matchmaking mayor (miff film #9)

The subject of this Czech/Slovakian documentary is right there in the title. Jozef Gajdos, the mayor of the small town, Zemplínske Hámre, is fed up with his citizens. Namely, those over 30 who are still single. Don’t they realise Earth will cease to exist if they don’t pair up and start procreating immediately?

At his wits end, as evident by his increasingly hysterical announcements to the town via a PA system, the mayor decides its time to take matters into his own hands. He’s going to organise a singles night to help his town’s people, and those from the neighbouring area, a chance to meet, fall in love and make babies. What could go wrong?

An amazing array of characters come out of the woodwork, in this well-intentioned documentary, to explain why they are indeed, still single. The women seem to be content living with their mothers and going about their daily work, and don’t seem all that fazed about whether they find a man or not. As for the men, one has a newly renovated house and all it’s missing is a wife, and another realises if he’s spent less time working on cars, he might have had more luck settling down. Such sweet people, how could you not want them to find love?! (Especially when one lonely guy shows the Metaxa he purchased in Greece and is planning to drink with his wife…or on his deathbed.)

I love hearing about small towns, European or otherwise. I was completely smitten with Northern Exposure and ever since, have been drawn to film and tv shows about small-town eccentrics. This documentary offered me that and while I wanted the non-reality ending (i.e. everyone finding their soul mate at the singles night and the mayor falling asleep knowing he’d done the right thing), I wasn’t all that surprised when the town’s folk all went home alone.

2 stars!

submarine (miff film #8)

I loved every part of Submarine. From seeing Noah Taylor again (where have you been? And, man you got skinny!), to the terrific acting of Craig Roberts (he plays fifteen-year-old Oliver, whose coming of age the film documents), to the score by Arctic Monkeys frontman Alex Turner (i.e. my husband).

Initially, I was somewhat distracted by Oliver’s face as I tried to think of who it reminded me of. I finally had my ‘ah ha’ moment and decided it was James McAvoy. And after being slightly distracted by thinking of James McAvoy, I returned my concentration to the British gem unfolding before me.

I don’t want to say too much about the film, just that everyone should go and see it. Really.

5 stars!

tiny furniture (miff film #7)

I tend to make a habit of seeing any film at MIFF whose description includes the words ‘New York’, ‘twenty-something graduate’, ‘what now?’, and in this specific case, ‘the Woody Allen of Generation Y’. This year, the honour went to Tiny Furniture.

Lena Dunham writes, directs and stars in this film, which chronicles what happens when you finish uni and have no idea what to do next.

Aura is in just this situation so she moves back into her mum’s New York apartment, which also houses Aura’s younger sister (Lena’s real mum and sister take on these roles). Once the stage is thusly set, the rest of the film explores Aura’s uncertainty about what she should be doing with her time and newly minted uni skills – apart from a hot, young chef.

I always enjoy films that offer a snap shot into someone else’s life and this is exactly what Tiny Furniture gave me. There aren’t any explosive moments, and I even wondered exactly what the ending would be, but it made me feel that after the screen went dark, these characters were still going on with their lives, and I quite liked that.

3 stars!

london burning

The riots currently tearing England apart have been the source of countless pieces of writing. I’m not going to add to the number. Instead, I’m going to point you in the direction of this piece, Panic on the Streets of London, by Laurie Penny who has been watching her city burn over the past few days.

Rather than making snap explanations and racist remarks about why the riots are taking place, Laurie takes the time to see the madness for what it is. Indeed, to see what happens when those shown no respect rise up and tell the world that this time, they’ve got the control and they’re going to do anything they want with it.

mad development (my new favourite blog/website/tumblr #5)

I know there are many people out there convinced that an Arrested Development film is just around the corner. I’ll believe it when I see it.

Instead, I’ll just keep looking at this tumblr, which is freaking hilarious.

magic trip (miff film #6)

I think I was around sixteen or seventeen when I first read The Electric Kool-aid Acid Test. I loved it. I was going through a Tom Wolfe phase, which quickly turned into a Ken Kesey phase. When I saw that Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search by a Kool Place was on the MIFF program, I was definitely on the bus.

Directed by Alex Gibney, Magic Trip wasn’t exactly what I thought it would be. It was much better. Ken Kesey, his ‘Merry Pranksters’, and a bus called Further drove across the USA soon after America lost it innocence, with the assassination of JFK. Their trip (in all its connotations) was filmed but hadn’t seen the light of day since Kesey et al had been editing it for thirty years. I really didn’t expect the documentary to make much sense, what with all the acid, but Gibney (and the narration skills of the brilliant Stanley Tucci) did a terrific job in bring out a cohesive and fascinating story.

With audio from those actually on the bus, including snippets of the speed-mad Neal Cassady, aka Dean Moriarty, I really felt like part of the journey in a way that Wolfe’s book hadn’t quite delivered. It was also quite thrilling to see cameos of Kerouac and Ginsberg. So for those fans of the Beat Generation, Kesey or the sixties in general, this documentary is a must see.

4 stars!

littlerock (miff film #5)

LiTTLEROCK Trailer from Small Form Films on Vimeo.

I was immediately drawn to Littlerock after reading it described as a ‘clever fish-out-of-water indie’. While a very accurate description, the true heart of this lovely film is in its gentleness.

After their car breaks down, travelling siblings Atsuko and Rintaro find themselves stuck in the very small Californian town, Littlerock. The brother and sister quickly make friends with their party-ing motel neighbours so begins a quietly heartfelt journey for the Japanese tourists and the American locals.

What struck me most about this film was how the friendships developed between Atsuko and the locals (namely Cory), regardless of the fact that she doesn’t speak English and they didn’t speak Japanese. The scenes between Atsuko and Francisco are particularly engrossing, comical and heartwarming. (They work together in a kitchen, speaking to each other in their own language that the other doesn’t understand. Brilliant.)

This terrific film is another MIFF win.

4 stars!