Lotus (2024) Fantaspoa 2025

Avant garde and perhaps a touch of surrealism blend together in a kind of experimental film that is going to thrill some people and send others to the exits.

The film follows a woman who returns to her family's mansion after the first world war. She is going to sell it. However the staff has other ideas. Things get even more complicated with slimy people, a secret society and demonic forces wander through the proceedings as the woman ends up being asked to make a film....

Director Signe Birkova has made a challenging work of cinematic art... or maybe it's just a heady mediation on various ideas that is supposed to get us thinking.  Honestly I don't know since the film keeps moving at all times and periodically making an unexpected left turn down a road or through a door we never saw coming. One would think we would end up home again but we keep ending up further and further away.

I honestly don't know if it  amounts to anything, but it is intriguing. There is a lot to chew on here from war, to class to cinema and lord knows what else. I found I stopped taking notes at some point because to do so had me miss something that just happened. This is not a film look away from since everything changes moment to moment.

Its also a film hard to discuss since unless you've gone through it once discussing plot points or thematic elements are going to mean little.

I like it but I need to see it again to know what that actually means.

Recommended for the adventurous.

Flow (2024) opens Friday

FLOW is one of the great films of 2024. It’s probably one of the greatest animated films ever made. I suspect in five years it will be hailed as a classic.

A kind of fable, the film is the story of a cat who ends up on a boat with some other animals raveling across the world during a flood.  It’s a tale of life on a grand scale told without dialog.

This is a a grand adventure. Set somewhere else at some other time and place where people are no longer around the film creates a world where anything is possible. Animals that shouldn't be together are. There are references to places here on earth, but nothing concrete. There are some magical creatures, and fantastic turns but it all makes absolute perfect emotional sense. 

I know that everyone is going to have their say about the film. Countless podcasts and You Tube videos explaining a film that doesn’t have to be explained, but simply experienced, will be popping up soon. That we live in a time where everyone has to put out pieces where they explain what the director meant, or more likely saying how their take is the only right one, is a sad one. Everyone should be able to have the film mean what ever they want it to mean. FLOW needs to thrive however it thrives in the hearts of everyone who sees it.

As a work of art, this film is of the highest order. The images and storytelling are near perfect, not always in a brain logic sense but in a dead on heart sort of way. This film moved me viscerally and I wanted to to stop the film several times just because I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to just cry at the beauty of it all. (Several people behind me at the screening were loudly sobbing)

Cinema does not get much better than this.

Similar in some ways to director Gints Zilbalodis’ earlier AWAY because of the mystical journey, this is a vast jump in quality. This is film is a film where the student becomes the master. Everything here is nigh on perfect with the character design and animation being of a quality that few animators ever achieve. All you need to is watch  the eyes of the cat, or any of the characters and you’ll be amazed. Its so good that you’ll wish that the filmmakers could get special Oscars for their work- or compete in the best performance category. I’m serious-the best performances of the year are all computer generated.

In some ways the film nay remind you of some questing computer games. Some games like MYST came to mind (and one person I spoke with after the screening listed others).  And while I can see the influence perhaps in image referencing, I can’t say that the it is more than an influence. I say that because films are not games. We do not have control. The questing structure is as old as humanity. Additionally I have never been as invested and connected to a video game story or characters as I am here. There is a realness here that makes FLOW something greater than it’s influences. 

In a weird way the film also feels like Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld. I can't say why, largely because it's been years since I last read the stories, but there is still something haunting me.

This film is any, and every, superlative you can think of. It is a film at the highest level of cinematic art. It will move you in ways you didn’t think were possible.

Highly recommended.

Look for FLOW to have  a long life.

(And it should be noted that the film does have a post credits sequence. It’s brief but explains what happens to one character)

Flow (2024) Animation is Film 2024

FLOW is one of the great films of 2024. It’s probably one of the greatest animated films ever made. I suspect in five years it will be hailed as a classic.

A kind of fable, the film is the story of a cat who ends up on a boat with some other animals raveling across the world during a flood.  It’s a tale of life on a grand scale told without dialog.

