unlikeable that one wonders whether you would be better served without him. I am tempted to sit and watch again though. Less to try and ‘understand’ as I am no better informed about Russian history now than I was then, but because I’m tempted by the glimpses of beauty that Sokurov presents.
For slightly less cerebral fare however Pirates of the Caribbean : The Curse of the Black Pearl (Sat 7 830P) follows the first PotC with a likeable rogue in Johhny Depp and wooden eye candy in Orlando Bloom and ties in nicely the third sequel in cinemas shortly. Immediately preceding this is Shark Tale (Sat 7 630P) which is Dreamwork’s “underwater” animated feature (rival Pixar did okay with Finding Nemo by contrast). Full of pop culture references, its okay without being memorable.
Other credible options are Tom Tykwer/Krzysztof Kieslowski’s Heaven (Sun SBS 930P) with the always outstanding Cate Blanchett or Errol Morris’first ever documentary (1980) Gates of Heaven (Tue SBS 10P) which follows the fortunes of the proprietors of two pet cemeteries. It is one of the keenest documentaries on human behaviour yet. After you have seen it (and I recommend you do), read Roger Ebert’s review for a “value add.”
And Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) early bird festival passes went on sale yesterday. I am locked and loaded for 13 sessions with my ‘Mini Pass’. Individual screening tickets will be available closer to festival date (July).
AND not to forget that the FA Cup Final is on this Saturday night (SBS midnight) between Chelsea and Manchester United.