2008 film festival thread

[Boner M]

A place to post reviews, buzz, discussion of Toronto/NY films, etc.

Rowland, show no mercy.

[Stay Puft]

I was just wondering where this thread was. I've been looking over the TIFF schedule this weekend and trying to decide what days I could/should go. I'll have a better idea mid-week when I have a better idea of my school schedule. First weekend is unfortunately out, second weekend almost certain, weekday unsure.

Lots of good looking stuff this year. I just hope I don't miss Ramin Bahrani's new film like I did last year.

[Stay Puft]

And of course D'Angelo is already doing his Toronto drive-bys:
http://www.panix.com/~dangelo/tiff08.html

You can hit the link for all his capsule reviews. So far he has seen:

Gomorrah (Matteo Garrone, Italy): 54
Lorna's Silence (Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne, Belgium/France/Italy): 81
Waltz With Bashir (Ari Folman, Israel/France/Germany): 40
Synecdoche, New York (Charlie Kaufman, USA): 46
The Brothers Bloom (Rian Johnson, USA): 76
/Ashes of Time/ (Wong Kar-wai, Hong Kong/China): 59
Happy-Go-Lucky (Mike Leigh, UK): 58
A Christmas Tale (Arnaud Desplechin, France): 72
Of Time and the City (Terence Davies, UK): 52

[Boner M]

Yeah, I noticed he raved the Dardenne film. His comment read more as a kneejerk response to the reviews that lambasted it for being more 'plotted' than the bros' previous work, though I guess that's part of D'Angelo's stock in trade.

I thought it was pretty good mainly for where it ends up, though the way it gets there felt kinda off, and the lead actress & visual style were sorta nondescript. Will definitely have to give it another viewing.

Also, Denis' new film, 35 Shots of Rum got a rave in Variety (http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2559&reviewid=VE1117938122[/url) from Venice, where it's playing out of comp.

And ScreenDaily (http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intSto ryID=40414) and Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=11566) love Miyazaki's Ponyo.

[transmogrifier]

And ScreenDaily (http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intSto ryID=40414) and Hollywood Reporter (http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/awards_festivals/cannes/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=11566) love Miyazaki's Ponyo.

I can feel Kurosawa Fan's excitement all the way over here in New Zealand.

[Amnesiac]

And of course D'Angelo is already doing his Toronto drive-bys:
http://www.panix.com/~dangelo/tiff08.html

You can hit the link for all his capsule reviews. So far he has seen:

Gomorrah (Matteo Garrone, Italy): 54

His Gomorrah write-up seems to indicate a really disappointing film. Which is unfortunate, because I was really excited to see it.

[Pop Trash]

Well Eternity will be happy he liked The Brother's Bloom a lot. He didn't like Waltz with Bashir that much, which goes against a lot of the Film Comment critics; many of whom thought it was a masterpiece. I don't really think much of this guy as a critic.

[Boner M]

Rachel Getting Married is getting huge raves from Venice, that make it sound exactly like the 'whirlygig' Demme I love. Jump for joy, Raiders.


Brimming with energy, elan and the unpredictability of his "Something Wild," Jonathan Demme's triumphant "Rachel Getting Married" may just lay the wedding film to rest, being such a hard act to follow. Amid preparations for a biracial wedding, in comes the bride's time-bomb of a sister (Anne Hathaway), fresh from a nine-month stay at her umpteenth rehab, ready to open every can of worms in the cupboard. Riding emotional rollercoasters to the ever-changing rhythms of the wonderfully eclectic in-house bands whose music never ceases, Demme's self-styled stunner should appeal to arthouse auds upon its Oct. 3 release by Sony Classics.

http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938175.html?categoryid=3 1&cs=1

[Pop Trash]

Rachel Getting Married is getting huge raves from Venice, that make it sound exactly like the 'whirlygig' Demme I love. Jump for joy, Raiders.



http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938175.html?categoryid=3 1&cs=1

I like Demme but this sounds fucking exactly like Margot at the Wedding to me, which I wasn't that into.

[Stay Puft]

One final (presumably) Toronto drive-by from D'Angelo:

Treeless Mountain (So Yong Kim, USA/South Korea): 41
[For fuck's sake plant something. In Between Days didn't exactly feel sui generis, but Kim's take on adolescent fumbling and dislocated yearning was nonetheless distinct and nuanced, predicated upon characters and situations that were both archetypal and slightly off-kilter. Without puberty to confuse various issues, however, she goes on autopilot -- this is just Child's-Eye 101, a bland rehash of Nobody Knows (though here the kids are dumped with a mean aunt rather than wholly abandoned) that dutifully hits every sad-little-moppet trope known to world cinema. Representative maudlin touch: Before she bails, Mom gives her two daughters a piggy bank (literally in the shape of a pig! when did you last see that?) and tells them that every time they obey Mean Aunt, they'll receive a coin; when the bank is full, Mommy will return. If you can't fill in the next half hour of the movie, you haven't been watching many Iranian films over the last decade or so. Kim certainly has.]

[Stay Puft]

GreenCine has conveniently collated reviews for a few films from Venice:

Goodbye Solo (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006614.html#more)
The praise keeps rolling in for Ramin Bahrani. I want to believe, even if I didn't think Man Push Cart was worth all the hype. I did like it, though.

Vinyan (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006612.html#more)
Some mixed reviews here, ranging from very positive to lackluster and disappointing.

35 Shots of Rum (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006600.html#more)
Lots of praise for Claire Denis. I haven't seen anything by her...

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006599.html#more)
It's Miyazaki and everybody's having a good time. Can he do no wrong? (He can, but maybe not this time.)

Inju, the Beast in the Shadow (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006598.html#more)
Mixed, but mostly negative. One reviewer bails after 40 minutes.

Plastic City (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006597.html#more)
Pretty much negative across the board. Repeated complaints include incoherency, self-indulgence, and the dreaded "p" word. Can't wait!

Achilles and the Tortoise (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006586.html#more)
I don't know what to make of reviews for Kitano films anymore. These are generally mixed, and at any point seem to be reviewing something simple and straightforward or frustrating and indulgent. Can't wait!

The Burning Plain (http://daily.greencine.com/archives/006585.html#more)
Some divided reviews here, split down the middle, as they say. This is Arriaga's first feature length directing gig, and seems to keep in line with his previous written work in terms of storytelling. Some people can't help but talk about Inarritu. That's their problem, I guess.

