#lff2021

The film event I've been waiting for every year is on the corner.

Off tomorrow to the BFI London Film Festival for the 7th year!

Alarms on, new notebook, camera and battery charged, ready for the 5.40 am train to London!

For the first day, we will have the pleasure to discover The Harder They Fall by Jeymes Samuel with Idris Elba, Regina King, Jonathan Majors, LaKeith Stanfield.

For our second day, we will be watching the highly expected Spencer from Pablo Larraín (Jackie, Ema), Bergman Island from Mia Hansen-Løve (Things to come, Eden), and Red Rocket by Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project).

Reviews to come.

So I attended #LFF2023 , the most films I have ever watched during the festival, but I haven't posted at all I think since then.

Considering I have continued watching films from the last festival and from #LFF2022 and even #LFF2021 I think I have to put a comment out there before restarting my musings (if anything to put a marker in this silly attempt of mine).

First of all I resigned from my job prior to the film festival, I reckoned that would give me time to write my summaries, but I was also moving home.... to a new country.

Now in hindsight it was silly to think I would have any time left to write, but hey, live and learn, most days I made it home after having watched films for 10-12 hours solid while in the morning I was aceing it on Ebay selling my stuff (from UK cables to an electronic piano), the most puzzling sale was a toaster that can prepare a full English breakfast that went up in price as if it was an antique (maybe it was? I feel old).

I have watched probably 40-50 films since #LFF2023 ended, most in London that were shown in one of the 3 festivals I am pursuing but also others that couldn't be overlooked (Barbie, Oppenheimer, "Godzilla minus one" of those I remember now) plus the odd mediocrity of a film on Mexican TV (more below) or intercontinental flights' cabin entertainment.

So by December with the move out of the way, happily relocated to my new home, thinking I was roaring to go, I got a call (in Whatsapp as it happens nowadays for urgent matters) about my mum's health, 3 days later I was back home across the Atlantic (during the flight dI watched 3 #LFF2021 films that I found in Google TV) and from then on I was providing care 24x7 while a permanent solution was found, not easy during the holiday season. I am happy to report I watched 3 more #LFF films during a few idle moments as well as a few my mum caught while channel surfing (some Mexican films I didn't even know that existed, plus some old time classics), but that was about it, caring for an elderly adult is a back breaking task but I was privileged to be able to help my mum at a time of great need, although distress was always just around the corner.

Now that we have organised the care needed by my mum and safely back home (and having watched around 6 #LFF2023's films on cinemas since my return) I want to continue this effort of mine.

Summary: a couple try to get together but a spell that changes who they are gets in the way. And we watch some dogs watching football.

Plot and musings: one could be forgiven for thinking I hated the film given my curt summary, but I think the plot is really that simple, and there lies the beauty of this Georgian film, it takes a simple premise of boy meets girl and it runs with it through magic, football, cinema, history, community and one thousand and one things that makes it feel live and relevant, the film's great ambitions are often its greatest obstacle, sometimes it becomes meandering, unfocussed and at one or two points I got completely lost about where the film was going, it is a long film, so this mandering quality may prove too much for some, I survived and I am glad that I managed but also glad when it was all over.

So first things first, the film starts in front of a school just seeing children coming and going, finally the scene quiet down and see a man and a woman hurriedly clashing with each other, apologising and moving on with life, at this point the film starts to get interesting, we follow these characters for the rest of their lives on that day by daring editing, switching back and forth between the both of them, it is unsubtle (one gets it, these two haven't seen the end of each other) but it works well, the man, Giorgi, is a footballer and the woman, Lisa, is a pharmacist, by the time the night comes we have seen enough of them to pique our interest.

Our characters meet again in similar circumstances in front of the school, but this time they grab the moment and set a date, something strange is going on with a seedling, water and a security camera (honestly, it is in my notes, but I don't remember what) but during this period a spell has benn cat on the couple. We watch them again for the rest of their dates with the same back and forth editing technique and we end this sequence with them asleep again.

