MIFF Day 9
I got to see my second most anticipated film today, and it didn't disappoint!
THE ILLUSIONIST
Sylvain Chomet made Belleville Rendezvous (aka The Triplettes of Belleville) roughly 7 years ago. It's one of my most beloved animated films. Now, he takes on a script by the great Jacques Tati and delivers another gem. The masterful storytelling, where words are irrelevant and infrequent, lets us into the lonely world of Tatischeff, a master magician in an era where rock bands and television have killed of vaudeville acts. Hired to work in a remote Scottish village, he enchants a local girl who believes his tricks are real. She stows away when he leaves and then expects him to provide for her with his magic. He obliges, adoring the attention he no longer receives from his audiences, but the expense sends him broke and he ends up leaving, giving up his trade for an uncertain future. It's a work of subtle gestures and complex emotions, encompassing loneliness, need, the death of wonder and the end of an age. A beautiful, funny and sad film with a light touch that's immediately my top pick for the festival thus far.
WELCOME TO THE RILEYS
Also known as the "Girl from Twilight stripper movie". This is all kinds of messed up. Doug and Lois Riley lost their daughter in a car accident, and have been slowly falling apart ever since. When Doug meets Mallory at a strip club, he strikes up a friendship and practically adopts her, though he really doesn't know what he wants. Lois joins them, and they form a very screwed up family that allows Doug and Lois to work through their issues, while Mallory remains as screwed up as ever, a victim of their kindness as much as her own circumstance as they re-enact the complexes that indirectly led to their daughter's death. It's blackly funny, with a mocking analysis of parental control. Unfortunately, the perfect ending is ruined by continuing with a coda to try and give an upbeat ending. Nothing changes, everyone is exactly in the same situation they were a few minutes earlier, but now we're meant to feel like there's hope. It leaves a slightly sour aftertaste to what is otherwise an incredibly assured and interesting work.
THE TREE
Dreck. Magic Realism is a very hard thing to get right, but this managed to get everything wrong. Bad acting, unsympathetic characters and pissweak scripting combine to make this the worst film I've seen all year.
ANIMATION SHORTS 1
A mixed bag of animated short films. The Lost Thing was the main attraction, a CG animated rendering of Shaun Tan's well-loved book. The design was good, but overall it wasn't that impressive, something in the animation just failed to engage, and Tim Minchin's voiceover lacks personality. Far more interesting was The Incident at Tower 37, much more expressive and engaging, if not as pretty to look at. Pivot was an exercise in kineticism, with style to match. Dreams from the Woods was my other favourite, a shadow puppet story with beautiful music and an excellent dreamlike quality.
THE ILLUSIONIST
Sylvain Chomet made Belleville Rendezvous (aka The Triplettes of Belleville) roughly 7 years ago. It's one of my most beloved animated films. Now, he takes on a script by the great Jacques Tati and delivers another gem. The masterful storytelling, where words are irrelevant and infrequent, lets us into the lonely world of Tatischeff, a master magician in an era where rock bands and television have killed of vaudeville acts. Hired to work in a remote Scottish village, he enchants a local girl who believes his tricks are real. She stows away when he leaves and then expects him to provide for her with his magic. He obliges, adoring the attention he no longer receives from his audiences, but the expense sends him broke and he ends up leaving, giving up his trade for an uncertain future. It's a work of subtle gestures and complex emotions, encompassing loneliness, need, the death of wonder and the end of an age. A beautiful, funny and sad film with a light touch that's immediately my top pick for the festival thus far.
WELCOME TO THE RILEYS
Also known as the "Girl from Twilight stripper movie". This is all kinds of messed up. Doug and Lois Riley lost their daughter in a car accident, and have been slowly falling apart ever since. When Doug meets Mallory at a strip club, he strikes up a friendship and practically adopts her, though he really doesn't know what he wants. Lois joins them, and they form a very screwed up family that allows Doug and Lois to work through their issues, while Mallory remains as screwed up as ever, a victim of their kindness as much as her own circumstance as they re-enact the complexes that indirectly led to their daughter's death. It's blackly funny, with a mocking analysis of parental control. Unfortunately, the perfect ending is ruined by continuing with a coda to try and give an upbeat ending. Nothing changes, everyone is exactly in the same situation they were a few minutes earlier, but now we're meant to feel like there's hope. It leaves a slightly sour aftertaste to what is otherwise an incredibly assured and interesting work.
THE TREE
Dreck. Magic Realism is a very hard thing to get right, but this managed to get everything wrong. Bad acting, unsympathetic characters and pissweak scripting combine to make this the worst film I've seen all year.
ANIMATION SHORTS 1
A mixed bag of animated short films. The Lost Thing was the main attraction, a CG animated rendering of Shaun Tan's well-loved book. The design was good, but overall it wasn't that impressive, something in the animation just failed to engage, and Tim Minchin's voiceover lacks personality. Far more interesting was The Incident at Tower 37, much more expressive and engaging, if not as pretty to look at. Pivot was an exercise in kineticism, with style to match. Dreams from the Woods was my other favourite, a shadow puppet story with beautiful music and an excellent dreamlike quality.
posted by Andrew Lee at 10:11 PM
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