LES OISEAUX IVRES (DRUNKEN BIRDS) (Canada/Mexico 2021) ***1/2
Directed by Ivan Grbvic
DRUNKEN BIRDS, a co-production of Canada and Mexico, filmed in three languages, French, Spanish and English covers a variety of issues while being set in the real world of insurmountable problems.Director Grbvic’s film is also artistically stunning and though quite a film experience, it is a little too ambitious for its own good.
The film begins with an impressive car chase scene in which a burning car is driven on an open road.This is definitely a difficult to almost impossible scene to shoot, and one must admire Ivres’ dedication to his craft.The person being pursued is Willy (Jorge Antonio Guerrero) chased by a man with a flowery shirt, who later complains that after beating up Willy, that Willy got blood on his favourite shirt.The camera closes up on a pendant that Willy holds while on the dirt ground.The film is Willy’s story as he escapes Mexico and the trouble that follows.Willy is in love with his drug cartel boss’ wife, Marlena (Yoshira Escárrega), the scene again re-visited at the end of the film.
Willy and Marlena decide to disappear for fear of the boss.They decide not to know each other’s whereabouts for the sake of safety.All Willy knows is that Marlena is somewhere in Montreal.In the meanwhile, Willy travels to Canada and gets a low paying job as a farming migrant worker.“This is like the army,” remakes one of the workers during orientation.Life gets harder and more complicated.
The film weaves through the intersection of love, desperation, and the harsh realities of globalized labour.The labour here is not restricted to Mexicans but there are also Chinese and Sikhs that are also exploited.Other issues include family dysfunction, growing-up, the sex trade in Montreal and a little romance.Ivres covers a lot of material in his film that moves at a pace occasionally too leisurely for its topics.
Though the story is primarily about Willy, Willy’s life again gets complicated when he nurses hisfarm owner’s daughter back to health after she is beaten up by hr pimp in the sex trade.She remains silent for fear of being exposed while Willy is mistaken as the man who beat her up and has to flee the farm.If one wonders the reason the daughter betrays Willy who has helped her, it is easy to see that she wants to protect herself at the expense of a stranger.The topic of betrayal could have been treated with greater detail.
Cinematographer Sara Mishara’s camera captures both the beauty of the exteriors (the farm, the ‘drunken’ birds flying in the sky, the escape through the field at night) as well as the interiors (the cramped living quarters of the farm workers), and of course the stunning opening scene.
The open ending of DRUNKEN BIRDS might look like a copout and many would expect a more satisfactory ending given the amount of time devoted into each of the different characters brides Willy.
LES OISEAUX IVRES (DRUNKEN BIRDS) opens this week at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.Check out the awesome new program of films opening soon at the Lightbox.
SEULES LES BETES (Only the Animals)(France 2019) ****
Directed by Dominik Moll
French German director Dominik Moll is a director that is one to watch.He made a mark in the international film scene with 2000’s HARRY, UN AMI QUI VOUS VEUT DU BIEN (HARRY, HE’S HERE TO HELP) which won him the Cesar for Best Director. 5 years later in 2005, his LEMMING was chosen to open Cannes. Both are excellent films having the theme of sophisticated murder (or at least an accidental death) reminiscent of the best of Chabrol.LEMMING never made a release in North America.Fortunately, Moll’s latest SELUES LES BETES, finally gets a release here though late because of the Pandemic.SEULES LES BETES is again definite proof that Moll is a top-notch director whose films never fail to entertain and fascinate.
SEULES LES BETES which translates more accurately to “Only the Beasts” (as the word in French for animals is animaux) is based on Colin Niel’s 2018 French novel “Seules les bêtes”.It is a fascinating tale of murder and coincidences and the human’s desire for love.
