MIFF Day 10
The Wave
I read the book back when I was in school. An experiment in fascism takes over a classroom and then a school. Brave of the Germans to adapt it into a film, given what it's about. The film is excellent, and does something the book never did: It questions the motivations of the teacher. The book was written by the teacher from memory, so it's hardly surprising he came out looking like a victim of circumstance. The beauty of the film is that in getting stuck into the teacher as well, it not only examines how people can fall into step with fascism and dictatorships, but also how people can fall into leadership and not question the darker aspects of their rise to power.
Boy A
A complete surprise to me, I had no idea this was a speculation around the lives of the boys who murdered James Bulger. The film follows "Jack" as he leaves prison and starts a new life, trying to leave behind Eric, his real name, and the murder of a little girl that he and his friend committed. He gets a job, a girlfriend, friends, and even saves a girl's life. But his past is too hard to escape, and it catches up with him. The end is unsatisfying and underdeveloped, but the body of the film is great as it deals with the very real struggles of rehabilitation and starting over.
Words of Advice: Willam S Burroughs On The Road
Nothing particularly enlightening or new here, just another doco cashing in on a fascination for Bill Burroughs. Worth it for the video of some of his live readings, and for some recollections of James Grauerholz, Burroughs secretary and companion for over 20 years.
Let The Right One In
Holy crap, who'd have thought awesome vampire films were still possible. This one is brilliant, and very very wrong. Make the vampire a 12 year old girl, and make the story a love affair between her and her 12 year old neighbour, a kid bullied at school until Eli, the vampire, starts to give him confidence in himself. It's a very weird riff on the story, haunting and beautiful and bloody. It doesn't romanticise death, Eli is vicious and the limbs go flying. But at the same time, it's a sweet and oddly innocent story of very young love. And there's an underwater shot in the final scene that had me giddy with its creativity. Bloody awesome.
The Horseman
Low budget Aussie revenge thriller. A powderkeg of raw emotion, it's the story of a father hunting down and killing all the men involved in the shooting of a porn film his daughter did just before she died of a drug overdose. Drugs she was given at the shoot. He belts his way through over a half dozen people, torturing and fighting and killing. The urgency and the painful honesty of the grief make you forget the flaws and pay attention to the action, which is incredibly well staged. Someone give this guy a real budget, I really wanna see what he's going to do next.
I read the book back when I was in school. An experiment in fascism takes over a classroom and then a school. Brave of the Germans to adapt it into a film, given what it's about. The film is excellent, and does something the book never did: It questions the motivations of the teacher. The book was written by the teacher from memory, so it's hardly surprising he came out looking like a victim of circumstance. The beauty of the film is that in getting stuck into the teacher as well, it not only examines how people can fall into step with fascism and dictatorships, but also how people can fall into leadership and not question the darker aspects of their rise to power.
Boy A
A complete surprise to me, I had no idea this was a speculation around the lives of the boys who murdered James Bulger. The film follows "Jack" as he leaves prison and starts a new life, trying to leave behind Eric, his real name, and the murder of a little girl that he and his friend committed. He gets a job, a girlfriend, friends, and even saves a girl's life. But his past is too hard to escape, and it catches up with him. The end is unsatisfying and underdeveloped, but the body of the film is great as it deals with the very real struggles of rehabilitation and starting over.
Words of Advice: Willam S Burroughs On The Road
Nothing particularly enlightening or new here, just another doco cashing in on a fascination for Bill Burroughs. Worth it for the video of some of his live readings, and for some recollections of James Grauerholz, Burroughs secretary and companion for over 20 years.
Let The Right One In
Holy crap, who'd have thought awesome vampire films were still possible. This one is brilliant, and very very wrong. Make the vampire a 12 year old girl, and make the story a love affair between her and her 12 year old neighbour, a kid bullied at school until Eli, the vampire, starts to give him confidence in himself. It's a very weird riff on the story, haunting and beautiful and bloody. It doesn't romanticise death, Eli is vicious and the limbs go flying. But at the same time, it's a sweet and oddly innocent story of very young love. And there's an underwater shot in the final scene that had me giddy with its creativity. Bloody awesome.
The Horseman
Low budget Aussie revenge thriller. A powderkeg of raw emotion, it's the story of a father hunting down and killing all the men involved in the shooting of a porn film his daughter did just before she died of a drug overdose. Drugs she was given at the shoot. He belts his way through over a half dozen people, torturing and fighting and killing. The urgency and the painful honesty of the grief make you forget the flaws and pay attention to the action, which is incredibly well staged. Someone give this guy a real budget, I really wanna see what he's going to do next.
posted by Andrew Lee at 12:17 AM
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