Today I had the early session free again so I went online and booked in Under The Hawthorne Tree, a beautifully realised Chinese film featured in the Next Gen program, which meant I shared the cinema with a few school groups. I thought they would be disruptive on account of being on an excursion to see a film with subtitles but they were all surprisingly well behaved. The film told the tale of a young girl growing up in the 1970s Cultural Revolution of China which meant she and some of her fellow students had to leave the city and move to the country for some time for their re-education. There she met and fell in love with a handsome geology student, but due to her delicate position in the eyes of the empire she must tread carefully the line between love and duty. This film tells the most beautifully innocent love story set against the backdrop of political paranoia and social upheaval and I was captivated by the gravity of the situation and the humble nature of the story. This was the first film of the festival that had me truly weeping and my sleeves were quite sodden afterward.
But I had time to settle in before the next film which was at ACMI 2 again, a quirky and delightfully absurd American comedy called Natural Selection. Linda is a long suffering Christian housewife whose husband has suddenly suffered a stroke. While he is lying comatose in the hospital she discovers that he has been donating sperm to a bank every week for years whilst never allowing himself to be "lead into temptation" by her due to her sin of having an abortion. In her disillusionment she is lead to believe that her husband wishes for her to track down one of his children, thus begins one of the weirdest road-to-self-discovery movies I have ever seen. I can see why the audience at SXSW voted so vigorously for this film it was simply delightfully absurd. It was also quite funny, which is always good when seeing a comedy.
I ran off next to Greater Union for a film I couldn't remember anything about and after a short discussion with one of the vollies (the lovely Simon who showed me the ropes way back in '09) I was reminded that I was in for a "controversial" and "unsettling" viewing. Teamed with this absurdity was the sweet Belgian short Swimsuit 46, the story of a poor little chubby girl who only wants to swim her best at an upcoming competition but is being held back by her horrible family. She needs a new swimsuit because hers is in disarray, which means new goggles that don't leak are not on the cards. The girl works her heart out saving up for her goggles by washing cars and doing household chores and when she has enough her brother steals it. This film was too short for me to really feel anything substantial toward the characters or the events but it was a quaint story and peaceful prelude to the feature.
The program notes for She Monkeys were incredibly misleading. The film was odd and at times menacing but I did not know what was going on or why. The lead actress was remarkable stoic with seemingly no expression or care for unfolding events which made it extremely difficult to understand her actions. Her little sister was bizarrely delightful and extremely odd. I could not predict where the film was heading and then suddenly, it ended. Given the still provided and the program notes calling this film "claustrophobic" and a "deeply unsettling exploration of the jumbled parameters of teen sexuality", even going so far as to use the phrase "taboo breaking", I thought I was in for some real shlock and horror, confusion of teen sexuality and the intensity of desire in the mind of the adolescent but it was not like that at all. Disappointing.
Last up for the day was the light hearted comedy Our Idiot Brother, the tale of well-meaning man-child Ned, played endearingly by the wonderful Paul Rudd, whose good natured view of the world leads him to trouble. His family are a bunch of self absorbed misfits who plot and scheme, and patronise him for trying to do the right thing and only see the good in people, but he is the one who ultimately fixes their lives leading to a fuller and happier life for all. This film is a charming comedy with truly hilarious moments and wonderful cameos from the likes of Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Steve Coogan. The dynamics between the cast members was great and they delivered a lovely message in the end.
Pick of the day
Under the Hawthorne Tree was just beautiful and sweet beyond comprehension and I absolutely loved it.
Surprise of the Day
Our Idiot Brother. I can't generally see how Hollywood blockbuster types fit into the schematics of the film festival but this one was fun and the packed screening made the experience more enjoyable.
Film total so far
46
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