BOSS CAT – ★★★

Australian film set in the Blue Mountains about a young woman living with Down syndrome who is navigating the difficulties of her future after the sudden, unexpected death of her mother. She discovers Krump dancing as an outlet to deal with situations and reduce the stresses or anxieties that she feels. Overall, a good film, and it’s excellent to see one where people with disabilities not only fill the spot of the lead role, but several supporting roles as well in a way that doesn’t make it about the disabilities. I think the messaging was strong at times, but likely well suited to audiences that might need a better understanding of the diversity in our society. 

ELEPHANTS IN THE FOG – ★★★☆

Sometimes you roll the dice on a film, and it pays off grandly. Blackbird Blackbird Blackberry at MIFF a few years ago (and I believe currently streaming on SBS On Demand) is an example. This one didn’t pay off as well as sometimes happens for me, but still worthwhile. This Nepalese film is about a woman in a small village community who already holds a position of respect, and with potential to become the leader, and who has to decide what to do when her plans to leave that life to move with her lover to India are sidelined by the disappearance of her daughter. The film was a bit slow at points, nicely filmed though. The dealing of how the community and greater society deal with the fact that the woman’s household (and the woman herself) are all trans was upsetting, yet predictable. It was good that none of the characters are painted in a particularly positive light, including the protagonist, and it leads to thoughts and discussions about how everyone has the potential to do wrongs, in one perspective or another, and how with more compassion we can avoid the spiralling escalations that we see in this world. 

THE ONLY LIVING PICKPOCKET IN NEW YORK – ★★★☆ 

John Turturro, Steve Buscemi, Jamie Lee Curtis. Giancarlo Esposito, New York setting. This was one of my most anticipated films of the festival. It’s about an ageing pickpocket caring for his wife with a disability, who picks the wrong target, a bag owned by a mob family, and his path to resolving it. It was a good film, but it didn’t knock it out of the park, likely due to the screenplay. There were just a few too many logical disconnects here. For one, when time is tight, you have plenty of cash in your pocket, and people’s lives are on the line, why are you catching a bus from one New York borough to another? I feel like another revision of the story, and perhaps another 15-30 minutes of exposition might have made this even better.