sezme Reviews

A Picture with Yuki (2019)

Interesting but flawed film

[6/10 · 12 November 2019]

To keep this brief(ish), I found this an intriguing film that dealt with heavy issues of personal responsibility, prejudice, and forgiveness. These issues and the story they were framed inside are worth exploring. Overall, the film did a good job with this and was visually quite beautiful.

The main problem I had with the film was the lack of chemistry between the lead characters. I just couldn't feel them as a real couple who cared about each other beyond their stated purpose of making a baby together. In particular, I found the acting of the husband, Georgi, to be stiff. The other characters, particularly the Roma family, and the detective were very compelling. I wasn't sure about Yuki herself, but in a scene where she confronts other characters without Georgi present, I found Kiki Sugino's performance extremely moving. So I guess it was Georgi who was holding her back.

The ending didn't flow organically from the climax but felt tacked on. And the final two words spoken by Yuki would have been better left to the audience's imagination.

So I'd recommend this film with some reservations. Still it's great to see cinema from Bulgaria, and I can only hope for more and better to come.

Ring of Bright Water (1969)

writing this from the perspective of a five year old...

[3/10 · 27 April 2018]

(I say that because I haven't seen the film since I was five)

After looking at some of the user reviews here, I see that I wasn't the only one completely traumatized as a child. I did a google search to try to remember what this movie was called and finally found this page which is more like a survivor's group than a typical collection of reviews.

Anyway, I loved the first half of the movie and fell in love with the pet otter. In the second half of the film (I won't put in spoiler tags because this film should be spoiled) the beloved otter gets randomly and casually murdered, breaking the heart of five year old me and apparently so many others. Lo these many years ago the pain is fresh. Why adults feel (or felt in the 60s) this desire to pummel children with life's cruelties, I'll never know. I still remember my mother apologizing to me saying she didn't know it would turn out like that. Then my parents got divorced the next year and I forgot about the otter. Ah childhood... what a magical time!

(Giving it 3 stars because I enjoyed it until the shovel part)

The Other Half (I) (2016)

Affecting film with first rate acting

[7/10 · 5 August 2017]

This is a story told more as an expression of feelings and mood than as an exposition of a finely crafted story. In other words, this is a showcase for the actors more than the writers. Should you approach this film with a need for any more than a bare-bones plot, you will likely leave disappointed. But not every work depends on intricate story details to work effectively. The Other Half tells the story of a relationship between two rather damaged but nevertheless lovely individuals, Emily (Tatiana Maslany) and Nickie (Tom Cullen).

Nickie's damage seems to arise from the loss of a close family member which has traumatized him and his entire family. As in many such cases, he is drawn to someone with problems of her own, in this case Emily, an ebullient artist who suffers from bipolar disorder. For me, The Other Half's strengths lie in making us care about these characters and showing their incredible connection. That Maslany and Cullen are partners in real life inevitably adds to the chemistry between them on screen. The depiction of two young people trying to make a life for themselves starting with almost nothing, attempting the painful process of separating themselves from their parents made me feel nostalgic for a similar time in my own life.

Finally, Tatiana Maslany once again proves herself to be one of the best and most versatile actors working today. She disappears into this role making me fully believe in this character. Having seen her in Orphan Black playing upwards of 20 parts, I was amazed to see her in this film as completely distinct from any of those characters and heart-breakingly emotionally vulnerable. Tom Cullen is likewise engaging, though I feel that the screenplay leaves his Nickie a little too opaque. I get that his numbed expression near the beginning is his expression of grief, but I would have preferred a touch more light shining through to validate Emily's falling so hard for him.

This is a film that operates at its own pace. It will reward the viewer who is willing to slow down, and and take it in moment by moment.

Filth City (2017)

Classic B Movie

[7/10 · 4 April 2017]

Filth City is an excellent low budget satirical farce, using Toronto's Rob Ford years as a jumping off point and ending with an impressive body count. It may not be everyone's cup of tea (or bowl of crack), but I found it entertaining from start to finish with a well-written script, credible acting, and engaging characters.

Almost all of the characters are deeply flawed, but at the same time, hardly any of them come off as irredeemable villains, and that's a tribute to the writing. There's a bit of pathos here and there, and a high degree of gore, but mainly, the filmmakers are delivering up comedy. Standout comic performances include Pat Thornton as Mayor Hogg and Chris Locke as a bumbling cop. But really, there are laughs to be had in almost every scene.

The film doesn't take itself too seriously, and as long as you don't either, and you're willing to laugh at all the absurdity, I highly recommend it.

Blancanieves (2012)

A Masterpiece

[10/10 · 14 September 2012]

I watched this film today at the Toronto International Film Festival. After many years of attending the festival, few if any films have made such an impact on me. Visually stunning, every scene shot in crisp black and white shouted out that colour is a mere distraction, a passing fad.

In a silent film, apart from the occasional inter-title, the visuals must tell the story, and in this case the filmmaker borrowed from the tropes of 1920s cinematic narrative, but added a more modern appreciation of human appetites and moralities. Much effort was made to reproduce the look and tone of classic silent film down to the 1.33:1 aspect ratio, but the current technologies used in production added an extra snap, crackle, and pop.

The story is Snow White, but set in the Seville of the 1920s: a girl, the daughter of a famous bullfighter, is raised by an evil stepmother. Instead of a mirror on the wall (though she has one of those, too) the stepmother relies on a fashion magazine to say who's the fairest of them all. A plot to kill the girl - now grown up - fails when she is rescued by a band of travelling bullfighting dwarfs who care for her until she's ready to fulfill her own destiny in the ring.

As befitting a fairy tale, the story is simple and direct, though there are shades of grey here and there in this black and white world of good and evil. But simple as it is, like the best children's stories, this one resonates at a deep level. And speaking of children, it can be debated whether any Grimm fairy tale is actually suitable for children. I would certainly not take a young child to see this one.

Have I mentioned the music? Anchoring the story to the setting, glorious Flamenco appears at key moments making the pulse quicken in time to the castanets.

Such a gorgeous film. I must see it again, if my heart can take it.

Fados (2007)

A Hot Performance Film

[9/10 · 9 September 2007]

It doesn't really matter whether you already love Fado music or not. This film will make a believer out of you.

I attended the world premiere on the 6th of September at the Toronto Film Festival (actually it was the first film shown at the festival this year) and I can tell you that the audience was in tears at the beauty of the performances alone, with applause after every number.

The film has no plot, only a brief title slide to explain the history of Fado music. Fado is a Portuguese vocal genre that has endured for the last 150 years. After that introduction, though, Saura just lets the music do the talking. The film is composed of performances by the top Fado artists from Portugal (Mariza, Carlos do Carmo...) as well as artists from Brazil, Cabo Verde, Spain, and Mexico (Lila Downs!).

This is no concert movie. Instead, each of the numbers is uniquely performed as a set piece often with a dance accompaniment. But true to form, it's the vocals more than anything which go straight to the heart as they tell tales of sadness and longing, of memories, losses and triumphs.

Interesting that a movie so devoted to the form should be directed by a Spaniard, Carlos Saura, but his filmography shows unequivocally his love of music and dance and his skill in bringing it to the screen. At the premiere, he spoke of the last day of shooting - it was shot entirely in Madrid - and how the cast and crew - half Portuguese, and half Spanish - was crying because they were sad it was over. I felt the same way at the end of the film and can't wait to see it again.