Festival De Nouveau Cinema - Entry # 1

It's always a blast to cover this film fest and just like I did last year, I'll be updating this blog many times in the next few days with my take on some of the hottest titles playing in Canada's oldest film fest, Montreal's Le Festival De Nouveau Cinema. In fact the film fest hasn't even started yet but I was given a few screener DVDs to wet my appetite. At this year's fest I hope to get the same treats as I got last year. Every film fest has its fair share of surprises and this year's edition should be no exception.

The first film I saw was Nadav Lapid's Policeman, an Israeli film that knocked me out for a loop. The film tells of two stories. The first half has to do with Yaron, a hard working Israeli Police Officer with a pregnant wife and a sense of unequivocal fraternity amongst his unit. The second half of the movie is more political - a group of five young Left wing radicals decide to start a revolution to protest the vast difference between Israel's Rich and Poor societies. They want to create a new order in a country they see decimated by poverty. Both stories come together and converge into a thoughtfully carried out finale that consequentially ups the tension a notch. Also showing at the prestigious New York Film Festival, Lapid's film is one like no other. He shoots it with a bracing poet's eye, choosing the right shots and experimenting with the style a little. Here's a small budget movie made into a grandiose cinematic statement, I wouldn't be surprised if more people hear about it in the months to come.

Actress turned director Sarah Polley's followup to her -in my books overrated but- critically acclaimed 2006 debut Away From Here starts off in the same vein as her previous picture, simplistic storytelling and a narrative that doesn't really give us anything new but .. it changes in its last third into a kind of vision I never thought Polley had in her. Take This Waltz is a flawed picture that takes more than its fair share of chances as it goes along. Michelle Williams' Margo is married to a lovable shlub played by Seth Rogen yet she's not contently happy and almost taken aback when she meets the next door neighbour on a business trip and strikes a forbidden chord with him. You know a movie is doing something right when you can relate to some of its characters. The questions Polley raises are valid. Is love enough and worth keeping more than isolated sexual pleasure? Does desire trump love? Williams gives her usual impeccable performance and Rogen is not bad in one of his first dramatic roles. It's a film at war with itself, a kind of schizo mess that doesn't always work but takes chances that make it worth checking out. I think Polley is headed into the right direction but she's still a work in progress.

My recap of the Film Fest

After close to 2 weeks of covering the local film fest, I'm completely movie'd out but I've had time to write about it through The Link and Awards Daily. You can read my thoughts over at Awards Daily by clicking HERE & The Link coverage HERE. If you're too lazy to click and can only scroll here's what I wrote on Sasha Stone's web site.

Montreal’s Le Festival Du Nouveau Cinema concluded its 39th edition on Sunday with Palme D’or winner Apichatpong Weerasethakul Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, a mesmerizing journey into the nature of life and death. Its puzzling nature was a reassuring sight to see at a fest that was filled with disappointing efforts from the likes of Clair Denis and Catherine Breillat. Sadly, I wouldn’t bet on Weerasethakul’s film getting nominated for the Best Foreign Film Oscar, it is too visionary and ahead of its time to likely get recognized. However, Japan’s official entry in the Oscar race, Tetsuya Nakashima’s Confessions won a deserved Audience Award which is a good sign for its chances come nomination time. Nakashima’s film was THE summer hit in Japan this season and is riding high as a crowd pleaser in festival circuits worldwide. Was it as good a movie as Uncle Boonmee? Of course not but Confessions has an accessibility that the academy will likely cuddle to, in its depiction of a high school teacher seeking revenge on the students that killed her daughter.

Canada’s official submission Denis Villeneuve’s Incendies will also most likely get recognized with a Foreign Film nomination, in fact it might just be a masterpiece & has been picked up by Sony Pictures Classic for a 2011 release. Take that in mind and the fact that it won Best Canadian Film at the recent Toronto Film Fest and you got a real contender. Meanwhile Mexico’s Official entry, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Biutiful got a rapturous applause at its screening more than a week ago. I dug Inarritu’s first three directorial efforts but thought this new one didn’t live up to them and was a slight letdown in its depiction of a dying man trying to leave his children a better future before he dies. Javier Bardem is guaranteed a Best Actor nomination and is the reason why the film is even worth watching. As Uxball, a man haunted by his past and worried about his future, Bardem infuses a raw and unforgettable grittiness to his role. The film, despite its exciting visual style, was too conventional to get me all excited.

