MIFF 2016 - Day 9

Born to be Blue

Ethan Hawke is very good at playing gifted but dissolute characters, and he's excellent here as Chet Baker. A biopic set after his fall, his teeth smashed out by a disgruntled drug dealer, he walks a slow path to getting clean and rebuilding his career. It's an interesting story told in a near jazz improvisational manner. The story moves forward, but we meander here and there, shading the main narrative with brief diversions. It's excellent, beautiful, inspiring and sad.

Captain Fantastic

It opens well, but very quickly what looks like it could be an interesting take on well-trodden story ground ends up becoming yet another bog-standard American indie film. Or should I say super-indie, since it boasts an impressive cast and wonderful production values. But it's all so predictable and "quirky". It's not bad, just average. The opening is pretty damn awesome though.

Little from the Fish Shop

A stop motion interpretation of The Little Mermaid, this one trades a prince for a brothel owner and keeps the grim ending and makes it darker, but then puts a positive spin on things. It's Eastern European, so really, par for the course. It's gorgeous to look at, weird and wonderful.

Christine

I might have liked this better if I hadn't already seen Kate Plays Christine. It's a good film with a strong central performance, but it didn't grab me. The suicide is kind of incidental to the story, which is probably a smart choice, but beyond seeing a mentally ill woman twist in the wind, there's not a lot to recommend this.