PSIFF 2016 – Days 3 and 4 (5 Films)

Day Three had two 2 hour Films.  Film 7 from India was the director’s first “THITHI”:  In a tiny village in South India, no passerby is spared 101-year-old Century Gowda’s verbal abuse. When he finally pauses to catch his breath, it proves to be his last. Although we’ve known him only minutes, we feel the loss. In turn, his son, grandson and great grandson descend on his 11-day funeral, intent on claiming what they believe to be rightfully theirs, be it a valuable stretch of property or a pretty shepherdess.  A graduate of the Prague Film School, young Bengaluru director Raam Reddy helms a mischievous comedy that’s indebted to the freewheeling Czech New Wave while immersing us in both the customs of the Karnataka region and the fraught family dynamics of Century’s surviving progeny. Working with nonprofessional actors, Reddy coaxes lively performances that  seems authentic and amusing, fulfilling his ambition to capture “a little piece of India’s soul on film.” It is a slice of India – my mystery is how they take care of their bodily needs by squatting, eat with their hands and never wash them, but seem to be living a long time.  Everyone has a cell phone. Nothing profound, but interesting.

Film 8 from Columbia was: “Embrace the Serpent”: Inspired by two historical anthropological accounts, but shot largely from the shaman’s point of view, Embrace of the Serpent is a potent, poetic, political film with some of the visionary force of Werner Herzog’s Amazonian adventures. This visually intriguing black-and-white Colombian odyssey charts two parallel incursions by Western explorers deep into the Amazon jungle. In the 1900s Theo and his guide Manduca beseech a native shaman named Karamakate to help them find the mythical yakuna plant that may cure the ailing anthropologist’s illness. Persuaded that Theo can reunite him with other survivors of his tribe, Karamakate reluctantly agrees, and comes to believe there is a higher purpose in this quest. Yet as they canoe down river, tensions are never far from the surface. Some four decades later Karamakate will retrace his steps with an American explorer in search of rubber potential, a ghost journey into a culture on the verge of extinction.  An interesting look into the endangered people of the amazon and the brutal forces of exploitation, Catholicism and cults.

Film 9 from England was “Winter”: When we first encounter Woods Weston in the course of this film’s emotionally charged story, he’s  an unwashed and unrepentant boozer who’s aggressive and foul-mouthed in equal measure. But as the multiple strands of Woods’ tale begin to unfold, we learn that his predicament is far more complex than initially perceived.  At one time a charismatic and accomplished artist with an adoring wife and two smart, sensitive sons, Woods’ world comes apart in the aftermath of a tragic, senseless incident that alters everything for the tight-knit family. Bereft and seemingly incapable of dealing with his grief, Woods resorts to liquor to assuage his pain and guilt, finding himself artistically as well as emotionally blocked. It is left to his son Tom, 19 and on the verge of graduation, to hold things together and try to help steer his father back to a healthy and productive life. Hard film to watch, but clearly another look at what we see on the streets way to often.

Film 10 From Estonia via a Finnish Director we got “The Fencer” – my second great festival film to which I related both as a former fencer (alternate) on the national NYU championship film and as familiar with Russian occupation of a country. Here’s a movie with a bit of everything: a thriller/love story/inspirational teacher tale based on a true Cold War episode, about an Estonian fencing champ on the run from the Soviet secret police. It is a film that manages to find optimism, humanity and beauty in a tragic historical era.  The narrative is inspired by the story of Estonia’s legendary fencing master, Endel Nelis, who founded a dynasty and nurtured several world-class swordsmen (under Soviet banner). Working under a pseudonym as a phys ed teacher in a tiny Estonian village, he starts teaching his pupils the art and sport of fencing. When the kids push for their team to participate in the national competition in Leningrad, Endel must choose between his safety and what is best for the children. “Unfolding under a cloud of suspicion and paranoia fostered by the postwar Soviet occupation, this well-acted, smoothly crafted drama tells a story of cross-generational bonding in the face of historical oppression.” Justin Chang, Variety

Film 11 from the Czech Republic (south Moravia) was another first film “Home Care”.The action centers on a dedicated home-care nurse in the South Moravian countryside who puts everyone else’s needs before her own.  Vivacious, 50-ish Vlasta travels all over the countryside, visiting a variety of charmingly eccentric patients, and dispensing compassion and conventional medicine in equal measure. An unexpected dramatic shift paves the way for director Horák to explore his underlying theme: an examination of what is important in life.   The action always feels emotionally honest, the comedy never pandering. Horák – whose mother was a district nurse, and who was an assistant director on Jan Sverák’s Kolya – was lucky to cast three of the Czech cinema’s finest actors: Tatiana Vilhelmova, Boleslav Polivka and the incomparable Alena Mihulova. As in many pictures, the father does not come of in the best light, and there is an excursion into alternative healing schticks that we are all familiar with, which attribute more power to will than can produce when faced with real illness.  Raise your hand if you heard about fighting cancer with your will and mind, and if you succumb you clearly didn’t fight hard enough. The best part of the Q and A with the director was his offer of Moravian Slivovitz shot to people who asked questions, and so there were a lot of questions.