ABOUT THE DEVIL BEING IN THE DETAILS... "OUR SUNHI"

This is another thing I love about film festivals. If you bypass the big galas that will clearly open in a few weeks in cinemas anyway an dig around in the independents, documentaries and foreign films, you can come up with some truly extraordinary things (a fact I have been trying to demonstrate since next week). Our Sunhi, from the “Laugh” section, is definitely one of these. Now, we have all heard of the Buddhist principal whereby life (and subsequently your future incarnations) present you essentially with the same lessons, people and advice until we truly learn from them and move on (I’m sure this concept has an actual name and everything, however… You know…). This is used a lot in productions that are a lot more tragic and didactic by nature. Our Sunhi takes the concept and not only points out that it can be viewed as very funny… It reminds us that we actually probably witness it on a daily basis…

Sunhi is a quiet young woman who wants to become a director. At almost 30, she feels that it may just be too late for her, but is still willing to give it her best shot. Her aim is to get a scholarship to study abroad; she feels this will better her and give her a better shot at her dreams. However, this means stepping out of her shell and acting. And getting over her own fears and uncertainties is one thing, she must also interact with a whole host of people who are… Let’s just say rather unconventional. On the list are her course professor (to whom she must be nice as she needs his reference letter for this programme), her ex (with whom she most definitely has unfinished business) and miscellaneous classmates (who are each “special” in their own way). Another point worth noting is that Sunhi is just about the only woman in this motley crew…  So we watch her trying to figure out which way to go next and we realise that there is, in fact, a lot of circularity in what is going on in her life, albeit hidden under the … Question is, does Sunhi?

Now, as I wrote the review thus far I realised that there are many traps you might fall into in trying to imagine what the film is like / about. First of all, don’t let the idea of repetition scare you – it’s not boring and definitely not absurd comedy. I know, it’s a Korean film and the Korean are rather “out there” when it comes to absurd comedy and it is not everyone’s cup of tea. This is a very delicately constructed romantic comedy – of sorts. The thing is, much like Sunhi, it is a bit of an original so a tad hard to classify.

Secondly, don’t be scared by the concept of “Buddhist concepts” , the film is NOT about how we should examine our lives and not repeat our mistakes. Well, it is, but this is not the main point, and the film merely shows us how these repetitions don’t necessarily need to come in the form of dramatic events but can actually be hidden in day to day events. And it goes on to suggest that, to move forward, it might be a good idea to actually pay attention to what is going on around us and you know… Act on it maybe? But like I said, this is just a suggestion. The repetitions mentioned are subtle yet not so subtle they cannot be used for great comic effect. And more importantly, they are very sensitive and taken directly from real life. I mean, for example, imagine when you first move to an area, change jobs or schools… You know how for a while, you end up just having the same conversation with different people until things settle into a routine? It happens at parties as well if there are a lot of people you don’t know. Yeah, kind of like that, only concerning things such as love, relationships, major life decisions etc.

You might think, at first glance, that Our Sunhi is making a bit too much of a fool of some of the characters. But then again, objectively, are they that different from us, bungling through life, not seeing the patterns and repeating mistakes? It’s definitely not that different from me. Especially before my first mug of coffee… 

AS IF just BEING A TEENAGER WASN'T HARD ENOUGH... "SIXTEEN"

I love the “first feature” section of the London Film Festival. Getting “into” film remains as tough as ever but at least this gives a very important outlet for those on that all important first rung of the ladder as it were. Of course since it is everyone’s first feature though, it makes picking a bit of an exciting prospect. You literally cannot guess what you’re going to actually end up with. These were my thoughts when I picked Sixteen. I’m not quite sure what exactly made me pick it. That it was set in modern day London was, bizarrely, definitely one thing (modern day London is a bit of an obsession with me at the moment. Strange that it has only hit now seeing as I have been living here for two years now). But the fact that it was about something that we don’t hear much about, namely Congolese child soldiers, was definitely another. Sixteen examines what we might call the “happily ever after”…

You see Jumah has achieved what a lot of people in his situation only hope and pray for. Once a Congolese child soldier, he has been adopted and now lives in the UK with his adopted mother. They are not exactly living in the lap of luxury but Jumah does not complain – he has known worse. And he has all the classic problems of a sixteen year old. Stress, exams, girls, grades… But on top of that he also has severe anger management issues and what is almost certainly PTSD. And the two later topics make it a tad bit harder for him to relate to people, raging hormones aside.  He doesn’t have massive dreams of becoming very rich; what he wants to do is to become a barber and live a quiet life. However, a chance encounter means that completely out of the blue, Jumah is pitched head-first towards something that eerily resembles his earlier, violence-filled life. Can he manage to not spoil his second chance? Or is there really no escaping his dark past?