[Boner M]

The Wrestler is getting a love-in. Don't care much for Aronofsky, but I'm interested in this one. Rourke FTW!



Bolstered by a career-best performance from Mickey Rourke and outstanding work by Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood, the film could nab audience interest, especially if Rourke's portrayal generates the awards fever that greeted Ellen Burstyn's turn in Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream."

[URL]http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938197.html?categoryid=3 1&cs=1 (]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=11602[/URL)

Talk about comebacks. After many years in the wilderness and being considered MIA professionally, Mickey Rourke, just like the washed-up character he plays, attempts a return to the big show in "The Wrestler." Not only does he pull it off, but Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle, although it will require deft handling by a smart distributor to overcome public preconceptions about Rourke, the subject matter and the nature of the film.

[Sxottlan]

Looks like I won't have to do my annual Toronto review collection thread this year. Maybe just as well. It was getting harder to keep up with it.



http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938197.html?categoryid=3 1&cs=1

I'm wondering if the Variety editors even see what's on the cardboard sign in the background of that picture from The Wrestler.

[B-side]

The Wrestler is getting a love-in. Don't care much for Aronofsky, but I'm interested in this one. Rourke FTW!



Bolstered by a career-best performance from Mickey Rourke and outstanding work by Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood, the film could nab audience interest, especially if Rourke's portrayal generates the awards fever that greeted Ellen Burstyn's turn in Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream."

[URL]http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938197.html?categoryid=3 1&cs=1 (]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=11602[/URL)

Talk about comebacks. After many years in the wilderness and being considered MIA professionally, Mickey Rourke, just like the washed-up character he plays, attempts a return to the big show in "The Wrestler." Not only does he pull it off, but Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle, although it will require deft handling by a smart distributor to overcome public preconceptions about Rourke, the subject matter and the nature of the film.

Aronofsky is fantastic, and I can't wait for this. I'm really glad to see that it's receiving good early buzz.

[Pop Trash]

The Wrestler is getting a love-in. Don't care much for Aronofsky, but I'm interested in this one. Rourke FTW!



Bolstered by a career-best performance from Mickey Rourke and outstanding work by Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood, the film could nab audience interest, especially if Rourke's portrayal generates the awards fever that greeted Ellen Burstyn's turn in Aronofsky's "Requiem for a Dream."

[URL]http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938197.html?categoryid=3 1&cs=1 (]http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film/reviews/article_display.jsp?&rid=11602[/URL)

Talk about comebacks. After many years in the wilderness and being considered MIA professionally, Mickey Rourke, just like the washed-up character he plays, attempts a return to the big show in "The Wrestler." Not only does he pull it off, but Rourke creates a galvanizing, humorous, deeply moving portrait that instantly takes its place among the great, iconic screen performances. An elemental story simply and brilliantly told, Darren Aronofsky's fourth feature is a winner from every possible angle, although it will require deft handling by a smart distributor to overcome public preconceptions about Rourke, the subject matter and the nature of the film.

FUCK YEAH MOTHERFUCKERS!!!!!!! ARONOFSKY FTW!!!!! THE FOUNTAIN POR VIDA!!!!!! BEST MOVIE OF THE YEAR!!!!! WOO WOO WOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stay Puft]

I'm not as excited as Pop Trash, but yeah, I'm looking forward to The Wrestler more and more. I'm down with Aronofosky.

Also, I was wondering when Sxottlan would show up. He's the bedrock of festival threads. Keep posting, dude.

[Pop Trash]

I'm not as excited as Pop Trash, but yeah, I'm looking forward to The Wrestler more and more. I'm down with Aronofosky.

Also, I was wondering when Sxottlan would show up. He's the bedrock of festival threads. Keep posting, dude.
I guess I'm just happy something might actually meet or even exceed my expectations. It's been a fairly dismal year for movies so far and the Oscar bait line-up doesn't really excite me much.

[Sxottlan]

Also, I was wondering when Sxottlan would show up. He's the bedrock of festival threads. Keep posting, dude.

Most kind. So here we go:

Roger Ebert on Ed Harris' Appaloosa: "a wonderful Western, which takes an age-old plot (new sheriff confronts outlaw rancher) and finds new drama and deadpan comedy. The quality of the direction will come as no surprise to anyone who remembers Harris' debut film, "Pollock" (2000). One of its treasures is the acting.

Harris plays the sheriff, Renee Zellweger plays the new woman in town, and the film also features two stars so deep in their roles I found them almost unrecognizable: Viggo Mortensen as the sheriff's deputy and Jeremy Irons as the evil rancher. All of these actors reinvent the types they play, none more so than Zellweger, who is neither the town's new schoolmarm nor its new prostitute (the standard female roles in Westerns) but a sprightly lady who gets off the train and hopes to support herself on a dollar. She starts out cute, and then the waters deepen. Irons is most satisfactorily vile, and Mortensen is inspired as a sidekick, who, for a change, is smarter and more insightful than his boss."

My take: I'm wondering early on if this could the be out-of-left-field film of the festival? I certainly hadn't heard of it until a few weeks ago and now I'm really looking forward to seeing it.

[Duncan]

35 Rhums is yet another incredible film from Claire Denis. She has maybe become my favourite working director. She was there to do a little Q&A afterward. Those always highlight the diversity of experience a film promotes. In other words, I'm consistently shocked by what stupid questions people are willing to ask. Oh well.

The film is primarily about the relationship between a father and daughter living in Paris. It's very reminiscent of an Ozu film, and she actually mentioned in the Q&A that it was largely inspired by Late Spring. There are pillow shots, Agnes Godard's camera is more still than in the past, and the film embodies the same lovely, transient melancholy that Ozu was such a master at expressing. It was a really wonderful experience.

[Ezee E]

Who'd have thunk it? The Wrestler wins Venice.

[Sxottlan]

More:

Berardinelli on Guy Ritchie's RocknRolla: "...often feels more like a parody of a Guy Ritchie film than a real movie. Lock, Stock and Snatch both rolled along like bizarre cinematic Rube Goldberg machines where the endings justified the convulsions needed to get to that point. RocknRolla breaks down along the way and the ending is so anti-climactic that it leaves one wondering: "Is that all?" Based on the evidence at hand, one can safely state that Ritchie is a one-note director. With RocknRolla, that note is off-key."