This is a a grand adventure. Set somewhere else at some other time and place where people are no longer around the film creates a world where anything is possible. Animals that should be together are. There are references to places here on earth, but nothing concrete. There are some magical creatures, and fantastic turns but it all makes absolute perfect emotional sense. 

I know that everyone is going to have their say about the film. Countless podcasts and You Tube videos explaining a film that doesn’t have to be explained, but simply experienced, will be popping up soon. That we live in a time where everyone has to put out pieces where they explain what the director, whom they never met, meant, or more likely saying how their take is the only right one, is a sad one. Everyone should be able to have the film mean what ever they want it to mean. FLOW needs to thrive however it thrives in the hearts of everyone who sees it.

As a work of art, this film is of the highest order. The images and storytelling are near perfect, not always in a brain logic sense but in a dead on heart sort of way. This film moved me viscerally and I wanted to to stop the film several times just because I was so overwhelmed that I wanted to just cry at the beauty of it all. (Several people behind me at the screening were loudly sobbing)

Cinema does not get much better than this.

Similar in some ways to director Gints Zilbalodis’ earlier AWAY, which is about a mystical journey, this is a vast jump in quality. This is film is a film where the student becomes the master. Everything here is nigh on perfect with the character design and animation being of a quality that few animators ever achieve. All you need to is watch  the eyes of the cat, or any of the characters and you’ll be amazed. Its so good that you’ll wish that the filmmakers could get special Oscars for their work- or compete in the best performance category. I’m serious-the best performances of the year are all computer generated.

In some ways the film may remind you of some questing computer games. Some games like MYST came to mind (and one person I spoke with after the screening listed others).  And while I can see the influence perhaps in image referencing, I can’t say that the it is more than an influence. I say that because films are not games. We do not have control. The questing structure is as old as humanity. Additionally I have never been as invested and connected to a video game story or game characters as I am here. There is a realness here that makes FLOW something greater than it’s influences. 

In a weird way the film also feels like Philip Jose Farmer's Riverworld. I can't say why, largely because it's been years since I last read the stories, but there is still something haunting me.

This film is any, and every, superlative you can think of. It is a film at the highest level of cinematic art. It will move you in ways you didn’t think were possible.

Highly recommended.

Look for FLOW to have  a long life.

(And it should be noted that the film does have a post credits sequence. It’s brief but explains what happens to one character)

Twittering Soul (2024) in 3D

Mystical things are afoot in the Latvian countryside.

Deimantas Narkevičius‘s film is only being shown in theaters because it was shot in 3D. The 3D images are incredible and seem to be stretching back into the screen.  They are so beautiful that they almost make the film worth seeing…

…the problem is that outside of the images the film has nothing going for it. It isn’t scary despite there being supernatural entities and is simply long and dull and incredibly unclear.  How unclear are things, apparently some of the characters are alive, some are dead and a few are mystical beings. Which is which, or even the fact that not everyone is a living human, is only clear in the final couple of minutes and even then we aren’t sure who is who.

Worse there is no narrative. I’m not sure what is really happening or why.  Add that to the uncertainty as to who the characters are and you have a real mess of a film. I don’t even know when the film is set since candle mix with electric lights. Yes the promotional material fills in a lot of the questions I have but my almost unbreakable rule is that films that require you to read on them to have them explained is a failure. This film requires you to read on it so you can have everything explained.

I’m puzzled as to why the film is being listed as a horror film in some places, when nothing horrific happens. Yes one character dies, but it isn’t even remotely spooky. This is more a supernatural fantasy than anything as seen by the bird drifting in an out of one character's mouth.

Sadly outside of the images this film is a total failure.

Not recommended.

(And before you see this film find out if they are using a bright enough bulb. The press screening I attended had the theater using a regular bulb which made many sequences much too dark to fully grasp what s going on)

January (2022) Tribeca 2022

January is a loosely autobiographical tale of director Viesturs Kairiss time when he was heading to film school in January 1991.  The film is the story of Jazis who only wants to make movie and sees no point in anything other than that. As Latvia and the Baltic states are breaking off from the Soviet Union the country is invaded. He rushes off to film the stand off at the press offices where he is assaulted by soldiers. Joining a new film school that the Ministry of Culture has set up he falls in with other students where he learns about love, film and politics.

