LevelK Film Film Review - TOVE

The Moomins iconic big snouted hippo-like characters from children's books, comic strips, and toys are known the world over. The big snouted hippos are a regular staple of kids toys on every continent. However not much is known about their creator Tove Jannson (Alma Poysti) a free spirited starving artist who first did the caricatures that would be her life's work as a distraction to fill time.  Her real work was painting  under the watchful eye of her famous father sculptor (Robert Enckel). If she thought differently her father was always present to remind her that she was wasting her time her characters that were not art.  Seeing that she continued to be left off the grant list Tove receives a job offer to create an invite for the Mayors 70th birthday. The provider of the offer was the mayor's daughter Vivica Bandler (Krista Kosonen) another artist whose upper class status and marriage of convivence allows her to pursue all of her wants with little consequence. She runs a local theater spends months on end in Paris where she maintains a flat and soon has Tove under her spell. Tove's other main relationship from the post World War II era of the film is with Socialist Atos Wirtanen (Shanti Roney) a local M.P.  He is married but does not hide his relationship with Tove as his wife will call her flat/studio looking for him if they have an appointment that day. 

Tove's career as a cartoonist begins to blossom due to an act of kindness from each of her lovers. Vivica gets her dad the mayor to commission a fresco at City Hall for Tove to complete. Viciva sees it as a way for Tove to earn the funds to come and see her in Paris oblivious to how much time the project would take. Atos proposes a comic strip in the local socialist paper which gets her noticed by the Evening News at the time the biggest newspaper in the world. 

Director Zaida Bergoth gives a real insight into Tove's life during the pivotal years spanning the film, the lived experience of artists in Finland, and the life philosophy of the title character. Early on Tove declares that she will never get married. She describes Vivica the love of her life as a beautiful Dragon that attacked her but Tove realizes that you cannot hold onto a dragon as they have to go back out into the wild. She also knows that Atmos will do anything for her but she is also not the type of person that would take advantage and hold him to any arrangement. 

Tove brings the audience into the world of writers and artisans in post Second World War Europe. Their freedom of expression, passion for each other and the arts. It will remind the viewer of the more celebrated period of artistic exploration a generation before when the late twenties rolled into the early thirties. At the centre of the film it is an influential creative mind behind a global franchise who spirit is captured beautifully in the film. 

***1/2 Out of 4.

Tove | Zaida Bergroth | Finland/Sweden | 2020 | 100 Minutes.

Tags: Bomb Shelter ,Dancing, Visual Artists, Gallery Exhibition, Grant, Commission, Momintroll, Thingumy & Bob, Paris, Edith Piaf, 

TIFF '20 Film Review - Spring Blossom

Suzanne(Suzanne Lindon) is bored with her friends, her routine and all people her age. She is a sixteen-year-old student who would rather curl up with a book than go out with her sister Marie (Rebecca Marder) or do something with her parents. Her only area of interest is a much older man Raphael (Arnaud Valois) who is performing in the play in the town square. He smiles when he sees her staring at him from a distance on her way to go to school. They strike up a conversation when she is hanging around at the side of the theatre. Raphael is also bored. He doesn't know how to act anymore, does not like the directors' stage direction, and only finds joy in the music of the production so doesn't mind the  attention. 

Lindon wrote directed and stars in the film. much. But it's behind the camera and her imaginative script where she excels. She creates a brilliant coordinated sequence where Raphael passes over his  headphones for Suzanne to listen to music from the play. The pair sitting side by side at café tables begin synchronized movements as Suzanne closes her eyes to absorb the piece. The story she tells is a simple one. A High School girl falls for a guy twice her age. 

Suzanne begins to pay more attention to appearance, makeup, hair and even going as far as to ask her dad if he prefers women in skirts' or pants. When the two of  them are together they are happy to be in each other's presence. Affection consists of gases, hand-holding or a kiss on the neck. Suzanne won't even get on the back of Raphael's scooter forcing him to walk pushing it beside her as they tour around town. 

Spring Blossom is the story of a girls first foray into the world of romance. She awkward, unsure shy and quiet. Suzanne and Raphael are both present when they spend time together. They are interested in what each other has to say and their respective likes and thoughts. Lindon is omniscient in this work not taking the story along any expected or obvious path. It's an undertaking from a first time artist that's worthy of the viewer's attention sparking anticipation this new talent's next project.

*** Out of  4.

Spring Blossom | Suzanne Lindon | France | 2020 | 73 Minutes.

Tags; Boredom, Melancholy, Fantasy, Routine, Theatre, Paris, Montmartre, Rehearsal, Café, VIAN, Grenadine & Lemonade, Red Scooter, Strawberry Jam & Toast

TIFF '20 Film Review - Another Round

Director Thomas Vinterberg and actor Mads Mikkelsen return home to familiar ground and to each other  after international projects with Another Round. Martin (Mikkelsen) is a high school History teacher stuck in a rut along with his three friends also fellow teachers Peter (Lars Ranthe) Tommy (Thomas Bo Larson) and Nikolaj (Magnus Millang). The friends meet for dinner to celebrate Nikolaj's fortieth birthday and decide to put Finn Skarderud theory to the test. Humans are 0.05% below the natural blood alcohol content. The pact is to keep at that level (0.05% BAC) all day long and with it should come self confidence and joy in what they are doing by being more relaxed and posed.