My thoughts: I wasn't going to bother with this one anyway.

Berardnelli on Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom: "Evidence that not all filmmakers fall victim to the so-called "sophomore slump." This is a delightful motion picture with everything one might reasonably expect from such a film: great chemistry between the actors, elements of genuine pathos, an unanticipated twist or turn or two, and a high incidence of comedy that's actually funny...t's hard not to enjoy The Brothers Bloom - it's made to be savored, but can also be consumed by an ADD viewer. Unlike Brick, which was pitched to a niche audience (and found it), The Brothers Bloom is entirely mainstream, and can be expected to find widespread favor..."

My thoughts: The trailer makes the film look a little too precious. But I'm willing to give it a try.

Berardinelli on the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading: "The tone is a little like Fargo, although Burn After Reading isn't as nuanced. As comedies go, it's a definite notch below Raising Arizona, The Hudsucker Proxy, and even Intolerable Cruelty. So, in the Brothers' oeuvre, this would have to be considered a minor work, and it may look even more insignificant in the wake of No Country for Old Men. But if there's one rule that must be applied here, it's that lesser Coen works are often the equal to superior films by other directors. Burn After Reading likely won't be a major Oscar contender for 2009, but that doesn't mean it won't offer a hell of a good time in theaters toward the end of 2008."

My thoughts: Still looking forward to this one.

[Hugh_Grant]

Variety's review of Miracle at St. Anna here. (http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117938228.html?categoryid=2 863&cs=1&nid=2562)

In brief:

Spike Lee loses the battles and the war in "Miracle at St. Anna," a clunky, poorly constructed drama designed to spotlight the little-remarked role of black American soldiers in World War II. Clocking in at 160 minutes, this is a sloppy stew in which the ingredients of battle action, murder mystery, little-kid sentiment and history lesson don't mix well. Nor is it remotely clear who the audience is meant to be; the R rating pretty much rules out younger students, and extensive subtitles will deter action fans, who would be bored anyway. Best B.O. will likely be in Italy, where most of the melodrama takes place.

[Duncan]

Went to a screening of Two-Legged Horse last night. It was written by Mohsen Makmalbaf and directed by his daughter, Samira Makmalbaf. It is one tense, provocative film. A wealthy boy in Afghanistan is essentially cut in half by a land mine, so his father hires a poor orphan to carry him around. In a country that hasn't exactly implemented a wheel chair accessible infrastructure, this actually makes a sick sort of sense. The wealthier boy begins to think of the poorer boy as his horse, and the allegorical conceit is eventually taken to its furthest extremes.

The two young non-actors are terrific. The boy who lost his legs really was the victim of a land mine. The boy who plays the horse is brutally naturalistic. He has all sorts of facial and bodily ticks that I'm sure weren't affected. He does a lot of wailing at the world, which almost inevitably comes off as silly or false to me, but here it's cover-your-ears haunting.

Makmalbaf directs like a poet slowly sticking a hot iron into your side. Lots of elliptical and associative editing. Scenes are returned to or repeated with slight alterations that add new layers of meaning. And all the while there are these two boys in a relationship of increasingly horrifying dynamics.

Watching Two-Legged Horse is an intense experience. The first person to speak in the Q&A addressed the director with "Yeah thanks, I just have one comment. I just want to say that this was the most sadistic, idiotic film I've ever seen and that it is insulting to an entire society." Judging by the applause that Makmalbaf's defense inspired, I don't think many people in the audience agreed with the man, but it's certainly that kind of film. I doubt many people with "enjoy" Two-Legged Horse, but I definitely recommend it as a high achievement in allegorical filmmaking.

[Melville]

Went to a screening of Two-Legged Horse last night. It was written by Mohsen Makmalbaf and directed by his daughter, Samira Makmalbaf. It is one tense, provocative film. A wealthy boy in Afghanistan is essentially cut in half by a land mine, so his father hires a poor orphan to carry him around. In a country that hasn't exactly implemented a wheel chair accessible infrastructure, this actually makes a sick sort of sense. The wealthier boy begins to think of the poorer boy as his horse, and the allegorical conceit is eventually taken to its furthest extremes.

The two young non-actors are terrific. The boy who lost his legs really was the victim of a land mine. The boy who plays the horse is brutally naturalistic. He has all sorts of facial and bodily ticks that I'm sure weren't affected. He does a lot of wailing at the world, which almost inevitably comes off as silly or false to me, but here it's cover-your-ears haunting.

Makmalbaf directs like a poet slowly sticking a hot iron into your side. Lots of elliptical and associative editing. Scenes are returned to or repeated with slight alterations that add new layers of meaning. And all the while there are these two boys in a relationship of increasingly horrifying dynamics.

Watching Two-Legged Horse is an intense experience. The first person to speak in the Q&A addressed the director with "Yeah thanks, I just have one comment. I just want to say that this was the most sadistic, idiotic film I've ever seen and that it is insulting to an entire society." Judging by the applause that Makmalbaf's defense inspired, I don't think many people in the audience agreed with the man, but it's certainly that kind of film. I doubt many people with "enjoy" Two-Legged Horse, but I definitely recommend it as a high achievement in allegorical filmmaking.
That sounds like the best thing since The Servant.

[Rowland]

Mike D'Angelo drive-bys:

Rachel Getting Married (Jonathan Demme, USA):84
[Demme goes Dogme! Easily the most emotionally wrenching family melodrama since The Celebration, which it heavily resembles (except in that the Big Secret is unknown at first only to the audience); Anne Hathaway's heartbreakingly credible concerto of neediness and self-absorption is merely the most unexpected performance in a never-miss ensemble. I was not remotely prepared for this picture in my opinion, and spent fully half of it on the verge of tears.]

Burn After Reading (Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, USA):82
[Partisans and detractors alike are dismissing this misanthropic marvel as a slight, meaningless comedy, when in fact it's far more probing and trenchant, in its defiantly goofy way, than No Country for Old Men. Basically it's Blood Simple played for laughs, but with a nasty post-9/11 sting -- I intuitively sense that there's a brilliant reading to be made along those lines, but at the same time I don't really want to think too hard about it, for fear of winding up with a dead frog pinned to the table. Gasping for breath for 90+ minutes more than sufficed.]