Later on a friend of Lisa, Maya, comes to see her and hears from her about the spell ( they will change appearance and won't recognise each other), Maya, clearly an expert in the topic, gives Lisa some stones to protect her from the spell, shortly after the film tells us to close our eyes, to which I declined :-) , but as soon as we are told to open them we see a new Lisa and a new Georgi where the original ones were, Maya sees the new Lisa and first thing asks here her stones back ... :-D

Giorgi is the first to recognise in full what has happened, he tries to attend his regular training session but his teammates reject him outright not only because he isn't the same guy but also because he is hopeless at football, Lisa soon realises that she doesn't understand medical terms at all. so they are gone not only by losing their physical appearance but also by losing the main skill that defines how they make a living and live life (Giorgi is football mad in general).

In spite of this they persevere with attending the date they set up, but they are unable (undaring?) to find each other amongst a group of loud young partygoers, they worry about what may have happened to the other person ("when you love you worry" is said) but it never occurs to either of them tha the same fate could have applied to both of them, at the end of the day the loud group goes back home happy and our heroes go each back home alone.

Giorgi and Lisa clearly can't continue doing their jobs so they gravitate towards the coffee shop where they were supposed to meet and their luck starts to change, the owner is just setting shop and hires Lisa to wait tables and sets up a little scam with Georgi to bring clients to the place, so now they both work for the same man.

And now the film starts to do crazier things. We catch up with a film production team doing a film about couples, we see a bit about what they are doing without knowing why they are ther now or where this is going, throw a bit more confusion: the World Cup is starting, Giorgi supports Argentina and we get to know more about the fottball watching habits of the human and acnine inhabitants of Kutaisi, the little Georgian town where all the action is happening. Yeah, the dogs also watch football.

Amid all this confusion Lisa meets a Lela, recommended by Maya to break the spell, the witch, for lack of a better word, is a violin teacher in the music school :-)

At this point the film meanders (like the river in town, an unavoidable presence during the whole of the film) about where people watches football, our characters and their plots firmly kidnapped for quite a long time.

Then we see Giorgi watching children playing football, the film slows down and presents this street game as an heroic endeavour with a famous Italian song playing in the background, the dreamy sequence ends with the football ending in the river. This point is ceremoniously declared End of Part 1. WTF?

Part 2 then (you may now appreciate why I was so reluctant to write about this, it has been a long piece of work, but I have procrastinated it for several days slowing me down for quite a bit).

The police has finally got involved with the little scam of Giorgi to get clients and this forces him to work in the cafe premises so the new Giorgi and Lisa begin to see more of each other, Lisa now spends time baking Khachapuri (praise be, I got the name right).

Then our filmmakers make an act of presence in the coffee shop, they see Giorgi and Lisa and insist in taking pictures of them as a couple for their project in spite of them not being a couple, so they agree reluctantly and make a handsome harmonious pair.

At this point I noted that the film had "lost the plot", which may not be strictly true but it certainly felt confused and unfocussed, like an inexperienced Messi they found themselves alone vs the goalkeeper after a brilliant 1st part (their words, not mine) and they missed the open goal.

Now we are concentrating more in the film crew trying to make their film about couples, but it turns in a simple observation of Kutaisi's good folk, something pretty boring cinematographically speaking, after such a long time I started to feel really tired of this, then more football watching (or actually watching people and dogs watching football), finally they try to shoot their film and they mess up the media. Somehow they shoot their film. How uninteresting.

The last bit is very charming, it is the day of the world cup final and Lisa and Georgi are in very friendly terms after the filming, Lisa bids farewell and starts to head home and Giorgi initially makes for a place to watch the name but quickly changes his mind and offers to walk Lisa home, he misses the final but we have finally arrived to where we wanted to go.