Things start out well, Martin is more focused at class he is giving relevant examples to his history class. Peter finds other ways to connect with his music class trying new ideas to get them to focus on being a part of the collective. Tommy sees gains in his tyke football (soccer) team especially inspiring a fragile player nicknamed specks. The screw begins to turn when the quartet ups their alcohol content. Martin turns up obviously drunk unsteady on his feet. Alcohol is found hidden in the gym storage room and Nikolaj finds himself in constant battles with his wife over his three kids. 

Vinterberg explores a topic that has been broached by many with justifications such as taking the edge off or liquid courage or the more term of functioning alcoholic being used to justify the behaviour. As the four continue their experiment they distinguish themselves from being true alcoholics. Nikolaj proclaims that they decide when they want to drink while an alcoholic can't help themselves. Nikolaj points to pianist Klaus Heerfordt who always performed at that sweet spot between being sober and drunk. As they listen to one of his pieces they decide to push on. 

The four leads all bring something to the production. Mads Mikkelsen the headliner does a lot with his role from being indifferent in the start, to finding his groove in the early phases of the experiment to imploding then getting it back as the friends head towards oblivion. Look for his Baryshnikov type dance routine which is one of the most joyous moments on film this year. Vinterberg regular and serial Mikkelsen co-star Thomas Bo Larsen turns in a strong performance as Tommy. He is the senior member of the crew but appears to be the one that needs this experiment the most. As with other instances of unsupervised extreme experimentation, there's often at least one member of the control group that is not able to pull which can lead to tragic consequences as the grounds are fertile for it to occur here. 

**** Out of 4.

Another Round | Thomas Vinteberg | Denmark | 2020 |115 Minutes. 

Tags :Milestone Birthday, Finn Skarderud, 0.05%, BAC,  High School Teachers, Imperia Vodka, Confidence, Poise, Day Drinking, Sazerac, Oblivion, In Demark I Was Born.

TIFF '20 Film Review True Mothers

Satoko Kurihara (Arata Iula) receives a call from her six-year-old son Asato (Reo Sato) school. Her son was playing in the playground and apparently pushed another kid who fell from the jungle gym and was injured. Satoko rushes to the school to pick up her son who is insistent that he did not push Sora. The incident is followed up by a call from Sora's mother where she demands a settlement  for medical expenses as The Kuriharas's live on the 30th floor and must be loaded. The story shifts to a time before the Kurihara's had Asato. Satoko and her husband Kiyokazu (Arata Iura) getting the results of his test that he may not be able to have kids without a surgery. The couple hear about Baby Baton a nonprofit organization that will house expectant mothers in difficult situations that agree to give their baby up for adoption until they give birth The paid decide to use the service resulting in Asato. They meet the birth mother Hikari (Aju Makita) a young 14-year-old girl and her parents at the exchange. Formal greetings are exchanged and Hikari gives to the Kurihara's hoping that they will read it to Asato one day. 

The non-linear narrative next focuses on Hikari before she became pregnant. She learns that Takumi (Taketo Tanaka) likes her at school. They soon become intimate with Takumi promising that they will always be together only for that to end once Hikari becomes pregnant. Her parents are beside themselves deciding to send her to Baby Baton for the duration of the pregnancy. Thus begins a cycle of promises being broken and people not always having Hikari's best interest at heart. 

Director Naomi Kawase's film based on a novel by Mizuki Tsujimura moves forwards and back in time set up by a key event. First its the incident at school then later a phone call from someone claiming to be Asato's birth mother 6 years after the adoption requesting the child back or money to remain silent. Several pillars of Japanese culture are on display in the production. Respect for others especially your elders, The need to honor your parents, and the importance of formalities that are often lost in other societies these days. 

Aju Makita shines as Hikari. She is a nice young girl when she takes up with Takumi then the pregnancy, adoption process and life afterward hardens her until she is unrecognizable from the 14- year-old girl we first met. Hiromi Nagasaku is gentle and caring as Satoko. She is very patient when teaching her son Asato the right way to do things, stands up for him regarding the incident at school, and stands by her husband who offers her a divorce after hearing about his sperm count issues. Veteran actor Go Riju is also effective in a limited role as Hikari's protective boss Takeshi. He is perhaps the only person that had Hikari's best interest at heart. 

***1/2 Out of 4. 

True Mothers | Naomi Kawase | Japan | 2020 | 140 Minutes.

Tags: Medical Settlement, Azoospermia, Adoption, Adoption Agency, Teen Pregnancy, Kids Playing, Jungle Gym, Blackmail.

TIFF '20 Film Review - Bandar Band

Khuzestan Province in Iran is underwater. It's difficult to tell where the road ends, the shoulder begins or where is the split between the shoulder and actual waterways. Into this weather event comes Amir (Amir Hossein Tahiri), his almost due wife Mahla (Mahdeih Mousavi), and Navid (Reza Koolghani) are dropped off to collect their van headed to Tehran for a music competition of female singers. Some of the contestants are solo, duo's, or in our protagonists' case a trio. As Amir goes to collect the van and the band gets on the road. The impact of the flood is evident as the van gets moving to push the water aside as they go. We see the inside of the spacious vehicle that is more of a small bus with several rows of seating. The journey is slow with traffic slowing to go around flocks of sheep making progress even more difficult. The plan is to get to Tehran as quickly as possible with two scheduled stops. Mahla has to stop to get a dress for her performance and Navid has to pick up his beloved guitar for the performance. 