JCVD (Mabrouk El Mechri, France): 50
[No idea why people are raving about this -- it's really just a mediocre hostage drama with a few wan "meta" musings clumsily grafted on. Kickass opening shot is everything you've heard, but I nearly nodded off during Van Damme's allegedly mindblowing direct-to-camera monologue, which merely confirms him as a terrible actor.]

He hasn't written any thoughts yet, but his score for Blindness, the new Meirelles picture, is a mere 23.

[Raiders]

I don't put much stock in D'Angelo (if any), but it's great to see that score for Demme's film, which at this point is among my most anticipated releases.

[Watashi]

I'm not even going to bother with Rachel Getting Married. I know I'm going to hate it.

[Ezee E]

I'm not even going to bother with Rachel Getting Married. I know I'm going to hate it.
Hating on a Demme movie is pretty close to hating on Pixar.

[Pop Trash]

So far The Wrestler and Rachel Getting Married are getting the best notices out of the film festivals. Based on its unexciting trailer and its extremely similar plot to Margot at the Wedding, I was down on Rachel Getting Married but I might give it a chance now. I generally like Demme and perhaps this is the film Margot should have been.

[Ezee E]

So far The Wrestler and Rachel Getting Married are getting the best notices out of the film festivals. Based on its unexciting trailer and its extremely similar plot to Margot at the Wedding, I was down on Rachel Getting Married but I might give it a chance now. I generally like Demme and perhaps this is the film Margot should have been.
By film festivals, you must mean Venice.

[Pop Trash]

By film festivals, you must mean Venice.
Venice, Toronto, and Telluride. Plus NYFF is coming up with a similar roster of films. I should have clarified and said movies that are debuting at these fests and not ones that have already gotten good notices at Cannes like Wendy and Lucy, Che, and Waltz with Bashir. Why?

[Ezee E]

Venice, Toronto, and Telluride. Plus NYFF is coming up with a similar roster of films. I should have clarified and said movies that are debuting at these fests and not ones that have already gotten good notices at Cannes like Wendy and Lucy, Che, and Waltz with Bashir. Why?
Those two movies weren't at Telluride, and haven't shown at Toronto yet.

[Pop Trash]

Those two movies weren't at Telluride, and haven't shown at Toronto yet.
I'm combining all the fests together and there is often crossover. The Wrestler won the Golden Lion at Venice and I've read three extremely positive reviews for Rachel. One of the AV Clubbers even called it a masterpiece.

[Ezee E]

I'm combining all the fests together and there is often crossover. The Wrestler won the Golden Lion at Venice and I've read three extremely positive reviews for Rachel. One of the AV Clubbers even called it a masterpiece.
Nevermind.

[Rowland]

One of the AV Clubbers even called it a masterpiece.I don't trust these guys, they tend to follow the overall consensus too frequently and rarely offer anything in the way of unique sensibilities or insights.

[Pop Trash]

I don't trust these guys, they tend to follow the overall consensus too frequently and rarely offer anything in the way of unique sensibilities or insights.
I disagree. They tend to be my favorite critics, at least as far as agreeing with them the most. I think it has to do with them being in their 20-30s whereas most film critics tend to be over 40, if not downright senior citizens. I mean a movie like Pineapple Express is not going to be appreciated by a 65yr old but a 25yr old might pick up on the humor more. I also like the random lists columns they have like "New Cult Canon" and "My Year of Flops." They have a certain irreverence and humor towards films.

[Bosco B Thug]

Hmm, they might have the consensus tendency that Rowland mentions, but count me in as an Onion AV Club supporter. I think they're often very insightful about movies and they have a rather comprehensive archive of reviews, as I am always able to count on seeing a review from them on IMDb's External Reviews pages.

[Derek]

Went to a screening of Two-Legged Horse last night. It was written by Mohsen Makmalbaf and directed by his daughter, Samira Makmalbaf. It is one tense, provocative film. A wealthy boy in Afghanistan is essentially cut in half by a land mine, so his father hires a poor orphan to carry him around. In a country that hasn't exactly implemented a wheel chair accessible infrastructure, this actually makes a sick sort of sense. The wealthier boy begins to think of the poorer boy as his horse, and the allegorical conceit is eventually taken to its furthest extremes.

The two young non-actors are terrific. The boy who lost his legs really was the victim of a land mine. The boy who plays the horse is brutally naturalistic. He has all sorts of facial and bodily ticks that I'm sure weren't affected. He does a lot of wailing at the world, which almost inevitably comes off as silly or false to me, but here it's cover-your-ears haunting.

Makmalbaf directs like a poet slowly sticking a hot iron into your side. Lots of elliptical and associative editing. Scenes are returned to or repeated with slight alterations that add new layers of meaning. And all the while there are these two boys in a relationship of increasingly horrifying dynamics.

Watching Two-Legged Horse is an intense experience. The first person to speak in the Q&A addressed the director with "Yeah thanks, I just have one comment. I just want to say that this was the most sadistic, idiotic film I've ever seen and that it is insulting to an entire society." Judging by the applause that Makmalbaf's defense inspired, I don't think many people in the audience agreed with the man, but it's certainly that kind of film. I doubt many people with "enjoy" Two-Legged Horse, but I definitely recommend it as a high achievement in allegorical filmmaking.

Amazing film and possibly my favorite of the year so far. My oh-so-brief thoughts from a few weeks back:

"Two-Legged Horse is a wonderfully bizarre little tale. It's set-up is downright absurd (rich boy with no legs hires mentally challenged boy to be his horse) but plays out absolutely straight-faced, keeping the sacred and the profane, the tragic and the comic, the absurd and the mundane completely inseparable. Makhmalbaf tries to one-up Bresson by first animalizing the young boy, quite literally, before humanizing him. Strange, haunting and sad yet surprisingly funny film."

[Boner M]

Hmm, I was just reading Sicinski's pan of the Makhmalbaf film (which he W/O'd) a few minutes ago. The praise here has put instantly put it back on my radar.


