MIFF Day 8
Today was a day for screwed up love stories...
PAJU
The first half of Paju really tries your patience. It jumps back and forward in time, characters blur into each other and a guy who initially seems really dodgy is treated like a saint for no apparent reason. Then things slowly coalesce into a very sad story of sibling jealousy and love. It reminded me in some ways of Atonement, but far more compassionate. A brother-in-law, grieving the death of his wife, refuses to tell his much younger sister-in-law how she died, lying about what happened. He does it all to protect her from the truth that a spiteful act by her caused it. But the sister discovers the lie, although not the truth, and turns him in to the police. This all plays out against a backdrop of corruption and resistance to the demolition of a set of apartment blocks. None of that story really gels, but main story of the family does resolve in a satisfying way. A confused ode to self-sacrificing love, jealousy and selfishness.
I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS
John Requa and Glen Ficarra are two writers I really enjoy. From their work on the Angry Beavers animated series, to Cats & Dogs and Bad Santa, I've enjoyed everything they've done. And I enjoyed this a lot too. Based on a true story, this is a very funny story about two men in love, and the insane things one of them will do to keep them together. Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) narrates his life, as he moves from being a town cop with a wife and kid to being the campiest definition of gay possible. But as he observes, being gay is really expensive. So he commits fraud, gets jailed and meets Phillip Morris (Ewen McGregor). What follows is completely mad, apparently true, and a lot of fun. It's a comedy you'd expect from the writers of Bad Santa, but surprisingly there are moments where it's also an affecting love story. Great fun.
ENTER THE VOID
Gaspar Noe is the arthouse equivalent of a shock jock, at least that's how it seems on the basis of this undisciplined, overlong and overindulgent film. The reaction I had was "I see what you were going for, but..." The first half is stunning, a pov tale that places us inside the head of Oscar. We see him tripping on drugs, walking the streets and talking with his friends, then getting shot and killed. And still we remain with him, seeing through his eyes as his spirit wanders a strangely desolate Tokyo, flitting between memories of how he reached this point, and following his family and friends in the aftermath. It mixes lyrical and assaultive visuals with some genuinely interesting storytelling, but unfortunately it's an hour too long, and the visual gimmickry wears on you quickly. It's lame when you know exactly how a scene will play out and exactly where and how it will transition, but Noe's playbook is on repeat past the 90 minute mark (some would argue even earlier). There's only so many cg assisted tracking shots you can take before getting seriously bored. And as Noe escalates the graphic nature of the imagery, you sense desperation rather than inspiration. Given the audience was engrossed initially, but was laughing at, rather than with, Enter the Void by the end, I'd call it an admirable failure.
PAJU
The first half of Paju really tries your patience. It jumps back and forward in time, characters blur into each other and a guy who initially seems really dodgy is treated like a saint for no apparent reason. Then things slowly coalesce into a very sad story of sibling jealousy and love. It reminded me in some ways of Atonement, but far more compassionate. A brother-in-law, grieving the death of his wife, refuses to tell his much younger sister-in-law how she died, lying about what happened. He does it all to protect her from the truth that a spiteful act by her caused it. But the sister discovers the lie, although not the truth, and turns him in to the police. This all plays out against a backdrop of corruption and resistance to the demolition of a set of apartment blocks. None of that story really gels, but main story of the family does resolve in a satisfying way. A confused ode to self-sacrificing love, jealousy and selfishness.
I LOVE YOU, PHILLIP MORRIS
John Requa and Glen Ficarra are two writers I really enjoy. From their work on the Angry Beavers animated series, to Cats & Dogs and Bad Santa, I've enjoyed everything they've done. And I enjoyed this a lot too. Based on a true story, this is a very funny story about two men in love, and the insane things one of them will do to keep them together. Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) narrates his life, as he moves from being a town cop with a wife and kid to being the campiest definition of gay possible. But as he observes, being gay is really expensive. So he commits fraud, gets jailed and meets Phillip Morris (Ewen McGregor). What follows is completely mad, apparently true, and a lot of fun. It's a comedy you'd expect from the writers of Bad Santa, but surprisingly there are moments where it's also an affecting love story. Great fun.
ENTER THE VOID
Gaspar Noe is the arthouse equivalent of a shock jock, at least that's how it seems on the basis of this undisciplined, overlong and overindulgent film. The reaction I had was "I see what you were going for, but..." The first half is stunning, a pov tale that places us inside the head of Oscar. We see him tripping on drugs, walking the streets and talking with his friends, then getting shot and killed. And still we remain with him, seeing through his eyes as his spirit wanders a strangely desolate Tokyo, flitting between memories of how he reached this point, and following his family and friends in the aftermath. It mixes lyrical and assaultive visuals with some genuinely interesting storytelling, but unfortunately it's an hour too long, and the visual gimmickry wears on you quickly. It's lame when you know exactly how a scene will play out and exactly where and how it will transition, but Noe's playbook is on repeat past the 90 minute mark (some would argue even earlier). There's only so many cg assisted tracking shots you can take before getting seriously bored. And as Noe escalates the graphic nature of the imagery, you sense desperation rather than inspiration. Given the audience was engrossed initially, but was laughing at, rather than with, Enter the Void by the end, I'd call it an admirable failure.
posted by Andrew Lee at 12:32 AM
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