Category: Sundance Film Festival

Sundance 2012: LFM Reviews Wish You Were Here

By Joe Bendel. Southeast Asia really is not the wisest place to go on a drug and booze-fueled bender, particularly if you are parents and even more so if you are pregnant. Nonetheless, the Flannerys decides you only live once in Kieran Darcy-Smith’s cautionary tale, Wish You Were Here, which screens as part of the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Dave and Alice Flannery have two kids, with a third on the way. Despite her advancing pregnancy they cannot say no when her sister Steph McKinney’s new boyfriend offers to treat them all to a vacation in Cambodia. A sketchy import-exporter, the fast-talking Jeremy King claims he can deduct it all. Evidently Australia must have quite an indulgent tax code. At first, the quartet has a blast, as the audience can plainly see from the long opening montage. However, only three of them came back. Somewhere along the way, they lost King.

Actually, quite a bit went down in Cambodia that threatens to break their family ties. Since they all assume King’s disappearance involved his stash of XTC, they have trouble deciding just what they should tell the Australian authorities. Needless to say, there are probably lingering dangers from that fateful night they should also worry about.

At times, the Flannerys can just be hair-pullingly dumb. An iota of communication would have spared them so much grief. Still, the slow reveal of King’s fate is rather effective (though the resolution of the mystery is somewhat underwhelming). The Cambodian locales are also quite cinematically exotic and seedy. Yet throughout Wish, it is impossible to shake the notion the Flannerys got off easy. Haven’t they seen Midnight Express? Drug use in a less than transparent country is usually a distinctly bad idea.

Poised to succeed Russell Crowe as Hollywood’s favorite square-jawed Australian, Joel Edgerton definitely has the right intense screen presence and everyman quality for Dave Flannery. Granted, it is a stressful set of circumstances, but Felicity Price’s Alice Flannery often comes across as somewhat overwrought and irrational. In contrast, even though he draws the short straw, Anthony Starr is rather memorably dynamic as the ill-fated King.

Wish is a serviceable thriller-slash-family drama, but it holds no real surprises in store for viewers. It probably will not do much for Cambodian tourism either, even though the beaches look inviting. Not a special priority, Wish screens this coming Wednesday (1/25) and Friday (1/27) in Park City, as this year’s Sundance swings into high gear.

SUNDANCE GRADE: C+

Posted on January 22nd, 2012 at 11:10am.

Sundance 2012: LFM Reviews Where Do We Go Now?

By Joe Bendel. Isolated and picturesque, the Lebanese village of Taybeh offered the perfect locations for the country’s official submission for this year’s best foreign language Academy Award. The church and mosque built side by side will be particularly significant in Nadine Labaki’s stylized musical, Where Do We Go Now?, which screens during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Accessible only by an impossibly torturous bridge, the Christian and Muslim inhabitants live in peace, or at least the women do. The men are uneasy in their truce as news of fresh violence in the outside world vaguely drifts in. Tired of their perpetual mourning, Amale, the Christian widow who operates the town café, organizes the women like a Lebanese Lysistrata. They sabotage the television and radios, while doing their best to distract the restive men. When all else fails, they bring in a troupe of Ukrainian strippers, in a bit of a departure from the film’s classical Greek forerunner.

In a bit of a twist, the women’s few real male allies include the village’s priest and imam, whom the film presents as friendly colleagues rather than hateful zealots. Of course, Labaki and co-writers Jihad Hojeily, and Rodney Al Haddad strenuously avoid taking sides. Indeed, the whole crux of the film is the interchangeability of the two faiths.

The occasional musical number certainly helps liven-up the proceedings. Some are rather somber, like the funeral procession taking a slight Fosse-esque detour. However, Amale’s fantasy dance with Rabih, her Muslim handyman, is pretty hot stuff. As Amale, Labaki is also rather alluring, but her smart and sophisticated presence seems at odds with the rest of the largely matronly townswomen. Indeed, she seems distinctly out of place in this town full of stock characters.

Still, the choreography is striking and Christophe Offenstein’s cinematography is often quite arresting, soaking up all the scarred beauty of the weathered village and the rugged surrounding landscape. Though well meaning, Where remains a minor film that ultimately lacks the gravitas it presumes to have by virtue of its subject matter. Pleasant for those who enjoy an unconventional movie musical, but hardly a priority at Sundance, it screens this Saturday (1/21), Wednesday (1/25), and the following Saturday (1/28) in Park City, as well as this Sunday (1/22) in Salt Lake.

SUNDANCE GRADE: B-

Posted on January 21st, 2012 at 10:06am.

Sundance 2012: LFM Reviews Searching for Sugar Man

By Joe Bendel. Sixto Rodriguez, a.k.a. Rodriguez, a.k.a. Jesus Rodriguez was considered the Bob Dylan of inner city soul. His voice even had a vaguely similar nasal quality, but was much richer and sonorous. Despite positive reviews for two albums, Rodriguez quietly slipped into obscurity in America. Yet, unbeknownst to him, his music would be embraced by a generation of anti-Apartheid Afrikaners. Two South African music lovers’ dogged investigation into Rodriguez’s fate is documented in Malik Bendjelloul’s Searching for Sugar Man, which screens during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival.

