The Sword Identity Review TIFF 2011 (Wo kou de zong ji)

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The Sword Identity is the debut film from director Xu Haofeng. At first glance this film looked like a typical historical martial arts film, with plenty of action, but on closer inspection The Sword Identity seemed like it could be a very unique film. The multi-talented Xu has drawn on his knowledge of martial arts, Taoism and Chinese culture to create something more than a martial arts film. Xu gives the audience a look at the internal aspect of martial arts and the people who dedicate their lives to a technique, while shying away from the external aspect of martial arts, the actual fighting, which audiences should already be very familiar with.

The film tells the story of two wanderers in Southern China, seeking to prove their technique in the city of Guancheng. Within the city walls, four families, each with a martial arts school, mistake the wanderers for Japanese pirates, due to the unusually long swords the wanderers are carrying. The wanderers are not given a chance to prove the worth of their technique, but are driven away. During the conflict, one of the wanderers is taken captive, while the other takes shelter in a house boat, and defends it from the city’s soldiers using his superior technique.

Visually, The Sword Identity is a beautiful film. Vistas of mountains seen through rows of trees, expanses of wetlands and even the river running through the city of Guancheng are a pleasure to behold. The cinematography has a very unique feel to it and aside from the action scenes, I would say that it is a big part of the film’s charm. Also, a lot of time must have been spent designing the lovely period costumes that adorn the characters. Unfortunately, the action sequences in the film are a bit of a snooze-fest. I understand that action may have not been the primary goal of the film, far from it, but when the 10th or so character gets bopped on the head with a stick and falls down unconscious, it is hard not to groan. One of the more interesting aspects of the action are the sequences in which characters imagine how they will go about winning a fight before they make a move. I could certainly see this technique being lifted from The Sword Identity by future martial arts films.

The story of the film has a few strong points, but ultimately wasn’t as interesting as I hoped it would be. As I have said already, the focus is on the internal aspect of martial arts, rather than the physical techniques that win fights. Anyone that sits down to watch this hoping for action will be sorely disappointed. The traditional fighting certainly has some interesting qualities, but at times looks like a fight broke out at some sort of ninja retirement home. The story is definitely more philosophical and cerebral, but even as I experienced this side of The Sword Identity it still felt like something was lacking. The characters are often unpredictable, because not enough time has been taken to introduce them to the audience. Aside from the main character and the coast guard Captain, who was quite funny, I didn’t really feel like investing any time in these characters.

The visuals are great at times and attention to detail really makes this feel like a period piece, however there are too many issues with The Sword Identity to make it an enjoyable viewing experience from start to finish. I don’t think I would recommend The Sword Identity, however, since it is a debut film and there were some positives, I will be looking out for the next project by Xu Haofeng.

Smuggler Review TIFF 2011 (Sumagurâ: Omae no mirai o erabe)

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Katsuhito Ishii’s Smuggler got off to a strange start at Midnight Madness. For one, the print of the film had not arrived by midnight and the rowdy MM audience got some extended burn with the beach ball that is normally bounced around the seats before the show. The film ended up starting at 1am, a full hour late, but was prefaced by an unexpected standup comedy performance from one of the ticket holders. Comedian Bobcat Goldthwait, the director of god bless america, saved the day by entertaining the audience during the delay and even though I had some reservations about his film, I have to admit that the man is funny as hell. It was a pleasure to be present for his impromptu performance.

When it was finally time for Ishii to introduce the film, he was bouncing back and forth on the stage in either excitement, nervousness, or both. He was up on stage for a good minute, but I’m not even sure if he said ten words. If the time spent in my seat, waiting for Smuggler to start, could be called weird, then the actual content of the film was downright insane.

Smuggler is about a young compulsive gambler named Kinuta (Satoshi Tsumabuki) who gets wrongly trapped with an enormous debt from Yakuza members. Kinuta used to be an aspiring actor, but with his new found debt, he is forced to take any job that comes his way. What at first seems like a garbage hauling job, is actually a job transporting mutilated bodies from bloody Yakuza hits. Unfortunately for Kinuta, the nature of his new employment causes him to cross paths with two of the underworld’s deadliest killers, vertebrae (Masanobu Andô) and viscera.

