MIFF Day 3
It was a documentary day today, mostly depressing in a "this is the world we live in?" kind of way.
VIDEOCRACY
Promoted as an examination of Berlusconi's Italy, the abuse of power with a president owning 90% of the nation's media, this was a surprise. Namely because it's mostly fairly kind to the man, avoiding an in-depth look at how his media machine functions. There's no mention of a fairly infamous moment when he rang the network and cut short a program critical of him. Instead, this film investigates the complicity of everyone in the machine of celebrity. It paints a fairly despairing picture of vacuous citizens whose only dream is to be rich and famous television celebrities. The girls dream of marrying footballers and the guys dream of being on Big Brother or winning a singing contest. One hapless guy dreams of becoming a blend of Van Damme and Ricky Martin. It's savage in its criticisms, showing up so-called opponents of the culture of celebrity to be nothing more than jealous. Given a chance, everyone jumps on board, they're all desperate for the limelight. It offers little insight into the political implications of state media dominance, but it does paint an horrific image of a celebrity obsessed culture.
THE RED CHAPEL
Danish humour seems to be uniformly black, at least based on what I've seen. This documentary is no exception, with one person early on describing it as the worst thing he's ever done. The ruse is simple, two Danish-Korean comedians, one an 18-year old with cerebral palsy, will travel to North Korea to stage a show that subtly mocks and exposes the horrors of the North Korean dictatorship. It's an incredibly mean-spirited exercise, because they're unable to get anywhere near anyone where their antics would serve to lampoon the regime. Instead, they're stage-managed by people who know they'll be killed if anything goes awry. Director Mads and his two comedians struggle, and while Mads remains intent on mocking the regime somehow, his two comedians begin to sympathise and grieve for their minders. It does succeed in exposing the dark heart of the regime however. Everyone acts through fear, everyone is spying on everyone else, and nobody is safe. It's genuinely heartbreaking to see people who are obviously good and decent trapped in such a hell. In the end there are moments of laughter, but what you leave with is the horror of seeing such a dehumanising system at work.
PETITION
Withdrawn from last year's festival, allegedly in protest of the screening of The 10 Conditions of Love, but given the director was rumoured to have gone into hiding, more likely due to state censorship, this is heartbreaking stuff. The technique can be faulted easily, the film is overlong and poorly structured, but it's substance is shocking; a terrifying expose of the corruption that lies at the heart of the Chinese system of government. When people in towns and villages are denied justice, they can petition their case at the central courts in Beijing. Local governments are disciplined based on how many petitioners are received, so "Retrievers" are employed by those councils and cadres to hunt down Petitioners and force them back home, turn them away from the court, or kill them. And the film shows unflinchingly the grisly aftermath of one such incident, while the officials in Beijing turn a blind eye to the whole event. Their disinterest oversees the mental breakdown of some and the arrest and abuse of others. People who break the rules succeed, but those who believe in the laws of their country are driven to insanity by a system that denies basic rights unless you pay the right bribe. A horrifying account of a corrupt system destroying the lives of people whose only mistake was to put their trust in the system that claims to care for them.
WAR GAMES AND THE MAN WHO STOPPED THEM
The story of a Polish army officer, Ryszard Kuklinski, who managed to supply the CIA with roughly 40,000 top secret documents outlining the Warsaw Pact plans to take on NATO. With interviews with both the CIA and Warsaw Pact officers involved, it's an interesting story, though the logic of how his actions saved the world from WW3 isn't always clear. His CIA handlers insist this is the case, though how his information translated into action is never satisfactorily explored, which is disappointing. Interesting enough, but somehow lacking the weight that the presence of such heavyweight interviewees suggests the story should possess.
THE INVENTION OF DR NAKAMATS
Dr Nakamatsu invented the floppy disk. If for no other reason, that should cement his place in history. But he has over 3000 other patents to his name. He's an eccentric 80 year old, who plans to live until 144, sleeps only 4 hours a day, eats one meal a day and comes up with his best ideas when starving his brain of oxygen at the bottom of a swimming pool. Somewhat unfairly, we only get to see the whimsical and strange side of this remarkable man's life. A man responsible for the plastic hand pump you find at the hardware store, as well as a bike that features a water-powered electrical engine. I would have liked them to dwell a little on the science behind his achievements, since you don't invent major innovations in technology without serious intelligence. But the film is light in tone, and it's really more of a character sketch of an endearing but odd genius.
