Lavazza Italian Film Festival Review: A Quiet Life (2010)

By Michael De Martino

(Claudio Cupellini, 2010, Italy, in Italian and German, Drama, 105 minutes)

A Neapolitan man, Rosario (Toni Servillo), runs a restaurant in Frankfurt, Germany. Suddenly Diego (Marco D’Amore), a man from his past, arrives on his doorstep and opens old wounds from Rosario’s past. The hidden life of crime is exposed as Rosario’s secrets unfold.

While I generally like to see a film with no prior knowledge of its content, this film will no doubt suffer criticism from those who are unfamiliar with the Camorra (Neapolitan mafia) and their garbage scandals. This information, which is only briefly touched on at the beginning of A Quiet Life, is absolutely vital to the story. Without this knowledge the film risks being dismissed as just another on-the-run style family drama.

A Quiet Life loses points not for being bad or ineffective, but because it’s not all that interesting. Only a handful of characters are ever presented, leaving little chance for suspense. Most of the action is merely fast editing which is frequently unnecessary.

In saying this, the film is entirely carried by a fantastic performance from Servillo. The wide emotional spectrum displayed by Servillo is executed with such expression that we have no choice but to remain engaged by his acting. Effective supporting roles from D’Amore and others further enhance this film being centred on the acting.

Although I wouldn’t go as far as saying this is a “must-see,” it is worth the experience. Especially if you happen to be Neapolitan.

6.8/10

MIFF 2011 Film Review: My Wedding and Other Secrets (2011)

By Michael De Martino

(Roseanne Liang, 2011, New Zealand, Comedy-Drama, 88 minutes)

A Chinese university student, Emily (played by the adorable Michelle Ang), lives in New Zealand and stumbles upon the love of her life, a fellow New Zealand-born student, James (Matt Whelan), but fears her family will not approve of their relationship due to their cultural differences.

The opening of My Wedding… is rather clunky. The lead actors try so hard to look like outcasts that they’re not entirely convincing. The relationship between Emily and James just sort of happens, and the cultural aspects forbidding the couple may be obvious to some, but a little more insight into Chinese culture could have answered a few questions instead of the assumed knowledge put onto the audience. Nevertheless, Ang is the one redeeming quality that keeps us engaged.

The script has a few hiccups. For the first two thirds of My Wedding… we are lead to believe it is the disapproving father who forbids their relationship. However, when Emily finally builds the courage to confront her father, we learn that the problem is actually with the mother, making the paranoia built up but the film almost pointless. In fact, all that is needed to satisfy the father is for James to learn how to propose in Mandarin – hardly the forbidden love of different cultures that the film initially makes itself out to be about.

Despite the mild clumsiness of the beginning, the film progressively improves from the characters being more defined, the characters being proactive about achieving their goals instead of hiding, and more believable acting. Towards the end Emily confronts her mother about living with James. This scene makes the entire film. It is perfectly written, amazingly acted by Ang, relevant and believable.

My Wedding… is an easy watch. It may not be the most original or revolutionary film you’ll see this year, but it will leave you with a soft smile on your face.

6/10

MIAF Day 4 – UPA: The UPA Style, The ‘Animate’ Collection

By Michael De Martino

UPA: The UPA Style

This collection of 11 films served as an introduction to the style of UPA. The UPA (United Productions of America) are a significant part of animation history which was founded in 1941 following the infamous Disney strike. The revolutionary UPA style of minimalist backgrounds and colour remains iconic to this day. These films are experimental for their time, daring, imaginative, and hilarious.

Here are my top picks for this screening:

Be Quiet, Kind, and Gentle (Phil Duncan, 1955) Hilarious sing-a-long about when to swallow your tongue in those sticky situations.

The Jaywalker (Robert Cannon, 1956) A documentary-style film focussing on a man’s simple passion – jaywalking.

Outlaws (Osmond Evans, 1955) The most memorable of the session. Special guest, Tee Bosustow, addressed this film as his favourite, and for good reason. Three outlaws rob trains. One is good with a gun, one is good with a rope, and the other runs like an antelope. This was the film that made me think “they just don’t make ‘em like they used to.” It seems so outdated by today’s standards but this just makes it that much more fun!

Rooty Toot Toot (John Hubley, 1952) Packed with tongue-in-cheek humour, this courtroom comedy follows a woman accused of murdering her husband. Singing and dancing, and bullet wounds, keep this wacky courtroom entertaining.

 

The ‘Animate’ Collection

More works from the evil hand of the UK. An array of styles, colours, and techniques fill this collection of 13 films funded by the ‘Animate’ Project.

Here are my top picks for this screening:

The Life Size Zoetrope (Mark Simon Hewis, 2007) Stop-motion flim consisting of people holding the single frames of the film. And at 6 minutes and 33 seconds, the effort involved alone must be commended.

