THE WITCHES OF THE ORIENT – not rated

I was a bit tired when I tried this documentary about the Japanese Olympic volleyball team from the 1964 games, and after about 10-15 minutes stopped it. If there was a story to tell it might have been better to have started it sooner into the film than the scattered collection of vignettes that occurred in what I watched. Not rating it as I didn’t give it a fair chance.

JAMES AND ISEY – ★★★

I was glad when this was added as a stream-able film in the last days of MIFF this year, as it’s one I was looking forward to. It’s a documentary about a Maori son (James) and mother (Isey). It documents the week or so leading up to Isey’s 100th birthday and covers her history, as well as some of the background of her son who is taking care of her and planning the party. I liked the film, but I couldn’t help but feel at points that perhaps it was a vehicle for James who had a background in entertainment, and whether at times it became more about him than his mum. Overall though it was enjoyable and did have a reasonable number of funny moments.

LANGUAGE LESSONS – ★★★

The closing night film for MIFF 2021. I was very much looking forward to it for several reasons. I like both leads (Mark Duplass and Natalie Morales), and in these difficult locked down times, a comedy appealed. It’s about a man who is given Spanish lessons by his husband, conducted via video chat, and the relationship between them. It was an interesting idea, and every scene being a ‘video meeting’ without it actually relating to Covid lockdowns was executed well enough. However, I found that after spending many hours each week in video meetings of my own, that it was a bit ‘too soon’ for me to experience more of it right now. Also, I felt like it could have been better with the story being a little bit ‘lighter’. There were several different plot points and it felt a bit heavy handed at times, especially for the interactions between two people who don’t know each other. I think it’ll be an easier watch in a couple of years when hopefully the constant video chats and being shut in at home are behind us.