Dead Slow Ahead (2015) Art of the Real 2016

Must be seen on a big screen film is a visually over powering film that frequently reduces it's subject to a kind of hypnotic abstraction. The film records the the trip of a cargo ship from the Ukraine to New Orleans though the trip could be to almost any where.

Normally I dislike these sort of films.  The abstractions and experimental nature of similar films frequently grow tedious for me and I zone out and fall asleep. With DEAD SLOW AHEAD that didn't happen. Some how the abstractions remained captivating all through out. Actually it wasn't until some of the more normal shot invaded the film toward the end that I kind of found myself less than enraptured.

At the risk of losing friends and influencing enemies I'm going to tell you that unless you can see this on a big screen in the dark with a minimum of distractions you may want to skip this film. This is the sort of film where you have to click with it and fall under it's spell, Watching it small or in a place where your eye can be distracted by other things you'll never connect.

This film Plays April 21st

Oyster Factory (2015) Art of the Real (2016)

Portrait of a the state of oyster farming in Japan and by association the state of the nation. The film is a look at the toughness of the life of an oyster fisherman as well as how the industry has had to change since the low paying jobs are not anything that the Japanese themselves will take so the positions are filled by Chinese and people from elsewhere in Asia.

This is a very good cinema verite film where the camera  sits and watches and observes. At times the subjects talk to the filmmakers at other times not. It makes for enlightening viewing.

If the film has any problem is that the filmmakers insistence at letting events transpire in more or les real time makes the film go on a bit longer than it probably needs to. Far be it for me to make the call but I do think that the 145 minute running time is too much and my interest began to fail in the second half of the film.

On the other hand if you like immersive filmmaking this is a must see

Oyster Factory plays Sunday April 17th.

In Brief: O Futebol / On Football (2015) Art of the Real 2016

After not seeing with his father for 20 years director Sergio Oksman decides to look him up and try to reconnect. The do and they decide to watch every game of the 2014 World Cup together.

Portrait told in silences and motions. An example of observational reporting has the two men watching TV, driving and so on . Not a great deal is said. The film falls into a routine which continues even after an unexpected turn of events The film also documents how Brazil becomes overcome with football fever, as we hear the reactions of those watching the games that the men don't always see.

A film for those who like to sit and watch and make up their own minds. For me a little went a long away and my interest waned. Though to be fare had I not been given a screener for the film I never would have tried  it.

Great for those who like this sort of a thing, and endurance test for all others.

Art of the Real 2016- MESH AND THE CIRCLE and IMPRESSION OF WAR

MESH AND THE CIRCLE
Awesome images of various activities including glass blowing and manufavturing mix with some of the most pretentious ideas I've run across as the directors try to tie the opening shot DIARY OF A COUNTRY PRIEST to the images they present. I think they are full of it, but the images, divorced of the verbose text are stunning and worth seeing. (If you want the new height of pretentious twaddle see what the filmmakers themselves talk about the film)

IMPRESSION OF WAR
Mediation/essay/documentary on the 70 year long Colombian civil wars is a dark and troubling look at war, memory and country. The story is nominally about Columbia but in truth the film speaks to a larger question of almost any country, not in the specifics but the generalities. A heady film that speaks more in its 26 minutes than most features on similar subjects to in three or four times the length, This film will haunt you.

In Brief: Il Solengo (2015) Art of the Real 2016

Portrait of Mario de Marcella, a man who lived as a hermit for 60 years. The title is his nick name which is the name of a rogue boar.

This is a great little film that consists of a group of men who lived in the area where Mario lived talking about Mario. They tell what they know and speculate about what they don't with the result that the film feels more like hanging out with a bunch of guys shooting the breeze. The film also has a nice sting it it's tail which I won't get into.

If the film has any flaw it's perhaps it has one or two too many shots of the wilderness with the winds blowing. Yes it gives a sense of place , but a little goes along way.

The film plays at Lincoln Center on April 14th.

In Brief: Poet on a Business Trip (2015) Art of the Real 2016

A poet travels and writes 16 poems along the way.

This  a kind of glorified home movie that is either going to thrill you or not. Filmed in 2002 in black and white the film follows Shu as he travels, drinks, eats, talks and screws his way across China. Lots of driving, lots of eating and drinking and some poetry that left me cold.

I hate to say it but in someways this is one of the two typical Art of the Real films, The typical films for the festival are broken into point and record films with long takes of beautiful composed shots but little action or, in this case small personal documentaries that are never ever going to see a big release either because their subject is limited or because they are too ragged to find wide acceptance. POET is this last one. Its a ragged film that seems to have been a step or two up from being a home movie with lots of shots of Shu standing around the road.