As the band travels along the road they encounter many everyday situations alongside the extraordinary ones. They take the wrong turn or the wrong road leading to asking for directions and being forced to turn around. Several roadblocks that require negotiations, washed out roads that require detours, and unexpected events that pop up along the way that the trio has to navigate. 

Director Manijeh Hekmat's story specifically highlights the resilience of the Iranian people. Faced with a flood and the need to evacuate. Friends, acquaintances, and strangers alike are ready and willing to help their fellow citizens. Amir and Navid  don't hesitate to jump out and push when they come across a friend Amed stuck in a deep patch of mud. To get past one roadblock the band thing quickly agreeing to deliver supplies to a refugee camp in place of a vehicle having mechanical problems. The quieter moments are also given their chance to breathe. Mahla's daughter kicks bringing Amid to her to sings lullaby to their soon to be born daughter. When Mahla goes to pick out her dress to find her friends home washed away in a mudslide the two break out into laughter as they stand face to face holding hands knee deep in the mud. 

Bandar Band is an engaging road movie. The participants navigate several scenarios many unexpectedly as they try to meet their 6 P.M. deadline for the show in Tehran. As the van makes its way through the flooded landscape, dirt roads, two way, and on the rare occasion four lane highway the audience peers thought the front windshield trying to get an idea of want is in store up ahead. The film is a window into life in Iran mainly in smaller communities that are not regularly seen on film. 

**** Out of 4.

Bandar Band | Manijeh Hekmat | Iran/Germany | 2020 | 75 Minutes.

Tags: Flood, Musicians, Iran, Khuzestan Province, Pregnancy, Talent Show, Competition, Speed Trap, Lullaby.

TIFF '20 Special Event Film Review - Mr. Jones

The previously unheralded Welsh political advisor/reporter Gareth Jones gets the star treatment as the titular character in the film. At the open Jones has just returned from Berlin having had the opportunity to interview Adolf Hitler with Goering riding shotgun in a state of the art German plane. Jones had the impression that Hitler was motivated and determined with Goering speaking to the goal of the 1000 year Reich which Jones cannot imagine occurring without German expansion with Poland being the likely first target. The British great minds including his mentor fellow Welshman David Lloyd George laugh him off establishing a pattern of  Jones' intuition  being correct but finding himself alone with that perspective. 

Due to budget cuts Jone loses his position as principal secretary to Lloyd George but asks for one last favour of George's office arranging a trip to Moscow for him  for him to interview Stalin. George who is fluent in Russian thanks to his mother's past history of teaching Ukraine and his studies of the language at Cambridge also saw early the necessity of an alliance with the Soviets to counter the rising German threat.  He also had questions about the Russian Utopia. Where was all the money coming from for the great Russian expansion? The ruble was worthless yet they were building palace-like hotels and the top British Engineers were in the country working on many industrial projects.

Director Agnieszka Holland crafts a tale out of Andrea Chalupa's screenplay the latter's family having roots in the country. She points to the alternative motives that many politicians and businessmen had that gave them problems with the truth. Chief among them was Walter Duranty (Peter Sarsgaard) a Pulitzer prize winning journalist with a fondness for debauchery and suppression of the truth a useful foreign voice for Stalin that kept him in place in the Russian capital for over a decade. The narrative also mixes in an alternate story of George Orwell (Joseph Mawle) at his typewriter penning Animal Farm said to be inspired by Jones with the owner of the farm in the book sporting his name.  

Jones' cunning and curiosity leads him to the Ukraine where he discovers the true nature of events in the territory The people are starving, lying frozen and dead in the streets and outside of farmhouses. Orphaned children  are forced to go to unthinkable levels to keep themselves and siblings nourished as the territories grain is being shipped back to Moscow to keep appearances there. Jones documents and catalogs it all barely escaping the clutches of the secret police with Duranty's help to get back to London naively expecting support to tell the world of his findings. Instead, he is discredited and forced back to Wales where he finds an unexpected ally to get his story out. 

Gareth Jones was another voice that early on saw the future danger of Hitler and Stalin. James Norton is vulnerable yet determined as Jones. Look for Vanessa Kirby as Jones' confidant Moscow based colleague of Durany Ava Brooks and the duality of Kryzysztof Piecyznski as Maxim Litvinov head of Foreign Affairs for Stalin. 

Mr. Jones is a story that again points to the theory that the best and brightest generation of first sons was wiped out during The Great War leaving lesser minds to rule and make decisions in the 1930s. Andrea Chalupa's script can serve as a warning for today as leaders of global powers move to consolidate their positions or take a more nationalist approach in other instances. Seeming to show once again that history not learned from is doomed to be repeated. 

***1/2 Out of Four. 

Mr. Jones | Agnieszka Holland | Poland /U.K. / Ukraine | 2019 | 119 Minutes. 

