Movie Review

Film Review: THE WASTING (UK/Canada 2017)

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The Wasting Poster
Trailer

A teenager in an English town struggles to come of age, braving sexual awakening and fighting her controlling parents by refusing to eat…until a nightmarish ghost appears that may be real… See full summary »

Director:

Carolyn Saunders

Writer:

Carolyn Saunders

Stars:

Alexz Johnson, Lauren McQueen, Gray O’Brien

 

 Wasting, also known as wasting syndrome, refers to the process by which a debilitating disease causes muscle and fat tissue to “waste” away.  The main character in the story is Sophie (Lauren McQueen) who suffers from an eating disorder.  According to Wikipedia an eating disorders are excluded from causes of wasting.  So, the film is inaccurate in its title.

When the film opens, the title – ‘inspired by true events’ is splashed on the screen.  But how true the events depicted in the film can be another thing.

The story is set in a small English town.  The film has 4 main teen characters so one can assume that teens are the film’s target audience.  The four youths, two girls and two boys have similar looks.  So, it takes a while before one can distinguish one from another.  Best to remember their names and associate the face to the name, or the film can get confusing. 

Sophie is an anorexic teen struggling to come of age, braving sexual awakening and fighting her controlling father, Ilyas (Gary O’Brien) by refusing to eat…until a nightmarish ghost appears that may be real, or may be a deadly creation of her starving body.   As Sophie battles for truth, sanity and survival, a dark family secret surfaces that will either save her or destroy her.  The secret surfaces only during the last half hour of the story.

Sophie is visited in England by her best friend Grace (Alexz Johnson), her boyfriend Kai (Brendan Flynn) and Sophie’s boyfriend, Liam (Sean Saunders Stevenson) from Toronto, Canada.  Sophie’s father is reluctant to have Sophie hang around her friends and goes ballistic when he finds that Sophie has a boyfriend.  While all this is going on, Sophie starts having nightmares and seeing apparitions as result of her not eating.  Her father blames her friends and her friends blame the father.  Liam claims he loves her but she sees a ghost in Liam which draws them apart.

The story is layered with many stories overlapping.  The main story is Sophie dealing with her eating disorder.  Another is her romance and yet another is the ghost story.  There are also a few relationships on display.  There is the ones with Sophie and her father, Sophie and her dead mother, and the ones with Liam the boyfriend and then with her other two friends.  The various stories and relationships are effortlessly blended well, smoothly flowing into each other.  Saunders film is well paced. All the relationships are equally interesting.  The best scene is the confrontation between Liam and Sophie’s father,

The conclusion would be the outcome whether Sophie will be able to untangle her relationship with her mother’s ghost, going back to leading a normal life or be forever drawn into her madness.  The film still works regardless of the result as director Saunders has confidently and effortlessly drawn her audience into her characters’ world.

The film is a Canadian/U.K.co-production premiering first in Toronto.

Trailer: http://www.imdb.com/videoplayer/vi3311515161

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Film Review: NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL (Canada 2017)

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Never Steady, Never Still Poster
A mother struggles to take control of her life in the face of advanced Parkinson’s disease, while her son battles his sexual and emotional identity amongst the violence of Alberta’s oil field work camps.

Director:

Kathleen Hepburn

Writer:

Kathleen Hepburn

Stars:

Shirley Henderson, Théodore Pellerin, Mary Galloway

 

NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL are the words that often describe the film’s protagonist’s debilitating disease, a sort of advanced stage of Parkinson’s.  She, Judy has a loving but discontent son – each alienated from their world and struggling to manage in the face of grief, guilt and chronic disease.  At one point in the film Judy (Shirley Henderson) is admired by a friend who describes the situation as ‘How can you be so strong to put up with all this shit?”

NEVER STEADY, NEVER STILL is a family drama following a wife/mother, Judy, her loving husband (Nicholas Campbell) and son, Jamie.  Jamie gets a job reluctantly, in the oil fields, but is made fun off because of his scrawny figure.  Judy has to take her medication to keep her Parkinson’s under control, and even when she does, shakes uncontrollably.  Still, she is persistent, does her own shopping and dangerously drives her car.  The husband is not super healthy either and suffers a heart attack a third through the film.

