Tag Archives: miff15

Pioneer Heroes (Pionery-geroi) (2015)

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I got lost in this Russian film. Not lost as in ‘so absorbed with the story I lost sight of myself’, lost as in ‘I have no idea what’s happening’. It started well. We are in the 1980s Soviet Union watching children practicing to become Pioneer Heroes, the youth movement modelled on Lenin and the values of the Soviet Union. Three in particular we get to know – Sergeyev who wants to be like all the other kids but also wants to be a hero, Katya, who struggles to keep her grandfather’s bootlegging a secret as it is against the rules of the PH, and Olga, an anxious girl who relies heavily on Katya’s confidence and decisiveness. Continue reading →

Me Romantic Romani (2015)

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I added this film late to make up my 50 films and because I had a morning with no films booked. It looked like a light one, part of the Next Gen program aimed at teens and so there were the usual rows of uniformed school kids in front of me. It’s an Italian film and is set in the down-at-heel suburb of Falchera on the outskirts of Torino but it’s not really about Italians, it’s about Romani, or gypsies as we might know them. Continue reading →

The Club (2015)

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The lights went up at the end of this black Chilean drama and Alex said, “That’s my film of the festival, I loved it!” and I said, “That was crap. What on earth was that film about?” It just shows you, doesn’t it? No, not that Alex has bad taste in films (although it is possible…) but that our film experiences are as much about ourselves as the film. Okay. so maybe I didn’t think it was crap, but I didn’t get what it was trying to say. It was a bleak film, and although there were small moments of warmth and humanity, the topic perhaps ensures that these were overwhelmed by darkness. Continue reading →

In the Crosswind (Risttuules) (2014)

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Hold the phone, Simone, and shut the front door, Lenore. I have seen my film of the festival. The one that blew me away and I would have started watching again if I could. In the Crosswind is an Estonian drama unlike anything I have seen before.

It tells the story of the forced removal of half a million Estonians, Latvians and Lithuanians from their homelands by Stalin, to be ‘resettled’ in Siberia and prison and forced labour camps. The only dialogue in the film is the reading out of the actual letters and diary entries of an Estonian woman, Erna, to her husband Heldur. She has been taken with other women and children to Siberia and lives in dire poverty and deprivation, he has been sent to a gulag. Continue reading →

Tehran Taxi (2015)

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I almost liked this Iranian film. I wanted to like it. Jafar Panahi directed a couple of films I really liked – Crimson Gold and The White Balloon. In this one, he is in the centre of the story, playing himself and driving a taxi whilst filming. It is set up as if it is a documentary but it’s obvious that it is fictional and his passengers are (reportedly non-professional and uncredited) actors. It works well at the start, with a rough and authentic feel as people hop in and out, talking and arguing with each other. A man jumps in who recognises Panahi and so we realise who he is and that this is a docudrama. Continue reading →

The Assassin (2015)

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Here’s a bit of inside information. If a movie is described as “a mesmerising slow burn of a martial arts movie”, it means nothing happens for a very……..long………time. Hou Hsiao-hsien has returned to directing after eight years. I remember liking a film of his but I’ve looked on IMDb and I can’t recognise any of his past films. I’m thinking that maybe I just like the sound of his name. Hou Hsiao-hsien. Hou Hsiao-hsien. Continue reading →

Day eleven – the people of MIFF

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I felt like I skived off a bit today. Although I thought I had successfully left my husband and kids behind to come to MIFF, Ron followed me down for a couple of nights and he got to experience my MIFF world. We took the morning off and trekked out on the Eastern Freeway to visit my sister’s chocolate company, Loving Earth. I had no idea the freeway went out so far. We sampled chocolate, got to see where the chocolate is made – it smells very nice – and joined in the weekly staff lunch. Continue reading →

Sherpa (2015)

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Did you know that the Sherpa people are an ethnic group? I didn’t, I thought sherpa was an occupational term for the Nepalese people who assist climbers on Everest. This Australian documentary delves in to the lives of the Sherpa people and how the bloated industry that has grown to enable wealthy foreigners to summit Everest affects their lives and community. We follow Phurba Tashi Sherpa as he leaves his family to lead a team of 25 Sherpa people who will assist an international group led by experienced expedition leader Russell Brice. If Phurba summits this year, it will be his 22nd time, a record. Continue reading →

Body (2015)

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Hmm. I quite liked this quirky Polish drama. Actually I liked it a lot up until the end. Of course I can’t tell you what happens at the end but I’m wondering if my disappointment was because a fellow MIFF-goer had recommended it, saying, “You don’t know where it’s going but it’s all brought together beautifully at the end.” The danger of having expectations. It is a nice ending but overstated, I think. For such a subtle film, it deserved better. Continue reading →