MIFF Day 14
Curiosity is good, it leads you to excellent films...
BEING ELMO
Have you ever heard of Kevin Clash? No? He's the puppeteer behind Elmo, so you might want to punch him in the face. But probably not after you've watched this excellent documentary. Fascinated by puppets from an early age, he'd sit close to the television to try and work out how they made the puppets on shows like Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. And his passion paid off, ending up working on both shows and now being a major player behind the scenes on Sesame Street. His passion is infectious, and he's a really likeable guy. The doco skips over the impact his workaholism had on his family, with an ex-wife and a daughter who had to email him to point out that she's only got a few years until college and then his chances to see her will be gone. That side of things is glossed, as it's meant to be a happy film about the man who makes children the world over smile. And it succeeds at that. A little more balance would have been good, but it's an energetic and informative doco about a guy who went from watching Sesame Street as a kid to actually turning down his idol, Jim Henson, when he asked him to work on The Dark Crystal. Luckily he got to work on Labyrinth, and from there the rest is history. If you've ever wondered what makes a great puppeteer great, this is the doco that will spell it out for you.
THE MILL AND THE CROSS
Normally, people adapt books or comics to the screen. This is the first time I can think of a painting being adapted. Based on Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Way to Calvary, it features Rutger Hauer as Bruegel travelling through his painting and explaining how he's going to render the scene. It's an immersive art tour, as the 500 characters of the painting are brought to life and their stories played out across the screen. The way the history of the time and the intentions of the work come together in the composition and detail are brilliantly explicated. It's a fascinating film that will no doubt feature in art history curriculums for years to come.
BEING ELMO
Have you ever heard of Kevin Clash? No? He's the puppeteer behind Elmo, so you might want to punch him in the face. But probably not after you've watched this excellent documentary. Fascinated by puppets from an early age, he'd sit close to the television to try and work out how they made the puppets on shows like Captain Kangaroo and Sesame Street. And his passion paid off, ending up working on both shows and now being a major player behind the scenes on Sesame Street. His passion is infectious, and he's a really likeable guy. The doco skips over the impact his workaholism had on his family, with an ex-wife and a daughter who had to email him to point out that she's only got a few years until college and then his chances to see her will be gone. That side of things is glossed, as it's meant to be a happy film about the man who makes children the world over smile. And it succeeds at that. A little more balance would have been good, but it's an energetic and informative doco about a guy who went from watching Sesame Street as a kid to actually turning down his idol, Jim Henson, when he asked him to work on The Dark Crystal. Luckily he got to work on Labyrinth, and from there the rest is history. If you've ever wondered what makes a great puppeteer great, this is the doco that will spell it out for you.
THE MILL AND THE CROSS
Normally, people adapt books or comics to the screen. This is the first time I can think of a painting being adapted. Based on Pieter Bruegel the Elder's The Way to Calvary, it features Rutger Hauer as Bruegel travelling through his painting and explaining how he's going to render the scene. It's an immersive art tour, as the 500 characters of the painting are brought to life and their stories played out across the screen. The way the history of the time and the intentions of the work come together in the composition and detail are brilliantly explicated. It's a fascinating film that will no doubt feature in art history curriculums for years to come.
posted by Andrew Lee at 12:40 AM
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