MIFF 2015 - Day 12
Messed up asian girls, a literary legend and a creepy documentary were the fare for today.
Wonderful World End
An interesting take on "me" culture in Japan tells the story Shiori, a 17 year old student who dreams of being a model and actress, and her number one fan Ayumi, a 13 year old girl. Shiori is constantly twitcasting, blogging and trying to build her social media profile to help boost her chances of fame. She cosplays professionally for fan photographers, and that's where she meets Ayumi, who has run away from home and ends up being taken in by Shiori's boyfriend, causing ructions in the relationship. But the two quickly shift from being rivals to best friends, almost lovers but the film never quite pushes over the line. Instead it's more of an obsessively close friendship, as Shiori depends on Ayumi's adoration for validation as her nascent career sputters. It detours into surrealism towards the end, which kind of works and kind of doesn't, but it does lead to some very funny moments. Definitely a fun little film.
The Liar
You don't have to like your lead character to like a film. The Liar pretty much proves that. Ah-young is a young Korean woman who lies about her life continually. She visits shops and buys expensive items, only to cancel before delivery. She inspects lavish apartments, then excuses herself before signing the contract. She tells her friends her boyfriend is a teacher with rich parents. She tells her boyfriend her family is rich and successful. She's escaping some unpleasant truths, her mother abandoned them, her sister is an alcoholic and her father is on the run, hiding from people to whom he owes money. All that in theory should make you sympathetic to her, but she's a sociopath who continues to lie and sabotage everything good in her life and other people's to try and achieve some weird catharsis. Even when she swears off lying, her truth telling is almost worse. Kim Kkobi as Ah-young is incredible. She betrays very little in her expression, while hinting at the conflict deep within her. It's a bitingly dark comedy about consumer culture and the escapism it promises.
Burroughs - The Movie
An old documentary about William S. Burroughs, thought lost but newly discovered and restored. There have been a lot of films about Burroughs, but this distinguishes itself with the level of access to so many people, especially the man himself. Filmed across the late 70s and early 80s, we see Burroughs with friends like Terry Southern and Allen Ginsberg, his son William Jnr, his lover/assistant James Grauerholz and even a brief bit with the painter Francis Bacon. We get readings performed at punk rock venues, a fairly complete biography and even a conversation between Burroughs and his brother. Most of the material has been covered elsewhere, but the moments between Burroughs and his son stand out. Few other films even bother to mention William Jnr, their relationship and the effect his passing had on Burroughs. Here it's dealt with, making this an important addition to anyone wanting to learn more about the man behind the legend.
The Nightmare
There's a good film about Sleep Paralysis waiting to be made, but this isn't it. It's a bit unfocused and ignores of a lot of interesting perspectives in favour of restaging people's nightmares repeatedly. It's trying to be a horror movie about a real phenomenon, but the budget is a bit lacking so a lot of the moments come off a bit hokey. But there's clearly something very interesting to be had out of this. Mentioned are things like recurring motifs that happen across cultures, shadowmen, talking cats, things like that. One of the more interesting people interviewed mentions Jung, which seems like a good launching point to investigate more. But then it's back to restaging people's bad experiences. The only genuinely scary moment in the film comes when someone mentions that telling people about it seems to make them suffer it as well. There were a number of walkouts the moment that fact got mentioned. I can't say I blame them. It sounds like a terrible thing to experience, I just wish the film had delved deeper into the whole thing rather than attempted to be a bad horror movie.
Wonderful World End
An interesting take on "me" culture in Japan tells the story Shiori, a 17 year old student who dreams of being a model and actress, and her number one fan Ayumi, a 13 year old girl. Shiori is constantly twitcasting, blogging and trying to build her social media profile to help boost her chances of fame. She cosplays professionally for fan photographers, and that's where she meets Ayumi, who has run away from home and ends up being taken in by Shiori's boyfriend, causing ructions in the relationship. But the two quickly shift from being rivals to best friends, almost lovers but the film never quite pushes over the line. Instead it's more of an obsessively close friendship, as Shiori depends on Ayumi's adoration for validation as her nascent career sputters. It detours into surrealism towards the end, which kind of works and kind of doesn't, but it does lead to some very funny moments. Definitely a fun little film.
The Liar
You don't have to like your lead character to like a film. The Liar pretty much proves that. Ah-young is a young Korean woman who lies about her life continually. She visits shops and buys expensive items, only to cancel before delivery. She inspects lavish apartments, then excuses herself before signing the contract. She tells her friends her boyfriend is a teacher with rich parents. She tells her boyfriend her family is rich and successful. She's escaping some unpleasant truths, her mother abandoned them, her sister is an alcoholic and her father is on the run, hiding from people to whom he owes money. All that in theory should make you sympathetic to her, but she's a sociopath who continues to lie and sabotage everything good in her life and other people's to try and achieve some weird catharsis. Even when she swears off lying, her truth telling is almost worse. Kim Kkobi as Ah-young is incredible. She betrays very little in her expression, while hinting at the conflict deep within her. It's a bitingly dark comedy about consumer culture and the escapism it promises.
Burroughs - The Movie
An old documentary about William S. Burroughs, thought lost but newly discovered and restored. There have been a lot of films about Burroughs, but this distinguishes itself with the level of access to so many people, especially the man himself. Filmed across the late 70s and early 80s, we see Burroughs with friends like Terry Southern and Allen Ginsberg, his son William Jnr, his lover/assistant James Grauerholz and even a brief bit with the painter Francis Bacon. We get readings performed at punk rock venues, a fairly complete biography and even a conversation between Burroughs and his brother. Most of the material has been covered elsewhere, but the moments between Burroughs and his son stand out. Few other films even bother to mention William Jnr, their relationship and the effect his passing had on Burroughs. Here it's dealt with, making this an important addition to anyone wanting to learn more about the man behind the legend.
The Nightmare
There's a good film about Sleep Paralysis waiting to be made, but this isn't it. It's a bit unfocused and ignores of a lot of interesting perspectives in favour of restaging people's nightmares repeatedly. It's trying to be a horror movie about a real phenomenon, but the budget is a bit lacking so a lot of the moments come off a bit hokey. But there's clearly something very interesting to be had out of this. Mentioned are things like recurring motifs that happen across cultures, shadowmen, talking cats, things like that. One of the more interesting people interviewed mentions Jung, which seems like a good launching point to investigate more. But then it's back to restaging people's bad experiences. The only genuinely scary moment in the film comes when someone mentions that telling people about it seems to make them suffer it as well. There were a number of walkouts the moment that fact got mentioned. I can't say I blame them. It sounds like a terrible thing to experience, I just wish the film had delved deeper into the whole thing rather than attempted to be a bad horror movie.
posted by Andrew Lee at 12:05 AM
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