London Film Festival Diaries: Day 2
Three films that tackle big political issues in vastly different ways.
The London Film Festival (LFF) is running from October 9 - 20, and I will be among the plebs attending the regular screenings. The days of me going to press screenings and getting paid to attend festivals are behind me (for now?) but I won’t let that stop me from sharing my thoughts here. Immediate impressions will be on X if you’d like to give me a follow there.
Savages - dir. Claude Barras
Plot in a Nutshell
On the outskirts of Borneo’s tropical forest, young Kéria adopts a baby orangutan after tragedy strikes. As the forest faces its greatest threat, Kéria - together with her cousin Selaï, and her monkey Oshi - must confront a series of challenges all while coming of age and discovering a big family secret.
Claude Berras’ (My Life as a Courgette, 2016) latest film is an absolutely stunning stop motion tale with a big heart and an even bigger message. While I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of his very particular puppet aesthetics, I was easily immersed into this story, thanks to the gorgeous jungle colors, vivid sounds, one impossibly cute monkey, and the heartfelt coming-of-age story of one girl’s understanding of her true nature and the world she comes from.
There’s something about stop motion and its texture that keeps the hard work behind the scenes front of mind while you’re sitting there and watching the end product. It’s all the more awe-inspiring compared to conventional animation. During the Q&A after the screening, one of the animators confirmed that productivity averaged approximately 4 seconds per day, per animator. Take 4 seconds to let that sink in. The daunting level of patience and commitment resonates all the stronger when the finished film is this good.
It’s also noteworthy to mention that while Savages tackles a hot political potato at its core - the environmental crisis of deforestation - it does so delicately, without preaching, and with a healthy dose of humour. The power of Kéria’s own personal journey snuffs out any concerns of the film ever teetering over the abyss of political correctness.
Rumours - dirs. Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson and Galen Johnson
Plot in a Nutshell
While drafting a provisional statement about an unnamed global crisis, the leaders of the G7 countries - Germany, USA, UK, France, Japan, Canada and Italy - get lost in the woods, confront supernatural forces and get flustered over private affairs as they struggle to navigate their way back to safety.
Ever since I saw The Forbidden Room (2015) at the Toronto International Film Festival, I knew Guy Maddin and Evan Johnson were Canadian national treasures. The creative blend of absurdity and humour hits my wheelhouse dead in the center, so it’s no surprise that I had a stupid grin on my face from start to finish while watching Rumours.
This is a cryptic, inventive, hilarious and fantastically ludicrous take on the uselessness and absurdity of democratic diplomacy told through a surreal G7 Summit that will keep you guessing until the very end.
While the narrative thread does get frazzled towards the end as if there were one too many brainstorms in the writers’ room, I was once again blown away by the directorial team’s intelligent sense of humour. The cast is absolutely superb, led by Cate Blanchett who really needs to do more comedies, and a scene-stealing Dennis Menochet as a philosophical French president whose mind gradually unravels.
During the Q&A, someone asked a question about which world leaders were the inspirations for the film and the characters, and Johnson gave the best answer: “no one.” Movies like this can only be truly universal when the authors don’t insert their own personal political beliefs. As such, Rumours is an apolitical movie about politics that is filled with memorably hilarious scenes and lines. Anyone who has been on offsite team building workshops, or has had a few run ins with colleagues (romantic or otherwise), will relate.
I’m Still Here - dir. Walter Salles
Plot in a Nutshell
Brazil in 1971 was a nation under the heavy boot of a military dictatorship. After her family’s life is torn apart when the military pays an unexpected visit to her house, Eunice must find a way to rebuild and redefine herself as both wife and mother.
The great Walter Salles returns after more than ten years since his last feature (2012’s underrated On The Road) with a near-masterpiece. I’m Still Here is a potent film about one woman’s resilience and courage after being a victim of one of the cruelest acts enforced by Brazil’s army during their reign of terror. It’s about the price of doing what’s right, even when it may cost you literally everything. It’s about the importance of closure. Perhaps most poignantly, it’s about the inextricable, inescapable, timeless bond of family. It also has an ending that you will feel right down to your bones. Absolutely harrowing stuff, and yet - still hopeful. Therein lies the beauty.
Fernanda Torres floored me with her devastating performance. It will be a travesty if she doesn’t get an Oscar nomination. Selton Mello is equally remarkable in a shorter role that no less haunts the film for its full duration.
It’s also impossible not to think of the thousands of families that have gone through (and are still going through) similar injustices that the Paiva family has endured, including today in places like the West Bank, North Korea, Mexico, Syria and so on. In capturing the psychological horrors of this very specific type of torment, Salles has created something very special and important with this film.
In his introduction to the London Film Festival audience, Salles spoke of the film - which took seven years to make - as “an exercise in subtraction”. The idea was to have the least amount of interference or direction from elements like the music, performances, and camera movement. In this regard it’s not completely minimalist, and all of those elements - the score especially - play their parts in directing some of the emotions. But all of it is done with such grace, such maturity and so organically without a hint of sanctimony, political or otherwise, that the end result is a genuine marvel of a movie.
This new Guy Maddin is on my watchlist! Looks great.. highly recommend his love poem to his hometown My Winnipeg from 2007