Tuesday 31 December 2019

19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

DOBRE ZPRAVY (GOOD NEWS)

Watchable. I think I stayed till the end only because I was trying to guess what it was about.

EXIT

Watchable. Overtalked. Some of former rightist (Nazi or jihadist) terrorists' stories are interesting - basically evil (having been raped) or the lack of prospects for the future spread evil further. Still, the best element of the film is catch electro music.

HOPE FROZEN

Watchable. Protracted. Interesting that TV interviewers ask the family the same question I was asking myself: why don't they thaw their daughter to release her soul for the next incarnation? While their love is admirable, they can't bring her back without tearing the synapses so she'd have no recollection of her life with them. The scientific method of extending life is as uncertain as the Buddhist beliefs in reincarnation. Hope permeates the film but the documentary is overlong.

After several years' of fascinating documentaries, 2018 being the best so far, the 2019 programme, with some exceptions, was much below the usual level. Previously I had been often shocked about the human rights violations depicted but this year it was hard to find anything of interest. Still, the organization was good, staff friendly, the catalogue and the screening guide very easy to follow and to take notes on, especially the catalogue was printed on very handy paper. Convenient, easy to reach venues this year too.

Saturday 28 December 2019

THE FAREWELL

Recommended. Globalisation focused in one family. Multilingual: Japanese, Chinese, English and songs in Italian. Migration tackled from all angles - on the level of skilled individuals which means everyday petty family problems, homesickness, career prospects and life path dilemmas. Different approaches to life and death - sometimes Chinese ones turn out to be better as proven in the final scene right after the end credits start rolling. After all, how do we know our culture is the right one?


19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

КОЛІР ФАСАДУ СИНІЙ (FACADE COLOUR: BLUE)

Watchable. An architectural dilemma - vaguely interesting.

Wednesday 25 December 2019

JAK ZOSTALEM GANGSTEREM. HISTORIA PRAWDZIWA (HOW I BECAME A GANGSTER. TRUE STORY)

Recommended. A model example of how a movie should be scripted, directed, acted, cut and what music it should feature. It's an absolutely perfect gang leader story, similar in style to "Trainspotting" but with a totally original script. Distinct personalities, psychologically justified actions, outrageous crimes, everything told with a pinch of salt and top-notch twists and turns. The soundtrack is diverse including Alphaville, "Koyaanisqatsi" by Philip Glass or Polish band Dżem and others.


19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

WHAT WE LEFT UNFINISHED

Watchable. You get to see excerpts from Afghan movies - from the 80s, before the Talibans, when men and women were uncovered and the country colourful and lovely. You realize all the Islamic fundamentalism the country is associated with now is imposed on them. The documentary is a bit chaotic and red tape laiden.


1917

Watchable. Run-of-the-mill storyline. It looks and feels like a series of tasks in a computer game at times. Modern music exacerbates this effect. But it's touching occasionally too. One good moment is when the screen blacks out - for a long while you don't know what's going on. Like Peter Jackson's "They Shall Not Grow Old", it's based on veterans' stories. So with all the visual artificiality it is quite realistic after all.

Tuesday 24 December 2019

JOJO RABBIT

Walked out. I couldn't stand this nonsense about a Hitlerjugend kid talking to an imaginary Hitler where Scarlett Johansson speaks with an accent which is neither English nor German.

MARCIN RYCHCIK "KRECONE SIEKIERA. 9 SEANSOW SMARZOWSKIEGO" - MEETING WITH THE BOOK AUTHOR

A bit of trivia: Smarzowski quotes his earlier movies, other films and literature. He also creates riddles through editing.
The clergy suggested a screening of "Kler" ("Clergy") for them to say what can stay. He gets very emotional about his films. "Wołyń" ("Hatred") was hard so he felt quite laid-back afterwards, making "Kler" ("Clergy").