This nice drama is a little too subdued for my tastes. While the film has nothing wrong with it, it’s beautiful to look at, has great characters and performances, emotionally it’s a bit too muted for my tastes. For better or worse all of Jazis‘s emotions are directed toward films and the images he creates and I get that, but at the same time it crates an emotional atmosphere where we remain emotionally distant. Also it doesn’t allow for much in the way of emotional waves. While I was engaged with the plot and wanted to see how it all came out, I never was truly emotionally involved. I should have been moved at the end.

I should have felt something somewhere at some point but it never happened.

However as I said I was always curious as to where this was going to go.

Worth a look for those who are curious.

Upurga (2022) Fantaspoa 2022

 

Reeling from a past tragedy a rafting guide tags along with his sister and her friends when they go into the forest to shoot a video. Picking up a local inspector who warns them never to leave the river to enter the forest, they do just that and things begin to go wrong and primal.

I’ve delayed reviewing UPURGA because I couldn’t figure out what I thought of the film. I wanted to try and see it a second time before I wrote it up. I watched the film the other night  a second time and to be honest I still don’t know what I think of it.

This is a gorgeous looking film. It is a film that feels real. We are in the forest and on the river with the characters. Its one of the very few films I’ve ever seen where I had no sense of there being a crew just out of the frame. This film feels like we are in the middle of nowhere. Frankly this is exactly the sort of film that should be in the running for an Oscar because it’s cinematography is a key component to the story telling process. Sadly films like this get pushed aside for films that have beautiful vistas or compelling images like in Bladerunner 2049.

My uncertainty with the film comes from the narrative. This is a film that echoes several other horror films, and or fairy tales where we are warned not to stray from the path. Madness lurks in the darkness and we should never investigate it. While the film has moments and genuinely generates more than it’s share of creepy fearful moments, I’m not sure it all hangs together. Something seems off, even allowing for the fact that there is a kind of dream logic operating here, something seems off.

In a weird way this film reminded me of a film called YELLOWBRICKROAD about a supposed haunted trail in New England.  When I first saw the film I was overwhelmed by the theatrical experience and wicked sound design, however when I saw the film again I found that the narrative didn’t hold together. It did a few things that seemed to go against its own internal logic, I could see how the director moved things to make the film go how he wanted it to, and not the way the characters and situations were heading. I have that same feeling in regard to UPURGA. Its not really fatal, but I can’t not unseen the hand of the director manipulating things.

Worth a look for what works, but I’m not sure you’ll be satisfied.

This film screened as part of Fantaspoa 2022. For more information on the festival, please visit www.fantaspoa.com

Blizzard of Souls (2019) opens in virtual theaters Friday

 After his family is killed by the German army a young man joins the Latvian army and experiences the horrors of the First World War.

Based on the auto-biographical novel by Aleksandrs Grins, BLIZZARD OF SOULS was a huge box office hit in Latvia where the sense of nation touched the Latvian people. It is the Latvian Oscar entry.

Thuis typical war film frequently packs a real punch. Set on the Eastern Front the film shows us things that we don't normally see in a World War One film. Its not all mud and trenches. There are fields and trees and people. This allows for some stunning set pieces which both horrify our soul while delighting the eye (the machinegunner in the tree). I love that there is a sense of a larger world that isn't just official offices or cities and endless battle. To be certain things there is a kind of polish to some of this and the film takes turns that are novelistic, but it helps turn the film into something truly special.

I really liked this film a great deal. I liked that it didn't do anything I expected. As I said it's not your typical war film. There aren't gallons of blood and body parts. I love that our characters have real lives off the screen. I love that there is a complexity to things you don't frequently see in recent war films (I mean how complex was 1917 really?). Characters are truly not cookie cutter cliches. There is a lot going on that make you get more deeply invested in what is going on and ponder more than what is just on screen.

This film is a quiet stunner. While I don't think the film will end up with an Oscar nomination (forgive me there are a number of films I think the Academy will like better)  I do think you'll want to see this film. Its a powerful indictment of war.

My Father, The Spy hits VOD Tuesday

Portrait of Leva Lešinska-Geibere as she tries to sort out who exactly her father was and what exactly happened that caused him to drag her along when he defected to the US thus splitting her life apart.