Tags: Russia, Moscow, Ukraine, Famine, Grain, Starvation, Secret Police, New York Times, Pulitzer Prize, William Randolph Hearst.

TIFF '20 Film Review - New Order

Marianne (Naian Gonzalez Norvid) and Alan (Dario Yazbek Bernal) are having their wedding at Marianne's parents home in the high-end Polanco Mexico City neighbourhood.  All of the beautiful people are in attendance as dignitaries come by to give their wishes and drop off envelopes with cash that the bride's mother Rebeca (Lisa Owen) puts in the family safe. The event is underpinned by working class servants. At the front door appears former beloved employee Ronaldo (Eligio Melendez) who's wife needs surgery at a private clinic looking for funds to assist. The matriarch gives him some money then he gets Marianne's ear. She is willing to help and seeks out her brother Daniel (Diego Boneta) and her husband to be for assistance. Daniel takes the lead gathering some more funds then chasing Renaldo off the property. Beautiful people go back to the party but Marianne wanting to help enlist Cristian (Fernando Cuautle) an employee who knows the former to go with her to pay for the surgery direct. 

One on the road the viewer gets a better picture of what's occurring in the city. The pair are turned back by roadblocks and people chanting in the street. They are eventually surrounded and green paint the tool of the protesters to show their disdain for the rich on the front windshield of the car. They eventually make it to Cristian's home where they can hold up. Back at the house the judge finally arrives to officiate the wedding telling the story of her struggle to get to the home. Now the family realizes that Marianne is not there as they search for her armed protestors show up having scaled the perimeter walls and shots are fired. 

Director Michel Franco's fictional account of a Mexican uprising and over through of the rich pulls no punches and leaves no one unscathed. The wedding is ransacked people are pulled by their hair on the ground, spray paint flies as the terrorized guests get a true sense of the danger that they are in. Franco splits the participants into the rich, the workers, and the army as a third. Some of the latter decide to go off book running their own operation seeing the opportunity to profit from the terror and fear the situation created. 

New Order is an essay on what could occur if the working class truly has had enough and turn on the upper class. The protected class could have nowhere to turn as the ones they rely on could side with their brothers and sisters leading the protest while the military pulls the strings openly and behind the scenes.  There would also likely be the rare few, Marianne and Cristian here who have no entrenched allegiances. But if Franco's narrative is to be believed the good among us will likely find themselves  in the most jeopardy.

***1/2 Out of 4. 

New Order | Michel Franco | Mexico /France | 2020 | 88 Minutes. 

Tags: Wedding, Cash Gifts, Heart Surgery, Servants, Martial Law, Uprising, Home Invasion, Robbery, Looting, Martial Law, Blackmail, Prisoners, Ransom, Videos, Coup d' Etat.  

TIFF '20 Film Review Pieces of a Woman

Hungarian Director Kornel Mundrocuzo brings a matter of fact cool to cold mentality to a family tragedy in his first English Language feature Pieces of a Woman. Martha (Vanessa Kirby) is a well to do corporate earner attending her work baby show in an aloof manner at the opening of the film. She leaves the office surrounded by a sea of glass heading down the elevator to the street. Her husband Sean (Shia LeBeouf) is working with his construction team as an engineer building a bridge in Boston harbour pushing them to move faster to pick up the pace to get the project completed. He realizes that its 3:00 P.M.  and he has to leave. He heads to a dealership where his brother-in-law Chris (Benny Safdie) is selling Martha and he a car that is being paid for by his mother-in-law Elisabeth (Ellen Burstyn). Immediately it's evident that she does not like him, does not think that he is a good choice for her daughter, and seems to take every opportunity to humiliate him using her financial might.

The couple is happy as their daughter is due soon. The nursery is set up, Sean gives Martha a framed ultrasound images to place in the room as things seem to be all set for the home birth. Martha's contractors begin prompting the call to the midwife. She is not available which puts the mother to be into a panic and a backup Eva (Molly Parker) is sent to perform the delivery. Eva is very positive but things begin to go wrong. She is slow too and not forceful in making the call to move Martha to a hospital and tragedy strikes. 

The increasing level of urgency is communicated through the tracking of the camera. When things begin to happen it tracks between Eva, Sean and Martha like a swing going back and forth. Martha screams this does not feel right mixed in with cuss words and a change in Sean's joking attitude shows the viewer that something could be wrong. Eva also takes analysis in-camera broadcasting the early strong heartbeat to the couple then as the heartbeat slows those readings are for her only though headphones. 

As suggested by the title this is Vanessa Kirby's film. Her ordeal from leaning against the stove trying to breathe calmly to ambulance arrival is a full roller coaster of feelings include nausea, pain, confusion, disbelief, panic, hope then ending in devastation. After the tragedy, she becomes even more distant. Felling the need to stare whenever children especially young girls are about perhaps wondering what if. She also appears irrational wandering around in a trance like state, storming back to work unexpectedly, not caring about the consequence of her actions. She wants to give her baby to the University for research, shows no interest in a lawsuit against the midwife to obtain a level of justice and some closure. Her actions and attitude put her mother and Sean on the same side which to her looks like they are ganging up on her. 

