STILL WALKING
7/10
A family drama from Japan that was very well written and enjoyable. It was a good representation of family and the dynamics that can occur when a family who doesn’t spend a lot of time together gather for a meal. This can apparently be bought on DVD quite cheaply (around $15), and is worth considering.

KISSES
7/10
Cute story about a couple of pre-teen Irish kids whose home lives aren’t going so well. When the boy angers his father enough and the girl finds a bit of cash, they run away to Dublin. The film was fun and enjoyable – some of the accents were very thick and I missed some of the lines as a result. I might not have wanted subtitles throughout, but it would have helped in parts.

THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE
5/10
Watchable low-ish budget film by Steven Soderbergh about a high class call girl. Didn’t really go anywhere and the acting was very patchy by some of the stars, who generally were non-professionals as far as I can tell. Many scenes felt ad-libbed, but not very successfully.

Gotten an attack of the lazies, and haven’t updated the blog with my film comments for nearly a week. Let’s hope I remember enough about them..

PIERROT LE FOU
4/10
I believe this Godard film starring Anna Karina and Jean-Paul Belmondo film had more going for it than I was able to pick up – parts were entertaining, but a lot of it went over my head. I suspect based on discussion with others later that there was a lot of symbolism being used that went over my head. As with the other two films, it was enjoyable to watch, but without really getting a good grip on the story, it wasn’t my best festival experience

MOON
9/10

Best of the festival so far. This is science fiction done right with awesome sets, excellent acting and a good story. If you like the first half of ‘Sunshine’ before it turned stupid, or a fan of films like Silent Running, this is a must see.

WHITE NIGHT WEDDING
5/10
This was one of Iceland’s biggest films of 2008 apparently. I’m unsure how many films are made there each year, but while this tale of Jon, a university professor’s days leading up to his wedding had enough to keep me seated, it lacked enough to keep me happy. I was a little confused at first as with the jumping timeline, and telling the story of the two loves of Jon’s life with actresses that didn’t look entirely dissimilar, I didn’t realise they were different women until about 20 minutes in. Jon wasn’t really a likable protagonist and this let the film down for me.

THE PRIVATE LIVES OF PIPPA LEE
6/10
This wasn’t a bad film, but I can’t help but think I wasn’t the target audience. It’s about a middle aged woman, Pippa Lee, who’s married to a man a reasonable amount older than her (played by Alan Arkin). It begins just after they’ve moved to a retirement village near their children, a place that’s far smaller and not as glamourous as the home they came from. Pippa reminisces throughout the film about her various stages of life and the ‘different’ lives she’s led. Has Winona and Keanu in it in small parts, but Alan Arkin does a great job (as usual). Probably more aimed at the more ‘mature lady’ than 30 something gentleman. Watchable.

ALPHAVILLE
6/10
My second film of the festival starring Anna Karina. She’s a guest of the festival too and did an intro and Q&A. She seems like a sweet lady and very down to earth. Alphaville is a 1965 black and white film by Jean-Luc Godard, about a secret agent who travels from Earth to Alphaville in order to try and take down an evil scientist. To be honest, I didn’t really enjoy the film, and fell asleep through parts of it, only to wake up and feel like I hadn’t missed anything. The print wasn’t the best, and white subtitles without shadow made for some difficult reading. Anna Karina looked great and the film was visually entertaining enough to stick around for, but it probably won’t rank very highly in my favourite sci-fi films of all time. Interestingly, JLG didn’t give a script to the cast at the beginning – they had to just show up and were given their lines on the day, so they never really knew much about what was going on. Neither did I.

TROUBLED WATER
8/10
Eric Poppe did ‘Hawaii, Oslo’ at MIFF in 2005 and which I rated a 7.9 at the time. This is his next film, and he’s got two for two with me now. I may have to track down his first film ‘A Bunch of Five’ after this. Anyway, this film’s about a convict whose robbery attempt went wrong and tells the story of his life after receiving parole and getting a job as a church organist. Excellent writing means that several opportunities to turn the story into a predictable yay-fest are kept well within check. A fine drama, and recommended.

THE COVE
6/10
This wasn’t initially on my list, but the producer is Jim Clark. A lot of Australians know him as the rich guy who married an Australian supermodel. I know him because he co-founded Netscape Communications, a company that I highly respected and was fortunate enough to work for in the late 1990s. I’d heard a rumour that Jim would be doing an intro/Q&A and really wanted to meet him so I booked in for the session. Unfortunately the rumour was incorrect, but I did get to chat briefly with the Director, who was friendly. Anyway, the film itself was quite good – It’s a documentary about a small Japanese town that is responsible for the slaughtering of thousands of dolphins each year, for no apparent good reason. As you can imagine, this is a little gruesome in some scenes and they did a pretty decent job telling the story. I think it was only a little bit too long, and the message was a bit cloudy – by the end, I was unsure whether I should have been angry that kids were being fed food with mercury levels well beyond safe levels, or the inhumane slaying of animals, or that the animals that are being slain don’t appear to be done so for good reason. That said, it needs to stop, and the fisherman and town leaders in the town of Taiji, Japan should be ashamed of themselves. It’s pretty disgusting too that the town of Broome in Western Australia is the sister city to this place. Please go to http://thecovemovie.com/ and watch the trailer. And if you want to do something about it, visit http://www.takepart.com/thecove to find out how. I’ll also add a The Cove gadget thing to the right hand column of this site if you’d like to sign the petition.

ANNA
6/10
Harmless musical television vehicle from the late 60s featuring Anna Karina and Serge Gainsbourg. Great fashion moments and mostly enjoyable, especially if you’re into 60s fashion. The number of girls with bob hairstyles was high at this event :).