More from SIFF

[tiggymalvern]

In the Fog. In Nazi-occupied Belarus, a suspected collaborator is taken into the woods by partisans who plan to execute him. Then the partisans are ambushed, and the question of who can be trusted becomes a matter of survival, or not, for everyone.

This is a very non-standard WWII film. It tells its story about a small number of people in a small community, and uses it to consider the impact of war on the lives of individuals. It's often a slow film, with extensive dialogue-free shots establishing atmosphere, and to be honest I wasn't really in the mood for that kind of film when I saw it. I score it 7/10, but maybe it would have been an 8 if I had been in the right frame of mind.


In the Name Of... Adam is a Catholic priest working with troubled youths. He is also gay, and fighting desperately to repress his emotional and physical longings.

Another slow, moody, atmospheric film, and one that is more about the problems of being a priest than of being gay. Adam's loneliness is about far more than his sexuality - moved from parish to parish, he is separated from family and friends, with nobody to talk to outside his 'flock'. Who is there for the priest, when the priest himself needs guidance? A competent film, but a bit too slow. 6/10


Orange Honey. In 1950s Spain, Enrique spends his military service as driver and court stenographer for a Colonel who is a judge in Franco's military courts. It's a cushy position, awarded because he is married to the Colonel's niece, but it also exposes Enrique to the brutality of the regime, and the corruption in the officer ranks. When he is approached by an anti-government group, Enrique's life becomes one of increasing secrecy and risk.

A decent drama, just not a great one. It never steps outside the box enough to stand out from the crowd.7/10.


Redemption Street. A young Serbian lawyer working for the war crimes department begins to suspect that a member of a paramilitary unit who was declared dead may still be alive and in hiding. But his investigation will take him further than one man - who else could be living under a false identity, so many years after the Balkan wars?

I had mixed feelings about this one. It had some really strong points to make, and some good moments, but there were also some plot points that felt a bit forced and trite. In the end, it seemed like the 'need' to have a dramatic, thriller plot was actually getting in the way of what the film was trying to say. A 7/10 that had the potential to be a lot more.


So the best two films I've seen so far are still the first two - there's definitely a downside to starting on a high!

Comments

[teaforme.livejournal.com]

I agree that both "In the Name Of" and "Redemption Street" could have been a lot more than they were. So far "Key of Life" gets my vote for best SIFF film I've seen yet!

Not sure if I'm not picking great films or if it's just not as good a lineup as in past years, but SIFF seems somehow lacking this year.

[tiggymalvern.livejournal.com]

Mimi didn't seem to have many films to rave about either, so if it's us, we're not the only ones picking badly! Maybe that will change tonight - Ain't Them Bodies Saints came out of Sundance and Cannes with great reviews, so I'll see :-)