Pieces of a Woman is a study in loss and trauma and how those feeling affect people differently. In Sean's case a recovering addict he slips back into old patterns, alternating between helplessness and anger while battling against the strong wills of his wife and mother in law. Martha's Mother Elisabeth as is her nature looks to control the situation deciding without asking what is best for her daughter for her to be able to move on. It's the raw destruction of a relationship not too unlike last years Marriage Story that struggles to keep up to the level of the pre-title card continuous 24 minute birthing sequence the rest of the way.

**1/2 Out of 4. 

Pieces of A Woman | Kornel Mundruczo | Canada / Hungary / U.S.A. | 126 Minutes. 

Tags: Baby Shower, Home Birth, Midwife, Flippin Cards, Infant Death, Seattle, Bridge, Boston Harbor, Mini Van, Criminal Charges, Court Case, Developing Film, Scattering Ashes. 

 

  

  

TIFF '20 Film Review - Wolfwalkers

1650 Kilkenny the opening scroll announces to set the scene for the story. The English have taken control of the walled gated city and the locals are none too pleased.  Fiercely devout Lord Protector Cromwell  (voiced by Simon McBurney) is in charge. He wants to clear the forest and dispose of the last pack of wolves in the area. To achieve this goal he employs William Goodfellowe  (voiced by Sean Bean) accompanied by his daughter Robyn (Voiced by Honor Kneafsey) crossbow in hand who sees herself out in the wild hunting wolves beside her father.

Curious Robyn sneaks out to follow her dad on the hunt. There she comes in direct contact with Maeve  (Voiced by Eva Walker) a wolf walker who can leave her human form in spirit and turn into a wolf. Robyn takes up Maeve and the wolves cause putting her at odds with the townsfolk, her father and most dangerous The Lord Protector. 

Directors Tomm Moore and Ross Stewart are gaining prominence in the animated world with this entry  The Secret of Kells and Song of The Sea. Here the focus on the visuals is rooted in the forest where the wolfs reside. The colours of the forest, The wolves den, inner chamber, and path leading in.  The animation in the walled city by comparison is static and dull. The only exception being when the spirit of a wolf walker arises. There is also an element of protecting nature against human expansion that is valuable to young and older viewers alike. The Lord Protector uses the fear of God to keep the villagers in line. There is also the theme of disrupting nature for human convince as seen today world over with events such as the clearing of the amazon or ever expanding urban sprawl.

Wolfwalkers is in the tradition of Irish Folklore. The story contains insight into the bond between a father and daughter and the extent that a parent is willing to go to protect a child. The importance of keeping your promises along with the ecological lessons highlighted throughout the piece. It's a family friendly watch that will appeal to children and adults alike. 

*** Out of 4. 

Wolfwalkers | Tomm Moore/Ross Stewart | Luxembourg/Ireland /U.S.A.| 2020 | 100 Minutes.

Tags: Animated, Irish Fable, Wolves, Shapeshifting, Hunt, Clearcutting, Deforestation, Father-Daughter, Cross Bow, Owl.

 

TIFF'20 Film Review - Nomadland

Director Chloe Zhao is the declared master of films illustrating the expanse of the American West and mixing in non-actors to the piece.  With her last feature 2017's The Rider, she trained her lens on the rough world of bucking broncho and bull riders in South Dakota where the main actors were actual Cowboys playing characters based on an extension of themselves and their own experiences. Here, with Nomadland she mixes two time Academy Award winning actress Frances McDormand and actor David Strahan amongst mainly non-acting talent to delve into the current phenomenon of people moving out of there homes, by choice or necessity, throwing what they want to keep into a storage lockers,  retrofitting a van and living in a home on wheels. Some stay in major cities getting to know the spots where it is safe to park for an extended period. Others are truly mobile traveling from place to place perhaps picking up work as they go. Many in North America have a yearly goal of making it to Arizona for the winter where their is a gathering of like minded people.

Fern (McDormand) a Widower likes to remind people that she is not homeless, just houseless. Not the same thing. She has a regular job over the Christmas Holidays at a sprawling Amazon warehouse where her closet friend on the road Linda May also works seasonally. Her roots are in the Nevada area having worked in Empire as a substitute teacher,  a town that was vibrant one day then virtually gone the next as the film's opening scroll advises of the disappearance of the town's postal code 6 months after the local gypsum mine closed. Fern hits the road after her holiday shift at Amazon is over loosely promising Linda May that she will make it to the Nevada gathering this year. We see the set up inside her white panel van. She has a place to sleep , a cooking area, somewhere to store her dishes and foodstuff plus a spot to use the bathroom. Dealing with human waste is a big preoccupation with the nomadic set. Zhao's camera follows Fern on the road, from town to town as she tries to sleep in the van when the weather turns cold trying to avoid that knock on the van that all in he community know as a sign to move on.

Zhao's ability to work with non-actors employing a scripted improvisational mix is remarkable. For them, she keeps things simple. Their characters are built of personal experience on a subject that the individual knows well.  Their real persona and lived experiences are probably vastly superior to any fabricated character. The film is based on Jessica Bruder's book Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century. Taking more of the tact that the folks on the road were forced out victims of the last financial crisis unable to get by on what's in their 401K and keep up with the expenses of a home. They all seem to have grown kids or relatives somewhere but there may have been a falling out along the way. With this lifestyle, they have enough money to get buy can experience life on their own terms with no one to answer to. 

