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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: APPRENTICE (Singapore/Fr/HK/Germ/Qatar) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

apprentice_posterAPPRENTICE (Singapore/Fr/HK/Germ/Qatar) ***
Directed by Boo Junfen

Starring: Firdaus Rahman, Wan Hanafi Su, Mastura Ahmad

Review by Gilbert Seah

Singapore is not a country known for its films. When I immigrated from Singapore in 1984, there was no film industry and no feature films on record. TIFF is the only chance I get to watch films from my birthplace and the films have been consistent in quality – to my pride.

APPRENTICE is the second film by Boo which premiered in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, the first one being the excellent SANDCASTLE which I had seen here at TIFF years back. APPRENTICE is a family drama of another kind and the film is again one about the search of identity.

Correctional officer Aiman (played by a brooding Fir Rahman) is ready to do everything it takes to be transferred to the death ward of Singapore’s highest-security prison. His ambition to become apprentice to chief executioner Rahim (Wan Hanafi Su) is not only professional; it’s born of Aiman’s unspeakable desire to reconnect with a past that haunts him. (Airman’s father was executed by Rahim).

Airman finally gets his wishes as the film’s drama reaches its climatic pitch. A slow burning but effective and absorbing drama shot in both English and Malay with a dose of Mandarin.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxY3zZCqeTw

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: DIVINES (France/Qatar 2016) ****

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

divines_poster.jpgDIVINES (France/Qatar 2016) ****
Directed by Houda Benyamina

Starring: Oulaya Amamra, Déborah Lukumuena, Kevin Mishel

Review by Gilbert Seah

DIVINES is the much acclaimed surprise film at this year’s Cannes and the winner of the grand Camera d’Or Prize, the first to be won by an Arab director.

Houda Benyamina’s debut feature follows the hard lives of two young women who become embroiled in the criminal world of the Parisian neighbourhoods. Teenager Dounia (Oulaya Amamra) dreams of having it all: money, power, and a man. But she is saddled with a drunken and whorish mother.

At school, she freaks out and walks out of her well-intentioned teacher, swearing that she will make more money than her teacher will ever dream of. That she does with her friend, Maimouna (Déborah Lukumuena) by dealing drugs but not without dire consequences.

DIVINES is also a coming-of-age story and a very violent and hard look at the alternatives out there and there are not that many. Benyamina’s no-nonsense film is highly spirited and also full of music and dance with a little lost romance.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_Zp_FM9Yug

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: L’AVENIR (THINGS TO COME) (France/Germany 2016) ****

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

things_to_come_poster.jpgL’AVENIR (THINGS TO COME) (France/Germany 2016) ****
Directed by Mia Hansen-Løve

Starring: Isabelle Huppert, André Marcon, Roman Kolinka

Review by Gilbert Seah

Director Hansen-Løve’s (LA PERE DE MES ENFANTS, UN AMOUR DE JEUNESSE, EDEN) latest feature is again a film about life and living. Like in the other 3 films mentioned, her protagonist undergoes a major change in life in the midst of the movie.

Nathalie (another excellent performance by Isabelle Huppert) is a dedicated and demanding teacher, wife, and mother whose life is jolted when her husband of many years leaves her for another woman. As her life slowly crumbles (she loses her publications as well), Nathalie slowly adapts using her background in philosophy.

Nathalie is not as assured and confident as she is in the past. Her black, obsess cat, Pandora stands also as a metaphor for her life. But Nathalie, at least finds an unlikely friend in a former student, the radical young communist Fabien (Roman Kolinka).

The film is also beautifully shot in Normandy in a beautiful vacation house where the tides waters of the sea come into the backyard (my personal dream home). The musical score ranging from classical (Schubert) to folk (Woody Guthrie) is marvellous.

There are lots more to relate, reference and to enjoy in Hansen-Løve’s film such as a short clip seen of her husband Olivier Assaya’s film in one scene. As in all of Hansen-Løve’s films, L’AVENIR is an intelligent, handsomely mounted production that is an entertaining and insightful look on life and living.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhErAqJ8HGE

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: INTERCHANGE (Malaysia/Indonesia 2016) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

interchange_poster.jpgINTERCHANGE (Malaysia/Indonesia 2016) ***
Directed by Dain Iskandar Said

Starring: Prisia Nasution, Iedil Putra, Shaheizy Sam

Review by Gilbert Seah

Writer/director Dain Iskandar Said’s ambitious supernatural crime thriller takes a bit too much than it can chew though it is beautifully shot with a good mix of old-fashioned special effects and magic for good measure.

Shot in both English and Malay with the characters often switching languages within a conversation as is in the case the way Malaysians speak, the film offers a close look at the local customs and folklore as well as the shops and housings in and around Kuala Lumpur, the capital of Malaysia. The supernatural is taken back to Borneo the huge Malaysian island where much is still uninhabited.

