tiggymalvern (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
tiggymalvern) wrote2008-10-26 11:03 pm
tiggymalvern) wrote2008-10-26 11:03 pm
SLGFF Again!
The week just gone was the Seattle LesbiGay FilmFest again, and I squeezed in three films this year - one gay, one lesbian, one documentary.
First up was The Secrets, an Israeli film from 2007. After Naomi's mother dies, her orthodox father wants her to marry and start raising her own family. Naomi persuades him instead to let her study at one of the new seminaries for women, still a controversial idea in a religion steeped in the tradition that only men have the intelligence to fully understand scripture. There Naomi meets Michelle, an irreverent, distinctly non-traditional French-Israeli woman, and through the seminary's charitable works, the two become entangled in the story of Anouk, a woman who spent many years in prison for killing her lover, and who is searching for God's forgiveness.
The Secrets is a film with a lot going on, and all the layers work together beautifully. It's not just a lesbian film, not just a film about a society where women are far from liberated, and not just a film about loneliness and soul-eating regret, though it is certainly all three. Anouk's story is as stunning and as well-handled as Naomi's, with Fanny Ardant grabbing the screen and wrapping every scene around her like the icon she is. The film doesn't dance around the problems of religion and those who adhere to its confines without flexibility, but the presentation is balanced against its comfort for Anouk, the desperate reach for something by the woman who has nothing.
The film is well paced and well shot, with a great intenstity. There are some fabulous secondary characters, too, who exist as whole people in their own right, with perhaps only Naomi's intended spouse falling flat and becoming a true 'villain'. It's a serious film about serious issues, but it has moments of wonderful humour that make you laugh out loud too, and they're not remotely out of place. I scored it 4/5, and so I think, did everyone else in our group.
Suddenly Last Winter is a documentary by and about a gay couple in Italy, and that country's decision to introduce legal unions for domestic partners, whatever their gender. Luca and Gustav are both journalists, who have lived together in Rome for eight years, and when the government drafts the bill, the Catholic forces of the country erupt against it. The two men interview politicians, people they stop on the street, and people at rallies both pro and con the civil partnerships.
The tone of the documentary is generally light-hearted, irreverent, and to me, just too superficial. Sometimes the banter and silly narration really works - the central couple are just adorable - but the film seems to be trying to be too many things and ends up being nothing much of either. Is it a film about the realities of big politics and the full weight of the Catholic church? Is it a personal film, about the impact of events on two guys? I really wish it had made a choice, because the end result is unfortunately scattergun.
The film definitely has its moments, and the best of them are when the guys allow themselves to become serious. There's the rather sad reflection that they've been existing in a bubble for eight years - living in the city, with accepting family and friends, they truly had no idea of the extend of the hatred levelled aginst them by their fellow countrymen. The filming process itself puts a strain on the central relationship, being the pet project of one man more than the other. After two months, one is tired of being daily called a deviant and unnatural to his face, while the other feels that makes it all the more important to drag the homophobes into the light of the world. "Take me to the theatre, take me out for pizza - don't take me to fascist rallies," Gustav rants at Luca after another dismal evening of being hated and threatened.
It would always be difficult to make the political wrangling interesting, and as Gustav grumbles at the thought of another day's interviews, all the 'pro-family' brigade say the same old things. I really liked Gustav and Luca, but this was the first film for either of them, and I wish they'd set out with more of an idea on structure, and had been willing to give the end footage to an editor! I scored it 3/5.
The last film of the week for me was Ciao, a quiet and personal drama. When Mark is killed in a car crash, his friend since high school, Jeff, is left to pick up the pieces. Clearing out Mark's apartment, a job Mark's parents cannot face, Jeff finds a lengthy email correspondence between Mark and an Italian man, Andrea, who is planning to come and visit Mark. Jeff initially tells Andrea to cancel the trip, but then becomes curious about Mark's relationship with this man, and the things Mark told Andrea that Jeff never knew.
I really liked Ciao, and so did![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
teaforme, who came to see it with me (and barely made it, bad girl!). The film has a definitive style, with lots of static, silent shots, and repeated shots, such as the one of the street between the narrow confines of the houses. It really works, because the major themes of the film are grief and the connections between people, and how hard those can be. When Jeff first meets Andrea, the only thing they have in common is their loss of Mark, and the film is filled with those stilted silences between strangers. But as the film goes on, Andrea and Jeff reach their own understanding, beyond Mark, and the film style moves on with it.
I had some reservations about the film - notably, the acting wasn't always top notch. In particular Jeff's friend was very wooden, though it doesn't help that she seems to exist only for him to recite the plot to, because having him monologue would be a bit too Shakespeare. The actor playing Jeff was asked to act a lot through his facial expressions in dialogue-lite scenes, and mostly he pulled it off well. Reactions to the film were mixed, judging by the comments heard leaving the cinema - it seemed to divide into those who thought it was really good, and those who were bored silly. Knowing that should be enough to tip most people off as to which category they might fit in XD Another 4/5 for me.
I didn't find my equivalent of The Gymnast this filmfest - the film I instantly scored 5 and started hunting for on DVD and reccing to everyone after seeing it last year - but The Secrets and Ciao both came close (The Secrets in particular).
