Catching up on my reviews after a few days of being busy with a work project...
Lesson Plan (USA) (Docu) - B
As a technically straightforward documentary with mostly talking heads and archival photos/videos, the power of "Lesson Plan" lies in its subject matter. The intriguing story of the Third Wave is told by students who went through it as well as Ron Jones himself, discrepancies and all. The film doesn't provide much answer beyond that, but it serves as a serious reminder that we humans are really good at justifying what we have done (or will do). Or, as another quote from the film says: Any group of people with a shared extreme opinion, no matter how bright and educated they are, can be dangerous.
SIFF's Beth Barrett with "Lesson Plan" filmmakers
"Bibliothèque Pascal" (Hungary) - C+
The artfully presented story is reminiscent of the films from Terry Gilliam and Tarsem Singh, though it does get self-indulgent after a while and goes on a little too long. At the end, I did like the overall message and took away some food for thought. Whether it was worth the two hours of time, that's somewhat arguable.
"Win/Win" (Netherlands) - B
A subtly intense and deeply personal journey of a young man who is winning big time in his job as a stock broker, but losing just about every battle in his personal life, mostly with insomnia and loneliness. It is an engaging film that feels strangely detached at the same time, perhaps due to the fragmented storytelling. I also file it under "a lot of time spent on making the same point repeatedly." Which is not necessarily a bad thing, I might add.
"Simple Simon" (Sweden) - B
This is a fun, quirky romantic comedy that had a sold-out audience in stitches. My main problem, however, is that the Asperger's Syndrome as exhibited by Simon in this film rings false most of the time. Although I'm not an expert on Autism Spectrum Disorder, I am currently working on a documentary about ASD, and therefore have been interviewing and filming with autism experts and children with autism. Based on those experiences, I find Simon's symptoms to be unauthentic. I would be curious to hear from others who have seen the film and are familiar with Asperger's. In any case, if you are not distracted by this issue like I was, you will probably enjoy it quite a bit. One pivotal scene, which involves Simon executing a plan in a very non-Asperger's fashion, is the delightful highlight of the film.
Packed house for "Simple Simon"
I was interested in your review. I am also not an expert on Asperger's, but have years of experience with a family member with ASD of Asperger's as well as the interdisciplinary treatment he received through the University of Washington. I volunteered to work at the special education school he attended, and they eventually gave me a job because I was there so much of time. What I observed in my experience is that Asperger's as well as other disorders on the autism spectrum include a wide scope of behaviors. Not all Asperger's fall in the same place on the spectrum. I know which scene you refer to and I do agree it probably is not as typical of Asperger's in that the character was less regimented and showing a greater ability to perceive another's point of view. I think the believability was that he watched dozens of videos and was creating a scene that was portrayed in these videos. The person who had Asperger's in my family actually communicated using movie dialogue, and I think the film maker tried to apply that concept to that scene, but may not have done it as well. Also, people with Asperger's at times do have moments that appear to be outside the realms of Asperger behavior, but often it is because we are interpreting it as such. For instance, the character may have seemed like he was plotting out a romantic evening for his brother and potential girlfriend, where he may have very well been simply modeling behaviors he observed from watching the romantic comedies. The reason he checked out the romantic comedies is that the first girlfriend liked romantic comedies and he believed that was the key to getting her to like a person...by setting up a romantic comedy scene. I enjoy reading your reviews. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment. My main issue was that I did not see the most typical Asperger's symptoms in terms of speech, eye contact, emotional comprehension, etc. The character mostly acted stressed out and obsessive-compulsive, and kept telling everyone he didn't want to be touched (seemingly more than he actually didn't want to be touched). Some other aspects, such as the meltdowns and the food routine, did seem authentic. Overall, I didn't find it to be a good depiction of Asperger's. Again, based on my limited experiences only. I look forward to learning more on the subject.
ReplyDelete