The film deals with a forensic photographer Adam (Iedil Putra) who has become a recluse. But another murder with eerie resemblances to that one has just taken place, and Detective Man (Shaheizy Sam) thinks that Adam may unwittingly have access to some answers. Photographs were found at the new crime scene, images in which Adam’s neighbour, Iva (Prisia Nasution), appears — but the pictures seem to have been taken many years before Iva was even born. There is a romance tied in with the rituals.

INTERCHANGE is a bit confusing in the way the story unfolds, and the tie in between bird and longevity is not that credible, but Said tries very hard in his movie and his effort shows.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ81AnCPqJM

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: GAZA SURF CLUB (Germany 2016) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

gaza_surf_club_poster.jpgGAZA SURF CLUB (Germany 2016) ***
Directed by Philip Gnadt and Mickey Yamine

Writers: Michael Dupke, Philip Gnadt

Review by Gilbert Seah

The film begins with the map showing the Gaza Strip between Israel and Egypt bordered by the Mediterranean Sea and then goes on to show a beach with waves that is surrounded by dilapidated buildings.

It is clear that the Jewish Arab conflict, a staple in Israeli and Palestinian films is an issue affecting the characters in this documentary as well. The main characters here are the youth who have a passion for the sport of surfing – something that is unimagined for the Arab people.

Two youngsters that the film concentrate on are 23-year old Ibrahim and 15-year old Sabah. Ibrahim dreams of owning his own surfboard shop while Sabah dreams of being able to swim and surf – something girls are not allowed to do, as it is deemed shameful in the culture.

The documentary sails along smoothly revealing the troubles facing the youth in materializing their goals for surfing. The cinematography of the surfing scenes is magnificent.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qonly9By1aQ

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: MOONLIGHT (USA 2016) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

moonlight_poster.jpg
MOONLIGHT (USA 2016) ***
Directed by Barry Jenkins

Starring: Mahershala Ali, Shariff Earp, Duan’Sandy’ Sanderson

Review by Gilbert Seah

MOONLIGHT is Barry Jenkins’ second feature after MEDICINE FOR MELANCHOLY. It is s very strange feature, very originally told (in three parts; each part titled by each of the three names the protagonist is given) of the life of Little or Chiron or Black from childhood to adulthood.

His real name is Chiron, but is called Little in school due to his small stature. Little is ‘adopted’ by a local thug and his girlfriend when he is not living with his drug addicted mother. Bullied and beaten up frequently,

Little cannot take it anymore and is arrested after he finally breaks a chair over his bully right in the middle of a class. He grows up to be a big muscled guy and meets back with his school buddy who gave him the nickname of Black. Kevin and Black had a gay sex encounter which Black can never forget. Jenkins’ film feels like it is all over the place though it is obvious he is leading his audience somewhere.

Though slow moving at times, Jenkins film is never boring and a compelling watch for start to end when the audience finally figures out the purpose of MOONLIGHT.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fYFIj16YC0

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: LONG EXCUSES (Japan 2016)

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

long_excuses_poster.jpgLONG EXCUSES (Japan 2016) **
Directed by Miwa Nishikawa

Starring: Sôsuke Ikematsu, Masahiro Motoki, Eri Fukatsu

Review by Gilbert Seah

Based on her own novel, Miwa Nishikawa’s (DREAMS FOR SALE) film begins with the death of wife Natsuko (Eri Fukatsu). Husband Sachio Kinugasa (Masahiro Motoki) was having sex with another woman at the same exact time of the wife’s drowning and is therefore consumed with guilt.

THE LONG EXCUSE traces the life of Sachio after the death and how he copes with it. While never being a father, he bonds with the children of Yoichi (Pistol Takehara), whose wife died with Miwa.

Running at over two hours, Nishikawa’s film is a ponderous watch especially watching both Sachio’s and Yoichi’s grief. Except for a few dramatic scenes (the dinner scene when Sachio explains why he does not have children), the film is quite bland. It does to help that Nishikawa’s female characters are all superior to the men.

Sachio is an emotional mess and Yoichi is a rather dumb, uneducated father while Sachio’s wife is patient and understanding and Yoichi’s new girlfriend is thoughtful and smart. Do we really need to spend two hours watching to men grief their wives’ death?

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1w5oUgQhMag

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: WE ARE NEVER ALONE (Czech/France 2016) ***1/2

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

we_are_never_alone_poster.jpgWE ARE NEVER ALONE (Czech/France 2016) ***1/2
Directed by Petr Vaclav

Starring: Klaudia Dudová, Zdenek Godla, Miroslav Hanus

Review by Gilbert Seah

Director Vaclav says of his film, “No one is ever alone – we are always connected. We all live with others: some we dominate, some dominate us. The weaker submit to the stronger, the imitators to the originators, lovers to their beloved.

