Category: Sundance Film Festival

By Joe Benel. Lets face it, the future surely won’t be utopian, like in Star Trek, and most likely won’t be dystopian as in 1984 (although some days you have to wonder). Chances are, it will just sort of be topian, as it is now. However, Craig Zobel puts his chips on a radioactive post-apocalyptic future in his adaptation of Robert C. O’Brien’s young adult novel Z for Zachariah (clip above), which screens during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

One by one, Ann Burden’s family members left the safety of their self-contained valley looking for survivors, eventually leaving her with only the family dog for company. One day, Loomis, a scientist in a heavy radiation suit staggers into the sheltered ecosystem. However, just when he thinks he has found an unspoiled Eden, Loomis contaminates himself in a stream fed from an outside source. With the help of his meds, Burden slowly nurses him back to health. He appears to be the companion she has long prayed for, but his scientific materialism is somewhat at odds with her rugged Christian faith.

Nevertheless, mutual attraction steadily percolates between them, until it is interrupted by the arrival of another stranger. On paper, Caleb the former coalminer would be a better match for Burden because of their shared values, but she is surprisingly frustrated by Loomis’s passive reaction to his potential rival. At least an additional set of hands can help build Loomis’s proposed hydroelectric generator, but then what?

Perversely, screenwriter Nissar Modi removes everything that was distinctive and challenging about the novel written by the Mrs. Frisbee and the Rats of NIMH author Robert Leslie Conley under the O’Brien pseudonym, replacing it with a shopworn post-apocalyptic love triangle. Since Caleb was Modi’s creation, he could have at least made him more interesting. However, the watering down of the pitched struggle between Burden’s traditional values and Loomis’s scientific fanaticism is real loss. Frankly, one would have thought that was what attracted Compliance helmer Zobel to the project in the first place.

Still, Z is notable in one respect. It makes a major career statement for Margot Robbie, in a radical departure from her sexpot roles. It is a sensitive performance that presents Burden’s faith in a respectful manner, while also convincingly portraying the slow awakening of her long dormant sexuality. As usual, Chiwetel Ejiofor exudes wounded dignity as the new and improved Loomis, but evidently Chris Pine has seen as many apocalyptic films as the rest of us have, because he just looks bored out of his mind as Caleb.

If you are not going to preserve its themes, why pretend to adapt a book in the first place? Obviously, Modi’s adaptation is an attempt to cash in on the craze for dark futuristic YA projects, but the final product is guaranteed to disappoint fans of the novel (and the earlier 1984 BBC adaptation). As a point of comparison, J.C. Schroder’s Forever’s End has a similar feel, but is far more compelling. Only recommended for fans of Robbie who want to see her take her craft to the next level, Z for Zachariah screens again tonight (1/25) at the Sundance Mountain Resort, tomorrow (1/26), Thursday (1/29), and Saturday (1/31) in Park City, and Friday (1/30) in Salt Lake, as part of this year’s Sundance.

LFM GRADE: C-

Posted on January 25th, 2015 at 2:58pm.

Beach flags de Sarah Saidan from vegaprod on Vimeo.

By Joe Bendel. They might be lifeguards, but their lives are nothing like Baywatch and Vida is not anything like Pam Anderson. For one thing, she happens to be an excellent lifeguard, but because her team is required to wear headscarves in international competitions, she can only participate in one event: her weakest. It is unnecessarily hard to be a young Iranian woman in Sarah Saidan’s terrific animated short film, Beach Flags, which screens during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Vida knows she deserves to represent Iran at the Australian meet, because she is the best on her squad, even when it comes to their only allowable event—a race across the beach to capture the flag. She outclasses everyone until the coach brings in the abnormally tall and fleet Sareh. Try as she might, Vida just cannot catch her. Understandably, she resents the newcomer, vibing her hard. However, when she inadvertently spies on Sareh’s home life, Vida’s perspective changes radically. It turns out it is even harder for Sareh to be a young woman in Iranian.

Beach Flags says volumes about the state of women’s rights in Iran, beginning with the absurdity of the restrictions placed on the lifeguard squad, but shifting to the profoundly depressing circumstances faced by Sareh. It is a pivot Saidan makes with considerable grace. Yet, even though the film addresses pressing human rights issues, Beach Flags is really a lovely little coming-of-age tale that will leave viewers feeling good—which is quite a trick to pull off.

