Do You See Colors When You Close Your Eyes? (USA) - B+
After young poet Jonathan passes away, his boyfriend Christian (fiance actually) and his twin brother Michael meet up and go on a road trip to spread his ashes. In different yet similar ways, they mourn their loss of Jonathan, and seek some kind of remedy from each other. Their tender heartache and yearning for connection permeate this hauntingly beautiful film, starting from the very first scene which launches right into the timeline-jumping narrative. Sage Price absolutely shines in an incredible dual-role as twin brothers, especially considering they filmed everything in only seven and half days. I did find Christian's refusal of moving on from Jonathan to be a bit overwhelming and tedious; however that is a minor flaw in a highly memorable film.
Q&A; me with writer Joshua Young, star Sean Frazier, and director Caleb Young
Writer Joshua Young said he intentionally left all the directing to his brother Caleb, because all their previous filmmaking collaborations led to constant bickering. Yet brotherly connections might have been mysteriously at work after all: Joshua wrote the script with a broken-up timeline but gave it to Caleb in a chronological form. On his own, Caleb came up with his narrative structure that was essentially identical with Joshua's original script. Spooky?
Amador (Spain) - B-
A woman, newly pregnant and in need of money, finds a great job looking after an old man. Unfortunately, he dies. What's a maid to do?? This film has a good ending and a few great moments leading up to it, but the bulk of it really tested my patience. I think it would've made a great short film.
My So-Called Enemy (USA) (Docu) - A-
One of the thorniest topics in the world - the Israel-Palestine conflict - gets put into some very humanistic perspectives through the eyes and hearts of teenage girls from both sides of the wall, who came to the U.S. in 2002 to attend a leadership program together. Director Lisa Gossels spent the next seven years following up with the girls (who became young women by the end of the process), and another one and half years editing the film together, a process that included many test screenings to make sure the presentation is as balanced as possible. For that reason, as well as the safety of the young women involved, some powerful or controversial interviews were unfortunately left out of the final product. Even so, this is an eye-opening and thought-provoking documentary that could have a great impact by getting people involved in a push for solution. The clear focus on the girls' personal journeys and friendships works wonderfully, producing many memorable scenes that are deeply touching and poignant.
Sunday's screening was followed by a thoughtful and lively Q&A with Lisa, who was great with the audience. The fact that most of the audience stayed for the Q&A - which seldom happens at SIFF - was a testimony to the film's impact.
No comments:
Post a Comment