In 1978 while she was a student in Latvia, Leva was asked by her father to come spend a month in New York during her summer vacation. Imants Lešinskis was working at the UN and he thought it would be good for his daughter to see America. However things happened, the head of the Soviet mission defected and things were thrown into turmoil. Then on a side trip to Washington DC Leva's dad and second wife announced that they were defecting right there and then. She could go with them or she could take a taxi to the Soviet embassy and defect.  She stayed and her life was split apart.

Decades later Leva tries to figure out what happened. How did it all go down and why. Mostly she wants to know who her father really was and whose side was he on. Through family photos, various documentation, recreations and interviews with anyone still alive.

What makes this film work, and what kept me watching is the desire to find out how this was all going to go. At the start I wasn't sure if I was going to get hooked since the beginning made this seem like a typical Cold War story, then the defection happens and the world turns upside down and we have to see what happens next. As Leva tries to work out what was coming next and why and so are we. While we know and can guess some of it, the fact that Leva's dad was a spy adds a layer that has to be pulled back.

I enjoyed the hell out of this wild ride.

If you have any interest in spies or more importantly just a good tale MY FATHER,THE SPY is recommended when it hits VOD on Tuesday

Jesus Shows You the Way to the Highway (2019) Fantasia 2019

Miguel Llansó the mad genius who made CRUMBS, a post-apocalyptic film that haunts me still, is at it again with JESUS SHOWS YOU THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY, a one of a kind masterpiece that only he could have made.

In 2034 Soviet era computer virus with the titled name and controlled by cyber being Joseph Stalin is attempting to take over the world. Two CIA agents have to deep dive into the cyber world in order to stop him.

Wild and crazy and a one of a kind sense of reality JESUS… is a trip. Riffing on other films and refashioning pop culture to its own ends (in the cyber world people’s avatars are famous people, and some characters run about in 1966 Batman and Robin costumes) this film puts us in a headspace that both familiar and totally alien. Like in life everything is not one unique thing but smashed together. What makes this work is that Llanso creates worlds that are truly real. He takes our world and figures out what will be around in however many years. More importantly Llanso never forgets that people are people. There are small details that may or mean nothing, making pizza as a hobby for example, but they give us a hook and a sense that there is more to the characters beyond what they need do in the film.

This film is a masterpiece and Miguel Llansó is a genius. In a world where everyone is making and remaking films that are a dime a dozen Llanso is making things that are unlike anything out there even if they borrow from everywhere….

…and on that note if there is one filmmaker that Llanso is like it would be Quentin Tarantino who shares his love of cultural riffs. However unlike Tarantino Llanso uses the riffs to tell a greater truth. They are not what his film is about, instead they are window dressing and touchstones that are layered into the fabric of his films so that we can better fall under his spell. Because the references and riffs are friendly we are more open to what he wants to tell us. Also because of how they are used they trick us into believing that the world is real because it is like our own.

Make no mistake about it Miguel Llansó is truly one of the greatest filmmakers working anywhere in the world.

JESUS SHOWS THE WAY TO THE HIGHWAY is a must at Fantasia or where ever it plays. Even if you don’t like it you need to see it in order to know the work of a director who is doing something amazing.

Rainy Days (2014)

A man gets on a ferry. The rain starts and he thinks back to various times in his life

A great looking little film with some glorious music this is one of those small gems that is just an absolute treat for the eye and the ear. For the most part it's this off beat slice of life.

Personally I'm not sure it adds up to much, how it ties everything up is a little odd, but it looks great. It looks so good I watched it a couple of times in a row.

If you can find it give it a shot. There are worse things you can do for 7 minutes.

Man in the Orange Jacket (2014) Fantasia Fest 2014

This is exactly the sort of film I should hate.

The cold calculating story of a laid off worker who kills his boss and wife and then moves into their house kind of borders on being a slasher film, which I hate. Additionally there are some stylistic touches (say not seeing the young man's face for the first third of the film) that should work against it, but somehow it works and works really well

One has to credit director Aik Karapetian who manages to tease out the suspense for it's brief running time. Nothing seems wasted, every moment is perfect and is milked for maximum effect. If the pacing is a tad leisurely its only to make the explosions of violence more chilling.