Saidan’s animation is not as richly detailed as a Studio Ghibli masterwork, but it has an appropriately Persian vibe that transports the audience to the two very different Irans inhabited by the rival team members. It is a powerful piece of storytelling that also happens to be rather timely. Highly recommended, Beach Flags screens again today (1/24) in Salt Lake and Monday (1/26) and next Saturday (1/31) in Park City as part of the Animation Spotlight shorts program at this year’s Sundance.

LFM GRADE: A

Posted on January 24th, 2015 at 5:59pm.

By Joe Bendel. It is like a cross between the Incredible Journey and Willard/Ben franchises, but carrying the baggage of the recent rise of Hungarian nationalism. The underdogs are truly underdogs, but they will have their day in Kornél Mundruczó’s allegorical fable, White God, which screens during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Much to everyone’s consternation, Lili and her faithful mutt Hagen must spend the summer with the father she barely knows. He is not crazy about it either, especially when a neighbor tips off the authorities to the noisy Hagen. To encourage purebreds and provide an ominous symbolic parallel, the authorities have levied a punitive tax on mixed mongrels, like the gentle Hagen.

Of course, Lili’s veritably deadbeat Daniel is not about to pay Hagen’s licensing fee, so he dumps him off by the side of the road. He is not the only one to get this idea. The confused Hagen soon falls in with a pack of newly wild mix-breeds, learning to evade the animal control thugs. Lili and Hagen try their best to find each other, but unfortunately, he falls into the hands of an underground dogfighting trainer, who hopes the mold Hagen into a contender through his savage conditioning.

When you get right down to it, Hagen’s story is more eventful that a complete Noah Baumbach retrospective, but he meets his destiny when he is finally captured and sent to the pound. Rather than simply wait to be euthanized, Hagen will rise up like Spartacus and lead a massive dog revolt. In all honesty, this is what most people will be going to White God to see—and it is pretty spectacular.

Lest anyone fret, White God was filmed using American guidelines for animal handling. No animals were harmed during the process. Presumably, no humans were either, but it is harder to be so definitive on that point. Regardless, the canines are all eerily expressive, particularly Luke and Bodie, who play Hagen. Three years ago, everyone’s tail was wagging for Uggie in The Artist, but the Labrador-sharpei-hound brothers take animal performance to a higher level.

Cinematographer Marcell Rév captures the action from a remarkable dog’s eye level. His intimate perspective really helps anthropomorphize the canines. His wide angle shots also powerfully render the apocalyptic third act. Oh, the human beings, Zsófia Psotta and Sándor Zsótér are not bad either, but her acting-out drama with older school mates gets a bit tiresome.

The White God title is apparently a half-baked reference to caste, creed, colonialism and everything else that imposes hierarchies on people, but even when the dog-pack is rampaging, the film never feels as clumsily didactic as that would suggest. Somehow, Mundruczó just flips the allegorical anarchy switch and we accept it. It is a pretty impressive feat of direction and animal handling. Indeed, Arpad Halasz and Teressa Miller (daughter of veteran handler Karl Lewis Miller, whose credits include Cujo and White Dog) are key collaborators in realizing Mundruczó’s vision. Hard to define but absolutely worth experiencing, White Dog screens again tomorrow (1/25) and next Saturday (1/31) in Park City, during this year’s Sundance Film Festival.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 24th, 2015 at 5:59pm.

By Joe Bendel. An aspiring French garage DJ does not plan well for the future. That probably isn’t so shocking. Frankly, it is rather surprising just how long he can keep the party going. Nonetheless, when he crashes, he flames out hard in Maria Hansen-Løve’s Eden, which screens during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

In 1992, the garage scene was still fresh and new. At least that is how it sounded to Paul Vallée. While attending a rave in a decommissioned submarine, he has something of a musical epiphany, as his friends partake of more hedonistic indulgences. It is a moment Hansen-Løve renders almost magically—and it will help compensate for most of Vallée’s horrendously irresponsible behavior that follows.

Together with his chum Stan, Vallée forms a DJ duo known as “Cheers” that will enjoy the curse of early success, but it pales in comparison to breakout fame achieved by their real life colleagues Daft Punk. Girl friends come and go, as Cheers evolves into a satellite radio gig and eventually a hand-to-mouth nightlife promotion business. Perversely, Vallée seems to do more drugs as the money gets scarcer, burning through his inheritance and thoroughly trying his mother’s patience.

The style of music is different, but if you have read one or two jazz biographies, you will immediately recognize the trajectory of the narrative. However, the details of the garage or “French Touch” scene are definitely legit, thanks to screenwriter Sven Hansen-Løve (the filmmaker’s brother), who based the film on his own DJ career (hopefully somewhat loosely).