Due to his musical tastes and mispronunciations of his name, Cape Town record store owner Stephen Segerman has been nick-named “Sugar Man” since his army days. As any anti-apartheid white South African coming of age in the 1970’s knew, “Sugar Man” was one of Rodriguez’s greatest “hits.”

Though he never sold in America, it seems the visiting daughter of naturalized South African Americans brought a copy of his debut album Cold Fact with her and it just caught on, or so the legend goes. First bootleg copies circulated, but eventually legitimate South African labels started licensing it from future Motown honcho Clarence Avant’s Sussex Records. The money part of the story remains hazy (Bendjelloul lets Avant off rather easy in their on-camera interview), but none of it ever made its way to Rodriguez.

With no biographical information on his record sleeves, Rodriguez became a man of mystery to his hundreds of thousands of South African fans. Wild legends sprang up regarding his spectacular demise. However, the truth is worth staying for.

Sugar is a really well put together documentary. Camilla Skagerstrom’s cinematography vividly conveys the spirit of Rodriguez’s native Detroit and the Cape Town of his number one fan, as do the seamlessly integrated animated passages. Nonetheless, it is Rodriguez’s songs that truly give the film such a distinctive character. Extremely soulful and lushly orchestrated (nobody can fault Sussex for their production quality), they speak for themselves.

While the collector’s label Light in the Attic has reissued Rodriguez’s catalog, he remains far from a household name in America. Still, Bendjelloul’s documentary could possibly deliver scores of new fans. Wisely, he includes extensive selections from Rodriguez’s body of work, which are well served by the film’s excellent sound quality. Despite the singer’s politically charged lyrics, Bendjelloul also shrewdly avoids ideological partisanship. As a result, Sugar is a very accessible and satisfying film. Highly recommended (especially for Soul listeners), it screens in Park City today (1/20), Wednesday (1/25), and Friday (1/27), as well as this Sunday (1/22) in Ogden.

SUNDANCE GRADE: A-

Posted on January 21st, 2012 at 10:05am.

Sundance 2012: LFM Reviews The Conquerors

By Joe Bendel. They are sort of like the Swiss Family Robinson, except more archetypal. They also must learn to share their bizarre new world with fantastical insectoid creatures in Tibor Banoczki & Sarolta Szabo’s unusually ambitious, genre-defying animated short film The Conquerors, which screens during this year’s Sundance Film Festival in Park City.

Amidst a roiling sea, a man and a woman become castaways on a forbidding island. Since she is pregnant, their situation is particularly dire. Yet, after some initial days of hunger, the man learns how to tame the smaller beetle-like creatures and hunt the larger ones. The woman safely delivers her baby and several more follow. Eventually, their family becomes a small community. For the most part, they live in harmony with their macabre environment, but danger is ever present. Then outsiders arrive and everything changes.

Rendered in a distinctive photorealistic style of animation, Conquerors has a striking look truly unique unto itself. Its evocative black-and-white images suggest the influence of both German expressionism and 1930’s adventure serials in equal measure, while the strange world owes more to the surrealists. Yet, in terms of tone, its closest comparison might be René Laloux’s Fantastic Planet, for its bold use of Biblical motifs and brutally naturalistic representation of the rule of the jungle.

Conquerors screens as part of the short program in Sundance’s New Frontiers track, which is sort of a catch-all for work that is experimental or tech-driven. While its animation might be cutting edge, it is still perfectly accessible from a narrative standpoint. In fact, Banoczki and Szabo tell quite an epic tale in an economic twelve minutes.

So richly detailed and loaded with allegorical significance, Conquerors is definitely the sort of film that rewards multiple viewings. Visually, it is absolutely absorbing, even when depicting unsettling events. A co-production of the National Film Board of Canada, it would be a highlight of most any short film program. Highly recommended, it screens during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival’s New Frontiers shorts block this coming Monday (1/23), Wednesday (1/25), and next Saturday (1/28) in Park City and this coming Tuesday (1/24) in Salt Lake.

Posted on January 21st, 2012 at 10:04am.

Sundance 2012: LFM Reviews About the Pink Sky

From "About the Pink Sky."

By Joe Bendel. Izumi Kawashima is like the Japanese live action version of MTV’s Daria, except way more mordant. Indeed, she is down-right caustic at times, but in a sort of charming way. She will still has plenty of coming of age moments in store for her in Keiichi Kobayashi’s appealingly subversive About the Pink Sky (trailer here), which screens during the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City.

A chance discovery of a wallet loaded with 300,000 Yen precipitates a series of ethical crises for Kawashima. Contemptuous of the lazy local patrolman, the compulsive newspaper reader researches the owner, Koki Sato, learning he is the son of a corrupt (in her judgment) politician. Considering it “dirty money,” she lends 200,000 to a middle-aged fishing acquaintance about to lose his business, who mysteriously disappears (for real) shortly thereafter.

