Sydney Film Festival - So Far, Fun

The Sydney Film Festival 2011 has been up and running for a while now, but I’ve only really jumped on board in the last couple of days. I’m going hard, though, 6 films so far and then 1 tonight, 3 on Saturday and 5 (five) on Sunday.

The movies so far:

The White Balloon
Actually a 1995 film, showing as part of the Jafar Panahi retrospective in recognition of the fact that the director is currently serving a six year jail term in Tehran for the crime of making movies. Anyway, The White Balloon was his debut and is typical of the Iranian films of the period in its use of children to act out allegorical political tales, its wry humour and its deadpan acting style. The plot in its entirety: girl tries to buy goldfish. It’s pretty good, and the final shot superbly undercuts all of the audience’s sympathies.

Tree of Life
This was the movie I was most excited about, simply because it is directed by the genius that is Terrence Malick. The film intercuts three main strands. One is the childhood of a group of boys in Middle America in the 1950s Midwest, whose parents are a brutal Brad Pitt and an ethereal Jessica Chastain. The second features Sean Penn as one of the sons, now grown up, trying to deal with his unresolved issues mainly by staring out of the window of his workplace skyscraper. The third, and most controversial among the group I saw it with, has extended sequences of natural beauty including waterfalls, undersea creatures, nebulae and even CGI dinosaurs. I was in a minority, but I think it worked together superbly and, even if you don’t get on with it, you have to admire the visual magnificence on display and the insane ambition it shows.

Win Win
Some light relief with a decent, predictable comedy from Tom McCarthy. It’s all fine, mixing together some amusing elements but with slightly too much stock humour of the swearing children variety. It’s a mild disappointment from the director of the gently sweet The Station Agent.

Microphone
Typical festival fare, this. A straightforward story set in an exotic locale with the odd arty flourish, the storyline loses momentum early on but the depiction of Alexandria’s youth subcultures retains interest. The film is at its best when the narrative stops and we can just watch the musicians, rappers, skaters and graffiti artists doing their thing.

The Mill and The Cross
An ingenious idea superbly executed, this visually ravishing film appears to take place entirely within Peter Bruegel's 1564 painting "The Way to Calvary". The characters move across a landscape blending outdoor locations and paintings in a way that I have never seen before in the cinema. The first half of the movie takes its time depicting the brutal life of the 16th century Dutch peasantry, oppressed by Spanish invaders, and then segues into an interpretation of the Passion. A fascinating insight into the work of a great artist, and a study of how old stories can be interpreted anew in different ages and using different media.

The Arbor
Oof, this was tough going. A sort-of documentary about the life of 1980s British playwright Andrea Dunbar, the film continues after her early death to chronicle the sad life of her oldest daughter Lorraine. A few keywords will give you a sense of it; racism, domestic violence, crack, heroin, prostitution, rape, child death. Grim stuff then, but the narrative technique makes it work. The film-makers use audio from interviews of the main participants which is placed into the mouths of actors who lip-synch whilst addressing the camera directly. Innovative and though-provoking.

Lots of fun so far, plenty more to come.