Well, sad to say, Samira too has gone the way of the rest of the Makhmalbaf Film House [chime!], which means, graceless and virtually self-parodic. Say what you will about At Five in the Afternoon, but at least it had more than one governing metaphor, and an actual character at its center, rather than a mewling placeholder on the socioeconomic ladder. I can't even see this film functioning as a didactic tale, since from what I saw (far more than I cared to, all told), Makhmalbaf has exactly one point to make and beats it mercilessly, over and over again, like, well . . . So, rich kids, ever if you've had your feet blown off by mines, and you have major daddy issues, don't hire destitute boys to be your human horse. (Cf. Richard Pryor in The Toy. No, really.) The worst part of it all (and why I kept hanging on) is that 2LH occasionally showed little flashes of spunk or even just minimal non-sameness, falsely hinting that the film would burst to life in another direction, only to have Horse lose a race or fall over in a squared-circle schoolyard fight, and again Richie Footless Rich would begin whipping him again and chunking rocks at his head. A mystifying bellyflop from a genuine talent.

[Duncan]

More on Two-Legged Horse from Fernando Croce at Slant:


Two-Legged Horse: A radically different equine tale, Samira Makhmalbaf's punitive film is less horse opera than Dantean circle. The smoke arising from the Afghan village of pipes and metallic tanks in the opening shot might as well be sulfur, since the story of a legless rich boy who hires a gangly, bent young slum-dweller to carry him around on his back proceeds as a hellishly escalating nightmare in which oppression, social injustice and dearth of compassion combine to reverse the evolutionary process. In Makhmalbaf's purposefully distressing scald, the exploited virtually become the animals the elite envisions them as—the lingering shot of the poor carrier made to race amid the other students' donkeys has the kind of crude, evocative fury the filmmaker's father Mohsen (who wrote the screenplay) found in his fervent early works. Refusing to dilute her litany of absurdist cruelty even a bit, Makhmalbaf has created an authentically excruciating film. Take that as genuine (if cautious) praise.

[Stay Puft]

Back from my first two days of TIFF. Will be back again this weekend.

So far I've seen:

24 City (Jia Zhangke)
Still Walking (Hirokazu Koreeda)
Ashes of Time Redux (Wong Kar Wai)
Goodbye Solo (Ramin Bahrani)

I may write more later, here or in the FDT. I'm finding it difficult to collect thoughts on some of these, particularly the first two. Expectations were somewhat... defied, I guess.

Goodbye Solo was probably the most enjoyable experience, both in terms of the film itself and the showing more generally, as many members of the cast and crew were on hand and shared lots of anecdotes and laughs.

Personal highlight, however, was getting to the showing of Still Walking just at the last minute, standing at the entrance waiting to get in, and then suddenly realizing I'm standing next to Hirokazu Koreeda. That was my geek out moment of the day, if you could call it that.

[Stay Puft]

Jim Emerson on Four Nights With Anna, which sounds awesome.

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2008/09/tiff_08_what_are_you_looking.h tml


Not long into Jerzy Skolimowski's "Four Nights with Anna," I noticed that my own eyes were as wide as they could get, as if I couldn't take in enough of what the movie was showing me. Again and again I found myself craning my neck, as if that would help me see beyond the edge of the frame before the camera itself got there. What I mean to say is: This is the most riveting, absorbing, tantalizing movie I've seen (and heard) in quite a while.

[...]

Like most of the films I've seen in this year's festival (notably "Dernier Maquis," "Hunger," "Burn After Reading"), "Four Nights With Anna" features an evocative sound design that not only complements the visuals but extends them into unexpected dimensions that excite the senses. Skolimowski's movie -- his first in 17 years, as astounding as that seems -- is also suffused with an eerie, disturbing score by Michal Lorenc that is as essential to the film's method and atmosphere as its foggy, deep-gray winter imagery. You can't say that about most movie soundtracks, even in these days of sophisticated multi-track technology.

Definitely on my radar now.

EDIT:

He has also chimed in on The Wrestler:

http://blogs.suntimes.com/scanners/2008/09/tiff_08_the_wrestler_aronofsky .html


There's no question about this, though: "The Wrestler" is a likeable showcase for Rourke, who has never been more winning. Even in his star-making role as Boogie, the smooth operator in "Diner," he oozed smarm like gravy on fries. Not Randy, though. The guy is smart and sincere, and his gentle smile isn't that of a dazed dope who's been clobbered in the head too many times. It's the smile of a modest man who works out all his aggressions (choreographed though they may be) in the ring. All he wants is not to be hated, and the same could be said of "The Wrestler."

Not sure what to make of the Hallmark Channel comment. Sounds like a touch of death, and yet it's Aronofsky, so...

Can't wait to see it for myself, at any rate. Still surprised it won the Venice prize.

[Silencio]

Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire won Toronto:

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1340719820080913

[Amnesiac]

Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire won Toronto:

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1340719820080913

Nice.

[Ezee E]

Nice.
Cool.

[NickGlass]

Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire won Toronto:

http://www.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idUSN1340719820080913

The audience award is their top prize, right? As I said in a review of Tsotsi, it's pretty questionably illustrious.

This does bode well for awards consideration in the future, though. It's got the middlebrow vote locked up as many have suspected.

[Amnesiac]

Cool.

Is this a hint that one-word replies are frowned upon here at Matchcut? :)

[Ezee E]

Is this a hint that one-word replies are frowned upon here at Matchcut? :)
No.

[Amnesiac]

OK.

[Duncan]

It's weird that the article makes it seem like there were no good films at the festival. I saw one great film (35 Rhums) and three very good films. I guess it's referring to the fact that there doesn't seem to have been a Juno this year?

[Amnesiac]

I guess it's referring to the fact that there doesn't seem to have been a Juno this year?

I'm not terribly upset about that lack.

[Duncan]

I'm not terribly upset about that lack.
It's just a bit sad that they decided to write an article judging the fest on the commercial viability of its films when there were plenty of stimulating screenings to attend. I mean, it's a film festival - not a typical multiplex lineup.

[NickGlass]

It's just a bit sad that they decided to write an article judging the fest on the commercial viability of its films when there were plenty of stimulating screenings to attend. I mean, it's a film festival - not a typical multiplex lineup.

It's an audience award, after all. It's logical, even if it is sad.

[Ezee E]

Everyone just wants to see The Road.

[Boner M]

Did you see Tokyo Sonata yet, Duncan?

[Stay Puft]

Back from my second trip to TIFF.