Monday 23 December 2019

BOMBSHELL

Recommended. I nearly cried at some point. The movie consists of visually appealing, of course, with Hollywood's hottest actresses, dramatised re-enactions of a huge sexual harassment case, hinting at Donald Trump as a sex predator as well. It highlights that you need to speak up, at least for the sake of future victims. Finally a movie about the topic! Still, when you see how it all ended, you leave frustrated that all the (23 at least) victims together received 50 m $ in compensation, while 2 predators got 65 m $ in severance pay from Fox News. Justice still hasn't been done. The image of the revolting perv haunts you later at night.

JAK ZOSTALEM GANGSTEREM. HISTORIA PRAWDZIWA (HOW I BECAME A GANGSTER. TRUE STORY)

I've seen it already and the review's waiting to be posted on 25th December. I'm not allowed to post it earlier.


19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

EXODUS

Watchable. Good cinematography. Shows how Afghani workers are exploited by Iranians both at work and by authorities. The cultural background isn't explained though, so some cases aren't clear.

THE TRIAL OF RATKO MLADIC

Watchable. The documentary does a good job of showing the locations of the war crimes on the one hand and Ratko Mladić's smirk on the other. He must have been happy hearing the survivors' agonizing testimonies. Yet it feels protracted a bit which renders it less emotional.

Sunday 22 December 2019

19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

FOR THEY KNOW NOT WHAT THEY DO

Recommended. Deeply moving and hard-hitting. I hadn't expected to be so impressed by LGBT issues. Vivid, likeable protagonists, shocking statistics - 41% of trans teenagers attempt suicide. The documentary features stories of success and of failure but all are filled with parents' love as well as with examples of violence like in the Orlando gay club shooting. Each of the families thought they supported their children but the very religion serves as a ruse for discrimination. The US examples show that families supporting their LGBT children as well as an open-minded society can enable a trans person enter the world of politics whereas the lack of social support means they often end up homeless. On the margin of the main issue, there's a case which proves that brain damage doesn't equal brain death which is unsettling in terms of usual practices of cutting off the life support in such cases. Excellent cinematography.

75-80 hours were shot for each story from which under 5 minutes appear in the film. E. g. Sarah's parents are funny people which you won't find in the resulting film. It took one year full-time to edit. Director Daniel Karslake observes "unconscious discomfort that men have with women" and is of the opinion that "homophobia and transphobia come from deep-rooted misogyny." In the US the worst offence is saying to a man: "you play like a woman". Also it's often misunderstood sexual orientation a choice. Bible scholar Delman Coates has analyzed the Bible verses which commonly serve as the basis for discrimination against gay people and found that they in fact refer to sexual violence rather than orientation. The director told me his first film, "For The Bible Tells Me So", explored the verses in detail. I have since watched the film but the verses were only mentioned on the margin. The director is gay, married to his partner for 28 years. Has been living in Berlin the last 5 years. Was raised in a Christian household and has been Christian all his life. "For They Know Not What They Do" has won the Audience Award at the festival. I gave it the highest note too.

KLEINE GERMANEN (LITTLE GERMANS)

Recommended. Explains how a Nazi family works and the connection to domestic violence. Incredible such families still exist. Some hark back to Wehrmacht grandfathers and the values have been passed on by subsequent generations. Children are disciplined to the point where they are locked in an ice-cold barn as punishment. It's like growing up in a sect. Another shocking example is dropping the piano cover on a girl's hands because she played Mendelssohn (a Jew). According to Germanic mythology men and women are equal but women have a lower position in such societies. One thing they pinpoint just right is that both Christianity and Islam are invasive religions.

Various organizations help people leave such societies. Inland Secret Service watch the scene but rarely help drop-outs because they're never sure if they are drop-outs for real. The rightists are not from metropolises so they have little contact with others. Such groups buy land in East Germany. Director Frank Geiger says the danger is that what they preach is close to mid-way values, just perverted, a close step to the extremism.

THE NIGHTCRAWLERS

Recommended. The Philippines had a huge drug problem. Drug addicts would rape or kill so in presidential elections, the Filipinos voted for Duterte en masse. Since then a few thousand drug dealers and addicts have been killed by the police and vengeful vigilantes. The drug problem resolution has left the society divided yet in the West it's unpopular not to condemn the killings.

