SUNDAY, AUGUST 7
Despite the fact that the festival had already ended with a bang (Saturday's screening of The Phantom of the Opera at La Place des Arts), there was still some work to do, most important of which was to finally see Absentia, the ultimate sleeper hit of the 2011 edition. Unable to buy a ticket within my initial batch, I was relieved to see that the programmers had added a third screening to round up every enthusiast who hadn't found a way to see it yet. And by "every enthusiast", I mean every last one of them as the theater was absolutely jam-packed, with little room to breathe, let alone move our legs. Word to mouth has that power, and so do eulogistic epithets such as "mesmerizing" and "staggeringly effective", to elevate a slightly distinctive film to the level of revolutionary art. And while I failed to see exactly how the film could really wow me, I had to find out for myself if the hype was true.
Most importantly, I just had to add another screening to my lineup so as to complete my 75-film run. And so I purposefully favored Clown over 13 Assassins (both of which had extra screenings scheduled for the 7th), so as to snub Takashi Miike's sausage machine. And despite the rave reviews I keep hearing about the latter film, I'm still not unhappy with my decision. Besides, if you consider Miike's supremacy in the arena of Japanese film exports, the film will forever be there, waiting for me in the video store shelves, if ever I formulate the wish to see it.
In closing, I would like to congratulate every single programmer at the festival for yet another fine edition. Of course, there's always the occasional razzie, but as always, the sheer amount of fine, if often conventional titles from across the world manages to elevate the ensemble to the international standing which Fantasia has garnered as one of the top, if not the best of all, genre film festivals in the world. A fifteenth anniversary worth noticing with the quiet wish for yet another fifteen years to come.
FILMS SEEN
Clown
Adapted from a popular Danish TV show I didn't even know existed, this refreshingly excessive comedy goes where no American producer would ever dare to go, namely in the realm of dick jokes aimed at adults. Hence, the two mismatched, but complementary protagonists of the film are middle-aged men dealing with mid-life crisis by seeking to attend a very exclusive sex party. Frank is the neurotic, clumsy one while Casper is the self-assured sex fiend. The nature of their relationship directly derives from the hundreds of thousands such relationships that preceded it since the beginning of comedy. Casper is always pushy and Frank is always reluctant and this results in the precise push-pull dynamic that North Americans will expect from such a film. What one won't expect are the sheer amount of genitalia on display (male, female and even child) and the irreverent attitude toward every issue on display, from teenage drinking to bullying, sex sandwiches and drug consumption. In the end, while Clown doesn't manage to convince us of the protagonists' emotional maturation through the cathartic ordeal to which they are subjected, with an ending that borders on the moralistic, the trip is worthwhile and the jokes often hit home, thanks in most part to the adult treatment of the material and the truly extreme, unapologetic nature of its humor. Coming across as some (very) average Joes, Frank and Casper are all-the-more comical in their dealings with the absurd situations in which they are thrown. Together, they propel the film in orbit... and beyond. Be sure not to miss the hilarious ending!
THUMBS UP
Cold Sweat (2nd viewing)
As great as the first time, except for the despicable texting whale washed up on the front row and the exasperating crowd of hand-wavers who didn't realize that it was a zany midnight film they were watching and not an intricate historical drama. Read full review here.
ENTHUSIASTIC THUMBS UP, YET AGAIN
Absentia
Much ado about nothing. This solid horror effort is not nearly as atmospheric or groundbreaking as I was led to believe. Still, it packs a mighty punch, tapping into our fear of the unknown to craft a nearly metaphysical update on urban mythology. Set in disgusting L.A., which contributes its overwhelming ugliness to the horror of the film, the narrative focuses on two sisters (including tasty Katie Parker) who are reunited after years of estrangement, during which one of their husbands has went AWOL. When the man is declared dead in absentia, his carcass goes all J-horror on the protagonists, providing the obligatory jump scenes that one would expect. Luckily, the film greatly evolves when the man comes back from the limbo where he was cast, forcing his wife to reappraise her current priorities. Family drama and supernatural horror thus intertwine in meaningful ways despite the lack of a proper budget to better showcase some of the more elaborate fantastic elements. Still, the imagery contained in the film is intriguing enough to capture your attention. Plus, there's some level of originality here as elements that first seemed borrowed from J-horror are eventually revealed to be much more universal, a little too universal perhaps as the film vies to account for any and every unexplained disappearance that ever occurred by positing an alternate reality lying just beyond the veil of our own. Since leaving the festival circuit (and winning a few awards in the process), Absentia has been atrociously repackaged for the video market. And it's a damn shame too, since it is earnestly better, even in its humble means, than the vast majority of titles with which it shares the shelves.
