Jim's Film Festival Diary for Monday, April 16

Films: In the Shadow of the Moon, Fair Play, Wicked Flowers

Future Screenings: In the Shadow of the Moon - Tue, April 17, 9:30PM at the Prince
Fair Play - None
Wicked Flowers - None

I am pleased to point out that Dead Daughters, the completely awful Russian "horror" film that I was ranting about yesterday, has now been quietly removed from the Festival Favorites and replaced with a disturbing-sounding documentary called The Killer Within. I haven't seen The Killer Within, but I'd bet dollars to donuts it's better than Dead Daughters, and more deserving of a "Favorites" designation. I'm curious as to why Dead Daughters was replaced, however; there's no explanation on the website or in the daily festival email. I suspect it's a simple matter of print availability, but I'd like to think somebody came to their senses and realized it was a crappy film.

In the Shadow of the Moon
This Sundance Audience Award-winner is a documentary, directed by British filmmaker David Sington, about America's various trips to the moon. Because I'm a lover of documentaries and all things having to do with space travel, this was one of the few really must-see movies for me at the festival this year, and it did not disappoint. It tells the stories of NASA's missions to the moon not one after the other, but all in parallel, discussing lift-off, then the experience of being in space, then landing on the moon, and so on. It tells these completely engrossing adventure tales through contemporary interviews, and through footage from the time. The interviews are with ten astronauts, each of whom were on, or deeply involved with, one of the missions that went to the moon, and the footage includes everything from TV commercials and news reports to amazing, beautiful, crystal clear, never-before-seen footage from the NASA archives of the astronauts preparing and training, of lift-offs, of stage separations, of tense moments in ground control, of men walking and driving the lunar rover on the moon. This footage is often breathtaking and awe-inspiring (and accompanied by equally beautiful and epic orchestral music), but even more moving are the conversations with the men who went into space. These are incredibly intelligent, funny, thoughtful, and even, in a few cases, spiritual men. And boy, do they have some great stories to tell. It helps also that their interviews are edited together well, thanks to editor David Fairhead. And really the film in general is just really well-crafted. What it does best of all is fill you with real wonder and amazement at the fact that we have actually sent men to another rock floating in space, and gotten them back safely to this planet. A particularly striking moment is when one of the astronauts points out that his father was born right around the time that the Wright brothers were making their first flight. That in only a few generations we could have come so far is really astounding.
Festival rating: Excellent

Fair Play
This is a French film telling the story of a series of brutal, vicious, underhanded conflicts at a business firm via a handful of scenes, each centering around, and represented by, a particular sport or similar physical activity: rowing, squash, golf, mountaineering, etc. Of course, none of the business conflicts remain strictly business-related; they all become very personal and physical. Also, in every scene someone mentions the concept of fairness, and in every case, nobody plays fair. It's all about power plays, male posturing, and what people are willing to do to get ahead. It's also a funny and clever dissection of human nature. Some of the sequences work better than others (the squash game and the golf game are particularly memorable), and the film goes on perhaps a bit too long, but overall it's really quite good. Definitely try to track it down if you can.
Festival rating: Very Good

Wicked Flowers
With words and phrases like "surreal," "Lynchian," "videogame-loving slacker," "perplexing game," and "deadly puzzle" in its program description, this film sounded almost like it was tailor-made for me. Unfortunately, it was not (and the film is not really particularly surreal or Lynchian). It's a Japanese film about your average unemployed, apathetic, layabout teen living off his wealthy parents who one day finds a URL for an online game and decides to log on. It turns out to be an application form with a bunch of questions on it. He fills it out and then receives an invitation to a mysterious house. When he goes inside, he soon finds himself in the midst of a dangerous game, moving from room to room, collecting puzzling clues and racing against time to find the solution and the way out before he loses the game, and his life. (Think Cube, but not as clever.) Unfortunately, although the film has some really neat ideas, and some really striking visuals, it's ultimately very disappointing. It's repetitive to an agonizing degree, besides also being too long and drawn-out. It's also ridiculously melodramatic, with dialogue and acting that are way over-the-top. And the ultimate resolution is disappointing and silly. Besides the fact that there's an obvious, clumsy social statement being made, the conclusion, and the solution to the puzzle, essentially eliminate the entire point of the game and the story. It's a version of the old "it was all a dream" ending, which is a type of ending I particularly despise. In fact, the ending also mirrors another of my least favorite endings: the Nightmare on Elm Street-type "the horror is over; oh wait, no it isn't!" ending. Except it's even more meaningless and nonsensical than in NoES. I'd tell you not to go see this movie, but since it's not screening again, I don't even have to. Just remember not to mistakenly rent it from Netflix or something (assuming it ends up on DVD).
Festival rating: Poor