Films I saw this time around:

Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)
Birdsong (Albert Serra)
Achilles and the Tortoise (Takeshi Kitano)
The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky)
Harvard Beats Yale 29-29 (Kevin Rafferty)
Plastic City (Yu Lik-wai)
Chocolate (Prachya Pinkaew)

I'll write more about some of these later. For now I'll quickly say Chocolate is Pinkaew's best to date, featuring incredible action and some of the most impressive single shots of bodies in motion in cinema, Kevin Rafferty's newest was the funniest film I saw (sorry, Kitano) and had an impressive crowd reaction, and Plastic City is every bit as awful as you might have heard.

It's also a shame that so many directors can't stay for the whole festival. I was thinking up some questions I wanted to ask, but of course Kurosawa, Aronofsky, and Rafferty had all left already. Albert Serra and Pinkaew were there, anyways.

[Sven]

How was Kitano's? You said sorry to him, so is it supposed to be a comedy?

[Stay Puft]

How was Kitano's? You said sorry to him, so is it supposed to be a comedy?

That's a statement I would be better off retracting, perhaps. It's unfair. As per the other installments in Kitano's self-destructive trilogy, Achilles is hard to describe, although it certainly has a dark comedic streak running through the second and third parts (the first part is comparatively dry and focuses as much on the extended family as the main character). It's comedic, but it's not as funny as Kikujiro or as absurd as Kantoku Banzai! and some of the more obvious jokes are predictable in their setup and execution. I initially wanted to say it's the weakest of the trilogy, but of course it has other things going for it. And it does have some big laughs.

I guess my feeling behind the flippant comment was that I did enjoy it and didn't think I'd laugh harder during the festival, but Rafferty's was a big surprise in that regard. As much to do with audience involvement as anything, I suppose, but Rafferty's film discovers some absurdity and hilarity all its own and there were moments when I was doubling over with laughter, thanks to the kind of editing and narrative construction that reminded me of work in Herzog's docs.

[Duncan]

Did you see Tokyo Sonata yet, Duncan?

Yeah. I'm not very familiar with Kurosawa's work, but this is definitely funnier than anything else I've seen directed by him. It's a family drama with a lot of jokes thrown in. There are one or two jump scares (one of them got a collective gasp from the audience) but it's definitely not a horror film. I thought it was at its best when it was relaxed and playful. It also makes the transitions from lightheartedness to quietly hopeful very well, and these tonal transitions provide some of the film's more interestingly composed shots. When it introduces the Iraq war and the son enlisting and stuff...eh, kinda lost me. Lots of exposition through TV news in those parts. The ending was also disappointing, probably because I was waiting for that exact scene to play out the whole film. It had to happen. It tries to reach real high, but it's pretty standard inspirational fare. In the Q&A afterward he said he had always made hopeful films, but there were so many victims along the way that often people missed that. It's a lot more explicit here. Anyway, mostly minor complaints. A few really spectacular moments and solid direction throughout.

Achilles and the Tortoise started off poorly and got progressively better as the absurdity was ratcheted up. The first third is straight up boring. Not funny. Overly melodramatic. Then its satirical side takes over and it becomes much more enjoyable. It's basically about the limitations of art, and what fools it can make of us. It had, perhaps, worn out its premise by the end and was probably the weakest film I saw. Still, I had a good time. And the audience seemed to enjoy it as well.

Watching those two films back to back really emphasized the bizarre relationship Japan has with suicide. Both films are chock full of people killing themselves, often for purely comedic effect. It has made me interested in what the per capita stats are. I hear the suicide rate is highest in Scandinavian countries, but these films sure make a strong case for Japan.

[Duncan]

Birdsong (Albert Serra) What'd you think of this one? The description made it sound very interesting.

[Pop Trash]

What was your take on The Wrestler, Stay Puft?

[Stay Puft]

What'd you think of this one? The description made it sound very interesting.

Interesting is a good word for it. It's something I appreciate in retrospect, although I admit the film had lost me on a couple occassions. It's frequently aimless, which is never anything but intentional, but also difficult to process - it had the effect of completely collapsing my sense of time, to the extent that I would arrive at some point in the film, such as with Mary and Joseph lounging in the heat, and realize I have no idea how long I've been watching this, at what point in the film I could say I am located, or what had transpired to get me to that point. Or maybe it's just not the ideal film to watch back to back to back with other films, having been running around catching screenings at a festival.

On the other hand, there are many dislocated moments throughout the film, specifically with the three wise men, that are completely arresting. It's surprisingly funny at times, and there is one fantastic extended shot of the three wise men wandering in the desert and disappearing into the distance that achieves a profound hilarity through sheer endurance. By the time that specific shot had ended, a good number of people were laughing out loud, and an even larger number of people had simply walked out of the screening. Suffice to say I stayed until the end and found its rewards worthwhile.

The film has a very simply conceit, however, and you can map the whole thing out in the first ten minutes. It has moments that I cherished, moments I could do without, and moments I don't even remember.

I'll say something about The Wrestler tomorrow after I collect some thoughts.

[Sxottlan]

Coming out of the festival, the only films that I wasn't aware of before that I want to see now is The Wrestler and even then I had already heard of it.

Still, it sounds like there was more wheeling and dealing at this year's festival than is normal. Usually the films showing already have a distributor.

[Boner M]

The ending was also disappointing, probably because I was waiting for that exact scene to play out the whole film. It had to happen. It tries to reach real high, but it's pretty standard inspirational fare.
Oh man, I completely disagree there. I thought the final shot pretty much elevated the whole film from very good to near-masterpiece. I think the silence from the audience speaks volumes, and tweaks what is admittedly a fairly standard feelgood movie trope. Instead of erupting into applause after the young boy's performance, the audience simply watches; as if to suggest that this is just an ordinary family, finally listening to each other, just like any other family should - not a prodigy with an unprecedented gift saving it from disaster. I thought it was beautiful and unsentimetal, even slightly troubling... the audience's silence after the piece and the way their collective gaze follows the family as they walk offscreen almost suggests that the performance isn't over, as they walk into an uncertain future - I think the final shot could easily be read as a critique of the nuclear family.

