#miff 2019

[pynkhues]

MIFF 2019: 05/13 - Portrait of a Lady on Fire (France. Dir: Céline Sciamma)

Despite being sort of tangentially aware of this film because of all the good press it’s been getting, I actually didn’t really know what to expect from this film of a female painter in 18th Century France hired to paint a wedding portrait of a young woman and falling in love with her in the process, and I’m kind of glad that I went in that way. I loved this movie. Passionate and moving and funny and furious. It knows that fate isn’t something that you can escape in this era, especially as a woman, but it also intimately understands that the connections we make on the way towards that fate sometimes will get us through. 

[buckystilinski]

Queer Film Review: Matthias & Maxime

I saw Matthias et Maxime (2019) at the Melbourne International Film Festival this week. It is such a gorgeous film that makes you feel all ajhasjgkh inside.

It is about two best friends who are basically in love with each other, but have to confront this fact when they get asked to kiss for a scene in a short film. There is so much PINNING and TENSIONNN, but it also focuses on their other relationships with friends, family and work. It is all compounded onto a timeline due to the fact that Max is leaving in two weeks to live in Australia for two years, and Matt isn’t coping well with this fact (at all). It has a water scene™ (compulsory in every queer film)

alot funnier than what I thought it would be. as it is predominately in French (French Canada) the characters that speak English are so fucking over the top caricatures yet you know people exactly like that. The group of boys are also hysterical in that classic boys antics way. Their mothers are also so fucking funny when they throw big family/friend dinners.

Hands down one of most glorious aspects of the film is that it shows a super strongly bonded male friendship group. they are dicks to each other, swearing and making pretty brutal digs. but they go on holidays together, hug, play intense word games together. and actually show concern for each other, know when of them is feeling off......(especially when one of them has a crisis and goes swimming across a lake and returns to group of concerned friends wrapping towels around him) and actually act like a family. 

tldr: See this film! it has soul yearning pining and a happy/optimistic ending

[soreheadinamblemood]

MIFF starts this week. I got the mini pass again, so my baker’s dozen is:

Come to Daddy It Must Schwing! The Blue Note Story The Dead Don't Die Marianne & Leonard: Words of Love Friedkin Uncut Sword of Trust Koko-Di Koko-Da Beats Buñuel in the Labyrinth of Turtles Kursk Tommaso Benjamin Animals

There were some cruel clashes, so I'm hoping for encore screenings to be announced.

[pynkhues]

MIFF 2019: 07/13 - Papicha (Algeria, Dir: Mounia Meddour)

Set in 1997 in Algiers during the rise of terrorism and the fundamentalist Islamic state, a young fashion student tries to put on a fashion show as female body autonomy is threatened. 

This is a pretty imperfect film, but it’s also one passionate about what it depicts, about the strength of relationships between women and the ways those relationships empower them to not only survive, but to find ways to live in the face of abject horror. The result is really moving (and surprisingly often very funny!) and you really, really care about this group of young women trying to keep ahold of their independence and each other during a time that is challenging that on every level. The performances are generally good too, but Lyna Khoudri and Amira Hilda Douaouda are particularly great, and they are hopefully two young actresses with exciting careers ahead of them!

[pynkhues]

MIFF19: 01/13 - American Woman (USA. Dir: Jake Scott)

A character study focusing on one woman's life over a decade after her daughter goes missing. Poignant, moving, and one I've thought about all morning since watching it last night. Sienna Miller is the best I've ever seen her, but the whole cast is great (especially my fave: Christina Hendricks, who plays Miller’s sister) and the film meanders but never loses focus in a way that is immensely satisfying by the end. Plus I cried for eighteen years, and it takes a whole lot to make me cry in a movie.

[pynkhues]

MIFF 2019: 10/13 - The Lodge (UK/USA, Dir: Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz)

I’m a big fan of horror, and this was really one of the films that I was looking forward to the most - I’d heard good things! And I love a Turn of the Screw-esue spooker with morally ambiguous lady leads! So maybe I went into this with too high expectations, but good lord, it was bad. The basic premise is that two kids spend a weekend in a remote holiday lodge with their creepy step mother, but the movie introduces about ten conflicting, under-realised plots that never quite go anywhere, and enough red herrings to build a school of them. It’s just immensely dissatisfying on pretty much every level, and was definitely one of my biggest disappointments of the festival. 

[pynkhues]

MIFF19: 03/13 - We are Little Zombies (Japan. Dir: Makoto Nagahisa)

Exploring grief and vengeance through four stoic kids who form a band after meeting at the venue for their respective parents' funerals, We are Little Zombies is loud, vibrant and more than a little unhinged. Most of all though, it manages to be a lot of fun, without skimping on the more emotional beats. It’s a movie you have to strap yourself in for, but once you do it’s a pretty great ride. Plus the cinematography is incredible.

[pynkhues]

MIFF19: 02/13 - Capital: Capitalism in the 21st Century (NZ/France. Dir: Justin Pemberton)

Literally a documentary on capitalism, focusing particularly on the impact of the French Revolution, WWI, WWII and the relationship between economics and social movements. Brilliantly edited and sharply told. I didn't really learn anything I didn't already know, but I think this documentary is a really good entry point for people who want to learn more about the intersection of economics and class, and the damage capitalism does to all but the 1%.