April (2024) NYFF 2024

An obstetrician gets into trouble when an infant dies during delivery. She followed the mothers request not to do a c section and that may have resulted in the child's death. As she awaits the outcome of the inquiry, which everyone fears will result in her being found out to be an abortionist, she broods on life.

Slow, I mean glacially slow, film is told with painfully long silences and never ending shots. Its a "real" time film on abortion issues and as such is a festival darling. It's a beautifully shot film with a killer sound design which should make it a winner but the film is so gawd awful slow that no one is really going to watch more than once.

Kudos to this polemic being adult and showing things on screen. When it's working it's real life feeling sequences will affect you (people left during the births and abortion) but the pacing, the artistic sequences and at times deliberately plotted/constructed moments work against it. I'm not sure how many people would have stayed to the end if there wasn't another press screening after it.

I, and everyone at the press screening, admire it for taking a stand (and that's the reason its at festivals) but I doubt anyone will really stay or stay awake long enough to hear what it has to say.

Crossing (2024) opens Friday

A woman leaves Georgia (the country) and goes to Turkey with the intention of finding her trans niece. With a young man who knew her niece in tow, she explores Istanbul.

CROSSING is a delightful bittersweet tale about the things we do for love and the times we find there. Its a film that doesn't move like a movie but more like real life.  Its a film where you can't see where it's going because things don't seem plotted but lived.

This was one of the films that I really wanted to see going into the festival. I have no idea why, but there was something about the write up that intrigued me. The film itself is did not disappoint. Its a look into places about which I know nothing. It introduced us to a group of people who won our hearts and we wanted to travel with.

If there is anything amiss in the film it's a late in the game turn, a flight of fantasy, that seems like a cheat in an otherwise very real film. It was out of place, not remotely fatal, just momentarily disappointing. (I can't tell you what it is for reasons you'll know when you see this film)

That minor moment aside CROSSING is a great film and highly recommended.

CROSSING (2024) Tribeca 2024

A woman leaves Georgia (the country) and goes to Turkey with the intention of finding her trans niece. With a young man who knew her niece in tow, she explores Istanbul.

CROSSING is a delightful bittersweet tale about the things we do for love and the times we find there. Its a film that doesn't move like a movie but more like real life.  Its a film where you can't see where it's going because things don't seem plotted but lived.

This was one of the films that I really wanted to see going into the festival. I have no idea why, but there was something about the write up that intrigued me. The film itself is did not disappoint. Its a look into places about which I know nothing. It introduced us to a group of people who won our hearts and we wanted to travel with.

If there is anything amiss in the film it's a late in the game turn, a flight of fantasy, that seems like a cheat in an otherwise very real film. It was out of place, not remotely fatal, just momentarily disappointing. (I can't tell you what it is for reasons you'll know when you see this film)

That minor moment aside CROSSING is a great film and highly recommended.

Limitation (2023) First Look Fest 2024

Elene Asatiani and Soso Dumbadze take video found on the internet and weave together the story of how in 1991 Russian backed forces brought down the  first democratically elected government in the former Soviet republics. Using footage from both sides we are given a look at what happened, why and how it was spun.

Frightening and sad story of how larger forces worked to bring down a democracy for their own gain.  This is a reconstruction of the sort we never see, events from both sides filtered through enough time that we can get a good grasp. 

Watching the film shot by regular people I was frequently struck by the notion that they probably had no idea what they were doing was going to provide such a vital record of what happened. The footage from either side was what it was and was often bent for effected. It was the stuff that wasn't what I was intrigued by.

While I think the film is probably a bit too long at 125 minutes, I have to give the filmmakers kudos for being thorough. I also couldn't tell you what should be removed since it's all important.

Recommended for anyone who wants to see how a democracy falls.

Magic Mountain (2023) First Look 2024

Visually arresting portrait of a run down hospital in Georgia (the country) where patients with drug resistant TB are sent.

See this film on a big screen because the images are truly impressive. Beginning with a long drive to the hospital with an impassioned letter (which forms a narrative backbone of the whole film) the film then shifts to images of the people and places inside the hospital. It’s film that starts with us on the outside and an slowly brings us in to this place where we meet these interesting people. I was hooked from the first frame and as the film went I found myself leaning more and more into it.  I wish I was there to wander the halls to get a sense of the spaces and of the people off the edges of the screen.

