Film festival

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

Cleveland International Film Festival

Princess of the Row (2019)

Unrated

Big Boss Creative

 

A homeless war veteran with brain trauma spends most of his days lost within his mind and cared for by his 12-year-old daughter. But during a key scene in Princess of the Row, he finds a moment of lucidity and tells his daughter, who’s so full of potential, that one day she will have to choose a life that means letting him go and he’s okay with that. He assures her that making good choices for herself will likely mean they will be apart, but it will never keep him from being her father.

It’s crucial advice, even though daughter Alicia isn’t yet in a place to accept it; in the moment “Bo,” the shattered veteran in dirty clothes, ratty hair and mismatched shoes, rises to his responsibility as a father. It is, for me, the heart of this remarkable film: a broken man, who seems incapable of taking care of himself, finds a way to guide and protect his preteen daughter, who spends much of the film behaving as the adult.

Beautifully shot mostly on the tough streets of Los Angeles, Princess of the Row charts the courses of two people who disparately need and love each other, but are on paths separated by health issues, poverty, bureaucracy and opportunities. Undoubtedly, the film offers abundant ways to impact its viewers—through its gritty, evocative photography; its punishing plunge into the dirty, pitilessness of homelessness; the ever-present dangers lurking among the population of L.A.’s skid row; the powerful shield forged from the love of a father and daughter; the tiny seeds of hope sprouting up in unexpected places, like flowers through cracks in the asphalt.

Director Max Carlson doesn’t hesitate to use the many the tools at his disposal to immerse viewers into this world. He gets the biggest assist from the raw, pitch-perfect performances of his lead actors. Tayler Buck, in a star-making performance, constantly underplays Alicia. We hear Alicia’s thoughts and writings through voiceover, but she’s more a girl of action and not words. As Buck plays her, Alicia hardly has time to express emotion because she’s busy reacting to and controlling her situations or her environment. The weight upon her—taking care of her erratic father, moving from one foster home to the next, sleeping on the streets, skirting the dangers of the sex trade industry—is daunting, and makes us instantly protective of the character. Yet, Buck portrays Alicia as quietly confident and optimistic. Perhaps it’s because the skinny little girl with the natural hair is assured of her purpose—to get a job and take care of her father. We see her internal conflict on her face, but she doggedly handles each conflict as they come.

Edi Gathegi (the Twilight series) vanishes into the role of Bo. The man, ravaged by PTSD, injury and poverty, with one cataract-clouded eye, drifts through life muttering to himself. Gathegi allows Bo fleeting moments of lucidity which are often impressive and depressing – impressive, because they allows us a peak at the man he was and could have been; depressing, because they remind us of what has been lost to mental illness and circumstance. But it’s a restrained role, and Gathegi refuses to soften the character. (He brings quiet dignity in a couple of prewar flashbacks where we see him as a loving fable-spinning father.) But he remains detached for most of the film, and can be lethal in anger. It’s a heartbreaking performance in a film filled with heartbreaking performances.

Alicia’s in the foster care system, but her connection to her father keeps her escaping back to the streets. She’s remarkable and resourceful, but it doesn’t shield us from her somber situation. How brutally sad her circumstances that spending a night in a junkyard for her father’s birthday is considered respite from skid row.

Carlson manages to work in themes of homelessness, the state of veterans’ affairs (with a touch of needed humor) and the foster care system, as well as reveal hope that often resides in the margins.

One representation of hope are the Austins (Martin Sheen and Jenny Gago), the latest in a string of foster parents to come into Alicia’s life. He’s a successful author, which could open doors for Alicia, who has a knack and passion for writing and story-telling. But the Austins live 10 hours from the row. The couple live in a beautiful villa up in the hills, its quiet beauty is intentionally isolated from the loud intensity of the city. Alicia’s tight-lipped and cautious with the Austins; of course she is, she’s been down this road before. But her introduction to Ruby, their horse, taps into emotions borne of her fantasy life which involves a unicorn.