VIDEOCRACY
Promoted as an examination of Berlusconi's Italy, the abuse of power with a president owning 90% of the nation's media, this was a surprise. Namely because it's mostly fairly kind to the man, avoiding an in-depth look at how his media machine functions. There's no mention of a fairly infamous moment when he rang the network and cut short a program critical of him. Instead, this film investigates the complicity of everyone in the machine of celebrity. It paints a fairly despairing picture of vacuous citizens whose only dream is to be rich and famous television celebrities. The girls dream of marrying footballers and the guys dream of being on Big Brother or winning a singing contest. One hapless guy dreams of becoming a blend of Van Damme and Ricky Martin. It's savage in its criticisms, showing up so-called opponents of the culture of celebrity to be nothing more than jealous. Given a chance, everyone jumps on board, they're all desperate for the limelight. It offers little insight into the political implications of state media dominance, but it does paint an horrific image of a celebrity obsessed culture.
THE RED CHAPEL
Danish humour seems to be uniformly black, at least based on what I've seen. This documentary is no exception, with one person early on describing it as the worst thing he's ever done. The ruse is simple, two Danish-Korean comedians, one an 18-year old with cerebral palsy, will travel to North Korea to stage a show that subtly mocks and exposes the horrors of the North Korean dictatorship. It's an incredibly mean-spirited exercise, because they're unable to get anywhere near anyone where their antics would serve to lampoon the regime. Instead, they're stage-managed by people who know they'll be killed if anything goes awry. Director Mads and his two comedians struggle, and while Mads remains intent on mocking the regime somehow, his two comedians begin to sympathise and grieve for their minders. It does succeed in exposing the dark heart of the regime however. Everyone acts through fear, everyone is spying on everyone else, and nobody is safe. It's genuinely heartbreaking to see people who are obviously good and decent trapped in such a hell. In the end there are moments of laughter, but what you leave with is the horror of seeing such a dehumanising system at work.
PETITION
Withdrawn from last year's festival, allegedly in protest of the screening of The 10 Conditions of Love, but given the director was rumoured to have gone into hiding, more likely due to state censorship, this is heartbreaking stuff. The technique can be faulted easily, the film is overlong and poorly structured, but it's substance is shocking; a terrifying expose of the corruption that lies at the heart of the Chinese system of government. When people in towns and villages are denied justice, they can petition their case at the central courts in Beijing. Local governments are disciplined based on how many petitioners are received, so "Retrievers" are employed by those councils and cadres to hunt down Petitioners and force them back home, turn them away from the court, or kill them. And the film shows unflinchingly the grisly aftermath of one such incident, while the officials in Beijing turn a blind eye to the whole event. Their disinterest oversees the mental breakdown of some and the arrest and abuse of others. People who break the rules succeed, but those who believe in the laws of their country are driven to insanity by a system that denies basic rights unless you pay the right bribe. A horrifying account of a corrupt system destroying the lives of people whose only mistake was to put their trust in the system that claims to care for them.
WAR GAMES AND THE MAN WHO STOPPED THEM
The story of a Polish army officer, Ryszard Kuklinski, who managed to supply the CIA with roughly 40,000 top secret documents outlining the Warsaw Pact plans to take on NATO. With interviews with both the CIA and Warsaw Pact officers involved, it's an interesting story, though the logic of how his actions saved the world from WW3 isn't always clear. His CIA handlers insist this is the case, though how his information translated into action is never satisfactorily explored, which is disappointing. Interesting enough, but somehow lacking the weight that the presence of such heavyweight interviewees suggests the story should possess.
THE INVENTION OF DR NAKAMATS
Dr Nakamatsu invented the floppy disk. If for no other reason, that should cement his place in history. But he has over 3000 other patents to his name. He's an eccentric 80 year old, who plans to live until 144, sleeps only 4 hours a day, eats one meal a day and comes up with his best ideas when starving his brain of oxygen at the bottom of a swimming pool. Somewhat unfairly, we only get to see the whimsical and strange side of this remarkable man's life. A man responsible for the plastic hand pump you find at the hardware store, as well as a bike that features a water-powered electrical engine. I would have liked them to dwell a little on the science behind his achievements, since you don't invent major innovations in technology without serious intelligence. But the film is light in tone, and it's really more of a character sketch of an endearing but odd genius.
posted by Andrew Lee at 11:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home