Jimbo’s Wisconsin Film Festival Dispatch: Day Two

As I start writing this, you should know that my dedication to you, my dear readers, has led me to decide to skip a film on Day Three. After a 5-film Day Two, my original plan was for a 4-film Day Three, mainly because of the Tricked Dilemma (see my Mock Draft post). But now, after a late start this morning, and after some not-so-great buzz (from Jake) about my first planned film, The Immortalists, I’ve decided to start my filmgoing at the 2:45 screening of Happy Christmas at Sundance.

In Brief:

Stray Dogs (Tsai Ming-liang, Taiwan, 2013, 138 min) was my first of what will be many Dee Dee and Larry sightings.

First Dee Dee and Larry sighting: First row of stadium seating, STAY DOGS. #wifilmfest

— Madison Film Forum (@MadFilmForum) April 4, 2014

Dee Dee and Larry, of course, are the ultimate cine-couple. When you see them at a screening, you know that you picked the right film for that time slot. Much later in the day I found that Larry and I had a very similar reaction to Stray Dogs. We are both Tsai Ming-liang fans, but we wondered if he was just pulling out the old bag of tricks with Stray Dogs. In his previous films many of the extended long takes would have a emotional payoff, but many here simply didn’t. We were both on the fence about the film, until the exact same moment. There is a amazingly gorgeous shot of birthday candles being lit and eventually blown out; without giving too much away, this is the beginning of a sequence that redeemed the film, both Larry and I agreed.

Actress (Robert Greene, USA, 2014, 91 min) is a fantastic documentary about Brandy Burre, an actress best known for her role as Theresa on 15 episodes of The Wire. Burre left acting to raise two kids in Beacon, New York, and the film documents the consequences of that professional decision and many personal decisions in her life. I was a bit skeptical of the film at first because, as an actress, Burre at first seemed a bit too comfortable in front of the camera. But eventually you see her in some very raw, emotional moments as she deals with the break up of her relationship with the father of her children. 

Robert Greene and Mike King before ACTRESS at Sundance. #wifilmfest pic.twitter.com/VAcxfzKXdy

— Madison Film Forum (@MadFilmForum) April 4, 2014

Like Father, Like Son (Hirokazu Kore-Eda, Japan, 2013, 120 min) was absolutely packed to capacity in Sundance Cinema 1. I had to wait until the finally opened up some of the bad-angle reserved seats on the right hand side before I could sit down. I enjoyed Like Father, Like Son more than Kore-eda’s previous feature, the somewhat meandering I Wish. But the film is relatively straight forward, and not as interesting as his earlier work like After Life (1998). Still, this film about the fallout after the discovery of a case of baby-switching, six years after they left the hospital, has many insightful observations about class, parenting, and the definition of family. Like I Wish, this film also features strong performances from children, who are allowed to be children rather than spouting clever lines that adults think children might say.

Love Bollywood but COMMANDO is a dud. Will elaborate in Day 2 dispatch at http://t.co/YtOQLr5wKv. #wifilmfest

— Madison Film Forum (@MadFilmForum) April 5, 2014

Commando: A One Man Army (Dilip Ghosh, India, 2013, 120 min) is the dud of the Festival, so far. My main complaint is that the Film Guide description is not exactly accurate; it is not “a full-on Bollywood musical, too,” and the “bone breaking and explosions” do not “blend seamlessly with the sudden bursts of signing and dancing.” One simply needs to compare Commando to any of the action-themed Bollywood films that have played Star Cinema recently (Jai Ho, Gunday) to see how poorly Commando handles the usual Bollywood triple-threat: Action, Romance, and Music.

Commando star, Vidyut Jammwal, is only a single-threat. He can only handle the Action. He has neither the charisma to handle the Romance nor the dance moves to handle the Music sequences. In fact, he and female lead Pooja Chopra barely move in their shared music sequences (until the end credits, perhaps after they took some dance lessons). They have zero chemistry, so their static music sequences are quite uninspired and boring (when they’re tired of posing standing up, they pose lying down). The villain, AK47 (Jaideep Ahlawat) even has to bring in a “girl from Mumbai” for a dance sequence to try to liven things up late in the film (and that is her only scene).

A key test to the quality of any Bollywood film is its first music sequence. And the first one in Commando is not only boring, it barely attempts to integrate the main characters (thus, it is hard to call it a “full-on Bollywood musical.”) Instead, a secondary character (again, his only scene) does most of the singing and dancing as Chopra and Ahlawat mostly stand around.

The only good that can come from the Commando screening is that perhaps people who saw the potential for the Bollywood triple-threat will eventually seek out better examples where the triple-threat is well executed.

The Sacrament (Ti West, USA, 2013, 95 min) is okay, you know, pretty good. Well done. Don’t really have much to say about it, except that I was surprised how close the plot followed events at the Jim Jones/Jonestown Massacre, yet West maintains a high level of suspense. And I’m now convinced that I need to see everything that Amy Seimetz is involved in (Upstream Color, Sun Don’t Shine). This should make for a fun Q & A session when Ti West appears on Monday night.