The big first weekend
begins! I wasn’t at the VIP lounge quite at opening time (10:00 am) because I
actually have a day job for which I’m working remotely on nights and mornings.
But I was still there in time to get a beer or two (or three) before running
off to the first movie, ABOVE DARK WATERS (TUMMAN VEDEN PÄÄLLÄ.) It’s a Finnish
dark drama through a child’s eyes, written and directed by Peter Franzen, the
star of HEART OF A LION. Little Pete seems to have a happy childhood--family,
friends, a birthday party, cool grandparents, and a beautiful imagination. Wait,
let’s go back to that first one, family. Usually his family is loving, except
when his stepdad has a few drinks. Or when his biological dad shows up and
tries to reconnect, throwing a little tension in there. Actually, his
biological dad is pretty cool, it’s his stepdad and his drinking that’s the
problem, especially when he gets abusive. And he gets abusive far too often.
And, to complicate matters further, he’s a cop so maybe it’s no good to call
the cops for help (or maybe there is, but he at least threatens as if it isn’t.)
This is a wonderful slice-of-life drama of one year in Pete’s life
(specifically, his seventh year) that’s full of whimsy and wonder as well as
darkness and turmoil. And yet, through deft direction and some excellent
performances, it all holds together well and even the magical glowing friend
who appears whenever he needs it makes good sense.
Oh yeah, and while the villain of ABOVE DARK WATERS is alcoholism
and abusiveness, I should remind everyone at Cinequest that if you see me
drinking all you have to fear is an enthusiastic hug!
And then I saw my favorite film of the festival so far, HEAVENLY
SHIFT, a bloody comedy set in a night shift ambulance in Budapest. Milan is a
Croat soldier who has gone AWOL and fled Sarajevo. He simply walks up to the
border, throws a stone at the sign to confirm the guard is asleep, and
continues on his way. And when a wacky late night incident in a market shows
himself as a skilled paramedic, he is hired on the spot. His colleagues are a
cynical doctor who can predict time of death to the minute (and doesn’t put in
any more effort than necessary) and a crazy guy who carries around a ninja
sword because he’s a huge fan of the movie AMERICAN NINJA (any movie that can
pull off an AMERICAN NINJA reference already has me hooked.) He also meets the
shifty undertaker who has a scheme to smuggle people out of the Balkans using
spare coffins. So just raise enough money and he can bring his girlfriend—a nurse
in a Sarajevo hospital—to live with him. All he has to do is starve himself on
rice with no meat and eventually he’ll have what he needs. But instead, what he
needs is many nights of insanity that give him a new perspective. Absolutely hilarious, and if saying so makes
me kind of a sick bastard, then I’m a sick bastard.
Then I ran out right when the credits started so I could run
over to Shorts 6: Docu-nation and tell everyone in the theater how awesome
HEAVENLY SHIFT is! Oh, and also watch some short documentaries.
AMERICAN LAWN: The love affair with neatly manicured grass
in front of your house—and its pros and cons—are explored in multiple
interviews. Is it a sign of status? Is it wasteful and ruining the environment?
Is moving a chore? Is it relaxing? Is it “work” you can do while drinking a
beer? Heck yeah it is!
DISARMING FALCON: Travel to Qatar, where we meet a charming
group of falconers training and then hunting with them.
ETCHED IN SKIN: A look at tattooing as art. In particular,
whether it has become too popular and ubiquitous. And whether the artists are
paid to make exactly what the customer wants or if they can really pursue their
own vision (in collaboration with their canvases.)
FABIAN DEBORA, A LIFE IN ART: Some really cool looking art.
That is all. And…actually I kind of dozed off in this one. But I was at least
awake enough to see some of the art.
HERD IN ICELAND: A look at native Icelandic horses, and the
people who take care of them. There’s
not much more to say, except that this movie was beautiful and really captured
these people’s love for their horses.
MARGO: A hospice worker who has seen many people through
their final days—including succumbing to cancer—now finds herself facing her
own death from cancer. No matter how often you see death, you’re never ready
for it.
STICKY: A partially animated film about the discovery and
captive breeding of the phasmid a New Zealand invertebrate that was
thought extinct but was discovered on one shrub on one tiny, craggy island. And
about the scientists who nursed it back from the brink and will hopefully
introduce it back into the wild some day.
Then I had time for just the briefest of stops at the VIP
Soiree at Scott’s Seafood. Two drinks, lots of filmmakers, and then ran out to
the California Theatre for my next film.
