Hot Docs 2008 - Shot In Bombay

"Shot In Bombay" is ostensibly a behind the scenes look at the making of a Bollywood action film, but it layers on several different storylines that make it so much more interesting and entertaining. Of course it helps when the director of the film within a film is a young ego-driven hot shot whose favourite expression is "Mind blowing", a star who has done over 50 films in the last decade in which he has also been on trial for weapons possession and a script (of the film within the film) that embellishes quite a bit on a re-telling of the true story of a public gun battle between police and gangsters. Sprinkle with liberal amounts of a full-of-himself co-star, a cynical cinematographer and a short history of recent sectarian violence in Mumbai and you've got quite the balancing act. Fortunately, director/editor Liz Mermin handles all these threads quite well.

The action film we see in production is to be called "Shootout At Lokhandwala" and as the documentary starts we get to meet the slew of characters - the star, the villain, the hero cop, etc. It's loosely based on an early 90s standoff between a couple of hundred policemen and a group of gangsters holed up in a residential section of Mumbai. Via flashbacks and current day interviews with the police officers who were involved (including the lead cop - who also gets a small role in the film about those events), we start to learn a bit more about public attitudes at the time and the possibility that this was more of a Dirty Harry scenario of street justice than an actual police intervention. This is actually one of the most interesting sections of the film - were the police justified in doing what they did or should they be considered to be just as bad as the gangsters themselves?

Further flashbacks also give some inkling as to the feeling in the city in the early 90s which eventually led to rioting and what then led to the Bombay Blasts of 1993 (single day explosions that killed around 300 people). Actor Sanjay Dutt is arrested in connection to these bombings because of some weapons that were found in his possession (including an AK-57) and after years of bail hearings, he is finally found guilty of possession and the sentencing hearings take place during his filming of "Shootout At Lokhandwala". Combined with his shooting several other films at once, this tends to impact the production schedule - the director may only get him for a few hours on any given day.

With all this background, we are also treated to the typical day-to-day problems and issues of shooting a Bollywood film and the confusion of making things up as you go. The cinematographer of the film states at one point "This is Indian cinema - you don't go by logic, you go by emotion". He also states in a deadpan voice at another point that "Filmmaking is a waste of time". But far and away the most entertaining of the characters we meet is the young chain smoking director who needs a hit. He thinks he is much funnier, charming and intelligent than he really is and you wonder if he'll be able to hold it all together by the end. There's a very funny scene where he is showing someone how to slap one of the stuntmen and he proceeds to essentially beat the man up - treating him like a punching bag and barely even registering his existence since it's of little or no impact to him. If you are one of the stars though, every scene you do is "Cut. Mind blowing!"





In the end you feel amazed that they managed to finish "Shootout At Lokhandwala" at all and then that people actually went to see its overblown dramatics and heavily romanticized look at cops and gangsters. Hopefully "Shot In Bombay" and its wide ranging cast of characters finds an audience as well - there's got to be some minds out there ready to be blown...

Hot Docs 2008 - Garbage! The Revolution Starts At Home

I like to think I try to do what I can when it comes to the environment: I recycle as much as possible, take advantage of Toronto's green bin program for food waste disposal and (last I checked anyway) don't have massive PCB tanks in my back yard. And it's been years since I started any tire fires...But Andrew Nisker's shoestring budget "Garbage! The Revolution Starts At Home" shows us we can all do more - and without much difficulty. Fortunately, he manages to do this without a great deal of preaching down to the audience.

Nisker borrows the post exclamation mark title of his film from the late Bob Hunter (co-founder of Greenpeace). It fits the film well as it touches on many wider issues, but continuously comes back to how what we do as individuals touches the larger whole. The jumping off point for much of the discussion of these downstream affects comes from the premise of the film: what happens when a single family keeps (inside their garage) every bit of garbage they produce over a span of three months? If you're the MacDonald family (3 kids under 8, 2 SUVs, large urban house, etc.) it gets a little messy. And smelly. And there's maggots.

But that's not really where the film focuses the majority of its screen time. Through the MacDonalds, we see how our every day activities contribute to environmental issues: our electricity consumption ties back to the blasting of the Appalachian mountains; driving your car contributes towards road runoff (a particularly nasty impact to local rivers); packaging from grocery food creates an awful lot of landfill; etc. During each of these segments, there is typically an expert of some variety who discusses, say, the direct affects to our water supply of most household cleaners. Nisker has managed to find experts who speak calmly and logically about their fields and who keep away from politics and fear mongering. Any fear the viewer may feel is derived solely from their own logical conclusions to facts layed out.