David Strathairn as Dave the other main trained actor in the production meets Fern at Quartzite, Arizona quickly thinking they could spend quality time together. He is a conversationist and a rock expert taking on seasonal work at an Arizona state facility. However, he does fall ill during the narrative  raising the real jeopardy that could befall someone on the road if they are remote when it occurs or have to face large hospital bills without any coverage. The same could also happen to their van which is not only a mode of transportation but their home. 

Nomadland is a look at a growing trend of people giving up a traditional home for an alternative way of living. Frances McDormand is a dignified quiet presence in this film the complete opposite of her last in your face outing in her last Academy Award-winning role. The essence of the piece are the relationships Fern develops with the people that she meets on the road. Director Zhao's ease working with non-actors and sharp ability to paint a picture of the Western Part of the U.S.is again on full display.  

**** Out of 4

Nomandland | Chloe Zhao | U.S.A. | 2020 | 108 Minutes.

Tags: Empire Nevada, Ghost Town, USG, Mourning, Nomads, Drifters, Panel Van, Camper Van, R.V., Arizona Desert, Thanksgiving, Rubber Tramp Rendezvous. 

TIFF '20 TIFF Industry Selects Film Review - Shorta

Shorta is the Arabic word for police notes the opening scrawl for the film. A middle eastern teenager Talib Ben Hassi is killed by a chokehold in Copenhagen police custody after being arrested for excessive speeding eerily similar to the death of Eric Garner in New York and the lightning rod death of George Floyd in Minnesota. The police officers  huddle to get their stories straight as the victim is in critical condition in hospital. The exception could be boy scout cop Jens Hoyer (Simon Sears) to get him to come round he is pared with Super Cop Mike Andersen (Jacob Lohmann) who reputation of not being afraid to bend the rules and use force well known to internal affairs. 

                                    

The day starts out with light jabbing from Andersen to get a feel for Hoyer. On the radio updates of Ben Hassi's condition are regularly reported. Officers are reminded to stay out of the Svalegarden Ghetto a sprawling area of highrises and community mom & pop stores where a mainly middle eastern new immigrants reside.  Surprisingly its Hoyer that leads the pair into harm's way running the plate of a known gangster who has a kid and potential recruit inside the vehicle. Once inside the Svalegarden maze, the anger at police is evident. They are on their way out when a minor infraction has Andersen seeing red. Leaving the pair trapped behind enemy lines when the news breaks that Talib Ben Hassi has died in hospital. 

The Good Cop Bad Cop routine is as old as police work itself. Here directors Frederik Louis Hviid and Anders Olhom combine this relationship with the hot button topic of police brutality in a confined setting as a powder keg is about to explode for an expected and powerful outcome. There is no rescue coming for Andersen and Hoyer making the viewer harken back to films such as Training Day, Judge Dredd, and even New Jack City's The Carter as examples of complexes where law enforcement dare not tread. 

Anderson has made the pair's situation even worse by refusing to give up his collar Amos (Tarek Zayat) a young kid that threw a milkshake at the cruiser windshield. The cops are pursued by roving gangs on foot and riding motorcycles as they try to make their way out of the complex to loaw enforcement perimeter support. 

Jacob Lohmann sets the tone as the over intense Mike Andersen. He has the obligatory shades that he drops into place when the action is about to heat up. Hot headed he is quick to drop a racist remark, name call, or spout the theory that Denmark is not for Danes anymore. Simon Sears' Hoyer would rather keep silent stick to the job as he wears his wedding ring on a chain around his neck to keep his personal life private. 

Shorta is a hyper adrenaline rush where the audience  will find their rooting interest shift often throughout the film. A character's inner makeup that may appear offputting on the surface may turn out to be crucial in a life or death tight jam. It's a timely piece given the state of world affairs today and proof that tension between police and visible and/or  ethnic minorities is not an American issue alone.

**** Out of 4.

Shorta | Frederik Louis Hviid / Anders Olholm | Denmark | 2020 | 108 Minutes. 

Tags: Police Brutality, Choke Hold, Riots, Patrol, Good Cop Bad Cop, Ghetto, Denmark, Mace, Air Bags, Spray Paint. 

Fantasia Film Festival '20 Film Review- Cosmic Candy

Anna (Maria Kitsou) is stuck in a rut of routine. She is in her 30's and has been working for 15 years in a grocery store that her father and his friend Yannis (Fotis Thomaidis) who still manages the store founded. She is not good at her job continues to wear a long out of date uniform and known as the slowest cashier in the store. Her favourite treat is cosmic candy a souped up version of pop rocks when taken leads Anna into a dream like state. She lives alone in her parents' old apartment preserving her childhood bedroom.Inquisitive neighbour child Persia (Magia Pipera) rings her bell. Anna does not want her around as she is disruptive. But when the 10-year-old's Dad disappears Anna agrees to take her in until her Dad reappears. 

Director Rinio Dragasaki's story centers around the lasting impact of childhood events. Persa is going though one presently as her dad has disappeared with tough looking guys banging on his door with bad intentions. Anna seems to be going through the same experience as an adult.  Her home is full of unopened boxes she maintains her hermetically sealed childhood room and her favourite escape is to munch on a candy meant for kids. 