There’s also hope from a tireless councilor, Magdalene (a convincing Ana Ortiz), who pushes Alicia to give the new family a chance. Magdalene, time and again, fights for Alicia even when the girl is too stubborn or distracted to fight for herself. In a brief, remarkable scene she encourages Alicia’s creativity and individuality at the crucial moment of decision-making.

A harrowing scene at midpoint underscores the real-world dangers of a little girl in a land of sexual predators. Another reminds us of Bo’s quick-trigger as he explodes in anger in a small hotel room, endangering his daughter.

The camerawork in Princess of the Row is superb. It sometimes glides safety above the trash-strewn streets, other times, plunges into the grit and grime. It solidifies the film’s texture. We see dirty tents line city sidewalks as makeshift homes on the row, and vast maze-like junkyards that can provide a haven or become a deathtrap. We visit hotels rented by the hour and shelled-out buildings perfect for squatting. It all feels real. Carlson keeps the camera everywhere—weaving through and soaring above the wreckage and beauty of manmade structures, sometimes separated by mere city blocks. Julian Scherle score is elegant and ever-present. It lingers subtly over scenes of heartbreak and terror.

Raw, powerful, tender and hard as steel, Princess of the Row transports and transforms those willing to take the journey.

Check out the film now at the Cleveland International Film Festival.

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Award, Film festival, Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

The Magical Mystery of Musigny (2018)

Unrated

Here we have a beautiful, simple black and white animated short film codirected by John Meyer and Emmett Goodman. Meyer, whose voice was made for audiobooks, also narrates. Every word is annunciated with the precision of an orator.

An award-winner on the film festival circuit, Magical Mystery is cleverly inked on cocktail napkins. Every now and again we get a pull-back that reveals the napkins among an arrangement of plates and utensils on a table.

The wonderfully descriptive language is sure to please oenophiles: “the angle of the vineyard hill (of limestone soil) provides excellent drainage.”

A turning point for John arrives at a wine-tasting event, when he imbibes the perfect vintage 1969 Musigny Burgundy. The sip transports him to a shimmering riverbank in Russia as colorful “onion spires of a Russian church” pop up around him. The transcendent serenity of the experience is lost on John’s wife, Suzie. Of course it would. She finds John’s musings on wine pretentious—and the wine itself a nonstarter for his attempts at lovemaking.

A turning point for Suzie comes during dinner at a bistro. She tries the special, a Auxey-Duress, and has an epiphany of her own—scored by the “1812 Overture,” and conducted by Serge Koussevitzky! Ah, finally, a meeting of minds. John gets the last laugh and, it seems, some overdue loving.

The film is wonderful in its construction, execution, scoring and narration. It leaves you with a smile on your face and an urge to reach for the vino.

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

 

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

3100: Run and Become (2018)

Unrated

Illumine Group

We meet Finnish runner Ashprihanal Aalto in his sparse home eating Ramon noodles right out of the pot. The 45-year-old paperboy is soon to compete in New York’s Self-Transcendence 3,100 Mile race, the longest certified road race in the world. As the window for running such marathons is beginning to close for him, Aalto states his goal as using the race to become a better person. Indeed, the race is promoted as one that leaves its participants “changed.”

The man’s idol is famed Indian spiritualist and runner Sri Chinmoy, who saw “no barrier between spirituality and athletics.” The late Chinmoy founded the race, in its 20th year at the time of the filming.

CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR SANJAY RAWAL

The participants are an array of accomplished runners from across the global. Aalto himself is a top-ranked runner who set the record at last year’s race. Now, about this race: the runners must run 60 miles a day, for as long as 52 days, around a half-mile loop in New York, totaling 3,100 miles.

We immediately become aware of the small number of competitors, a dozen, surely a sign of how daunting this run must be. What we aren’t aware of is how Run and Become will take us beyond these city blocks, beyond this race and on a more expansive journey.