Saturday 21 December 2019

19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

PODROZ Z ZYRINOWSKIM (TRIPPING WITH ZHIRINOVSKY)

Watchable. A simple mind who overtly admitted he had gone into politics because he had lacked any talents - the comparison to Hitler seems right on the spot, doesn't it? A butt of a joke in the US - probably the only country that actually invited him. Yet his talking of Russia getting "off the knees" sounds just like the rightist Polish authorities at present. Zhirinovsky was a small-time politician whose outrageous statements, like Trump's nowadays, were ridiculed, interestingly by Americans too. The film is humorous. Poor-looking Russia is shown in the background. The man is worth attention because of what we're observing elsewhere now. Poor technical quality of the film.

Wednesday 18 December 2019

19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

ET MILITAERDIKTATUR BAG FACADEN (ON THE INSIDE OF A MILITARY DICTATORSHIP)

Watchable. Quality cinematography, events presented in order and with proper commentary in perfect English. I didn't realise Aung San Suu Kyi is a general's daughter or how shrewd a politician she is. The luxury the military dignitaries live and work in when the country is under international sanctions is some food for thought.

Tuesday 17 December 2019

19TH WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

DIOS (GOD)

Watchable. Very good cinematography - it's all clear. Starts with all sorts of religious celebrations and accompanying commercial activities - not much different than in Poland. But later you can see Chilean religiousness is more fervorous and the opposition to the Church more fiery. People care to put undies on a figure of Baby Jezus. Next, the Pope says he can't substantiate the accusation against priests abusing children. There's also a discussion about the cost of the visit - never mentioned in Poland. Will churches burn in Poland too?

החבר דב (COMRADE DOV)


Watchable. About very local issues of the inhabitants of Israel which brings nothing new. It's just heart-warming to see there are people who believe in equal rights of both nations and a politician who does what he believes in. Poor camera work - at times it moves between people too fast and in a jerky movement.

Monday 16 December 2019

THE TWO POPES

Recommended. It's just beautiful. Superb cinematography strikes you from the start. And content follows. The film, with documentary insertions, is deep in its deliberations on being just and on the Church to the point where it moves you profoundly a few times. But it's also entertaining throughout contrast personalities, with the easy-going Cardinal Vergogno being an absolute delight. It's a tale of imperfect popes. The three lead actors: Jonathan Pryce, Anthony Hopkins and Juan Minujín are exquisite. Dalida's hit "Ciao Bella" is sung by Swingle Brothers - choral church-like interpretation. The ending comprising of several mid- and one post-credit is brilliant.

A SHAUN THE SHEEP MOVIE: FARMAGEDDON

Watchable. Just like previously in the series, there's no dialogue. In Polish cinemas only the final song is in Polish. The rest of the music is fun. The film is on the silly side. The sheep play antics all the time. The dog drinks from a cup with a bone picture. The aliens are friendly. Yet the story's eventful and complex. John Williams' theme from "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" can be heard in one of the scenes. In the closing credits you read that "No sheep were probed during the making of this film." There's a brief post-credit.
ANGELO

Watchable. In the first scene slaves are walking up the shore. They resemble refugees on hills seen in the media nowadays. But the whole film drags so badly and is so wooden, theatrical that I nearly walked out. Angelo in turns declaims, plays the flute, walks or listens to some aristocrat. At least, the scenography changes every few minutes. It's still and connotations with still life painting spring to mind, in fact it looks like a series of pictures by the old masters. The lack of background music and wooden acting precludes any potential feeling even when a man becomes stuffed as an exhibit. One fleeting moment of emotion is when Angelo's daughter realizes she's never seen the continent she belongs to. The movie also poses the question of us killing nature in order to see it up close.

Bits and pieces from the Q&A:
Markus Schleinzer, the movie director has also worked as a casting director, a producer, a director of other films and an actor. The rumour is he knows all actors, including those who say only one sentence.
According to Markus Schleinzer, "a film is lying in every minute". Though he researched the topic. E.g. people look healthier nowadays so a historic film can never be realistic.
The director comes from Vienna - a city where you hear lots of tall tales about Angelo Soliman. Those are all sweet stories. Also an empress is called Sissi by Austrians. That's why directors, like Michael Haneke, go against this perspective.
The movie starts with boats of 300 years ago filled with Africans brought by force. Nowadays we deny them entry.
Palaces were built with the wealth from the exploitation of Africa.
The director presented Angelo as somebody with no identity. They used to be presented as black princes to show how powerful the white aristocrats were.