Making the mistake of treating her friends, mean girl Hasumi (or Haruko depending on her mood) Ono and the hard-working Kaoru Mayuzumi, Kawashima finds herself potentially deeply in debt when they insist on returning the wallet to Sato. Not coincidentally, the assertive Ono is quite taken Sato’s picture. It turns out, Kawashima can handle him pretty easily, but his inconsistent stories confuse the innocent cynic.

Using largely neophyte actors, Kobayashi hits the jackpot with his talented and wildly charismatic young cast. Utterly credible and completely unaffected, they all look and sound like teenagers observed surreptitiously in real life, but can deliver deadpan zingers like seasoned pros. Quiet but electric, Ai Ikeda truly commands the screen as Kawashima, conveying both her keen intelligence and age-appropriate immaturity. We can tell she is smart, but not quite as smart as she thinks, which plays out in intriguing ways throughout the film.

Likewise, Ena Koshino is completely convincing as the bossy but fragile Ono, while Reiko Fujiwara is rather endearing as Mayuzumi, the weakest drawn character of the trio. However, Sky offers more than mere teen angst. Visually arresting, its black-and-white cinematography is inspired by traditional Japanese ink painting. Yet Kawashima and her friends would be interesting regardless of Kobayashi’s stylistic choices. Though it occasionally suggests comparisons to Lynch and Jarmusch, his film is never macabre or in any way unpleasant. Indeed, Sky is gentle in its eccentricity.

Don’t call Sky quirky. It is much more than that now dreaded indie cliché. Often very funny but also quite heartfelt, Sky is a wonderfully fresh and sharply written film with an unforgettable debut lead performance. A clear highlight at Sundance this year, it is enthusiastically recommended when it screens tomorrow (1/20), Saturday (1/21), Thursday (1/26), and Friday (1/27) in Park City, as well as this Sunday (1/22) in Salt Lake.

SUNDANCE GRADE: A+

Posted on January 20th, 2012 at 8:38am.

Slamdance 2012: LFM Reviews Buffalo Girls

By Joe Bendel. There are no participation medals in boxing. One fighter wins and the other loses. Audiences will be acutely aware of this fact while watching Todd Kellstein’s documentary Buffalo Girls (trailer here), an up-close and personal glimpse into the lives of two eight year-old girls who fight to support their families. Be forewarned, it is a real heart-wrencher, which screens during the 2012 Slamdance Film Festival in Park City.

Technically, the child Muay Thai boxing circuit operates underground, but nobody seems too concerned about being caught. Young Stam Sor Con Lek is widely known as a champion in her age and weight division. Pet Chor Chanachai is the leading contender. Both sweet-tempered young girls are their families’ primary breadwinners. In hope of a better life, they train like professionals and give it all in the ring, without the benefit of head-gear.

Although both girls insist they want to fight, one has to wonder. Granted, there are not a lot of options in rural Thailand (where peasants are derogatorily called “buffalo” for their stoic fortitude, hence the title) and a successful child fighter can make thousands of Baht in a match. However, that is an awful lot of stress for an eight year-old to carry, not to mention the physical toll.

Largely filmed observational-style with only the occasional on-camera question asked through interpreters, Kellstein follows the girls through three bouts, culminating with the title fight for all the marbles. Unlike nearly every other boxing film ever produced, it is impossible to pick a side to root for. Stam and Pet are equally bright and engaging. (Their parents are a different matter, though. Some viewers might want to see them go a few rounds with the Klitschko brothers to see how they like it.) Clearly, the young girls ought to be in school studying for a productive future rather than the ring, but in Thailand that is much easier said than done.

Pet Chor Chanachai trains in "Buffalo Girls."

Gaining intimate access to the two girls’ home and training programs, Kellstein gives viewers a visceral sense of their daily living conditions and prospects. It is impossible not to care deeply about them after the first two or three minutes. Hopefully, if Buffalo Girls gains traction, there are mechanisms already in place for Stam and Pet to benefit from, because they unquestionably deserve it. Recommended for those who can handle raw reality, Buffalo Girls screens this Sunday (1/22) and the following Tuesday (1/24) as part of this year’s Slamdance Festival in Park City.

Slamdance also has a full slate of narrative features, including Kristina Nikolova’s sensual and cerebral Faith, Love + Whiskey, which vividly captures a sense of the displacement experienced by a Bulgarian expat on her return home from America. Its depiction of Bulgarian nightlife (with its surprisingly catchy club music) ought to well suit Park City audiences when it screens tonight (1/20) and Wednesday (1/25).  Slamdance will also screen Final Curtain, a never before seen television pilot, written, produced, and directed by the now legendary Ed Wood that cries out to be seen with an appreciative and slightly ruckus audience this coming Monday night (1/23).

SLAMDANCE GRADE: B

Posted on January 20th, 2012 at 8:37am.