From the very first 15 minutes when the film opens, director Moll grabs his audience’s attention and never lets go.The audience sees a poor teen riding his bike with a goat on piggy-back as he steers his bike towards the local village in the Ivory Coast, Africa. The next scene shifts to the cold winter snow and ice of the French Alps in southernFrance.One immediately wonders what these two scenes, so different from each other and involving two places so far away from each other, have to do with each other.Plenty!As Moll shows,through his expert storytelling, coincidences affect the lives of his 5 characters.The common theme in the stories of the five is the insatiable desire to find the perfect love, and at all costs.Moll tells his story, intercutting them and in a non-chronological order, enhancing the film’s mystery in the process.
Alice (Laure Calamy) is a married social/medical worker who makes her rounds in the country that includes a mentally affected patient, Joseph (Damien Bonnard) who she is having an affair with.Her husband, Michel (Denis Ménochet) is desperately searching for love over the internet with a girl who does not exist but whose photo is put up by the internet scammer in Africa in order to entice him to send money over.The photo used actually belongs to Marion (Nadia Tereszkiewicz), a waitress.Director Moll moves his story to the real Marion, who falls head over heels in love with Evelyne (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) who is uninterested in a relationship.Evelyne is the woman who is missing and is the common thread that ties all the stories together.The less said about the plot the better as the entertainment depends largely on the twists and turns of the story.
One might complain about the extreme coincidences that occur in the story.But this fact only serves to establish director Moll’s gift in making the film’s story believable and of course frightfully entertaining.
ONLY THE ANIMALS opens November 5 in Toronto (Carlton) and a week later in Vancouver and Montreal.
In this special 25th Anniversary edition of Canada’s premier pan-Asian festival, nearly all programming is available Canada-wide. The opening night film, which will be the only in-person event held this year, will feature the award-winning film Islands from filmmaker Martin Edralin. Winner of a Special Jury prize at this year’s SXSW Film Festival, the film will screen at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema on November 10 at 7:30 pm. The film will be followed by an in-person Q&A with Edralin and cast members Sheila Lotuaco and Esteban Comilang.
This year’s festival lineup consists of 81 films from all over the world, including Canada, South Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Hong Kong,Pakistan, India, Norway and the United States, with 59% directed by women and non-binary filmmakers. Priced at $9.49 and with a limited number of reduced-price tickets at $4.49 for seniors, students, and un(der)waged people, tickets go on sale on October 20
The Toronto ReelAsian International Film Festival will take place from November 10 to 19, 2021. The festival’s awards will be handed out on November 13, allowing festival attendees to see the winning films.
The awards will be streamed live.
Public tickets will be priced at $9.49 and are on sale beginning October 20 at reelasian.com
CAPSULE REVIEWS of Selected Films:
BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES (Japan 2021) **** Directed by Junta Yamaguchi
Directed by Junta Yamaguchi and performed by the members of the Kyoto-based Europe Kikaku theatre group, BEYOND THE INFINITE TWO MINUTES is a time warp sci-fi film that is easily the best and most entertaining film of the Reel Asian Film Festival this year.A cafe owner Kato closes up shop on an ordinary night only to be interrupted by a voice from the TV when he enters his apartment that is above his cafe that turns out to be his own voice, two minutes in the future. Kato downstairs in the shop tells Kato upstairs that he is looking into 2 minutes in the future.Kato runs down to find that this is true.As Kato investigates the strange occurrence, the night and time itself start to unravel.Kato’s friends and colleagues get enveloped into his time warp, and the results are hilarious, calamitous and existential. The script is brilliantly written with tension mounting towards a riveting climax when two time space police arrive to prevent a time paradox from occurring. With long takes, simple locations, and finely tuned performances, this film clearly shows that minor masterpieces can be made on a shoestring budget but it needs a good story, script and thought.
Trailer:
CODE NAME: NAGASAKI (Norway 2021) *** Directed by Fredrik S. Hana
Directed by Fredrik S. Hana, written and starring both himself and Maruis Lunde, CODE NAME: NAGASAKI is a documentary that mixes several genres, film detective noir, horror, experimental and documentary.The premise is the finding of Marius after 25 years.Marius initially tries the Japanese Embassy and when he gets no success, hires a Japanese private investigator who guarantees rests in 3 weeks. There is a lot of film experimenting going on, which might interest film cineastes and critics and less so for the commercial moviegoer who will likely find the entire hour and 9 minutes totally exhaustive.See it at your own risk!