Rabbit (Run Wrake, 2005) Haunting film involving creepy children and animals. Definitely not for the kids to see.

Tad’s Nest (Petra Freeman, 2009) Stunning paint-on-glass aesthetic hypnotises audiences with its dream-like fantasy.

MIAF Day 3 – Supinfocom; Careers Forum; RCA 25th Anniversary

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By Michael De Martino

Supinfocom: Le Lab d’Images Project

Supinfocom is a French 3D animation school. This was a special one-off opportunity for students to be teamed up with professional French graphic novel artists and designers. I’m not normally a big fan of 3D CGI animation; I much prefer the traditional styles, but I was not anticipating how much I would enjoy this session. Of the six sessions I have been to so far this could be the best one. All of these films are creative, imaginative, fun, and full of colour and expression. Most amazingly though is the fact that these films all took roughly 2-3 months to put together, which is an epic achievement considering how refined each film is.

Here are my top picks for this screening:

Cosmic Jungle (2010) Exaggerated colour fills this angular urban jungle where two dogs chase after a runaway fire hydrant.

Muzorama (2009) A head inside a mouth. Another head used as a soccer ball. A man whose eyes sit on top of his upside-down nose. A man riding a bicycle which has snails for wheels. If you can figure out what this film is about I would love to know…

Puppet Mansion (2010) The ghost train from hell featuring two cuddly critters and their battle with the ticket collector.

Rubika (2010) The world is a giant Rubik’s cube where gravity changes from vertical to horizontal for some unfortunate people.

Careers in Animation Forum

Fun and informative, this free forum gave the general public the chance to get an insight into the animation industry from four Australian professionals from different fields. Katrina Mathers, Jack Parry, Huni Bolliger, and Darren Bell spoke of how they entered the industry and how they have made a living through animation. The rest of the forum consisted of Q&A where anyone from the audience was given the chance to ask questions about the industry, how to make yourself known, and anything else they desired. The panel of animators stuck around afterwards to answer any further questions people wanted to ask. I spoke to Katrina Mathers who was extremely approachable and genuinely respects those who wish to seek her advice. A very valuable session for anyone with hopes of entering the animation industry.

RCA 25th Anniversary Retrospective

Just when I thought the Polish were dark… Wow! This collection of fourteen films, celebrating 25 years of the Royal College of the Arts, are among the creepiest I have ever seen. Who would have guessed the British had such an evil side to them?  A fascinating array of styles, this session featured multiple approaches to hand-made films. Pencil, ink, paint, models, stamps, and so on, were used to animate these painstakingly detailed films.

Here are my top picks for this screening:

Hello Dad (Christoph Simon, 1987) This film lead the session and boy did it go out with a bang. Some (including myself) bellowed in laughter, some stared in utter bemusement, and “WTF?” was echoed throughout the cinema. It must be seen to be believed.

Prophet And Lo$$ (Jonathan Bairstow, 1988) Creepy, energetic industrial workplace consisting of robots and clowns. Black and white, but full of excitement.

This Is Harrow (Monika Forsberg, 2001) A very simple looking animation of pencil on paper full of spirit and subtle comedy.

Toxic (Andrew McEwan, 1990) Haunting stop-motion film consisting of preserved dead animals. A platypus leads an army of animals to defeat an evil insect.

MIAF Day 2 – Focus on Poland 2, Abstract Showcase

By Michael De Martino

Focus on Poland 2

A continuation of Tuesday night’s session; this collection of nine films continued the morbid stories and dark aesthetics of the Polish. Even the comedic films had an undeniable layer of darkness to them. These films mainly consist of black and white with minimal use of colour. Even then, the colour mostly consisted of muted browns and greys. Darkness was also communicated through most of the films’ themes. Millhaven for example, one of the sessions top films, was inspired by a song from our home grown Nick Cave titled “The Curse of Millhaven”, which begins relatively normal but progressively gets more and more disturbing until we learn the young female singing the lyrics to the song is a psychotic killer who leaves us with the comforting words “All God’s children, they gotta die.” Regardless of the consistent eerie atmosphere presented by these films they all share a common attribute of being amazing.

Here are my top picks for this screening:

Exit (Grzegorz Koncewicz, 2006) This black and white film follows a man’s fantasy to win the girl from the apartment building across the street.

The Ritual (Zbigniew Czapla, 2010) Similar aesthetic to Exit, this beautiful stylised film consists entirely of black paint on white paper.

The Razor (Grzegorz Koncewicz, 2009) Arguably the best film of the session. It involves numerous animation techniques to communicate a man’s fear of the razor used to shave his facial hair. Surreal, fantastical, macabre, but most importantly: effective.

