TIFF 2009, Day Ten
Sep. 21st, 2009 03:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
przedI'm still in recovery mode from the fest. It was likely not the best idea to go to the final midnight screening on Saturday night, and then for a family outing to the zoo first thing Sunday morning. Absolute exhaustion aside, it was wonderful to take advantage of the brilliant weather we had yesterday, and great to see Ros and her friends having a great time together.
Title: My Son, My Son, What Have I Done
Director: Werner Herzog
Country: US/Germany
P's Rating: Not-so-good
I picked this one not only because Herzog has directed some completely brilliant films, but because it starred Willem Dafoe, whom some of you will know that I adore. Alas, those perfectly good reasons failed me, because man, this ain't good. Michael Shannon plays a man who's run his mother through with a sword and then holed up in his house with two hostages. (Hostages which turn out to be his pet flamingoes, I might add.) Dafoe is the cop called in to deal with the situation. The film is riddled with clunky dialogue, flat performances, and absurd situations. And not the good kind of absurd.
Title: White Material
Director: Claire Denis
Country: France
P's Rating: Recommended
Denis is generally a love it or hate it proposition. Her films are not for the viewer looking for a nice, unchallenging French film, but usually tend to elliptical narrative and long takes with little to no dialogue. If you're willing to surrender to her vision, you're in for a treat; if not, you'll be bored out of your mind. I'm a fan, and while White Material isn't a good as some of her best--Beau Travail is one of my very favourite films--it's very good. Based nominally on Denis' own experiences growing up in colonial Africa, this one is about a woman fighting to save her family's coffee plantation in an unnamed African country as all the white settlers, the "white material" of the title, are being driven out. Isabelle Huppert is the lead, and you get a real sense of her determination, her desparation, her fear, and her love of Africa, as she tries to get one last crop harvested. As a bonus, Christophe Lambert plays her rather less courageous husband, and does quite a good job.
Title: Ong Bak 2
Director: Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai
Country: Thailand
P's Rating: Ummmm...
Note to self: you are too old to do the midnight screenings. (This will not stop me from trying again next year, but maybe it'll make me take a nap beforehand.) So, the film...well the problem is that I mostly slept through this. But from the brief bits I did see, I can say this: 1) Ong Bak 2 has nothing to do with the first Ong Bak; 2) it's wall-to-wall fighting of the craziest, most inventive kind; 3) it has little to no narrative or character development. Have I mentioned the wall-to-wall martial arts? If you're the sort who enjoys films like The 36 Chambers of Shaolin, you'll probably enjoy this. If you need plot and character, look elsewhere for your pleasure.
Title: My Son, My Son, What Have I Done
Director: Werner Herzog
Country: US/Germany
P's Rating: Not-so-good
I picked this one not only because Herzog has directed some completely brilliant films, but because it starred Willem Dafoe, whom some of you will know that I adore. Alas, those perfectly good reasons failed me, because man, this ain't good. Michael Shannon plays a man who's run his mother through with a sword and then holed up in his house with two hostages. (Hostages which turn out to be his pet flamingoes, I might add.) Dafoe is the cop called in to deal with the situation. The film is riddled with clunky dialogue, flat performances, and absurd situations. And not the good kind of absurd.
Title: White Material
Director: Claire Denis
Country: France
P's Rating: Recommended
Denis is generally a love it or hate it proposition. Her films are not for the viewer looking for a nice, unchallenging French film, but usually tend to elliptical narrative and long takes with little to no dialogue. If you're willing to surrender to her vision, you're in for a treat; if not, you'll be bored out of your mind. I'm a fan, and while White Material isn't a good as some of her best--Beau Travail is one of my very favourite films--it's very good. Based nominally on Denis' own experiences growing up in colonial Africa, this one is about a woman fighting to save her family's coffee plantation in an unnamed African country as all the white settlers, the "white material" of the title, are being driven out. Isabelle Huppert is the lead, and you get a real sense of her determination, her desparation, her fear, and her love of Africa, as she tries to get one last crop harvested. As a bonus, Christophe Lambert plays her rather less courageous husband, and does quite a good job.
Title: Ong Bak 2
Director: Tony Jaa & Panna Rittikrai
Country: Thailand
P's Rating: Ummmm...
Note to self: you are too old to do the midnight screenings. (This will not stop me from trying again next year, but maybe it'll make me take a nap beforehand.) So, the film...well the problem is that I mostly slept through this. But from the brief bits I did see, I can say this: 1) Ong Bak 2 has nothing to do with the first Ong Bak; 2) it's wall-to-wall fighting of the craziest, most inventive kind; 3) it has little to no narrative or character development. Have I mentioned the wall-to-wall martial arts? If you're the sort who enjoys films like The 36 Chambers of Shaolin, you'll probably enjoy this. If you need plot and character, look elsewhere for your pleasure.
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no subject
Date: 2009-09-22 12:30 am (UTC)That's too bad about the Herzog film.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-22 07:40 pm (UTC)The Herzog I saw was bad, but the other one, the Bad Lieutenant remake, is supposed to be amazing. I'm looking forward to seeing that at some point.
no subject
Date: 2009-09-22 10:49 pm (UTC)Rented an interesting one yesterday - Jar City - An Icelandic murder mystery; it was very good. Ripe for an English language remake in the vein of Insomnia methinks. Have you seen it by any chance?
no subject
Date: 2009-09-23 03:16 am (UTC)Jar City sounds intriguing. Shall have to put it on the to rent list. (I do rather like Insomnia.)