MIFF Day 2
Disorders of the mind seem to be the order of the day...
OLD CATS
I loved The Maid when it showed at MIFF back in 2009, and Sebastian Silva is back with a new film, just as good. The same dark humour, the same love for his characters. This time it's the story of Isadora, who is beginning to feel the onset of dementia. Her husband Enrique does his best to look after her, but it's getting worse. Then her immature and fairly selfish daughter Rosario shows up and tries to get her to sign a power of attorney so she can take over the apartment, move Mum into a home and move in with her girlfriend Hugo. Hijinks ensue, as Enrique catches Rosario trying to trick her Mum, and it all just spirals out from there. It's a small film about people who love each other screwing each other over, and black as it gets, it's still a warm and human film. Silva is two for two now. He's a gifted filmmaker.
EL VELADOR
My only doco of the day, and a disappointing one. In concept, it sounds brilliant, a view of the Mexican drug wars through the eyes of the nightwatchman of the cemetery where most of the drug lords are buried. Great idea, pity it didn't really do much with it. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the long takes let you appreciate how well the shots are composed. But there's little information, and no character or soul to the piece. I get the feeling it was meant to be a meditative film, musing on the bizarre celebrations of the dead and the obscenely ornate mausoleums built for them, just meters away from men living in shacks. But it missed the mark, and instead of a rhythmic view of daily life at a place for the dead, a place rapidly filling as the drug wars rage, we get a lugubrious film that says nothing we don't already know and fails to give any insight into anything much at all. Very disappointing.
SUBMARINE
Richard Ayoade has already establishing himself as a comic actor and director. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a cult (and personal) favourite. Now we finally have his feature film debut, and it's a ripper. A coming of age tale where young Oliver Tate has to wrestle with his belief that his parents marriage is on the rocks, and also navigate his own new romance, it's got a quirky tone that never actually seems all that quirky. Performances are brilliant across the board, though Paddy Considine takes the cake for being completely unrecognisable as the possible lothario threatening Oliver's parents marriage. It captures perfectly the confusion of growing up, and the strange ways people try to make sense of it all. It'll be coming to cinemas soon, no doubt, so keep an eye out.
TAKE SHELTER
This was my pick for the festival, and I wasn't disappointed. Shotgun Stories was a film I saw years ago at MIFF and it blew me away. Here director Jeff Nichols reteams with Michael Shannon for one of the greatest films about mental illness I've seen. Curtis LaForche's mother abandoned him when he was ten, left him in the car when she had a paranoid schizophrenic episode and didn't show up until a week later. He swore he would never abandon his family. But when visions of an apocalyptic storm haunt his dreams, and break into his daily life, he's torn between his belief in them, and his knowledge that he's probably losing his mind. The ways he struggles to hold it together, to quiet the demons in his head so that he can stay with his family, that's the bulk of the film. And it's a powerhouse performance. Everyone is good, but if Shannon doesn't get an Oscar nod for this there's no justice in the world. It's an incredible film that takes a highly unusual approach in dealing with its subject matter. The end will either leave you pissed off or thoughtful, and it's guaranteed to cause arguments between friends. Was it the right ending or not? I think it works, but I can see how people could disagree. Either way, it's an amazing film.
OLD CATS
I loved The Maid when it showed at MIFF back in 2009, and Sebastian Silva is back with a new film, just as good. The same dark humour, the same love for his characters. This time it's the story of Isadora, who is beginning to feel the onset of dementia. Her husband Enrique does his best to look after her, but it's getting worse. Then her immature and fairly selfish daughter Rosario shows up and tries to get her to sign a power of attorney so she can take over the apartment, move Mum into a home and move in with her girlfriend Hugo. Hijinks ensue, as Enrique catches Rosario trying to trick her Mum, and it all just spirals out from there. It's a small film about people who love each other screwing each other over, and black as it gets, it's still a warm and human film. Silva is two for two now. He's a gifted filmmaker.
EL VELADOR
My only doco of the day, and a disappointing one. In concept, it sounds brilliant, a view of the Mexican drug wars through the eyes of the nightwatchman of the cemetery where most of the drug lords are buried. Great idea, pity it didn't really do much with it. The cinematography is gorgeous, and the long takes let you appreciate how well the shots are composed. But there's little information, and no character or soul to the piece. I get the feeling it was meant to be a meditative film, musing on the bizarre celebrations of the dead and the obscenely ornate mausoleums built for them, just meters away from men living in shacks. But it missed the mark, and instead of a rhythmic view of daily life at a place for the dead, a place rapidly filling as the drug wars rage, we get a lugubrious film that says nothing we don't already know and fails to give any insight into anything much at all. Very disappointing.
SUBMARINE
Richard Ayoade has already establishing himself as a comic actor and director. Garth Marenghi's Darkplace is a cult (and personal) favourite. Now we finally have his feature film debut, and it's a ripper. A coming of age tale where young Oliver Tate has to wrestle with his belief that his parents marriage is on the rocks, and also navigate his own new romance, it's got a quirky tone that never actually seems all that quirky. Performances are brilliant across the board, though Paddy Considine takes the cake for being completely unrecognisable as the possible lothario threatening Oliver's parents marriage. It captures perfectly the confusion of growing up, and the strange ways people try to make sense of it all. It'll be coming to cinemas soon, no doubt, so keep an eye out.
TAKE SHELTER
This was my pick for the festival, and I wasn't disappointed. Shotgun Stories was a film I saw years ago at MIFF and it blew me away. Here director Jeff Nichols reteams with Michael Shannon for one of the greatest films about mental illness I've seen. Curtis LaForche's mother abandoned him when he was ten, left him in the car when she had a paranoid schizophrenic episode and didn't show up until a week later. He swore he would never abandon his family. But when visions of an apocalyptic storm haunt his dreams, and break into his daily life, he's torn between his belief in them, and his knowledge that he's probably losing his mind. The ways he struggles to hold it together, to quiet the demons in his head so that he can stay with his family, that's the bulk of the film. And it's a powerhouse performance. Everyone is good, but if Shannon doesn't get an Oscar nod for this there's no justice in the world. It's an incredible film that takes a highly unusual approach in dealing with its subject matter. The end will either leave you pissed off or thoughtful, and it's guaranteed to cause arguments between friends. Was it the right ending or not? I think it works, but I can see how people could disagree. Either way, it's an amazing film.
posted by Andrew Lee at 12:18 AM
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