2.9 --
AUSENTE (ABSENT), Marco
Berger
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] Two superbly acted roles bring to light the fear a swimming coach
has when he realizes one of his student's has a severe crush
on him. The male student worms his way through lies into
staying over at his swim coach's house one night, and the
coach begins to feel something isn't right. Yet he doesn't
want to leave him out on the street as he has nowhere to
sleep. His grandma whom he says takes care of him isn't
at home, nor is his friend. Lies begin to surface soon after
the coach hears that the student in fact lives with his
parents, and that they were worried about what had become
of their son one night. However, when the student has a
fatal fall off a roof, the coach is overcome with guilt.
The student never told anyone about the overnight incident.
Still, the coach is very concerned 'word' will get out,
and he will lose his job. In fact, nothing ever incriminating
comes to light; the student did not want to hurt him, only
attempt to get close to him which he did to a certain extent.
Lots of suspense and irony make this film a good one to
watch, but it moved far too slowly. The ending was a total
let down, but only if you don't believe in ghosts. The film
is a study in exaggerated fear. It cleverly juxtaposes our
need to help someone and at the same time our desire to
protect ourselves. Sometimes when these two twains meet,
there's a crash and the results aren't pretty.
3.4 -- NO
TENGAS MIEDO (DON'T BE AFRAID), Montxo
Arendariz
[reviewed by Nancy Snipper] One of the best films I have seen on incest. Little Sylvia never
had a chance; her father, a respectable dentist, began molesting
her when she was a child. Despite telling her mother, nothing
is done to stop it. In fact, her mother thinks she is ill.
Indeed, Sylvia becomes mentally ill, yet even as she slowly
recovers, her mother clings to denial. Her dentist dad might
as well have taken the drill and directed it into his daughter's
heart, for as we see through the testimony of real on-screen
victims who are filmed in their therapy group, recovery
is a constant battle. Sylvia eventually escapes from the
clutches of her stalker dad, but it takes a journey into
despair and an attempt to kill herself to begin the process
of healing. This film offered us the wonderful acting of
Michelle Jenner who played the victim with great subtlety.
We felt so sorry for her -- locked in her silence of horror.
2.9
-- SHORT
DOCUMENTARIES (VARIOUS TITLES), Students
of films
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
The collection of five documentaries presented riveting
themes: teens who hang around a park in Havana. Some call
themselves vampires and werewolves, others are skateboarders,
and others are gay. They are talking to the camera and we
follow them as they mix and mingle in this park in the Vedado
quarter. It was funny because these teens were intensely
serious, but what they said was nonsense. In another documentary,
we listened to a transvestite talk about her desire to be
accepted. We enter her world of loneliness. The most riveting
documentary was about the supposed 'illegals' who live in
dirt hovels. They have come from the east of Cuba to settle
into colonies on the outskirts of Havana. It was very sad
to see that these people have no rights and must tolerate
the squalor that the government turns a blind eye to. What
else is new? The documentary about the neighbourhood organization
that is everywhere is Cuba -- formed initially during the
Revolution -- showed just how useless it has become, and
many people spoke out about this, yet most everyone said
it is a must to belong to it. We see the members on the
street sweeping away dirt, and that is pretty much their
role as members. These documentaries were well made and
we must applaud the students for their courage to make such
films that surely were not seen by the government.
3.3
-- LAS
ACACIAS, Pablo Giorgelli
[reviewed
by Daniel Charchuk]
Perhaps the most popular film at this year’s Festivalíssimo,
it’s a surprisingly small movie, a road movie that never
really gets out on the road. Remaining almost entirely inside
Rubén’s truck cab as he drives from Asunción del Paraguay
to Buenos Aires with Jacinta and her small baby who are
along for the ride, it nonetheless captures both the fatigue
of long road trips and the growing attraction between two
strangers through its claustrophobic camerawork. Of course,
it doesn’t hurt to have an incredibly cute baby mediating
the relationship, and indeed she may be the star of the
picture. But the film is still an effective romance in its
own right, even if its scale doesn’t extend much beyond
that.
