[ Editors' Note: ] According to its publicity material, the Montreal Festival of New Cinema held in October each year presents a distinctly avant-garde focus. Viewers will watch film and video, installations, websites and performances with special emphasis on digital work. The festival has four main sections—Feature Length Film and Video, Short and Medium Length Film and Video, New Media, and Digital Cinema. Reviewer Frederic Eger has selected his top picks to critique.
Rampage
My #1 pick of the festival is the new Georges Gittoes documentary, Rampage, " about the Lovett brothers, Denzell (Himself), Elliott (Himself), and Marcus (Himself), who live in "The Brown Sub" of Miami, Florida. This is an area "on the other side of " Miami Beach where the rich folks live.
A viewer's first thought upon sitting down to watch might be: "Oh, come on another story about those poor African-Americans victimizing themselves." Not the case. George Gittoes explores the nature and level of violence that African-Americans experience on a daily basis and makes a comparison with the violence a U.S. soldier experiences in Iraq.
Elliott Lovett plays a soldier returning from Iraq to visit his family. The entire family are talented rappers, especially Marcus and Denzel. Mr. Gittoes' film witnesses a family tragedy and feels some responsibility: "That's the problem when you shoot a documentary—you're talking about real lives. The jealousy that generated the documentary, following Lovett's daily lives, might be the cause of Marcus' death."
The documentary was shot with shoulder and hand cameras and confirms the suffering of African-Americans in 2006. The editing, photography, music and all aesthetic choices gives the viewer the impression that you are with these kids, and you sympathize with them and you tell yourself: "This is unbelievable; this is happening today in one of the supposedly most civilized and rich countries of the world—the United States of America."
One of Australia's foremost figurative painters, Georges Gittoes litterally uses the camera like a paint brush. With a compassionate humanity and truthful reporting, he tells the story of the Lovett family. From beginning to end, the film will open your eyes to realities that you may already know but that the film will confirm about black folk in the ghettos.
Rampage
Written, directed and produced by Georges Gittoes
With Denzell Lovett (Himself,) Elliott Lovett (Himself,) Marcus Lovett (Himself)
Away From Her
Grant and Fiona Anderson have been married 44 years and are devoted to each other when suddenly Fiona discovers she suffers from Alzheimer's. Staring at the mountains outside her window for hours to think about this news, Fiona decides this is long-term and needs to enter the nearest rest home. Grant doesn't want Fiona to be too far from him and feels the rest home as nothing less than a sentence on death row. Fiona insists and is at ease with facility's "no contact" policy, including husbands, during the first 30 days "to settle in," as manager Madame Madeleine Montpellier advises.
Fiona settles in so comfortably that she falls in love with Aubrey, a wheelchair-bound fellow Alzheimer's patient. After the not-for-free 30 days trial period, Grant arrives smiling with flowers-in-hand, but discovers he's not welcome anymore. In the throes of jealousy and despair, Grants dutifully visits his wife every day.
He asks himself if she wasn't just faking a memory loss to punish him for what the audience understands as an extramarital transgression long before. Then, just as Grant is about to give up on his 44-year-old marriage, Fiona returns to normal… and to him.
Sarah Polley focuses on the character-based script with a solid sense of storytelling. Ms. Polley worked on three films with Julie Christie (Fiona) and declared Ms. Christie her "adoptive mother" since losing her own mother shortly after her 11th birthday.
Ms. Christie suggests a woman living her older years like a young Emmanuelle which any husband would still be in love with, even after almost 50 years. Gordon Pinset's tremendous sense of timing and delivery remind us of Alec Guinness in manner and style.
But Ms. Polley's directorial debut walks a thin line between social issues of aging and Alzheimer's and a love story. When comparing this film with other "hospital" stories such as Penny Marshall's Awakenings or Stanley Kubrick's One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or even the TV series "ER", it becomes merely a little romantic drama with a few well-written and quite memorable lines.
And that's about it. Still, the effort of a Canadian directing her first feature on a subject of social importance should be supported by critics and enjoyed by audiences. Good Night and good luck, Sarah Polley!
Away From Her
Written and directed by Sarah Polley
Based on the short story "The Bear Who Came Over the Mountain" by Alice Munro
With Julie Christie (Fiona Anderson,) Gordon Pinset (Grant Anderson;) Olympia Dukakis (Marian,) Michael Murphy (Aubrey,) Kristen Thomson (Kristy,) Wendy Crewson (Madeleine Montpellier,) Alberta Watson (Dr. Fischer)
Please see Part One also.
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