The documentary dispenses helpful factoids via screen text: volunteers provide food and medical assistance; runners must consume more than 10,000 calories daily; the race course is open from 6 a.m. to midnight each day. Chinmoy’s legacy is on vivid display. His portrait and posters can’t be missed. He’s quoted in voiceover throughout the film. Meditation is encouraged as much as staying hydrated. A volunteer choir along the route sings of “give and take,” “never quitting,” and “being brave.”

The film is essentially a day-by-day diary for some runners and a peek into some of their lives. Running’s presented as more than a hobby for these folks. It’s more of a deep dive within themselves, a meditation. Runners are seeking meaning and connection, it seems. “Pray through your feet, your breath,” they are told.

Director Sanjay Rawal’s film utilizes wonderful camera movement at ground level, sometimes in lockstep with the runners. The summer days in the city’s concrete jungle are brightly captured: trees between the sidewalks, fenced-in basketball courts, caution barricades and parked cars and buses. Later we’ll see equally impressive camerawork (by Sean Kirby) on African plains, in a Japanese temple and mountains and across exquisite Arizona deserts. Michael A. Levine’s music is understated and blends wonderfully with crosscutting between various locales; it puts the film on a grander scale.

Run and Become invites us to see the Great Good of running as the film reveals its impact across the globe.

In Africa, original tribes ran to hunt, in other words, they ran for their very survival. Bushmen connect hunting and running and spirituality. Once hunting is banned in their indigenous lands, it triggers a conflict for their way of life. Now the Bushmen feel forced to rely upon the government for survival. This is a blow not only to a way of life, but to a sense of sovereignty and dignity.

In Japan, Buddhist monks circle a mountain in search of enlightenment, undertaking a task not unlike the Self-Transcendence runners. Miles and miles of movement and prayer, totaling a seven-year challenge for monks like Ajari Mitsunaga. For Mitsunaga, the path was chosen, the hardships accepted and now he hands his wisdom down to others.

On an Arizona Navajo reservation, we learn of how thousands of Native American children were forced to attend government boarding schools. The children were taught America history that was not their own and not allow to speak their native language. A Navajo descendant Shaun Martin undertakes a ceremonial run from the school to his family’s ancestral home 110 miles away. The run honors his father and others who tried to escape the school. Again, we see a link between running and spiritually as Martin prays for strength and guidance before he proceeds.

Our star, Aalto, is a titan in an unassuming package. He looks plain, he speaks and acts plainly. It is running that defines him. He is described by an admirer as a “bird,” “tiny,” but “physically and mentally” the best for such a task. The film offers a brief and sweet moment between Aalto and his sister in which we come to understand the runner’s motivations.

The hazards of Self-Transcendence are real. We are concerned for Austrian cellist Shamita, who is known for pushing herself beyond her limits. Years ago, she barely survived a difficult marathon. Her daughter worries about the Self-Transcendence. Rightfully so. It’s difficult to watch the effects of the run overwhelm her physical—if not mental—capabilities. We see how the run takes its toll on other participants. Too exhausted to eat, physically rundown, emotionally broken. We are impressed by their commitment and concerned about what they’re doing to their bodies and minds. But they seem driven by a purpose higher than physical worries.

A masterful montage sequence links images of Japanese countryside, an African sunset and Martin’s run through the sprawling Arizona desert (drone photography is especially captivating here), while the soundtrack is filled with Shamita’s perfect cello.

A bit of suspense arrives during the final laps of the race as the gap between the top two runners narrows to a single mile. In the end there is no prize money; of course not. No one runs Self-Transcendence for financial rewards.

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Talking to Director Anne de Mare

Posted on by in Film festival, History, Information, Interview, Politics | Comments Off on Talking to Director Anne de Mare

A FUNDAMENTAL CHANGE BRINGS NEW DOCUMENTARY

2016 Election Inspires Director Anne de Mare to Deepen Film on Voting Protection

Election Protection LLC/Providence Productions

A project begun small and intimate for director Anne de Mare and reshaped by a troubling political climate into a full-fledged feature documentary, has become as timely as the latest headlines about red and blue states, election fraud and voter disenfranchisement.