1.3
-- YOUNG
CUBAN CINEMA, SHORTS, various
directors
[reviewed
by Daniel Charchuk]
Based on this collection of short Cuban films, it would seem that either the country is a place of great social unrest and anxiety or the young filmmakers emerging are deeply disturbed individuals (perhaps these two explanations are not mutually exclusive). Whatever the case, it’s clear that these films are both highly troubling and shoddily made. Running the gamut from voyeuristic sexuality to intense torture, they tackle (apparently) important national issues without shying away from depicting explicit nudity and violence; however, the overall quality varies from borderline mediocre to downright awful, betraying the film school sensibility of some of these works and their directors. Perhaps this is simply symptomatic of modern Cuban filmmaking, but I found it amateurish and tiresome.
1.7
-- LA MUJER
DE IVÁN (IVAN’S WOMAN), Francisca
Silva
[reviewed
by Daniel Charchuk]
Pedophilia is never an easy topic to tackle in any medium,
and even trickier to handle with subtlety and aesthetic
effectiveness. This Chilean work, depicting the uncomfortable
relationship between 40-year-old Iván and 15-year-old Natalia,
unfortunately lacks these latter characteristics, as it
is often loud, brash, garish and increasingly inept. There
is perhaps an interesting artistic way of depicting this
story, and the film occasionally shows flashes of a coherent
style, but, ultimately, it degrades into sensationalist
drama, helped in no way by the low-grade digital cinematography,
a testament to its student film roots. In the end, the questionable
quality of the movie frankly doesn’t justify putting up
with the disturbing content.
1.2 --
SENTADOS FRENTE AL FUEGO, Alejandro
Fernandez Almendras
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Chilean films have got to be the worst in the world. What
is it with these filmmakers? Don't they know they need a
plot to go along with the rugged scenery they constantly
showcase -- perhaps to compensate for the absence of human
substance? Evidently, the director passes this off for a
plot: Daniel and his homely-looking wife, called sexy by
him in the movie (no idea why) are a devoted couple. He
works in the fields cutting grain while she lingers in bed
with an incurable disease that is never really mentioned.
You know when your eyes focus on the mountains rather than
the characters in the film you are bored beyond words. Maybe,
the motive to make this film is more interesting than the
film itself. The music which periodically entered when things
got tough was as corny as the grains Daniel was collecting
in the fields. The cat in the film was cute, but to have
the camera focus on it for 5 minutes as it played on the
table was sheer idiocy. Still, I liked the sheep that tried
to run away in once scene. Most likely, it knew he was in
a dud film and wanted no part of it!
2.3 --
GORDO, CALVO Y BAJITO,
Carlos Asuna
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
Original without a doubt, but the theme is as old as the
hills. Its slant is office politics with a capital B on
bullying. Antonio Farfan is bald, stout and short. His heart
however is bigger than the great amount of mockery that
goes on behind his back and to his face. His brother is
the biggest bully of all, constantly demanding that Antonio
give him money. He name calls, insults Antonio, even humiliates
him in front of all his co-workers when he pays an unexpected
visit to the notary office where Antonio works. Thankfully,
his new boss takes a shine to him -- maybe because they
both have shiny heads (both are bald). A cute side turn
in this animation film happens when Antonio reluctantly
joins a therapy group to overcome shyness. The animation
drawings are not at their best and they wobble constantly;
but the voicing of the characters is perfect. I think this
film would have been great had it not used animation but
made it a 'real' film The potential for even greater humour
and pathos would have been maximized with immediate impact.
The French would have done a good job of it. Still, it is
an unusual film on a subject that will always be relevant.
3.5
-- LA MITAD
DE ÓSCAR (HALF OF OSCAR), Manuel
Martín Cuenca
[reviewed
by Daniel Charchuk]
A stark, melancholy and deeply affecting mood piece filmed
and set in Almería, a town on the Mediterranenan coast of
Spain. The Óscar of the title is a quiet man working as
a security guard at an abandoned salt mine, visiting his
grandfather in a nursing home and going about his boring
day-to-day routine. When his grandfather takes a turn for
the worse and ends up in the hospital, Óscar’s sister, María
arrives from Paris with a French boyfriend, not having visited
in two years. Old wounds are opened and past familial tragedies
uncovered, but it’s not until the very end that the true
reason for María’s absence, and Óscar’s depression, is revealed.
