SLC
So Hounddog, the film that's been referred to as the "Dakota Fanning rape movie" at the fest and panned by critics was surprising. Not that it was an amazing film, but it wasn't bad at all. It definitely deals with some very sensitive subject matter (the rape of an eleven year old girl), but it does so with a lot of respect and taste. The story takes place in the rural Deep South and follows the life of Lewellen, a young girl played by Dakota Fanning., over a period of a few weeks. This girl loves to perform Elvis songs, particularly Hounddog, complete with gyrating hip movements and passionate lyrics (Dakota took voice lessons four times a week for nine months before filming). Her father and surrogate mother (the sister of her real mother, now deceased) have a strained and shaky relationship, with both of them leaving for long periods of time. When both of their absences overlap, Lewellen stays with her disapproving and highly religious grandmother nearby. I'd go into more detail on the rest of the story (father is struck by lightning while riding his tractor, Elvis comes to town, Lewellen is raped and then has to figure out how to go on with her life. The story is very meandering and there's very little closure. But that's life. Ultimately the film is really about personal growth and finding a way to overcome such a traumatic experience and live life on your own terms. I generally thought it did a good job and there's little I would have changed. The film has yet to be picked up for theatrical release, so I'm not sure what kind of life this film will have. Deborah Kempmeier, the film's director, said that although the film has sparked a lot of negative press and has received poor critical reception, the audiences at the fest have received it quite well and that she believes it will ultimately find it's audience through wider release.
Friday, January 26, 2007
That was awesome!
Park City
Just got out of our Teeth screening. Wow... what a film. I'm not even sure where to begin. This was a film that Kit and I put down on our early list of potential to-see films and once we started hearing all of the amazingly positive buzz, we had to see it. I'm so glad we did.
The story is based off vagina dentate mythology and follows a Christian high school girl caught up in her school’s purity campaign. Starting from a very innocent state (she’s not even aware of her own body), she discovers by complete accident that she’s very anatomically unique, a state of being that is both victimizing and empowering. Her boyfriend is becoming aggressive and her bad stepbrother is the poster child for immoral teenage conduct. The film, full of symbolism and metaphor, defies categorization, becoming part horror film and part dark comedy that is fundamentally a story of a heroine overcoming male evil and finding self-empowerment.
The film is extremely well executed - from the performances, to the cut, music, photography, etc. I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to see change and I can't come up with a single thing. Not only is the story powerful, funny and intelligent, but it's also a joy to watch. There's a lot of graphic and disturbing stuff (as one might guess from the subject matter), but it all fits so well into the world of the film that, although shocking to an extent, it works extremely well and doesn't leave you feeling burned. It took serious balls to do this film. Mitchell Lichtenstein, the director, was fortunate enough to do it completely with private funding, allowing him to make the film he wanted without worrying about what people would think.
I doubt very much that this film will ever be distributed in its current state... which is really a shame since I'd hate to see anything changed. Yes... there's a lot of graphic, disturbing stuff, but it all serves a purpose and really sets the film apart. Hopefully this film will find a way to a larger audience. While this is not a film for the feint of heart, I absolutely recommend this to anyone who's ready for a film that defies the usual boundaries and really pushes the envelope of what can be done on film.
Screening before Teeth was a short film entitled Songbird. Simple premise: woman loves her dove, woman hates her evil slob of a husband and his angry mutt of a dog, husband hates dove, dove sings during dinner, husband bites head off dove, woman chops head off husband's dog and cooks it for dinner, husband vomits up head of dove, woman puts head back on dove and dove comes back to life, woman leaves husband. It's a relatively simple story, but what makes the film interesting is that it's enacted without a single piece of dialog and in a style that can really only be described as live action stop motion. Although the sets, actors and props are all real, they all move like they're done through claymation. It's really a very nice look.
Just got out of our Teeth screening. Wow... what a film. I'm not even sure where to begin. This was a film that Kit and I put down on our early list of potential to-see films and once we started hearing all of the amazingly positive buzz, we had to see it. I'm so glad we did.The story is based off vagina dentate mythology and follows a Christian high school girl caught up in her school’s purity campaign. Starting from a very innocent state (she’s not even aware of her own body), she discovers by complete accident that she’s very anatomically unique, a state of being that is both victimizing and empowering. Her boyfriend is becoming aggressive and her bad stepbrother is the poster child for immoral teenage conduct. The film, full of symbolism and metaphor, defies categorization, becoming part horror film and part dark comedy that is fundamentally a story of a heroine overcoming male evil and finding self-empowerment.
The film is extremely well executed - from the performances, to the cut, music, photography, etc. I've been thinking a lot about what I'd like to see change and I can't come up with a single thing. Not only is the story powerful, funny and intelligent, but it's also a joy to watch. There's a lot of graphic and disturbing stuff (as one might guess from the subject matter), but it all fits so well into the world of the film that, although shocking to an extent, it works extremely well and doesn't leave you feeling burned. It took serious balls to do this film. Mitchell Lichtenstein, the director, was fortunate enough to do it completely with private funding, allowing him to make the film he wanted without worrying about what people would think.
I doubt very much that this film will ever be distributed in its current state... which is really a shame since I'd hate to see anything changed. Yes... there's a lot of graphic, disturbing stuff, but it all serves a purpose and really sets the film apart. Hopefully this film will find a way to a larger audience. While this is not a film for the feint of heart, I absolutely recommend this to anyone who's ready for a film that defies the usual boundaries and really pushes the envelope of what can be done on film.
