MIFF Day 13

Thirteen is my lucky number...

SWEETGRASS

Into Great Silence for sheep farmers. This is a gentle and contemplative film that evocatively shows a way of life that has now passed into history. Between 2001 and 2003, the filmmakers recorded the ritual of farmers herding sheep high up into the Montana Rockies to graze over summer. A practice no longer allowed. Watching the men and women ride their horses up into the mountains, their sheep a giant cloud of white moving across the green hills, the tents that become home, the nightly watch guarding against bears or worse, all these things are filmed with delicate beauty. There is a sense of awe in the landscape they inhabit, leavened by the cowboys swearing their heads off at the intractable sheep refusing to stay where they want them. It's a slow film, but a wonderful one.

GARBO: THE SPY

Joan Pujol Garcia was a Spanish-born, London-based agent for Germany during the Second World War. Or at least, that's what the German's thought. Determined to be of use during the war, he approached the British and offered his services and was refused. Undeterred, he went straight to the Germans and got a job with them. He invented fake informants, a massive network of agents of which he was the spymaster, and fed his German controllers a steady stream of information. Information he faked by reading newspapers and magazines and crossing his fingers they believed him. Then he went to the British again, and was refused again. So he tried the Americans, who contacted the British, and finally someone realised the potential of Joan and brought him to England. With his British spymaster, Garbo became pivotal in feeding the Germans as much junk information as possible, while still telling the truth enough to remain credible. So successful were his deceptions that he convinced them that the D-Day invasion of Normandy was a simple feint to distract attention from the Allies real target of Pas De Calais. The Germans held their forces back from Normandy, allowing the Allies to turn the tide of the war. Little is known about the man, but his exploits are amazing, all done without a single shot being fired. He received the Iron Cross after the war, the Germans never suspecting he had been a double agent. When the British learned this, they gave him an MBE. The film blends narration, interviews and footage from old spy films to tell the fantastic tale, which gives it a wonderful kick. Well worth a look.

LEMMY

It's a film about Lemmy, what more do you need to know? I could easily criticise the structure of the film, there's a false ending about two thirds of the way through, then a sudden re-start of more talking-heads and new revelations about the man and his way of life, but it gets away with it because it's all about Lemmy. The man is fascinating, a living legend. Check it out.

WHEN YOU'RE STRANGE: A FILM ABOUT THE DOORS

Consisting entirely of archival footage narrated by Johnny Depp (channelling the tone he used to deliver "The Great Wave" monologue in Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas), this is an enlightening story of a band that only existed for 54 months. Interspersed are pieces of footage of Morrison from the 1969 film HWY: An American Pastoral, seemingly to suggest he's still roaming the American backroads, which is cute but kind of unnecessary. The total absence of any talking head interviews is an interesting choice, making it a story told entirely in narration and image. The trick works, with Depp's voice lending an authoritative tone to the film, a genuine history of a band and a singer who struggled to cope with his fame while feeding on it as well. It's astonishing that so much footage of the band exists, but it's a boon to the audience, as we see the band on stage and in recording sessions. Most music docos would kill for this kind of access, to get it so long after the fact is a minor miracle. A great document of a band whose impact is felt to this day.