And that film was SOLD, the narrative version of LIFE IS
LOVE set in India. Lakshmi is a little Nepali girl, and when tragedy strikes
her family she is sold to an Indian madam on the pretense that she will work
for her by cleaning and cooking. Then when she pays off her debt she can go
back home a hero. Of course, that’s not how this works. She is trapped in a
brothel now, and there’s not much she can do about it. The “work” scenes are
unflinching while still being tasteful, and the camaraderie of the girls is…strange.
They can all sympathize with each other, but nobody can trust anyone else.
There’s even a rumor that Americans show up to “rescue” them just so they can
steal your kidneys and leave your body to rot in the street. Which makes the
job of the Americans who really are trying to help them (Gillian Anderson as a
photographer and David Arquette as an investigator) a little more difficult.
But Lakshmi is clever, strong, and determined and…well, I don’t want to give
away spoilers but with all the horror she experiences she needed a happy
ending. And with the help of Hope House she eventually does get a happier
ending than most girls in her predicament.
Then I was off to the San Jose Repertory Theater for A
PRACTICAL GUIDE TO A SPECTACULAR SUICIDE, one of the best titles of the
festival (right up there with KISS ME YOU FUCKING MORON.) A Scottish comedy
shot on an unbelievably small budget (note to the filmmakers, never reveal how
small your budget was. At most say, “under $1 million.” That’s low enough to
impress people and doesn’t give away enough for them to lowball you on a
distribution deal.) Tom Collins has…an awesome name, in my opinion (but what do
I know, my name is slang for penis.) And apparently he’s got not much else
going for him, at least judging by how often he tries to off himself. And by
how often he fails, maybe dying isn’t what he was put on Earth to do. But he’s
determined, and neither his court-ordered shrink (named Dr. Watson,) nor the grumpy
old man he’s assigned to work for, nor the cute fellow patient he strikes up a
friendship with can deter him from his goal. Well, heck, the fellow patient
doesn’t even want to stop him, she just wants to help make it spectacular,
always with fireworks. Lest you think it’s all just an excuse to make a bunch
of jokes about killing yourself, it’s got some smarts, too. It’s probably the
smartest slapstick comedy about suicide I’ve seen since…ever, maybe? I’m a
little sleep deprived, but I can’t actually think of another one. Oh yeah, I
think there was a Danish film called WILBUR WANTS TO KILL HIMSELF, that one
might be competition but there’s not much more.
Then I had just enough time for one drink at the Maverick Meetup
at South First Billiards, where I managed to meet lots more filmmakers, and
then I was back to the Camera 12 for the midnight showing of BLOOD PUNCH. Milton
wakes up with a hangover in a cabin. He throws up, finds a video screen with a
message imploring him to watch, and sees a video of himself cutting two of his
fingers off. This is especially odd because his fingers are completely intact
this morning. Flashback to one day previous (give or take) and we learn that he’s
a meth cook. And we meet the wild woman who breaks him out of rehab for one
epic cook that will leave him set for life. They just have to beware of the
third in their trio, her psychotic boyfriend. A little drinking, a little
peyote-laced meth, a wild night…and that’s where Milton wakes up. Kinda. I’m
dancing around the huge spoiler here, and everyone ends up describing the film
as ‘XXXXXXXXX XXX crossed with…something violent and insane.’ Needless to say,
the classic noir triangle of bad girl, worse ex, and good guy gets spun super-hard
here, with a near-exhaustive list of kills (you know the old adage that if a
gun is seen in act 1 it must be used by act 3? Well, what if a cabin full of
weapons is seen in act 1?) despite a surprisingly small cast list. This was
just one beautiful, bloody mind-fuck.
Then I was back at my luxury suite at the Fairmont for a
little nightcap with some friends. No filmmakers showed up, but you’re all
invited over tonight (Saturday night) and next weekend (Friday and Saturday.)
Just find me and hit me up for my room number. Or decipher the magical code I
left on Twitter/Facebook.
Drinking with filmmakers added the following films on my schedule: A IS FOR ALEX, ACTING LIKE ADULTS, ETERNITY:
THE MOVIE, Shorts 3: HUMOR ME. Well done people, this is how it’s done! Oh, and
I finally met the director of DESERT FISH and we enjoyed the glory of our epic
hair for a moment, but I haven’t drunk with him yet.
Total Running Time: 609 minutes
My Total Minutes: 354,748
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