framingdevice » TIFF ‘07, Day 6

I passed the halfway point last night, both in terms of how many days I’ll be in Toronto and how many films I’ll see. And I woke up feeling tired for the first time this festival. That weariness didn’t hurt my reaction to Carlos Reygadas’s latest movie, Silent Light. I had strongly disliked his earlier film Battle in Heaven, and had even had a long argument with Rob Davis and Darren Hughes about its merits (though I encourage you to check out Rob’s interview with the director). But the word out of Cannes was that Silent Light was going in a somewhat different direction and that people like me should give it a shot. If nothing else, Reygadas’s first two movies showed he had great potential. Now if he could only figure out to how harness it.

Harness it he has. Instead of the provocations of Battle in Heaven, Silent Light reveals the maturity of a growing filmmaker confident that he can communicate without all the noise (yes, I know I’m using a loaded word with ‘maturity’–leave a comment if you disagree). An opening sequence is a spectacular shot from the stars through pre-dawn darkness to a sun rising over the hills through the trees. That focus on elemental nature continues throughout the film–one amazingly beautiful sequence involves a family swimming in a river–and is more than a little reminiscent of Tarkovsky (a touchstone for several filmmakers at the festival).

The plot focuses on a large Mennonite family working a farm in Mexico. They seem happy and earnest, but it soon becomes clear that not all is well. The husband/father is having an affair and can’t decide what to do. For all intents and purposes, that’s the story. But like my other favorites of the festival, the director has constructed a visual and editing style that dovetails with the narrative. Focusing on elemental (there’s that word again) themes of love and faith, family and sex, Reygadas uses simple but spectacular widescreen compositions, often shooting from below to create iconic images. One incredible landscape shot from the top of a hill cuts to a close up of a man’s feet walking through wildflowers. Describing it can’t do justice to what Reygadas does with light and composition; it’s just awesome. Even banal tasks like harvesting corn or saying grace at a table become something transcendent in his hands. And the influence of Carl Dreyer in the theme of faith is beautifully acknowledged. Fans of Reygadas’s earlier work might find this too simple, but that aspect really worked for me. And since I’m starting to sound like a gushing fanboy, I’ll stop, though I hope to revisit this when I’ve had a chance to think about it more.

I had programmed The Band’s Visit into my schedule because I thought it would be nice to have a simple crowd-pleaser in the middle of the festival, which is what the program book implied it was. That’s not quite right, but I enjoyed the movie even more than I thought I would. It’s a quiet little film about a police ceremonial music band from Egypt coming to Israel to play at the opening of an Arab Cultural Center. But they head to the wrong town and get stranded in the middle of nowhere. There they’re befriended by a few Israelis happy for any kind of diversion.

Now that sounds like a crowd-pleasing setup, but director Eran Kolirin avoids most of the cliches and instead creates a film about loneliness, about how our expectations of ourselves often get in the way of true communion. Yes, there are some funny moments (one nice scene involves an Egyptian helping an Israeli on a date), but those are well integrated into the story and contribute depth to the characters. Even the theme of music, often a cinematic crutch to reveal our common humanity, is used well. I also liked the film’s cinematography (full of wide open empty spaces) and patient editing style. And I keep coming back to the opening intertitle describing the real event: “Not many people remember this, it was not that important.” That’s indicative of the humility of the film, not the quality.

I spent a lot of time trying to track down a ticket to Dr. Plonk. And three different friends of mine (two with press credentials and, therefore, greater access) did the same. In the end, I got a ticket the old-fashioned way: at the box office. And when the movie was done, I wondered why I bothered. Rolf de Heer’s follow-up to his critically acclaimed Ten Canoes, Dr. Plonk is an entirely different animal. It’s a silent comedy, set in 1907 and featuring old-fashioned black-and-white cinematography (complete with flickering), awkward editing, a piano-based musical score and lots of slapstick. Unfortunately, it’s not terribly funny, though one joke in a modern-day parking lot is a genuine knee-slapper and the cutest dog in the world is always diverting when it’s on screen. But the comedy never quite clicks (a running joke about being kicked in the butt gets old after five minutes, and there’s 80 more minutes to go). It’s a reminder that so much of what made silent comedies what they were was the vaudeville training all those actors had gone through. Without that, a chase through the street looks more like an action movie than a recipe for humor. Furthermore, the music grows irritating in its ubiquitous drive to create excitement. I didn’t dislike what I was watching, and I often had a wry grin on my face. But if you’re watching a silent comedy, you should have a lot more laughs than what Dr. Plonk provides. Still, big thanks to Victor, Josh, and Patrick for doing their best to find me a ticket. Too bad the result was anticlimactic.

There’s nothing funny about Gus van Sant’s Paranoid Park. A continuation of the themes and style of Elephant, it focuses on a teenage boy who loves to skateboard around Portland and may or may not be hiding a secret. Van Sant works with an almost exclusively non-professional cast, teasing out earnest, though awkward performances. Gabe Nevins is strong as the protagonist, and van Sant (along with cinematographers Christopher Doyle and Rain Kathy Li) capture him loafing down school hallways, pensively watching other skateboarders, and feverishly writing things in a notebook.

The narrative, such as it is, is intentionally fragmented, though it’s not difficult to follow. But the story is secondary to the mood the movie wants to create, much of which is set by incredible, dreamy sequences of skateboarders showing their stuff and one of the cooler soundtracks you’ll hear this year. How true to life all this feels will probably depend on how old you are. Being 40, I felt a bit out of touch (as is van Sant, given some of the dialogue), though I couldn’t help thinking of S.E. Hinton’s The Outsiders, to which Paranoid Park clearly owes a debt.

Tomorrow brings the first real break of the fest, as I only have three relatively short movies.

Silent Light: four 1/2 stars, out of five
The Band’s Visit: three 1/2 stars (though it might be four)
Dr. Plonk: two 1/2 stars
Paranoid Park: three 1/2 stars

A note to my loyal readers. I’m writing this late Wednesday night. But because of my schedule the next couple days, I might not post again until late Friday and maybe even Saturday. Don’t fear, though. I’ll definitely have another post or two by Saturday night. Thanks for reading.

Bob Turnbull Says:
September 14th, 2007 at 1:47 pm

Hi J Robert,

Superb reviews…I have yet to hear a single bad word about “Silent Light”. Not even a mediocre word. I look forward to catching it at some point (a big screen showing at Cinematheque would be nice).

Too bad Dr. Plonk didn’t pan out…

I saw you at the “A Gentle Breeze In The Village” screening last night, but only just before the lights went down. I was sitting with James (of torontoscreenshots fame) and he mentioned you were considering a dinner outing either Friday or Saturday. If you make it an early outing on Saturday (say 6:30-7), I’d love to be able to join you before my last screening later that night.

By the way, i thought Gentle Breeze was terrific…I put my post about it up this morning.

I’m just staring to look through your reviews, because I finally ended up posting mine on the set of films we happened to see together. Man, I wish I could write like that.

Jim Sanders Says:
September 15th, 2007 at 8:49 pm

Hello, J Robert. I’m enjoying your reviews and your TIFF coverage. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to make to Toronto one of these years.

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TIFF ‘07, Day 6

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