The Prestidigitator

It’s that time of the year again. The Melbourne International Film Festival is back with a lot less fanfare than last year and unlike last year (when I was broke busy), I plan on catching more films. Two films I’m really looking forward to are the indie sensation ‘In Search of a Midnight Kiss‘ and Guy Maddin’s acclaimed ‘My Winnipeg‘.

Good times ensue.

http://imdb.com/title/tt0461946/

It’s like one day you have a decent set of friends and suddenly they all get exec jobs, get married, have kids and vanish…and your life is like that old science fiction movie…

I love films that probe alienation and disillusionment of people in their twenties; probably because it’s easier to relate to or maybe just because these films seem a bit more profound and poignant than the usual escapist fluff.

Everything’s Gone Green is a look at the toll capitalism has taken on young people working nine to five jobs and how the prospect of easy money can make them (us?) take morally questionable turns. Ryan (Paulo Costanza) gets fired from his job for writing poems about how much he hates his work and just as he’s clearing out, he gets a phone call from his parents saying they won the lottery. A series of comic vignettes ensue and Ryan begins to marvel at how many people around him are involved in some kind of scam or the other ranging from dodgy pyramid schemes to Marijuana harvesting.

Everyone’s in a scam or creating something nobody really needs to sell to people who’re too stupid to care or notice. Whatever happened to being just real? Why aren’t we content being just middle class?

Naturally, Ryan gets enticed by the prospect of making easy money and gets embroiled in a scam of another sort; selling winning lottery numbers to the Japanese mafia. And as in most cases, there is a girl (and a very pretty one at that; Steph Song) involved as well.

I really enjoyed the film in spite of it not having a plot per se or a satisfying conclusion. The character never attains that epiphany that is so common to films of this genre. The script is extremely witty and it does have a couple of tender moments; like people crowding to see a beached whale just to feel something. The editing is slick and for a small movie like this, the visuals are brilliant.

At the end of the day, this is a smart slacker comedy that may not quite attain a cult status, but is still very well worth watching. 8/10

http://imdb.com/title/tt0496319/

Just as the film was about to start, Ethan Hawke came on stage to introduce it. The film is based on the novel of the same name he wrote a few years back.

“When you’re young everyone keeps telling you to follow your dreams but when you’ve grown up, they get all offended if you even try.“

I walked in expecting the film to be a visceral experience a la Before Sunrise or Before Sunset. But that wasn’t the case; which is not a bad thing per se. The film is extremely intense and emotional. The characters are very real and raw which make them easier to relate to and hence make it an uneasy film to sit through for some people.

William (loosely based on Hawke himself),an aspiring 20 year old ‘actor’ comes to New York to look for work. He meets Sara, an emotionally scarred ’singer’ and the two fall in love and go through the motions. On the surface, this is a story about two artists finding love in a city where people like them are dime a dozen. But like in most cases, the disillusionment wears off and things get awry. Apart from this being a story about first love, it’s inherent pains and coming of age , it’s also a tale of closure. William longs for closure with his father (Ethan Hawke) who bailed on him as a kid. One of the most beautiful scenes in the film is the conversation with his mother played by Laura Linney. ”It’s amazing how many times you can find love”, she tells her depressed son.

Mark Webber as William was not exactly the perfect candidate for the role in my opinion but the other actors shine in this brilliant film, especially Catalina Sandino Moreno and Laura Linney as Sara and his mother respectively.

The soundtrack to the film by Jesse Harris is noteworthy and it’s the probably best I’ve heard in a while. The direction is pretty good in spite of a couple of editing faults. Ethan Hawke’s film is a flawed but commendable achievement.

For the discerning viewer, there is a cameo by Richard Linklater in the first half of the film.

7/10

Ever since I got here, the MIFF 2007 is something I’d been eagerly awaiting and it’s finally here. Owing to time (and financial) constraints, I was able to get passes to only two screenings; but I intend to go for a couple more later on.

Anyway the films I have passes to are:

1. The Hottest State: Ethan Hawke

The mediocre reviews do bother me a bit but I’m fairly certain that I’m going to like this; mostly because it’s a coming of age tale and also because I’d like to think Hawke learned a thing or two from his association with my favorite director, Richard Linklater.

2. Everything’s Gone Green: Douglas Coupland

This Canadian film had caught my fancy back in Hyderabad itself. Also, it’s been favorably compared to another film which happens to be the one film people associate me with.

Reviews to follow.

[Logo sourced from http://www.melbournefilmfestival.com.au ]