Also a plus is the limited dialog. A largely wordless film, there are times when there is dialog, but most of it isn't really required. Its what happens in the silences and between the screams that is important.

This is a dark bloody film that borders on being an art film, however its a film that any lover of suspense tinged with horror will want to check out.

Man in the Orange Jacket Plays later today. For more information and tickets check the web page.

Brief word on Mother I Love You (2013) New York International Children's Film Festival 2014

Raimonds is 12 year old living with his doctor mother. An incident with a girl at school causes him to cover up things with his mom. Things ripple out from there and Raimonds is set on the road to making more bad choices, going out late, breaking into apartments, that spiral more and more out of control.

Solid drama, with a kick ass score, this is a film that gets what it feels like to be a kid right. Or  as right as I can remember back all those years ago.  I like that there are no easy answers, that things don't play out as if they were cliche. I like that we see how a good kid's bad choices can make him seem bad.

Thank you to the festival for showing it because if they hadn't done so I never would have seen it.

Playing next weekend and the following weekend at sold out shows but keep an eye on the website in case more tickets are released or if you're daring check the theater on either the 22nd or 29th to see if tickets were turned in. Definitely worth your time.

NYICFF Day 2: Lotte and the Moonstone Mystery and Cinderella Moon

Spent the day bouncing between Cantor Film Center for Screenings related to the NYICFF and the IFC Center which was running Zarafa which is a family film running as part of the Rendezvous with French Cinema series. I'll review that film on it's own in a little bit. Right now I want to take a look at the two NYICFF films.

First off, to the horse young lady from the festival who stopped me coming out of Cinderella Moon, see I really do review films.

Lotte and the Moonstone Mystery (2011)

Sequel to the much loved Lotte from Gadgetville has Lotte and her uncle trying to track down the mystery behind three mysterious stones that are being sought after by a pair of robed figures. The quest leads them into the country where the pair has a variety of adventures.

The average age of the audience for this film seemed to be about five. Any adults, other than myself, were there with little ones. As a film in total the young kids are the perfect age for Lotte's weird adventures. All of the kids seemed to love it. Even when I was on line for Cinderella Moon the kids were still talking about it.

For me, who is basically big kid, the film was just okay. The film is pretty much a stream of consciousness adventure that has Lotte and her Uncle traveling to meet his friends, dancing, meeting penguins and traveling to dreamland. As separate pieces the film is brilliant. As a movie as a whole the film doesn't really hang together and seems like it's simply filling time.

Then again I'm the wrong person for this film and if I was five I would have loved it. If you have kids the right age, take them because they will love it.

(I also need to say that the animation is a brilliant mix of styles, and if you like the art of animation give the film a go)


Cinderella Moon (2011)

Richard Bowen's Cinderella tale is based on the earliest known version of the story, which dates back to 768 in China. Its the story of Mei Mei, who's mother dies leaving her with her father and his first wife. She is reduced to finding joy making pottery and dancing in the ornate fish covered shoes that her mother left her.

Ten years on Mei Mei is a master potter of some reputation. When her father dies her life is thrown into turmoil as her step-mother begins to make moves to assure they have enough to eat. Complicating matters is the fact kingdom she lives in is in turmoil. The king will only marry someone he truly loves. The moon has stopped moving in the sky. Worse the king has seen Mei Mei dance and is convinced an angel has come to earth.

This is a solid film about finding your place in the world by being yourself. Its a wonderful take on a well worn fairy tale. The setting of ancient China adds greatly to what could have been a been there and done that story. The cast is great and they hit every note perfectly.

Okay I need to say something because the version being shown at the NYICFF has a serious flaw - its BADLY dubbed into English. I mean it's often like watching bad martial arts movies. I was groaning when I saw the voices out of sync with the mouth motions. Also having seen some of the actors and actresses before in Chinese films I could sense that the rhythms of what they were saying did not match the English they were speaking. Granted you may not notice, odds are you won't care, but in all honesty the poor dubbing made me drop this film down from an excellent one to being just a good one. Don't get me wrong its worth seeing, but I think that had it been subtitled this would have been a must see instead of a should see.


Reservations aside this was a good day at the movies.