MIFF 2019 - Day 17

Our Time Machine

Maleonn is a Chinese artist preparing a puppet theatre show, it's inspired by his father's declining health. He has alzheimers. Chronicling the work to get the play to the stage while also following the father's deterioration, it's a loving portrait of a son trying to create something as a testament to his father.

The Cordillera of Dreams

A film essay on the junta rule of Chile. It's personal meditation extended into looking at how little things have changed since Pinochet was arrested. I'm not sure it successfully links the images of the Andes to its subject, but it's still an informative and thoughtful work.

Machine

A slickly produced and really intriguing doc on AI and its current and future implications. Debunking much of the hype, and pulling things down to the ground, it looks at where we are and where we're headed. Things now are far more basic than some promoters would like you to think, but the future is still undefined and the consequences of strong AI or super intelligence are worth debating. It's neither optomist nor pessimist in its outlook, more of a thought provoker than a polemic. And a really nice way to end another year of MIFF.

MIFF 2019 - Day 16

Sea of Shadows

Another entry in the "we are screwed" genre of documentaries. This time focusing on the Vaquita whale in Mexico, it looks at how illegal fishing of the also endangered Totoaba fish, dubbed the cocaine of the sea, has reduced the Vaquita to an estimated 15 left in existence. But the Totoaba is worth a lot of money on the black market in China, so Mexican cartels, corrupt police and government all continue to profit from an ecological disaster. It's tense, capturing gunfights, murder, threats and more. And also the people trying to keep legally fishing the waters that have been closed off to them because of the crime. It's complex and angry making. A very well done and engaging doco.

Leftover Women

Watch this and never complain about Tinder again. Seeing the grief women in China have to go through for a date is crazy. Meddling parents, government propaganda and more, it's nuts. Following three women in their late 20s and early 30s, they're already considered old and stigmatised by propaganda as not doing their bit for the country by already being married. It puts you right in the middle of it all, and leaves you suffocated by the situation. Depressingly good film making.

I Lost My Body

Gah, waste of time. It couldn't be more French, in that pejorative way you mock French cinema. It's rubbish.

You Don't Nomi

I've never bothered to watch Showgirls, but this doco critically re-examining it has me second guessing myself. The doco itself is amazing, contrasting different ways to read the film, the history of the production and the fallout on the cast and film makers. Best of all, it uses almost entirely clips from Verhoeven's films to illustrate its points. Stylishly executed and really thought provoking.

Violence Voyager

Going to the top of the what the hell did I just watch list, this was pretty damn awesome. An animated film, sort of. More a puppet show done with incredibly painted cardboard cut outs, it looks like one of those old children's books, like ladybird or the little golden books. But it's a story of children getting kidnapped, mutated and fed to a monster created by a mad scientist. Grotesque imagery done in a kids book style. Add in things like ninja turtles references and it adds up to one of the most unique experiences I've had at the festival. So much fun.

MIFF 2019 - Day 15

Judy and Punch

A feminist retelling of the Punch and Judy story, examining the violence in the story and the way culture reinforces attitudes. It meanders a bit towards the end and wraps up a bit preachy. Like it didn't trust the audience to get the point, so decided to spell it out ala The Great Dictator, but it's a good film all the same. Good performances and a cool anachronistic soundtrack.

One Child Nation

A deeply personal documentary about the consequences of the one child policy in China. Infanticide, baby trafficking, forced sterilisations and more. Notably, few people oppose the idea of the policy, but all regret the things it led them to do. Talking to her family, and from there more people connected to their story, the director records many of the horrific results of the policy. As she says, it's important to remember, now that the policy is gone, and soon propaganda will erase the memory of those times.

Iron Fists and Kung Fu Kicks

A ripsnorter doco covering the enduring influence of Hong Kong kung fu cinema. Linking it to the rise of breakdancing, rap battles, parkour and more, it's a convincing argument for the cultural significance of the genre. My only gripe is there was no love for Mark Dacascos, which was a bit disappointing since Drive is a kung fu film worth remembering. But that oversight aside, it's bloody awesome.

MIFF 2019 - Day 14

Cats

A fun kids film, full of fantasy. If you like the idea of a kitten building a multi stage rocket to leave their apartment and fly to "Peachtopia" you'll enjoy this. Shades of Finding Nemo, The Secret Life of Pets, and a few others.

The Whistlers

All the pieces of a cool and twisty thriller, but assembled without an instruction manual. Something is missing from this film. You can see how it should be better than it is, but it just falls in a heap. Cool central conceit of a secret whistling code, but it's actually not that important in the end. Not bad, it just fails to come together at the end in any particularly satisfying way.