Thursday 12 December 2019

PAN T. (MISTER T.)

Watchable. Plausibly recreated 1953. Feels too slow but such was the pace of life back then. The film's a saucy satire on communism and on artists, with an occasional reference to our contemporary times, e.g. when a protagonist says he's "najgorszy sort" ("the worst sort" - after the Law and Justice party president calling some Poles "people of a worse sort"). It's aptly high contrast black and white like the reality it tells about. A shot of two lovers is put into a frame. I see it as a feeble attempt at repeating the success of "Cold War".

Sunday 8 December 2019

ZELAZNY MOST (THE IRON BRIDGE)

Watchable. Only the pictures by Piotr Kukla are up-to-scratch. In spite of the case of a miner who's missing and his wife having an affair, there is little suspense. Tension arises only a quarter before the end. Too little Silesian dialect too. Last but not least, Poles don't know how to make use of music in the cinema.

엑시트 (EXIT)

Recommended. Top-notch action with hilarious comedy elements, e.g. when the granny tries to correct Yong-nam's hair. Excellent music, especially in one of climbing scenes and over the end credits. My palms got sweaty at the heights. Luckily it wasn't me who was scaling the buildings. 

THE PEANUT BUTTER FALCON

Watchable. Uninviting at first: severely aged people and a young one with Down syndrome, in one scene there's a clear depiction on vomit as well - I nearly puked myself at sight. But it swiftly turns into a decent road movie. It's also about the American dream - for everyone, including the disabled ones. A heavy part of the film is how they are treated by the society. It's also a new take on the American family: a high-brow member, a redneck and one with Down syndrome all form one family-like unit. Dakota Johnson, famous for kinky sex scenes in "Fifty Shades of Grey", here in a caretaker's role, gets handcuffed by Tyler. The handcuffs are soft and pinkish.

THE LIGHTHOUSE

Watchable. Compelling in its weirdness. Robert Pattinson gives an Oscar-worthy performance but the tale is just sick: a dying man gutted by seagulls, feaces, a guy masturbating while dreaming of a mermaid with a tail resembling a vagina, lots of alcohol, cold sadism and violent behaviour. Black and white picture doesn't make it art. Though narrowed shots reflect the young worker's tunnel vision convincingly.

DOCTOR SLEEP

Watchable. Fantasy with horror elements. It's a whole new story loosely based on the tropes from "The Shining", like the corpse-woman in the bathroom or the face in the door. The scares appear too soon. And the parallel plots: a magical one and an alcoholic one don't match at first. But all the elements fall into place piecemeal. The flying witch somehow feels truly menacing, maybe through her semblance to folk tales, even though this one lacks a broom.The last half an hour is set in the Overlook Hotel. The showdown takes you on the tour of the hotel, the labyrinth and the mountain - you even witness the iconic blood flood like in the original. Ewan McGregor acts plausibly and his character is well-written into the hotel 'tour'. Set for a sequel.

PROCEDER

Recommended. Very well-written, directed and cut. I didn't expect a movie about: a rapper, a gangster, alcoholic and drug addict - all in one person, set in the Polish 90s, could be interesting. But the 90s are perfectly recreated and his life story full of twists and turns. The film has some humour too, e.g. when a prisoner playing scrabble puts together "rzuf" meaning "żółw" (turtle).  Excellent background music by RX Rafał Sielawa. And Tomasz Chada's rap is fine too, with life-written lyrics. The ending is moving.