After this the film is shown to the couples, my notes say "Lisa and Georgi are back", but I don't remember what this meant, I may watch that bit later to update this, but maybe not,it isn't that important since at then end they ended a couple anyway,

The films ends with a strange rant from a narrator deriding the fim and filmmaking only to defend both anyway. By this time I was sufficiently impressed and happy with the film but glad it was all over.

Rating: 4/5

Date: 1st December 2022

Venue: Curzon Bloomsbury

Yet another #LFF2021 viewing in a cinema screen proper in the same week, more than a year after the festival finished.

This film is truly bonkers, but in a good way, I’ll try to summarise but probably my summary won’t make justice to what I saw on screen.

Summary: bonkerstastic ,gender astute Rwandan film epic about the omnipresence of the internet in our lives (and many more themes, one of the most ambitious films of the festival).

Plot, with my attempt to do spoilers, but I think I missed lots of it.

The action starts in a mining site in which the workers are digging rhythmically for minerals , but one of them finds a pretty stone and gets entranced by it, it raises it like if it was a sacred thing but then one of the guards hits the raised stone with an axe-pick killing the man, Tekno, in the process, shortly after his distraught brother, Mata (short for Matalusa) approaches to get his body, but hang on, the guards are dressed in colourful garments as are the workers, so all of the sudden we see everybody dancing or playing drums at the tune of a catchy tune, this is a dreamy musical of sorts, but this is just the beginning and there is more to come.

Mata is consoled by the Pastor after the funeral, but once in his home the Pastor tries to kiss him, Mata defends himself beating the Pastor unconscious and has to flee his home.

In another dreamy scene university protestors against The Authority, are contained by pink clad heavily armed police officials.

Mata fall sleeps and has a revelatory dream in a techno heaven about hacking all kind of things, mostly social issues, this is delivered by dreamy characters with Sci-Fi looking stuff made out of junk.

At this point a new character is introduced, his name is Chana, he is flashily and impeccably  dressed and seems to be on a journey also, when he reaches a water crossing he boards a little boat and there he changes shoes choosing to wear leopard print high heels, we also see a red garment that he embraces lovingly to the puzzlement of women in the boat, dressed in traditional African garments.

On arrival to the other side of the crossing Chana joins children that are dancing but then he’s knocked down by a passing motorbike, this triggers yet another dream, not dissimilar from Mata's, in which he is challenged to be who he really wants to be, when Chana wakes up he is no longer a he but a gorgeous she, Chana has transformed in a woman that we will later know is Neptune.

Chana keeps on pilgrimage, she stops in a bar and is ravenous but has no money, she orders anyway and a slick man, Innocent, approaches to offer to pay her meal, asking her to “pay him” once they are outside of the bar,  Chana agrees, so after the bar they go to Innocent’s home, where they start to get intimate, but when Innocent reaches for Chana’s genital area he is startled by what is there which gives Chana the chance to run away.

After that episode  Chana meets Tekno, the young man killed at the beginning of this odyssey, they realise they find themselves in a new reality dimension created by war, Chana-Neptune learns about her origin when some villagers are reminded of her mother when they see her, finally Tekno, Mata and Neptune (no longer Chana) all meet in this alternative reality followed by the miners, students and other victims of The Authority, there is a big celebration once they are all together.

From this point the film descends into an apotheosis of singing, dancing, psychedelia where a name is given to this alternative place: Matalusa Kingdom.

I  will never be able to make justice to the above part of the film, the closest I can recall similar to this is perhaps The Magic Mountain from Jodorowsy, or any other of his bonkers films, this film is a kindred spirit in communion with that old master of psychedelic cinema.

Anyway amongst all this chaos the news come from  the original world that the internet has been hacked, this has been done by Neptune and Matalusa, there are other characters involved, one of them is a woman called Frost, in a celebratory all singing all dancing sequence sentences like “Terabytes in C major” and “Fuck Mr Google” are heard, the mainstream news initially blame China and Russia for the Internet hacking  but eventually it transpires that a hacker called “Martyloser King” is held responsible and they link him to the alternative reality where the victims of The Authority have found refuge.