I suspect that some people will love it, especially its wicked sense self awareness, but for me it never clicked and I wanted out after 20 minutes

The film plays April 9 at Art of the Real

Art of the Real Quick Takes: ROUNDABOUT IN MY HEAD, MONUMENT HUNTER and A MAGICAL SUBSTANCE FLOWS INTO ME

Roundabout in my Head (2015)
Portrait of of the men working in a slaughterhouse in Algiers. The film looks at what the men do and takes time to talk to them and get to know what they feel and why. For me this is a good little film that got lost in the crush of other films at this years Art of the Real.

The film plays April 15th

Monument Hunter(2015)
Cinematic essay about how the filmmaker saw a documentary on a neurosurgeon he knew nothing about but was struck by the memory of seeing a statue in his honor. He then sets off to find the statue but ends up reminiscing about his father who was also a surgeon.

Interesting cine-essay mixes fact and memory to create and intriguing examination of life and what we remember about it.

The film plays April 10th

A Magical Substance Flows into Me (2015)
Closing Night Film of Art of the Real is Jumana Manna's look at ethnic music in and around what was once Palestine. A mix of staged moments and in the moment happenings the film.

I have mixed feelings about the film. The artistic shots of landscapes and such and the interviews are nice but it's the music that makes this film soar. Watching the film I enjoyed myself for what it is but I didn't really connect until the film gets to the too few musical sections.

The film plays April 21st

Nightcap 4/3/116 Art of the Real Starts Friday, The return of the Buried Land Rule

The World Was Wide Enough from Megan Lloyd on Vimeo.
The Art of the Real Lincoln Center's annual look at off the beaten path documentaries starts Friday. As always it's an interesting mix of film, essay and docu-fiction that probably will never find a huge audience because the approaches can be too experimental or the subjects too esoteric.

As this posts I'll have seen ten of the films, two shorts and eight features. This year there aren't the highs and lows of past years. This year it's all solidly good with most of the films I've seen falling into the observational style of filmmaking where the filmmakers point the camera and record what happens.

Art of the Real is the one festival that I hate to do recommendations for so I won't. Its not that the films are bad, rather that they tend to be so mannered that what I like will not be what you like. If you want proof of this go into a room full of NYC centered writers and mention the series and then stand back as everyone will let loose with their opinions.

The best way to experience the films is to look at the schedule and pick something that sounds interesting and try it.

I will be reviewing everything I've seen starting at the end of the week

For more information and tickets go here.
----
From A BRIDGE TOO FAR:

Major General Urquhart: Hancock. I've got lunatics laughing at me from the woods. My original plan has been scuppered now that the jeeps haven't arrived. My communications are completely broken down. Do you really believe any of that can be helped by a cup of tea?

Corporal Hancock: Couldn't hurt, sir.
----

With Tribeca rapidly approaching its time to remind the world that if they don’t like a movie they can walk out.

Contrary to popular belief you are not required to stay to the end. I know this shocks some people who feel that they paid for something and they have to stay to get their money’s worth, but at the same time if you pay for a night at the theater and you find out its entirely having someone poke you in the ye for 90 minutes you’d walk out because you were being abused. Your time is too short- get up and leave.

For those who want to hang figuring the film will get better you have to consider if the film fits the BURIED LAND RULE or not. If is meets the BURIED LAND RULE by all means leave.

For those who don’t know the BURIED LAND RULE is named for the first film I ever saw at Tribeca. The film was a part fiction film part documentary about earth mounds in the Balkans that may or may not be buried pyramids. The documentary portions that opened and closed the film were great but the middle fictional section and I kept hoping that someone would walk into the mine fields that dotted the landscape. No one ever did and so the BURIED LAND RULE was born.

The BURIED LAND RULE states that if you think a film would be better if someone did X (ie. walk into a minefield), they never will, so you might as well go home because it’s never going to happen.

I haven’t been using the rule when at screenings much lately, but I use it as an excuse to turn off a movie on home video. Actually I use it as an excuse to scan to the end and except for one of two instances I’m never wrong. The movies suck.

To that end if you see a film that sucks- leave.

----

And Randi's links
Adam Curtis's BITTER LAKE
The story of the Iraqi supergun that wasn't
The History of the Balkan War
Tarantinos Favorite Spaghetti Westerns
Real Story of THE REVENANT