Fantasia, that blessed time of year when I can close my shell over my head and forget about the outside world, only to be reminded thereof with every venture in the surrounding streets, where an array of fashionable clones walk with oblivious nonchalance. It is a time where far-out fantasy brushes with the painfully prosaic elements of one's life, causing a quick resurgence of lucidity lost in the midst of everyday responsibilities.
For me, every edition is a life-affirming experience through which a gamut of questions about life and death find answers in the most unlikely places. And this year was no exception. This year, it seems that the sights and sounds from the festival have allowed me to put my life back on tracks and for once in a long time, I feel that the road ahead is actually a promising one.
With the release of Vies et morts du giallo, to which I contributed an essay, my first published work in five years, I managed to crack my shell a bit and start feeling like a new person, a person with the actual power to affect change in his life and in his surroundings. And with the many strolls I took through the land of clones (Ste-Catherine street), I also started to see myself as a real individual, one that stands out from the others, who have willingly made the choice to blend in and breeze though life on the comforting lifeboat of normality. Although I understand these people, I do not envy them for I long for something different, for a life of rewarding hardships far away from the masses. And now, it is finally time to assume my choices and start fighting in their name.
But most of all, it is the 75 illuminating feature films I attended, which have left the deepest imprint on my soul and made me the rehabilitated film buff and demonic reviewer I am today. Somehow, they allowed me to convince myself that I could take on the world. Nay! They convinced me that it was my duty to take on the world and contribute my ideas to the cultural pool. Hopefully, the present accounts of my journey will perhaps be enlightening to others and it is my deepest wish that they will be. So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of my introspective adventures in the bizarre, through dated conventions lace with dark surprises. Here is my special section dedicated to Fantasia 2011!
FIRST OF ALL, LISTS
Following the advice of a close friend, I will start with a schematic breakdown of the festival, listing the films seen on each day, then including a selection of winners in various categories so as to provide the impatient with quick vital stats (links will be added periodically):
Alphabetical list of titles
Day 1 (Red State, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame)
Day 2 (Ironclad, Attack the Block, Chop)
Day 3 (The Reef, The Wicker Man, Superheroes, El Sol, Knifepoint)
Day 4 (Ip Man: The Legend is Born, Another Earth, A Lonely Place to Die, The Troll Hunter)
Day 5 (Retreat, Love)
Day 6 (One Hundred Years of Evil, Midnight Son, The Wicker Tree)
Day 7 (Bullhead, You Are Here, Victims)
Day 8 (Super, The Divide)
Day 9 (The Silence, Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS)
Day 10 (Helldriver, Monster Brawl, True Legend, Panique, Saint, Battle Royale)
Day 11 (Frankenstein Created Woman, Pop Skull, Urban Explorer, Wake in Fright)
Day 12 (Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Some Guy Who Kills People)
Day 13 (Kill Me Please, The Whisperer in Darkness, A Horrible Way to Die)
Day 14 (Un génie, deux associés, une cloche, Death Weekend, Burke & Hare)
Day 15 (Surviving Life)
Day 16 (Beyond the Black Rainbow, Rabies, Horny House of Horror)
Day 17 (What Fun We Were Having: 4 Stories About Date Rape, The Catechism Cataclysm, Stake Land, Frankenstein 2000, The FP, Cold Sweat)
Day 18 (Redline, Bangkok Knockout, Tomie: Unlimited, Lapland Odyssey, Last Days Here, Hollow)
Day 19 (Dharma Guns, Kidnapped, Vampire)
Day 20 (Invasion of Alien Bikini, Marianne, The Woman)
Day 21 (Wasted on the Young, Brawler, The Devil's Rock)
Day 22 (Little Deaths, Exit, Bas-fonds)
Day 23 (NO FILM)
Day 24 (The Phantom of the Opera)
Day 25 (Clown: The Movie, Cold Sweat, Absentia)
FIVE BEST FILMS
(Classic films, namely The Wicker Man, The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein Created Woman, Wake in Fright, Un génie, deux associés, une cloche and Battle Royale are excluded from this category because they needn't extra praise)
1- LAST DAYS HERE (Don Argott, Demian Fenton, directors)
One of the best documentary films to grace the screen in a long time, this arduous journey into ex Pentagram singer Bobby Liebling's sub-basement frames its subject without any compromise to good mores, but with an undeniable respect that seeps through every shot, even during the most shocking scenes of crack consumption. After all, crack consumption, paranoid delusions and debilitating heart aches are all hard facts of life. And so is the unforgiving process of aging and the certitude that it is never too late to make amends and to redeem oneself in the eyes of the world. These are the heavy boulders which Last Days Here juggles effortlessly. But the film is more than just a chronicle of Liebling's tragic "last days here". It is an interventionist effort designed to drag him away from the depths of infamy and into the reconforting spotlights of the metal scene. And it is a very successful one at that. For when you see a bed-ridden, hospitalized junkie and ex-rock star tearfully thanking the film crew for their presence at his side, you know you've got an exceptional film in front of you. But when you witness the revival of the man's art through a concert orchestrated by same film crew, crying tears of joy just by watching him don his demonic grin once more, you know you've got a classic film in front of you. Great, great, great stuff. Read full review here.