Capturing the Flag, a Providence Productions featuring tireless voter protection volunteers, was originally intended as a short film, according to de Mare.

CHECK OUT MY REVIEW OF CAPTURING THE FLAG

“The story came to us through the lead character, Laverne Berry,” she says. Indeed Berry, a Brooklyn-based entertainment lawyer and volunteer protection worker, makes for an interesting subject.

Years ago at a polling site, Berry had an epiphany watching a janitor fashion a pushcart and chair into a transportation system for woman who struggled to walk to the polling booth. The experience drove Berry get more involved in volunteering. She also is a producer of the documentary.

“We set out to do a short film, but the tenor of the [2016] election brought things down to the fundamental issues of voting and democracy,” de Mare says. “It feels like something fundamental changed in our nation.”

And so the project was fundamentally changed, expanding to a full-length film, which follows three additional volunteers and encompasses a broader scope in detailing and investigating voter suppression.

“I think when we talk about voter suppression people think of the civil rights era and Jim Crow,” de Mare says. Shameful past efforts to deny a democratic voice to minorities was blatant. “Modern voter suppression is insidious. There are barriers combined with legislation that targets a specific group. People don’t really realize what’s happening.” They are sent to wrong polling places, intimidated because of past legal issues, deluded of their power through gerrymandering.

De Mare adds, “Making this film I learned that the battle that happens at the polls is vital.”

Despite its scope, the film maintains a level of intimacy through its on-the-ground, person-to-person perspective. If we’re given insight into voter suppression methods and historical context of disenfranchisement, the film is mostly concerned with how workaday folks, the power of regular people, make a difference.

Volunteer voter protection worker, Brooklyn-based entertainment lawyer and producer of Capturing the Flag, Laverne Berry. Photo credit: Nelson Walker III

“They care!” de Mare says. “Volunteers lobby for people to vote—to protect everyone’s rights. People have to be involved to decide elections.”

The controversial subject matter of voter suppression might seem an odd choice for a New York-based artist whose previous career involved theatrical works. “People don’t go to the theater anymore,” de Mare says. “They go to see films.” Her debut film, The Homestretch(2014), documented three homeless Chicago teenagers fighting to stay in school. The film, co-directed with Kirsten Kelly, garnered acclaim, including an Emmy.

After watching minority voters not being able to cast ballots and reliving the 2016 election, de Mare was asked how we inspire those who may be ground down by apathy?

“That’s the million-dollar question,” de Mare replies. She cites organizations like Democracy North Carolina that works to register voters as well as get them to the polls. The organization also pushes for legislation.

“I think it’s a model for what we need to look at.”

Looking ahead, de Mare has plans to rework her documentary for educational purposes.

“We’re hoping to create an hour-long ‘cut-down’ for educational use so that the film can be used by people involved in this kind of work.”

Also down the road is a historical film documenting women who worked in munitions factories during World War II, and a co-directing effort (with Kirsten Kelly) that looks at an interesting intersection of domestic violence and law enforcement.

Capturing the Flag has its world premiere at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2018.

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies, Politics | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

Capturing the Flag (2018)

Unrated

Volunteer voter protection worker, Brooklyn-based entertainment lawyer and producer of Capturing the Flag, Laverne Berry. Photo credit: Nelson Walker III

New York attorney Laverne Berry, saw something at an election polling site years ago that jolted her from her comfortable contribution of driving people to the polls. When one of her charges had trouble walking, a janitor on site took it upon himself to use a pushcart and chair to get the woman to the polling booth.

“If he could do that on a day when that’s not his job,” Berry determined, “I can take some time off every election to do something.”

In Capturing the Flag, Berry and three other “voter protection volunteers” are documented during the lead-up to and through the 2016 election from their on-the-ground perspective in Fayetteville, North Carolina, polling districts. Director Anne de Mare’s fascinating and sober documentary fights an undercurrent of foregone conclusion, but provides pointed insights into our election system and the soldiers who take up the challenges of making votes count.

CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR ANNE DE MARE

De Mare and her cast navigate subject matter that should be important to not simply those still distraught about the results of the 2016 election; setting aside partisanship to fairly critique our voting process should matter to every citizen.

Joining Berry on her quest is volunteer Steven Miller, an attorney and longtime friend. Miller, a white man, and Berry, a black woman, communicate with an ease certainly found in lifelong friends. En route to North Carolina we meet volunteer Claire Wright, an attorney and recent naturalized citizen. This is her first U.S. election and her first visit to North Carolina. Writer Trista Delamere Mitchell eagerly joins the group on the ground.

De Mare, along with animator Sean Donnelly, use visual aids to provide an “election day” sense of urgency to the documentary. A graphic counter along the bottom of the frame tick off months, then days, then hours before election results.

Almost immediately the team runs into an ongoing controversy at an early voting site in Fayetteville. The local NAACP has accused the state board and three county election boards of illegally removing thousands of people from voter rolls. The purge, they say, is primarily affecting voters of color.

Berry laments the inconsistent voting rules and methods from state to state. It makes protecting voter rights “daunting.”

A 2013 Supreme Court decision invalidated Shelby County v. Holder, a provision of the Voter Rights Act of 1965. That 2013 decision limited supervision by the Justice Department over states that had demonstrated relentless efforts to curtail black people from voting. Within weeks of the ruling, several states began establishing new voting restrictions—more stringent photo ID laws, limits on third-party voter registration, limited rights for those with past criminal convictions, shuttering polling locations across states. The very day of the decision, Texas began efforts to redraw boundaries for congressional and state house districts.

We watch as Berry bravely heads alone into the breach—a polling site in an all-white community littered with yard signs for Republican candidates. Yet, she reminds herself that her mission is to insure fair voting, regardless of party affiliation. She is regarded with caution at first, but her eagerness to help, earnestness and time pushes her through resistance. Miller, at different polling site, faces similar challenges from black people.

For a time, then, the film becomes a microcosm of the passions, absurdities and contradictions of the U.S. election system. A young polling judge at a precinct is initially curt and forceful with Miller, who’s assisting folks outside the polling site. The young man regards the older one as an outsider, a troublemaker. But as the day goes on, and both men doggedly undertake their responsibilities, they seem to accept each other’s roles. The strident young judge in fact, is revealed to may have overreacted due to the stresses of heading up a polling site for the first time. In the end, Miller joins him inside the now-closed precinct as polling officials search for an errant ballot.

The team’s journey is intercut with efforts from the local branch of the NAACP, including a press conference by chapter President Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II. Barber and others are pushing back against subtle and blatant attempts to suppress the minority vote.

Amid these early voting machinations, President Obama visits Fayetteville for a rally that for me stood as a contrast to the divisive rallies that have sadly become the norm. When an elderly man wearing a military uniform riles up the crowd with his Trump sign, Obama playfully admonishes the agitated crowd and reminds it that, 1) free speech should be respected in the U.S., 2) veterans deserve our respect, 3) elderly people should be respected as well. He famously concludes: “Don’t boo, vote!”

Meanwhile, foreign-born Wright registers disappointment, having recalled practicing law in post- Apartheid South Africa when that country’s courts looked to U.S. law precedents as a guide to building South Africa’s new constitution. “I thought that the U.S now, after the civil rights movement, was an egalitarian society,” she says. “Living here has made me realize it is not at all.” It is crushing to watch Wright trying to help an African-American woman, having been referred to a third precinct and still not able to cast a ballot, who throws up her hands and says she has to get back to work instead.

I like that de Mare allows her subjects to display their professional and ethical commitment to their tasks, while reminding us that they are also citizens, party affiliates, who care not just about voters but the outcome of the election. Since we already know the fateful outcome of the 2016 race, it’s with some dread (or joy, if Trump was your guy) that we relive the day while Berry and the team face it for the first time: the certainty that the math is in Hillary Clinton’s favor, the surprise that Donald Trump is doing better than predicted, the rising suspicion that the calculus was wrong, that working-class sentiment was misjudged; the shock and disbelief of the results.