 

Abstract Showcase

Presenter and festival director, Malcolm Turner, opened this session by expressing his thoughts on abstract animation, “Trying to define what abstract animation is is about as much fun as being sodomised with your pants on.” This may well be due to the fact that pretty much all animation is abstract in its own way. This collection of films however delivered films even more abstract than regular abstract animation. These films can be described as experiments with colour, shapes, and film stock, accompanied but avant-garde auditory compositions. The seventeen films making up this session are experimental yet strangely beautiful head trips. They are too extreme to be indifferent about, but love or hate them, they will leave and impression on you.

Here are my top picks for this screening:

An Abstract Day (Oerd van Cuijlenborg, 2010) Arguably the top film of the session. A day-in-the-life story of a couple told through regular sound with abstract visuals to represent the sound.

Fiesta Brava (Steven Woloshen, 2011) The effort put into this film is mind boggling. A 3 minute, 26 second film consisting of scratching and painting the actual film stock to create the finished result. The erratic use of colour intertwined with the upbeat samba music complete the experience.

Metropolis (Mirai Mizue, 2009) Geometric assortment of buildings and lines accompanied by an industrial soundtrack.

MIAF Day 1 – Focus on Poland 1, SIGGRAPH Highlights

By Michael De Martino

Last night I attended two equally amazing sessions, one focusing on a national cinema (Poland), and one focusing of a particular animation technique (CGI).

Session 1 – Focus on Poland 1

Ten films made up the first of three sessions of the Polish showcase. I was unfamiliar with polish animation before this session, but now I can happily call myself a fan. These films share a dark aesthetic quality though still managed to illustrate a variety of styles ranging from ink, to pencil, to paint, to CGI, to scratch, to stop-motion animation. Only two films contained dialogue (which is most common in animated short films) forcing us to focus on the visuals. These films defy genre; they are simply meant to be enjoyed as the animated national cinema of Poland.

There were several standout films:

Robert Proch’s Galeria (2010) wowed audiences with its calligraphic movement of ink and paint.

Danny Boy (Marek Skrobecki, 2010) is a darkly humorous stop-motion film about a city of headless citizens which made audiences laugh and cringe simultaneously while adding genuine dramatic emotion. A varied mesh of moods executed perfectly.

The session concluded with the astounding CGI film, Paths of Hate (2010), about two pilots set to destroy each other.

My top pick of this session is another film by Proch titled Wirus [Virus] (2009) which can fortunately be seen here.

The next two Polish sessions are tonight at 6:15pm and Saturday night at 9pm.

Session 2 – SIGGRAPH Highlights

Fourteen films made up this collection of CGI wonders. These films illustrate just how far computer graphics have come. Some of these films are indescribably amazing to watch. Perhaps this best describes the feeling:

Here are my top picks from this screening:

Animation History of Poland (Tomasz Baginski, 2009) is exactly what the title suggests, the history of Poland communicated through CGI animation. This was the highlight of the session.

Loom (Ilja Brunck, Jan Bitzer, Csaba Letay, 2010) is an utterly amazing film about a moth being trapped and venomed by a spider. Simple premise, incredible execution.

Mobile (Verena Fels, 2010) was definitely the film the audience had the most fun with. It consists of cute farmyard animals hanging from a mobile. All the lonely cow wants is a friend and damn she’s gonna get one, even if it means throwing the mobile out of control.

White Drawing (2009) by Kurt Adams is an atmospheric post-apocalyptic head trip. You get sucked into the film and cannot get out. Even if it doesn’t make sense it is visually appealing to say the least.

Some of the films from this session will be screened at other sessions, so keep an eye out for them.

Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF) – Be There!

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By Michael De Martino

From June 19-26 the Melbourne International Animation Festival (MIAF) will be running at ACMI in Federation Square. Over 400 films will be screened at this ever growing animation event. Come and witness animation from all over the world and experience an array of visual and aural styles you never thought possible.

MIAF is my number 1 pick of all the film festivals available to us Victorians. It is easily accessible, tickets are very reasonable (especially the season pass), you are able to meet the filmmakers, and it focuses purely on hand-made cinema: animation, where the possibilities are limitless. There is so much variety that everyone will be able to appreciate certain aspects of it.

Last night I was fortunate enough to attend the Gala Opening screening where we were given a taste of what to expect from the collection of themed sessions. These films ranged from the themed nation – Poland, other international films, some classic UPA films, films from the UK’s Royal College of the Arts, some cut-out films as a part of the themed style, and films from our own back door. If I could judge the rest of this metaphoric book by the cover I witnessed last night, then I’d be saying this is gonna be one damn good book.