Screening before Teeth was a short film entitled Songbird. Simple premise: woman loves her dove, woman hates her evil slob of a husband and his angry mutt of a dog, husband hates dove, dove sings during dinner, husband bites head off dove, woman chops head off husband's dog and cooks it for dinner, husband vomits up head of dove, woman puts head back on dove and dove comes back to life, woman leaves husband. It's a relatively simple story, but what makes the film interesting is that it's enacted without a single piece of dialog and in a style that can really only be described as live action stop motion. Although the sets, actors and props are all real, they all move like they're done through claymation. It's really a very nice look.
Tickets for the day
SLC
It was touch and go there for a bit, but I managed to grab tickets for everything I wanted. Here's what we're looking at for the day:
Teeth - Lots of good buzz around the fest on this one. Supposedly disturbing and category defying. Why not? It's one of four films at this year's fest to be on the "audience advisory" list for explicit material.
Hounddog - What has come to be called "the Dakota Fanning rape movie." Reviews have been luke warm, but it's Dakota Fanning and Robin Wright Penn. Figure it's worth trying.
Blame It On Fidel - A French film in world dramatic competition about a little girl with activist parents that seeks to show how our experiences shape us and how political consciousness is formed. Haven't heard any buzz one way or the other, but the blurb in the festival program makes it sound worth checking out.
It was touch and go there for a bit, but I managed to grab tickets for everything I wanted. Here's what we're looking at for the day:
Teeth - Lots of good buzz around the fest on this one. Supposedly disturbing and category defying. Why not? It's one of four films at this year's fest to be on the "audience advisory" list for explicit material.
Hounddog - What has come to be called "the Dakota Fanning rape movie." Reviews have been luke warm, but it's Dakota Fanning and Robin Wright Penn. Figure it's worth trying.
Blame It On Fidel - A French film in world dramatic competition about a little girl with activist parents that seeks to show how our experiences shape us and how political consciousness is formed. Haven't heard any buzz one way or the other, but the blurb in the festival program makes it sound worth checking out.
Yawn...
SLC
Three hours of sleep later, I'm back in the queue at the SLC festival box office. It's going to be tight: I've got one film that has six tickets left and another that has twelve. Fortunately I got here a bit earlier than I have been and secured a spot two people in from the front of the line. We'll see how things go...
So... Black Snake Moan. This was the world premier (I'd say at least half of the films at Sundance are premiers) of Craig Brewer's follow up to Hustle & Flow. This film, much like his previous, is another story set around music in the Deep South. Whereas Hustle focused on underground rap, Moan takes inspiration from the blues. Here we follow two souls in a small Tennessee town who are thrown together in the crossroads between rage and love. Discovered beaten and half dead on the side of the road by Lazarus, a farmer and ex-blues guitarist played by Samuel L Jackson, is Rae, a no-self-respect anemic nymphomaniac played by Christina Ricci. Lazarus takes her into his house to nurse her back to health and then goes to extremes to "cure" her of her wicked ways. Oh yeah... and Rae is white and Lazarus is black. The film ultimately becomes a journey toward salvation for the both of them that, while lacking some of the beauty and spontaneity of Hustle, proves to be an intensely compelling and emotional morality tale. This film is hugely intense and powerfully raw, but is also quite enjoyable. It also wins the prize for best line uttered in a festival film this year:
"Lazarus, why is there a half-naked white woman chained to your radiator?"
So... the rundown on films for the day:
Girl 27 - Amazing story. Worth seeing just for that.
Scaredycat - Intriquing.
Chasing Ghosts - Biggest surprise at the fest so far. Great!
Hot House - Extremely interesting but requires some general knowledge of Middle Eastern political issues.
Black Snake Moan - Good, but nothing like Hustle & Flow
Three hours of sleep later, I'm back in the queue at the SLC festival box office. It's going to be tight: I've got one film that has six tickets left and another that has twelve. Fortunately I got here a bit earlier than I have been and secured a spot two people in from the front of the line. We'll see how things go...
So... Black Snake Moan. This was the world premier (I'd say at least half of the films at Sundance are premiers) of Craig Brewer's follow up to Hustle & Flow. This film, much like his previous, is another story set around music in the Deep South. Whereas Hustle focused on underground rap, Moan takes inspiration from the blues. Here we follow two souls in a small Tennessee town who are thrown together in the crossroads between rage and love. Discovered beaten and half dead on the side of the road by Lazarus, a farmer and ex-blues guitarist played by Samuel L Jackson, is Rae, a no-self-respect anemic nymphomaniac played by Christina Ricci. Lazarus takes her into his house to nurse her back to health and then goes to extremes to "cure" her of her wicked ways. Oh yeah... and Rae is white and Lazarus is black. The film ultimately becomes a journey toward salvation for the both of them that, while lacking some of the beauty and spontaneity of Hustle, proves to be an intensely compelling and emotional morality tale. This film is hugely intense and powerfully raw, but is also quite enjoyable. It also wins the prize for best line uttered in a festival film this year:
"Lazarus, why is there a half-naked white woman chained to your radiator?"
So... the rundown on films for the day:
Girl 27 - Amazing story. Worth seeing just for that.
Scaredycat - Intriquing.
Chasing Ghosts - Biggest surprise at the fest so far. Great!
Hot House - Extremely interesting but requires some general knowledge of Middle Eastern political issues.
Black Snake Moan - Good, but nothing like Hustle & Flow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
