Day: March 9, 2014

By Joe Bendel. Above ground, it is like George Orwell’s Oceania. Below ground, it is like Zion in Matrix: Revolutions, except this is a better film. It is easy to tell them apart, because the polarity of gravity is different for each. Yet, two young people will try to bridge the gap in Yasuhiro Yoshiura’s Patema Inverted, which screens during the 2014 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Those who live above are pulled down, whereas those who live below are pushed up. Obviously, whenever the latter leave their underground warrens, they run the risk of floating out of the atmosphere. Nevertheless, their princess, Patema, has the compulsion to explore, much like her missing and presumed dead father figure, Lagos. Oddly enough, something similar happened to surface-dweller Age’s father. He invented a flying machine that went up, but never came down.

Being his father’s son, Age is out of step with the Aiga police state, so he instinctively protects Patema when she strays too far into his world. However, he is no match for the evil overlord Izamura’s secret police. With Patema captured, Age seeks refuge below ground, learning first-hand what is like to live an upside-down existence.

While Inverted has the trappings of dystopian science fiction, it is really more of fantasy at heart. Much of what transpires would be difficult to explain scientifically, so Yoshiura hardly bothers. Sure, some scientific experiment tampered with gravity way back when, but that is just the opening premise. Inverted opens up into a big, cosmic canvas, where up and down are never constant. Frankly, it might be one of the most dizzying films ever made—and it is in good old fashioned 2D.

Like Yoshiura’s excellent Time of Eve, Inverted is built around a high concept, but it does not have the same human touch as his prior NYICFF selection (which is an ironic thing to write, considering Eve is all about human-android interaction). Patema and Age are plucky and likable, with psychologically complex backstories, but they still are not as fully realized characters as those in Eve. Of course, Yoshiura set the bar really high in that film.

Still, by big budget animation standards, Inverted is quite thoughtful and engaging. It would make an interesting double feature with Cuarón’s Gravity, while Eve could be nicely paired up with Jonze’s Her. Easily recommended for its rich visuals and idealistic sensibilities, Patema Inverted screens again Saturday March 22nd at the SVA Theater, as the 2014 NYICFF continues over the next three weekends at venues throughout Manhattan. Future screenings will include the absolutely charming AninA and the appealing Annie: It’s a Hard Knock Life.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on March 9th, 2014 at 11:52pm.

By Joe Bendel. For some hardcore table soccer players, only absolutely clean goals count. That is more stringent than the rules laid down by the international association, but nearly everyone frowns on three-sixty “spinnies.” However, all rule books get tossed out when an egomaniacal football (soccer) superstar challenges a nebbish table player in Juan José Campanella’s Foosball, which screens (in 2D) during the 2014 New York International Children’s Film Festival.

Amadeo’s son Mati thinks the old man is kind of a loser. Oh, but if he only knew the full story. In his old village home, Amadeo worked in the neighborhood bar and lovingly cared for the foosball table. He soon becomes the local champion, even besting the bullying Grosso. For years, this was his moment of glory and the foundation of his relationship with Laura, his almost girlfriend. Unfortunately, Grosso has returned, having achieved fame and fortune as a footballer. It seems the thuggish Grosso has bought the town in its entirety and intends to bulldoze everything to make way for his grand football complex. Naturally, his first target is Amadeo’s foosball table, the symbol of his only defeat.

Thoroughly demoralized, he only manages to save the captain, whom comes alive like Frosty when christened with one of Amadeo’s tears. Soon Amadeo’s entire Foos team is animated and reunited, along with the Maroons, their Washington General rivals. Of course, the small metallic men will be no match for the brutish Grosso, but they will coach Amadeo when he is forced to challenge his nemesis to a match on the football field.

It is not hard to see why Foosball was a monster hit in Argentina. The animation is at a Pixar level and it features all kinds of football action. It is an unlikely follow-up to Campanella’s Oscar winning melancholy mystery, The Secret in Their Eyes, but Foosball shows a bit of an analog sensibility, preferring the physicality of foosball to insubstantial video games. Viewers are also clearly invited to disdain Grosso’s nouveau riche excesses.

Without question, the little foos men are the film’s not so secret weapons. Lovingly scratched and worn in appropriate detail, they cleverly send-up archetypes that will be familiar to even casual soccer watchers. Yet for adults, Grosso’s unapologetically corpulent and equally acerbic agent often steals the show.

Campanella scores a lot of laughs in Foosball, while saying quite a bit about fair play and self-respect. It is a lot of fun, but it actually is not the best Latin American animated film at this year’s NYICFF. That would be Alfredo Soderguit’s sweet and sensitive AninA, hailing from Uruguay. Still, young boys will probably dig Foosball more. Recommended for sports fans of all ages, Foosball screens again this coming Saturday (3/15) at the SVA Theater and Saturday the 29th at the IFC Center, as this year’s NYICFF continues at venues throughout the City.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on March 9th, 2014 at 11:41pm.