2- THE TROLL HUNTER (André Ovredal, director)
While a far cry from Last Days Here, namely because it only emulates reality instead of making sense thereof, this delightful, effects-driven Norwegian import is a must-see for all fans of fantastic mockumentaries. Because while fantasy is often grounded in far-away, unattainable lands, there is still a way to bring magic to our own world, as trite as it may appear to most. By mixing Scandinavian fairy tale mythos with sharp political insight and a biting sense of humor, the creators of The Troll Hunter have done just that. The result is a surprisingly believable, down-to-Earth story about trolls and the people hired by the government to cover up their existence and keep the general public in a state of disbelief. What's so surprising about it all is that even the most skeptic and grounded viewer could actually get caught in the game on account of the film being so detailed and so well served by its CGI beasties. But believable as it may be, Hunter has an incredible sense of humor, one that is subdued just enough to be hysterical to even the most stoic of film-goers. Scandinavia contributes all its wit, its intelligence and its breathtaking scenery to this film, allowing the creation of this amazing example of what one can achieve with just a little imagination, a remnant perhaps, of a time long-forgotten when belief was a beautiful, magical thing and not merely a debilitating obstacle to adult considerations. But while the film succeeds as a fictional oeuvre, it also does as a documentary one. After all, the film operates primarily in documentary mode, using an immediate, hand-held camera that contributes a lot to the exhilarating action scenes while also doing its job as a diary for every character involved. Rarely do such smart filmmakers as the ones behind Hunter take an interest in fairy tales. Luckily for us, they did, and so they have left us the gift of a film which we should do all in our power to keep unearthed.
3- ANOTHER EARTH (Mike Cahill, director)
I was sold to this film with a simple still depicting Brit Marling's Rhoda staring at the titular planet, hung in the oh-so familiar sky like the proverbial sore thumb. Luckily for me, the film was as subtle as that obsessive blue mirror and just as intriguing. A sci-fi film rooted in the deepest corners of the human soul, Another Earth is a mammoth achievement for the young people at the helm (Cahill and ex-girlfriend Marling, both of whom co-wrote the screenplay). And it is a treat for all sci-fi fans who have witnessed its near eradication from the screen. Luckily, this film now benefits from a widespread theatrical release, which is proof that there is still room in the overcrowded multiplexes for little films with big ideas. Read full review here.
4- BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (Panos Cosmatos, director)
The ROC (Rest of Canada, for those unfamiliar with this québécois expression) rarely produces genre films, but when it does, they always pack a mighty punch. Just think Cronenberg. Think Vincenzo Natali. And now, one has to recognize the humbling presence of Beyond the Black Rainbow, a subtle but powerful meditation on horror film history. Because while one could see it as a sci-fi film, they wouldn't find much here to support that claim as every sci-fi element contained inside is minutely rigged to produce horrific effects. The minimalism of the ensemble points to a masterful self-assurance from first-time film director Cosmatos, especially in light of how gripping the ensemble is, relying rather on opressive sets and ungodly flashes of extreme ugliness to instill the proper mood rather than on opressive sound effects and overdetermined scare tactics. Using a retro-futuristic approach to the material at hand and a sudden, crucial shift of aesthetics near the end, Rainbow is a prime example of post-modernist, genre-savvy execution. Some great stuff coming from out of the blue and the happiest surprise for me at this year's edition. Read full review here.
5- SUPER (James Gunn, director)
An irreverent superhero film? Finally! And it's got Ellen Page as a latex-clad, manic-depressive Juno with Wolverine claws? Count me in! And so I was, with three of my friends, my brother, his girlfriend and her brother, an heterogeneous menagerie brought together by the desire to have fun again while watching a superhero film, applauding our asses off at every of the numerous occasions when exhilaration came in our midst. It's not often that you see people applaud the opening credits of a film so lengthily, but I must say that I myself was blown away. And while the remainder of the film cannot sustain the insane pace thereof, it does contain some of the funniest, most memorable scenes ever to intrude in a conventionally-plotted superhero narrative such as this. Just thinking about how luminous and entertaining Super is and how excruciatingly boring Christopher Nolan's Batman films are, I get even more pissed off than I already am, especially in light of the fact that the former film hasn't even landed a distribution deal for the theater run while the latter are praised by some as two of the best films of all times. Two of the best films of all times! If ever contempt for cinema could find an embodiment, it would be in such claims. Then again, it is useless to dwell on things one cannot change, for there are myriad other things that one can change. And making sure that kick-ass films such as Super find an audience is certainly not the least of them. Read full review here.
