Some quick film festival blogging....
Control Room
A must see documentary that details the events inside the Al-Jazeera media organisation during March-May 2003. The journalists at Al-Jazeera are obviously conflicted with the war and their role in its reporting, but still attempt to do their job as fairly as possible. They are also very conscious of the absurdity and tragedy of the whole situation, and the shock and despair on their faces when US tanks enter Bagdahd is palpable. The film floats around the US military media centre during the months of 'major military operations', and there is a stark comparison between Al-Jazeera and the western media outlets (although CNN comes across well). It is interesting to see a US military media spokesman, an obviously intelligent man, gradually transform from a dogmatic parrot at the inception of the war to a more reflective, doubting soldier who begins to realise the power of information, perception and propaganda by the film's close. Control Room drips with irony, especially given recent events, as seeing Rumsfeld proclaim that 'truth eventually finds its way out' is an absolute hoot.
Porco Rosso
An earlier Miyazaki film (Spirited Away) for those not familiar, Porco Rosso is a wonderful, fantastical and whimsical film of a dashing aviator in the late 20s Mediterranean who just happens to be a pig. Cue pig/flying jokes. The animation is startling, with beautiful flying sequences and great attention to detail as Porco Rosso despatches air pirates. Some great fascist satire is worked into the film, as well as a moment that is, well almost transcendant (I won`t spoil it). Only a small tonal lapse in a scene near the end took the edge off of what is a brilliant, elegant and very funny film.
Animation Now!
A staple of my festival program for years, this year the collection was a very good one indeed. Featuring Harvie Krumpet, the Australian animation that won the Oscar this year (very good) and Pearl, Florrie and the Bull, a sweet NZ animation that seemed straight out of the School Journal . However the highlights for me were Flux, which distilled the essence of the circle of life into a very clever 8 minutes of inkblots that warp time and space, and an Estonian film Instinct, which was a highly imaginative, whimiscal, yet twisted creation fable, with some fantastic claymation.
A must see documentary that details the events inside the Al-Jazeera media organisation during March-May 2003. The journalists at Al-Jazeera are obviously conflicted with the war and their role in its reporting, but still attempt to do their job as fairly as possible. They are also very conscious of the absurdity and tragedy of the whole situation, and the shock and despair on their faces when US tanks enter Bagdahd is palpable. The film floats around the US military media centre during the months of 'major military operations', and there is a stark comparison between Al-Jazeera and the western media outlets (although CNN comes across well). It is interesting to see a US military media spokesman, an obviously intelligent man, gradually transform from a dogmatic parrot at the inception of the war to a more reflective, doubting soldier who begins to realise the power of information, perception and propaganda by the film's close. Control Room drips with irony, especially given recent events, as seeing Rumsfeld proclaim that 'truth eventually finds its way out' is an absolute hoot.
Porco Rosso
An earlier Miyazaki film (Spirited Away) for those not familiar, Porco Rosso is a wonderful, fantastical and whimsical film of a dashing aviator in the late 20s Mediterranean who just happens to be a pig. Cue pig/flying jokes. The animation is startling, with beautiful flying sequences and great attention to detail as Porco Rosso despatches air pirates. Some great fascist satire is worked into the film, as well as a moment that is, well almost transcendant (I won`t spoil it). Only a small tonal lapse in a scene near the end took the edge off of what is a brilliant, elegant and very funny film.
Animation Now!
A staple of my festival program for years, this year the collection was a very good one indeed. Featuring Harvie Krumpet, the Australian animation that won the Oscar this year (very good) and Pearl, Florrie and the Bull, a sweet NZ animation that seemed straight out of the School Journal . However the highlights for me were Flux, which distilled the essence of the circle of life into a very clever 8 minutes of inkblots that warp time and space, and an Estonian film Instinct, which was a highly imaginative, whimiscal, yet twisted creation fable, with some fantastic claymation.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home