Saturday 7 December 2019

JOKER

Recommended. The film carries a number of pop culture references, I'm not sure if all were intended or whether some were subconscious inspirations. Whichever it is, the movie's rich in meanings. The protagonist lives in a city where waste hasn't been collected in several days. Also porn theatres keep reappearing throughout the film. Both produce the impression of trash. At one point he says, if he died, "they'd walk over him". That's also a comment on our reality where murders of the rich and powerful are widely publicised and those of the poor don't get a mention in the media. The hint I'm not sure about whether intentional or not, was at Michael Jackson - Joker has a whitened face, as if wearing a mask, similar hair, voice, laughter and he dances. Another trope is "V for Vendetta" - that's obvious from the number of people wearing clown masks in the street. His hallucinations and growing insanity leading to violence resembles "The Voices". His romantic relationship with his neighbour is questionable too. The story puts you right inside the mind of a mentally ill person. And his mother's infatuation with television and adoration of celebrities is reminiscent of "Requiem for a Dream".
The movie makes use of visual means painstakingly too, e.g. when blood on his white face is set against a nearly-white wall and it's only later you can see it on his body as well.
But it's the music by Hildur Guðnadóttir which forms the basis of the movie. It wouldn't have the gravity otherwise. Oscar for the music, please! The sombre tones match the film palette. The music turns joyful four times: he dances on the stairs to the melody of "Hey Song" from "Dr. Who" (I saw some "Dr." on the road side too) who was a positive hero, mind it, next when he appears on TV, again when he joins the street rebellion and finally in hospital -  all instances after Arthur Fleck's transformation into the Joker.
Arthur's identity is uncertain: he might be Thomas Wayne's son, just Penny Fleck's son with an unknown father - in both cases possibly inheriting the mental disease after his mother - or adopted - we don't know who after, especially that a mentally disturbed person was allowed to adopt him. This uncertainty of both fatherhood and motherhood makes him a man from nowhere hence a ready-made symbol too because he could be anyone.
A significant scene places the story as a prequel to the series. We see the beginning of Batman's story but it's not Arthur who kills the boy's parents hence it's not him Bruce Wayne is going to fight but a Joker as a symbol of crime.

Wednesday 4 December 2019

LUX FILM PRIZE DAYS

EL REINO (THE REALM)

Watchable. Feels exotic from the start - a politician is arrested for corruption. I wonder if it has ever taken place in Poland since such a thing is possible only in a country of law. Dynamic cut, shot mostly with close-ups, great techno rhythm, vivid colours typical for Spanish cinema. The film doesn't make it clear what exactly the case is but you quickly get it's about politics seen as if from within. Ends with a journalist's question which stays in your mind.

COLD CASE HAMMARSKJOLD

Watchable. The story's just incredible and unsettling. Unfortunately it's presented chaotically, certain subplots get so entangled it leaves loose ends. Yet the evidence gathered points at a clandestine organization, bankrolled by the white government of South Africa and of the UK in the 1950s/60s which, on the one hand, tried to eradicate blacks from Africa spreading AIDS at the guise of inoculations and to profit from the continent's resources - the latter successfully. Africa would be a totally different continent now if the UN Secretary General, who wanted to return the resources to the indigenous population, hadn't been assassinated.

FUSION FILM FESTIVALS - EAST EUROPE FILM FESTIVAL

Dan Hickford, director of the festival says this is an event which "puts a few festivals together".

NO-ONE

Watchable. Quite peculiar: theatrical, static. But also steamy or violent at times. The first instance of violence is predictable but shocking anyway. What's it about? About a man who's been at the top of state authority for decades, used to the fact that no one will question his power but suddenly both the coup and the loss of his wife mean a loss of the power he has always exerted. Since the film seems to conceal a bottom layer, I'd say you can interpret the romantic plot in the changing political situation - the fall of the USSR - as Ukraine's love affair with other countries.

According to the man who announced the screening, there are a few characters from Gogol and from "Master and Margarita" - I've read neither so can't comment. He attributes the plot to the Russian invasion on Crimea in 2014. The movie's Israeli-Ukrainian. According to one of the actors, a Russian movie can fill a room in Poland, not in Russia. Another actor discovers something new each time he watches it. Yet another one, the "general" from the picture views his protagonist as a man who decides to resolve things on his own and this way he becomes a monster. It's 100% fiction - clear to me but some doubted it. I asked the director, Vladimir Prudkin, why he made everyone act so theatrically and statically. In his opinion, "if you want to think you can't hurry".