Runner-ups
ATTACK THE BLOCK (Joe Cornish, director)
COLD SWEAT (Adrian Garcia Bogliano, director)
DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME (Tsui Hark, director)
THE DIVIDE (Xavier Gens, director)
KIDNAPPED (Miguel Angel Vivas, director)
VICTIMS (David Bryant, director)
THE WOMAN (Lucky McKee, director)
YOU ARE HERE (Daniel Cockburn, director)
FIVE WORST FILMS
In no particular order.
RED STATE (Kevin Smith, director)
I haven't seen Cop Out but I know for a fact that it is better than Red State. Yes, the latter film is that bad. After dedicating his life to crafting inspired, bitter-sweet rom-coms, many of which have left an indelible imprint on Americana, Kevin Smith has only recently wandered away from the paddock and this trip out is as ill-advised as they come. Abandoning almost all of his close collaborators (where are Jason Lee and Jason Mewes when you really, really need them?) as well as most thematic obsessions upon which he has built a lucrative body of work, Smith has decided to start anew, but without any hint about how to do it. His new film is a jumbled, tedious affair filled with untimely, obvious jokes and awkward dramatic moments half-assedly glued together between incongruous action scenes. Oscillating dangerously between the vain extravagance of Michael Bay and the crude political insight of Michael Moore, the film does a great job of neutering Smith's very personal brand of humor. It is as if the director had decided to take a handgun out of the rack, point the barrel squarely at his foot and pull the trigger. Read full review here.
THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM (Todd Rohal, director)
A super-tedious 80-minute film? Yes. There is such a thing at Fantasia sometimes. Luckily for me, I didn't have high expectations for Catechism Cataclysm. In fact, it was just filler and I would've certainly walked out of it had I not another film scheduled right after. You see, this is a purposefully irrelevant film, sort of a self-hating oddity really. It goes all over the place but in those rare recesses where one finds some redeeming value. While the film does boast one exhilarating, lasting scene involving noisy Japanese contraptions and exploding heads, the crux of it involves far too much of the two things I hate most in the world: overacting and the absurd used as comical devices. Yuck! Read full review here.
VAMPIRE (Shunji Iwai, director)
Another film which I would've walked out of, hadn't I misinterpreted my friend's puzzled look as he gazed at the screen. While it starts out brilliantly, Vampire only does so in order to better fall from grace. And the film does fall... and fast, all the way down the slippery slope of over-ambitious wishes. The narrative is strangely structured, breaching into a fast-growing number of strands which remain unresolved as more and more strands are uncovered. Thus, various characters come and go, leaving almost invisible imprints in their paths, then disappearing. And so, we are treated to a series of quickly succeeding vignettes, some of which contain some intriguing elements, but most of which are redundant or incongruous. It's a shame because there are some good ideas pertaining to the vampire mythos and to teenage angst at the center it all. But seeing how they are scattered about in a confusing, overreaching stew, they lose all their shine and start blending in the scenery. Read full review here.
DHARMA GUNS (LA SUCCESSION STARKOV) (FJ Ossang, director)
Just the sound thereof is annoying: Dhar-Maguns. Maybe I'm being blinded by my debilitating hatred for the main actor of this tedious collection of increasingly irrelevant vignettes, but it seems to me that he could've ruined even Citizen Kane with his excruciating blabbermouth and agony-inducing accent.
"Mé kisson lè Dharmegeuns?" Please, shut up. "No-mé vrémin, kisson lè Dharmegeuns?" Shut up! "KISSON LÈ DHARMEGEUNS!" SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!! HAAAAAAAAAA! PLEASE MAKE HIM STOP! PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!
In all fairness, while I loathed the lead, I also loathed the fact that director Ossang used dialogue, the one most overused and expandable aspect of film-making, and especially experimental film-making, in order to try and subvert narrative conventions. Nice try, bub. Read full review here.
THE FP (Brandon Trost and Jason Trost, directors)
By far the most annoying film experience I ever had (mostly because of the drunken crew members who laughed their heads off at every fucking line), watching The FP was like going back to high school, where I used to write similar screenplays with my friends, condemning myself all the while for aiming so brazenly at the lowest common denominator. This kind of shame is obviously unknown to the Trost brothers, who shower us ad nauseam with an endless array of repetitive, obvious and offensive jokes and situations. Not unlike sports movie references, wigger jokes should be used with moderation, not as the central pillar of any narrative as it is the case here. In the end, the film is, quite literally, a shit storm and it spares no one in the audience. Now, whether or not one likes to be covered in shit pertains to one's personal preferences. As for myself, I'd rather steer clear. Read full review here.