Bellingcat: Truth in a Post Truth World

A really interesting doco about the "open source investigations" of the Bellingcat news website. Using freely available online information and a forensic approach to establishing facts, they're pioneering an interesting approach to investigative journalism that's showing a way to verify facts in a world full of disinformation. Really interesting stuff.

For My Father's Kingdom

A Tongan expat family reckon with their father's determination to send all his money back to the church in Tonga. This is one family making themselves very vulnerable for a documentary exploring their connections to Tongan culture, and their criticisms of it. It's a really compelling look at a cultural issue that isn't often spoken about.

MIFF 2019 - Day 13

Okko's Inn

A sweet little film about Okko, a girl whose parents die in a car accident and goes to live with her grandmother at a hot springs inn. There she meets some ghosts, a demon, and takes on the role of Junior Innkeeper. It's like a lower key version of Spirited Away. Sweet and fun.

The Swallows of Kabul

Beautifully animated, and depicting the horror of life under the Taliban, I really wanted to like this more. But the whole thing is either under motivated, or driven by artificial drama. It just irritated me how things happened, or how people behaved in dangerous situations you'd think they'd be more careful in. I dunno. It's not bad, but I didn't go along with its contrivances.

Dark Place

Anothology films are always a mixed bag. This one has one genuinely fun splatter comedy short, but the rest are fairly average.

Something Else

Hank is having a bad time. His girlfriend of 10 years has just gone, and a strange monster comes and terrorises him at night. And nobody believes him. This is a ripper monster movie that looks at relationships, grief, and the uncanny. It's also got the best wide-screen cinematography and mise en scene I've seen for the whole festival. These guys are in love with monster movies and movie making. I loved it.

MIFF 2019 - Day 11

The Gasoline Thieves

Geez I hated this movie. An interesting idea filtered through every cliche trope imaginable. Add in an annoyingly passive main character you want to slap rather than root for, and the end result is a mess that wastes your time.

Children of the Sea

It's very pretty and well animated, but that's about it. A plotless and rambling tale of a girl who meets two boys who might be incarnated stars, or the sperm that gives birth to the universe. I dunno. Looks good, but that's about it.

We Are Little Zombies

A fun story about four kids who meet at the crematorium where their parents are all being cremated. They run away, form a chip tune band, and decide if life is worth living. It reminded me a lot of the work of Daigo Matsui. With a cool pixel art, jrpg aesthetic, it's very entertaining. Maybe runs a bit long, a few people lost patience and walked out after a fake out ending, but they missed one last good musical number. A weird good time.

MIFF 2019 - Day 10

Sakawa

Ghanian dating scammers try to make ends meet by convincing lonely men they're in love. Meanwhile, they're getting scammed themselves by self styled voodoo priests promising wealth, or Christian preachers promising much the same. It's fascinating, especially when you hear them on the phone with their "clients". How anyone could be taken in is a mystery. But it's a lonely world, and people need hope. And hope is exploitable. Definitely worth checking out wherever it ends up showing.

Evelyn

Orlando Von Einseidel has won Oscars for his documentaries like Virunga. Now he turns the camera on himself and his family as they embark on a five week walking tour of the UK to remember their brother Evelyn, who committed suicide 13 years earlier. They've never spoken about it. Keenly observed grief, and encounters with strangers along the way help you to realise how prevalent their experience is, and how sharing doesn't remove the pain, but it does help. Beautiful landscape cinematography also adds to the experience.

Sword of Trust

Making fun of civil war conspiracists who believe that the south won the war, this is a comedy about a pawn shop owner, his assistant and a couple who are bequeathed a sword their grandpa insists proves that the North surrendered to the South. Most of the laughs come from Marc Maron amping up his cynical irascability, he gets all the best lines. But since it's heavily improvised, scenes rise and fall depending on how much the cast is up to it. When it works, it's hysterical, the rest is pretty flat. Good fun overall though.

Funan

Grave of the Fireflies now has competition for the best animation I might never watch again. Telling the story of one family as they live through the Khmer Rouge rule of Cambodia, it's just one horror after another. In a situation with no good choices, how to survive becomes a more and more awful question to consider. It's gruelling, but brilliant.

Bros: After the Screaming Stops

Billed as the funniest music film since Spinal Tap, it's not quite there, but damn Matt Goss says some amazingly funny things. By turns funny and emotional, you watch the Goss brothers reunite for a tour, and work through the issues that broke the band up originally. It's actually really sweet, even if you're laughing at them more than with them a lot of the time.