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Filmfestivalen 2015

Release the Draken!

I'm a bit concerned. For the last gazillion years, or at least twelve, I have been volunteering at Göteborg Filmfestival, working alongside the awesomest people at the best picture house in all the land, leaving me free to watch as many films as possible at my leisure. As such, I didn't need to plan so much ahead and buy tickets, I could just watch any film that happened to be the talk of the town at a whim. This year, however, I attend the movie extravaganza as a regular Joe, wielding tickets and all. It will feel different, but I just know, once I sink down in those comfy chairs, that the screen will, as it always does, take me away to far off places, to meet interesting, lovely, sordid, boring and hilarious people. And experience films I will, wielding tickets and all.

/Martin

Parabellum

Comedy Posted by MartinPosted on 2015-02-07 14:00:36

Survivalfilm by Lukas Valenta Rinner, Argentina 2014
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3661410/?ref_=fn_ft_tt_1

Twenty minutes into the future, the world, and especially Argentina, is in unrest. Bombings, earthquakes, extreme weather and general disarray are rising, and so Hernan decides to leave his job and belongings in Buenos Aires to go to a survival camp in the forest.

Very few words are spoken, and we never get to know the characters. The training sessions are quite amusing, but there is a certain lack of plot, and so, it’s a good thing that the film is a mere 75 minutes. It makes me want to go to some similar camp though, even if the world isn’t doomed.

Bechdel test: fail

2 t-shirts of 6



Ex Machina

Drama Posted by MartinPosted on 2015-02-07 13:58:12

ScAI-fAI by Alex Garland, USA 2014

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0470752/?ref_=fn_ft_tt_1

Caleb is a young programmer at the world’s largest search engine company. One day he wins a staff lottery and gets to visit his mysterious boss at his recluse estate way off in the wilderness. Once there, it turns out that he’s to perform a Turing test on the enigmatic entrepreneur’s latest creation: a fully functional AI.

As sci-fi goes, ‘Ex machina’ is somewhat bottle episodey, which can be a good thing. The main actors do tremendous jobs, in particular Oscar Isaac as the arrogant, yet likeable arsehole he’s prone to portray and Sweden’s own Alicia Vikander as the AI robot Ava. The interaction between tester and subject gets ever more tense, and something doesn’t feel right, neither for Caleb, nor the audience. I had expected a plot twist or two, and I had already patted myself on the back for figuring it out right from the beginning. But sometimes looks can be deceiving, and sometimes deceiving can be deceiving, as well.

Bechdel test: fail

4 bytes of 6



Bridgend

Drama Posted by MartinPosted on 2015-02-07 13:55:57

Suicidemo by Jeppe Rønde, Denmark 2015

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4180576/?ref_=fn_ft_tt_1

In the small Welsh town of Bridgend, a series of mysterious suicides has been occurring since a few years back. A former citizen, now a policeman, returns with his teenage daughter to investigate. Meanwhile, the daughter teams up with a gang of juvenile delinquents, and the suicides continue, but now it gets all too personal for both dad and daughter.

With skillful use of camera, lights (or lack thereof) and haunting music, with the overcast, gray autumn scenery furthering the bleakness, debut director Rønde tells the based-on-true-events tale with little to no humour. It’s all gray, dull, depressing and bleak. Unfortunately, the depictions of teenage angst is more akin to what adults think it’s like, rather than how teens actually behave. Some of the teens are played by themselves, with no acting experience, and it shows. Nevertheless, it’s a gripping tale, but the unrelatability of the characters makes it hard to invest fully. A nice first effort, though.

Bechdel test: Pass

3 skinny-dips of 6