SLALOM (France 2020) *** Directed by Charlene Favier
Slalom is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding discipline, involving skiing between poles or gates. These are spaced more closely than those in giant slalom, super giant slalom and downhill, necessitating quicker and shorter turns. Internationally, the sport is contested at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships, and at the Olympic Winter Games.
Under the guidance of a strict ex-champion known only as Fred (Jérémie Renier) in the film a promising 15 year old girl Lyz (Noée Abita) trains as a professional skiing star.The question is whether she will be able to endure the physical and emotional pressures.
The effect of pressures of training for a particular sport on an individual has always been interesting fodder for film scripts.Just last year saw Nadia, an Olympic swimmer break down under enormous training and expectation pressures in Pascal Plante’s Quebec entry NADIA BUTTERFLY.
SLALOM was the 2020 Cannes selection which allowed me to review the film then.SLALOM bears similarities with NADIA BUTTERFLY.But slalom skiing is a different sport from the butterfly stroke.Both films attempt for authenticity.NADIA, BUTTERFLY excess in this respect as the script is a closer and more scrutinizing study of human endurance while SLALOM focuses more on the protagonist Lyz, coming-of-age. There is a scene of the 15 year old having her period in the shower.The issue is also addressed by her coach, Feed who tells her the effects on her muscle during that time of month.
Needless to say, the skiing segments are exhilarating to watch.This point lifts the film above other sports films, as it is more difficult to shoot and to illustrate slaloms.
The story of SLALOM follows an all too familiar path, with a lot of incidents predictable as the story unfolds.The Lyz has an accidental first glance at her icao Fred totally nice taking a shower, one can tell that she will be involved sexually with him.As a pre-teen, one knows too that she will be pressuring Fred to continue the affair.Unfortunately, this fact undermines the severity of the coach’s sexual abuse.Fred’s abuse is revealed in stages.He notices her period.He measures her body fat with no-one else in the room.Lyz’s rebellious nature towards her mother is also expected and leads to the same old story where the mother has found a new boyfriend and she is left jealous and abandoned, here during the Christmas holidays.
The sexual abuse is left hanging with the guilty left uncharged.The director has based her story on true events so one wonders if and how bad she herself have encountered in terms of sexual abuse.
SLALOM is an ok watch, not too demanding but unfortunately too commercial for many critics' liking.But it is a good sign to see more French films released in Ontario in what is a bilingual country.
AU POSTE! (KEEP AN EYE OUT) (France/Belgium 2018) ***1/2
Directed by Quentin Dupieux
AU POSTE by writer/director Quentin Dupieux is a weird film.For those unfamiliar with the director’s work, it would be good to know that he has made two oddball movies called RUBBER about a killer runaway tire and REALITE an equally odd film about a director getting finance for a film if he can record the perfect shout.AU POSTE! treads similar territory.For those unfamiliar with Dupieux’s brand of films, one can be in for a real treat if one loves absurdist films.
The prologue sees a man in his underwear conducting an orchestra.Police arrive and chase him.Then…..
AU POSTE! (which means AT THE OFFICE, the original title) begins like quite the normal film, say as in Claude Miller’s GARDE A VUE a film in which a police interrogation makes the entire film’s running time.In AU POSTE!,chief inspector, Commissaire Buron (Benoit Poelvoorde) is, when the film opens, questioning a suspect, Louis Fugain (Gregoire Ludig) on the death of a victim in a pool of blood in the middle of the street.It is going to be a long night.As the inspector says: “ a fool at the wrong place and the wrong time.”
Director Dupieux engages the audience with a seemingly list of happenings as confessed by Louis.A lot of these are everyday stuff like buying crisps, going to bed with his wife, taking a breather outside and so on.At one point during the questioning, Buron even tells Louis: “I have never been so bored shitless during an investigation.”
While stepping out for 20 minutes to meet his son, Buron asks a fellow cop, Philippe (Marc Fraize) to keep an eye on Louis.
