Day 2: What a Day!

I am exhausted; my day essentially started at 4 o’ clock in the evening of Wednesday, and is still going on (six in the Morning of Friday). Starting from this morning. had my hand slit by a stupid cat (well, it was my mistake actually), gave in my reports, had my laughs at the university with Tasos and Marika, went to Danaos, saw 3 films and partyed until five at Aspro in Psirri with Sergios, Hanna, Giannis and Sventlanka , only to come back in Varkiza to find my office soaked wet from the rain! Anyways…

The first movie of the night was the Australian Em 4 Jay, the story of a heroine-addict couple that decide to start heisting liquorshops and off-licenses to fund their habit, as an alternative to screwing in front of a middle class perv. Trainspotting meets Bonnie and Clyde, a depressing (not much, but still) fairy tale for junkies, with the usual and inevitable end, death for both. In fact, it could be said it’s a chronicle of their last weeks before spiraling into their Romeo & Juliet-like death. Realistic, but not brute or raw, the film is not seeking shock value, but instead the director is paying tribute to the Emy and Jay, who despite their faults and weakness and their irrational at times behavior, are madly in love with one another, and that alone should be enough for us to sympathize but still accept without much regret their demise. A simple story, an elegy to a love without any future (something that both Em and Jay know), not failing to make a few points on junkie life (crime, self-loathing, fear, alienation, addiction), while at the same time offering only small glimpses of hope and free spirits in small corners of the movie. A good movie with understated directing, exposing the doomed couple to our viewing discretion. If we like them or not, or if at least we feel sorry for them, it is entirely up to us. Unfortunately this subtlety from Tsilimidos, although diverting us from any movie clichés surrounding drug abuse, it does tend to make the movie drag and monotonous (but not boring), and even uninspiring at times. Generally, I was satisfied, but it’s lack of originality and outstanding performances, and its extreme simplicity, made it seem a little bit out of place in the festival. Of course, it could be a completely undervalued gem that I have misunderstood….

The second movie for the night, was the one I wanted to see the most, and it turned out for good reasons. 9 Souls by Toshiaki Toyoda elegantly follows 9 prison escapees that set out for freedom and end up (most of them) with the ultimate form of their wish, death. Although only his 4^th film, Toyoda shows a distinct cinematography signature borrowing elements of style from Lynch and situational tragedy and comedy from Lynch, while paying tribute to the fundamental principal of drama, the act of fate and the desperate but futile attempts of men to confront it and overturn it. At first, the prison brakers are shown as fresh, eager to enjoy freedom again, but very soon their past sins that led them to jail in the first time, come back full circle to haunt them and doom them. The 9 fugitives (all distinct well played out characters, worthy of their own film portrait) are called to face their personal Chimaeras (the crisis that is passed upon them by fate), each in their own different way (fear, denial, obsession, rage, calm despair, total acceptance, total isolation), while their fates untangle as the film progresses. They all find themselves strangers to the outside world (being denounced by their friends, family, neighborhood or simply everyone), alone but yet together bonded in their condemned -from the beginning- attempt to survive. They might have won freedom from the system momentarily but not from their luck which abandons them more and more, as their numbers thin out. Final catharsis arrives in the form of death, delusional love, self battering, arrest, epilepsy stroke, or violent crime or acceptance of solitude for the two main characters (the first being a father-killer and the second a son-killer respectively), two characters that are in complete opposition in all respects at start, but meet each other in an unfathomed way at the end of the movie, a 20 minute or so progressive crescendo that explodes right into your face making you admire the full control of pace that the director is exhibitng. Toyoda might care for his players, but that does not let stop him from delivering them terrible fates and viewing them from a distance, like ants fighting again a stream of water to live on, or puppets breathing for as long their master desires. Everybody is saying that he is uncompromising, but I like to think that he is telling it ‘as it is’, merging the basic foundations of drama, with modern styles developed both in Asia and Europe. Considering that I am a person looking more for style than content in movies, the result I saw was plenty of content intertwined with balanced and appropriate style, a thoughtful movie that you can watch again and again and uncover different layers of the complexity that surrounds the story of our 9 heroes, which nonetheless does not compromise the utter simplicity of its morale at any time/

The movie was followed by a Q&A session which, as I have explained in previous posts I always try to avoid at all costs. I went out for a fag and a coffee.

My second night at the festival was concluded with the swedish The Storm. The film was surprising, since it managed to contain some very good scenes and elements, and some very bad ones as well. It was as if the movie was a combination of two different ones. Funny enough, just looking at the schedule as I am writing these lind, the film had 2 directors, explaining a lot about the end result! To make myself clearer: Some of it was a blend of The Matrix, Blade and pointless Marvel comics movies with overexerted directing, awful action sequences, lousy performances, too dark to get any good canvas scenes, and generally too lame. The rest of it was a very good aesthetic trip into the main character’s (D.D.) memory lane, where traumatic events of his childhood (some committed, other witnessed) are uncovered one by one (and in fact re-enacted), in a journey to raise his memory blocks and come to terms with loss. The quality of the script was divided likewise in the film. I guess it was a good effort, but totally incoherent and unprofessionally supervised.

Although the flood from ceiling in my office is not yet contained, I ll be going to bed soon. According to my calculations, I am 40 hours without any sleep. This is not good. See you!

Didn’t like:

- The Connex girls. I ‘ll say it again: bring the Assos girls back, now!!! This is ridiculous! We want cigarettes, not fast internet connections!

- The timing of the screenings; sure 5 minutes late are OK, but in every single movie?!?

Liked:

- 9 Souls a lot!!!

- The Festival (again!). It always manages to produce solid specials.

- The guys at the Danaos mini bar. With just a minute gesture of my hand, they know of my desperate need for an espresso and go straight to preparing it! Simply great guys!

Blackberry award for the night:

The Storm. The came, they tried, they failed.

Best movie of the night:

9 Souls without a doubt

Blackberry award for the festival so far:

Black Kiss edges out on The Storm on this one; at least the Swedes tried something new and failed. Tetska, I will never forgive you!!!

Best movie of the festival so far:

Again 9 Souls, no questions asked.

P.S. Some of you might think that I am a complete cretin, and that I am confusing the blackberry and the blueberry. Let me tell you that the relevant award in greek (as far as context is concerned) is ‘βραβείο καλύτερο βατόμουρου’, which literally means ‘best blackberry award’. Of course, it is highly possible that the greek term originated from a mistranslation of blueberry….