[Rowland]

Yeah. I'm not very familiar with Kurosawa's work, but this is definitely funnier than anything else I've seen directed by him. It's a family drama with a lot of jokes thrown in. There are one or two jump scares (one of them got a collective gasp from the audience) but it's definitely not a horror film. I thought it was at its best when it was relaxed and playful. It also makes the transitions from lightheartedness to quietly hopeful very well, and these tonal transitions provide some of the film's more interestingly composed shots. When it introduces the Iraq war and the son enlisting and stuff...eh, kinda lost me. Lots of exposition through TV news in those parts. The ending was also disappointing, probably because I was waiting for that exact scene to play out the whole film. It had to happen. It tries to reach real high, but it's pretty standard inspirational fare. In the Q&A afterward he said he had always made hopeful films, but there were so many victims along the way that often people missed that. It's a lot more explicit here. Anyway, mostly minor complaints. A few really spectacular moments and solid direction throughout.I've been annoyed by how many commentators/film buffs/critics have been labeling Tokyo Sonata as a new direction for the director, assuming that all his previous work was of the horror genre, I suppose because of the popularity of films like Cure and Pulse. One of my favorite films of his is License to Live, another tragi-comedy that Tokyo Sonata sounds awfully familiar to from a tonal perspective. I wish it'd get an R1 release, as I believe only Sycophant has seen it besides myself around these parts.

You're correct regarding Japanese suicide rates, they dwarf most first-world nations, and they are very common in Japanese films as well as Kurosawa's ouevre, whether it be people literally committing suicide or implicitly overcoming suicide.

[Duncan]

I've been annoyed by how many commentators/film buffs/critics have been labeling Tokyo Sonata as a new direction for the director, assuming that all his previous work was of the horror genre, I suppose because of the popularity of films like Cure and Pulse. One of my favorite films of his is License to Live, another tragi-comedy that Tokyo Sonata sounds awfully familiar to from a tonal perspective. I wish it'd get an R1 release, as I believe only Sycophant has seen it besides myself around these parts. Yeah, as I mentioned I'm not very familiar with his work. I've only seen the two you mentioned.

I just can't get over how bizarre it was watching these two films back to back. It seemed like any minute another person was going to spontaneously toss himself off a bridge. Tokyo Sonata also mentions the phrase "double suicide" which reminded me of the Shinoda film of the same name.

[Ezee E]

Next up: Denver Film Festival

[Duncan]

Oh man, I completely disagree there. I thought the final shot pretty much elevated the whole film from very good to near-masterpiece. I think the silence from the audience speaks volumes, and tweaks what is admittedly a fairly standard feelgood movie trope. Instead of erupting into applause after the young boy's performance, the audience simply watches; as if to suggest that this is just an ordinary family, finally listening to each other, just like any other family should - not a prodigy with an unprecedented gift saving it from disaster. I thought it was beautiful and unsentimetal, even slightly troubling... the audience's silence after the piece and the way their collective gaze follows the family as they walk offscreen almost suggests that the performance isn't over, as they walk into an uncertain future - I think the final shot could easily be read as a critique of the nuclear family.

Hmm, I didn't get that feeling at all. What about how his performance is contrasted with the boy beforehand? In the first performance people are only politely paying attention. The judges don't react at all. When Kenji plays the older judge perks up, stops resting his chin on his palm. People start crowding around. Soon there's no room for anybody. The piano teacher starts crying. When he leaves people stare because they're in awe, I thought. In the Q&A Kurosawa said he chose the song because it is typically not performed by children since they lack the maturity to interpret its slightly disharmonious parts. So his amazing performace suggests not just skill, but an intrinsic ability to understand music, aka he's a prodigy. Then there's also the repeated claim by the piano teacher that he's a prodigy. I don't think he saves the family (the rest find their own salvation), but I think it's pretty objectively stated that he's an exceptionally rare talent.

[Stay Puft]

What was your take on The Wrestler, Stay Puft?

Well, as a character piece it's engaging. I enjoyed watching it. Rourke is excellent as Randy "The Ram," and this is his movie. It's also straightforward when dealing with the less glamorous aspects of his now fading career (drug use, bodily injuries - including the punishment years of wrestling has brought to some of the old timers less fortunate than Randy). I've heard the term "gritty realism" used in reference to the film, which I imagine is because of its frequent behind-the-scenes documentary style, such as when we watch wrestlers in the dressing room planning how their matches will go, or the bloody results of a "hardcore" match intercut with the action itself (which is a great scene). But overall I'd say it's simply a straightforward film and leave it at that. It's doesn't necessarily emphasize any particular aspect, whether it's gritty violence or glamorous sentimentality, as much it is simply content to follow Randy, who's just a damn nice person at heart, and to try to understand this person as he experiences the twilight years of his life. Indeed, one of the visual strategies is to simply film Randy from behind, following him around in tracking shots (another great scene: Randy psyching himself up before starting his new job at a deli).

On that note the ending is fantastic. With regard to all of the films I saw at the festival, The Wrestler and Goodbye Solo probably had the best endings. The ending in The Wrestler is incredibly abrupt, which would be surprising if it wasn't so damn satisfying, again taking into consideration that it is a film that is simply about Randy, straightforward and nothing more, a dude who loves wrestling and just wants to keep wrestling all of his life.

I do have to express some disappointment, however, particular with the style. Coming off of Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain, Aronofosky is someone I have associated with precise and memorable images, but The Wrestler is no such film. It is rather conventional in terms of the way it is filmed and edited together, which, I know, we've already been hearing and blah blah blah, but here's my specific problem. Although there are only three such scenes, the wrestling matches are lackluster. They tend to be filmed from the same angle at all times, sometimes too close, and are just not memorable whatsoever. It strikes me as a missed opportunity. There are one or two memorable images (the ending, for example), but large chunks of the film are also dealing with a couple characters talking, lots of dialogue and exposition, and again it's all filmed in a similar and flat manner (i.e. it tends to emphasize the individuals talking, nothing more). It terms of plotting it's also hitting a lot of familiar terrain (stripper friend with potential romantic interest, daughter who hates him, trouble paying rent, etc.). I suppose it works for that reason, in terms of focusing on specific characters and simply trying to record without stylization (if we accept that it strides for realism), but there are visual strategies employed (so it is stylized) and I feel more could have been done (specifically in terms of compositions, which I just felt were weak at times).

But that it all builds to such a good ending in terms of character and narrative is its strength, no doubt.

[Henry Gale]

Yeah, the final scene and especially those last shots in The Wrestler are maybe my favourite things from any film this year. It's such an incredible ending that it almost entirely washed away any nitpicks I may have had from earlier on in it (some of which I was reminded of by your write-up).

