VIFF44th – Girl Who Would be KING on Life, Style and INSPIRATION.

VIFF: JAY KELLY

Oh, what to say about this movie which is a musing on fame, regret, and identity.

You know that I tend to see movies that I hope to write a good review about.

This one is marketed as a bittersweet comedy about a good looking world-famous actor, not unlike George Clooney. Oh my, it is George Clooney! Clooney plays a fading movie star in “Jay Kelly”, which is ironic, because by the end I felt like I was fading too.

Not to worry – my little review won’t hurt his career. And I like Clooney in other things, just not this one.

The film tries to be profound by showing a movie star questioning his fame, but ends up feeling like a celebrity’s therapy session we didn’t ask to attend. I don’t always know a lot in advance about the movies I choose to see at festivals. The title might initially intrigue me and I might like the actors and know a bit about the story, but what I’m seeing a lot of is dysfunctional family drama in almost every movie no matter what the storyline is. It gets tiring.

With Adam Sandler, Laura Dern, and a European road trip, it had all the ingredients for charm. Instead it lacked spontaneity, realism and failed to captivate. Humour is all about surprise….and this one, at least for me, held no surprises. Imagine “Eat Pray Love” without the eating, praying, or loving. Or “Marriage Story” without the story.

The film is directed by Noah Baumbach – known for introspective dramas such as “Marriage Story” and “White Noise.”

Director’s Statement: “Jay Kelly: is about a man looking back at his life and reflecting on the choices, the sacrifices, the successes, the mistakes he’s made. When is it too late to change the course of our lives? Jay Kelly is an actor and as such the movie is about identity. How we perform ourselves. Who are we as parents, children, friends, professionals? Are we good? Are we bad? What is the gap between who we’ve decided we are and who we might actually be? What makes a life? Jay Kelly is about what it means to be yourself.

This is the last weekend for VIFF. You can enjoy movies all year long though at the Viff Centre.

https://viff.org/

VIFF: THE ART OF ADVENTURE

Chasing the Unknown…

This exceptional documentary, with original 1957 restored footage, captures the essence of mid-century exploration in its purest form. Two men, one outfitted range rover and a lust for adventure through untamed landscapes, offers a rare glimpse into a world before greed and chaos upset everything. It’s a film that doesn’t just show you some wild places, it invites you to feel it.

The men in question are renowned Canadian wildlife artist and naturalist, Robert Bateman, and Bristol Foster, a prominent biologist and the first director of BC’s Ecological Reserves Program. What makes it even more special is that these men are lifelong friends.

I think this film will appeal to anyone who loves travel and adventure in general. It will especially appeal to those, who like me, have been to Africa and were lucky enough to see wildlife in their natural habitat and meet local people such as the Maasai with their rich culture, pastoral lifestyle, and deep connection to the land in Kenya and Tanzania.

Although the difference here is that these men traveled to Africa at a time when it was very unusual to see foreign people, especially Caucasians. And they took chances off the beaten path. Young and fearless, but extremely smart and capable. They’re lucky they avoided any harm along the way, sometimes coming close to possible disaster.

The Range Rover (aka “the Grizzly Torque”) ran 30,000 kilometres across Africa, India, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Foster made sure to acquaint himself beforehand on every aspect of fixing the vehicle. Bateman sketched animals and people along the way and painted a mural of every place they visited along the Grizzly Torque.

With Robert Bateman who is 95 years old now.

Director Alison Reid (the woman who loves giraffes), Robert Bateman and Bristol Foster were there for a Q&A after the showing. I went with a friend who knew the Bateman family from growing up in Ontario. She told me that when Bateman was a teacher, he would take the kids on nature walks and she credits him with having given her a love of nature.

From the VIFF guide:

Through in-depth interviews with friends and family and the original 16mm film footage of their incredible journey, Reid shows how the trip expanded the pair’s knowledge of the physical world while deepening their spiritual and emotional connection to it.

A heartwarming, inspirational love letter to the adventure of life itself.

The October 12 screening is a Relaxed Screening. For Tickets:

https://viff.org/

Film Reviews

VIFF: Nouvelle Vague

ALL YOU NEED TO MAKE A MOVIE IS A GIRL AND A GUN – Jean-Luc Godard. Paris, 1959.

There are some things I will never understand. This movie may be one of them. But some things I cannot fully make sense of will still stand stand out as being innovative, artistic and surreal. This movie was the opening film at VIFF…about a film…that’s a bit vague (for lack of a better word). Visually it is stunning, filmed in all black and white. It’s also a true story and the original film Breathless went on to win several awards.

Nouvelle Vague stands for French New Wave, which was an influential film movement in France from the late 1950’s to the early 1960’s that rejected traditional filmmaking conventions through experimental techniques like jump cuts, location shooting, and handheld cameras. A direct response against the formulaic and studio-controlled films of the time, which focused on strong, easy-to-follow narratives. This type of filmmaking is a “go with whatever flow” method and has a kind of film noir imaging – creating a more immediate and spontaneous feel.

The low-budget, documentary-style approach of this film speaks to me, because now I don’t feel so bad about my trial and error, guerrilla-style, unprofessional YouTube (~~not telling you about it right now~~) channel where I am director, etc.

Directed by Richard Linklater (included in Time Magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world), it is fresh and compelling. It follows the true story of Swiss intellectual Jean-Luc Godard as he makes a movie starring American starlet Jean Seberg (who speaks French with an American accent) and boxer Jean Paul Belmondo.

The primary pioneers of the French New Wave were film critics and future directors François Truffaut, Jean-Luc Godard, Éric Rohmer, Claude Chabrol, and Jacques Rivette.

He’ll write it as they make it. A bout de souffle… Breathless… will change everything (from the VIFF guide).

Don’t think about getting any clarity in this one and forget about continuity – it is what it is! Love it or hate it – it will leave you feeling a little breathless. See original trailer below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAuqDI4EAl4