BEST SHORT FILM
Keep in mind that I haven't seen any short film programs, such as Small Gauge Trauma and so forth. The only shorts I did see were those programmed as the first parts of feature films. My impression thereof was mostly positive, with a handful of titles which actually surpassed the features with which they were coupled. But the best one was definitely:
Éric Falardeau's CRÉPUSCULE
This québécois venero-Christian fable stars a clan of sexless, not-so-gentle giants obsessed with human genitalia. When a candid scout stumbles upon a clearing where two naked hedonists (one could call them Adam and Eve) lie down in the grass and start getting it on, he freezes in place and stares in awe from the quiet comfort of nearby brushes. That's how the incremental narrative takes hold, for he then proceeds to tell others of his kind about his curious find, bringing an increasing amount of mates for the second and third rounds of vigorous sex provided by the oblivious pair of decadents. While little can prepare you for the closing blood orgy, the viewer has an inkling of doubt concerning the creepy creatures' intents all the way through and this creates a very gripping atmosphere of tension. In the end, whether you wish to see this as a Christian or anti-Christian allegory, a meditation on porn addiction or a cautionary tale about venereal disease, you will be left in awe by the ungodly amount of work involved in the creation thereof. You see, this 20-minute effort is entirely done in stop motion animation, and not the crappy kind, the 24 frames per second kind! The result is a breathtaking, incredibly fluid and elaborate masterpiece complete with masterful tracking shots and an abundance of moving parts. Hell, even the grass is moving in some shots, along with the giants' arms, legs and heads. Shit, you'd have to be mad to undertake such a project, but Falardeau clearly is and so he succeeds at creating a very impressive, lasting work of art. While the audience didn't react accordingly, I impute that to shock, rather than lack of satisfaction. At any rate, I liked it. Even more than stellar runner up: The Legend of Beaver Dam.
Short films who outdid the features with which they were coupled:
- Crépuscule (was better than Bas-Fonds)
- Bunny Boy (was better than Dharma Guns)
- Death and the Blue-Eyed Boy (was better than Exit)
- The Unliving (was slightly better than Invasion of Alien Bikini)
- Bobby Yeah (was much, much, much better than Saint)
BEST FIGHT SCENE
Why not? And for once, it's not Asian boys who will claim that prize!
CHARLIE FONTAINE VS BOBBY FONTAINE (Marc Senter and Nathan Grubbs), Brawler
Prior to this memorable, and incredibly intense fight between two brothers, one of its promoters says: "this is the kind of events local legends are made off". And he's got that right. Because while the two American boys lack the proficiency of their Chinese and Thai counterparts when it comes to martial arts, their final confrontation is infused with a dramatic intensity that no Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo Ping, Tsui Hark or Panna Rittikrai film could ever wish to attain. I mean, here's two brothers, brought to life by two very committed no-namers, punching and strangling each other senseless in a mob-controlled brawling match. While the narrative stakes may not be as high as can be (the fate of the world doesn't depend on the outcome of the fight) the humanity of it all is circumvented much more accurately than in Far Eastern narratives, and any given Rocky film for that matter. The fist to the face of one's brother, the sound of flesh being battered by eager knuckles and the slithery fingers holding on to his neck with ungodly strength. This is the stuff which tragic masterpieces are made of. At least the genre-film version thereof.
Runner-ups
SU QI-ER VS YUAN LIE (Man Cheuk Chiu and Andy On), True Legend
One hell of a lengthy fight, this pits two very determined brothers-in-law against each other and against the scenery. Classic HK action featuring some choice Wushu and the deadly, effects-laced Five Venoms Fist technique.
DEE, JING'ER AND PEI VS THE CHAMBERLAIN (Andy Lau, Bingbing Li, Chao Deng and Nan Xu), Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Marvelous, high-flying action in an underground cave involves a huge arsenal of weapons and some perilous stunts on rolling logs.
BEST ANIMATION FILM
An easy choice, especially if one considers the rapidly declining number of animated features shown at the festival.
Redline was head and shoulders above its two competitors this year (I haven't seen Legend of the Millennium Dragon, for lack of interest). It didn't share El Sol's primitive looks or Surviving Life's monotony. Quite the contrary. Because while it is a melodrama at heart, it is one that involves brisk and fluid action scenes so intense that one could have an heart attack just by watching them. The peripheral characters are colorful, both in the literal and figurative sense, and their characterization owes a lot to the impeccable animation. While this is not anything like Miyazaki, it works splendidly as a genre piece, specializing in the craft of heavily armed hot-rods zooming across any terrain, goofy-looking aliens and shapely idorus. It's a shame that the action sequences are inter-cut with so many dramatic bits, halting the excitement every time. But the end result is all too gorgeous and addictive to make you care for such petty concerns.