Not sounding like a barrels of laughs at this point? Here's the trailer:





Again Nisker makes a wise choice - the MacDonalds are lively, interesting and honest about their habits. They are fun and help keep the pace of the film moving from one topic to another. The little bits of animation (vary basic animation) also provide a bit of respite from the handheld home video footage. Throughout the heavy messages of the movie, there's a good deal of humour to be found and the crowd at our screening (including a bunch of young kids) seemed to enjoy it a great deal.

The first 5 minutes or so of the film gave me pause though...Sappy music, a little boy playing on a slide and Nisker's narration about his fears for the world his young son will inherit. It's not that I don't share some of those same feelings, but it didn't bode well for a fact-based presentation of his concerns. But apart from a few debatable conclusions arrived at by some of the people interviewed, the movie doesn't stoop to much further nonsense. As a matter of fact, by the end of it you'll likely think of "convenience" as quite the dirty word. Of course, I'd be lying if I said the movie has completely changed the way I live my life - but I'd like to think it's started to.




Web site of film (buy the film now on DVD)

12 Things You Can Do Right Now

Hot Docs 2008 - The True Meaning of Pictures: Shelby Lee Adams' Appalachia

My first screening at this year's Hot Docs fest ended up being an older film: Jennifer Baichwal's 2002 portrait of photographer Shelby Lee Adams entitled "The True Meaning Of Pictures". It was screened as part of a retrospective of Baichwal's work the festival is doing this year and - like last year's "Manufactured Landscapes" (about photographer Edward Burtynsky) - it wasn't solely about the artist. We certainly learn a great deal about Adams from the film, but the central question is in regards to art and its context: is it the artist's responsibility to ensure that everyone knows the proper context and story behind a piece of work?

Adams grew up in the Appalachian mountains of West Virginia and seems to exclusively use the area for his photographs. The beautiful forests and mountainous region is shown to great effect in the opening shot of the film - drifting above the trees like rolling over the tops of row upon row of broccoli in the supermarket. The hollers (valleys in between the mountains that stretch for 10-20 miles at a time) are where Adams goes to work...The deeper one gets into the holler, the poorer the region seems to get and the living conditions become closer and closer to what everyone thinks about when the term "hillbilly" is used. As with any cliche or stereotype, there are grains of truth but typically little else.




Adams' photography is at times stunning, disturbing and quite breathtaking - and Baichwal highlights it beautifully by cutting all sound from the film as the photos are shown on screen. Mostly consisting of black and white stills of the faces of the people from these ramshackle areas, he employs lighting to great affect giving angelic/demonic appearances to his subjects. And what subjects! Their faces are pock marked and covered with their own hollers - sometimes looking much like the destroyed mountaintops of the mining area of the Appalachians. One of the more memorable people in the film is a handicapped woman who lives with her siblings and elderly father. Though an initial glance would likely leave the viewer shaking their heads in sadness for her, the footage we see behind the pictures shows her to be an incredibly loving and sweet person - hugging her brothers and engaging with Adams himself.

Which is partially the point of some of Adams' critics. They say that not only does he not provide the background of these people in the pictures, but that he emphasizes the "hillbilly" nature of their existence, occasionally stages scenes and completely neglects the rest of the region. They worry that entrenched stereotypes of Appalachians will remain and that Adams does a disservice to these people. There's no doubt that Adams does indeed create his own world by altering lighting and setting scenes, but the people are genuine. They live in these environments, they look the way they do and they like these pictures.

It seems like the critics are placing their own contexts around these photos...The most telling is an interview with a woman who has "made it out of the hollers" and who criticizes a particular picture of a young girl who is a relation of hers. She claims Adams has disgraced her family and wonders why he had to take the picture in front of a broken screen door and why the girl had to look all disheveled and ugly. The picture she refers to is below (clicking on it will give a larger size version of it):




Personally, I think it's a great picture and that young girl is gorgeous. So who is doing the disservice to these people? Adams or that woman who wants to change the context of his art to suit herself ("Why couldn't he just take a pretty picture")?

A great film that allows you to consider what art is and what you think it should be.