Director Hepburn’s film is heartfelt.  It is really difficult to watch Judy suffer and the boy bullied.  One really feels for them and it will not be surprising that many of the suffering scenes will bring tears to many an audience’s eyes.

Hepburn is fond of keeping the audience on their toes with false alarms.  One scene has the son Jamie (Theodore Pellerin) doing cocaine in his room only to have a knocking at the door from his boss.  Jamie is just delivered a pay cheque.  More tense is the camera showing the car swerving side to side when Judy while driving, is suffering a Parkinson’s episode.  A cop stops her but sends her away with a caution.  And there are other false alarms.

Hepburn is also fond of using hand held camera instead of a mounting her camera on a tripod.  This can be seen in a few scenes that appear with a slightly moving frame.

The film has certain key incidents that affect the lives of both mother an son.  These appear at regular intervals and turns the film in another direction.  The result is good pacing and non-predictability of the story.

The film is also brilliantly shot, courtesy of D.P. Norm Li.  The water of the lake, the snow and ice and the flames of the oil fires all add to the excellent cinematography.

Hepburn also ensures her audience can effectively follow the story.  She gives a summary of the film at mid-point when Jamie explains over the telephone what has happened and how he feels at work, at home and with his mother.

The film is an expansion of Hepburn’s earlier short film of the same title, which had different actors.

NEVER STEADY NEVER STILL shows Hepburn an assured and apt writer and director.  At the 2017 Vancouver International Film Festival, the film won three juried awards.  Currently the film has received eight Canadian Screen Award nominations at the 6th Canadian Screen Awards including Best Picture, Best Actress (Henderson), Best Screenplay (Hepburn), Best Cinematography (Norm Li), Best Art Direction/Production Design (Sophie Jarvis and Elizabeth Cairns), Best Sound (Matt Drake, Nate Evans and Christopher O’Brien), Best Editing (Simone Smith) and Best Original Score (Ben Fox).

(Interviews with director and editor are available online.)

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LP-Kfh6S4c4

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Film Review: DEATH WISH (USA 2018)

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Death Wish Poster
Trailer

A family man becomes a vigilante killing machine when his family is violently attacked by robbers.

Director:

Eli Roth

Writers:

Joe Carnahan (screenplay by), Brian Garfield (from the novel by) | 1 more credit »

Stars:

Bruce Willis, Vincent D’Onofrio, Elisabeth Shue

 

DEATH WISH 2018 opening March 2nd is the remake of the famous 1974 Charles Bronson film (directed by Michael Winner) that spurned two sequels.  A vigilante action film, loosely based on the 1972 novel of the same title by Brian Garfield,  the film followed Paul Kersey, a man who becomes a vigilante after his wife is murdered and his daughter sexually assaulted during a home invasion.

In the new Eli Roth version, Paul Kersey is now a doctor, a surgeon who has access to drugs and information that enables him to torture the crooks he is after, only because Roth loves this kind of violence, being the director of the two HOSTEL horror films.  Dr. Kersey (Bruce Willis) becomes vigilante after being beaten up by two thugs right after his wife his killed and daughter out into a coma after a home invasion.  Dr. Kersey hunts down those responsible, brutally torturing and killing them.

DEATH WISH 2018 delivers exactly what is expected – from Willis and director Roth – a  no-nonsense vigilante revenge action thriller with predictably all the ends nicely tied together so that Dr. Kersey cannot be held responsible for all the previous vigilant killings.

The script by Joe Carnahan has updated the film with characters using iPads and cell phones that never existed back in 1974.  Kersey’s daughter, Jordan (the very pretty Camila Morrone) goes upstairs to get her mother’s iPad before getting attacked by the home invaders.  Dr. Kersey calls Knox (Beau Knapp), the main villain of the story on his cell phone to lure him out in the open in a night club.  But the script while being manipulative, carefully devotes time to introduce the main characters (so that the audience can identify wi them) before starting on the action.

