lunes, 18 de octubre de 2010

Sin #77: Morelia Film Fest 2010

The Morelia Film Festival is celebrating its eighth year this October and I think it’s cause for celebration among Mexican cinephiles since year after year it delivers high quality productions from all over the world. I’ve felt an affinity to it from its very conception in 2003 even though I missed it that first year; I did, however, take my family on the year after and enjoyed some exceptional movies (like the fantastic documentary “Super Size Me”, the epic “Hero” and Richard Linklater’s brilliant sequel “Before Sunset”). The backdrop for the festival is a huge part of its appeal since the colonial city of Morelia is one beautiful place to visit.

The 2009 festival was personally outstanding since I stayed through its entire run (in about a week I saw 26 movies). The annual unveiling of the inauguration plate was performed that year by the great Quentin Tarantino, who was there to present his “Inglourious Basterds” (which was my favorite movie of the year). The eclectic selection ranged from the classics, like a print of “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre” (which is a wonderful movie), all the way to weirder gems like “Last Year in Marienblad” to more contemporary features like the indie “(500) Days of Summer” or the anime “Ponyo”. Every year they select a country as a special guest and 2009 brought a memorable collection of Rumanian films (like the delightful “12:08 East of Bucharest” and the exasperating and strangely haunting “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu”). The energy is always high in a festival like this (it needs to be for one to be able to sustain 4, or even 5, movies a day) and the mood turns to excitement thanks to the talented guests that sometime accompany the films (one of the best moments came with the screening of Francis Ford Coppola’s “Tetro”, which was shot in gorgeous digital high definition; afterwards, the cinematographer talked to us about the film and working with the famed director).

The 2010 Film Festival promises to yet again deliver with some very high profile movies for the more art-house sensibilities. Its opening picture is “Biutiful” from Alejandro Gonzalez Iñarritu and starring Javier Bardem who won the best actor award in the Cannes Film Festival. The unveiling of the plate was recently performed by Iñarritu and director Terry Gilliam (whose “The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus” was actually last year’s closing feature).

There are some great films this year; from the creative mischief of Edgar Wright’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. The World” and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse spin-off “Machete” to more offbeat works like the Palm d’Or winner “Uncle Boonmee Who can Recall his Past Lives” or Sofia Coppola’s latest “Somewhere” (which actually took the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and is the closing feature this year). There are also more commercial offerings like the acclaimed crime drama “The Town” and the posh romantic comedy “Tamara Drewe”. One of the most fascinating movies has to be Olivier Assayas’s “Carlos” about the famous Venezuelan terrorist; the festival is screening the complete 330 minute version in what is sure to be an interesting experience.

The Morelia Film Festival is a great experience for movie lovers. To learn more about it you can visit its official website at: http://www.moreliafilmfest.com/

domingo, 10 de octubre de 2010

Sin #76: A History of Porn

“Cinema history is the history of boys photographing girls”

Jean-Luc Godard


The history of pornography mirrors the history of photography and cinema; one could almost argue that it has been instrumental in defining both arts, technically and artistically. The first erotic pictures came commercially around 1845 and featured heterosexual and lesbian sex (around those days male homosexuality was actually a crime). Around the 1870’s “postcard porn” was invented and in the following decades became hugely popular all around Europe. Of course pornography has always been a victim of censorship by groups of so-called moralists (at the beginning of the 19th century there was actually a task force in Britain to fight porn). Today there are age limits and laws that control its content.

With the invention of cinema, pornography took on quite a more radical type of frenzy. There were special theaters where movies were screened and several sub-genres began to emerge (porn based on voyeurisms, fetishes, races, etc.). Once home entertainment was reached, porn became a multimillion-dollar industry.

The seventies were a defining decade for the adult industry and they are wonderfully chronicled in Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Boogie Nights”, a mesmerizing mosaic of the people working in and around porn. We meet a young waiter who becomes a porn actor (with the provocative name of Dirk Diggler), the hotshot director, the veteran actress and the crew who all make for an unusual family of sorts. “Boogie Nights” is set on the near horizon of videocassettes which enabled customers to view pornography from their homes and also resulted in the birth of amateur video porn (which since has taken its full potential in our internet age). The movie is filled with terrific performances all around (especially from Mark Wahlberg who gained respect as an actor; before he was a hip-hop star).