The retaliation is swift, first The Authority sends the pink clad policeman to the alternative reality, which has now been named “Digitaria”, one of the police henchmen is Innocent, which happens to be brother of Frost, Innocent is asked to leave Digitaria but it transpires that he is another hero of the alternative reality, his name being Ultra Magnetic.

Finally Digitaria is bombed by forces of the real world and the party ends, the credits start to roll, but then they stop abruptly, we see Mata and Neptune in a passionate embrace, Neptune breaks the 4th wall, looks at us and shows us the middle finger.

Do you think my outline is bonkers? Believe me, I missed lots of details lost amongst the overload of stuff going on, it was great to watch such a daring, funny, inventive film.

Rating: 4.5/5

Date: 19 November 2022

Venue: Curzon Hackney

This is quite an interesting film ambiented in Costa Rica, which makes it a welcome viewing because we rarely get any films from that part of the world, it is shown and released in London more than a year after #LFF2021, better late than ever, but frankly I don't understand why the delay given the quality of the film.

Summary: saintly woman, which perhaps is just mentally ill, or both, comes of age in her late 30s with an all consuming sexual awakening.

Plot with may spoilers:

The plot develops in a small community in the middle of the jungle, people aren't rich but don't seem to have many wants, amongst them lives a woman, Clara, whose reputation as a healer channeling Virgin Mary ensures her family, led by her very old fashioned mother, Doña Fresia, has a little income from the miracles she performs (little things like curing cancer and the like).

Clara is clearly different, she is in her late 30s or early 40s, she walks with a slight unevenness and clumsiness which is explained in a shocking scene during which a health problem she has is dealt with swiftly by Doña Fresia, Clara has an ally in her niece, Maria, the daughter of her deceased sister, who is 14 and preparing for her big "quinceañera" party.

Clara talks in a way that leads one to presume she may have some learning or mental problem, but in reality she is very attuned to her surroundings, her horse, Yuca, doesn't do anything without Clara convincing her first, she talks to insects with an uncanny understanding, she predicts when it rains and in a scene it is implied that her emotions can create earthquakes.

We are being introduced to the complexities of this peculiar family when a handsome young man, Santiago, from a village close by, starts visiting the women's home to take Yuca to work for tourists and then back, he catches immediately Maria's eye, but unknown to everybody else Clara also starts to look at him with longing.

From this point Clara stops being the restrained solitary being she has been and starts to try new things: painting her lips, insisting in wearing nice dresses. like Maria's one for her big party, and, most explicitly, to explore her sexual urges, which embarrases her mum and Maria because she isn't shy about the matter.

Little by little Clara starts to get closer to Santiago, who is by no means attracted to her in the same way but he finds her endearing and interesting to talk to.

Clara in the other hand is clearly obsessed with him and this leads to events getting out of hand in very dramatic ways, but Santiago remains cooler and composed beyond his years, dealing with Clara's advances gently but unequivocally.

Clara is coming to hate her ongoing situation and all comes to a hasty reckoning when her beloved horse is being sold, she decides to push her away which leads to people claiming she may be dead in the jungle.

The final scene may shock religious people although it is portrayed as an accident, in any way it symbolises Clara finding her freedom.

Rating: 4/5

Date: 18 November 2022

Venue: ICA

So it is more than a year since #LFF2021 is over and this week 2 films shown on the festival were screened, let's forget about bus jokes for a second and celebrate this.

This film is being released as part of the inaugural Qisah International Film Festival in London and is a little gem of a film, it seems they have secured an UK film distribution and the film really deserves it.

Summary: a poor family fights against adversity with the hope to save the mother's life by paying for a life saving surgery.

Plot with lots of spoilers:

So it is more than a year since #LFF2021 is over and this week 2 films shown on the festival are released, let's forget about bus jokes for a second and celebrate this.

