A final wrap up of a few more films that I think worth noting from MIFF 2012. I really enjoyed ROBOT AND FRANK. ‘I think therefore I am‘ morphs into ‘I remember, therefore I am‘. The question is:mdo memories make us human? Set in the near future it says at the start, check out the end credits and you see the future is nearer than we think. A grumpy old man, ex burglar trying to hold back the future. About family, aging and about caring. Great performances from some well known actors, humorous tale with a moving sub-text. I challenge you not to fall in love with the robot with no name – it made me cry. THE SESSIONS was another feel good movie. Nice and lean; not a word out of place in the script. Really good performances from everyone but especially John Hawkes lying on his back throughout with his head at an awful angle as the polio disabled Mark O’Brien. William Macey as the ’60’s man of the cloth, long wavy hair, and enlightened views in tune with the times – seems light years away from present clerics. Helen Hunt whose ice cool professionalism gradually melts away under Mark’s charm offensive. Witty dialogue. Could have been tacky given subject matter – teaching a disabled man how to have sex – but beautifully done. True story.
LIBERAL ARTS is a cute little romcom from the actor from How I Met Your Mother, a TV show my daughter loves and which kept her (and me) sane during Year 12, we seemed to watch thousands of episodes of last year. So I felt the lead character, who directed as well (Josh Radnor) was a friend of the family. Which is what the character is like. A few themes, the value of an Arts Degree, how it’s hard to grow up but you have to do it and go through the bad bits as well. Also about love of reading, ‘taste makers’, intellectual snobbery, ignorance, and the morality of inter- generational relationships. All tied up in a very attractive package. YOUR SISTER’S SISTER is another off centre romantic comedy. It explores some different issues: sibling rivalry, loyalty versus following your heart, personal responsibility, the impact on daughters of a philandering father. Story is about a meeting of odd bedfellows – a young man grieving the death of a brother, a young woman grieving the end of a lesbian relationship. Beautiful location. One character is very keen to have a child. Nice up in the air ending – is she or isn’t she pregnant.
MONSIEUR LAZHAR was a sweet portrayal of a man in search of refuge. And children in search of honesty from the adults around them. It avoids sentimentality and has some harsh things to say about modern educational practices. A teacher complains; “we treat our kids like radio-active waste” not being allowed to touch them to treat, or console. Monsieur Lazhar has no such inhibitions. Also nice to see humane refugee processing in the current environment.
The Swedish film PURE includes a great performance by Alicia Vikander who was in Royal Affair. She certainly carries this film, playing a young woman from the wrong side of the tracks trying to raise herself above her station in life through a love of music. You are on her side from the start, despite the fact she is not a particularly nice character. Entranced by Mozart’s Requiem discovered by accident on YouTube she gets a job at the local concert hall, embarks on a brief affair with the sleazy conductor and gets into strife. Her plans for betterment appear doomed. But a very satisfactory, albeit morally challenging, ending eventually comes to pass. FACING MIRRORS is another fine Iranian film. However in this case the Iranian setting is secondary to a universal issue – the experience of a transgendered person. Terrific performances from everyone. Great sympathy for the young woman seeking a sex change, from both audience and an unlikely character in the film. Turns your prejudices about deeply religious people on your head as well.
Involuntary was another Swedish film. A friend thought the title translates better as Under Obligation which is a little bit different. Four different groups followed over the course of an evening and morning, all illustrating the influence of peer group pressure, the courage it takes to stand out from group think, in big and small things. Pitch perfect. An older man soldiers on at a party for his wife despite being hurt. A young girl and her friends out on the town drinking – can only end badly. Men in their thirties at a bonding week-end involving lots of drinking, nudity and grappling with each other. A teacher having illustrated the effect of peer group pressure on her students finds herself suffering the consequences herself. With her teaching peers. A bus driver keen to extract a confession of wrong-doing forces good people lie. Camera work, all odd angles, off centre views. We are eaves-dropping, spying on these people.
Another that was more challenging, but riveting was MISS BALA which was a gripping drama of a young woman caught up in Mexico’s drug wars. A compelling performance from a Beauty Queen wannabee caught up in a deadly game where you can’t trust anyone as she discovers to her cost. Gave some insight into what it would be like to live in Mexico. Apparently based on real life events. Grim, but rewarding. So was BEYOND which could have been a harrowing account of a childhood scarred by alcoholic parents. It was a memoir of that experience but beautifully portrayed. Balanced by the survivor’s own family – her loving husband and two young daughters. I wanted her to share her memories with him – but that’s the point, the memories are so awful they are repressed. You can’t share them with anyone. I felt confident things would be better for the lead character, which made it bearable. Great performances. Another slice of real, and difficult, life was Broken. One of the few UK films I saw. Lovely performances, especially from the young girl who was the lead. A sympathetic portrayal of the chaotic lives we all lead with lots of subterranean currents that affect how we see and experience the world. Three unspeakable young women, allowed to run free and cause havoc by their grieving widower father are also great. An unexpected conclusion shows that people can’t be simply characterized as good or bad. The ending hovers for a while on alternative conclusions.
I think what makes all these films work is that they are characterized by authenticity. Characters are real and have real responses to the situations they find themselves in. You don’t find yourself pulled up by the thought no, that wouldn’t happen or he or she would never have done that or said that. The mark of good film-making.
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