This is a wonderful little gem that needs to be seen on a truly big screen.

Recommended.

ON THE WAY HOME (2024) Slamdance 2024

This is the story of two Georgian families displaced by war. Fleeing war in their home land they fled to a former Soviet resort town and took up leaving in a decaying spas and sanatoriums of the Georgian town of Tskaltubo as they wait for a place to live.

This is a moving film. To be certain it is another in the too long line of films concerning refugees, however it is necessary. It’s not that there are too many, rather we need to stop the conflicts that require films like this and the only  way that will happen is if we continue to bear witness to the fact these tragedies are happening. And more importantly that many of these tragedies are happening at the instigation of Moscow, where Putin and his cronies are fostering violence in the former Soviet Republics in a bid to reform the country and control everything around them.

ON THE WAY  HOME is largely free of violence. The people we are following have left the war behind and are simply trying to survive. Yes we see some war in archival footage but mostly we are watching people try to get by.

This is a film of quiet power and is recommended.

Brief thoughts on WHAT DO WE SEE WHEN WE LOOK AT THE SKY? (2021) NYFF 2021

Whimsical romance concerns a meet cute couple who have their appearances changed by the fates so they will not recognize each other.

How you react to this film is going to be determined by how you react to the rambling side tracking style that frequently drifts off into odd asides (we watch a soccer ball float down a river for no clear reason, even if the narration is amusing). Sequences just run on. If this is something you like you're going to love this film.

Personally I loved the central story of the romance challenged by the fates, however I really could have done without the asides and the rambling nature. There is a great 90 minute movie here, the problem is this is a 150 minute movie.  

Frankly this struck me as the sort of film that only a critic could love.

Brighton 4th (2021) Tribeca 2021

Kakhi travels from his home in the Republic of Georgia to visit his son in Brighton Beach. He thinks that he is studying medicine, however he soon discovers that he is working as a mover and is thousands of dollars in debt to a gangster. Kakhi then sets about to try and get his son out of trouble.

A small quiet gem is one of the unexpected finds of this year's Tribeca. I went into the film not knowing what it was about and was only watching it because I could. I came out with a gem of a film I can recommend for anyone tired of typical stories. hell it does something I normally hate but  it maks it work perfectly. (No I can't tell you what it is)

What makes this film work are the characters. Everyone is flawed, however everyone is ultimately likable. We generally like everyone and we want to give them a hug when they do something stupid even though we also want to smack the crap out of them. For better or worse these people are probably closer to our real selves than we would like to imagine.

This is a perfect festival film, a great little movie you might have missed if it wasn't for the programmers.

Highly recommended

Beginning (2020) NYFF 2020

 

A woman tries to come to terms with her life after the Jehovah’s Witness church she helped set up is fire bombed burning a service.  Forced into having  an awakening in her life she realizes her place in her home, her religion and society is not what she wants.

Told in long static shots and meaningful silences this is either going to connect with the art house film lover in you or it’s going to hit that sweet spot that makes you fall deeply asleep. Count me in the second group.

I never connected to the film with the films shot at a distance immobile shots kept me at a distance. I don’t blame the way of shooting the film but how this director and her cinematographer shot it. I say this because filmmakers like Chantel Akerman and Bela Tarr have used similar techniques and have made films that drew you in and kept you part of the action by framing things in ways that make sense- Akerman will put us into the room by positioning us in a place that makes sense and puts us in the room. I don’t think any of the camera placements in Beginning makes any sense.  They are disconnected and dispassionate . One could argue that they are the eyes of god, but I can’t see god being that outside of events.  An early scene where the police arrive at the missionaries house we are so far out of events as to be in another film altogether. We are, for most of the scene in a hallway far away from what is happening and I really don’t know why.  Placing the camera there, even as an observer makes no sense since no observer or voyeur  would stand there.