At the time of release of the original 1974 DEATH WISH, the film was attacked by many film critics due to its support of vigilantism and advocating unlimited punishment of criminals. But the novel denounced vigilantism, whereas the film embraced the notion, same as this 2018 version.  The 1974 film was a commercial success and resonated with the public in the United States, which was facing increasing crime rates during the 1970s.   But the 2018 version has more obstacles to face with the current events of school shooting, the NRA boycott and anti-gun protests around the United States.  Worst still, the 2018 version is totally pro-gun which will make the film an even harder sell.  It is not surprising that none of those involved in the making of the film, noticeably Bruce Willis have been absent in any publicity prior to the film’s release.  It is also a point to note that Sylvester Stallone wanted to star in this new version as a anti-weapon police officer Kersey, but this never came to fruition.  (Another point for discontent between Willis and Stallone after Stallone criticized Willis for wanting too much money to star in his last EXPENDABLES movie.)

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9r2vsi3ah2w

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Film Review: RED SPARROW (USA 2018) ***

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Red Sparrow Poster
Trailer

Ballerina Dominika Egorova is recruited to ‘Sparrow School’ a Russian intelligence service where she is forced to use her body as a weapon. But her first mission, targeting a CIA agent, threatens to unravel the security of both nations.

Director:

Francis Lawrence

Writers:

Justin Haythe (screenplay), Jason Matthews (novel)

Stars:

Jennifer Lawrence, Joel Edgerton, Matthias Schoenaerts

 

RED SPARROW re-unites Academy Award Winner Jennifer Lawrence with her HUNGER GAMES director Francis Lawrence.  The film is an espionage spy film written by Justin Haythe, based on the 2013 novel of the same name by Jason Matthews.  The novel won many literary awards including the Best First Novel prize for its author, Matthews.  The film?  If you remember the HUNGER GAMES franchise, then you would know what to expect for RED SPARROW, the movie.

The film begins impressively enough with the intercutting of a Bolshoi ballet performance by star Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) and an incident in Gorky Park where Nate (Joel Edgerton), a CIA internal-ops officer who recruits and handles intelligence assets for the agency is arrested.   Dominika is injured during her performance (shot in an extremely gruesome ‘accident’ scene).  In order to support her ailing mother (Joely Richardson) and maintain her apartment,  she is forced by her uncle Ivan Dimitrevich (Matthias Schoenaerts) to undergo training at the Sparrow School, where she and other men and women were trained in how to seduce the enemy.  In the words of the film’s best line, uttered by the uncle: “There are no accidents.  We create our own fates.”

 Matthews’ novel was praised for its insight into the mundane aspects of the intelligence field, various techniques and its “high drama”.  The same cannot be said for Lawrence’s film.  At best, it glamourizes the violence and techniques used by both the Russian and American sides.  The best instance can be observed in the almost unwatchable torture scene when Nate has the outer skin of his back  pealed off by a skin grafting device.  Lawrence need not show the actual action  but the audience gets the message from the Nate’s screaming and the scene’s set-up.  Another more graphic torture scene is Dominika’s torture with her constantly hit with a melt rod..

The sex scene between Lawrence and Edgerton could have been shot with more credibility.  It is laughable to see a riding scene in which the lovers perform their act fully clothed.

Unlike spy films such as TORN CURTAIN and TOPAZ directed by Alfred Hitchcock, RED SPARROW is noticeable devoid of suspense.  Plot twists replace suspense in this spy thriller.  Critics attending the promo screening were requested not to real any plot points in their reviews.  But running at 2 hours and 20 minutes (Lawrence’s HUNGER GAMES films were also unnecessarily lengthy),  plot twists can also turn ordinary unlike suspense set-ups.

The best thing about RED SPARROW is Belgian actor Matthias Schoenaerts.  With make up to look like Vladimir Putin, he is the most fun to watch.  The second prized performance comes from Charlotte Rampling playing the school headmistress with totally cool lesbian charm.

RED SPARROW the film is more outrageously camp in its violence and portrayal of real world espionage.  If one can take and believe Jennifer Lawrence playing a Russian ballerina and emotionless spy, then  this film is for you.  RED SPARROW is entertaining camp, but for those who expect a serious spy experience it would be wiser to read the book.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmUL6wMpMWw

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Film Review: THE PARTY (UK 2017) ***1/2

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The Party Poster
Trailer

Janet hosts a party to celebrate her new promotion, but once the guests arrive it becomes clear that not everything is going to go down as smoothly as the red wine.

