Movie reviews

15TH DOCS AGAINST GRAVITY FILM FESTIVAL 2018

DREAMING MURAKAMI

Watchable. I've never read Murakami and found it a useful introduction to his works. I also learnt that the Japanese duality of your inner self and your outer self is often reflected in literature, especially his. That's what the Frog and the Snail appear for. There were some remarks on the language too, e.g. that you need to know 1850 characters to read a newspaper, that a double ideogram for a tree is a grove and a triple is a wood or that a man and a tree means resting i.e. like leaning against a tree, similarly a mother and a child equals love. Add his Danish translator's biography and that's the film. Relatively short and pleasant. Plenty of Murakami quotes and a bit of weirdness in the form of a walking frog. Still, all that doesn't explain why some people are drawn do Murakami's stories, even in The West.

TURYSCI (TOURISTS)

Recommended. Great fun, I could keep watching on and on. Takes you round the world as seen by Polish tourists. Lots of holiday pleasures and new experiences: some shocking, like dog meat, some enjoyable, e.g. dancing, some unpleasant, like a tourist practically assaulted by greedy African women and children robbing all her money. With great music - both local and composed by Zamilska. I don't know what the authors shot the film for but it bewilders you with such an array of countries and cultures it's pure fun, even if with no clear point. And it's not true what people say about mindless tourists. The tourists are more of a mirror the rest of the world is reflected in. From the meeting with the makers I know they despise Polish folks on foreign trips. Luckily the film doesn't show that. It's just summer enjoyment.

PLAYING MEN

Watchable. 8 sports and games men play in Turkey, Croatia and Italy. Entertaining, with lots of surprises. My favourite part was the cheese rolling down through the whole town of Navara in Italy. It would bounce off walls and keep rolling on without any help of a man. Not all games were equally interesting. The passages in between were a bit too long. The editing could be more dynamic.

Summing up the festival, it bewilders you with the quality as well as the quantity. The films and the music gigs were amazing. The debates were skippable. The meetings with filmmakers were as good, or occasionally as bad, as their works. The educational screenings for schools comprised of outstanding short documentaries about children and teenagers and the educator was perfectly well prepared for working with kids. I hope the new generation will be better for the world and others than the current ones. A number of films had mid- and post-credits. Apparently even the documentary genre has embraced this tactic. The program was filled to the brim. It's best to take the 9 days off and spend them at the cinema and accompanying events from morning till night. Cinemas should offer sleeping couches for enthusiasts like me.


BELLE ET SÉBASTIEN 3: LE DERNIER CHAPITRE (BELLE AND SEBASTIAN, FRIENDS FOR LIFE)

Watchable. A very wintry film with plenty of snow. This part is heart-wrenching and so dark I could barely stand it. But of course the dogs are wonderful (Belle acted by 4 different ones) and it ends well, mostly.