Trailer:
DRIFTING (Hong Kong 2021) ***
Directed by Jun Li
DRIFTING focuses of recently released from jail, Fai (Francis Ng), homeless, jobless and a junkie, living off the streets of Sham Shui Po, the poorest district in Hong Kong. One morning, the police arrive without notice and clear out their belongings, their makeshift homes reduced to roadside trash. The female cop uncharge refuses to listen to their pleas.With the help of social worker Ms. Ho (Cecilia Cho), Fai and company of junkies take the case to court, while struggling to create a new home.Director Li, with a journalist backgrounds tackles the true story of 2012 highlighting how inhuman the Hong Kong police can be (as in the recent protest of human rights against China) and the plight of the homeless.“We are homeless but we are not worthless” the chant of the protestors is also the main message of the often enlightening film.Waring that there are disturbing scenes o drug use, as in one where Fai takes his first jab of crack and passes out with his trousers down.
Trailer: none
HAIL, DRIVER (PREBET SAPU) (Malaysia 2021) ***
Directed by Muzzamer Rahman
Shot in black and white similar to what the protagonist might see, being colour blind, HAIL, DRIVER or Prebut Sapu in Malay, is an authentic slice of life of the less fortunate lower working class of Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. Like most towns in Malaysia, they are mostly populated by Chinese followed by Malays unlike the outside of the cities. I have been there three times before in my youth and what is seen in the film has not changed from what I had experienced in the past. It is a struggle, made more real as the audience sees the hardship of Aman as he tries to etch out a living without a proper education and job. He did some writing before, according to the story when he was in Pahang, another star on the east coast of Malaysia.
Aman had moved to Kuala Lumpur to follow his dreams, but all he has is his late father’s old car and nowhere to live. To make ends meet, he uses his room on wheels to illegally earn money through a driving-service app. This is how he meets Bella, a Chinese student from Penang. The two form a friendship that is loved down because of their difference in race. Election Day is arriving but there is little hope as it is expected that little change would occur no matter which party wins the elections.A bit slow moving in pace but beautifully shot and performed.
Aman had moved to Kuala Lumpur to follow his dreams, but all he has is his late father’s old car and nowhere to live.To make ends meet, he uses his room on wheels to illegally earn money through a driving-service app.This is how he meets Bella, a Chinese student from Penang. The two form a friendship that is loved down because of their difference in race.A bit slow moving in pace but beautifully shot and performed.
Trailer:
ISLANDS (Canada 2021) ***1/2
Directed by Martin Edralin
Everyone loves a movie with heart.ISLANDS has heart as is most noticeable from the details from each scene.ISLANDS is about Joshua.Joshua has formed an island of his own as many people do.ISLANDS is the obvious metaphor in the film.Writer/director Erdalin follows Joshua as his protagonist and he quits his University janitorial job in order to care for his frail father who also suffers from dementia, after his mother passes away without warning.Joshua is a kind soul who prays every night. He prays for his family and himself and is shown to be a caring person, now tested to the fullest with the responsibility of caring for his father.Into the picture, arrives from Kuwait, his cousin, who brings much needed life into the situation.ISLANDS is a decent, charming film that deals with the problem many families go through - the need to care for an ageing parent.For Asian families in particular, the care lies on the adult children who seldom put their parents into a nursing home.ISLANDS is a quietly charming indie film that delivers a message in a quaint way.And often, messages are best conveyed in this manner.
TAIPEI SUICIDE STORY (Taiwan 2020) ** Directed by Keff
TAIPEI SUICIDE STORY take place at a speciality hotel is which suicidal guests pay per night.They either kill themselves at night or leave the next morning. And so the premise goes.When the film starts, the hotel receptionist hears that a guest had been staying a whole week, by fooling the cleaning staff with the sign ‘Under Maintenance’ hung on the outside door. The man investigates and soon, he and the female guest spend some quality time together.She needs a meal. As the hotel restaurant is closed, the receptionist accompanies her to the 7-Eleven to buy some instant noodles.Despite the novel idea, the film tries to hard to be smart and fails.Its philosophizing (don’t expect much and one would get disappointed) and metaphors (dreams posing as life) are nothing new.Director Keff’s overuse of reflections and half images also gets tiresome after a while.Running only at 45 minutes, this short feature feels a tad too long.
