Aida: A Natural Born
Artist
(Japan, 99 min.)
Dir. Shogo Watanabe
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| Aida at work on "The Ash Colour Mountain" |
The first of three films of day to to tell of artists and
the creative process, Aida: A Natural
Born Artist chronicles a year in the life of Japanese contemporary artist
Makoto Aida. During this time, Aida struggles to complete several oversized
works of art for an upcoming show. He secludes himself in Beijing so that he
can finish his strange, provocative works.
Aida’s wife proves an equally if not more interesting
subject, as she explains her anxiety over finding her own voice while living
with such an acclaimed artist. Aida’s inconsistent work ethic demands much
attention from Hiroko; she also cares for their son while Aida frets over the
smallest imperfections of his work. In fact, the film sees the artist leave a
work of four years incomplete so as to finish a bunch of tedious imperfections
that can be seen only by the artist himself. It’s unfortunate, though that this
film about art is not more visually arresting, although Watanabe frames the Ash
Mountain from several evocative angles
that capture its grandeur and ambition. The final image of the Ash Mountain,
moreover, offers a poignant note about the relevancy of such provocative art and
of the longevity that such works have as pieces of cultural expression.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Meanwhile in Mamelodi
(Germany/South Africa, 75 min.)
Dir. Benjamin Kalhmeyer.
Meanwhile in Mamelodi is
a beautifully shot film that shows a side of South Africa that most failed to
see during the broadcasts of the 2010 World Cup. The film shows a small
township of shacks and slums known as District 11. District 11 is an all-black
township with few to no amenities. Meanwhile
in Mamelodi depicts a cultural and generational gap by following one
family, the Mtsweni family, and showing their engagement with the World Cup as
they work to survive. Focussing mostly on the father, Steven, who runs a small
tuck shop and also acts as the primary caregiver for his children due to his
wife’s mental illness, Meanwhile in
Mamelodi reveals an effort to remain hopeful and provide for one generation
what was absent for another.
In Meanwhile in
Mamelodi, the World Cup serves as little more than background noise, which
mostly comes in the form of the annoying buzz of vuvuzelas. Like the appeal of
the vuvuzelas, though, Steven notes that the enthusiasm for the World Cup seems
to wane as the event progresses. This sentiment is an appropriate metaphor for
the whole event, since Steven’s testimony reveals how the World Cup’s presence
in South Africa is little more than a fantasy for the citizens of Mamelodi. The
commercial benefits of the event serve only large corporations: as a small
business owner, Steven is not even allowed near the event. The documentary
therefore succeeds in delivering an alternative portrait of South Africa by
showing what was left outside the frame of the footage of the World Cup
broadcasts. On the other hand, though, what exactly the film is trying to say
in its representation of the shacks and slums of Mamelodi is unclear. One can’t
help but walk away from the film with some discomfort, since the film clearly
shows a large population living in dire poverty, but then depicts them as happy
and merry. This is not to say that hope does not exist in such places, but the
happy sense it evokes serves more to reassert the status quo rather than to
question it. Regardless, the citizens certainly seem happy to be included and
to be afforded the chance to tell their stories when they are otherwise
excluded from this major event.
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Despite the Gods
(Australia, 85 min.)
Dir. Penny Vozniak
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| Jennifer Lynch directing Mallika Sherawat (Nagin) in a scene from Hisss. |
Easily the best and most enjoyable film of the day, Despite the Gods depicts the efforts of
filmmaker Jennifer Lynch (Surveillance)
to shoot a film in India. Lynch is the daughter of acclaimed director David
Lynch (Mulholland Dr.) and was known
mostly as the writer/director of the notorious (and Razzie-winning) Boxing Helena until her brilliant 2008
horror film Surveillance redeemed her.
Despite the Gods shows the cruel
twist of fate that undercut the success of Surveillance
for Lynch by revealing what happened during the shoot of her third feature Hisss, a Bollywood action/musical/etc.
film about a snake that turns into a woman that turns into a snake.
Much more than a “behind the scenes” film and a far more
engrossing tale of the artistic process than Aida, this debut feature by Penny Vozniak reveals a textbook case
of “Murphy’s Law” during Lynch’s shoot of Hisss.
