CIFF 2018 - A Diary

Bharath Vijayakumar

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The 16th Chennai International Film Festival (CIFF) held from Dec 13th to 20th was another opportunity for film buffs in the city to catch up with world cinema. The most exciting and toughest part of these festivals is in making the right choices on what films to watch and what to skip as the screenings would be happening in parallel across a handful of venues.It gives quite a rush to hop across these venues after each show to be in time for the next film, not to forget the need to fit in your lunch sometime in between.The IMDB synopsis and a few random reviews are what people generally have for reference in making their choices. These festivals also tend to give you a temporary high as you falsely assume yourself as an intellectual about to feast on world cinema :)

 

Short notes on few films that I managed to catch up with -

 

Se rokh (3 Faces) 

Country – Iran

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Jafar Panahi's film is a subtle yet hard hitting take on patriarchy. It plays out like a road film and follows an actress and a director who travel through the countryside in search of a teenager who had sent them a video message threatening suicide. The last shot of the actress and the teenager walking on a deserted highway lingers on for a few minutes on screen. In a way it seems to establish that the road ahead is long and women need to fight it (probably all alone) but the only option is to keep walking towards their ambitions.

 

Bingo: O Rei das Manhãs (Bingo: The King of the Mornings)

Country – Brazil

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This Brazilian film inspired from a real life personality was the most entertaining film that I caught at the fest. Bolstered by an excellent performance from the lead actor, this film about the rise , fall and recoup of a performing artist keeps you engrossed right from the word go.

 

 

Ferrugem (Rust)

Country – Brazil

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An impulsive act of leaking a private video costs a life. For a while the film seems to be a whodunit but it is essentially about a teenager coping with the guilt of his action before deciding to own up his mistake. It is only the final leg of the film that sort of connects with you. The initial portions seem too grim for no apparent reason.

 

 

Toni Erdmann

Country – Germany

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This comedy drama drives the message about how we forget to savour the small moments in life amidst our 24/7 drive for monetary and career growth. The film has its moments but is way too long and you wonder at the need of a few scenes.

 

 

La Dernière folie de Claire Darling (Claire Darling)

Country – France

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I could not follow much about this drama about a protagonist who decides to sell all her belongings citing that it is the last day of her life. The film keeps cutting back to her childhood as we catch glimpses of the life she has led and her relationship with others.

 

 

Wij (We)

Country – Netherlands

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The film is about a group of teenagers who get together and begin experimenting with sex and start using it as a tool to make quick money. But things escalate quickly and plays havoc both on their lives and those around them.This was too dry a film if you can call it that.Though there is a lot happening, it fails to establish a connect with us.

 

 

Dogman

Country - Italy

 

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Dogman is a riveting revenge drama that has you rooting for its lead man. The actor playing the part was brilliant and this was probably the most intense film that I watched at the fest.

 

 

One Step Behind the Seraphim

Country - Romania

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My personal favourite and despite a running time of 150 minutes a thoroughly entertaining film that tries to answer the existential question about God. Aided by Solid acting and packed with humour, the film was a riot. It was also the closest in a way to mainstream Indian films.

 

Crackerjack

Country - Australia

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The film released in 2002 and the ageing does show. This comedy drama that follows the standard sports film template about the underdogs coming up against all odds was a harmless watch and a throwback to how popular cinema probably was a decade and a half back.

 

Amin

Country - France

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This tale about a migrant worker from Africa getting into an extra marital relationship during his work stint in France does tackle an important topic. But the film is too simplistic (or maybe it was intended that way as these are actually simple things that we complicate) and the lead actor wasn't too emotive (again intentionally?).

 

The Heiresses

Country - Paraguay

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This leisurely paced drama is that rare coming of age tale of someone who is probably in her sixties and gets to see the world around her when she is left all alone for a brief while.

 

Blue My Mind

Country : Switzerland

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This metaphorical take on the importance of living with our uniqueness without trying to fit in with the general populace is a film that you could term as poetic. The film builds up in a way that keeps scaring you of something happening and then makes you realize that what you feared was not something to be scared about but rather to be embraced at.