Director:

Sally Potter

Writers:

Sally Potter, Walter Donohue (story editor)

Stars:

Timothy Spall, Kristin Scott Thomas, Patricia Clarkson

 

Writer/director Sally Potter stunned audiences with her debut feature ORLANDO, a hit with art-house audiences.  THE PARTY can be described as less art-house but Potter’s mark is still clearly noticeable.

Her characters in this farce all have strong political leaning, engage in same or opposite sex relationships and have deep personal conflicts.

The film opens with a door opening and Janet holding a gun nervously pointed at the visitor.  It is a black and white scene and the film returns to this scene at the end of the film.  This creates some anticipation for the audience.  The audience would se how Janet came to obtain the gun and also the reason she is pointing it at a guest.

The film shifts to the present where each character is introduced.  The lead character is Janet (Kristin Scott Thomas), a politician for the opposition party, who has just been appointed a minister.  She is having a small celebration party at her house for her hard work done, supported by her husband, Bill (Timothy Spall). Invited are her friends April (Patricia Clarkson), with her estranged German partner Gottfried (Bruno Ganz), a life coach and self-proclaimed spiritual healer, Women’s studies professor Martha (Cherry Jones), with her partner Jinny (Emily Mortimer), a cook, and Janet’s colleague and subordinate Marianne with husband Tom (Cillian Murphy), a banker.

As the guests arrive, Janet’s husband Bill sits in his chair, listening to music, staring vacantly, and drinking wine.  All invited guests arrive one by one except Marianne, who Tom says will arrive later. (The audience can guess that the guess the gun pointed to at the start of the film is Marianne.)

Janet has thrown a soiree from hell.  Bile and bitterness have never been portrayed in a film to be so endearing.  Instead of celebrating her success, she ends up as a magnet opening skeletons in the closet.  Director Potter keeps the black humour coming in terms of both dialogue and action set pieces (Tom running up a cold sweat ding cocaine; Bill being punched up a couple of times.)

Potter writes sharp and occasionally witty dialogue (Martha described for example by her daughter as a first class lesbian and a second class mother)  though some of the lines, particularly those on politics and feminism sound pretentious.  Example:  Janet described as “looking like a girl, thinking like a man… ministerial, in a 21st-century postmodern, post feminist sort of way”. Potter has assembled an excellent cast, the best performance coming from German actor Bruno Ganz matched by Patricia Clarkson playing his girlfriend who constantly puts him down.  Spall plays the serious role while Scott anchors down the story.  It is the performances that make the movie.

THE PARTY suffers from not bringing the proceedings to a closure.  But for an art-house audience open ended stories with no conclusions are accepted.  THE PARTY also moves at a hectic pace so that it all comes to an end too quickly.  This is a party the characters want to end quickly but the audience wishes to stretch on.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-FuSuWienM

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Film Review: ANNIHILATION (USA 2018) ***1/2

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Annihilation Poster
Trailer

A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition where the laws of nature don’t apply.

Director:

Alex Garland

Writers:

Alex Garland (written for the screen by), Jeff VanderMeer (based on the novel by)

Stars:

Natalie Portman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Tessa Thompson

 

Alex Garland is known for his sci-fi scripts that have gone on to make memorable films like THE BEACH, 28 DAYS LATER, SUNSHINE, my favourite NEVER LET ME GO and EX MACHINA which he also directed.  The latter brought him prominence and the chance to make his first big budget $55 million Hollywood movie.  But the film was shelved 2 years ago after production was completed when Paramount was unsure what to do with the film after test audiences found it too ‘intellectual’.

By intellectual is meant ‘hard to follow’ and ‘difficult to make sense’.  Based on Jeff VanderMeer’s award-winning novel, (supposedly the first of a trilogy) the film is filled with stunning visuals, scientific propositions and biological concepts of human and alien integration.  The fact that plants can transform to another different type means that the idea of DNA integration is not that far-fetched.

The story can be simplified in a few lines.  A biologist’s husband (Oscar Isaac) disappears while on a mission.  He reappears suddenly out of the blue and begins going into convulsions as if possessed by aliens.  Lena (Natalie Portman) puts her name forward for an expedition into an environmental disaster zone, but does not find what she is expecting.  The expedition team is made up of herself,  the biologist, a psychologist (Jennifer Jason Leigh),  an anthropologist, a surveyor and a linguist (Gina Rodriguez, Tuva Novotny and Tessa Thompson). 