Also showing this weekend was Hump! 4, the latest in the new tradition of Seattle amateur porn filmfests, but that will have to wait for another post!
First up was The Secrets, an Israeli film from 2007. After Naomi's mother dies, her orthodox father wants her to marry and start raising her own family. Naomi persuades him instead to let her study at one of the new seminaries for women, still a controversial idea in a religion steeped in the tradition that only men have the intelligence to fully understand scripture. There Naomi meets Michelle, an irreverent, distinctly non-traditional French-Israeli woman, and through the seminary's charitable works, the two become entangled in the story of Anouk, a woman who spent many years in prison for killing her lover, and who is searching for God's forgiveness.
The Secrets is a film with a lot going on, and all the layers work together beautifully. It's not just a lesbian film, not just a film about a society where women are far from liberated, and not just a film about loneliness and soul-eating regret, though it is certainly all three. Anouk's story is as stunning and as well-handled as Naomi's, with Fanny Ardant grabbing the screen and wrapping every scene around her like the icon she is. The film doesn't dance around the problems of religion and those who adhere to its confines without flexibility, but the presentation is balanced against its comfort for Anouk, the desperate reach for something by the woman who has nothing.
The film is well paced and well shot, with a great intenstity. There are some fabulous secondary characters, too, who exist as whole people in their own right, with perhaps only Naomi's intended spouse falling flat and becoming a true 'villain'. It's a serious film about serious issues, but it has moments of wonderful humour that make you laugh out loud too, and they're not remotely out of place. I scored it 4/5, and so I think, did everyone else in our group.
Suddenly Last Winter is a documentary by and about a gay couple in Italy, and that country's decision to introduce legal unions for domestic partners, whatever their gender. Luca and Gustav are both journalists, who have lived together in Rome for eight years, and when the government drafts the bill, the Catholic forces of the country erupt against it. The two men interview politicians, people they stop on the street, and people at rallies both pro and con the civil partnerships.
The tone of the documentary is generally light-hearted, irreverent, and to me, just too superficial. Sometimes the banter and silly narration really works - the central couple are just adorable - but the film seems to be trying to be too many things and ends up being nothing much of either. Is it a film about the realities of big politics and the full weight of the Catholic church? Is it a personal film, about the impact of events on two guys? I really wish it had made a choice, because the end result is unfortunately scattergun.
The film definitely has its moments, and the best of them are when the guys allow themselves to become serious. There's the rather sad reflection that they've been existing in a bubble for eight years - living in the city, with accepting family and friends, they truly had no idea of the extend of the hatred levelled aginst them by their fellow countrymen. The filming process itself puts a strain on the central relationship, being the pet project of one man more than the other. After two months, one is tired of being daily called a deviant and unnatural to his face, while the other feels that makes it all the more important to drag the homophobes into the light of the world. "Take me to the theatre, take me out for pizza - don't take me to fascist rallies," Gustav rants at Luca after another dismal evening of being hated and threatened.
It would always be difficult to make the political wrangling interesting, and as Gustav grumbles at the thought of another day's interviews, all the 'pro-family' brigade say the same old things. I really liked Gustav and Luca, but this was the first film for either of them, and I wish they'd set out with more of an idea on structure, and had been willing to give the end footage to an editor! I scored it 3/5.
The last film of the week for me was Ciao, a quiet and personal drama. When Mark is killed in a car crash, his friend since high school, Jeff, is left to pick up the pieces. Clearing out Mark's apartment, a job Mark's parents cannot face, Jeff finds a lengthy email correspondence between Mark and an Italian man, Andrea, who is planning to come and visit Mark. Jeff initially tells Andrea to cancel the trip, but then becomes curious about Mark's relationship with this man, and the things Mark told Andrea that Jeff never knew.
I really liked Ciao, and so did
teaforme, who came to see it with me (and barely made it, bad girl!). The film has a definitive style, with lots of static, silent shots, and repeated shots, such as the one of the street between the narrow confines of the houses. It really works, because the major themes of the film are grief and the connections between people, and how hard those can be. When Jeff first meets Andrea, the only thing they have in common is their loss of Mark, and the film is filled with those stilted silences between strangers. But as the film goes on, Andrea and Jeff reach their own understanding, beyond Mark, and the film style moves on with it.I had some reservations about the film - notably, the acting wasn't always top notch. In particular Jeff's friend was very wooden, though it doesn't help that she seems to exist only for him to recite the plot to, because having him monologue would be a bit too Shakespeare. The actor playing Jeff was asked to act a lot through his facial expressions in dialogue-lite scenes, and mostly he pulled it off well. Reactions to the film were mixed, judging by the comments heard leaving the cinema - it seemed to divide into those who thought it was really good, and those who were bored silly. Knowing that should be enough to tip most people off as to which category they might fit in XD Another 4/5 for me.
I didn't find my equivalent of The Gymnast this filmfest - the film I instantly scored 5 and started hunting for on DVD and reccing to everyone after seeing it last year - but The Secrets and Ciao both came close (The Secrets in particular).
Also showing this weekend was Hump! 4, the latest in the new tradition of Seattle amateur porn filmfests, but that will have to wait for another post!