MIAF Day 5: International Program #5, Klasky Csupo Retrospective: The Unseen Pilots

International Program #5

The fifth session of films in competition. My top picks are as follows:

Preferably Blue (Alan Dickson, 2010) – Comedic New Zealand CGI comedy about the Easter Bunny’s vendetta against Santa Claus. Delivered as a poem in the style of Disney Christmas specials, but with the addition of some very adult humour.

The Backwater Gospel (Bo Mathorne, 2011) – Absolutely astounding CGI animation with a graphic novel vibe to it. The film highlights the fear and paranoia of religion in the old West, and the symbolism of “the undertaker”. It feels like a feature film in nine minutes. With haunting visuals, flawless voice acting, and eerie textures creating a gothic atmosphere, this film was my pick for Best of the Festival.

Peacemaker Mac – The Island of Dispute (Yotam Cohen, 2011) – Clever Israeli animation made in the style of silent 1920s Felix the Cat. Not a festival winner but it delivers what it promises: a modern twist on classic humour.

A Life Well-Seasoned (Daniel Rieley, 2011) – Beautiful story of an elderly man, portrayed through 2D pencil animation and stop-motion animation.

 

Klasky Csupo Retrospective: The Unseen Pilots

The once husband and wife duo Arlene Klasky and Gábor Csupó are responsible for producing, animating, and creating some of television’s most iconic and relevant animation. They are the names behind such landmarks as Nickelodeon’s Rugrats and Aaahh!!! Real Monsters, the cult classic Duckman, and the first 61 episodes of a little series known as The Simpsons. But not everything the duo touched turned to gold. This session was a compilation of the unscreened pilots of series that never made it for one reason or another. It truly is unfortunate that some did not evolve any further, and some were never going to see the light of day; though regardless of what became of these pilots, the Melbourne audience loved it. A very tough session to better.

Bench Pressly – A ladies man rebel cop, voiced by Bruce Campbell, with a shrimp sidekick voiced by Tim Curry.  Do I need to say any more?

Junkyard Teddies – A junkyard of defective and faulty toys. Satisfying amount of innocent humour accompanied by slightly altered clichés.

The Way The Dead Live – The obscenity and profanity of this pilot would make South Park blush. It’s no surprise this didn’t make it, but for a select minority of audience members, this is the kind of boundary-pushing, sexually explicit, unique animation you’ve been looking for.

MIAF Day 4: New Japanese Animation #1: Tokyo University of the Arts, International Program #3, International Program #4

New Japanese Animation #1: Tokyo University of the Arts

I’m going to say it right off the mark – this collection of films made the entire festival. This was my original thought leaving the cinema, and after the remaining 3 days of the festival it is still how I continued to feel. I, among many, am a huge fan of Japanese animation. I already had high expectations coming into this session and my expectations were vastly exceeded. The Japanese anime is very popular and rightfully so, but real auteurist Japanese animation needs more attention. These graduate films were chosen for their quality and diversity within the medium. Pencils, ink, paint, CGI, cut-out, puppets, stop-motion; it was all there. I could literally do a full write up on each of these films, but a couple stood out that little bit more; they were:

Bonnie (Masanori Okamoto, 2011) – Beautifully amazing cut-out animation starring Bonnie; a tiny woman made of paper who dances and shape-shifts all over Tokyo.

Specimens of Obsession (Atsushi Makino, 2011) – A metaphoric tale of the torment experienced by a murderer reflecting on his dark deeds. Fear and suspense are communicated through bug metaphors and fast-paced sound.

The Tender March (Wataru Uekusa, 2011) – Definitely the most typically Japanese film of the bunch. We follow a female schoolgirl who walks through the city and surrounding areas, accompanied by cute animals and lively inanimate objects, with a giant monster destroying the city, while an upbeat J-pop song plays.

Island of Man (Alimo, 2011) – Breath taking painted animation with soothing narration. Arguably the best of the session.

Uncapturable Ideas (Masaki Okuda, 2011) – Definitely the most unique film of the session; and being a session full of Japanese films, that is saying a lot! This psychotic painted animation figuratively illustrated the irritation of writer’s block in a way that is simultaneously amusing, absurd, and inventive.

 

International Program #3

The third session of films in competition. My top picks are as follows:

La Détente (Pierre Ducos, Bertrand Bey, 2011) – CGI film displaying the torment of war. The protagonist imagines himself as a child fighting a war in a land made of candy where flowers are ammunition. The cheerful depiction of war exists to juxtapose with its true message: that nothing positive will ever come from war.

Sorceress (Patrick Jenkins, 2011) – A linear supernatural story of two sisters finding themselves in a scary situation involving an evil sorceress that sucks the life out of its victims.

Plume (Barry Purves, 2011) – Larger-than-life, operatic film by British puppet animation master, Barry Purves, about an angel losing his wings.

 

International Program #4

The fourth session of films in competition. My top picks are as follows:

The Eater (Wally Chung, 2010) – Fast-paced and abrupt film involving a man-looking monster the eats everything it encounters.

Bon Voyage (Fabio Friedli, 2011) – Black & white 2D black comedy animation with stick figures on a holiday, though death is a regular occurrence.

Bottle (Kirsten Lepore, 2011) – Gorgeous stop-motion animation about a sand being and a snow being who send each other gifts across the ocean via bottle.

Melbourne Cinematheque- Selected Works by Claire Denis

For July Melbourne Cinematheque has a three-week retrospective of Claire Denis films. A French-filmmaker who spent much of her childhood travelling throughout France and Africa, Denis’ films are noted for their long-takes, photography, the locations in which they are shot and their entwining of philosophical ideals and literary ideas.
Through her repetitive images, natural settings, and the way she captures the human body, Claire Denis will seduce you. She is able to engage the viewer through all their senses, slowly drawing them deeper into her films and closer to the characters and situations playing out within the often isolated worlds she has created.
Also, the jewellery company Philos-o-Face has a Claire Denis brooch. It’s awesome.

L’Intrus (2004) is such a film that draws strongly from philosophy. Taken from French philosopher Jean-Luc Nancy’s autobiographic essay, Denis films the life, dreams, hopes, fears, and nightmares of Louis Trebor (Michel Subor). Trebor lives in an isolated cabin and, after a heart transplant, decides to find the son he sired in Tahiti many years ago. The intruder here is everybody and everything. Trebor for suddenly turning up on the island and wishing to have a relationship with his son, Trebor’s new heart for infiltrating his body and attempting to adapt to him, and the viewer for being present to Trebor’s public and private thoughts. With sparse and disconnected dialogue, coupled with disjointed and disorientated images, Denis creates an elliptical journey for both Trebor and the viewer.

Beau Travail (1999) is perhaps my favourite of Denis’ films. It is also her most well known. Told non-chronologically by Galoup, a Foreign Legion officer played by (the amazingly committed) Denis Lavant, and set in the Gulf of Djibouti in Africa and Galoup’s apartment in France, the film presents Galoup’s fall from grace. A loyal soldier who is in control of his platoon, Galoup’s personal demons rise to challenge his leadership when new cadet Sentain joins the group. Determined to prove that Sentain is only out to cause trouble, Galoup goes out of his way to humiliate and debase him.
Military life is the perfect forum for Denis to show her love of repetition and disorientating images of human bodies. The sequences of the soldiers’ physical activities appear to be choreographed like a dance, contrasted highly with Galoup’s own dancing, representative of his final actions. Shot on the open desert planes and salt fields of West Africa, these men have nothing to do but practice for an undecided and undeclared war, unaware that it has already started within their own ranks.