2016 PSIFF: first day (3 films)
First film from Sweden at 11:20 am: “A pigeon Sat on a Branch in Search of Existence.” How can you not see a film with that title? This is what the festival said:
“It’s safe to say that no one makes movies like the Swedish master Roy Andersson. The third in a loose “trilogy about being a human being,” this darkly hilarious, deadpan meditation on life and death unfolds in 39 meticulously staged vignettes: one shot per scene, the camera never moving, the faces of his sad-sack actors whitened like silent movie clowns.
Among the recurring characters in this astonishing panorama are two depressed novelty item salesmen, trying to hawk vampire teeth to indifferent customers, a lovelorn dance instructor who can’t keep her hands off her favorite male pupil, and King Charles XII, who invades this present day film from the 18th century in a scene like nothing you’ve ever seen. Andersson’s one-of-a-kind marvel distills our hopes, fears and foibles into unforgettable dioramas at once droll, disturbing and deeply human.”
To which I have to say, I have no idea why this movie was ever made, what it tried to convey – the point. Boring and besides the point.
My second film was “Megallanes” from Peru: “Peruvian guerilla war veteran Magallanes (Damián Alcázar, Herod’s Law; The Crime of Father Amaro), lives a modest, self-contained life as a taxi driver and chauffeur to an elderly gentleman, his former military commander, Colonel Rivero (Federico Luppi). One day an indigenous woman gets into his cab (Magaly Solier, Madeinusa; The Milk of Sorrow). Magallanes recognizes her immediately: as a teenager suspected of belonging to the Shining Path, she had been subjected to unconscionable abuse at the hands of the colonel, while he himself had failed to intervene. Perhaps now, all these years later, her reappearance in his life presents a chance for some small measure of redemption…
Veteran actor Salvador del Solar (Narcos) makes his directorial debut with this tense, probing drama, at once a devastating critique on class and corruption in modern Peru and an impeccably crafted political thriller. Anchored by brilliant performances from both Alcázar as the troubled cab driver and Magaly Solier as the struggling war survivor, Magallanes touches both the heart and conscience.” I essentially agree.
The Third film was “Neon Bull” from Brasil. This is what the program said:
Awards: Special Jury Prize, Venice Horizons; Grand Prix, Warsaw
Brace yourself. There are moments in Neon Bull where you may find yourself holding your breath, squeezing your eyes shut, or gasping at what unfolds before you. Afterwards, you may not want to look the person next to you in the eyes. Don’t say you weren’t warned!
Iremar is a travelling rodeo worker in North Eastern Brazil. But the vaquejades is not your usual rodeo. Nor is Iremar your usual macho man. He has an appreciation for the finer things in life: mainly women’s clothing, but also for intoxicating perfumes. Delightfully, his rodeo family accepts this predilection without so much as a lifted eyebrow!
A surprisingly mature sophomore work from Gabriel Mascaro (August Winds), Neon Bull epitomizes the hallmarks of great filmmaking: showing, not telling. Characters are defined by their actions rather than dialogue. And while it is admirably laconic, what is said always counts. We recommend keeping your eyes wide open.
“Exudes hormones from every pore… Making something exotic out of the vaqueiros’ mundane day-to-day duties, Mascaro luxuriates in their dust- and dung-covered world, practically worshipping the creatures he finds there.” Peter Debruge, Variety
As for me I could have skipped it altogether – didn’t do anything for me.