[Boner M]

Hmm, I didn't get that feeling at all. What about how his performance is contrasted with the boy beforehand? In the first performance people are only politely paying attention. The judges don't react at all. When Kenji plays the older judge perks up, stops resting his chin on his palm. People start crowding around. Soon there's no room for anybody. The piano teacher starts crying. When he leaves people stare because they're in awe, I thought. In the Q&A Kurosawa said he chose the song because it is typically not performed by children since they lack the maturity to interpret its slightly disharmonious parts. So his amazing performace suggests not just skill, but an intrinsic ability to understand music, aka he's a prodigy. Then there's also the repeated claim by the piano teacher that he's a prodigy. I don't think he saves the family (the rest find their own salvation), but I think it's pretty objectively stated that he's an exceptionally rare talent.
I think I should've rephrased that: I mean that though he is obviously is a prodigy, that isn't the focus of the scene, nor is it supposed to be read as literally as it would in another context (say, August Rush for instance). Also, I don't remember the audience showing any signs of being in awe; they merely stare placidly and keep their gaze fixed on the family as they walk out of the camera's field. Their ambivalent reaction is a denial of our expectations more than anything. If Kurosawa says that he wants to make a hopeful film, I think it's clear that the hope that is conducive to the viewer isn't the child's gift in itself - which is a blatant narrative contrivance - but rather his capacity to communicate to his family in a way that transcends words. It's self-reflexive more than anything, as Kurosawa is also asking us to distance ourselves from the text and look at what it represents instead. He even implicates us, cutting to black as soon as the audience is looking directly into the camera. I thought it was a transcendent ending.

[Duncan]

I think I should've rephrased that: I mean that though he is obviously is a prodigy, that isn't the focus of the scene, nor is it supposed to be read as literally as it would in another context (say, August Rush for instance). Also, I don't remember the audience showing any signs of being in awe; they merely stare placidly and keep their gaze fixed on the family as they walk out of the camera's field. Their ambivalent reaction is a denial of our expectations more than anything. If Kurosawa says that he wants to make a hopeful film, I think it's clear that the hope that is conducive to the viewer isn't the child's gift in itself - which is a blatant narrative contrivance - but rather his capacity to communicate to his family in a way that transcends words. It's self-reflexive more than anything, as Kurosawa is also asking us to distance ourselves from the text and look at what it represents instead. He even implicates us, cutting to black as soon as the audience is looking directly into the camera. I thought it was a transcendent ending. I can agree with the bolded part, but I don't think there was any ambivalence in the audience. Their reaction reinforced my expectations. Just to clarify, you're saying that the audience's gaze into the camera allows us to distance ourselves from the text and see what it represents, and what it represents is a familial communication beyond words?

[Boner M]

Just to clarify, you're saying that the audience's gaze into the camera allows us to distance ourselves from the text and see what it represents, and what it represents is a familial communication beyond words?
Sorta. Maybe not that exactly (I'm realising how awkwardly worded my last two posts were), but more broadly I think it represents what Kurosawa was insisting upon in the Q&A - simply the capacity for people to sit down and listen to each other. I think the choice of a well-known piece of western music for the kid's performance gives the scene a sorta archetypal quality, if that's the correct term.

[baby doll]

You can find a schedule of all the film's playing at this year's Pusan International Film Festival at piff.org, and a list of what I'm planning to see at my blog.

[trotchky]

Guys I've secured tickets to Wendy and Lucy, Gomorra, Tokyo Sonata, Ashes of time Redux, Serbis, and Afterschool at the NY Film Festival. :cool:

[NickGlass]

Guys I've secured tickets to Wendy and Lucy [...and...] Tokyo Sonata at the NY Film Festival. :cool:

I also have (grossly overpriced) tickets to these flicks, as well as Hunger and A Christmas Tale (Desplechin, Desplechin!).

[Boner M]

D'Angelo just gave his highest rating in quite some time (94!) to a US indie film that I've never heard of before. Hmm.


Afterschool (Antonio Campos, USA): 94
[Remember in Mulholland Dr. when that creepy dude points at the headshot and says, flatly, "This is the girl"? Try to imagine me heavier and much more intimidating as I tell you with equally unshakable certitude: This is the film. All of 23 years old at the time of shooting, Campos tackles head-on the key subject of the early 21st century, viz. mediation, and delivers the first movie I've seen that seems to recognize how drastically the (developed) world has changed in just the last several years, and the extent to which we're now both starved for authenticity and dedicated to pretense. What's more, he does so with a formal control and ingenuity that's nothing short of breathtaking, especially for a neophyte. Switching deftly back and forth between panoramic widescreen celluloid and cramped, windowboxed consumer video, Afterschool deliberately blurs the line between the two: Not only are the "objective" shots brilliantly artless, forever trained on the wrong spot or cutting someone in half at the edge of the frame, but much of the video imagery -- most especially Rob's A/V project, which abruptly turns from mundane B-roll into something so horrifying it can barely be processed, much less resolved -- evinces the chilly neutrality of Haneke or the Asian master-shot school. (And then there are shots that are just plain stunning, with D.P. Jody Lee Lipes working expressionist miracles via the tonal contrast between foreground clarity and backgrounds so magnificently blurred they resemble lost Monets.) Within this unique, semi-alienating worldview, Campos constructs a portrait of Generation YouTube (set here in high school, appropriately, but encompassing all ages) that's somehow at once compassionate and merciless -- which is to say, utterly true. The scene of Rob tentatively applying lessons learned from gonzo porn on new girlfriend Amy does in just a handful of seconds what Larry Clark spent half an hour belaboring in his Destricted short, and is beautifully counterweighted by his (Rob's) later act of sweet generosity in giving Amy his shirt to mop up the post-coital blood. Key moments in the characters' lives wind up scrutinized on the net hours later -- or they find "alternate takes" of events they themselves recorded, captured by persons unknown with ethical imperatives unrecognized. Even minor details cut clean: When Rob calls his mother to tell her he's not fitting in, her response is so credibly concerned-yet-destructive that it made me annoyed at the equivalent moment in Wendy and Lucy all over again. And while at first I thought Campos had erred in continuing beyond the re-edited memorial video, his actual ending will haunt me as long as it haunts Rob. Sorrowfully observing the quest for something real in a terrain of orchestrated lies, Afterschool never once flinches. This is how we live.]