Garland directs his film as a horror sci-fi.  At times, ANNIHILATION plays like a cross between ARRIVAL and ALIEN.  The horror scenes are particularly gory, Garland going all out to scare his audience.  The best segment in the film is the one where a member of the previous crew gets his stomach cut open with a short, sharp knife to reveal his insides being occupied by some alien parasite.  The scene ends up with a joke that had the entire audience laughing out loud in a second right after being grossed out to death.  I cannot recall what was the joke but the change in mood shows Garland’s skill at playing with the audience’s emotions.

ANNIHILATION also marks a solid female film with a female heroine and a full female team saving the world.

It s true that the film becomes intellectual (there is even a debate on self-destruction vs. suicide) especially when the audience is expected to interpret the goings-on and what is happening with regards to the transformation of the expedition team.  It is clear that only Janet survives on the inset (as she confesses to her interrogator (Benedict Wong) that the rest of her team are no more.  Still, ANNIHILATION is suspenseful, scary and tense despite its relatively slow pacing.  An additional bonus is the trippy visuals (the film perhaps being the perfect one to watch while on a brownie) and gorgeous photography, courtesy of D.P. Rob Hardy.

ANNIHILATION opens in Canada and the U.S. and internationally on Netflix after a few weeks.  But this is a film that should be seen on the big screen but being on Netflix, would reach a larger audience, as Garland admitted.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89OP78l9oF0

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Film Review: TOM OF FINLAND (Finland/Sweden/Denmark/Germany/USA 2016) ***

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Tom of Finland Poster
Trailer

Award-winning filmmaker Dome Karukoski brings to screen the life and work of artist Touko Valio Laaksonen (aka Tom of Finland), one of the most influential and celebrated figures of twentieth century gay culture.

Director:

Dome Karukoski

Writers:

Aleksi Bardy (screenplay), Aleksi Bardy (story by) | 6 more credits »

Stars:

Jakob Oftebro, Jessica Grabowsky, Werner Daehn

 

Who is TOM OF FINLAND?  Straight people will likely have no clue who or what Tom is.  And with reason.  It is comic drawn gay pornography – weathermen drawn with their big dicks.  Gays are totally familiar with Tom of Finland.  They likely grew up with the drawings of Tom. TOM OF FINLAND popularized comic drawn porn as well as the look of leather men in dark glasses and big bulges in their tight trousers with a bit of S&M.  Even famous Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki had his cool characters in films like LENINGRAD COWBOYS GO AMERICA and CALAMARI UNION sport that look.  And if that is not enough, there is a very popular gay dance bar in the heart of gay Berlin named Tom of Finland.  And finally the film.  TOM OF FINLAND the film is the biographical drama of  the man who invented (or drew) the character.

The plot involves Touko Laaksonen aka Tom of Finland (Pekka Strang) returning home to Finland after serving in World War II.  In post-war Helsinki, he makes a name for himself with his homoerotic drawings of muscular men.  Before finding fame, Laaksonen finds challenges from his sister, Kaija (Jessica Grabowsky) and Finnish society due to his art.

One thing director Karukoski emphasizes in his film is the non-acceptance of the gay lifestyle or practices.  It is understandable as it is after World War II and unlike the present times, the world was not ready to accept homosexuality.  “We used to put scum like you into concentration camps and then gas them to death,” quips a German soldier.  That is the reason Touko kept his sexual orientation secret from his sister.  A lot of graphic violence is depicted in the film from police beating up gay cruisers in the park to gay bashing in the toilets.

The film also contains touching moments as in the scene Kaija tells his brother that he needs someone to settle down.  It is in moments like these, that gay audience realize how fortunate that times have improved so much for the better in terms of acceptance of gay life in the wold today.

Warning:  Due to the subject matter of the film – gay sex drawings – objectionable scenes need be included, though tastefully done.

The film also deals with other issues urgent in those times.  The emergence of AIDs and coming out into the open in public are also examined.   

TOM OF FINLAND premiered in Toronto at the LGBT Gay ad Lesbian film and video festival last year.  The film was also Finland’s entry last year for the Best Foreign language Film for the Oscars.  Though it did not win a nomination, probably the film not being good enough,  TOM OF FINLAND is still worthwhile viewing if not an eye-opener providing some insight of a prohibited lifestyle in Finland after WWII.
Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TKFA4WrPlfo

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Film Review: LAST MEN IN ALEPPO (Syria 2017) ***

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Last Men in Aleppo Poster

Trailer

Khaled, Mahmoud, and Subhi volunteered at the white helmets trying to save lives of hundreds of victims at besieged city during the Syrian civil war.

