MIFF Day 6
Red Riding: 1983
The trilogy is complete, so now it's possible to look back on the whole and contemplate the question, is it good or not? My answer is: Sort of. This final chapter was, surprisingly, the weakest of the three. Unlike the previous two films, this one didn't have the paranoid streak running through it that kept you on the edge of your seat. That's mainly due to the fact that it's wrapping up the story, giving the background to the nature of the police corruption and explaining all the nasty goings on of the past 9 years. In the end, it's very nasty grubby stuff, but it doesn't carry the weight it should, the weight that was felt but unseen in 1974 and 1980. 1974 was an excellent introduction, 1980 was a nasty false dawn, but sadly, 1983 fails to capture what made the series so engaging. The answers are pat and it ignores the interesting plot elements to tie up some fairly minor ones. I want to read the novels now, to see if it's a failure of the filmmakers or the source material. I was loving this series, and while it's still pretty good, this entry is just not on par with the rest.
A Schoolgirl's Diary
All hail the Dear General! The first North Korean film to get released beyond its borders, this is a fascinating insight into the propaganda cinema that keeps the North Korean people inculcated in the cult of the People's Republic. A story of a young schoolgirl who dreams of leaving their house to move into an apartment (apparently a great sign of status), struggling through school and teased because her scientist father is never home and is rumoured to be useless at his job. Her mother spends all her time translating books for father, neglecting her own health and the care of her children. It's pretty miserable stuff, showing life under Kim as a pretty ordinary experience. But of course, it's a propaganda film, so you know that by the end, the suffering has a purpose. Dad is a massive success, the daughter understands the strange dynamic between her mother and father, and even enrols in college to follow in Daddy's footsteps, proud to be part of a noble tradition that sacrifices oneself to the state. The acting is pretty awful, the sound is weak and the storyline predictable. But as a cultural artefact, it's well worth viewing.
Treeless Mountain
Over the border, the lives of South Korean children aren't that flash either. This is a lovely film about two young girls, first abandoned by their father, then their mother, then their aunt, finally ending up with their grandparents. It stays with the two girls, Jin and Bin, without ever deviating to give an adult perspective. Their story is sad, and the broken promises of their mother are heartbreaking. Their aunt seems awful, but possibly may be doing the best she can. The disappointments and hardships build and build, before finally they find themselves living on their grandparents farm. But throughout, the children are never defeated. They cope in a multitude of ways, whether it's simple hope or the kindness of the parents of kids they befriend. Notable is the lack of fear both in the kids, and in the film. So much wrong could happen to them, but there's never a sense that they're in any danger, it's just life and they bounce back every time. It's a surprisingly hopeful story of the resilience of children.
The trilogy is complete, so now it's possible to look back on the whole and contemplate the question, is it good or not? My answer is: Sort of. This final chapter was, surprisingly, the weakest of the three. Unlike the previous two films, this one didn't have the paranoid streak running through it that kept you on the edge of your seat. That's mainly due to the fact that it's wrapping up the story, giving the background to the nature of the police corruption and explaining all the nasty goings on of the past 9 years. In the end, it's very nasty grubby stuff, but it doesn't carry the weight it should, the weight that was felt but unseen in 1974 and 1980. 1974 was an excellent introduction, 1980 was a nasty false dawn, but sadly, 1983 fails to capture what made the series so engaging. The answers are pat and it ignores the interesting plot elements to tie up some fairly minor ones. I want to read the novels now, to see if it's a failure of the filmmakers or the source material. I was loving this series, and while it's still pretty good, this entry is just not on par with the rest.
A Schoolgirl's Diary
All hail the Dear General! The first North Korean film to get released beyond its borders, this is a fascinating insight into the propaganda cinema that keeps the North Korean people inculcated in the cult of the People's Republic. A story of a young schoolgirl who dreams of leaving their house to move into an apartment (apparently a great sign of status), struggling through school and teased because her scientist father is never home and is rumoured to be useless at his job. Her mother spends all her time translating books for father, neglecting her own health and the care of her children. It's pretty miserable stuff, showing life under Kim as a pretty ordinary experience. But of course, it's a propaganda film, so you know that by the end, the suffering has a purpose. Dad is a massive success, the daughter understands the strange dynamic between her mother and father, and even enrols in college to follow in Daddy's footsteps, proud to be part of a noble tradition that sacrifices oneself to the state. The acting is pretty awful, the sound is weak and the storyline predictable. But as a cultural artefact, it's well worth viewing.
Treeless Mountain
Over the border, the lives of South Korean children aren't that flash either. This is a lovely film about two young girls, first abandoned by their father, then their mother, then their aunt, finally ending up with their grandparents. It stays with the two girls, Jin and Bin, without ever deviating to give an adult perspective. Their story is sad, and the broken promises of their mother are heartbreaking. Their aunt seems awful, but possibly may be doing the best she can. The disappointments and hardships build and build, before finally they find themselves living on their grandparents farm. But throughout, the children are never defeated. They cope in a multitude of ways, whether it's simple hope or the kindness of the parents of kids they befriend. Notable is the lack of fear both in the kids, and in the film. So much wrong could happen to them, but there's never a sense that they're in any danger, it's just life and they bounce back every time. It's a surprisingly hopeful story of the resilience of children.
posted by Andrew Lee at 12:01 AM
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