All this is true and revealed in his film WE ARE NEVER ALONE. In a small town in the Czech provinces, there exist these characters: a paranoid prison guard, his hypochondriac neighbour and his wife who holds a shocking secret, their hardened children, a lovesick nightclub manager, and a stripper who is a single mother. Like a domino effect, each person’s actions unknowingly trigger consequences for them all.

The trouble is that these are all very depressing people who are always shouting at each other and condemning themselves. Do we need to watch this? We don’t but Vaclav’s film (which moves from black and white to colour back to black and white for no apparent reason) is somehow quite absorbing and his film turns out quite a surprising watch. This is quite an achievement for the director.

WE ARE NEVER ALONE world premiered at the 2016 Berlinale, where it won the Tagesspiegel Readers’ Jury Award.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tqOrol4jYls

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TIFF 2016 Movie Review: JESUS (Chile/Germany/Greece 2016) ***

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Movie Reviews of films that will be playing at TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) in 2016. Go to TIFF 2016 Movie Reviews and read reviews of films showing at the festival.

jesus_poster.jpgJESUS (Chile/Germany/Greece 2016) ***
Directed by Fernando Guzzoni

Starring: Sebastián Ayala, Nicolás Durán, Alejandro Goic

Review by Gilbert Seah

Jesus (Nicolás Durán) is a story of one troubled youth set in the Chilean capital of Satntiago as told from the point of view of the boy, Jesus himself. Things take a spiral downwards after Jesus’ group loses a boy bands contest. Jesus in not in school nor working, straining the relationship between him and his father (Alejandro Goic) who frequently works out of the city.

Guzzoni loves to shoot in the shadows as in the very violent scene where Jesus and friends beat up a gay youth in the park and the two argument segments where father and son are shown in silhouettes in the car. The beating up scene is really violent and almost unbearable to watch. But Guzzoni shows a redemptive side of Jesus as he feels guilt for the deed.

Jesus is also not shown as homophobic as he himself indulges with a same-sex act with his friend. But the film finally reveals that its main focus is the father and son relationship. Guzzoni’s film is not an easy watch but it is unpredictable and gets one in the guts.

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THE WILD LIFE (ROBINSON CRUSOE) (Belgium 2015) ***

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the_wild_lifeTHE WILD LIFE (ROBINSON CRUSOE) (Belgium 2015) ***

Directed by Vincent Kesteloot

Starring: Matthias Schweighöfer, Kaya Yanar, Ilka Bessin

Review by Gilbert Seah

ROBINSON CRUSOE is a 2015 Belgium animated feature shot originally in French and dubbed in English and released by Lionsgate in Canada under the different title of THE WILD LIFE. As the title implies, it is the story of Robinson Crusoe – the untold story as told by the animals of the island Crusoe gets shipwrecked on. Crusoe is depicted as a clumsy clot, aided by the animals of the island in gratitude for saving them from the mean cats.

The story is told in flashback by the parrot who gives the story his point of view. On a tiny isolated South Pacific Island, Mak, the parrot and his friends live the perfect life. Blue skies, beautiful turquoise water, and lots of delicious fruit and crunchy insects. But every day is the same and Mak is really bored. Convinced there is more than just water over the horizon, he dreams of leaving his little paradise and exploring the world. Then one day, after a violent tropical storm, they wake up to find a huge ship broken up on the beach.

Two strange creatures emerge from the bowels of the shipwreck: Robinson Crusoe and his dog Aynsley. Unbeknownst to everyone, two ferocious cats have also survived the storm. The rest of the film is Crusoe and animals surviving the invasion of the two cats who have now sprouted a litter of equally ferocious and ugly kittens.

THE WILD LIFE cannot compete with the superior animation of Pixar or Disney Studios. But given its limitations, the animation is still solid, with 3-dimensional figures (as compared to the 2-D old school) that are now a staple for animated films. The inventiveness like the maze of pipes in Crusoe’s house is a wonder and the chase around the plumbing is sheer delight.

The film suffers from not having a true villain. The scavenger cats make ugly villains, but having the pa and ma felines having a hungry litter only make them more sympathetic than evil. The disposal of Crusoe’s dog is sad and would scare kids. Apart form this, most of the action is harmless fun with no real terror, violence or hint of foul language.

The film’s humour is derived from animal slapstick, chases and dumb talk. Adults will find the humour childish but the kids should be having a field day. The film also contains a few catchy tunes, just enough not to bore the audience. The film also contains a message (seems to be a staple for all animated family films these days) which is that home is where you make it – as the parrot learns.

The European touch is evident throughout the film. For one, the animals on the island make up a strange bunch, not too well known animals as found in American animal films. Besides the common parrot, other lesser known animals that make the cast include a tapir, an echidna and a chameleon. The voices are provided by an European cast for the French version and Americans for the dubbed version.

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3dyAWBMF6bE