Here comes the strange and weirdness characteristic of a Dupieux story.
- Philippe has only one eye, and he has to use the other to keep an eye out for Louis.
While doing that, Philippe trips on an open drawer and the set square he is carrying pierces his other eye and he dies
In the interrogation, Louis tells Buron that he stepped outside his flat when he discovered the body.This is the time when he meets Philippe’s wife, Fiona (Anais Dermoustier) though he had not met Philippe till 3 days in the future.
When Buron smokes, smoke emits from chest as he has a hole in his chest.
Louis keeps seeing the ghost of Philippe appear to him several times.
There are a lot of other minor weird things that go on like the stuck mosquito can spray and Buron’s wife who keeps seeing Louis entering and leaving his flat several times.Louis also attempts to heat away his fingertips so that no fingerprints can be left behind.
If everything seems all too weird, there is a logical explanation to all this, which comes at the end of the film.With all the craziness going on, the obvious logical explanation comes as a bit of a letdown.Still, director Dupieux has kept his audience in awe and surprise for the majority of his film, and that in itself is quite a feat.
Do not the term 'shorts' put you off. Every year, the Oscar nominated shorts are available for audiences to enjoy and appreciate buddng talent. The shorts are fresh, timlely in their messages and arrive from all over the globe. The shorts come in 3 programmes - animation; documentary and live action. if you have time to watch only one group, this year's best section belngs to 'live action'.
All three programmes will be available on digital TIFF Bell Lightbox (digital.tiff.net) as of April 2. Oscar Winners are announced Sunday April 25th.
OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS - ANIMATION
BURROW (USA 2020) *** Directed by Madeline Sharafian
Much ado about nothing, which in this case is the rabbit’s simple architectural plan for his new dream home.A little brown rabbit has drawn a rough, childish sketch of her dream home on a piece of lined paper.When she starts to dig, two of her new neighbours, a mole and a field mouse, both eagerly offer their assistance, showing off the elaborate blueprints and floor plans of burrows they constructed for their families. Embarrassed at the simplicity and inexperience of her own drawing, the rabbit hides it from them, pretends she has somewhere to be, and starts frantically digging deeper to get away from them, leaving them confused, while accidentally burrowing into other animals’ underground homes.A funny and fast little fable from Pixar which has aired on Disney+ with the cute rabbit earning her dream home at the end.
GENIUS LOCI (France 2020) ***
Directed by Adrien Mérigeau and Amaury Ovise
In the study of law of entropy in Chemistry, “in all energy exchange, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will be less than that of the initial state. In simple terms, left to itself, everything in the universe moves toward disorder and decay; metal rusts, food rots, the body etc…”This law can be seen as figures transform and matter from one form to another in the visually dazzling GENIUS LOCI.The world of chaos is displayed with for example, a minotaur forming from the light of a passing train.GENIUS LOCI does not contain a narrative or story so it is best just to sit back and appreciate the visuals of the talented animators, though it might be quite trying for some.
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU (USA 2020) ***
Directed by Michael Govier and Will McCormack
IF ANYTHING HAPPENS I LOVE YOU is a beautifully sketched animated short film that takes the audience on a raw emotional journey of a father and mother both struggling to deal with the death of their daughter. The title comes from a note the daughter wrote before her death - a horrid school shooting.The story unfolds through shadows of the parents and daughter.The shadows represent the humans’ emotions and they try to reconcile the parents.The brutal violence of the shooting is not shown on screen but only the awful sounds of the shots are heard.The trouble with this impressive sort, however, is that it is very difficult to follow and understand.Only after one has read the entire synopsis of the film can one truly appreciate the work of the storytellers.