Black Tight Killers

Yasuharu Hasebe's 1966 film "Black Tight Killers" is the kind of film that puts a smile on my face. It takes what could have been a lame Z grade picture and enlivens the story by using the medium - showing lots of colour, sets, shadows and angles to move the story forward instead of relying on too much exposition. Of course having a whole whack of go-go dancers, female ninjas and guys in trenchcoats helps keep things fun as well.

Though there's some pointed references about the aftershocks that remain from the damage caused during WW II (by both U.S. and Japanese decisions), the main push of the story is the war photographer in pursuit of the kidnappers of his stewardess girlfriend. But back to the go-go dancers:








And the use of colour:








And the Ninjas (the Ninja chewing gum bullet is my new favourite weapon):





And the shadows:






And the Bond-like spy vs. evil men stuff:







And the dream-like environments (the first three below are actually from a dream):










Barely need subtitles, eh?

That's fortunate actually because the Image Entertainment DVD has very poor quality subtitles rife with spelling and major grammatical mistakes. There's even a few instances where I couldn't figure out what the hell they were talking about.

But no mind. The film is a blast and still packs a punch.

Precious Images

"Precious Images" is the name of Chuck Workman's 1986 Oscar winning short film that edits together 100 years of moments from film (English language film that is - it was made for the Directors' Guild Of America). I just stumbled across this in IMDB while looking at the details of another film. And go figure - the whole thing is on YouTube.

With only 8 minutes, it'll of course leave out some great stuff. As well, if you were up in arms about the lack of imagination of the AFI Top 100 lists, you may have similar feelings after watching it ("Argh! Why don't they ever include blah-blah-blah in these things!?"). However, it's still quite an amazing collection of clips covering some great films and has some great editing and choices of segues (e.g. from Esther Williams to Jaws). I had to go back and pause the video a few times because the images were zooming by so fast - and you really want them to linger.

Esoteric Picks #28

Tunes

The Mighty Imperials - Thunder Chicken (1996)


Funk out yo face old school with a group that could easily be mistaken for James Brown's old backing band. Complete with wakachaka-wakachaka guitar, bubbling organ, punchy horns and a bopping rhythm section, these kids (and apparently not a single member of the band was over 18 when the record was recorded) sound like a bunch of well-seasoned studio players. Singer Joe Henry brings his gospel background to some soulful vocals on 4 of the albums tracks. The rest of the album is filled with solid on-the-one funk played with joy and a deep respect to the Godfather Of Soul.



Classic English Language Film

House Of Wax (1953)


Andre de Toth's remake of 1933's "Mystery Of The Wax Museum" is another case of a terrificly fun Sunday afternoon type movie that is also crafted exceptionally well - with a strong visual sense as well as solid (enough) acting and a good story. I'd love to see this in its original 3-D - if only for the scene where a barker is playing with one of those paddleball thingies and bouncing it straight at the camera (you would be forgiven if you suddenly thought of Dr. Tongue at this point...). Vincent Price is the star here and he may very well be having more fun than the viewer. OK, so the story doesn't quite hang together perfectly, but the concept of using dead bodies for the wax sculptures and then needing to kill for more models is just too good not to work on some level. You can even see a young Charles Bronson as the assistant Igor. If you haven't seen it, you couldn't possibly need more convincing than that.

And if you have some 3-D glasses, here's part of the paddleball scene:





Recent English Language Film

The Ten (2007)


A bit of a dicey pick here - not just because the quality of the 10 different sketches varies minute to minute, but because it's obviously trying to offend across a wide swath. Of course if you're easily offended, you really shouldn't be watching comedic riffs based around the Ten Commandments...Each story has a different cast of characters played by the likes of Winona Ryder, Jessica Alba and Ron Silver, but as the film goes on the characters start crossing over to the different stories. Even nominal host Paul Rudd (who isn't that great here) gets into one of the stories. It's during these meshing of storylines and interesting little tweaks (like how each story opens up) that the film wins extra points. It's also always welcomed to be reminded how incredibly lovely Gretchen Mol is.



Foreign Film

Pitfall (1962)


A young man and his son reach a deserted ghost town after drifting from mining job to mining job. They've been managing a meager existence doing what they have to in order to survive, but now a man in a white suit is following them and taking their picture. Hiroshi Teshigahara builds a fascinating debut film from this by using a number of different tools - cinematography (Criterion's crisp transfer really showcases the beautiful and striking Black and White photography), brillant use of the sound field, numerous themes (voyeurism, man vs. nature, etc.) and a range of genre and stylistic conventions. The movie is not only an unsettling ghost story, but also a murder mystery, a tragic tale of human desperation and what seems to be a criticism of authority (in general, but also specifically the mining industry of the times). The outlook of the film is bleak, but if you want a terrific example of the craft and artistry of film making then look no further.

