MIFF 2012 - Day 9
Past the halfway point, I hope it's not downhill from here...
Chasing Ice
Documents James Balog's efforts to record the shrinking of a number of glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere. The photography is absolutely stunning and the fact you get to see glaciers "calving" giant icebergs into the ocean makes it worth a look. It's also a pointed look at the impact of climate change, as you see these glaciers recede at a truly shocking rate. Sadly I doubt the evidence will change anyone's mind since opinions on these things seem to be less about evidence and more about spin, but this is yet another powerful demonstration that something very bad is happening to our environment.
The Transition Period
A senior official in a county province of China is getting ready to move on to bigger things and let his protege take over. Very poorly assembled, with bad editing and no sense of structure, it's nonetheless a fascinating behind the scenes look at grassroots politics and administration in the Communist Party. And extra credit has to go to the filmmaker for pretending to switch off the camera and capturing a little bit more of how things really work, with bribes, favours and dinners greasing the wheels of commerce. Gou, the subject of the doco is now under investigation for his actions. But the sense you get from the doco is that really it's for show, as it seems like standard practice.
Animation Shorts
Always a mixed bag, but always worth watching. Paperman was a sweet little CG animation. The Great Rabbit and The Pub both were a bit odd and kind of underwhelming while technically interesting. The Hunter, a sand animation was great, as was Villa Antropoff and The Country of Wolves. Less impressive was Butterflies, which despite strong technical achievements fell victim to flat line readings and a rather twee script about how hard it is to be an artist. (After over a decade of MIFF, I'm sick of that particular trope.) Captain Hu was a cute line animation, but the best film of the night was It's Such a Beautiful Day. Don Hertzfeldt delivers a beautiful and compassionate story about life, illness, memory and eternity. Seriously wonderful stuff.
Holy Motors
Umm, weird. But good. A dreamlike story of a man driven around in a stretch limo putting on makeup to become different characters. Eventually it becomes clear this is a meditation on acting, and it's a funny and enjoyable one. This would make a great double-feature with Cosmopolis, especially since it actually shows you where all the limos go at night.
Chasing Ice
Documents James Balog's efforts to record the shrinking of a number of glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere. The photography is absolutely stunning and the fact you get to see glaciers "calving" giant icebergs into the ocean makes it worth a look. It's also a pointed look at the impact of climate change, as you see these glaciers recede at a truly shocking rate. Sadly I doubt the evidence will change anyone's mind since opinions on these things seem to be less about evidence and more about spin, but this is yet another powerful demonstration that something very bad is happening to our environment.
The Transition Period
A senior official in a county province of China is getting ready to move on to bigger things and let his protege take over. Very poorly assembled, with bad editing and no sense of structure, it's nonetheless a fascinating behind the scenes look at grassroots politics and administration in the Communist Party. And extra credit has to go to the filmmaker for pretending to switch off the camera and capturing a little bit more of how things really work, with bribes, favours and dinners greasing the wheels of commerce. Gou, the subject of the doco is now under investigation for his actions. But the sense you get from the doco is that really it's for show, as it seems like standard practice.
Animation Shorts
Always a mixed bag, but always worth watching. Paperman was a sweet little CG animation. The Great Rabbit and The Pub both were a bit odd and kind of underwhelming while technically interesting. The Hunter, a sand animation was great, as was Villa Antropoff and The Country of Wolves. Less impressive was Butterflies, which despite strong technical achievements fell victim to flat line readings and a rather twee script about how hard it is to be an artist. (After over a decade of MIFF, I'm sick of that particular trope.) Captain Hu was a cute line animation, but the best film of the night was It's Such a Beautiful Day. Don Hertzfeldt delivers a beautiful and compassionate story about life, illness, memory and eternity. Seriously wonderful stuff.
Holy Motors
Umm, weird. But good. A dreamlike story of a man driven around in a stretch limo putting on makeup to become different characters. Eventually it becomes clear this is a meditation on acting, and it's a funny and enjoyable one. This would make a great double-feature with Cosmopolis, especially since it actually shows you where all the limos go at night.
posted by Andrew Lee at 12:44 AM
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