Trailer:
OPERA (USA 2020) ***** Directed by Erick Oh
This one will be hard to beat.OPERA is the only non-narrative animated short with no story nor dialogue but is so fascinating one can watch it a hundred times and still miss something. OPERA is inspired by the great Renaissance artists such as Michelangelo and Botticelli.The animation, which can be played on a continuous loop, looks at a society that exists within a pyramid structure with the camera moving slowly away then inwards shows many individuals living and dying and interacting with each action impacting another.One has to look carefully at each minute part of the image to examine what is going on.At one point, the audience sees figures being killed because they have different coloured heads (i.e. different races).Director Oh examines racism, terrorism and religion in his intricate pyramid that looks like hell on earth.I hope this one wins the Oscar, it being short of a masterpiece.
TO: GERARD (USA 2020) **** (this one was short listed but not nominated) Directed byTaylor Mecham
TO: GERARD is a real charmer. The short is about hope and how doing a good deed pays off at the end. Gerard alas dreamt of being a magician. He has perfected the magic trick of the disappearing and appearing coins but has never found an audience. He is now older and works as a postman. A chance encounter with a little girl enables him to show off his skills and impress the little girl of his magic coin tricks. As a good deed he leaves the girl with the gold coin, ensuring her to become a famous magician as an adult. Now a hunchback old man, Gerard is given his dream come true from the good deed. This is such a charming film about old people and about hope that it will bring tears to many. And did I forget to mention that the animation (especially the 3D rendering of the humans) is really impressive. The animation with the magic is also to be commended. From Dreamworks Animation Studies.
YES-PEOPLE (Iceland 2020) ***
Directed by Gísli Darri Halldórsson
Gísli Darri Halldórsson’s animated short can be understood in any country as it is language free dialogue except for the repeated word “Yo”, which is assumed to mean ‘yes’ in Icelandic. The film tells the story of an eclectic mix of people who one morning face everyday battles such as work, school, washing the dishes and even sex. They do not interact with each other except just in passing, as many people in the world don’t. As the day progresses, their relationships, and their capacity to cope, are tested. But they survive being yes people. A generally amusing and entertaining short that is observant not only of Icelandic folk but of people in general who would live life in the same manner. The impressive animation is cute and humorously depicts Icelanders as an unfit and chubby bunch.
OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS - DOCUMENTARY
COLETTE (France 2020) *** Directed by Anthony Giacchino
The doc comes with a warning that many will find this depressing.And it is!Colette isColette Marin Catherine who makes a journey to the concentration camp at the age of 90 to pay tribute to her brother who died there after being arrested by the Germans.She herself was like Jean-Pierre in he French Resistance.With the help of Lucie Fouble, she is brought bak difficult memories.Colette has gone through a lot, as evident from the film and director Giacchino shows her losing it a few times, even at a former mayor’s speech in her honour.It all shows that it is still all a bit too much to take for poor Colette which affects Lucie and the audience of this short as well.A well-intentioned short that might just be too depressing to win the Oscar.
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION (USA 2020) *** Directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers
A CONCERTO IS A CONVERSATION focuses on Bowers’ 91-year-old grandfather, Horace, and the discrimination he faced as he tried to escape the Jim Crow South. The story unfolds from the conversation with his grandson, Kris Bowers a virtuoso jazz pianist and film composer who has succeeded as a black artist.The doc is intercut with black and white archive footage relating how much prejudice exists then.Horace would not get approved of bank loans if he showed up in person because of his colour and had to get approval through the mail.But perseverance proved its worth.This doc might just win the Oscar for its timely subject and also the fact that it is an American short which helps in the Academy voting.
THE HUNGER WARD (USA 2020) ****
Directed by Skye Fitzgerald
THE HUNGER WARD begins with harsh words about man. ‘It is not God that kills children.Not fate that butchers them.Or destiny that feeds them to the dogs.It’s us!What follows is a harrowing look from inside two of the most active therapeutic feeding centers in Yemen.HUNGER WARD documents two female health care workers fighting to thwart the spread of starvation against the backdrop of a forgotten war.The film provides an unflinching portrait of Dr. Aida Alsadeeq and Nurse Mekkia Mahdi as they try to save the lives of hunger-stricken children within a population on the brink of famine.The sight of malnutritioned children on the brink of death is frightening.Ex-President Trump again rears his ugly head having supported Saudi Arabia missiles and weapons leading to the tragedy. Excellent cinematography as well depicting the streets and wards of Yemen.THE HUNGER WARD gets my bet and vote for the Winner in this shorts category.