First of all, genrewise, credit where it is due. Director Rob Brown provides a wonderful update to that very typical British genre the kitchen-sink drama. Well, it’s not quite “kitchen sink”. But then again, it is as close as you can get in this century – if you see what I mean. The film is set on a council estate, the protagonists are a single parent family, and violence pervades the present, the past and very probably the future. The future looks bleak, the options are not numerous (not least due to the fact that Jumah has been kicked out of several schools until he wound up in this one) and to top it all, Jumah has the rather working class dream of becoming a barber. Not that I’m belittling barbers or people who want to become them. But I’m just making the point that it fits a certain genre particularly well.

So, Brown takes this classic British genre and just… Sets it in Britain today. Which makes perfect sense really. Because London is one of those great metropolises (or metropoli ? I mean, is that the plural?) where you can literally meet people from all over the world. Every kind of person you can possibly imagine comes here to try their luck and you do hear the most incredible stories when you least expect them. Thus, this particular “angry young man” (another staple from the gritty kitchen sink genre) is a Congolese ex-child soldier.   This could very well have been the story of a young man coming out of prison and trying to go “on the straight and narrow” (but of course his ex-gang don’t let him go that easily etc, etc). Instead, it is a rather sad story of violence being violence all over the world and how hard one has to work to truly leave one’s past behind and move on.

I especially loved how truly close to life the situations depicted in the film and the reactions of the characters often were. Jumah is desperately trying to negotiate his way out of a very tricky situation. He is desperately trying to make friends but deep down, he knows that everything he has been through has made him a lot more mature than them. He really wants a “normal” relationship with his girlfriend but teenage angst aside, he finds it harder than most to show his true feelings. Therefore, he doesn’t always make sense, he is frustrating, not only to his mother but to us the viewers as well, but more importantly perhaps, I don’t think you could have made him any more realistic if you tried.

This one is by no means “easy viewing” but it is definitely worth it. If nothing else, it is a very realistic portrait of a slice of life in 21^st century London. And that in itself is definitely worth something. 

BECAUSE REAL LIFE IS STRANGER THAN THE DREAMS OF ANY ARTIST... "EXHIBITS OR STORIES FROM THE CASTLE"

Ok. So I just explained how totally random my selection of films look to the untrained eye. There is, however, a certain something that ties them together, although I couldn’t quite tell you what it was. My… What? Outlook? Personality? Spirit? I’m not sure. You’re going to have to fill in the blanks. But I think that this air of chaos that actually has a connecting thread is a very fitting connection to my first film. This film, to be precise. Exhibits seemingly is about a pretty random collection of people. We are talking real life here, so it actually doesn’t get stranger or more random than this. And yet… There is something… You might say I’m romanticising. You might say it’s largely the fact that for this or that reason (illness or old age) they are not quite “corpus mentis”. I’d say you’d need to watch this beautiful gem of a documentary and make your own decision on the matter – as it presents a LOT to think about…

The Castle is a home for the elderly in Stupova, Slovakia. But aside from the elderly, it also houses people with mental illnesses and those with nowhere else left to go. Director Paolo Korec takes a closer look at some of the amazing and touching life stories living together, higgledy piggledy under the same roof. There is a once celebrated doctor of law, an ex-thief, an old soldier and an old man who actually has nothing wrong with him – but his wife needs constant care you see, so he just moved in. What was he to do? Go on without her?

I am a little sensitive about the treatment of the aged. In life generally, but in cinema especially. I’m not quite sure why, but it probably has a lot to do with the fact that I was largely raised by my grandmother whose health is rather frail these days (she is 90 years old). This is why I was intrigued to see how this eccentric group of characters would be treated by this film. There is nothing like a babbling old dear for comic relief after all.  I think it is largely due to the fact that the director Korec is also an older gentleman that there is a great air of affection and respect to the film. Humour – especially absurd humour – is abundant but very well placed. And you can easily glide through Exhibits without thinking about much… Or can you?

Because the moment you start dissecting the film, you realise that there are many sombre lessons to actually take away from it. I was touched by all the stories in varying ways, but the one that hit me the hardest was Classic (he now calls himself that) the lawyer. He was an actual lawyer you understand; a scholar of some fame and author of three text books in various areas of law. We do not learn how he came to be a permanent resident in Stupova. But there are still echoes of his previous life in his actions there. He has a planner in which he makes his weekly schedule, although it must be said, it now looks pretty different from what it once must have looked like… A lot of his day is now taken up by music, he is a great fan of a Slovakian pop- star (whose name I forgot to make a note of) and sneaks into the common room after dark to watch her DVDs and likes to sing along to her songs on his cd player. In the q &a after the film, this story in particular came up in the discussions. Korec pointed out that this story had touched him as well and remarked how important it is to remember that the line between sanity and insanity is very thin indeed. I wonder if Classic himself remembers when and how he crossed it? Ages are not discussed that much in the Castle, but I put Classic in his late 40s or early 50s at the most. If ever there were a reminder that you never know what’s round the corner for you, this story is it…  

