Despite a technical glitch on our end, not the Festival’s, Day One (or, more exactly, Evening One) went very well. As Jake Smith and I sat down at Manakamana at the Chazen Museum, we both realized that we were having problems with our cameras—you know, real cameras, remember those? So my plan to play Peter Parker will have to wait until my all-Sundance adventure today. I will tweet pictures when I get a chance, and might play with creating a Google Photowall tonight.
In Brief:
Manakamana (Stephanie Spray, Pacho Velez, USA/Nepal, 2013, 118 min) is a great experience. We basically share 11 cable car rides with a series of passengers visiting the Manakamana temple, which is located on a mountaintop in Nepal. Despite the static camera in the cable car, each shot is a complex combination of portraiture (as we have 8 1/2 minutes to study the passengers) and landscape (as we absorb the amazing view behind the passengers). Each portrait is fascinating, but then the relationships between the passengers (similar observations echoed by different people on different trips) adds another layer as well. Refreshingly, despite the extreme minimalism we only had one walkout that I noticed, and that was a few minutes into the second or third trip. By the end, the audience was very engaged with the film, especially the now-famous scene of two women attempting to eat ice cream sandwiches during the trip (a few passengers comment on the need for air conditioning the the cars).
The second and final screening of Manakamana is today (Friday, April 4) at 4:30pm at Sundance Cinema 5.
After MANAKAMANA: So when do we get the Union South/Sundance cable car? #wifilmfest
— Madison Film Forum (@MadFilmForum) April 4, 2014
Joe (David Gordon Green, USA, 2014, 117 min) is also very good, and I believe that Jake Smith liked it more than I did. The problems that I had with the film reminded me of my reactions to Undertow (2004): All the textured, observational stuff is great, but it is at times undermined by the need to push the plot along with some Southern Gothic violence. (For more on the film, check out the review from Jacob Mertens that we shared on Tuesday.) Regardless, I liked the film overall, and it seemed to get a warm reception from the audience. And luckily, we only had one embarrassingly bad question in the Q & A with Green (see below)
In the coming days I plan to transcribe one question and one answer from the David Gordon Green Q & A, so stay tuned.
JOE Q & A w/ David Gordon Green: An audience member observed, "You sound like a Wisconsin basketball game." #moron at #wifilmfest
— Madison Film Forum (@MadFilmForum) April 4, 2014
I’m getting excited about what you guys are doing over all in the Madison cinema scene. What would be most helpful for me..and I suspect some others who are not all that well versed in cinema-speak is a little background on some of the terms used in film discussion / critique.
Thanks for giving that some thought.
Hello Sanford,
Thanks for your suggestion. I’ll follow up with you to get examples of terms you’d like defined/explained. Meanwhile, I’ll include some definitions within upcoming posts.
I was at this screening. Really liked the film, and loved the long Q&A session at the end. I actually kinda loved that weird question….because it was so out of left field no one knew what to do with it. And, when pressed to elaborate, the guy said ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! It was one of those pure moments you only get at live events like that. Just discovering your site…I have long thought the film scene was good but disjointed, and I often miss things I don’t hear about until too late…love this idea, and am excited to become active here as much as possible. Thanks!
Thanks, Kris,
We’ve had a lot of nice feedback about the calendar (which we will update with Sundance and Marcus screenings soon) and so we hope we can keep you informed well before one-off screenings happen.
We will also resume “Movie Tuesdays” after the Festival, so be sure to come back for those updates.
Jim K.