Although Bardem impressed, Lesley Manville gets my award for Best Performance of the fest as an alcoholically depressed middle aged woman looking for love in Mike Leigh’s great Another Year. Just like Leigh’s other films, Another Year is an actor’s delight and something truly special. We should cherish the films this man gives us because not many people make them like this anymore, simple and wonderful. The film is worth watching alone for Manville’s master class in acting. She infuses the film with a comedic and touching gravity that will astound you from the get go. As far as I’m concerned she will be competing with Annette Benning for the critics’ awards come December, they might just boost her to a nomination.

As far as animated film goes, nothing came close to touching Sylvain Chomet’s follow-up to Belleville Rendezvous, The Illusionist. It’s a real shame that this year has been wonderful in terms of animation but If I were the Academy this would be a cinch for a nomination. Chomet’s breathtaking visual style is a wonder to behold and if The Illusionist might not be as Inventive as his first film, it’s still got more to give us than any other animated film this year, save for maybe Toy Story 3.

Other films that I dug at the fest were Gaspar Noe’s incendiary Enter The Void which, just like Uncle Boonmee, gave a new voice to how cinema could be told with its frenetic camera movements and trippy images that test the patience of its audience- It reveals a spiritual side that I never thought Noe had ditto Mathieu Almaric’s Tournee (On Tour), which won him a Best Directing prize at Cannes. It’s his ode to the American Burlesque performance and he directs the film like a true veteran, infusing hand held camera with a loose narrative to give a kind of cinema verite style to his film.

Le Festival Du Noueau Cinema Day (Day 6)

Mike Leigh, one of the greatest directors alive, has built a career over lower British class dreams and nightmares. His filmography reads like a master class in cinema (Naked, Secrets & Lies, Happy Go Lucky) and add his latest, Another Year, to that list of his best movies. It's a real treat to watch Leigh direct a film such as this one, cause there really isn't any other filmmaker that does movies like Leigh does anymore. His way of making movies is simple, yet affective. He gives us a slice of life in British society, a melange of characters and vignettes that are designed to be character and societal studies. Another Year is a character study of 3 main people. A couple in their 60's called Tom and Gerri (played by Jim Broadbent/Ruth Sheen) and Mary, an alcoholic, depressed, middle aged woman that works with Gerri in an office an has a thing for her son.

Lesley Manville plays Mary and it's a knockout performance that will likely get awarded by year's end. Manville, in her fourth decade of acting and a Leigh regular, might have just given the performance of the year with this one. Another Year rests on the shoulders of her character as its dramatic and comedic centerpiece. Don't get me wrong, Broadbent and Sheen are incredibly subtle and effective but Manville does Leigh proud in investing her heart and soul into a destructive and touching characterization of alcoholism and depression. I loved how she could change the expressions on her face so effortlessly, it's a performance that goes along well with Leigh's bravura filmmaking.

Another film that has gotten much buzz here is Jean Luc Godard's latest, Film Socialisme- which I can't really explain cause, well I didn't really understand it + the buzz is mostly coming from the name Godard alone. I guess that's the point Godard was trying to make in his attempt to put out themes and stories that are clearly in his head these days. What themes might you ask? well I guess that's what I'm trying to say, the themes are never pronounced very clearly but only hinted at in context. It's a mess of a film but will clearly get eaten up by folks that have liked some of his later career fare, I haven't necessarily cuddled up to those films just so you know my stance. It's a real shame that Godard has resorted to making movies such as this one because you can still see immense talent in the shots he gives us in this film, there is a visionary flair that has not been lost over the years by the Breathless director. His lack of plot or story is a real shame, he refuses to gives us anything straightforward because, as I understand, he has lost all hope in contemporary movie making and probably thinks it is a lost art. To each his own I guess.

Festival Du Nouveau Cinema (Day 4)

Gaspar Noe never seems to settle for a conventional narrative. His latest is called Enter The Void and runs at more than 160 minutes. It is long, flawed, repetitive but is also something I have never seen before in cinema and I do mean that as a good thing. If he shocked us all with a 10 minute rape scene in Irreversible, the shock is not as nasty here but he instead decides to resort to trippy psychedelia and images that represent an other worldly existence. His inspiration is clearly Kubrick, most notably the last 20 or so minutes of 2001 expanded into 2 hours. Although there is a story at hand here and a clear belief of an after life.

Taking place in Japan, the film uses the colorful scenery of the country to tell the story of two Americans -brother and sister- that are literally lost in translation. The brother, Oscar (Nathaniel Brown) has turned into a junkie that is hooked on the drug DMT (the chemical your brain unleashes when you're dying) and his sister Linda has resorted to stripping for money- she also has a semi creepy affair with her Japanese manager. The brother gets shot and basically waders around the entire film in an undisclosed life form going through flashbacks, present time and another dimension.

