| Day Two |
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Friday September 8th, 2000
Second night of the film festival and I've decided to double my film consumption by seeing two films tonight after work. Today turns out to be my Australian day with two features from Australian directors. First up on the schedule is The Goddess of 1967 at 7pm followed by Chopper at 10pm. Oh, and a short film called In God We Trust which screens before Chopper.
Title: Goddess of 1967 Asian born Clara Law, whose other pictures include Temptation of a Monk (93) and Floating Life (96), has managed to meld together a seemingly insoluble mixture of subject matters in her latest film Goddess of 1967. The Goddess of the title is a 1967 Citroën DS car and one of three central characters in this movie. The other two characters, while having names, are referred to in the credits as JM for Japanese Man, and BG for Blind Girl. JM is in search of a "Goddess" and finds one for sale via the internet in Australia. Travelling to Australia, JM meets up with BG the apparent owner of the car. Before he can conclude the deal BG convinces him to drive her cross country to an undisclosed location where she has some unfinished business to attend. So the two embark on a road trip into the Outback and into their own pasts. Clara Law's unique visual aesthetic is infused through out the movie and makes for riveting viewing. The opening scene of a train pulling into a Tokyo station, seems other-worldly and is accentuated by Law's choice of sound as much as it is the visuals. The driving scenes also exude this aesthetic as Law uses the technique of projecting obviously artificial backgrounds outside the car. The incidental sounds of the Australian Outback also heighten the tone of the picture often injecting an eerie alien quality to a scene unexpectedly. As the film progresses and we delve into BG's past, we begin to get larger glimpses of a an unhappy childhood with indications of incest and sexual abuse. Despite this heavy subject matter, the film still manages to weave enough humour into the story through the relationship of JM and BG to avoid alienating the audience. While the film certainly has its flaws, including a number of weak story-lines that seeming go nowhere or plot points that are rather contrived, the over all feeling of the movie manages to overcome these shortcomings. The quest ultimately becomes one of understanding the power of memory and how we interrupt the past through it. For JM the possession of the Goddess becomes a quest to use memory to emulate an on screen hero and to fulfil a fantasy. For BG the Goddess is a link with the past and the one constant in her life that she can relate to. I found the conclusion a little too upbeat and felt it tended to undermine the emotional impact of the previous scenes. The ending does however manage to soften the emotional impact of BG's tragic past for the audience. Overall a film that I would highly recommend even if only based on the visuals the film has to offer. As for ranking this film I find that my system has already failed me. Visually I would have to rank this film Fantastic!, but as far as the story and other elements of the film are concerned I would tend to rank a notch below this at Intriguing and Challenging.
Title: Chopper Based on one of Australia's most infamous criminals Mark "Chopper" Read, the movie Chopper takes certain liberties with the story and makes it clear at the outset in the form of a disclaimer that this is not intended as a biography. In retrospect its too bad its not a biography. As much as I enjoyed this film, the story leaves out much of the back story instead focusing on Chopper's actions. There is little sense of a coherent purpose to Chopper's life as we learn little of what landed him in jail in the first place, or why he is suddenly acting as snitch for the cops. Director Andrew Dominik asks us to focus instead on Chopper's personality which varies wildly from acts of intense violence, moments of compassion and regret. Chopper is obviously someone who unable to understand his emotions acts out in fits of violence. Played by Australian comedian Eric Dana, Chopper is a charismatic character who doesn't let the truth get in the way of a good story. Using his charm to his advantage Chopper manages to pull the wool over the eyes of the cops he is reporting to as an informant allowing him carte blanche to commit crimes as he sees fit. Undertones of a vigilante streak in Chopper peak out but are quickly suppressed by the script. The director later alluded to the fact that the real Mark "Chopper" Read would like to be portrayed as Charles Bronson - Death Wish vigilante type. While Chopper the movie benefits from Eric Dana's acting and Andrew Dominik's directing it left me disappointed and frustrated. A tighter script with some of the narrative wrinkles ironed out would have made for a more enjoyable experience. Still the movie comes off as a fascinating look at one man's disturbed personality and the cult of celebrity that fed Chopper's personality. I'd have to give Chopper a rating of Enjoyable but disappointing.
Title: In God We Trust Director: Jason Reitman Run Time:16 minutes Country: USA In God We Trust is humourous romp through the afterlife. The film opens with a young man standing in the street examining a quarter he has found. As the audiences watches in horror, the man is struck down in slow motion by a a truck. Seconds later the victim finds himself in the afterlife, actually purgatory to be exact. As his "claim" is processed by the bureaucrats of purgatory he discovers that his little sins, such as not dancing and using the word "fuck" 116 times in one year, have added up to a negative balance and he is destined for hell. Not wanting to go to hell, the victim seizes an opportunity to flee purgatory. Finding himself a fugitive from the afterlife, the chase is on. As the controllers in purgatory so aptly put it "we have a dead man loose on the ground and its not Jesus". Intent on saying his farwells before the law catches up with him, the young man visits his girlfriend and father and during the process actually manages to slowly rack up some positive points. Unaware that his actions are slowly erasing his negative balance, the young man narrowly avoids the operatives attempts to kill him and subsequently recapture him. The punchline of the movie comes when the operatives finally catch up with him, just as his balance stands at -1. A homless person asks him to spare some change. Searching his pockets he finds he has none and after apologizing and walking away, he spies a quarter lying in the street. Bending over to retrieve it he is struck down once again by the same vehicle as last time. However, as he dies the quarter miraculously flies through the air and lands in the cup of the beggar giving the young man a positive balance in his account just as he arrive once again in purgatory. A fun little short that shows promise I'd rate it Intriguing and Challenging. Until Later.... |