To get to that point, director Cuenca utilizes long quiet
sequences, exquisitely composed shots and Óscar’s enigmatic
facial expressions to build his mystery and set the stage
for a startling conclusion. By the time this gripping film
cuts to black, it’s both unsettled and saddened its audience
through the sheer power of its controlled aesthetic. A real
winner.
2.0
-- RISCADO,
Gustavo Pizzi
[reviewed
by Daniel Charchuk]
A small, almost inconsequential drama focusing on Bianca,
a wannabe actress struggling to make ends meet on the streets
of Rio de Janeiro. Unable to find solid work, she splits
time between waitressing, movie star impersonating and unpaid
theatre acting, attending auditions and finally scoring
a lead role in a French-Brazilian film. The director, inspired
by her story, soon shapes his screenplay to reflect Bianca’s
real life, with her playing, essentially, a version of herself.
The film very nearly takes on a meta quality at this point,
with earlier depicted sequences incorporated into the film-within-a-film,
and we wonder if the movie we’re watching is the movie being
made. But the story never really goes there, choosing to
wallow in human emotion and pathos instead of exploring
interesting ideas of reality and fiction. Karine Teles,
as Bianca, is remarkable, and director Pizzi mixes 35mm,
16mm and 8mm celluloid to craft a unique and varied cinematic
style, but, ultimately, the film doesn’t mean much at all.
2.3
-- LA HORA
CERO (THE ZERO HOUR), Diego
Velasco
[reviewed
by Daniel Charchuk]
“This isn’t like the movies,” a character expresses at one
point, and yet this Venezuelan hospital hostage film owes
much to the cinema, specifically Hollywood. Part "John
Q," part "Dog Day Afternoon," with a little
"City of God" thrown in for South American spice,
it’s an exciting, entertaining action flick, one nonetheless
rendered problematic by its glamourization of violence and
implication that it is a necessary tool to fight corruption
and social inequality. By idolizing the tattooed hitman
protagonist Parca as a kind of Robin Hood figure, the film
seems to work against its dedication to the victims of crime.
Parca is no hero, and yet his final, Christ-like pose leaves
no doubt as to his intended depiction as such, despite weak
attempts to shade his character with ambiguity throughout;
true, hostage films are often centered on law-breaking anti-heroes,
but never ones so unsympathetic and unlikeable. This is
therefore a troubling picture, despite its obvious aesthetic
and technical prowess.
2.3 --
LA HORA CERO, Diego
Velasco
[reviewed
by Nancy Snipper]
In Caracas, the doctors are on strike. Everyone is fighting
the government to do something. Enter Pardo, the anti-hero,
a hit man whose targeted victim is his girlfriend, but he
doesn't know that the woman he shot was the love of his
life. He violently barges into a private medical clinic
for the rich, demanding doctors save her life. She is also
pregnant. But it isn't his baby; it is in fact the director
of the police who got her pregnant. His little thing on
the side with her was only that. After all, he is married.
His mistress threatens to go public about the baby and who
the father is and that is why he ordered the hit on her.
There is humour in this fast-paced film. In the operating
room, we see Miss Venezuela getting a boob job, but that
procedure is put on hold while Pardo and his cohorts try
to control the doctors and save the mother and her baby.
She watches it all as she lies on the operating table. We
also see the newscaster lady whose ambition gets the better
of her, and she ends up being held hostage along with others.
Pardo makes a statement while she holds the camera to him
inside the hospital. He tells all the poor to come to the
clinic to receive medical attention. This film is so frenetic
that the plot twists get lost in the bullet spray that splats
on the screen throughout most of the movie. Combining humour
with raw edge violence, the film shows absurd aspects that
blight Venezuelan life. Still, I felt nothing for the characters
dead or alive. This is tautly constructed film; and even
though I gave it a so-so rating, it is worth seeing if you
want a super speedy ride that has too many bumps along the
way.
For
the ratings of 2009 Montreal Festivalissimo Film Festival,
HERE.
For
the ratings of 2010 Montreal Festivalissimo Film Festivial,
HERE.
For
the ratings of 2011 Montreal Festivalissimo Film Festivial,
HERE.
![Canadian Tire Repair Scam [2211 boul Roland-Therrien, Longueuil] = documents-proofs](../2010_v9_n5/images/mapleleaf.jpg)