To say that the style of Smuggler is unique would be a massive understatement. I have never seen any of Ishii ‘s other films (Shark Skin Man and Peach Hip Girl, The Taste of Tea and Funky Forest: The First Contact, to name a few), but going by their names and the reaction of his fans during the screening, I’m sure that Smuggler was ‘normal’ Ishii. I don’t even know where to begin when it comes to describing the actual content of the film. Very cool slow motion action sequences were combined with inordinate amounts of saliva flying out of the mouths of combatants. Violent torture sequences were carried out by a villain in a ridiculous costume, what looked like a diaper and half a marching band uniform. Finally, the dialogue can feel very serious at times and completely ridiculous at others. All of these factors, and others, make Smuggler an interesting experience, but one in which I felt I was missing out on most of the jokes.

I’m not sure if my inability to understand many of the jokes was a result of my limited experience with Ishii films, or if it was a cultural humour that was somewhat lost in translation. Regardless of the reason, I will be going back in Ishii’s filmography to see what I have been missing. Perhaps later I will be able to revisit Smuggler and form some sort of opinion, but until then, I do not have anything too positive or too negative to say about the film. Although, I think that Ishii fans should flock to see Smuggler, as some audience members were laughing hysterically throughout the entire film.

 

388 Arletta Avenue Review (TIFF 2011)

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Randall Cole’s 388 Arletta Avenue was probably the most ‘experimental’ film I decided to see this year at TIFF. Experimental in the sense that every single shot in the film was from a handheld or surveillance camera. I normally wouldn’t pop a film like this into my DVD player at home, but at TIFF I was really trying to do the festival properly, and that called for me to watch something outside of my comfort zone. Arletta Ave. turned out to be an interesting film, however a few bumps along the way prevented it from being a completely enjoyable experience.

388 Arletta Avenue doesn’t start off subtly, it’s kind of the point. The house that James (Nick Stahl) and Amy (Mia Krishner) live in is under surveillance by an unknown person. Unknown to the viewers and unknown to James and Amy. Initially the story progresses quickly, as harmless, although creepy, surveillance turns into breaking and entering. The intruder wires the couple’s entire home with cameras and begins to surreptitiously meddle with their already rocky relationship. When Amy disappears, it’s not clear to James or the audience whether she has simply left him or if something more sinister has happened to her. James must battle his own paranoia while trying to find Amy and get to the source of the weird occurrences that have been happening in and around their home.

SPOILERS

The most successful part about Arletta Ave. is probably the downward spiral of James into a state of paranoia and the convincing performance given by Stahl. Some clever scenes contain pranks that would be sure to turn anyone into a gibbering mess if they were left unresolved. For example, a mix CD appears in James’ car, full of songs that he doesn’t like, and then the same songs subsequently appear on his desktop computer at home, with no explicable explanation as to how they got there. On another occasion, James comes home from work one day to discover that someone has replaced his cat with a near identical animal that hisses every time he gets too close. Unfortunately, these same pranks lead to the film’s downfall.

After a while, Arletta Ave. begins to feel like a string of pranks and James’ reactions to them. At no point does Arletta Ave. really draw the viewer into an absorbing narrative. Rather, Cole seems content to place the audience in the role of the voyeur, which is naturally thrilling at times, but rather dull at others. Also, the ending portion of the film does not deliver as forcefully as I’m sure it was intended to. In fact, the conclusion feels like a bit of a cop-out. During the Q&A Cole said that his goal at the finale was ambiguity. However, 388 Arletta Avenue feels like it uses ambiguity as a fallback rather than because it provides the most effective ending (I found the same to be true of the film Lovely Molly).

The film works well as an experimental piece, illustrating how intrusive recording technology has become. However, on the thriller level Arletta Ave. never really lets the audience in or endears the characters to them. The final segment doesn’t feel like it fits with the rest of the film and the ending will leave some viewers a little angry. However, I still think that Arletta Ave. is worth a watch if you feel like something different. It is definitely more of a unique experience than an actual story.

