Triangle of Sadness vs The Menu

Triangle of Sadness has been gaining some social plaudits this fall, not least being the buzz at the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) last month. But I'd wager that half those who were buzzing probably had buyers' regret after seeing it. I know many people walked out. There are several problems and "meh" aspects of the film. The movie is in three chapters and the third - set on the island where the "Gilligan's Island" ship wreckers land - goes on way, way too long. The second chapter - aboard the ill-fated luxury liner - is the best. The cinematography is great as Swedish director Ruben Östlund (who otherwise had sound films in Force Majeure (2014) and The Square (2017)) and crew catch the chaos and absurd personal dramas of a sea bound voyage disrupted by a storm. The first chapter - seemingly unrelated to the two others except for the main characters - has a humorous sketch about dating and masculine and feminine roles. I’m sure lots of people could relate. But what does it all add up to? First of all the movie is derivative by half, of films such as those by the great Spanish director Luis Buñuel like The Exterminating Angel, The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeousie (1972) and The Phantom of Liberty (1974). Or, more recently South Korea's Bong Joon-Ho's 2019 forgettable, to my mind, Parasite. They’re surreal or black comedies with the theme "Eat the Rich." One has to ask why Östlund would go through the trouble of creating the elaborate boat scene, special effects and all, with myriad scenes of people barfing and a toilet exploding, to make yet another cliched point. Now if you really want to do an Eat the Rich commentary right, check out Mark Mylod's The Menu (photo), currently in cinemas. This is a taut beginning to end thriller, of the culinary kind, of course. Again, the theme is the Privileged Get Their Comeuppance, but the direction and cinematography are done so much better, with close ups and great acting by the main characters Ralph Fiennes, Anya Taylor-Joy and Nicholas Hoult. From one course to the next in this most exclusive of restaurants we don’t know whether the diners are being treated to the ultimate in gourmet food or something more malevolent, with an ending I'm glad I never suspected. So while both these films are derivative and have Eat the Rich themes, at least one is up to full movie making snuff. Of course, all this Eat the Rich stuff is ultimately boring. I'm waiting for a film with the theme Eat the Well-Paid Bureaucrats but that's something we'll probably never see. ..... Walking out of the Imagine Lakeshore Cinemas last week an old cardboard movie display caught my eye. It was for the James Bond No Time to Die release, somehow still in storage off the theatre's corridor, with the ominous wording "Opens April 2020." Now that is a real horror flashback. 

My top 10 films at WIFF

Of the films I saw at this year’s WIFF here are my top 10:

1. Lost Illusions – This is Xavier Giannoli’s almost perfect period retelling of a story for the ages based on a Honoré de Balzac novel. A provincial idealistic poet (Benjamin Voisin) moves to Paris and slowly becomes corrupted. Unlike many period films this one, at two-and-half hours, doesn’t detour into tangents and keeps a coherent and absorbing flow. It’s also a revelation of the early days of popular journalism, the antecedents of which – good and bad – are around us still.

2. There have been stories of men living double lives but in Madeline Collins (Antoine Barraud) we have Virginie Efira as a woman who has two families, constantly travelling, with made up excuses like business conferences, between them in Paris and Switzerland.  Efira’s stunning performance is equal to the absorbing plot in this psychological thriller worthy of Hitchcock.

3. Another French firm, Zero Fucks Given (Julie Lecoustre & Emmanuel Marre), is a highly realistic portrayal of flight attendants at a European discount airline. The focus is on one of them, Cassandre (Adèle Exarchopoulos – Blue is the Warmest Colour) whose daily life is at the whims of haphazard airline schedules and strict management rules with romance a sometimes sidebar. 

4. Metronom – Romania, one of the most former authoritarian Stalinist regimes, in 1972, is not the place to flirt with anything Western, as these high school students find after having a party where they listened to, of all things, The Doors and Led Zeppelin. Ana (Mara Bugarin) tries to hold out against secret police pressure only to find that the only way to continue to exist is to succumb. Alexandru Belc is the director.

5. The Killing of a Journalist. This documentary by Matt Sarnecki tells a true story of an event that convulsed the Eastern European country of Slovakia in 2018, a major news event we never heard of. The intricately told story pieces together links that show how the Slovakian “Mafia” infiltrated the country’s government at the highest levels and murdered an investigative journalist who was in the forefront of exposing the links. His killing resulting in massive street demonstrations that brought down the regime.