This film is being released as part of the inaugural Qisah International Film Festival in London and is a little gem of a film, it seems they have secured an UK film distribution and the film really deserves it.

So the action happens in Djibouti, most people could be forgiven for not knowing where this is, which makes the film even more precious since it gives us insights about the way of life of a small and little known country.

The plot revolves around a very poor family, the father, Guled, chases after ambulances, quite literally, in order to get jobs as a gravedigger, his wife Nasra, stays at home, perhaps not by choice since early in the film it is intimated that she is seriously sick, they have a boy, Mahad, who is rarely at home, he skips school, both religious and regular ones, and lives an erratic life in town fooling around with his friends coming home only to sleep.

Guled does as best as he can by Nasra, they are clearly besotted with each other and have fun crashing wedding parties and dancing the night away, but Nasra is very weak to enjoy even this small pleasure, since she is getting worse Guled asks their doctor about the situation (here we learn that Nasra has a kidney abscess that will kill her unless treated) and she says that surgery is the only solution, but at a hefty US$5000 this is completely out of their means, although a cheaper option presents itself when it is announced that and anesthetist is visiting town and the surgery could be done locally.

From this point Guled and Mahad embark on quests of their own, Guled decides to return to his village, where they both are hated because they eloped without consent, he intends to reclaim his part of the goats herd that used to belong to him with the hope to sell it to pay for the surgery, Mahad in the other hand is overcome by love for his mother and sets himself to earn money any way he can.

Unfortunately the end of the film is a bit rushed and many things that require explanation are resolved unsatisfactorily, the film makes for this with numerous moments of humour and comedy, although it doesn't lose its rough edge given the nature of the situation.

Something of note is how handsome the actors are, Omar Abdi playing Guled is quite convincing as the downtrodden poor man, but Yasmin Warsame (look her up) is absolutely stunning and all the traps of fake poverty couldn't entirely hide the fact that she is a supermodel :-O , never mind this, she plays her role with conviction and commitment.

Rating: 4/5

Date: 16 November 2022

Venue: Kiln Cinema

Jeremy Thomas? Who is him?

Well, he got his Oscar for producing "The Last Emperor", that is who he is, other films for which he was the driving force: Bad Timing, Crash, Fast Food Nation, The Hit, The sheltering sky, 13 Assassins, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence, Only lovers left alive, Eureka, Yeelen, The Dreamers, First Love, Kon-Tiki, Bad Timing, A dangerous method, Sexy Beast, it is fair to say he can be very happy with his career having had at least one relevant film every decade since he has been active and many more that are well regarded by critics and the public.

So the film follows him on his pilgrimage to Cannes to promote a Japanese film he produced, he is a petrolhead so he drives there from the UK and the single man band of a documentary maker latches to him as far and as long as he can, which at the end includes part of Thomas' engagements in Cannes until he can't follow him any longer (we watch the new film presentation as any other nobody Joe in the theatre).

Thomas is received like royalty, he is clearly well known, but he is very self deprecating, moving around Cannes by bicycle, dressed like any other old man.

The film is structured around 6 chapters dealing with Cars, Sex, Politics, Death, Cannes and Endings, they give us a good picture of Thomas and explores interesting ideas about what drives him, for example it is interesting to know he was behind films as dissimilar as The Last Emperor, Crash or Fast Food Nation, although a good picture of the man is presented I think the portrayal was superficial and, perhaps inevitably, incomplete.

The storms of the tile refer to storms of ideas, it is mentioned in passing during the film and given the eclectic nature of the films in which Mr Thomas has been involved, the title seems justified.

I don't know, some ultra niche films are really fetching, this one wasn't particularly enticing to me, if you are a fan of any of the films mentioned you may find interesting to look into the man behind the feat.

Rating: 3/5

Date: 25 October 2022

Venue: Sky Cinema streaming.