TIFF Wrap-up

TIFF may be over, but luckily for readers I couldn’t keep up with frantically running around to screenings (most at midnight), eating, sleeping and reviewing. As a result there will be some delayed TIFF content over the next few days. Definitely some reviews, the best and worst of the festival (in terms of the films I saw) and some closing thoughts.

Check back over the next few days.

The Day – Post-apocalyptic action from Douglas Aarniokoski

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I wanted to like Douglas Aarniokoski’s The Day, I really did. The stills looked awesome. The action promised to take place almost solely at an abandoned farm house, and regular readers will know that I absolutely LOVE films that use a single location effectively. The film also had a few big names in the cast and an all Canadian crew, what’s not to like? Quite a bit, it turns out. The Day is a generic post-apocalyptic film that holds its cards very close to the chest until the final scenes, at which point it is too little too late.

SPOILERS

The film tells the story of a group of five survivors (Shawn Ashmore, Ashley Bell, Cory Hardrict, Dominic Monaghan and Shannyn Sossamon) on the run from an unknown enemy. The earth they traverse is a dead world that doesn’t even seem to be populated by small furry animals any longer, let alone other human beings. An illness of one of the survivors forces the group to take refuge in a desolate farm house for the night. Internal conflicts begin to eat at the group from the inside, while a siege of the farmhouse threatens to destroy them from the outside. Unfortunately, this interesting premise turned into an exercise in patience, as I waited for the group of survivors to die and the credits to roll.

I feel bad being hard on this film because it was clearly a labour of love for some, director Aarniokoski for example, but was not taken nearly as seriously by others, Shannyn Sossamon and writer Luke Passmore in particular. The acting in The Day was inconsistent throughout the entire film. What I’m sure was supposed to be the lack of hope that comes with a post-apocalyptic world, came across as an absurd calm in the actors that was comical at times. Sossamon’s lines in particular sounded like they were from a screen test. She should have just joined the rest of the cast and crew via Skype during filming, I’m sure it would have been just as effective. However, the real culprit behind the ineffectiveness of The Day was the script.

The intriguing set up and ingenious trap at the beginning of the film are completely wasted, as the script completely falls apart when the central characters must meaningfully interact. Relationships and allegiances change at the drop of a dime, profanity is exchanged to simply fill the silence, there are an inordinate number of pointy sticks used as weapons in the film, and the token black guy delivers stereotypical lines. However, these aren’t even the most enraging aspects of the script.

Ammo conservation is a constant topic between the characters, after all, where are they going to get more? Then why o’ why do two of the main characters unload their last 4-5 shots into a group of harmless baddies that have gotten stuck in the basement of the farmhouse, when there are plenty of armed baddies still outside? Have they never played Resident Evil before? Conserve your damn ammo or you’re dead! At the same time, maybe they are aware of the importance of ammo, at least if they were it would explain why the main characters never miss a shot with their guns! One maddening scene in particular has a feverish Cory Hardrict seeing in blurry double vision, yet he still manages to pull off what seems like three head-shots in rapid succession. Add to this a cowardly lead villain that is probably afraid of his own shadow, hence his reluctance to attack the heroes himself, and you have a script that should have been lucky to be considered a first draft.

Finally, I do actually have some good things to day about The Day. The colour palette and set design of the film are appropriately bleak and manage to absorb the viewer into the deserted world. Also, the action at the finale is quite good and shows what the special effects crew and Aarniokoski are capable of. It is unfortunate that they waited until the end as it may have made the script more tolerable if these accomplished action scenes and effects were scattered throughout the film.

If you are a fan of post-apocalyptic films then you may enjoy The Day. In particular fans who vehemently defend post-apocalyptic films, while being impervious to reason and other points of view should love it. If on the other hand you merely dabble in post-apocalyptic films, like myself, then steer clear of this one and go watch Road Warrior or play Fallout 3 to get your fix.