Directors:

Feras Fayyad 

Writer:

Feras Fayyad

Stars:

Khaled Umar Harah, Batul, Mahmoud

 

LAST MEN IN ALEPPO has been nominated for Best Documentary for thisnyear’s Academy Awards.  It is also essential viewing for its subject matter.

 Aleppo was the largest city of Syria but now considered only the second (population 4.6 million) after the Syrian Civil war from 2012- 2016.  It is the setting of this riveting war documentary

The director and subject of The Last Men in Aleppo, the documentary about a volunteer medical relief unit in Syria called the White Helmets, has just been reported by THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER that they will not attending the Oscar ceremony in March.  The Syrian government refused to expedite the visa process that would allow Kareem Abeed and White Helmets founder Mahmoud Al-Hattar, the documentary’s producer and subject, to travel to Hollywood.  They cannot come to the U.S. because of the Trump travel ban,” director Feras Fayyad says. “Barring a miracle, he will not be at the Oscars with me. We are artists and we just want to share our stories and nothing more. It’s very sad he won’t have an opportunity to share his.”  On the bright side, last year the same thing happened to the Iranian director Asghar Farhadi and THE SALESMAN.  The result?  THE SALESMAN won the Oscar for Best Foreign Film, a result that occurred from sentiment.

The same might occur with LAST MEN IN ALEPPO, nominated for Best Documentary.  

The film personalizes the tragedy of the Syrians.  This is what makes the film so effective.  Within the first 10 minutes, the audience sees 4 siblings rescued from under rubble after bombings, two dead while two still alive, only to be informed after that the last one who survived has also died.  Authentic scenes like these move audiences.

The director has this message to say (in the Hollywood Reporter).  It’s time to end this war and to stop those who use their power to destroy us,’ Al-Hattar told THR.  He said he would use his speech to condemn Russia, Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, and “everyone who represents the authorities and supplies weapons to suppress the people of Syria.”   The Academy looks down on political speeches during its ceremonies, many in the past who have done so being boo’ed off stage (Michael Moore, a prime example).  Being banned and his film winning will definitely make a more prominent statement.

The doc follows two men Khaled and Mahmoud as they travel around to rescue bombing casualties.  As evident from the footage, it is a dangerous job, but one that needs be done.  Director Abeed leaves out the politics and history of the war, except to talk a bit of the ceasefire between the Regime and the Opposition, while being bombed by the Russians.  A bit more history would put the film into better perspective,

Forget Clint Eastwood’s 13:15 TO PARIS.  LAST MEN IN ALEPPO is the real thing, with a shocking ending.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qT6IagQ7xos

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Full Review: PORCUPINE LAKE (Canada 2017) ***1/2

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Porcupine Lake Poster
Trailer

Porcupine Lake is a story of bravery and the secret life of girls set in Northern Ontario during a hot and hazy summertime when adulthood has not yet arrived, but childhood is quickly vanishing.

Director:

Ingrid Veninger

Writer:

Ingrid Veninger

Stars:

Charlotte Salisbury, Lucinda Armstrong Hall, Christopher Bolton

 

Canada’s darling Ingrid Veninger has always been a director of films with strong female content.  Who then best to write and direct PORCUPINE LAKE, a story of bravery and the secret life of girls set in Georgian Bay, Northern Ontario during a hot and hazy summertime when adulthood has not yet arrived, but childhood is quickly vanishing?  

Verninger has made low budget Canadian films that have gone on to win many awards.  ONLY, MODRA, i am a good person/i am a bad person are her most popular ones.  They all reflect the ease of Veninger’s craft and are personal yet entertaining features.

Port Severn is displayed proudly on a sign in one of the film’s scenes.  This is a beautiful yet quiet region that a few tourists venture to, for good old Canadian nature.  Veninger has chosen an appropriate and pretty place for her film’s setting, that few films have.  Another scene has a Canadian flag on a pole.