For me, every edition is a life-affirming experience through which a gamut of questions about life and death find answers in the most unlikely places. And this year was no exception. This year, it seems that the sights and sounds from the festival have allowed me to put my life back on tracks and for once in a long time, I feel that the road ahead is actually a promising one.
With the release of Vies et morts du giallo, to which I contributed an essay, my first published work in five years, I managed to crack my shell a bit and start feeling like a new person, a person with the actual power to affect change in his life and in his surroundings. And with the many strolls I took through the land of clones (Ste-Catherine street), I also started to see myself as a real individual, one that stands out from the others, who have willingly made the choice to blend in and breeze though life on the comforting lifeboat of normality. Although I understand these people, I do not envy them for I long for something different, for a life of rewarding hardships far away from the masses. And now, it is finally time to assume my choices and start fighting in their name.
But most of all, it is the 75 illuminating feature films I attended, which have left the deepest imprint on my soul and made me the rehabilitated film buff and demonic reviewer I am today. Somehow, they allowed me to convince myself that I could take on the world. Nay! They convinced me that it was my duty to take on the world and contribute my ideas to the cultural pool. Hopefully, the present accounts of my journey will perhaps be enlightening to others and it is my deepest wish that they will be. So, without further ado, here is the first chapter of my introspective adventures in the bizarre, through dated conventions lace with dark surprises. Here is my special section dedicated to Fantasia 2011!
FIRST OF ALL, LISTS
Following the advice of a close friend, I will start with a schematic breakdown of the festival, listing the films seen on each day, then including a selection of winners in various categories so as to provide the impatient with quick vital stats (links will be added periodically):
Alphabetical list of titles
Day 1 (Red State, Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame)
Day 2 (Ironclad, Attack the Block, Chop)
Day 3 (The Reef, The Wicker Man, Superheroes, El Sol, Knifepoint)
Day 4 (Ip Man: The Legend is Born, Another Earth, A Lonely Place to Die, The Troll Hunter)
Day 5 (Retreat, Love)
Day 6 (One Hundred Years of Evil, Midnight Son, The Wicker Tree)
Day 7 (Bullhead, You Are Here, Victims)
Day 8 (Super, The Divide)
Day 9 (The Silence, Ilsa: She Wolf of the SS)
Day 10 (Helldriver, Monster Brawl, True Legend, Panique, Saint, Battle Royale)
Day 11 (Frankenstein Created Woman, Pop Skull, Urban Explorer, Wake in Fright)
Day 12 (Don't Go Breaking My Heart, Some Guy Who Kills People)
Day 13 (Kill Me Please, The Whisperer in Darkness, A Horrible Way to Die)
Day 14 (Un génie, deux associés, une cloche, Death Weekend, Burke & Hare)
Day 15 (Surviving Life)
Day 16 (Beyond the Black Rainbow, Rabies, Horny House of Horror)
Day 17 (What Fun We Were Having: 4 Stories About Date Rape, The Catechism Cataclysm, Stake Land, Frankenstein 2000, The FP, Cold Sweat)
Day 18 (Redline, Bangkok Knockout, Tomie: Unlimited, Lapland Odyssey, Last Days Here, Hollow)
Day 19 (Dharma Guns, Kidnapped, Vampire)
Day 20 (Invasion of Alien Bikini, Marianne, The Woman)
Day 21 (Wasted on the Young, Brawler, The Devil's Rock)
Day 22 (Little Deaths, Exit, Bas-fonds)
Day 23 (NO FILM)
Day 24 (The Phantom of the Opera)
Day 25 (Clown: The Movie, Cold Sweat, Absentia)
FIVE BEST FILMS
(Classic films, namely The Wicker Man, The Phantom of the Opera, Frankenstein Created Woman, Wake in Fright, Un génie, deux associés, une cloche and Battle Royale are excluded from this category because they needn't extra praise)
1- LAST DAYS HERE (Don Argott, Demian Fenton, directors)
One of the best documentary films to grace the screen in a long time, this arduous journey into ex Pentagram singer Bobby Liebling's sub-basement frames its subject without any compromise to good mores, but with an undeniable respect that seeps through every shot, even during the most shocking scenes of crack consumption. After all, crack consumption, paranoid delusions and debilitating heart aches are all hard facts of life. And so is the unforgiving process of aging and the certitude that it is never too late to make amends and to redeem oneself in the eyes of the world. These are the heavy boulders which Last Days Here juggles effortlessly. But the film is more than just a chronicle of Liebling's tragic "last days here". It is an interventionist effort designed to drag him away from the depths of infamy and into the reconforting spotlights of the metal scene. And it is a very successful one at that. For when you see a bed-ridden, hospitalized junkie and ex-rock star tearfully thanking the film crew for their presence at his side, you know you've got an exceptional film in front of you. But when you witness the revival of the man's art through a concert orchestrated by same film crew, crying tears of joy just by watching him don his demonic grin once more, you know you've got a classic film in front of you. Great, great, great stuff. Read full review here.
