The Inside Reel

The brevity of the AFI Film Festival in essence creates the aspect of times of what the programming dictates. When something is working in visceral quality you can get a snapshot working at high speed. On the opening night of the 2009 Festival, despite a parred down quarry maintained at the Mann Chinese Complex at Hollywood & Highland, the progression showed a diversity, both apparent and not.

Room & A Half Forsaking the Opening Night Gala of “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” (which was already experienced and interviewed in full Anderson/Schwartzman style earlier in the week), the key of art returns in this Russian film, made by one of the pillars of Soviet animation during the cold block era. Granted this being his first foray into live action, there are rough edges but there at times are more than a few comparisons to Terry Gilliam, “Brazil” and “The Wall”. The initial first half of the picture leading towards the end of the second act is the best as it is the most lyrical. While some of the aspects, like the animated floating instruments, seem too “video artist”, the chalk type drawings and requisite cat and crow sketches in motion are quite visionary as is the use of film stocks to look extremely dated yet you know in specificity (especially with one repeating ending shot) that they were distinctly shot in the same predilection. The loss of time is what makes the possibility of intent truly influential. The latter half of the picture by contrast seems too indulgent simply because the personage of Brodsky seems to be waning from what he wants to be seen as and his perceptions of his own life. Despite this, the director has a vision of simplistic metaphors that rings through with lurid intepretations of the realization of death versus life.

Fantastic Mr. Fox After Party – Roosevelt Hotel Entering into the blossoming ballroom, empty and inviting with a sense of want, the flowing of Stella Artois begins in earnest despite a quiet interaction before the storm. The film itself, seen prior days before, is populated in earnest by film-turned-voice actors playing a thought process in motion. Director Wes Anderson employed a more live action technique by which to get his performances. He had the cast come up to his place in Connecticut where they recorded the dialogue in a farm surrounding which undeniably gave the film its structure in terms of feeling. Anderson uses the example of George Clooney as a person who has such emotional perception purely in his voice that it automatically lends itself to the animation genre in excess. As the room starts to fill up, the talk shifts to general film festival elements as the patrons swirl. This is a much more democratic film festival this year with the tickets for a lot of the films being given away for free on a first come basis. As the food revolves with a heavy chocolate ice cream cake rich to the core, the thought keys back into movies. Time is short. Sliding out the party entrance, Bill Murray, who voices a badger lawyer to Clooney’s entrepenuer fox, glances around as the twinkle of the purple lobby lights float through the shadows.

Everyone Else Arriving back at the Mann Chinese, this German film takes into account the perception of the new wave as experienced post modern. As explained in a later thought by one of the producers, the aspect of film financing in Germany works on a different perception than American indies since a lot of the films made in German language are created through the country’s film fund. However he does agree that making more independently minded fare is more challenging even in this scenario. He recognizes and points out though that the key is the community since most of the graduates from the State Film School help personify the others’ projects. This specific tome follows a couple on summer holiday in Sardinia. He is an architect. She is a freelance publicist for a music label on leave. She is her own individual, odd in some aspects who simply wants to adhere to her own ideala. She says things at the wrong time and doesn’t bow to the standard of pleasing others as her boyfriend does. She simply wants to exist in her own private world. This comes into question when a boisterous colleague and his doting but seemingly airy girlfriend influx themselves into the quiet couple’s life seemingly taking the boyfriend’s interest away from her with the possibility of a job (since the economy is taking a toll everywhere). The girlfriend is scared of the dark yet she is very independent. When she hears a song, the sentimentality is there but she admits it only relatively. The strength of the film is the lead actress because her character is allowed to breathe. One section has the intruding couple turning on music in a bonus room on top of the house. There is a simply subtle eye contact between the two leads which says too much. The ending and its possibility are rather ambiguous and formulaic but it is played with a slight darkness which gives it some lingering power.

Modus Operandi This film, which I was unable to see in Cinevegas (which unfortunately now has gone on indefinite hiatus), is a mishmash of a distinction of different ideas that run in congruence with the exploitation films of the early 70s. While there is the ode to the spy movies and sex romps, it figures into more sardonic humor in the long run in terms of something like “Kentucky Fried Movie” or “Amazon Women On The Moon”. It is one of those movies, much like “Viva” (also at AFI Fest a couple years ago), that seems to be made by sheer force of will. Frankie Latina, who directs and has a small role as “The Red Fox” is a lover of movies for sure and says that the movie was made for the cost of a cheap foreign import car which would put it around, at most, $55,000. However, there are times where you just can’t believe some of the stuff he pulled off. He had his DP shoot on the streets of Taipei and Tokyo. The lack of permits and what he did at times gives the film extraordinary production value even though Latina says that it was primarily shot on Super 8 MOS. All the dialogue was added in later. The racous nudity at times boggles the mind but in Milwaukee, obviously anything is possible. At times the viewer spends his (or her time – as I witnessed) looking at the screen going “What The Hell!?” but that is part of its charm. The prospects for distribution are indeed low because of the sheer scitzophrenic nature of the production but it shows the wherewithall of this fairly young guy who is not overwrought or egotisctical with big money people. The film took him four years to make and seemed to shift in mode depending on when he shot it. “Modus” is one of those great messes to watches sheerly for its audacity and risks. During one shoot out where Latina as “The Red Fox” goes nuts, the incumbent chaos is just what the doctor ordered.

The AFI Fest Opening Night was done in brief before the on-call sent your intrepid narrator across the Pacific. The key diversity in what was seen was the embracement of the abstract. The festival accepted less movies this year with obviously a structured base to fill a more direct aspect of audience enjoyment. While the art was still too much for some, to hear the applause at 1am of an audience getting into “Modus Operandi” shows that something is going right.