Here starts week two of my Chicago International Film Festival coverage. I'll try to finish it all up within this next week or two. Keep on checking back. Hopefully, you won't be disappointed.
The Taste of Tea
Review by Jon Waterman
****
There’s no way I can do justice to the movie by going over the plot, but I’ll try anyway. Here goes: Sachiko is a tiny eight year-old girl who has a problem. There’s a gigantic doppelganger following her around. Her uncle suffered a similar problem when a bloody ghost haunted his vision. Based on his story, she feels the only way to get rid of this psychologically damaging duplicate her is to do a back flip over the horizontal bar.
See. I told you. I can assure you that the movie is much more fun and interesting than that horrible description I gave alludes to. Sachiko isn’t the only oddball in the family/cast of characters. They all have their quirks. The father is a hypnotist, a different uncle is a manga artist turned pop-singer, and the grandfather is the most eccentric of them all. You have to see it to understand it. Even some of the supporting characters have their moments, such as the baseball player down the river and the dressed up cartoon lovers on the train.
All of their stories seem disjointed, but eventually are weaved together beautifully and seamlessly. Writer/director Katsuhito Ishii (director of the amazing animation sequence in “Kill Bill Vol. 1”) tells great, entertaining stories, with impeccable comic timing. There’s no high drama or even contentious obstacles to overcome. It’s just a fun tale of a unique family dynamic. He also effectively uses flashbacks to support the emotions and the narratives of the characters. Ishii’s also not afraid of drawing out sequences and let them play out completely before cutting to the next one. Many of the scenes are slow moving, but far from boring. Some of this can be attributed to sheer intrigue, but you can also credit the visuals.
Cinematographer Kosuke Matushima (assistant camera operator for “Dreams” and “Ran”) paints stunning landscapes both outdoors and in. The entire movie looks beautiful and when completed shows a fantastic contrast in style from the beginning to the end. The computer effects are obvious, but don’t detract from the overall feel. They are supposed to be there and are supposed to look like fantasies come to life. They aren’t trying to replace reality, and that’s the key to their effectiveness.
Maya Banno plays the little girl Sachiko amazingly well. I never expect much of anything from child actors, and I believe it’s unfair to judge them with the same criteria as their older, most likely more experienced counterparts. For someone so young, she really understands the concept of apathy and also depression along with quiet inner anguish. She’s not the only one; the entire cast acts perfectly. A quick glance is all that’s needed to get into their head and know what they’re feeling or going through.
I don’t know how anyone couldn’t get won over by this movie. The grandfather alone (played by Tatsuya Gashuin) could carry the film with his craziness (and arguably does just that). It’s just as charming as “Amelie” (which also used computer effects very well) and “Kikujiro” which also centers around a lovable young kid. Complete with hilarious musical numbers, an amusing animation sequence, and eye-catching scenery and characters, you don’t want to miss this film.
+++++++
The Souvenirs of Mr. X
Review by Jon Waterman
*1/2
Director Arash T. Riahi finds and purchases a trunk full of Super-8 movies made by an unknown, uncredited filmmaker somewhere in his home country of Austria. Riahi decides that these amateur efforts need to be discussed with the man who made them. So, he goes out into the city on a hunt for Mr. X. On his journey, he runs across a community of old, amateur filmmakers, which he hopes will lead him closer to finding the mysterious man behind the celluloid.
The film starts off very strong. It has a nice premise of trying to locate this guy who made all these home movies and essentially make him out to be someone important. But, once he reaches the amateur filmmaking club, it becomes about telling their stories, rather than hunting for his own. There are very long stretches where Mr. X isn’t mentioned at all and it seems as if that was never really the point of the film. That would be fine if the title and opening fifteen minutes didn’t mislead the audience into thinking the film was about something its not. The whole main thread gets wrapped up too quickly at the end and left me disappointed.
The majority of the movie is spent following one specific filmmaker around, discussing film and showing his efforts at the Austrian national competitions. He is the main focus, especially after suffering the stroke. I wouldn’t have minded seeing the film be just about this group of seasoned amateurs. They can easily be a feature by themselves. The Mr. X story deserves nothing more than a short and to not be included here. It just ends up cheapening the rest of the movie. Because of this “side story”, Riahi glances over some fun characters. I’d say he spends too much time with the ones he does include. The sense of community was lacking and would have been great to see explored.
Riahi’s technique is good. He incorporates the Super-8 footage into the film. At some points it is used as a replacement and a contemporary audio track compliments the chosen visuals. Other times, it furthers the story or adds structure to the piece as a whole. Filmmaking is integral here. There is no attempt made to hide the equipment (such as the boom microphone or a second camera or the director – who stays behind the lens for the most part). It captures the curiosity and the learning aspect of movie making and of the club. I don’t think it fully represents the love of film. We understand it’s a passion for one or two of the people, but as a whole, it is not inspiring nor does it properly convey the emotions that these people have deep inside.
The movie isn’t all that bad. The music is fantastic. It’s somewhat charming and occasionally funny. Overall, though, it lacks a definitive focus and shouldn’t have pretended to be this other movie. I’m sure those guys at the film club will tell him the same thing so his future movies come out better.
