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| O Canada. Photo courtesy of TIFF. |
SCC1 also includes a short by McLaren himself, produced with Lambart, Around is Around (10 min.), which is a perfect film to mark the centennial of the filmmaker’s birth date. This new restoration of McLaren’s 1951 short, the first stereoscopic animated film ever made, is most impressive. The hypnotic animation of Around is Around dances around the screen in grand pirouettes as McLaren visualizes music and brings sound to life through the moving image. It’s a grand experiment in film form as the visionary 3D of the original gets new life with the latest innovations in the way we see and experience films. It’s also simply a fun, mesmerizing, and aesthetically pleasing piece of filmmaking!
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| Coda. Photo courtesy of TIFF. |
Seeing these two classic works by McLaren and Lambart also
gives a nice extension to theme of national cinema that begins SCC with O Canada, as the programme starts with a
triple-header of films from the National Film Board of Canada. On the heels of
the two NFB classics comes the animated dance Coda (Denis
Poulin, Martine Époque; 11 min), a contemporary counterpart of O Canada and Around is Around. This dazzling elemental dance—somewhat reminiscent
of that bizarre motion capture tango in Holy
Motors—works greatly when paired with the two classic animated films, for
its splashes of vibrant colour on a black backdrop are superb. The technical
achievements of each of the three films remains remarkable, yet on also
appreciates and situates each film as a product of its time when one views them
in succession. The impressive optical rhythm of Coda feels like a fine nod to McLaren’s legacy as Poulin and Époque
bring to life the finale of Stravinsky’s “Rite of Spring.” It’s a fine culmination
for the animated movement of SCC1.
The programme then turns to something wild and equally
brilliant as Short Cuts Canada 1 offers a hybrid piece of live action and
animation with Myrnaski Death Plummet (Matthew
Rankin, 9 min.). This absurdly and delightfully bizarre tip of the hat to WWII
hero Andrew Myrnarski is a surreal feat. Fact and fantasy blur as director
Matthew Rankin audaciously fuses silent cinema aesthetics with a pastiche of
science fiction, surrealism, and experimental madness. This film is probably
how the world looks when Guy Maddin drops acid.
Things then sober up a bit with a one-two punch of live
action dramas, the topical The Apartment (Sarah
Galea-Davis, 17 min.) and the disarming Sleeping Giant (Andrew
Cividino, 16 min.). The former is a sensitive tale of hardship in today’s
ruthless job market, while the latter is a taut and authentic coming-of-age
tale. The programme continues with the hilariously random A Delusion of Grandeur / Un idée
de grandeur (14 min.) from director Vincent Biron, who won the prize
for Best Canadian Short Film at TIFF 2010 for Les
Fleurs de l'âge. A Delusion
of Grandeur works as an oddly amusing counterpoint to The Apartment, for both films tell stories of middle-aged men at a
crossroads when they find themselves without the careers or comforts that
defined them. Grandeur, however, has
a bit more fun swinging and trying new things. This droll yet honest
slice-of-life dramedy will have TIFF-goers looking at their neighbours in
peculiar ways. It gives a happy ending (of sorts) to the programme.
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| Zero Recognition. Photo courtesy of TIFF. |
Finally, the utterly hilarious Zero Recognition (Ben
Lewis, 10 min.) proves that the quasi-celebrity that comes with being a
Canadian actor is a joke that never runs out of gas. Lauren Collins of Degrassi: The Next Generation fame pokes
fun at herself by playing a kind-of sort-of famous slash ambiguously
recognizable figure on the Toronto film scene. This fun and self-reflexive
dating game puts the actress’s ego to the test as she undergoes the most
rigorous social trial of them all—online dating—and sits face to face with a
doctor for sick kids (played by director Ben Lewis, Collins’ Degrassi co-star). Egos flair—and brain
farts a little—as the actress addresses the camera with playful asides to
speculate how on earth this dashing young man can’t be familiar with her or,
more importantly, her work. Great performances, a snappy script, and candid
direction make Zero Recognition a
laugh-a-minute winner. Thanks to the self-deprecating in-joke of Zero Recognition, Short Cuts Canada 1 comes full circle with a nod and wink to the
dose of Canadiana that opens the programme.
Short Cuts Canada 1 screens:
-Friday, Sept. 5 at 9:15 pm at TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
-Sunday, Sept. 7 at 9:00 am TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Please visit www.tiff.net
for more information.