With an eclectic assortment of screenings to attend, the one I am most anticipating is the Australia Showcase which will be screened at 4:15pm on Saturday the 25^th. Last year’s Australian Showcase blew me away. I was truly astounded at this nation’s ability to create magnificent animation. If you have ever doubted Australia’s artistic abilities, prepare to have your faith regained because animation is where so much of Australia’s talent has been hiding, and I believe it is damn well time that more people realised this. At the end of the Australian session there is a meet & greet where the audience is introduced to the filmmakers. I’ve already got my spot booked!

If you get the chance at all this week you absolutely must make an effort to see at least one screening of this festival. It is one of the only festivals dedicated to animation in the country. You have my word that it will be a memorable experience. These Australian animators need your support and this is the way to show it.

For more information head to the MIAF official website or the ACMI website:

http://www.miaf.net/

http://www.acmi.net.au/miaf-2011.aspx

DVD Review: Summer Wars (2009)

By Michael De Martino

(Mamoru Hosoda, 2009, Japan, in Japanese, Science-fiction, 114 minutes)

Time and time again, Japanese anime proves that the field of animation extends farther than that of Disney, Pixar or Dreamworks, and what a marvellous little gem of an example this film is!

Kenji, a 17 year old maths-wizz school student and moderator of the online interactive world, OZ, is asked to stand in as the boyfriend of 18 year old student, Natsuki, for her grandmother’s 90th birthday party. While at the party, Kenji is sent a mysterious numerical code. Kenji cracks the code, thus unknowingly allowing OZ to be hacked, creating a super avatar which takes over the security systems.

At first you wonder why that’s such a big deal, a couple of people lose their account and that’s all, right? Wrong. So very, very wrong.

OZ is much more than a social network or online role-playing game. As it turns out, the world has put so much faith into this program such as major corporation accounts and emergency services contact details. As the super avatar wrecks havoc in the OZ universe, consequences are felt in the real world, growing progressively more disastrous as the program is corrupted.

Aesthetically this film is to the point of masterpiece. Intricately crafted backgrounds with precise detail are illustrated in every frame. From the cute avatars of OZ, to the humanoid characters and rendered sceneries, every aspect of the animation is executed with great precision.

Summer Wars is a very modern film which communicates a powerful statement on the way the rapid expansion of online communities can not only create a global village but also have catastrophic consequences that are much worse than we could ever imagine.

Summer Wars is an elaborately executed and highly enjoyable work of imagination which teaches a powerful message to citizens of our time. The Japanese anime can be very addictive, and this film is an apt example of how the obsession begins. Even so, I recommend this film not only to the animation fans, but to everyone, for it is an overall enjoyable film.

8.9/10

Special features

Special features include a detailed interview with the director, theatrical trailer, TV promotional spots, footage from an exclusive theatrical promo, and interviews with several cast members.

The highlight of these special features is the informative interview from director Mamoru Hosoda. Sometimes learning the inspiration behind a film can add to its appreciation, and this is certainly the case with Summer Wars. Hosoda speaks of his views on the prominent involvement of technology in Japan today, as well as Japan’s culture. This interview alone makes the separate Special Features well worth it.

3.5/5

La Mirada Film Festival Review: Jamón, Jamón (1992)

By Michael De Martino

(Bigas Luna, 1992, Spain, in Spanish, Drama/comedy, 95 minutes)

Set in a small, arid town in southern Spain, Jamón Jamón tells the age-old story of forbidden love where the connection between food and sex is taken to a whole new extreme. Silvia (Penelope Cruz) and Jose Luis (Armando Del Rio) plan to marry despite his mother’s disapproval. In an attempt to sabotage the relationship his mother hires Raul (Javier Bardem) to woo Silvia away from Jose Luis. Of course such plans never do run smoothly and soon spirals out of control.

Audi German Film Festival Review: Colours in the Dark [Satte Farben vor Schwarz] (2010)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

By Michael De Martino

(Sophie Heldman, 2010, Germany, in German, Drama, 85 minutes)

Painfully bland family drama about a father (Bruno Ganz) in his twilight years who, despite the will of his family, chooses not to have surgery for prostate cancer.

There is not a lot to say in reference to the content of the film because hardly anything happens; there is not one memorable moment. Colours in the Dark is lazily directed, the script is pretty standard, and while the acting is acceptable, it is overshadowed by truly hateable characters who seem to have a biter attitude towards everything. The lack of non-diegetic sound in most scenes makes the film feel empty. Essentially, throughout the film characters interact, get disappointed with each other, then leave. This cycle repeats itself constantly.

A lot of the time I found myself on the verge of yelling at the screen in frustration, “something happen!” In a lot of bad films there is a redeeming humorous quality to them, “so-bad-they’re-good” if you will, but not this film.

There is a good chance Colours in the Dark was never intended for audiences of younger generations, but even so, the emptiness of this film will test even the most determined viewer.

If you have problems sleeping by all means watch this film. But if not, stay well away. Life is too short to waste time on films this bland.

0.8/10