We’ve walked with Miller as he remained level-headed and professional throughout the day. Not until the night of election results, when he explodes into anger, confusion and disappointment, do we see the partisan side he’d left off the field while attending to his duties.

De Mare, an award-winning director (The Homestretch, 2014), has taken us back to a fateful moment in U.S. history to allow us to relive it at the ground level and in personal terms. With cases before the courts (including our top court) on issues of gerrymandering, alleged attempts to manipulate the upcoming census, as well as looming critical midterm elections, de Mare’s film couldn’t be timelier.

Capturing the Flag has its world premiere at the Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2018.

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

Maynard (2017)

Unrated

Auburn Avenue Films

On the night Barack Obama was elected president of United State of America I remember looking at my sleeping infant daughter while processing my unique place in time where I stood at an exact moment of before and after. The morning before, I awoke in a country in which it was improbable to think the 44th person elected to the highest position in the land could be anything but white and male. The morning after, my daughter and I awoke in a country that would be lead for the next eight years by someone who looked like us.

I thought of this moment as I watched Maynard, a documentary of the first black mayor of a major southern city. The parallel of Maynard Jackson’s and Barack Obama’s moments certainly isn’t lost to history or the filmmakers.

Helmed by editor-turned-director Sam Pollard, Maynard is refreshingly uncluttered, a straight through-line depicting Jackson’s early academic successes; his civil rights linage (his grandfather was famed movement leader John Wesley Dobbs); his foray into law and politics; his rise; his retirement; his comeback and untimely death. To be sure, we get standard archival footage, still photographs, newspaper headlines and talking heads, but the film vibrates with a sense of the era—its roiling racial politics, its music, the clothes.

CHECK OUT MY INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR SAM POLLARD

Maynard Holbrook Jackson Jr., tall and broad, uses carefully chosen words, commands audiences with his articulate speeches and forthright assertions. Sound familiar? He graduated from Morehouse Collage at 18 and eventually earned a law degree. Although he was delivered an early election defeat in his run for the U.S. Senate, Jackson dusted himself off and become vice mayor of Atlanta, eventually repositioning himself for a mayoral run. Maynard offers a unique look into southern politics. As vice mayor, Jackson’s run for mayor pit him against incumbent and colleague Sam Massell. It was a bruising affair that ended with Jackson’s election as mayor of Atlanta. That Massell is still alive and Pollard gets him on camera to relitigate the race is astonishing. Some resentment bubbles up right before our eyes.

There’s fantastic footage of a portly Jackson in the ring with Muhammad Ali for a promotional boxing match. News footage and interviews of the Atlanta child murders that rocked Jackson’s second term remain potent. And Jackson’s legacy-burnishing renovation of the Atlanta airport into an international hub truly speaks to his lasting accomplishments.

Of course the path to legend can be littered with sacrifices: a divorce, a seeming disconnect from his only son, health issues and political disillusionment.

The documentary brings in heavyweights to tell the tale—famed mayors Andrew Young and Shirley Franklin, civil rights authorities Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, former President Bill Clinton and attorney Vernon Jordan—but it’s the voices of Jackson’s family that wring true intimacy from the proceedings. The Jackson family brought the project to Pollard and is well-represented here. Daughters Elizabeth, Brooke, Valerie and Alexandra, son Maynard III, widow Valerie and former wife Burnella all add layers to Maynard’s portrayal.

Son Maynard III is presented with sad dignity; we infer a boy trying to exist in the shadows of a mythic-like father, and a man who has fought his demons to arrive as a proud survivor. Jackson’s daughters, beautiful each, project strength and intelligence and yet, sweet vulnerability as daddy’s girls. The women who were married to Jackson provide a dignity that elucidates their critical roles in supporting Jackson’s destiny.

When we arrive at the details of Jackson’s final hours, the documentary gains power. The scene in which the news of Maynard’s untimely death reaches each of his family members is masterfully filmed and edited.