The film is at its strongest when it focuses on the relationship between Anna and Persa.  The latter has a key role in the upcoming school play about Greek Independence reciting her lines all around Anna's place to the annoyance of the former. After being left alone and causing havoc and acting as a distraction to a potential suitor the pair set off on a fools errand to find Persa's Grandmother. 

Cosmic Candy is a light hearted tale with vibrant bordering on comical effect once the effect of the Candy kick in. The two lead actors are the soul of the film. Anna grows more as a person under Persa's influence when the opposite would be expected. Although some of the elements are of the final act are , telegraphed, the film still leaves viewers with a warm feeling and with all that is going on these days a bit of a fantasy break can be a welcomed thing. 

*** Out of 4

Cosmic Canda | Rinio Dragaski | France/Greece | 2019 | 94 Minutes. 

Tags: Grocery Store, Cashier, Road Trip, Your Fired, Athens, Child Abandonment, OCD, School Play, Greek Independence. 

Fantasia Film Festival '20 Film Review - For the Sake of Vicious

Romina (Lora Burke) is wrapping up her Halloween day shift at the hospital where she works as a nurse. She grabs some of her son's favourite candy before she heads out anxious to get out of her see and spend time with her son.  When she arrives home she finds chaos. A violent interrogation has occurred with the inquisitor Chris (Nick Smyth) needing  Romina's help to keep the subject Alan (Colin Paradine) conscious to continue. Chris has come to Romina because she helped a family member recover from a unspeakable act. Alan is the supposed perpetrator. Chris wants his pound of flesh and does not want Alan passing out or dying before he can extract it. 

When you see the film's title and know anything about either of the writing/ directing team of Gabriel Carrer and Reese Evenshen's past work the viewer has an idea of what's in store. But here the pair have outdone themselves with the volume, intensity, and use of old school blunt and practical items employed to perpetrate violence. The majority of the action takes place in one room of a small home. The combatants go at it to the max take brief breaks to adjust to their wounds then are ready to go again. 

Romina agrees to let this play out as she is sympathetic to Chris's plight but not all too sure that Alan is the correct target. She steps in playing ref when Chris's methods become too extreme. Alan holds his ground, Chris becomes more distraught and retreats. Given an opening, Alan makes a call that he expects will be the cavalry but the opposite occurs forcing Chris, Romina, and Alan to combine their efforts if they want to survive the evening. 

Lora Burke succeeds in presenting a layered nuanced performance despite all hell breaking out in her home. She has poignant moments with both Alan and Chris even after the lead trio have gone back and forth though the pain gauntlet. Nick Smyth takes his role as Chris over the top and spins it around some more. His eyes are large, he drools, he screams, as he's saddled with uncontrollable guild over an unspeakable act that it was his job to prevent. he turtles, he yields as he still battles the effects of an unspeakable act that occurred over a half decade ago. Colin Paradine is constant as Alan. He maintains his position (both literally and figuratively) throughout the piece remaining even keeled as he is being tortured, his escape plan blows up and he is forced to rely on single mother who is one of his tenant for his survival. 

For the Sake of Vicious is bloodbath, where the cast and crew did whatever it took. The physical work by the lead actors and the supporting stunt team in close quartets is commendable. The premise is simple but the plight of the players shifts constantly. If you're looking for a thrill ride where the practical tools for violence are creatively used and not merely props for show then this production score is ready when you are to fill that void. 

***1/2  Out of 4. 

For The Sake of Vicious | Gabriel Carrer/ Reese Evenshen | Canada | 2020 | 80 Minutes. 

Tags: Halloween, Home Invasion | Hostage, Interrogation, Bikers, Kill Squad, Hammer, Toilet Tank Lid, Crow Bar.

 

 

Fantaisa Film Festival '20 Film Review - Lapsis

Ray (Dean Imperial) is a small time operator in Queen's New York. His sense of style outdated.  He says it's based on his father while others call it 70's mobster without the menace. He tries to do all that he can to help his half brother Jamie (Babe Howard) who is suffering from Omnia a controversial form of chronic fatigue syndrome. Ray wants to get his brother the best treatment at an exclusive clinic with a $10,000 a week price tag at the low end. To get the funds Ray has to come out of the stone age and embrace modern technology known as quantum. There is money to be had, the promo pitch is working in the great outdoors. 

Director Noah Hutton has created an alternate present or near future drama where workers dreaming of big money crisscrossing state parks pulling a cable cart behind them collecting credits and cash for completing routes. The competition for lucrative routes is fierce, there are checkpoints along the way and the starting and end goal is to plug into the large quantum boxes in the forest. It seems easy enough but there is competition to get the medallions required to work, it's quite easy to get knocked off your route and automatic cabling carts trekking through the park can claim your route if they pass you.

Ray causes a stir as his pal who got him into cabling seems to have slipped him a high level medallion. The associated trail name sparks sneers and snide comments and Ray has mysterious credits videos, and access to lucrative trails in the 120's that normally take years to achieve. He meets up with experienced cabler and activist Anna (Madeline Wise) who has written on the plight of the workers, forced to spend money on company equipment, receive no support should they become injured, and their bathroom breaks are counted. 