THUMBS UP
Despite the fact that the festival had already ended with a bang (Saturday's screening of The Phantom of the Opera at La Place des Arts), there was still some work to do, most important of which was to finally see Absentia, the ultimate sleeper hit of the 2011 edition. Unable to buy a ticket within my initial batch, I was relieved to see that the programmers had added a third screening to round up every enthusiast who hadn't found a way to see it yet. And by "every enthusiast", I mean every last one of them as the theater was absolutely jam-packed, with little room to breathe, let alone move our legs. Word to mouth has that power, and so do eulogistic epithets such as "mesmerizing" and "staggeringly effective", to elevate a slightly distinctive film to the level of revolutionary art. And while I failed to see exactly how the film could really wow me, I had to find out for myself if the hype was true.
Most importantly, I just had to add another screening to my lineup so as to complete my 75-film run. And so I purposefully favored Clown over 13 Assassins (both of which had extra screenings scheduled for the 7th), so as to snub Takashi Miike's sausage machine. And despite the rave reviews I keep hearing about the latter film, I'm still not unhappy with my decision. Besides, if you consider Miike's supremacy in the arena of Japanese film exports, the film will forever be there, waiting for me in the video store shelves, if ever I formulate the wish to see it.
In closing, I would like to congratulate every single programmer at the festival for yet another fine edition. Of course, there's always the occasional razzie, but as always, the sheer amount of fine, if often conventional titles from across the world manages to elevate the ensemble to the international standing which Fantasia has garnered as one of the top, if not the best of all, genre film festivals in the world. A fifteenth anniversary worth noticing with the quiet wish for yet another fifteen years to come.
FILMS SEEN
Clown
Adapted from a popular Danish TV show I didn't even know existed, this refreshingly excessive comedy goes where no American producer would ever dare to go, namely in the realm of dick jokes aimed at adults. Hence, the two mismatched, but complementary protagonists of the film are middle-aged men dealing with mid-life crisis by seeking to attend a very exclusive sex party. Frank is the neurotic, clumsy one while Casper is the self-assured sex fiend. The nature of their relationship directly derives from the hundreds of thousands such relationships that preceded it since the beginning of comedy. Casper is always pushy and Frank is always reluctant and this results in the precise push-pull dynamic that North Americans will expect from such a film. What one won't expect are the sheer amount of genitalia on display (male, female and even child) and the irreverent attitude toward every issue on display, from teenage drinking to bullying, sex sandwiches and drug consumption. In the end, while Clown doesn't manage to convince us of the protagonists' emotional maturation through the cathartic ordeal to which they are subjected, with an ending that borders on the moralistic, the trip is worthwhile and the jokes often hit home, thanks in most part to the adult treatment of the material and the truly extreme, unapologetic nature of its humor. Coming across as some (very) average Joes, Frank and Casper are all-the-more comical in their dealings with the absurd situations in which they are thrown. Together, they propel the film in orbit... and beyond. Be sure not to miss the hilarious ending!
THUMBS UP
Cold Sweat (2nd viewing)
As great as the first time, except for the despicable texting whale washed up on the front row and the exasperating crowd of hand-wavers who didn't realize that it was a zany midnight film they were watching and not an intricate historical drama. Read full review here.
ENTHUSIASTIC THUMBS UP, YET AGAIN
Absentia
Much ado about nothing. This solid horror effort is not nearly as atmospheric or groundbreaking as I was led to believe. Still, it packs a mighty punch, tapping into our fear of the unknown to craft a nearly metaphysical update on urban mythology. Set in disgusting L.A., which contributes its overwhelming ugliness to the horror of the film, the narrative focuses on two sisters (including tasty Katie Parker) who are reunited after years of estrangement, during which one of their husbands has went AWOL. When the man is declared dead in absentia, his carcass goes all J-horror on the protagonists, providing the obligatory jump scenes that one would expect. Luckily, the film greatly evolves when the man comes back from the limbo where he was cast, forcing his wife to reappraise her current priorities. Family drama and supernatural horror thus intertwine in meaningful ways despite the lack of a proper budget to better showcase some of the more elaborate fantastic elements. Still, the imagery contained in the film is intriguing enough to capture your attention. Plus, there's some level of originality here as elements that first seemed borrowed from J-horror are eventually revealed to be much more universal, a little too universal perhaps as the film vies to account for any and every unexplained disappearance that ever occurred by positing an alternate reality lying just beyond the veil of our own. Since leaving the festival circuit (and winning a few awards in the process), Absentia has been atrociously repackaged for the video market. And it's a damn shame too, since it is earnestly better, even in its humble means, than the vast majority of titles with which it shares the shelves.
THUMBS UP
Absentia is cheap, but not that cheap