OSCAR NOMINATED SHORTS - LIVE ACTION
FEELING THROUGH (USA 2020) **** Directed by Doug Roland
This simple looking made short is inspirational in showing the amazing craft of making movies given a limited budget.The film is brimming with emotions with characters that audiences can root for, and filled with suspense though the short is not a thriller.Nothing is black and white and the film has a brilliant climax that proves the good in humanity.Tareek a poor street kid with nowhere to stay, is waiting for his girl to respond to his request to stay over .Tareek meets a blind and deaf man who needs help taking a bus getting home.Out of the kindness of his heart he helps the man, later known to him as Artie, while stealing $10 from his wallet.FEELING THROUGH is thoroughly engaging and this one gets my vote for BEST of the live action shorts. FEELING THROUGH, breaking barriers is the first film starring a Deaf/blind Actor to be nominated for an Oscar.
THE LETTER ROOM (USA 2020) **** Directed by Elvira Lind
THE LETTER ROOM is the new office that ‘promoted’ corrections officer, Ricard (Oscar Isaac) works in.Richard is now the director of Prisoner Communication, but the job title is just a glorified name.At first enthusiastic, he learns that it is a menial job having to censor every single letter incoming, outgoing and internal.Richard decides to bring humanity back into his work, while taking risks at the same time.As he discoverssurprises on the way, Richard decides to make all this work, in what is a really simple yet charming moral tale of the charity that can still be offered to prisoners on death row.Despite being an angel with good intentions, Richard is also depicted as a human with temptations as he is shown in one scene jerking off, after reading one of his inmate’s love letters.Golden Globe Winner Oscar Isaac lends his hand in this short showing likely his admiration for director Lind’s work.
THE PRESENT (Palestine 2020) ***
Directed by Farah Nabulsi
THE PRESENT deals with the present undesired and absurd situation of borders that exist because two peoples that have in history never come to an agreement on anything from lands to rights to peace - the Arabs and the Israelis.Director Nabulsi takes a microscopic look at the absurdity of the situation with a father and daughter trying to make a crossing back to their house after purchasing a refrigerator.It all comes to the whims and fancy of a crossing guard who uses the excuse that he has to follow orders. Yusef (Saleh Bakri) has crossed the border many times but the guard who knows him is not present.A Kafka-is situation eventually boils down to whether he can push the fridge through a doorway too narrow for it to go through.Director Nails allows the tensions to rise above boiling point, gettingaudience at the edge of their seats with weapons about to go off.The film ends with the famous words of Jesus who said in the Bible: "And a child will lead them.” A touching and effective examination of racial tensions!
TWO DISTANT STRANGERS (USA 2020) ****
Directed by Martin Desmond Roe and Travon Free
It takes a while before this short takes hold, but once it does, TWO DISTANT STRANGERS surprises and captivates.It all begins with a common one night stand in which Carter James (Joey Bada$$) leaves his trick’s(Zaria Simone) condo only to be stopped by a cop outside (Andrew Howard) for smoking some weed and killed, Rodney King style, complete with the “I can’t breathe” dialogue.It is after this point that the groundhog day scenario takes effect.Carter relives the same situation, waking every morning after being killed by the cop. Carter learns from the previous incident (after reliving it a hundred times) and tries his best not to get killed and to reach home to feed his super cute dog - but to no avail.Nothing more should be revealed in this effective and powerful messagecomedy/drama which delivers its Rodney King message with a punch.