2- THE TROLL HUNTER (André Ovredal, director)
While a far cry from Last Days Here, namely because it only emulates reality instead of making sense thereof, this delightful, effects-driven Norwegian import is a must-see for all fans of fantastic mockumentaries. Because while fantasy is often grounded in far-away, unattainable lands, there is still a way to bring magic to our own world, as trite as it may appear to most. By mixing Scandinavian fairy tale mythos with sharp political insight and a biting sense of humor, the creators of The Troll Hunter have done just that. The result is a surprisingly believable, down-to-Earth story about trolls and the people hired by the government to cover up their existence and keep the general public in a state of disbelief. What's so surprising about it all is that even the most skeptic and grounded viewer could actually get caught in the game on account of the film being so detailed and so well served by its CGI beasties. But believable as it may be, Hunter has an incredible sense of humor, one that is subdued just enough to be hysterical to even the most stoic of film-goers. Scandinavia contributes all its wit, its intelligence and its breathtaking scenery to this film, allowing the creation of this amazing example of what one can achieve with just a little imagination, a remnant perhaps, of a time long-forgotten when belief was a beautiful, magical thing and not merely a debilitating obstacle to adult considerations. But while the film succeeds as a fictional oeuvre, it also does as a documentary one. After all, the film operates primarily in documentary mode, using an immediate, hand-held camera that contributes a lot to the exhilarating action scenes while also doing its job as a diary for every character involved. Rarely do such smart filmmakers as the ones behind Hunter take an interest in fairy tales. Luckily for us, they did, and so they have left us the gift of a film which we should do all in our power to keep unearthed.
3- ANOTHER EARTH (Mike Cahill, director)
I was sold to this film with a simple still depicting Brit Marling's Rhoda staring at the titular planet, hung in the oh-so familiar sky like the proverbial sore thumb. Luckily for me, the film was as subtle as that obsessive blue mirror and just as intriguing. A sci-fi film rooted in the deepest corners of the human soul, Another Earth is a mammoth achievement for the young people at the helm (Cahill and ex-girlfriend Marling, both of whom co-wrote the screenplay). And it is a treat for all sci-fi fans who have witnessed its near eradication from the screen. Luckily, this film now benefits from a widespread theatrical release, which is proof that there is still room in the overcrowded multiplexes for little films with big ideas. Read full review here.
4- BEYOND THE BLACK RAINBOW (Panos Cosmatos, director)
The ROC (Rest of Canada, for those unfamiliar with this québécois expression) rarely produces genre films, but when it does, they always pack a mighty punch. Just think Cronenberg. Think Vincenzo Natali. And now, one has to recognize the humbling presence of Beyond the Black Rainbow, a subtle but powerful meditation on horror film history. Because while one could see it as a sci-fi film, they wouldn't find much here to support that claim as every sci-fi element contained inside is minutely rigged to produce horrific effects. The minimalism of the ensemble points to a masterful self-assurance from first-time film director Cosmatos, especially in light of how gripping the ensemble is, relying rather on opressive sets and ungodly flashes of extreme ugliness to instill the proper mood rather than on opressive sound effects and overdetermined scare tactics. Using a retro-futuristic approach to the material at hand and a sudden, crucial shift of aesthetics near the end, Rainbow is a prime example of post-modernist, genre-savvy execution. Some great stuff coming from out of the blue and the happiest surprise for me at this year's edition. Read full review here.
5- SUPER (James Gunn, director)
An irreverent superhero film? Finally! And it's got Ellen Page as a latex-clad, manic-depressive Juno with Wolverine claws? Count me in! And so I was, with three of my friends, my brother, his girlfriend and her brother, an heterogeneous menagerie brought together by the desire to have fun again while watching a superhero film, applauding our asses off at every of the numerous occasions when exhilaration came in our midst. It's not often that you see people applaud the opening credits of a film so lengthily, but I must say that I myself was blown away. And while the remainder of the film cannot sustain the insane pace thereof, it does contain some of the funniest, most memorable scenes ever to intrude in a conventionally-plotted superhero narrative such as this. Just thinking about how luminous and entertaining Super is and how excruciatingly boring Christopher Nolan's Batman films are, I get even more pissed off than I already am, especially in light of the fact that the former film hasn't even landed a distribution deal for the theater run while the latter are praised by some as two of the best films of all times. Two of the best films of all times! If ever contempt for cinema could find an embodiment, it would be in such claims. Then again, it is useless to dwell on things one cannot change, for there are myriad other things that one can change. And making sure that kick-ass films such as Super find an audience is certainly not the least of them. Read full review here.
