Cinema at its best
K. S. SIVAKUMARAN
International and Indian Cinema at its best entertained and educated
keen cineastes at the IFFK last month.
Continuing with brief observations of some outstanding films that
yours truly saw and enjoyed, let me this week too give you information
on a few more films.
Let's take a Caribbean film first. Produced by Netherlands in 1990,
the film is slightly outdated in presentation, technique and even in
content. The name of the film is 'Ava & Gabriel: A Love Story'. And its
director is Felix de Rooy. Since I wanted to see a West Indian film, I
chose to see this movie with coloured actors and one or two whites.
Let me blandly state what the synopsis says about the story to avoid
my confusion due to seeing a lot of films both in Panaji and
Thiruvananthapuram that sometimes I get mixed up with the storylines.
Upon the request of Father Fidelius, parish priest of St. Anna's. the
Dutch painter (he is a Black) Gabriel Goedboed arrives from Holland to
paint a mural of the Virgin Mary in St. Anna's church.
Problems arise when he chooses a vivacious young teacher Ava (from
mixed origin) to be his model for the painting of Virgin Mary. Ava is
engaged to the white police major Carlos who doesn't approve the whole
exercise.
The painter while being an artist is also an amorous man. In the
meantime the Dutch Governor's wife also has a fascination for this man.
Complications arise and the painter loses his stature. Funny situations
follow.
Moving on, let's see what the Argentinean film 'XXY' tries to
portray. It's a poignant story of a 15 year old girl turning to be a boy
and the complications that arise. If you do not have any qualms about
sex changes, you would appreciate the struggle of the girl and her
parents in undergoing this traumatic experience.
May I remind you that this film directed by Lucia Puenzo won the
Cannes International Critics Week Grand Prize? This is an adult movie of
a bisexual girl. I do not wish to go into the details of the film.
Please see it yourself. The visuals are stunning.
Yet another film from China is 'Getting Home' directed by Zhang Yang.
This is a beautiful cinema touching on human sacrifice and love. We go
into the interior of China with cinematography provided by Yu Lik Wai
and Lai Yiu Fau.
The film may be called an "Odyssey" because the protagonist carries
the dead body of a friend to far away remote area just because he wants
to honour a friendship between them.
A construction worker bodily haul the corpse taking him to his native
village. As one critic put it the film is 'slightly farcical but wholly
humane. It is also visually rewarding' I liked this film very much.
'Walking Julie Home' is directed by Agnieszka Holland. This film was
made in 2002. It's a multinational film in the sense that so many
countries are involved in the production of the film. This is a film I
liked for the acting and the art of film making.
This is a film for the students of artistic cinema.
What does the director say about the story?
"Her son dying of cancer and her marriage falling apart, Julie flees
to Poland in search of a man who can heal using his hands.
Julie finds not only a magical cure for her son, but also comes
across a love so pure it begins to heal the aching in her heart" The
chemical reaction that oozes between the healer and the mother
absolutely aesthetic in presentation.
Sex is beautiful, true if it is aesthetically or erotically presented
in the cinema. But pornography is not. The director presents sex
attraction in an implicit manner which I liked.
I also wanted to see a couple of films from the Balkans and first I
chose a film called 'Kukumi' from Serbia and Montenegro. This film was
made in 2005.
The director is Isa Qosja. The film, I am told is a Metaphor - a tale
about three inmates from a mental asylum who wander through the
countryside. It is slow moving film and like the Chinese films it takes
you to distant interiors in the Balkans.
It is really a cinematic portrayal of post-199 Kosovo. Improvisation
and imaginative action by one of the three inmates is marvellous. It is
slow moving and yet lyrical. It was new experience for me seeing a film
from this area.
The next film 'Das Fraulein' is by a Swiss woman, Andrea Staka. It's
an interesting film about enigmatic women - at least one of them is from
my perception.
The storyline maybe drawn like this: Ruza left her country Serbia
over 30 years ago and lives in Zurich. She manages a canteen there. What
she wants is money and therefore she is strict and succeeds financially.
She leads a routine life. She is alone and doesn't mix up with people.
There arrives then Anna to work for her. She upsets Ruza's organized
lifestyle. Both are strong willed women. Ruza is of Bosnian and Croatian
heritage. Apart from character study of the two women, the film also
touches on social and other issues: questions of nationality,
immigration and generational differences through the lives of women from
the former Yugoslavia.
Yes, there is another woman too - Mila an older waitress. The film is
really confrontations and war memories haunting between them. The
outspoken and daring Anna slowly makes her boss change from stiffness to
fluidity of love and affection. I liked the film.
There are few more films I saw at the International Film Festival of
Kerala, 2007. I shall write about them in the coming week. Until then,
cheers.
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