6. Jennifer Tiexiera’s Subject is a documentary about the making of documentaries and raises ethical questions about what should be subject matter when filmmakers intrude into the personal lives of people (“subjects”) to make films about extraordinary events or people’s traumatic life stories. The probe really has wider implications for all forms of journalism.

7. Yann Gozlan’s Black Box was the most edge-of-your-seat thriller I saw. The French/Belgium collaborative is a whoodunit about a cover up of who was responsible for the downing of a passenger aircraft. Our hero, Matthieu (Pierre Niney) is the classic outsider, a nerd, part of the country’s civil aeronautics investigation agency, who’s accused of overthinking the case and taking a stand contrary to an official accident conclusion.  

8. Eo (Jerzy Skolimowski), based on a 1966 Robert Bresson film, in turn based on a Dostoyevsky story, follows Eo, a donkey, on his life journey among various owners and situations, good and bad, of the human beings all around him. Isabelle Huppert makes a surprise appearance.

9. Rogue Agent (Declan Lawn, Adam Patterson), based on a true story, is a stylish British thriller about a sociopath who charmingly disarms his subjects while fleecing them of emotions as much as their money.

10. Two British faves – Sally Hawkins and Steve Coogan, star in The Lost King, another film based on a true story in Stephen Frears's, perhaps Britain’s top filmmaker, latest. Hawkins as Philippa Langley becomes absorbed with the story of Richard III, long tarred, as per Shakespeare, as a villainous opportunist when numerous historical records show his altruistic character and benevolence, aiding the poor and bringing early judicial reform.  The recovery of his bones under a municipal parking lot leads to his historical rehabilitation.

   

Congratulations WIFF! And a post-mortem

Another great year at the Windsor International Film Festival (WIFF) – expanded to 11 days – and in the wake of two years closure due to Covid, more than 45,000 tickets sold – a new record! That’s surprising and not surprising. It’s surprising given that some in WIFF’s audience may have been reluctant to return to indoor spaces in the wake of the worst of the pandemic. An extra day also means more tickets sold. And yet it’s not surprising because WIFF has garnered such enthusiasm with each growing year. I’ll review some of the movies I saw (having been out of town, I only got to the last half of the festival) in a later post. For right now, some general observations, not so much about the festival but about its downtown venues or footprint. WIFF organizers in part have ensured the festival remains highly accessible from an audience perspective. The three theatre venues are all within five minutes’ walking distance from one another. That’s a contrast to other festivals, where the venues can be as much as a half hour walk or even require transit or a drive to reach. Partly this is a reflection of Windsor downtown’s compact nature and the fact appropriate venues, like the Capitol and Chrysler theatres, already existed. Organizers have taken advantage of this small footprint by enhancing it through, for example, the WIFF Alley movie themed mural showcase - the ‘natural shortcut’ moviegoers use to walk from the Capitol to Chrysler theatres. But here are some concerns/suggestions for future festivals. Why can’t the city suspend parking meter enforcement during WIFF’s 11 days? Arguably WIFF draws more people downtown than any other event except fireworks night and parades. Yet blocks and blocks of streets remained empty of cars because people were reluctant to plug parking meters. The two-hour maximums (photo) also inhibited use since most films verge on two hours or longer; not to mention the $2/hour fee. Sure enough, despite the few cars, a parking enforcement Commissionaires SUV was seen tagging expired parked vehicles. Suspending parking enforcement would show the city’s continuing support for the festival as well as for downtown retailers, which would derive more business from the fact people could park and get to theatres and businesses easier. Second, not all restaurants were open. One, a natural for lunchtime fare, was closed but opened for dinner. Third, could not the block immediately in front of the main venue - the Capitol Theatre and WIFF ticket office - have been blocked off? The next block east where WIFF’s entertainment tent was set up was cordoned off. But regular motor traffic continued immediately in front of the theatre, where filmgoers may have spilled out on to the street from sidewalk lines or mingled, or indeed crossed mid-block to walk to the Chrysler. Fourth, the neighbourhood around the WIFF footprint should be more secure. Walking west along University Ave., especially at night, there were a number of sketchy individuals present. A woman I spoke to was reluctant to park more than a block from the Capitol for fear for her safety. And I in fact was attacked. Nothing serious, but an individual broke from a group of about a dozen, some apparently drunk, and walked over and pretended to punch me out with a series of fist pumps. That’s intimidation enough! Perhaps there could be a better show of police. In any case, it was wonderful to have the festival back and good luck to organizers for next year, though I’m confident WIFF will continue to grow and be exceptionally great.