Trailer:
THREE SISTERS (South Korea 2020) *** Directed by Lee Seung-won
THREE SISTERS is a film not only about abuse but about extreme abuse.Each of the THREE SISTERS in the story has abuse destroy their lives.The middle sister is a God-fearing wife, a choir conductress in the church and on the exterior seems to be have got her life together.But upon scrutiny, she is suffering from an abusive husband who is currently cheating on her with a choir member.Her elder sister is abused and mistreated by both her husband and daughter.She finds out she has cancer.The other sister is constantly drunk and abuses her loving husband.Her step son cannot stand her though she fusses on him. All the abuse is actually quite entertaining to watch, thanks to director Lee’s apt handling of a difficult subject.All the abuse comes to a head at the film’s climax when the cause of all the abuse is revealed.An emotional roller-coaster ride that also offersslice of Korean life.
As unlikely as the film’s series of events could have taken place in real life, it did, and the film clearly touts the fact at the start that the film is based untrue events (apres one historic vraie).
Etienne (Kad Merad), an often out of work but endearing actor, runs a theatre workshop in a prison, where he bringstogether an unlikely troupe of prisoners to stage Samuel Beckett’s famous play Waiting for Godot (En Attendant Godot).When he is allowed to take the colourful band of convicts on a tour outside of prison, Etienne finally has the chance to thrive.Each date is a new success and a unique relationship grows between this ad hoc group ofactors and their director.But soon comes the final performance in Paris. The question is whether their last night together will be the biggest hit of them all?
At first glance, the story might seem intriguing with convicts doing Beckett.But it could be a flop and a bore.But director Courcol is able to observe the best and occasionally faults of human behaviour and human nature to craft his otherwise observational piece - of both the convicts and Etienne.
Etienne initially is carried away with the notion of convicts performing in a Paris theatre.Etienne goes all out to get approval from the prison authorities and also to round up a group of 5 actors, out of 500 or so.The five are extremely lucky, they are told, as they have been selected out of 500 and they get to leave prison and perform as if they were free.But mostly, they get to experience the euphoria of performing on stage.Many of the convicts arrange for their loved ones to come to watch them perform, including Etienne, who invites his estranged daughter to attend.She does not show up, reciprocating her father’s actions as he was not always there for her.When Etienne rebukes her for not showing up at the theatre, she retorts; “You never even asked once how I did in my exams.”Actor Merhad (BIENVENUECHEZ LE CH’TIS and César Award Winner for DON’T WORRY, I’M FINE) display both the enthusiasm and frustration of working in a prison theatre.
Director Courcol humanizes the story.He relies on how the emotions of the prisoners are similar to the theme of the play.In EN ATTENDANT GODOT, the characters in the absurdist play are always waiting for Godot who never shows up.The prisoners themselves share the same fate.They are always waiting - waiting for meals, waiting to be put back to their cells, waiting for visiting time and waiting to finally get out of prison.So they can relate, as Etienne observes.It is also marvellous to see one of them, who has never read and has a bit of a speech impediment, recite the wondrous lines of Beckett.
The only trouble with the film is director Courcol trying too hard and it shows.The last portion where Etienne takes to the stage to praise his actors is over the top, with the entire audience approving and giving him a standing ovation.Too eager to please, Courcol’s timely observational piece on corrections ends up a minor feel-good movie.
The temptation of the convicts to make an escape is obviously there, as it is so easy with so few guards and with the play going on.Not to provide any spoilers, the problem is not overlooked in the film.
The film is based on true events that took place in Sweden with the big performance taking place in Gothenburg
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...