I probably should pull things apart further like how some turns of events don’t make logical sense (and I only thought about because I was too disconnected to the story to care)  or  how the vast cold emptiness in most frames  and their reflection into the emptiness of our heroine’s life is much too cliché to be believed.

I was left shaking my head by Beginnings.

Not recommended for anyone but lovers of pretentious and unchallenging art house films

Scary Mother (2017) NDNF2018

Domestic drama gives way to a dark turn as Manana a fifty year old house wife throws herself into her writing. Becoming more and more obsessive about it, we begin to realize all is not well with our heroine.

Nato Murvanidze gives a towering performance in the lead. handling each turn with perfection. This is a performance that has rightly been the subject of awards. Murvanidze draws us in and grabs our throat dragging us along into this strange territory of the dark side of the soul in a way that very few filmmakers manage to get right. Imagine if Gena Rowlands worked with David Lynch and you might have an idea of what the performance is like.

This film is seriously kicks ass. I can see why Georgia submitted this for the Oscars and I also understand why they didn't pick it, the film is such that it leaves you feeling deeply disturbed for reasons not always clear. I had to watch the film a second time to write it up and found that I was bouncing though the second screening simply because I was uncomfortable.

Highly recommended. This is one of the better films at New Directors New Films.

For tickets and more information go here.

Thoughts on why is no one talking about My Happy Family (2017) and why Netflix seems to have cut it loose

The fact that Bilge Ebiri of the Village Voice is the only one truly screaming to the heavens about MY HAPPY FAMILY confuses the hell out of me. Why is such a good film being ignored by the company that is releasing it? More to the point why is a film as solid as it is not being screened in New York and Los Angeles for awards consideration? This is a film that for better or worse should be in the awards mix.

MY HAPPY FAMILY is the story of Manana who at the age of 52 decides to move out of her multigenerational home and live on her own. She is tied of having to put on the happy face and to bend to the whims of everyone else. It’s a move that sends quiet shockwaves through the family. There is more to the story but that should be enough to get you to turn it on.

Where to begin? I want to simply say that everything in this film is wonderful but if I had to pick one thing it would simply to say that this film is achingly real. Unless you live your life completely unattached from the rest of humanity this is a film that you will relate to. We all have families and we all submerge some or all of ourselves in order to make the ones we love happy. We all do it. Watching Manana switch masks from pained unhappiness at the situation to jovial hostess and back again moves us. The birthday scene where the gloomy Manana is in formed that guests might be stopping by to celebrate, something she wants no part of is dead on. I, for one, have been there, as she puts on a smile and is welcoming to everyone only to collapse from the effort of forcing niceness when it was done. We all have been there and we relate to her suffering.

The film doesn’t just bleed off the screen so much as infects the world around it. Watching the film the other night I felt the room I was in merging with the one on screen. I had a sense that if I went through the door to get a drink I might bump into someone in the kitchen.

And there are the other moments that break our hearts or inform us with a grand wisdom, from the reunion to the bracing moment where Manana’s student tells her that if she decides to go for what she wants in life she has to commit to it fully or else be seen as weak and become a prisoner.

This is a great film-- which begs the question why isn’t Netflix pushing it? I’m not certain. I’m never certain about what Netflix is doing with their PR since they often seem intent on not getting word out on any film. I would think it’s because the film isn’t in English and isn’t from a country that they know how to market. I mean it’s a family drama from Georgia not a Korean thriller or Bollywood epic.

If you have Netflix this should be on your list of films to see, if you don’t you should be bringing food and drinks to a friend who does and forcing them to watch the film.

Ranting on Sergei Paranjanov and Color of Pomegranetes NYFF 2014

I honestly don’t know what to make of the films of Sergei Parajanov I have several DVDs that Kino put out several years ago and I reviewed Paranjanov:A Requiem the film about him that is on one of the discs but to be perfectly honest outside of Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors I just stare at the screen and go it’s nice.

This year the New York Film Festival is running a restored version of Parajanov‘s The Color of Pomegranates and my attitude is –Good for them.

Yes I’m being snide.

The story of Color is the story of the poet Syat Nova (the film's original title). Its the story of his life as told via his songs, his history and the directors invention. It's very much like watching a strange performance piece or an living painting.