Lapsis shines the light on the exploitation of workers through the fictitious world of quantum cabling. Bogus treatment centres offering miracle cures for subjective injuries also take a hit . Hutton relies on his experience from his prior documentaries on big business as a framework. The result is an original production that is a cautionary tale of an all too conceivable future where humans are battling robots for jobs. 

*** 1/2 Out of  4.

Lapsis | Noah Hutton | U.S.A. | 2020 | 104 Minutes. 

Tags: Lost Luggage, Traffic Ticket, Chronic Fatigue, Hiking, Camping, Cable Company, Credits, Routes, Robots, Tea. 

Fantasia Film Festival '20 Film Review - Bring Me Home

Lee Yong-ae returns to the screen after a fourteen-year absence to start in Kim Seung-woo's feature film debut Bring Me Home. Her 6-year-old son Yoon -su disappears one day without a trace for 6 years. Then Jung-Yeon  (Lee) gets an anonymous tip that her son is in a fishing village. The tipster requests a reward ahead of giving out a partial reward payment to the caller ahead of heading to the village. Once there, events do not unfold smoothly the local Sgt.corruptly blocking Jung-Yeon at every turn while smiling and appearing to be cooperative to her face. Jung-Yeon sees signs that something is off in the village and small signs that boy the age that her son would be today is present in the village. 

Director Kim Seung-woo helms a difficult tale where both the young boy and Jung-Yeon are treated horribly. The boy is abused forced to work long hours each day and spends his nights in a small section of a shipping container avoiding the advances of a dim-witted hulk who visits at night to abuse him. Jung-Yeon is mocked, ridiculed, and threatened both emotionally and physically as she steadfastly continues her pursuit.

Lee Yonge-ae shines as the dedicated, driven, and always hopeful Jung-Yeon. Her time away from the screen has been too long and hopefully, this project will catapult her into many new ones soon. Yoo Jae-Myung plays our heroine's main adversary with clinched teeth glee. He is a cop and not shy of always pronouncing the fact but he is right in the middle of the forced labour, beatings, and confinement of two boys of unknown origins in the village. His depravity peaks during a hunting scene when he kills a mother and her fawn forcing Min-su the subject of the tip to carry the animal back to the village perched on his shoulders. 

The narrative turns bleaker as the action progresses. There are a lot of unconformable scenes and activities portrayed on screen that another director might infer that director Kim Seung -woo focuses in on for all to see. Some may find the content disturbing especially the violence toward children and depressing but there is some commentary lying beneath on the portrayal of poor country folk juxtaposed to big city Seoul dwellers. 

*** Out of 4

Bring Me Home | Kim Seung-woo | South Korea | 2019| 108 Minutes. 

Tags:  Missing Child, Reward, Tipster, Fishing Village, Corrupt Cop, Child Abuse, Forced Labour, Handcuffs, Pick Axe, Birthmark, Ketamine. 

 

Fantasia Film Festival '20 Film Review - Marygoround

Maria (Grazyna Misiorowska) a woman turning 50 and entering menopause  with a jolt is the titular character and the title also serves as a reference to her obsession with collecting Virgin Mary statues as she is also a virgin. She has never really had any interest in sex until her doctor prescribes hormone therapy patches that she applies  incorrectly. The result, side effects that include hallucinations, a hellacious libido, exploring her urges alone in her apartment and seeing sexual encounters everywhere. 

Older females are not often protagonists in cinema. Decision makers male directors, studio executives, and producers  have been more comfortable with films and topics that speak to them with the female lead normally occupying the second or third position on the playbill. With Marygoround director, Daria Woszek wanted to tackle this unspoken subject matter. It's a time when women are seen to have lost their function. Often viewed as lesser than, and likely no longer have and children at home. Woszek wants to show that the opposite is true. Without the responsibility of child rearing new experiences become available experiencing  new pursuits or revisiting ones long since abandoned.  

Maria gets up to some wild pursuits as the film progresses often with her niece Helena (Helena Sujecka) her defacto roommate by her side. At work in the grocery store, her colleagues talk openly about sex as do the customers many in pursuit of her manager Bogdan (Janusz Chabior) who she admires from afar or fulled by her young sexually liberated co-worker. She takes an interest in a fashion store clerk (Pawel Smagala) who likes to get into women's private  space and give them designer scarves as gifts. This infatuation turns into a dinner date that leads to the most bonkers scene in the film, the longest and perhaps the most chaotic scene on film this year. There's courtship, a mischievous game, violence, destruction, and extremely poor table manner on display as drinking classes are constantly filled in a manic manner. 

Marygoround explores a subject matter often ignored as half of  the population does not experience, understand, nor do they want to. That half also tend to be the ones that green light and finance films. Grazyna Misiorowska gives a fully committed performance as Mary participates in on screen activities normally the territory of female performers half her age. It's a feast of religious symbolism and imagery mixed in with lust and experimentation. No matter where you are at in life the opportunity to shape the future remains wide open

**** Out of 4.

Marygoround |  Daria Woszek | Poland | 2020 | 80 Minutes. 

Tags: Menopause, Grocery Clerk, Female Hormones, Hallucinations, Virgin Mary, Dinner Party, Cannoli, Wine, Cigarettes, Perfume.