There is no doubt Vallée’s self-absorbed narcissism gets old quickly. The special guest star presence of Greta Gerwig and Brady Corbet (as Vallée’s American ex and her yuppie husband) only further buttresses its nauseating hipsterness. Yet, Eden is so immersive, it simply pulls you into its world, making you feel it in a sensory, tactile way. Even if French electronic music is not your bag, you will get it during Eden.

As Vallée, Félix de Givry is a bit of a cold fish, who is often hard to read. At times, he comes across like a borderline sociopath, which is rather effective in the film’s overall dramatic context. Arguably, the successive women who take him on as a project really supply the film’s soul. In a performance of great power and fragility, Pauline Etienne acutely expresses the resentment and self-doubt of Louise, the one that got away, but somehow can’t make a clean break of it. Likewise, Iranian exile Golshifteh Farahani (a one-time performer in Tehran’s underground music scene) portrays Yasmin (perhaps Vallée’s last, best chance for a healthy relationship) with tremendous warmth and sensitivity. It is also something of a bold turn for her, considering how much of Eden the current Iranian regime would object to, starting with the decadent music.

Who knew French garage DJs could carry such an epic? Probably more years pass in Eden than Doctor Zhivago, but it is still very much an in-the-moment, experiential kind of film. It is sort of exhausting, but it is worth seeing for exactly that reason. Recommended to a surprising extent, Eden screens this coming Tuesday (1/27) and Wednesday (1/28) in Park City, during this year’s Sundance.

LFM GRADE: B

Posted on January 24th, 2015 at 5:58pm.

By Joe Bendel. Suppose they threw a cultural camp and a 1980s teen comedy broke out instead. Evidently, it happened quite regularly. Not so surprisingly, the sponsoring Korean government was not too amused—hence the program for children of the Korean diaspora was eventually discontinued. However, the camp will have one big horny, heartfelt last hurrah in Benson Lee’s Seoul Searching, which screens during the 2015 Sundance Film Festival.

Prepare to get your eighties on. They are the children of Korean immigrants in America, Germany, England, and Mexico, who have assimilated more completely than their parents. In many cases, they do not even speak Korean. They have been packed off to reconnect with their Korean heritage, but they are really just there to party. Grace Park, the New Jersey pastor’s daughter, has modeled her style on Madonna. Sid Park has adopted Sid Vicious as his idol. These two might be perfect for each other, but it will take them a while to overcome a really rough start.

S. Park will bunk with Sergio, the aspiring Latin lover, and the ever so German Klaus Lee. The latter is decidedly reserved, but he will come out of his shell a little when he helps American adoptee Kris Schultz track down her biological mother. Meanwhile, military academy cadet Mike Lee wages an open war with three kids who want to be the next Run DMC. Yet, the stern Mr. Kim only seems to want to bust Sid Park’s chops.

Searching is based on writer-director Lee’s fondly remembered 1980s summer at Korea’s cultural summer camp—and you can really feel the nostalgia. Honestly, if all the Clash, Go-Gos, Erasure, and Violent Femmes tunes do not bring the decade flooding back for you, you just weren’t around back then. In terms of tone, it is four parts John Hughes and one part American Pie, but the underlying themes of generational culture clashes and the need for roots gives it greater bittersweet substance.

The entire cast is ridiculously charismatic, even when selling the grossest make-out session ever and plenty of manipulative melodrama involving Schultz and her birth-mother. Frankly, it seems like Justin Chon and Jessika Van are way due to breakout as major stars (he was terrific in the short film Jin, but might be better known for the Twilight franchise, while she made a strong impression in indie fare like Bang, Bang). They really have great chemistry in their punked out, material girl Moonlighting-esque sequences. However, Korean actress Byul Kang sort of steals the third act out from under everyone as the taekwondo tomboy Sue-jin.

Even if you weren’t at the Korean government sponsored summer camps, Lee and his cast will make you fondly remember something from your teen years. He juggles at least a dozen well defined characters and two or three times as many mood shifts. Yet, he holds the overstuffed film together and makes it work quite well. Slightly naughty but wholly endearing, Seoul Searching is recommended rather highly for all kids of the 1980s when it screens again next Saturday (1/31) in Park City and Sunday (2/1) in Salt Lake, as part of this year’s Sundance.

LFM GRADE: B+

Posted on January 24th, 2015 at 5:58pm.