Here's the Japanese trailer (without subtitles, but should still give you an idea):





WTF?

The Great Happiness Space (2006)


Thinking of writing a futuristic tale of how our modern day relationships have failed so badly that the beautiful young people who sell their time for companionship to others, must in turn buy their own? You'd be hard pressed to write something better than this documentary about young Japanese men who sell themselves as dates in specially created clubs. In an odd circular twist, the majority of their clientele is made up of prostitutes - women who are so desperately in need of some kind of companionship after selling their bodies that they end up buying it from these pretty young men. It's fascinating, yet terribly sad...

Esoteric Picks #27

Adam Ross over at DVD Panache was kind enough to mention my previous Esoteric picks when he did my recent Friday Screen Test. Considering I haven't done one in about 4 months, I should probably get back on track...



Tunes

Horslips - The Tain (1974)


Though mostly known for their minor FM hit in the late 70's "The Man Who Built America" (at least in North America anyway), Horslips have a fine back catalog of strong Celtic influenced rock that covers a wide swath of territory. Progressive rock fans will enjoy the mixing of folk and rock instrumentation amidst the occasional jig or reel (not to mention the oft-compared to Jethro Tull flute playing - which in my mind is better than Ian Anderson's) and perhaps even their penchant for concept albums which tend to deal with very specific Irish subjects like local mythology or even the plight of immigrants to North America. The band is in terrific form here showing great instrumental work that never overshadows some truly lovely songs.



Classic English Language Film

Dracula (1958)


My knowledge of Hammer Horror cinema is unfortunately quite slim, but after seeing this almost perfect combination of story, acting, colour and fun I really hope to change that. Also known as "Horror Of Dracula" in North America, it covers the basic tale of Dracula and Dr. Van Helsing, but somehow finds the perfect ground between the slightly scary, the melodramatic and the good cheesy fun. Throw in both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing - who seem to relish their roles and the grand sets they get to prowl around - and it's hard to imagine not having buckets and buckets full of ooey gooey bloody red entertainment.

I was lucky enough to see the recently restored version on the big screen. Here's the trailer for it (doesn't it look great?):




Recent English Language Film

Jane Austen Book Club (2007)


Several women (and one man) fall into a book club devoted to covering off all of Jane Austen's novels. Each month they meet to discuss the next book on the list and slowly begin to work through their own messy lives and romances. Though the film occasionally borders on getting too silly with a few characters and their situations, it holds together quite well and weaves in various Austen plots and character traits across all the club members without having to match them up specifically with the books. The dialog is sharp and natural and the acting is almost uniformly excellent (particularly by Maria Bello). It ended up far exceeding my expectations.



Foreign Film

Bay Of Angels (1963)



"Bay Of Angels" may very well be the perfect realization of the bittersweet world of director Jacques Demy. A young man falls into the world of gambling at ritzy French casinos and hooks up with the impossibly blonde Jackie. She's completely addicted to the highs of winning and (as played by the remarkable Jeanne Moreau) you feel like she can actually command that roulette ball to stop wherever she demands. Of course she can't, so the bulk of the film is the ups and downs the couple face together. You're left trying to decide whether the outcome of the film is a good thing for the two of them or not..."Umbrellas Of Cherbourg" and "Young Girls Of Rochefort" are more famous and beloved (by me as well), but this film truly captures a mix of happiness, regret, hope and sadness all at once.

Here's a great trailer for "The Fantasy World Of Jacques Demy" which includes clips from "Bay Of Angels" and several other great films by the man:





WTF?

Isolation (2005)


Billy O'Brien's 2005 film "Isolation" is a straight up horror film for the most part, but being set almost entirely on a remote Irish farm with few characters (only 5 main people on the farm) allows it to build a great deal of tension over long stretches. And since the driving force of the story begins with a genetic mutation in a not-born-yet calf gone wrong, the unease you feel as the story moves forward is heightened by the fact you don't know what the hell the creature will suddenly be able to do. The lack of CGI and the run down, muddy nature of the farm create a very realistic environment for this science experiment gone wrong tale. Which is important when early on a vet gets bitten by the calf while it is still in it's mother's womb.