Technology has defined porn and, in a way, porn has defined technology. In the “war of the formats” (VHS vs. Beta, Laser Disc, vs. DVD, HD DVD vs. Blu-Ray) it has become a deciding factor. Now that 3D has had a sort of renaissance with the popularity of movies like “Avatar” and “Alice in Wonderland”, porn movies are being shot in 3D (the first movie is a Chinese production called “3D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy” due for release in May 2011).

Pornography is often seen as a controversial subject, especially from a religious and political viewpoint. For ordinary citizens it’s more of a casual activity (for writer Salman Rushdie it is vital to the freedom in society). Wikipedia claims that more than 70% of men from ages 18 to 34 visit a pornographic site in a typical month.

There’s a funny independent movie called “Humpday” about two friends who decide to make a porn video as a part of a local festival held in their town (it stars Joshua Leonard, from “The Blair Witch Project”). The situation is funny but the movie is actually heartwarming and true, and it enlightens on issues of marriage, friendship and sex (it’s in no way morbid about its subject). While politicians gamble on shaky values and moral hypocrisy, society needs to wake up to the needs of human nature and accept its dispositions; it’s an integral part of protecting our freedom of speech.

sábado, 2 de octubre de 2010

Sin #75: Monsieur Jeunet

I’ve never been to Paris but I know about the city mostly through the eyes of the artists who have filled my head with their own wishful view; in a way I think Paris has really been defined by its visitors and fuelled by their own romantic notions. Like Baz Luhrmann’s take on the Moulin Rouge which bears little resemblance with the actual club but certainly represents its vigor and unabashed energy.

For me Paris is a Jean- Pierre Jeunet movie. I can close my eyes and imagine the subway gate opening and Amelie walking by with her big, wide eyes and bubbly smile. The color palette is a warm mixture of yellows and greens and the people are always enthusiastic and slightly eccentric individuals, who have a tender and sad side to keep them company.

My first encounter with the marvelous world of this filmmaker came with the strange “The City of Lost Children” which is a warped and bizarre sci-fi fantasy with some astonishing imagery (his debut film was “Delicatessen”, about a family of cannibals). I loved the tone of the movie but felt a little cold with its themes, as if some warmth was missing from the picture. Warmth came in spades with “Amelie”, which became an international hit and made a star out of Audrey Tatou. The movie is a sweet fairy tale in which our heroine basically uses her endless charm to lift the spirits of the people around her; she also finds love in the process. Audiences fell in love with the film, and also with its whimsical and melodious soundtrack by composer Yann Tiersen (who also made the memorable soundtrack for the German film “Goodbye, Lenin”).

Tatou and Jeunet collaborated once more with “A Very Long Engagement”. An online reviewer called it: “Amelie meets Saving Private Ryan”, which isn’t really a fair statement. The movie isn’t as whimsical as “Amelie” and nowhere near as violent as “Saving Private Ryan”, and while the former had certainly a romantic flavor, “A Very Long Engagement” is a fully explored romance. Here is a film that isn’t for cynics. I confess I felt completely in love with its unabashed lyricism.

Jeunet’s most recent venture is titled “Micmacs” which is all about the whimsy and crazy lives of a group of misfits. The film is so chock full of invention that many will find it a case of “too much of a good thing”. But I believe that too much of Jeunet’s wild imagination is a lot better than 90% of what Hollywood releases every year. There’s always a sense of youthful invention in every one of his movies.

Of late, Jeunet was developing his own adaptation of Yann Martel’s astonishing book “The Life of Pi” but the project never came together, mainly because it’s a harrowing story that requires a lot of special effects for it to be remotely believable (and even though it features a young protagonist, the novel is far from a feel-good children’s parable). Jeunet vision might have been gripping but his only Hollywood film was poorly received (that would be “Alien: Resurrection”, the fourth installment in the series that had its moments but was ultimately deemed unnecessary).

Jeunet is one of the few director’s whose own brilliant style almost because its own substance. All his characters exist in a meta-reality where love and childhood innocence trumps the forces of evil. He seems to be making stories about dreamers and how they ought to stick together in order to survive (like the quirky loons of “Micmacs” living in the sewers along with their offbeat inventions).