In a time of political calculations of what a legacy means and of whether it can be undone by successors, Pollard’s film assuredly reminds us that the true caretakers of a legacy can keep the flame burning.

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

Quik Flix Hit

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies | Comments Off on Quik Flix Hit

Tribeca Film Festival

Son of Sofia (2017)

Unrated

Steficon SA

The little Russian boy is grief-stricken, seemingly abandoned, deceived and brought to a country whose language and people he doesn’t understand. It’s not surprising that he gradually retreats into fantasy, which is at first cute, then grows disturbing and possibly dangerous.

Writer-director Elina Psykou (The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas, 2013) sets her sophomore film during the 2004 Olympic Games in Greece, a time of clashing cultures, and of civic pride and competition.

Misha (Viktor Khomut) arrives with the Russia Olympic team to Athens and reunites with his mother Sofia (Valery Tcheplanowa), who has been settled in Greece for more than two years. Details of their separation are vague, but involve the death of Misha’s father and his mother establishing residency to provide for herself and her son. It’s an awkward reunion. Sofia seems to be trying to muster up joy with forced affection and a ridiculously large stuffed animal in tow. Misha immediately regards her tightly rolled-up hairstyle as foreign. He tells her his mother wears her long, beautiful hair down.

READ MY INTERVIEW WITH DIRECTOR ELINA PSYKOU

Things get more awkward as 11-year-old Misha learns he shares his new home with an elderly Greek man, Mr. Nikos (Thanasis Papageorgiou), who Misha is lead to believe is in the care of his mother. Mr. Nikos doesn’t speak Russian and doesn’t want it spoken in the home. Quickly, of course, Sofia’s deception is foiled. Misha discovers her sleeping in the same bed as Mr. Nikos. By the time Sofia belatedly confesses to being married to the man, an irate Misha has sealed himself in the bathroom. To be sure, Sofia has also kept Mr. Nikos in the dark, leading her husband to believe Misha was informed of gaining a stepfather.

The entire film seems populated by characters trapped within themselves, despite being surrounded by colorful culture and an influx of immigrants and opportunities. It’s a sad, quiet tale of people unable to make connections beneath the surface, which inevitably reinforces fantasy and delusions. Misha, often cloaked in a bear costume, finds strength and aggression in his imaginary world filled with moving, growling stuffed animals; the self-important Mr. Nikos longs again for the magical era when he possessed fame; Sofia seems adrift in the space between a past happy life in Russia and this makeshift family in Greece. A quiet scene of the family eating together while watching television hints at a domesticity that will never be.

Psykou’s film is filled with characters you don’t know whether to like or dislike. Sofia seems disconnected as a mother, sneaky and deceptive in ways that seem unnecessary. She leaves Mr. Nikos to do much of the caretaking while she’s away working at a textile company, making stuffed animals. In addition to deceiving her son about being married, she also lies about watching a beloved TV series Misha intended to watch with her, and for good measure keeps a secret stash of candy hidden in the toilet tank. She seems unhappy at her job and in her roles as a parent and a wife.

Mr. Nikos, a former host of a once-popular children’s television show, initially seems controlling and lost in his arrogance. Portraits of himself adorn the walls of his home. His insistence on having only Greek spoken in a household where two-thirds of the occupants are Russian seems selfish, and yet understandable. While he is a man of pride, he also wants to leave a legacy. Late in the film, when he shares his secret room of memorabilia with Misha, Mr. Nikos comes alive and Psykou effectively captures the feel of a bygone time and place. Mr. Nikos becomes as much of a dreamer as Misha.

But the film exists in reality even when the characters don’t. Misha meets Victor, a sixteen-year-old emigre from Russia who immediately takes to the boy. At first Victor seems to be a welcomed friend for a boy whose mother is disengaged and whose stepfather is completely out of step with Misha. Victor takes the boy shopping, to the park and surrounds him with other youths. Unfortunately, Victor also shoplifts, offers lousy advice and engages in a highly disturbingly activity. Psykou presents Victor so matter-of-factly it shocks us when we get the full measure of the character.