Ally (Delphine Roussel) arrives with 13-year old daughter, Bea (Charlotte Salisbury) in tow from Toronto to meet up with her husband, Scotty (Christopher Bolton).   Bea learns through a local, Kate (Australian Lucinda Armstrong Hall) independence, as well as the facts of life about boys and growing up.  All Be a wants is a friend she can hang around with.  As they say, be careful what you wish for.  Kate is the companionship Bea’s mother is unable to offer, and the two bond a strong friendship.  But Kate is sometimes a friend from hell.  Kate teaches Be a nasty things, like practical French kissing and some facts of life.

Verninger is quick to insert conflict into her characters.  In one scene she has Scotty talking about keeping his store (place) within his family and another next scene with Ally telling another person about selling the place.  Another has Bea keen to sleep over at her friend’s with Scotty asking Ally to let her.  “Please don’t,’ says Ally to Scott right after.  Most of the conflict occurs between couples, as can be seen in other instances in this film and in her others, perhaps reflecting director Veninger’s personal experiences (not a bad thing) with conflict with her relationships.

The climx of PORCUPINE LAKE is whether Kate will end up going to Toronto with Bea.  Kate wants to go and Bea loves for her to come along.  The mothers object for obvious reasons.

PORCUPINE LAKE is the most ambitious and strongest of Veninger’s films (also beautifully shot by Benjamin Lichty), her popular film ONLY being screened at a local cinema that Bea and Kate attend at one point in the film.  Veninger proves once again, she is always in control of her material and meticulously drives her film to its emotional climax and coming-of-age message.  The film works because Verninger shows she understands her characters, all of whom undergo development for the better.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0Lm-EC3e5s

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Film Review: MY PIECE OF THE CITY (Canada 2017) ***

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This feature documentary explores the revitalization of Regent Park through the youth who live there as they navigate the challenges of performing in the musical showcase called ‘The Journey’.

Director:

Moze Mossanen

Writer:

Moze Mossanen

Every year, young people from Regent Park come together to perform “The Journey”, a musical exploring the complex history of their community’s revitalization, one of North America’s largest urban transformations.  The young artists come together to perform THE JOURNEY, a musical that helps them explore various challenges during this crucial period of their lives.  MY PIECE OF THE CITY is the new Canadian documentary that follows these young artists as they create the building blocks of the show, soar with their own artistry, and explore all that they have lost and gained as a new world builds around them.    

The transformations are shown in archive footage showing the old buildings together with the new.

Regent Park first started as a residential estate where there are no roads or streets entering it.  It therefore formed a bubble in the city of Toronto, different from other housing estates.  But this no-streets community became enclosed resulting in high crime of violence and drug dealing with the result of run-down buildings that finally had to be demolished to make for the new.  MY PIECE OF THE CITY is a documentary that tells the stories of the resident of Regent Park – both old and new, from different cultures as far as Brazil and Jamaica all striving to make their lives a better living.  Among the interviewees who have their say are Jackie Richardson, Alana Bridgewater and Jeremiah Sparks.  The documentary captures the hard work and drive of these people, often touching and moving mainly because these rare real people dealing with real problems.  

One character at one point in the doc says how she first came from Jamaica to Canada and this is the only Canada she know.  Another complains about the old community that is lost and how new residents fail to see the history of the community.

This is a story of poor people in a poor community.  Still, it is powerful to see how these people try to make the best of what they have.  The film also shows the difficulty of putting up the musical.  At one point, the organizer loses it for the participants not showing up for rehearsals on time.

MY PEACE OF THE CITY opens at TIFF Bell Lightbox Friday 23rd of February with a Question and Answer session at the 7 pm showing with its director Moze Mossanen.  In his own words: “I am more than thrilled to have “My Piece of the City” screen at the TIFF Lightbox as we’ll be able to share this extraordinary and moving story about the young artists in Regent Park with a larger part of our great city.  The transformation of Regent Park is one of the key turning points in Toronto’s evolution and I’m truly grateful to the programmers at TIFF for shining a light on this important moment as well as the people who are partners in this transformation.” 

This is a small doc with a running time of just an hour that might be a hard sell at today’s box-office. Still MY PIECE OF THE CITY is a quiet important piece that is well worth ones time at the cinema.

Trailer: https://vimeo.com/237568333

 

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