EIFF 2014 Film Review : Ai Weiwei: The Fake Case (2013)

Genre:
Documentary
Rating: 15
Running Time:
87 minutes
Screened:
24, 27th June 2014 (EIFF)
Director:
Andreas Johnsen
Cast:
Andreas Johnsen, Ai Weiwei
Last year I was lucky enough to catch the tale-end of a Toronto exhibit of Ai Weiwei’s work. It was the first time I’d laid eyes on the renowned Chinese artist’s stuff but even then you can see the acidic commentary on the Chinese government clean off the bat.  Andreas Johnsen’s insightful documentary proves an educational look at the inspirational man behind the work, but most of all a disturbing glimpse into what fuels his message.

From the beginning of The Fake Case, Weiwei is a picture of composure: dignified, friendly, wise, considerate, a family man. It is unsettling then to learn of his incarceration at the hands of a totalitarian government who kept him isolated for 80 days in a blank room with 3 guards, then released him unceremoniously to continue persecuting him. The intended message is clear: no one fucks with the Chinese government.

Yet, Weiwei does.

Struggling against the titanic force of a 1984 caricature, a party so villainous it’s a real life version of Orwell’s dystopian nightmare, Weiwei remains zen and considerate, even mischievous, finding a few opportunities to stand defiant in front of his persecutors. Johnsen’s camera shows much of the enigmatic artist, his family, his life post-prison, the ominous control the government still exerts on Weiwei and his supporters, but the overwhelming amount of support he garners from the world and his fellow countrymen alike. The sounds of the Hong Kong cityscape play loud and ominous through distressing segments of the film, most notably during a display of Weiwei’s work at the end of the film.

This is a film that has to be seen, not simply as a fantastic account of Weiwei and his methods, but as a frankly terrifying look at the corruption inherent in an empire and the potential turning of a tide against it.

★★★★☆
Scott Clark

EIFF 2014 Review : Aberdeen( Heung gong jai,2014)

Genre:
Drama, World Cinema
Rating: 15
Screened:
20, 22nd June 2014(EIFF)
Director:
Ho-Cheung Pang
Cast:
Miriam Yeung, Louis Koo, Gigi Leung, Eric Tsang, Ng Man-tat, Carrie Ng
Though Pang Ho-cheung’s Aberdeen is very much a Chinese film about Hong Kong, it refuses to alienate its audience by making its focus specific issues of Chinese life. Aberdeen is essentially a film about relationships in the contemporary world told through the parallel and intertwining lives of the people in one family. On each level of the family’s infrastructure the camera picks out key details: a lonesome daughter’s midnight snacks, a father’s gender-centric obsessing, an uncle’s indifferent cheating, and a grandfather’s bliss in later life. Here the family is its own source of anxiety and its own salvation.

Ho-cheung’s Hong Kong is one of colours and life, a buzzing hive of activity where events collide and erupt to produce new scenarios. Here, family life spirals out of control and is ,time and time again wrenched close to some kind of epiphany only for life to inevitably stumble in the way. All of this is shown in a gorgeous Technicolor palate which, along with the fantastic pace of the story, produces an odd travel documentary feel to some of the film. At other points the camera floats through a miniature of Hong Kong shot in hues of purple, red, orange and green, a weird dreamscape where the camera retreats at points of transition. As with most details in the film, even this space plays an important narrative role later in the film.  Ho-cheung utilizes a zany sense of fate to keep all events integral to the story at some point or another.

In the end the film proves it has some slightly backwards ideas about its resolution, yet overall it’s a heart-warming story of life, love, and family. Ho-cheung seems to want the audience, like the family, to understand that equilibrium is an impossibility but that’s not a bad thing at all.

A ponderous cross-section of life in contemporary Hong Kong, spinning through the realities of everyday life whilst tackling some hefty ideas on what family means. Aberdeen is clean and colourful, inquisitive, and honest to the end.

★★★1/2☆

Scott Clark

DVD Review - Absentia (2011)

EIFF 2014: Cold in July (2014)

Genre:
Drama, Thriller
Distributor:
Icon Distribution
Rating: 15
Running Time: 109 Minutes
Release Date:
27 June 2014 (UK)
Director:
Jim Mickle
Cast:
Michael C Hall, Sam Sheppard, Don Johnson, Vinessa Shaw, Nick Damici
Jim Mickle is fast proving himself to be a director of particular vision and consistent quality: 2010’s Stakeland and last year’s We Are What We Are both flaunt a gorgeous unity of content and tone. This perfect southern Gothic vibe leaks through into his new feature Cold in July.

The first third is almost a horror film; a stalker tale/home invasion, the second: a weird buddy detective thriller, and the final act a mex-ploitation revenge flick. It’s a strange but pleasing mix of pulpy ideals that seems sort of genius when you consider the technical and creative talent that manages to pull it off. Visually the film is muggy and dark, evoking a similar clamminess to We Are What We Are, but breaking free of that film’s shadow at the points when it successfully combines those post-Drive blues with the Southern Gothic thing. The thick shadows, neon reds, a gorgeous close up of a Cadillac’s bonnet as rain thunders down: it all evokes a fantastic noir sensibility that the film thrives on from start to finish.

Though Hall gives a solid performance, he unfortunately slides aside when sharing the screen with the other two leads. Sheppard gives a tortured performance that captivates with every second he’s on screen, his character even reluctantly becomes the centre piece of the feature. Yet, undoubtedly, it’s Johnston who steals the show leading the bizarre band on their road trip, tearing down the Texas highways accompanied by a cool synth soundtrack. His ballsy, hilarious and tender rendition of the wise-guy investigator maintains audience attention when the story begins a whole new crusade around the 80 minute mark.

Some people will find the film’s final act a strain on the film overall, but if you can appreciate the pulp of it, if you’ve ever read Spillane or Lansdale, then you’ll really appreciate it. Especially when that last act contains so many gorgeous visuals and executes a few raw action sequences that allow the, generally, low-key film to step up to a colourful ultra-violent finale.

Part noir, part seedy 80’s nostalgia, Cold in July is a visually impressive, hot and sticky descent into the West Texas criminal underbelly, led by enthralling performances from Sheppard and Johnson. Highly recommended.

★★★★☆
Scott Clark