Christine's Film Festival Diary for Sunday, April 8

Films: Monkey Warfare, Red Road, The Boss of It All, 12:08 East of Bucharest

Future Screenings: None

My second day out and sitting through that many movies can be an overload. After a while, I must admit, I wanted to get up and run! I got to speak to other movie goers and heard a lot of buzz about some other movies: Life Can Be So Wonderful, The Cats of Mikikitani and Day Night Day Night. Hopefully, I'll be able to take those in on Tuesday. I felt I went around the world with what I took in from Canada, Scottland, Denmark and Romania. All of the movies were different in their own way and had their own flavor. Today's favorite was Monkey Warfare, although Red Road was equally as good. My own problem was that Red Road was so emotionally hitting, that I didn't have the stomach for it.

Monkey Warfare, movie short The Saddest Boy In the World
This Canadian film started with a movie short about Timothy, the saddest boy in the world. With the cheery style home decor and the plastic-like characters, this film short had somewhat of a surrealistic quality. The short had moments of humor, especially when Timothy explained one of the reasons why he was the saddest boy in the world: "That was the summer that I was kidnapped." As the short continued, I did forget it was a short until it ended and I was somewhat disappointed. I wanted the short to move forward with Timothy's dollhouse green room, that looked so bright and cheery, that even I could see why Timothy would be depressed. Everything was too perfect, too simple and too happy, which gave this short its edge.

I thoroughly enjoyed Monkey Warfare with its simple story of characters collecting garbage to get by in life, along with the subplot of a third character, who is trying to learn how to rebel against the establishment. Directed and written by Reg Harkema, this film captures a simplistic lifestyle based on getting from point A to B by biking while those in the "establishment" use their SUVs and planes. The three characters, Dan, Linda and Susan, all have the anti-establishment traits, but whereas Susan is a newcomer to the game, both Dan and Linda are well seasoned and rehearsed in what can go wrong. This movie keeps your attention and interest. Reg Harkema does an excellent job in moving the plot forward.
Festival Rating: Very Good

Red Road
This slow-moving film gave a look at the working-class poor with richly-textured, emotionally traumatized characters. At times, I wanted to say move on with it, but if this movie had moved faster, the point would have been lost. The movie's slow momentum and its powerful and at times disturbing twists made the plot and storyline extremely intense and haunting. Andrea Arnold wrote and directed this successful piece, which is her first feature film. Her main character Jackie hits us emotionally because she manages to capture those that have meaning in our every day life. This is not a movie for the lighthearted and if you think you're going to escape from feeling emotinally hit, you're sadly mistaken.
Festival Rating: Very Good

The Boss of It All
This movie had that quality of the TV series, The Office. Lars van Trier wrote and directed this light hearted comedy that wasn't laugh out loud kind of funny, but humorous enough to make you chuckle. I was glad that he didn't give the plot away too early, but kept the audience out of the loop, just like his main character, Kristoffer. This deepened the quality of his piece by pushing the momentum of his plot forward. I fell in love with the quirks of the characters and how Ravn was trying to pull one over on all of them including his friend, Kristoffer.
Festival Rating: Very Good

12:08 East of Bucharest
Written and directed by Corneliu Porumboiu, he manages to intrigue his audience with his round-about manner of getting to the point. He shows more than he tells by following his characters going through their daily lives, with the finale occurring at a TV news station. One character, Jderescu, encourages two fellow Romanians to join him in his newscast to get to the bottom, once and for all, of what part the town took in the revolution. People start to call the station, and his newscast starts to crumble when one of the Romanians is called a liar. This movie is tinged with humor that is similar to that of some British comedies.
Festival Rating: Fair to Good