Zanzibar Musical Club

Zanzibal Musical Club invites the audience to explore and enjoy the music from an ancient town at the crossroads of the spice route. Although it was decidedly less exuberant and blatantly "feel-good" than I was expecting, I very much enjoyed this film. The director has a great talent for people-watching and captures some moments of sublime loveliness. I am, however, a bit concerned about the authenticity of the documentation. For instance, after listening to an old man sing a traditional song on a street corner, he is teased by his friends to whom he confides he hasn't sung in over 30 years but he'd do anything for foreign money. While it created one of my favourite moments of the doco, it also made me wonder how much actual culture we were glimpsing, and how much foreign romanticism was being created for the camera. Despite the fact that this doco may not offer an actual, authentic glimpse into Zazibarian (?) life, I did enjoy it quite a lot.

In The Wake Of The Flood / Yesno

Yesno was a very short short, based on the poetry of Dennis Lee (whom I love). It's a mad, fanstastic visual romp through some great writing. I hope to see it again, cuz there's more to take in than I could process in that short time. For those who know the artist, it was a little like a Schertzer brought to kinetic life.

In The Wake Of The Flood was surprisingly fantastic. I say surprising only due to my own uncertain bias. I chose the movie because it happened to fit into my scheduling. I also tend to like Margaret Atwood, though would not count myself among her die-hard fans, not by a long shot. But I do love her sharp wit and soft style, and having seen her read twice now, I can assure you it's a treat. And I learned a few things about her which I'll admit, only made me like her a whole lot more. The film chronicles her latest book tour, in which she employed the talents of volunteer singers and actors to bring her story to life. Despite finding the music a bit staid, I absolutely enjoyed the energy behind it. This film was also an interesting departure for director Ron Mann so you know, hooray for him. As a bonus treat, the audience got to participate in a Skype q&a with Atwood and Mann which was a ton of fun. Viva technology!!

Snow White

Choreographer Angelin Preljocaj's Snow White is, quite simply, stunning. With costumes by one of my favouritest designers ever, Jean-Paul Gaultier, this sure ain't Disney. I also really liked the actual filming, which is pretty rare for me and dance flicks. While the choreography stayed a bit more classical than I tend to like, I was completely engaged from beginning to end. Among my favourite moments is the introduction of the dwarves - very clever and visually exciting. And had I been in a less cynical time of my life, I would surely have joined the snifflers who dotted the audience during the Prince's dance of despair/Snow White's reawakening. A very beautiful (and more than a little lascivious) way to start the day!

Transfer

On the surface, the German sci-fi Transfer is a pretty good movie. Slick and stylish, with an interesting premise that challenges some of our current ideologies. As such, upon exiting the film I told my colleague I liked it. But then I did what any self-respecting sci-fi fan would do: I tore the movie apart, bit by bit. And unfortunately, it did not stand up to even the gentlest probing. The plot was riddled with giant holes of ridiculous implausibility. Why would they do that? And really, how come that? And that??? Puh-lease!! But you know - on the surface, I really did enjoy it. The absurdly gorgeous lead couple didn't hurt, if you know what I mean.. All in all, I reckon this film would appeal to sci-fi dabblers who are content with imperfect writing, and sci-fi connoisseurs who love to tear mediocre attempts to shreds. (we all know you're out there!)

I Wish I Knew

I Wish I Knew explores the rich history of Shanghai in the early 20th century. I know - great topic, right? But unfortunately, I feel this Chinese doco did the lush subject much disservice. I Wish I Knew consisted entirely of anecdotes told by the few survivors of the era - which is great in concept, but not so much in reality. Perhaps the survivors aren't the ones with the best stories? And the complete lack of narrative thread made the film feel rambly and a bit incoherent. I will readily assume blame for some of this. I know very little (okay, nothing) about a Chinese history the filmmaker assumed I would know. Unfortunately, without this basic grasp, I was left floundering, trying to make sense of many of the stories being told. Also, I think I'm learning the Chinese storytelling style is quite different from the style in which I'm used to communicating - a style which to me feels a bit more loquacious than I like. But I absolutely recognize this is my cultural bias. And if learning to challenge, possibly overcome my ideology is the one thing that came out of seeing this film, well, that ain't bad, is it?

Severn, The Voice Of Our Children

Severn, The Voice Of Our Children is a French doco (I know, you woulda thunk Canadian, eh?) which looks to Severn Suzuki, 18 years after her rousing plea to the world leaders at a UN meeting on the environment in 1992. It is, of course, a very important topic, and it is certainly contemplated soberly. But I found it a bit rambly at times, and even, on one or two occasions, downright confusing. And while there were elements of hope, I left the film feeling defeated, and more than a little bit cynical. I guess that's the challenge of a good environmental doco: you don't want to celebrate the successes to a point that could too-easily assuage a too-complacent world nation. But if you focus a bit too much on the fuck-ups, you risk depressing the too-complacent world nation. Or maybe the point is, most people won't do a goddamned thing anyway. Supid consumers.. Fucking sheeple!! sigh. But you know.. thankfully some people are doing something - and some of those people were directly impacted by that little girl's speech. So I guess... keep up the good work, Severn! I, and the Earth, thank you.

Surviving Life

Surviving Life was hilarious. Simply, hilarious. Pop psychology, pop art, pop goes your mind! Ideas both terrible and ridiculous are pulled wide open in this surreal shenanigan where superegos have halitosis and Freud suckerpunches Jung. Very funny, and more than a little disturbing too. If you don't mind freaky films, I strongly, strongly recommend this one.