WHITE EYE (Israel 2019) **** Directed by Tomer Shushan
Israeli director Tomer Shushan’s fable of the stolen bicycle, set in Tel Aviv begins when a Tel Avivian sees his stool bike locked on the street.In his attempt to get the lock broken and get his bike back, he encounters the cops who tell him to call them back when the thief shows up, unless he will get arrested himself.That he does and the cops show up with unexpected results in this unpredictable tale of morals.What the audience assumes might just not be the actual case.The amazing thing about this short is that it runs in real time and filmed in one continuous take. The short also covers current issues like class, race, prejudiceand immigration. Director Shushan also delivers a solid sprite ending to boot with a message to be tolerant to everyone despite race and background.
Though this website is NOT press-accredited with Berlinale, the site has managed to access a few of Berlinale’s exclusive film slates.
These films are capsule reviewed below, with the embargo dates duly respected.Many of these films will eventually be viable on various streaming platforms, so keep a lookout.
Berlinale is a first class film festival that showcases the best of films internationally.
Capsule Film Reviews:
ALL EYES OF ME (Israel 2020) **
Directed by Hadas Ben Aroya
The film opens with a party.Danny is looking for Max through the party to share that she’s pregnant with his child.Danny is female but looks like a boy and makes out with another girl before she finds Max.There is a lot of kissing with tongue in the making out and nudity in this scene.The film then shifts to Max as has sex with Avishag, who like it S & M style.It is a lengthy sex scene with lots of kissing, agin with tongue.If one likes this sort of soft-porn sex in the name of art, then this film, which is quite well shot would be appropriate.But director Aroya’s film feels aimless - as in an unrelated scene where Avishag sits in a dog park while watching a video performance. But Max just started a new relationship with Avishag and attempts to realize her rough sexual fantasy.Truth is, Avishag actually has someone else in mind.And truth is, there are probably more interesting films at Berlinale that do not deal with empty sexual encounters.
AZOR (Argentina/Switzerland/France 2021) ***1/2
Directed by Andreas Fontana
Shot primarily in French and Spanish and set in Argentina during the midst of a dictatorship, the first scene shows two teens with their hands facing the front of a building, while interrogated by soldiers, as observed by a couple in a car.The couple are Swiss tourists - the tension set during the first scene that lingers throughout this absurd political thriller.Yvan De Wiel is a private banker from Geneva who is there to replace his partner who has mysteriously disappeared.The two bankers discuss business amidst the unseen but present merciless terror of the country’s surroundings. The film is a slow burn but there are lots to read between scenes.Fontana never reveals the entire story - of what is happening or who is doing business under the radar.A lot of wealth is on display among the banker and his clients, which does not not sit we’ll with the political climate.Director Fontana's AZOR plays like the best of the 70’s political thrillers like Costa-Gravas’ Z and THE CONFESSION.
Trailer: (unavailable)
THE WORLD AFTER US (France 2021) ***
Directed by Louda Ben Salah-Cazanas
An earnestly told tale of youth balancing his new found romance and his ambition to be a writer.When Labidi gets his first break with a deal to write his first novel within 6 months, he also finds romance at the same time, which diminishes his desire.Labidi is Tunisian from a family that owns a small brasserie.Labidi also has to work for ‘Deliveroo” cycling to deliver meals in order to pay for groceries and his apartment which he shares with a chubby sad sack but good friend.This story rings authentic as this is what director Salah-Cazanas went through himself when directing his first feature while also falling in love.A light going film but with the drama also existing for Labidi in this sort of coming-of-age story of a young writer.The film is a tough watch to see how a generally good person has to struggle to make ends meet in life.Veteran actor Jacques Nolot lends an acting hand playing Labidi’s father.
LES FEMMES EN OR (Two Women) (Canada 2025) *** Directed by Chloé Robichaud
Violette and Florence no longer understand what's happening to them. Respectively on maternity leave and off...