Finally, there’s Misha. Wonderful portrayed by Khomut. We feel trapped with the boy thrown into a life he can’t bear, unable to find any external means—language, environment, friendship—to express himself so he turns inward. His actions late in the film, after Mr. Nikos suffers a setback, unnerves as we wonder if fantasy will save or corrupt the boy.

The film will challenge American audiences needing things tied up in a bow and directly spelled out. It’s a delicate balance that Psykou achieves: characters that intrigue us but we can’t say we like them, somber and raw scenes colliding with fantasy, an enticing mixture of Russia and Greek cultures. Her film is a sonic wonder, with animal sounds creeping onto the soundtrack in unexpected, subtle ways. Ands it often seems to be lit naturally, shot simply, harkening back to the Dogme 95 movement. Its deliberate pacing keeps us on edge, waiting for a shoe to drop, seemingly influenced by director Michael Haneke. Its denouement, a fusion of fairytale triumph and Olympic fanfare, is all her own.

The film debuts today at the Tribeca Film Festival.

 

 

| Marvin Brown’s Movie Review Archive

On a New Quest

Posted on by in Film festival, Information, Obituary | Comments Off on On a New Quest

I met Phife Dawg in the ancient fandom of my twenties as he helped lay down the Scenario in ’92; I met him in person at Sundance 2011, where the legendary rapper from legendary A Tribe Called Quest promoted a documentary film about the group.

toonMarvinBlogMalik Isaac Taylor, what his momma named him, seemed to enjoy the crowd and was hopeful the documentary, Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest, would lend clarity to his plight and legacy. I enjoyed the doc (see my review here) but the ensuing years didn’t really bring the Tribe back together.

phife

Malik Isaac Taylor, aka Phife Dawg

Nevertheless, it’s a film worth seeing, made all-the-more relatable by Phife’s participation. His presence (in the film and at Sundance) underscored the human element in the often ethereal, mythologized landscape populated by our idols. Candid about ongoing health issues, Phife couldn’t defuse obvious regrets about and hope for the Tribe, and seemed moved by the outpouring of love from the crowd.

Phife died March 23 at age 45.

I shared a walk with The Five Foot Assassin and the doc’s director Michael Rapaport after the screening and found Phife easy to talk with and pretty humble for a fellow who helped reshape late ’80s/early ’90s hip hop.

His passing on Wednesday burnished that memory, and is another after-the-fact reminder of how greatness is somehow fleeting and everlasting.

He kicks it still.

Campus MovieFest 2014

Posted on by in Film festival, Movies | Comments Off on Campus MovieFest 2014

Campus MovieFest 2014

Universal Studios

 

DAY 3: The Films

I’ll let my brother John Brown handle this:

“So seven hours later 71 short films seen. Lots of laughs, incredible cinematography, great writing and story lines some touching moments and all with the best movie watcher in the world — my big bro!”

cmf-brothers

John Brown, left, and Marvin Brown at the 2014 Campus MovieFest at Universal Studios. Photo credit: John Brown

Campus MovieFest 2014

Posted on by in Film festival | Comments Off on Campus MovieFest 2014

Campus MovieFest 2014

Universal Studios

 

DAY 2: Workshops

GrantHeslov

Producer-writer-actor Grant Heslov (Argo, The American) details the struggles and successes of the collaborative process. (Credit: Marvin Brown)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Shadyac

Tom Shadyac, with Marvin Brown. Shadyac, director of hits Ace Ventura, Bruce Almighty and the Nutty Professor remake, shares his experience of walking away from commercial films. Shadyac, seriously injured in a bike accident, would reevaluate his life and career, culminating in his life-affirming documentary I Am.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JKasdan

Director Jake Kasdan (The Zero Effect, Bad Teacher) fields question concerning his career, while promoting his upcoming comedy Sex Tape. (Credit: Marvin Brown)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Up next: Day 3, The Films

← Older posts