So the film takes us from one “exhibit” to the next, each told with clarity and honesty. No punches are pulled about life in the Castle. It is not the lap of luxury but it could be so much worse. The doctors and nurses are pleasant. There is good food and good company. And since a very large number of the residents have actually reverted to their childhoods (with the ironic exception of Classic who, is one of the younger residents but I saw as closer to a teenager),  “the rest”, does not really matter… I don’t know about you, but I found it spooky yet strangely comforting. They have lost pretty much everything, but much like children, they have stopped focusing on the bigger picture and are delighted or made distraught by the smaller things in life… I don’t know… Don’t you find the idea of people of all walks of life united “at the end of it all”, like happy children comforting in a way? And don’t you think it’s rather silly to wait right until the very end to start making the little things in life if not your main priority, one of your priorities?

Oh yes. Exhibits looks like a humble, unassuming little 80 minute number about an old people’s home. Trust me, there is a LOT more to it than that… 

TO LIVE OR TO "STOP THE POUNDING HEART" ?

Ok, as you may have guessed, my new “thing” is documentaries and all things even vaguely documentary. Not surprising is it really, considering my semi-obsession with “based on true life”. This is, to the best of my understanding, not quite a documentary. The characters in them play “different versions of themselves”. So basically we’re talking real characters in scripted situations, and that must have been quite a feat to accomplish but anyhow. This is, apparently, the last film in the “Texas trilogy” by director Roberto Minervini. All I’m saying to you is, I really need to find the other two films…

Filmed in a documentary style with quite minimal dialogue, much less anything in the way of guidance and explanation from the director, Stop the Pounding Heart paints a portrait of life in rural Huston, Texas. We see life from the point of view of two very different families. The Carlsons are goat farmers. They are deeply religious and all of the children are home-schooled. Sarah – or Sar – one of the older sisters is a dutiful daughter who takes care of her siblings and obeys her parents but burning deep in her is a rebellious side. This rebellious side that gets next to no “outings”, as it were but it definitely manifests itself. And one of the occasions this happens the clearest is after an encounter with her less puritan neighbour Colby Trichelle. The Trichelles are as religious as the average southern Texan, don’t get me wrong, but they are worlds apart from the Carlsons. Shooting, bull-riding and generally having a good time is what the boisterous Trichelle boys are all about. Now, the Carlson family is against “dating” as a general principal. But the fact that Sarah has been raised as a good Christian who is expected to marry a good Christian like her makes the union positively dangerous. Thus Sarah must do her best to conceal her feelings from everyone, including Colby… This may prove easier said than done…

Now this one definitely is for those of you who can actually sit through a minimalist film without fidgeting. Exhibits is a different kettle of fish all together, as the inhabitants are more than willing to share their stories and explain (and re-explain) every detail ad-nauseam. The Carlsons and the Trichelles, however, just get on with life. But if you can actually sit through it, the rewards are truly great. Our main protagonist is Sarah, Colby and his family are present but their role is largely that of contrasting their behaviour with that of the Carlsons. The one we really get to know is Sarah who is agonising, torn between her faith and the questions that keep bubbling up in her mind, the feelings that tug at her heart… It is a beautiful tale of faith in the modern world, the barriers it comes up against and the ways it copes – or tries to cope… Because the central question actually remains unanswered at the end of Stop the Pounding heart… Or does it? Much like real life, there are no clear cut answers. You are going to have to take the data and make what you will of it.

I thought Stop the Pounding Heart was one of the most touching depictions of angst and emotion that I have ever seen. Sarah is in her late teens at most (all we know is that she is over 14) but she is already struggling with so many questions in life… Faith… Love… Metaphysics… Well sure, metaphysics come into it even though Sarah doesn’t quite call it that as, although we do not know what she is exactly thinking, she is clearly and desperately trying to understand why her faith is telling her to do this or that and why, if this is indeed the “right” thing to do, it makes her so unhappy… Her sisters for the most part do not understand. They have vague plans of moving far away from home one day (not least, one supposes, because they do not even get to go to school so most of their lives is actually spent in the same house) but they all “hope to get married” but – strangely perhaps, but perhaps not so strangely – aren’t necessarily talking about “finding true love”. Thus we can well imagine Sarah is also struggling with love and its effects on her – as it is not really encouraged in her rather traditional family. That’s one heck of a lot of questions. Questions that some of the greatest minds have failed to answer… 

Stop the pounding heart can be hard work. I am not going to lie. But once you get used to the rather non-verbal style (and the southern Texan accent by the way) the rewards are truly great.  I say go get it. The film actually got an applause at the end at the showing I attented. Considering the room was half empty and there was no q & as (and thus no one to hear the applause except ourselves) this is saying something methinks…