Talking about creepy, there's hints of Incest throughout the film although it never really is revealed what that's all about. Suffice to say, I dug this film quite a bit because of its visionary reaches and the way Noe tries to bring a new way of expression to a cinematic medium that has all but failed in inventiveness the last few years. There's no short of originality here, although I felt completely drained by the time the film had ended. It's an experience that you will likely not forget, to say the least.

Romanian cinema has just been boomin' the last few years, what with that incredible stunner 4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days garnering worldwide acclaim in 2007 and of course The Death Of Mr. Lazarescu. I had high expectations for Radu Muntean's Tuesday After Christmas which explores infidelity with long takes and a retainment of emotions. So far, so good right? and for the most part it is but there's only so much you could do with the a story about adultery and with the limitations Muntean sets out. The man in the marriage is cheating on the family dentist's assistant. even worse, Christmas is around the corner and our old buddy is thinking of making a decision that will likely change his life in a major way. Starring Dragos Bucur as the husband, Maria Popistasu a the mistress and the brilliant Mirela Oprisor as the lost and bewildered wife, a memorable performance that sneaks up into you. A Pitch perfect ending helps the film hve a bit more of a groove near its conclusion. A bewildering film I will likely need to thoroughly think about.

Greg Araki's new film has not found a distributor since its auspicious debut at Cannes in early may, which kind of sucks considering I enjoyed many parts of it. It's just a plain old, goofy, stoner comedy with lots of female (and male) flesh. Kaboom will not change the world and will likely not get the cult or critical acclaim Araki managed to get with his last film (Mysterious Skin) but Kaboom has enough interesting bits that I'd recommend it for a night of good old debauchery. Its College humor is unlike any comedy out there- whereas its last 20 minutes are so ridiculous that you need to just uncheck your brain and go along with whatever is fed to you. It all has to do with these damn cookies our main protagonist devours at a party. Lesson of the day- NEVER EAT COOKIES YOU DID NOT BAKE YOURSELF.

Festival Du Nouveau Cinema (Days 2 & 3)

Not that I should complain much but Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's latest film is a real downer I tell you. Oh is it ever. Then again, his first 3 films (Amorres Perros, 21 Grams & Babel) wouldn't qualify either as feel good cinema. His latest is called Biutiful and it has an incredible lead performance from Javier Bardem. In fact, I'd shocked, just shocked I tell ya if he didn't get a Best Actor nomination. He plays Uxball, a man that has to take care of his two children because his ex-wife has lost custody since well, she's an alcoholic. To make matters worst, Uxball is dying of cancer and there are quite a few scenes in the film that umm show his symptoms in quite a direct, in your face manner (blood with urine). The man also makes a living with numerous jobs, most of them illegal such as helping out illegal Chinese and Senegali immigrants. Oh and he can see things too, by seeing things I mean he can actually SEE things, dead people and such- he gets payed by desperate families at funeral homes to try to relay messages from their loved lost ones.

All in all, it's an exhausting experience that definitely is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination. What makes it worth seeing is Bardem, who's Uxball is slowly but surely losing his mind and disintegrating on screen, his weight lowering, his eyes getting sleepier and his lip moving less and less. Bardem never loses sight of his characters' fight to leave his children with a better life once the cancer has taken him down. The film's flaws are marked and noticed but Bardem fights them all at once with his knockout performance. Now I just wish Inarritu, a talented filmmaker, can make a fresher movie next time around, one that does not involve the predictable disintegration of a lead character ala 21 Grams or Babel. His pleasure in making films about suffering and death is starting to get to me. Then again it might just be like telling Peckinpah to stop making violent movies or Lynch to stop dreaming about dreams.

Another film that came into the fest with some heavy buzz is Claire Denis' White Material which recently screened at the New York Film Festival. Denis comes back to Africa with this one and casts Isabelle Huppert as a woman that resides in Africa with a Coffee Bean business at her disposal. Of course, Coffee has nothing to do with the picture. In fact, African Civil War is the layout of this excitingly tense and violent picture. Huppert's family is dysfunctional to say the least, her husband (played by Christopher Lambert) tries to negotiate a deal with the mayor, her father in law just wanders around the house like a lazy bum and her son, well let's just say her son goes crazy and wanders off in thin air, disappearing into the African night.

