Inglourious Darkness
Wednesday, May 20th, 2009
So the last few days have been spent watching some pretty extreme cinema.
Most notable was Lars Von Trier’s ‘Antichrist’ which I won’t review here because you’ve heard me going on about it on Twitter and probably seen the reviews elsewhere. I’ll give you my opinion though – it’s a great film but it’s so dark and so utterly, utterly twisted that I don’t want to watch it again. Cynics out here have used the words ‘torture porn’ but I think that’s missing the point. The violence isn’t really torture – it’s not calculated enough – it’s a more schizophrenic, random evil that causes it, and due to the sense of brooding and sheer nastiness of it all, it certainly isn’t titillating so you can throw away the porn label too. It’s a very depressing, dark and moody film that leaves one with little hope for humanity, and seems particularly misogynistic. Others see it as an allegory for the death of misogyny. The main thing is – everyone’s talking about it. And I heard it just picked up a distro in the states. Will they cut it I wonder?
Yesterday I didn’t see any films, choosing instead to focus on business. I’ve met some truly wonderful folk out here in Cannes and I can’t wait to get back and follow up our conversations about projects.
After a long day’s networking I went to the Straight 8 party in the Kodak tent. They screened 8 films shot on 1 cartridge of Super-8 film and there was some interesting work there, though as an editor it’s often frustrating watching films that have been ‘edited in camera’. Editing was invented for a reason! That said it’s a noble idea and there was one film in particular, starring two jugglers, that was absolutely inspired. After Straight-8 it was on to a few more parties, one of which was so utterly debauched, bizarre and loud that I and my companions had to leave and go to the far more sophisticated Absolut vodka sponsored party. I really had intended an early night though and tonight should make good on that promise to myself. It’s not too much fun going to bed in a tent at 5am only for the sun to start streaming through the canvas a few hours later.
I’ve just today come out of a screening of Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’. A thoroughly enjoyable romp that the audience seemed very warm to despite being 2h44. The time raced by, keeping good pace. There were a few points I’d pick up on the editing – some of it seemed a little forced and obvious (most notably a totally unnecessary and heavy-handed flashback reminding you who one character is – why????) but I doubt most will notice this. It is a totally imagined history of the end of WW2 and though it certainly doesn’t make light of the atrocities of the Nazi’s in occupied France, handling them with his usual ‘gangster chic’ style might not have been Mr Tarantino’s most sensitive move ever… When you consider that real people were killed by characters like these.
I suppose there are those who would argue that Jools and Vince from ‘Pulp Fiction’ are stylised versions of real gangsters who’ve killed people too, but I doubt their real world counterparts were responsible for killing thousands of Jews. Just a thought…
As I write I’m just charging up my phone in the UK pavilion so I can make a few calls, then I think I’ll be off to bed stupidly early tonight so I can book up to see the premiere Elia Sulieman’s ‘The Time That Remains’ early tomorrow. Here’s keeping fingers crossed for that, though somehow I think a party thinly veiled as ‘networking’ may get in the way. Apparently the Icelandic Film people are doing something tonight… And I did write my thesis on Icelandic cinema at university so it would be rude not to!
Gwyn.
Tags: Antichrist, Cannes, Inglourious Basterds, Lars Von Trier, Quentin Tarantino, Straight 8
Posted in Cannes Film Festival 2009 | Comments Off