Sep. 21, 2011 - Issue #831: The Sandwich Issue
More EIFF reviews (online exclusive)
Reviews by Brian Gibson (BG), Fawnda Mithrush (FM), Mel Priestley (MP) and Samantha Power (SP).Higher Ground
Directed by Vera Farmiga
Tue, Sep 27 (7 pm)
Empire City Centre
3 stars
This reflection on Corinne's (Vera Farmiga) struggle to feel holy in the '70s and '80s Midwest is ultimately too tender and respectful. A few character strokes are broad, a few scenes are precious (a postman interrupts a flower-planting to read poetry) and, oddly, there's no sense of how anyone makes a living. The ending, a moment of expressed doubt, echoes the story (from Carolyn Briggs' memoir) itself as doubtful, wavering at times between humorous character drama and serious spiritual yearning. Still, early on, the earnest seriousness of born-agains overlaps with hippie-era sexual playfulness. And a near-sensual female friendship and the many close-ups in domestic spaces make for charged moments of intimacy in a religious community buttoned up by men. BG
La Sacrée
Directed by Dominic Desjardins
Sat, Sep 24 (4:30 pm)
Metro Cinema at the Garneau
2 stars
François Labas is a conman with a flashy car and a couple of expensive suits. His future is almost set: he's dating cosmetic baroness Sophia Bronzeman and they're trying to get pregnant, after which their marriage—and his wealthy future—is assured.
But Labas turns out to be infertile, so after a series of events in which he returns to his hometown—the small francophone community of Fort Aimable in Ontario—he convinces the townsfolk to start brewing La Sacrée, a local beer that reputedly improves virility. The plot is a little circuitous, and though the film does an admirable job presenting a coherent chain of events, it still feels a little bogged down by details. But more significantly, the film is simply far too predictable. The many plot developments are obvious before they occur, and the sugar-coated resolution is as trite as it is unsurprising. MP
The Swell Season
Directed by Nick August-PernaI, Carlo Mirabella-Davis, Chris Dapkins
Sat, Sep 24 (7:15 pm)
Empire City Centre
Two stars
When Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova won the Oscar for their work on the music of the movie Once, many Americans asked, "Who?" The Swell Season starts out as an attempt to answer that, but never truly hits its stride. Meandering between family interviews, filming a tour through the US and private moments between Hansard and Irglova, the documentary doesn't truly decide what it's documenting, a lack of focus only complicated by the eventual fall out of Hansard and Irglova's relationship. There are numerous stories to be found, including Irglova's struggles to cope with international fame barely in her 20s, but the film languishes between narratives and becomes merely a picturesque documentation of some Oscar-winning music. SP
We Were Here
Directed by David Weissman
Wed, Sep 28 (7:30 pm)
Empire City Centre
Four stars
With a harrowingly intimate and honest approach to its subject matter—a chronicling of the AIDS epidemic as seen from The Castro in San Francisco—David Weissman's We Were Here is an important reminder of the historically dire effects of fighting a new disease, one that looks very different three decades later. Recounted by five individuals who found themselves on the hospital frontline fighting not only a virus no one yet understood, but also rampant homophobia and an utterly dumbfounded medical system, the film begins with the five describing how they each ended up in America's gay mecca circa May 1979, when Dan White's trial (Harvey Milk's assassin) was wrapping up. Just weeks later outbreaks of Kaposi's sarcoma started appearing, and soon "gay cancer" (the initial label that the HIV virus was given, AIDS wasn't officially named until 1981) and the fear that came along with it was everywhere. With its simple, bare-bones interview style, We Were There just manages to nudge itself it into the "well-made" documentary category. Without its candor and straight-up presentation of the shocking fallout of AIDS in the early years, the talking heads, news clips, and avalanche of moustachioed '80s portraiture might not knit together so well. Descriptions of disastrous experimental treatments told by visual artist Daniel Goldstein, who loses one partner after another, are deeply affecting. And though its subject matter is for the most part incredibly saddening, the film trails off with ruminations on how HIV and AIDS galvanized the GLBT community, one that fought for life as fiercely as it now does for civil rights. A powerful, emotional testament of one of the most challenging episodes in recent history. FM
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