Compared to Denis' other films, this is conventional stuff. Then again, it is nevertheless an interesting piece of cinema done by one of the great filmmakers around. The violence that Denis shows us is brutal, as child soldiers roam on the streets, not scared to attack or kill a civilian. The setting is pitch perfect and brings back Denis to a childhood she clearly remembers in colonial Africa. There are scenes that are unforgettable here, yet the mystery that lingers in almost all her other films is missing. Instead she decides to tell her story in a conventionally paced manner and doesn't feel the need to bring a little more of her trademark nasty darkened mystery. This is a well recommended picture but clearly not one of her best.

Another picture I saw was Carl Bessai's Fathers And Sons and it is one of those movies that you see every once in a while at a film fest. I'm talking about the kind of movie that makes you wonder why it was picked to be in the damn program. Its interwoven story lines all have to do with, well guess Mr. rocket scientist, fathers and sons. There's an Indian family, a Jewish family, an Irish family and a black family. All this and maybe I should have just chugged that glass of wine to make the pain go away a bit. uggh next time.

Festival Du Nouveau Cinema (Day 1)

Le Festival Du Nouveau Cinema has been over the past decade, the best film fest in Montreal. Year after year, the organizers have practically outdone themselves in concocting a program that would satisfy the most fervent of cinema fans. Over the next 14 days, I will be cramming into my schedule close to 40 movies from more than 20 countries. You can call it a film geek's wet dream or you can call it overload. I'm looking forward to having a chance to visit the new world's of such masters as Britain's Mike Leigh, Mexico's Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Romania's Cristi Puiu, Denmark's Thomas Vinterberg & French auteurs such as Jean Luc Godard, Clair Denis and Catherine Breillat. Serge Losique's Montreal World Film Festival has long been overshadowed by a film fest that has decided to overtake it in terms of creativity and substantial programming. If you are a fan of cinema and always think outside the box, Le Festival Du Nouveau Cinema is for you with its eclectic selection and all around satisfying vibe.

Portugal's Manoel De Oliveira is 102 years old, yet age has not been a factor for him to direct films in an almost yearly basis. The Strange Case Of Angelica -his 51st movie- has themes of love and death and an almost comatose structure. De Oliveira's movies have either been hit or miss the past 2 decades and there's no doubt in my book this one is a miss. The film talks about a strange young photographer that is given the task of photographing a dead girl, he grows a strange admiration for her as the days go by, an admiration that ultimately turns futile and scary as our photographer friend starts hallucinating and coming to terms with a breakdown. The film is beautifully shot and has an original way of telling things but it is also uninvolving to its viewer and not all that satisfying an experience. Oliviera has nothing to prove and thus has made a movie that is mostly for himself and nobody else- that's problematic and at the end quite disappointing.

Talking about strange. In a film fest that takes pride in its weirdness and originality, Bruce LaBruce's L.A Zombie might just take the prize for weirdest film. Clocking in at a mere 63 minutes, LaBruce's film is a strange gay porn gorefest that will likely puzzle and frustrate many at the fest. LaBruce wouldn't want it any other way. His film casts porn star Francois Sagat as a Zombie -or is he just a schizophrenic?- that goes around Los Angeles looking for dead male bodies to have sex with and literally bring back to life. Yikes. Talk about infuriating the masses. LaBruce doesn't care. His film has been categorized as a Queer Cinema Zombie Film, but it is more than just that. I saw a parallel and hidden metaphor to the AIDS epidemic. You don't necessarily have to think that much when watching LaBruce's film. It has practically no dialogue and lets the images speak for themselves. You will likely come out puzzled. I know I did.

French actor turned director Mathieu Almaric won the Directing Prize earlier this year at Cannes for his tour de force directorial debut, Tournee (On Tour). His film has an incredible atmosphere as it follows American Burlesque performers and their idiosyncratic French manager (also played by Almaric). Almaric's film and direction owes a big debt to the sprawling character driven epics of such American masters as Robert Altman and Martin Scorsese. There are well over a dozen characters to pay attention to here but Almaric's hand makes the surroundings incredibly vibrant and entertaining to watch. Miranda Colclosure gives an astonishing performance as one of the Burlesque ladies that has a peculiar friendship with Almaric's manager. In making the film, Almaric hired some of the best, most talented Burlesque performers in the States to portray his ladies. It worked, these non-professional actresses feel genuine and natural on camera. The film isn't perfect but the overall vibe Almaric creates is incredible and -like all great road trips- feels like an experience. Tournee confirms Almaric as a true talent of cinema, both in acting and directing.