August 11, 2012
rest of the fest
used up the rest of my 10-trip on:
Existence
Low budget post-apocalyptic sci-fi filmed in Makara. Slow, atmospheric, better than I would have expected. At times the lack of budget was palpable – had randomly caught part of a Q&A with the director on another day, and the difficulties they had in filming made sense in the final result – and much that was left ambiguous felt like budget concerns, but on the whole cool, and well worth a look. Good proof of concept that you can make a decent low end SF film here.
Sound Of My Voice
I think I am basically in love with Brit Marling, co-writer, producer and star of this film. Gorgeous, talented and smart, and into making awesome lo fi metaphysical science fiction movies. Yes, please.
Tighter and more ambitious than her excellent previous outing (Another Earth), SOMV is a really smart tale of a young couple infiltrating a cult headed by someone who claims to come from the future. All is not what it appears in the film, and all the unanswered questions are implicit and damn clever. Both films are extremely emotionally smart, and focus mostly on the character’s emotional journeys and decisions, which grants the films’s strength and grounding. Hugely recommended, and inspiring in terms of what you can do with good ideas and writing rather than special effects.
Holy Motors
WTF. Possibly the weirdest film I have ever seen, certainly the most expensive weirdest film. I have no idea what it was trying to communicate, if anything. Sections of it are amazing, and really fun; it looks amazing, and most of the performances are really good, and the lead is certainly a very talented physical actor. But overall I found it very disengaging and distancing, and I really have no idea what I just watched. Uber-french-art-house-madness, genuinely surreal and incomprehensible. (The gist, briefly, is a guy travels around in a stretch limo going to various appointments which require him to dress and act differently and perform different roles. Exactly why, or even the reality or otherwise of any of what is happening, is never really nailed down.)
Filed by billy at 7:53 pm under culture
2 Comments
Steve tells me that Sound of My Voice started as a web series, and that they did not intend it to end where it did. Brit Marling confirms this in interviews – she wants to make two direct sequels.
That makes sense: the short chapter structure seemed a bit random.
Yay sequels.