MWFF: Day 7

Its a little past the midway point, and our Pierre-Alexandre could use a little bit more shut-eye….but with some surprisingly good films,java in large formats and a couple of these things (pictured above) he will continue to suffer for cinema. Just don’t ask him to fill out your tax forms.

Today was a good day to be at the festival. All the films I saw were first-rate! How unlikely!! This is what I needed to boost my moral for the festival’s last sprint: 21 films in the last 4 days of the festival.

The day started with an early screening of Encounters in The Jungle. Directly drawn from the Asian let-help-each-other-to-survive kind of film (Battle Royale 2, Dragon Head, etc.), Encounters in the Jungle relates the story of 5 young men fighting in the army in a war-torn China in the 1930s. The five men are just ordinary soldiers unwillingly taking part in this pointless series of conflicts. Jiguang, Tianxiang, Yunshi, Ah Jiao and Xue whose path continuously intertwines throughout the film who become the perfect argument to give the film a more “humanistic” side to war. As they meet throughout the film, the strength of their human values will greatly be challenged as many of the soldiers are on the opposite sides and should have normally killed each other. Will each of the soldiers’ human values over the absurd rules of the inhuman conflict?

It’s late in the festival and usually I tend to be uninterested in epic films and slow paced films towards the end of a fest. With loaded viewing schedules, such films can be very difficult to shallow and could easily ruin a day of screenings. Even though they could be masterpieces, most slow paced films are just plain boring to watch when you’ve seen over 40 flicks in a little more than a week. However, Encounters in the Jungle successfully kept my interest throughout its duration.

Both the exquisite cinematography and the intelligent plot make this film a masterpiece. The last few shots of the films which depicts fake archival footage of war, this becomes a very nice counterpoint to the very human approach used during the film. As we watch the characters meet, and then haphazardly meet again, we can’t help but put a human dimension on that media label that has become ‘war’. In such conflicts, it’s very easy to forget that it’s real people fighting.

Sunset, Sunrise was presented a world premiere at the festival—its premiere in China is scheduled later in October. The film is set on the plateau of a very poor province in northwest China where an exploration team drilling for oil blasts miraculously comes across oil. As the stuff is exploited by the entrepreneurs, the poor villager’s wallets fill up as well. However, the traditional culture and the sincere atmosphere started to disappear in the village. In these times of changes, a group of troubadours (traditional Chinese signers) struggle to survive and is faced with new challenges.

The film is a very skillful mix of an epic villagers/farmers genre film (Mother India (1957), Siraa Fil-Wadi (1953), etc.) and a musical à la Moulin Rouge. As with most (if not all) villagers/farmers epics, the film is tinted by aspects of the melodrama and the film seems to be a succession of unfortunate events for the characters. The music and the melodrama conjugated to the beautiful cinematography make this film really stand out above the others. No matter how strong the volume of my iPod was on my way home tonight, I couldn’t get rid of the numerous songs of the film in my mind! Most of them are charming though! While the idea of watching a Chinese musical might not be prevalent in your mind(!), the film is definitely another must-sees of the festival.

Trapped in Sarajevo during the city’s siege by Serb forces, a gay couple who manage to flee to one of the character’s home village where they would hide out until the protagonist’s father could find a way for them to escape to the Netherlands. Witnessing the brutality of the Serb forces and their hatred for the Muslims, Milan decides to improvise: he disguises his androgynous looking boyfriend Kenan as a woman and presents him in public as his wife “Milena” so that he doesn’t get undressed by the army to verify whether is circumcised or not—and consequently killed on the spot. The ploy works for a while but unfortunately Milan is drafted into the army and the situation becomes almost unbearable for Kenan, left alone in the village.

The film which features a quick appearance by actress Jeanne Moreau doesn’t breaking any new ground such as many other films that touch upon the same issues before with Polanski’s The Pianist as the best example – minus the gayness. The film doesn’t surpass those previous films in any ways but it’s still a very enjoyable watch.

A few months ago there was a turning point in Quebec cinema history. Nouvelle France, which had the biggest budget for a French-Canadian film ever, turned out to suck a great deal. I saw a free screening and I still wanted my money back! Other critics hated it. Most French-Canadians also had a strong dislike for the film, and yes even the French from France hated it too! The world had come to a consensus : the film sucks. Having those thoughts in the back of my mind, I was rather reluctant to see The Headsman which is an epic drama set in the 16th century. I turned out to be dead wrong, this one is a keeper!

Martin and Georg are two orphans growing up under the protection of monks at a 16th century monastery in the Tyrol. Martin becomes a soldier and fights for his country, while Georg dedicates his life to the Church. Georg returns to the town several years later and he falls in love with the executioner’s daughter. Later, a marriage with her will turn him into a social outcast and he will soon become executioner when the old man who used to do the dirty job died. Everything is perfect for both of them except one thing. Unfortunately, the executioner had an apprentice who had his eyes on both the executioner job and the executioner’s daughter. Losing both of them in the blink of an eye when Georg returns to town, he will seek revenge by plotting against the newly appointed executioner. This personal conflict will quickly take larger proportions and a lot of heads will fall!

Our conception of the state power is greatly challenged by this film and it’s a very interesting reflection about our modern society and the select few who have all the powers. Through this tale of revenge, the film raises many questions about religion and politics. Even though the film is set some 400 years ago, it successfully tackles many current issues.

“Just like people living in those years, we are currently facing many radical changes in the global economy. The Headsman tells a dramatic story of ordinary people trapped in a time of radical change. We witness a turbulent period of human history, a period of hope and despair, love, passion, ambition and betrayal. Very contemporary themes. What more can you ask for in a great film?” (Simon Aeby, director).

When have you been approached with the project “The Headsman” for the first time?
I met Susanne Freund, the writer, when we were both in the jury of the German Max Ophüls Festival. She told me about her project and weeks later I read the first draft of her complex, but compelling medieval story. The middle age has always inspired my imagination. But Susanne’s intent to portray her protagonist, the executioner, as a character you sympathize with, was certainly a great challenge. It than took more than a dozen screenplay versions and four years to get the story and structure right.

Epic films with a historic background like “Gladiator” and “Kingdom of Heaven” fill movie theatres all over the globe. Is “The Headsman” trying to buy in on this trend?
First of all, our overall production budget was probably as high as the budget on photo-copies on a Hollywood production like Gladiator. Secondly, the first screenplay version of The Headsman was written before Luther, Passion of Christ and Alexander were made. The subject of a movie predicates its budget. In that sense it came close to a miracle that we were even able to make this film.

Compared to other epic historic movies, what makes “The Headsman” unique?
It was my goal to tell a compelling, medieval story as realistic and authentic as possible- like jumping back in time. I looked at every historic movie I could get my hands on, studied paintings from Bosch, Breugel and Van Eyck in order to get the right visual “feel”. In that regard Johan Huizingas book “Herbst des Mittelalters” was a great source of inspiration.