(It seems that when fortune smiles at some, it laughs at others.) The film
opens with a shot of an exasperated Lynch referring to the project as her “pasta
clusterfuck.” What she means is that it can be great to have a few extra hands
willing to help out in the kitchen, but when you have too many hands trying to
stir the pot with the same spoon, she says, it does not end well. Everything
that could go wrong does go wrong for Lynch during her eight nightmarish months
of shooting in unfamiliar terrain.
Despite the Gods nevertheless
depicts an impressive case of perseverance in the face of adversity and
adaptation to difficult circumstances. In spite of the spotty résumé for
Lynch’s qualifications to direct an omnibus Bollywood film, one can see how the
disaster of Lynch’s third directorial outing was more a victim of circumstance
than inexperience. In addition to a variety of competing visions, Lynch was
forced to work with an overzealous assistant director, a well-intentioned
leading lady with a serious diva complex, a crew strike, language barriers, and
unpredictable weather. She is, however, consistently buoyed by her self-deprecating
humour and, her then thirteen-year-old daughter Sydney who accompanied on the
shoot in India and provided some much needed insight.
Although the film is often uproariously funny (Lynch has a
very big personality), film is surprisingly sad as it shows Lynch struggle to
come into her own as an artist due to the constraints of the production. The
film says surprisingly little of the pressures of growing up in the shadows of
her filmmaker father; alternatively, Lynch’s attitude positions her artistic
parents as great inspiration. She also uses the notoriety of David Lynch’s Dune as a precedent for her need to
prevent too many parties from “stirring the pot” and compromising her film and,
by consequence, her reputation. Wozniak’s film, then, is an impressive case of
artistic appropriation. Even though Lynch eventually lost control of Hisss during its final cuts (she has yet
to see the film), she ultimately made a great film with Despite the Gods. Despite the
Gods certainly makes Lynch appear to be an artist in her own right, as
Vozniak’s footage conveys a filmmaker working relentlessly to adapt the
restrictions of her situation in order to deliver a film that remains true to
both the parameters of her assignment, as well as to her own artistic vision. In
its fun and tumultuous portrayal of the production of Hisss Despite the Gods ensures that even the most disastrous work
can be the stuff of cult legend and B-movie greatness.
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★★ (out of ★★★★★)
Big Easy Express
(USA, 66 min.)
Dir. Emmett Malloy
All aboard the Big
Easy Express! This concert film shows a great travelling act of three bands
– Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, Mumford & Sons, and The Old Crow
Medicine Show – as they hit the rails on the Big Easy Express, a train en route
to New Orleans for a series of outdoor concerts. As expected, the film offers
an hour of great music. These three bands sound terrific together and there is a
tangible synergy between the groups, which provides some great scenes of the
bands jamming together as the train makes its way across America.
Big Easy Express features
some fun concert footage, especially of Edward Sharp and the Magnetic Zeros
performing their mega-catchy hit “Home” and of Mumford & Sons performing
“The Cave” with a high school band. The best set piece, however, is the grand
finale, which culminates with the final stop of the Big Easy Express in New
Orleans and sees all three groups join together and perform a new song. On the
other hand, the footage privileges Ed Sharpe and Mumford, but gives less
coverage to the Old Crow Medicine Show. (As someone unfamiliar to the latter
group, I think that it might have been beneficial for them to receive equal coverage.)
The film will certainly have viewers tapping their feet and wearing a smile on
their face regardless.
The pic should play very well on home vid because fans can
blare the music as loud as they want and rock out without having to worry that
they are disturbing fellow moviegoers. (The one patron rocking back and forth
in her seat at The Royal last night might have enjoyed the show at the expense
of others… although I certainly found her good vibes to be infectious.) Seeing
the film at home also makes it okay for fans to whip out their lighters/cell
phones to demand an encore, which might not make for good etiquette at a movie
theatre. At a brisk sixty-six minutes, too, Big
Easy Express will certainly leave fans wanting more. Alternatively, seeing
the film in the comfort of one’s own home affords the benefit of popping on
some of the bands’ albums and continuing the fun.
Rating: ★★★ ½(out of ★★★★★)
Rating: ★★★ ½(out of ★★★★★)
Aida: A Natural Born Artist plays again Saturday May 3rd
at 1:15 at the Cumberland.
Despite the Gods screens again Monday, April 30th at
1:30 at the Cumberland and on Saturday, May 5th at 9:30 pm at Innis
Town Hall.
Big Easy Express screens again today at 1:15 at the Bloor Cinema.
For more info on
films, show times, and tickets, please visit hotdocs.ca
