SIFF Journal #2

By kate on June 1st, 2004

B-Happy
I really felt misled by the blurb for this film. It covers the last half hour or so of the movie… so I kept waiting for something to happen rather than watching what WAS happening. Bad PR aside, the movie was OK but not great. It reminded me of how I felt about Girl With A Pearl Earring – the lead is a beautiful young girl who navigates the rough waters of her life by just going along with what happens. The camera focuses long and lovingly on her pretty face and watches her gaze at things. But ultimately, I thought the character didn’t progress or change at all. In fact, the movie begins and ends with her reciting a very similar monologue that begins: “I’m not afraid of anything.”

Rating: 2

Down to the Bone
An American indie film about a drug-addicted woman, this movie seems better in retrospect. I think that’s because of the excellent performance by Vera Farmiga, who seems destined for a big acting career. Her looks are reminiscent of Cate Blanchett, and she played the part with subtlety and skill. I think my opinion of the movie suffered because I recently read Dry, by Augusten Burroughs, which covers addiction with a similar plot arc. It made Down to the Bone seem less original than it otherwise might have.

Also, a note about the audience. They were really weird. The rest of the SIFF audiences I’ve seen are intentionally very quiet during a movie. I don’t know what happened, but something in the movie seemed to set off the audience, so they would hoot and shriek at unusual parts, and laugh at things that weren’t really funny. People felt they had a license to talk to each other, too; there were a few couples that made audible comments to each other. That probably affected my perception of the movie at the time.

Rating: 3

Anatomy of Hell
A new film by French director Catherine Breillat, who made Fat Girl, which I really liked. This movie was different.

It was more of a philosophical discussion than a plot-based movie. The two main characters, a man and a woman, enter into a bizarre arrangement almost immediately upon meeting and the rest of the movie portrays their discussions and activities. The viewer is not given any prelude or character development beforehand. What I’m trying to say is that you watch this movie with your mind, not your heart.

You may have heard things about this movie. It’s clearly designed to shock and push the envelope. Some topics that are explicitly covered: self-mutilation, various sex acts, menstruation, dominance/submission issues, vulnerability inviting brutality. The male star is Rocco Siffredi, who is a very famous (straight) porn star. He plays a misogynistic gay-acting man. (I say “gay-acting” because the character quickly begins to act more bisexual than gay.) I personally was not shocked by any of the “shocking” things, so instead I focused on the philosophical discussion between the characters, which centered on the relationships of men and women. Rather, I should say, between Men and Women, because they spoke in capital-letter generalizations.

There was an interesting notice before the film began (in the opening credits) that stated that the sex scenes were done by a body double, rather than the actress, and that the viewer should keep in mind it is not her, but an extension of her character. Simply thinking about why the director chose to announce this is interesting; additionally, I have some doubts about whether there really was a body double.

During the post-film discussion (which was mostly filled with hot-air pontificating by people who were trying to appear as impressive as possible), one insightful woman said she thought the film was about self-loathing, and confronting the things we most hate about ourselves. I have not been able to come up with a better synopsis than that, so I’ll use it as mine.

Rating: 3

Buddy
A Norwegian movie about three twenty-something friends – two slackers who work hanging billboards, and one neat freak who is afraid to leave the immediate neighborhood. The main character, Kristoffer, films himself and his friends as they pull crazy stunts, play around, and generally be themselves. He drops some tapes in a TV station (while trying to escape a security guard) and the next thing they know, they become stars of a new TV segment. You’d think that the ensuing drama would be about the price of fame, but it’s really not. It’s about Kristoffer and his friends learning what (and who) they want in life.

Given that premise, the movie could have sucked, but the actors are lovable and add a lot of spark to the movie. I enjoyed seeing that life in urban Norway looks a lot like anywhere else. It wasn’t a masterpiece, but it was a fun film.

Rating: 3

Strayed (Les Égarés)
This movie follows a young (widowed) mother and her two children, a 13-year-old boy and a six-ish girl, as they escape Paris in 1940. Their convoy is bombed, so they escape into the woods and join forces with an enigmatic 17-year-old boy. They find a house and live/hide there. I could go into more about the mother’s initial suspicions of the young man, and how their relationship changes, but I really wasn’t interested. There is a good subplot about the maturing of her 13-year-old son (a very good actor), but it took second place to the mother’s drama, which was really lacking in chemistry.

Rating: 2

Touch of Pink
A witty movie about a gay Indian-Canadian man who is faced with having to come out to his traditional Muslim family. Oh, and his imaginary friend is Cary Grant (played by Kyle MacLachlan), who advises him on everything from fashion to how to handle his outspoken mother. This is a romantic comedy in the vein of silver-screen Hollywood, with a gay twist. The screening was attended by the lead actress, Suleka Mathew, who plays the main character’s mother. She told us before the movie that it is autobiographical – the writer/director based it on his own life, and took ten years to make it. The script certainly shows a careful polishing – I lost count of the number of laugh-out-loud lines. In fact, I’m now chuckling to myself over one joke that you’ll just have to wait to see the movie for. I hope it will get a good release, because it deserves it.

Rating: 5

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