Runner-ups
ATTACK THE BLOCK (Joe Cornish, director)
COLD SWEAT (Adrian Garcia Bogliano, director)
DETECTIVE DEE AND THE MYSTERY OF THE PHANTOM FLAME (Tsui Hark, director)
THE DIVIDE (Xavier Gens, director)
KIDNAPPED (Miguel Angel Vivas, director)
VICTIMS (David Bryant, director)
THE WOMAN (Lucky McKee, director)
YOU ARE HERE (Daniel Cockburn, director)
FIVE WORST FILMS
In no particular order.
RED STATE (Kevin Smith, director)
I haven't seen Cop Out but I know for a fact that it is better than Red State. Yes, the latter film is that bad. After dedicating his life to crafting inspired, bitter-sweet rom-coms, many of which have left an indelible imprint on Americana, Kevin Smith has only recently wandered away from the paddock and this trip out is as ill-advised as they come. Abandoning almost all of his close collaborators (where are Jason Lee and Jason Mewes when you really, really need them?) as well as most thematic obsessions upon which he has built a lucrative body of work, Smith has decided to start anew, but without any hint about how to do it. His new film is a jumbled, tedious affair filled with untimely, obvious jokes and awkward dramatic moments half-assedly glued together between incongruous action scenes. Oscillating dangerously between the vain extravagance of Michael Bay and the crude political insight of Michael Moore, the film does a great job of neutering Smith's very personal brand of humor. It is as if the director had decided to take a handgun out of the rack, point the barrel squarely at his foot and pull the trigger. Read full review here.
THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM (Todd Rohal, director)
A super-tedious 80-minute film? Yes. There is such a thing at Fantasia sometimes. Luckily for me, I didn't have high expectations for Catechism Cataclysm. In fact, it was just filler and I would've certainly walked out of it had I not another film scheduled right after. You see, this is a purposefully irrelevant film, sort of a self-hating oddity really. It goes all over the place but in those rare recesses where one finds some redeeming value. While the film does boast one exhilarating, lasting scene involving noisy Japanese contraptions and exploding heads, the crux of it involves far too much of the two things I hate most in the world: overacting and the absurd used as comical devices. Yuck! Read full review here.
VAMPIRE (Shunji Iwai, director)
Another film which I would've walked out of, hadn't I misinterpreted my friend's puzzled look as he gazed at the screen. While it starts out brilliantly, Vampire only does so in order to better fall from grace. And the film does fall... and fast, all the way down the slippery slope of over-ambitious wishes. The narrative is strangely structured, breaching into a fast-growing number of strands which remain unresolved as more and more strands are uncovered. Thus, various characters come and go, leaving almost invisible imprints in their paths, then disappearing. And so, we are treated to a series of quickly succeeding vignettes, some of which contain some intriguing elements, but most of which are redundant or incongruous. It's a shame because there are some good ideas pertaining to the vampire mythos and to teenage angst at the center it all. But seeing how they are scattered about in a confusing, overreaching stew, they lose all their shine and start blending in the scenery. Read full review here.
DHARMA GUNS (LA SUCCESSION STARKOV) (FJ Ossang, director)
Just the sound thereof is annoying: Dhar-Maguns. Maybe I'm being blinded by my debilitating hatred for the main actor of this tedious collection of increasingly irrelevant vignettes, but it seems to me that he could've ruined even Citizen Kane with his excruciating blabbermouth and agony-inducing accent.
"Mé kisson lè Dharmegeuns?" Please, shut up. "No-mé vrémin, kisson lè Dharmegeuns?" Shut up! "KISSON LÈ DHARMEGEUNS!" SHUT UP!!!!!!!!!! HAAAAAAAAAA! PLEASE MAKE HIM STOP! PLEEEEEEEEEEASE!!!
In all fairness, while I loathed the lead, I also loathed the fact that director Ossang used dialogue, the one most overused and expandable aspect of film-making, and especially experimental film-making, in order to try and subvert narrative conventions. Nice try, bub. Read full review here.
THE FP (Brandon Trost and Jason Trost, directors)
By far the most annoying film experience I ever had (mostly because of the drunken crew members who laughed their heads off at every fucking line), watching The FP was like going back to high school, where I used to write similar screenplays with my friends, condemning myself all the while for aiming so brazenly at the lowest common denominator. This kind of shame is obviously unknown to the Trost brothers, who shower us ad nauseam with an endless array of repetitive, obvious and offensive jokes and situations. Not unlike sports movie references, wigger jokes should be used with moderation, not as the central pillar of any narrative as it is the case here. In the end, the film is, quite literally, a shit storm and it spares no one in the audience. Now, whether or not one likes to be covered in shit pertains to one's personal preferences. As for myself, I'd rather steer clear. Read full review here.