The Taste of Tea
Review by Jon Waterman
****
There’s no way I can do justice to the movie by going over the plot, but I’ll try anyway. Here goes: Sachiko is a tiny eight year-old girl who has a problem. There’s a gigantic doppelganger following her around. Her uncle suffered a similar problem when a bloody ghost haunted his vision. Based on his story, she feels the only way to get rid of this psychologically damaging duplicate her is to do a back flip over the horizontal bar.
See. I told you. I can assure you that the movie is much more fun and interesting than that horrible description I gave alludes to. Sachiko isn’t the only oddball in the family/cast of characters. They all have their quirks. The father is a hypnotist, a different uncle is a manga artist turned pop-singer, and the grandfather is the most eccentric of them all. You have to see it to understand it. Even some of the supporting characters have their moments, such as the baseball player down the river and the dressed up cartoon lovers on the train.
All of their stories seem disjointed, but eventually are weaved together beautifully and seamlessly. Writer/director Katsuhito Ishii (director of the amazing animation sequence in “Kill Bill Vol. 1”) tells great, entertaining stories, with impeccable comic timing. There’s no high drama or even contentious obstacles to overcome. It’s just a fun tale of a unique family dynamic. He also effectively uses flashbacks to support the emotions and the narratives of the characters. Ishii’s also not afraid of drawing out sequences and let them play out completely before cutting to the next one. Many of the scenes are slow moving, but far from boring. Some of this can be attributed to sheer intrigue, but you can also credit the visuals.
Cinematographer Kosuke Matushima (assistant camera operator for “Dreams” and “Ran”) paints stunning landscapes both outdoors and in. The entire movie looks beautiful and when completed shows a fantastic contrast in style from the beginning to the end. The computer effects are obvious, but don’t detract from the overall feel. They are supposed to be there and are supposed to look like fantasies come to life. They aren’t trying to replace reality, and that’s the key to their effectiveness.
Maya Banno plays the little girl Sachiko amazingly well. I never expect much of anything from child actors, and I believe it’s unfair to judge them with the same criteria as their older, most likely more experienced counterparts. For someone so young, she really understands the concept of apathy and also depression along with quiet inner anguish. She’s not the only one; the entire cast acts perfectly. A quick glance is all that’s needed to get into their head and know what they’re feeling or going through.
I don’t know how anyone couldn’t get won over by this movie. The grandfather alone (played by Tatsuya Gashuin) could carry the film with his craziness (and arguably does just that). It’s just as charming as “Amelie” (which also used computer effects very well) and “Kikujiro” which also centers around a lovable young kid. Complete with hilarious musical numbers, an amusing animation sequence, and eye-catching scenery and characters, you don’t want to miss this film.
+++++++
The Souvenirs of Mr. X
Review by Jon Waterman
*1/2
Director Arash T. Riahi finds and purchases a trunk full of Super-8 movies made by an unknown, uncredited filmmaker somewhere in his home country of Austria. Riahi decides that these amateur efforts need to be discussed with the man who made them. So, he goes out into the city on a hunt for Mr. X. On his journey, he runs across a community of old, amateur filmmakers, which he hopes will lead him closer to finding the mysterious man behind the celluloid.
The film starts off very strong. It has a nice premise of trying to locate this guy who made all these home movies and essentially make him out to be someone important. But, once he reaches the amateur filmmaking club, it becomes about telling their stories, rather than hunting for his own. There are very long stretches where Mr. X isn’t mentioned at all and it seems as if that was never really the point of the film. That would be fine if the title and opening fifteen minutes didn’t mislead the audience into thinking the film was about something its not. The whole main thread gets wrapped up too quickly at the end and left me disappointed.
The majority of the movie is spent following one specific filmmaker around, discussing film and showing his efforts at the Austrian national competitions. He is the main focus, especially after suffering the stroke. I wouldn’t have minded seeing the film be just about this group of seasoned amateurs. They can easily be a feature by themselves. The Mr. X story deserves nothing more than a short and to not be included here. It just ends up cheapening the rest of the movie. Because of this “side story”, Riahi glances over some fun characters. I’d say he spends too much time with the ones he does include. The sense of community was lacking and would have been great to see explored.
Riahi’s technique is good. He incorporates the Super-8 footage into the film. At some points it is used as a replacement and a contemporary audio track compliments the chosen visuals. Other times, it furthers the story or adds structure to the piece as a whole. Filmmaking is integral here. There is no attempt made to hide the equipment (such as the boom microphone or a second camera or the director – who stays behind the lens for the most part). It captures the curiosity and the learning aspect of movie making and of the club. I don’t think it fully represents the love of film. We understand it’s a passion for one or two of the people, but as a whole, it is not inspiring nor does it properly convey the emotions that these people have deep inside.
The movie isn’t all that bad. The music is fantastic. It’s somewhat charming and occasionally funny. Overall, though, it lacks a definitive focus and shouldn’t have pretended to be this other movie. I’m sure those guys at the film club will tell him the same thing so his future movies come out better.
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