MIFF Day 16
Gonzo: The Life and Work of Hunter S. Thompson
An interesting documentary sketching out the life of the good doctor. Some great bits about his development of "Gonzo" writing, and the way he covered politics and sport. The bit about his run for election as Sheriff of Aspen is a highlight, with campaign ads and whatnot shown. Like a lot of the documentaries this year about seminal people and events, it leaves you wanting a lot more, but still it's good.
Terror's Advocate
Doco about Jacques Verges, a lawyer who defended a woman who bombed a milk bar during the Algerian fight for independence, and subsequently went on to defend Palestinian terrorists, Carlos the Jackal and other famous violent figures. Not really a very enlightening film about it's subject, since while Verges participates he most refuses to answer questions, but a good primer in 20th century terrorism in Europe.
Martin
George Romero's vampire film. It's a great film, with Martin the vampire staying with relatives, one of whom knows him for what he is and continually tries various supersitions on him to release the demon from him. But none of it works, because maybe he's not a vampire. Maybe he just believes he is one because the family keeps talking about its curse, and how Martin bears the curse. A really interesting story about a maladjusted kid who finds his life unravelling once he stops being a monster and starts letting a little humanity in. Kinda reminds me of Dexter for some reason, though not as deft in its observations. Great and tense scenes of him on his kills too.
Jesus Christ Saviour
Klaus Kinski wrote and delivered this piece on stage, only to be constantly heckled and disrupted. Kinski loses it with the audience, starts altering his delivery of Christ's words to become an attack on the unruly audience. It becomes apparent that some are there purely to heckle, and Kinski cracks more than once. Finally he walks off stage in disgust. Then he comes back, continues, goes off again. More than once he makes comparisons of his trials to those of Christ, and the parallels are so apparent you wonder if the whole thing were intended to go that way purely to highlight the challenging nature of Christ's message. The performance becomes a debate with the hecklers about hypocrisy and fidelity to the message of Christ. More people disrupt and finally Kinski abandons the performance. The audience files out, disappointed. But then, maybe 100 people remain and Kinski comes out, steps down among them and delivers the entire one and a half hour monologue to a listening and appreciative audience. Sadly the film only really covers the heckling during his official performance, and skips through his final and complete performance. I would have loved to have heard it all, because the power you feel in his delivery as he finishes is amazing. Even so, it's a document of a remarkable evening that leaves you very thoughtful on the nature of the message.
An interesting documentary sketching out the life of the good doctor. Some great bits about his development of "Gonzo" writing, and the way he covered politics and sport. The bit about his run for election as Sheriff of Aspen is a highlight, with campaign ads and whatnot shown. Like a lot of the documentaries this year about seminal people and events, it leaves you wanting a lot more, but still it's good.
Terror's Advocate
Doco about Jacques Verges, a lawyer who defended a woman who bombed a milk bar during the Algerian fight for independence, and subsequently went on to defend Palestinian terrorists, Carlos the Jackal and other famous violent figures. Not really a very enlightening film about it's subject, since while Verges participates he most refuses to answer questions, but a good primer in 20th century terrorism in Europe.
Martin
George Romero's vampire film. It's a great film, with Martin the vampire staying with relatives, one of whom knows him for what he is and continually tries various supersitions on him to release the demon from him. But none of it works, because maybe he's not a vampire. Maybe he just believes he is one because the family keeps talking about its curse, and how Martin bears the curse. A really interesting story about a maladjusted kid who finds his life unravelling once he stops being a monster and starts letting a little humanity in. Kinda reminds me of Dexter for some reason, though not as deft in its observations. Great and tense scenes of him on his kills too.
Jesus Christ Saviour
Klaus Kinski wrote and delivered this piece on stage, only to be constantly heckled and disrupted. Kinski loses it with the audience, starts altering his delivery of Christ's words to become an attack on the unruly audience. It becomes apparent that some are there purely to heckle, and Kinski cracks more than once. Finally he walks off stage in disgust. Then he comes back, continues, goes off again. More than once he makes comparisons of his trials to those of Christ, and the parallels are so apparent you wonder if the whole thing were intended to go that way purely to highlight the challenging nature of Christ's message. The performance becomes a debate with the hecklers about hypocrisy and fidelity to the message of Christ. More people disrupt and finally Kinski abandons the performance. The audience files out, disappointed. But then, maybe 100 people remain and Kinski comes out, steps down among them and delivers the entire one and a half hour monologue to a listening and appreciative audience. Sadly the film only really covers the heckling during his official performance, and skips through his final and complete performance. I would have loved to have heard it all, because the power you feel in his delivery as he finishes is amazing. Even so, it's a document of a remarkable evening that leaves you very thoughtful on the nature of the message.
posted by Andrew Lee at 9:30 PM
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