BEST SHORT FILM
Keep in mind that I haven't seen any short film programs, such as Small Gauge Trauma and so forth. The only shorts I did see were those programmed as the first parts of feature films. My impression thereof was mostly positive, with a handful of titles which actually surpassed the features with which they were coupled. But the best one was definitely:
Éric Falardeau's CRÉPUSCULE
This québécois venero-Christian fable stars a clan of sexless, not-so-gentle giants obsessed with human genitalia. When a candid scout stumbles upon a clearing where two naked hedonists (one could call them Adam and Eve) lie down in the grass and start getting it on, he freezes in place and stares in awe from the quiet comfort of nearby brushes. That's how the incremental narrative takes hold, for he then proceeds to tell others of his kind about his curious find, bringing an increasing amount of mates for the second and third rounds of vigorous sex provided by the oblivious pair of decadents. While little can prepare you for the closing blood orgy, the viewer has an inkling of doubt concerning the creepy creatures' intents all the way through and this creates a very gripping atmosphere of tension. In the end, whether you wish to see this as a Christian or anti-Christian allegory, a meditation on porn addiction or a cautionary tale about venereal disease, you will be left in awe by the ungodly amount of work involved in the creation thereof. You see, this 20-minute effort is entirely done in stop motion animation, and not the crappy kind, the 24 frames per second kind! The result is a breathtaking, incredibly fluid and elaborate masterpiece complete with masterful tracking shots and an abundance of moving parts. Hell, even the grass is moving in some shots, along with the giants' arms, legs and heads. Shit, you'd have to be mad to undertake such a project, but Falardeau clearly is and so he succeeds at creating a very impressive, lasting work of art. While the audience didn't react accordingly, I impute that to shock, rather than lack of satisfaction. At any rate, I liked it. Even more than stellar runner up: The Legend of Beaver Dam.
Short films who outdid the features with which they were coupled:
- Crépuscule (was better than Bas-Fonds)
- Bunny Boy (was better than Dharma Guns)
- Death and the Blue-Eyed Boy (was better than Exit)
- The Unliving (was slightly better than Invasion of Alien Bikini)
- Bobby Yeah (was much, much, much better than Saint)
BEST FIGHT SCENE
Why not? And for once, it's not Asian boys who will claim that prize!
CHARLIE FONTAINE VS BOBBY FONTAINE (Marc Senter and Nathan Grubbs), Brawler
Prior to this memorable, and incredibly intense fight between two brothers, one of its promoters says: "this is the kind of events local legends are made off". And he's got that right. Because while the two American boys lack the proficiency of their Chinese and Thai counterparts when it comes to martial arts, their final confrontation is infused with a dramatic intensity that no Sammo Hung, Yuen Woo Ping, Tsui Hark or Panna Rittikrai film could ever wish to attain. I mean, here's two brothers, brought to life by two very committed no-namers, punching and strangling each other senseless in a mob-controlled brawling match. While the narrative stakes may not be as high as can be (the fate of the world doesn't depend on the outcome of the fight) the humanity of it all is circumvented much more accurately than in Far Eastern narratives, and any given Rocky film for that matter. The fist to the face of one's brother, the sound of flesh being battered by eager knuckles and the slithery fingers holding on to his neck with ungodly strength. This is the stuff which tragic masterpieces are made of. At least the genre-film version thereof.
Runner-ups
SU QI-ER VS YUAN LIE (Man Cheuk Chiu and Andy On), True Legend
One hell of a lengthy fight, this pits two very determined brothers-in-law against each other and against the scenery. Classic HK action featuring some choice Wushu and the deadly, effects-laced Five Venoms Fist technique.
DEE, JING'ER AND PEI VS THE CHAMBERLAIN (Andy Lau, Bingbing Li, Chao Deng and Nan Xu), Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame
Marvelous, high-flying action in an underground cave involves a huge arsenal of weapons and some perilous stunts on rolling logs.
BEST ANIMATION FILM
An easy choice, especially if one considers the rapidly declining number of animated features shown at the festival.
Redline was head and shoulders above its two competitors this year (I haven't seen Legend of the Millennium Dragon, for lack of interest). It didn't share El Sol's primitive looks or Surviving Life's monotony. Quite the contrary. Because while it is a melodrama at heart, it is one that involves brisk and fluid action scenes so intense that one could have an heart attack just by watching them. The peripheral characters are colorful, both in the literal and figurative sense, and their characterization owes a lot to the impeccable animation. While this is not anything like Miyazaki, it works splendidly as a genre piece, specializing in the craft of heavily armed hot-rods zooming across any terrain, goofy-looking aliens and shapely idorus. It's a shame that the action sequences are inter-cut with so many dramatic bits, halting the excitement every time. But the end result is all too gorgeous and addictive to make you care for such petty concerns.