Don't get me wrongParanjanov is a wonderful filmmaker, he is a true artist and I admire that he was able to get his artistic vision on the big screen, but at the same time his films leave me cold. Watching the films again to write this piece I got through a film and a half and I gave up. His films, which are very Avant-garde are almost too artistic. Often they are static tableaux. I’ve had discussions with fans of his over the years and mostly we end up agreeing to disagree.

I’m not sure if people really like his films or they like the idea of him. I’m serious about that since most of the discussions I’ve had about him tend to talk about his battles with Soviet authorities and his struggle for artistic freedom. I’ve never not had his struggle not come up in a discussion. Are you supporting the man or the art? I'm never sure. I'm equally not sure if people are responding to his films in a positive manner because they so don't get them that they think that the films are beyond them because they don't understand them or have had them explained to them so that they do make sense.

First rule of Unseen Films Fight Club- if you have to explain the film the film fails. films must stand on their own and not have to be explained. If you don't like a film until it's explained to you the film is a failure. Most people do not have their hand held for them or have films explained there for no explanations.

With Paranjanov's films, and Color in particular I've had the film explained to me. Yes it made the film more interesting, but as I said to the person who explained it to me- how the hell was I suppose to know that if I wasn't from Soviet Georgia with a similar set of interests as the director. Its sort of like reading an Alan Moore comic book and not getting it until you read the annotated versions that are out there...Yes Mr Moore your League of Extraordinary Gentleman is wonderful, and yes you are clearly much more clever than the rest of us, but until you tell us how clever you are we're never going to notice it.

But I digress- sort of - Going back and looking at Color and whatever the other film I saw was, it was clear that unless I got out my ouiji board and have the director explain them I was never going to understand his films (except Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors) nor do I think most other people are either.

Brides (2014) Tribeca 2014

Based on the directors own life Brides is the story of  Nutsa who is married to Goga. Goga has been arrested and sent to prison for ten years. The trouble is that not being married to Goga, Nutsa has no way to see him. Staging a jail house wedding the pair can now see each other at their monthly meetings, however the time apart takes its toll on the pair and the relationship....

This is a really good drama that scores many points for shedding light on a part of life that I never knew existed. Yes I knew that Eastern European prisons could be tough but I never imagined the weird games that they would play to keep families apart. If I wasn't already happy I wasn't locked up in prison, this film makes me doubly happy that I'm not locked up in Georgia (the country not the state).

Focusing almost completely on Nutsa, played by the absolutely amazing Mari Kitia. This is one woman's story of trying to cope with a terrible situation. How do you deal with the love of your life being locked away? This film gives you a pretty good idea. It also shows you the complications of trying to deal with the kids, what do you tell the kids, they are told he's in the army, but at the same time they know something is up and chafe at going to the terrible place.

While I love much of the film, I'm less enamored of the final thirty minutes or so of the film. The final sequence is an extended one where Nutsa and Goga are allowed to spend a 24 hour period together in a small apartment. The sequence is frequently  touching as the pair try to reconnect but it also just sort of goes on as if they had to get the film to a certain length. My problem is that when the sequence and the film ends, the film is kind of left in limbo regarding the outcome of an event that seems to come from left filed.

In reading an interview with the director in the press notes we are supposed to remember the several references to Mishimia's story Patriotism  to infer a very dark ending. I'm not sure that it works. Tinatin Kajtishvili says that the ending, like the entire script, was crafted with input from her jailed husband who said that the only way the film makes sense is to end it this way-and he gave reasons (which I won't relate here since I don't want to spoil everything). I'm not certain that he;s right, certainly the film doesn't need the certainty of the ending, nor do I think that his reasoning holds up since it infers a great number of things we don't know, not the least of which is Goga's state of mind and the other is Nutsa's relationships outside of her husband. I think some how the very end weakens the film, just as the the long sequence preceding it makes the film lose focus.

Yea I know that makes no sense unless you've seen the film, and it may have given you some spoilers, but  at the same time I had to say something because this really great film stumbles a bit at the end.

Stumble or no this is a a film you should make an effort to see when it plays at Tribeca.