Used to be the only place you got to see great documentaries was at film festivals, but SBS has changed that a bit. And there are more in the cinema. Which is good because there were lots of great ones at MIFF this year. If you get the chance to see any of these I’d jump at it.
First Cousin Once Removed was an extraordinary portrayal of the effect of Alzheimer’s on a mind. Amazing openness from all those involved. And the question about exploitation hovers. The subject is Edwin Honig, academic, critic, translator, poet. Filmed over the last five years of his life, by his cousin, Alan Berliner, a documentary film maker. Heartbreaking but not depressing. Incredibly illuminating. An exploration of memory. The family connection is constant as the two look at family photographs together and talk about the people in them and family legends. It takes a while for the whole of Edwin’s life to be told as we cross backwards and forwards over incidents and people. A loved first wife, no children. Professional success. The scars of childhood and an unforgiving father. Blamed as a boy for the death of his younger brother, he describes the memory as a silent movie on a never ending loop inside his head. And it’s there nearly to the end. A photo of a loved grandmother evokes warmth but no memory of the actual person. Photos of two young boys produce nothing. And so we come to a second wife and two adopted sons. A sad story. The two young men were incredibly generous to the film maker. Old family movies are interspersed with conversations with family and friends. And conversations between the cousins. We have the same conversations, same questions, over the years. Edwin remains a poet to the end. I will seek out his work. We see the seasons come and go through the window of the old man’s room. Such a big life has come down to this one room. This one view. All in all a fascinating film.
There’s no trailer, but here’s a review.
Stories We Tell is another exploration of family and the stories we tell each other. Family myths and legends. Another film told through a mixture of home movies and talking heads. Sarah Polley’s parents were actors and so there is footage them professionally as well. It’s interesting seeing the working lives of actors. Sarah is asking some tough questions of her mother who died when she was very young, leaving her to be brought up by her father. We see lots of footage of the mother, at home, at the beach, acting on stage and on television. A larger than life sort of person they all agree. Her father comes in to do the voice-over for the film and we see him climbing the stairs and doing the job, occasionally being asked by his daughter to repeat bits. He has a beautiful voice. We see brothers and sisters being prepared for interviews, laughing nervously. Then the interviews. What they knew, what they saw, what they thought. And slowly the whole thing comes together. A sad story really. About children left behind, careers put on hold, deception, subterfuge and finally a great telling of it all. Lovely people, confronting the truth and coming to terms with a new reality.Here is the trailer
Another great life well told is Gore Vidal:The United States of Amnesia. Well, not the whole life, that would take more than one film. He surely is a larger than life fellow. Interviews for this film, were towards the end of his life. It was screened at MIFF almost exactly a year after he died. We see him visit his future resting place, where his life-long companion is buried. He caresses the stone, has no fear of dying. We see him at his glorious villa overlooking the Mediterranean. Packing up and leaving, too old for it now, in a wheel chair. But still publishing. Still being interviewed about current political matters. We see him watching Obama being elected. He is skeptical of Presidents. Has a photo of Jack Kennedy in his office to remind himself to be wary of those who are charming. Oh, I loved Jack, and he was charming, but his Administration did nothing! he booms in his patrician voice. There are pictures of him with the glittering crowd of America’s Camelot – Jack, Jackie and others. He ran for office a few times. He was very debonair. Wrote his first novel. Couldn’t get anything else published so went to Hollywood and wrote film scripts. Was a commentator on television. Always pushing a progressive, expansive, inclusive point of view. Was on the right side of most political arguments. Supported the feminists in their arguments with his, ’til then friend, Norman Mailer. How could you not? he asks. He supports the American republic, and is fiercely opposed to the American Empire. Broke with Christopher Hitchens over the Iraq war. There is an awkward moment at a book launch. There are few modern intellectuals like him. I haven’t read much of his work but will now do so. Here’s the trailer.
I also enjoyed Michael H Profession: Director. He’s a very cerebral chap. I loved Amour and was interested in Cache (Hidden) but that’s all I’ve seen of his work. And I’m not that interested in seeing any of the others. All pretty confronting. There are scenes from them all in this documentary. I liked seeing the scenes from the two I’d seen, especially from Amour. Interesting hearing the actors talk about the experience of working for him – scary day at the office. You see the need for complete trust. He’s a surprisingly active director and very physical – acting out what he wants of his actors. One said wryly, you nailed it in one go – perfect! We also see him taking a class where he teaches in Vienna. I really liked hearing him talk about what he is trying to do in his films. Interesting also on his selection of subjects. He tries not to interpret his work, but I think in the end he did. So, all in all, a very interesting film about the craft of film making.
Here is the trailer.
Another film about the creative process was Becoming Traviata which I loved. This time putting together an opera. Beautiful, slim singers who looked their parts certainly helped. The soprano Natalie Dessay as Violetta looked petite and frail but was full of muscular energy. Charles Castronovo as Alfredo was incredibly dashing. You see both singers working with the director of the opera, Jean-Francois Sivadier to create the look and extract extra feeling, extra passion from each scene. Over and over they repeat a movement, an aria, a duet – until finally you see the whole come together. Rehearsals and performance inter mixed. All aspects of the production, music, sets, lighting, the chorus. Slowly extra bits are added. A bit of costume. A chair. A rose. Everything is built up, bit by bit. The Director observing intently, listening, repeating. It’s his vision they are putting together. But it’s a collaboration and you see how the singers adapt and change his ideas so they are comfortable with the interpretation. Transcendental indeed as this review says. Scroll down to the trailer.
Two short mentions. I loved Mark Cousin’s The Story of Film: An Odyssey that was shown on SBS last year so was pleased to see his What Is This Film Called Love? Very different, but in the end affecting. A letter to the film maker, Sergei Eisenstein filmed on a tiny camera and all ad lib stream of consciousness. Good fun. And some quite lovely images.Here’s a short trailer.
I also enjoyed Slavoj Zizek in The Pervert’s Guide to Ideology, a film by Sophie Fiennes. Be prepared to concentrate. All very idiosyncratic. Best bit for me was to discover communist censors had deleted Mother Superior singing Climb Every Mountain to Maria in A Sound Of Music. That censor knew what she was doing, says Zizek, dressed in priest’s garb, superimposed in the scene itself. Yes, it’s like that, all very deep and meaningful but also obtuse. He turns up in the most unlikely places, disheveled and pulling his nose, and spouting deep philosophical points. Great fun. But you have to concentrate to follow his line of thinking – which I have quite forgotten. Here’s the trailer.
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