Computer Chess

While I usually try to go into a film cold, try to watch a film from a most objective stance as possible. However  this film is an argument for why sometimes a little research can be a very good thing.

I confused by this film. I’m so confused by this film, I don’t even know if I like it or not. So unsure I’ll let the trailer explain the synopsis the synopsis. I can however say it’s certainly original. It’s also cleverly inventive. Cleverness seeps through the  film in the way it looks, every detail is meticulously and magnificently 80’s, even the cameras used to film what I initially thought was a documentary but is actually a mockumentary a la Spinal Tap but more opaque. This style also lends itself to a script that is certainly idiosyncratic, which was sometimes quite alienating. It felt like the film was a running joke of which the audience (well this member for one) was not a part of.

While not entirely understanding what was happening on screen caused moments of frustration and  boredom, it somehow wasn’t an infuriating experience as it should have been. (Unlike that of say The Counsellor. A poor poor film). I don’t know whether that’s  because it didn’t care if the audience found it hard to follow, or because as a low budget feature everyone part of it seemed to just be having a good time making a film and that feeling pervaded the screen into the audience. Or maybe it’s extreme quirkiness worked in it’s favour. Regardless,  it’s was a strange and somewhat enjoyable experience, therefore making Computer Chess a recommend.  The world created though seemingly alien is actually quite engrossing and sometimes very funny. Also I need other people to see it so maybe they can explain to me what it to me and tell me whether I  liked it or not?

I think it might of had the briefest of theatrical release here in the UK but I know it’s on US Netflix (don’t ask me how I know) so I would ask people to go watch it.

Teenage

I have a thing for archive film that has only intensified since seeing From Sea To The Land Beyond in Sheffield. I became a little demented in this year’s LFF in seeking similar fare. Teenage, I thought, would be a double whammy: not only is it beautifully restored archive film (yay!) but it’s archive footage of a very interesting subject – the creation of the teenager which is still a relatively new phenomena, that has defined modern society.

While the former is dazzling and saves the film from getting a complete savaging, the film’s relentless pursuit to create an appealing narrative that doesn’t actually need it creates a mess of a film that more or less implodes on itself.

A universal grievance of the film that manifesting itself into actual audible groans from the audience was the completely unnecessary use of reconstruction scenes. The reasons why the reconstructions were useless are numerous but I’ll only state the biggest problems. Their use revealed a severe lack of confidence it’s film’s maker (Matt Wolf) has in both his audience’s savviness and in allowing the engrossing narrative the archive footage creates to manifest.  Instead the reconstructions, serve to control the narrative and to force on the audience, in a not particularly well-executed manner, points already made more succinctly in the original footage.

The reconstructions concentrate on individual stories of teens from early to mid 20th century including a flapper in the twenties, a  member of the Hitler Youth and a black teen’s experience during the beginnings of the civil rights movement in the US. These are interesting examples in themselves but are unnecessary because the archive footage should have been used to do this.

If the inclusion of individual experiences is absolutely necessary (and I’m not convinced it is) , the execution could have been better. Why not have voiceovers of individuals growing up in that time (I know not possible for the flapper period) speaking of their experiences rather than fictional creations voiced by Ben Whishaw, Jena Malone etc and their “whimsical” musings, waxing poetically about God Knows What in the background.

The apathy towards these reconstructions are two-fold. The other glaringly annoying issue with these parts of the film is the poor attempt to have these reconstruction blend with the archive footage. It beggars belief that countless hours were put into cleaning up this glorious archive footage to present to an eager audience at the same time as dirtying up reconstructed stories to merge (rather unsuccessfully I might add) with the archive footage.

Every time a reconstructed scene appeared, the film stopped. The fact that these actors weren’t doing anything besides playing dress up, made the film infuriating because time was being taken away from the genuinely interesting original footage. If the reconstructions had something to say I wouldn’t have liked them any better but I could tolerate their presence. In this instance, I still did not see their purpose other than to extend the running time of the film. I feel a better decision would have been to have a much shorter but more engrossing film that let the archive footage speak for itself and create the past worlds of the teenager that the filmmakers try so hard to recreate.

Despite all this, the film is a reserved recommend if not for the archive footage alone.

Let The Fire Burn

A film that left me both stunned with it’s subject matter and style. Using found footage, the film’s story unravels like a thriller, the events of May 1985, when in the only case of it’s kind, the USA dropped a bomb on it’s own citizens. This film had an impact on me that I feel I can not detail, nor should I detail within these collections of compact reviews. I will give it a more detailed review I think it deserves early next year when it is scheduled to be screened for African Odysseys at the British Film Institute. For now, I recommend that if this film is available in some capacity (all legal and above board you know) then I implore you to please PLEASE check this one out.

Drinking Buddies 

A pleasant surprise for me  in more ways than one. Purely on the strength of the cast; Ron Livingston (Office Space), Jake Johnson (Safety Not Guaranteed, New Girl) and Anna Kendrick (Up In The Air) I went into this hoping for a good time. For the most part I did. I was, initially, uneasy about the unscripted aspect of a simple story of two boutique brewery colleagues Kate and Luke (Jake Johnson and Olivia Wilde) and their more than platonic friendship that threatens to derail their romantic relationships with their respective partners and their own. The improvising is handled pretty well by all but the second revelation is that the most accomplished performance comes not from the three I listed above but Olivia Wilde as Kate.

Wilde creates a nuanced and believably loveable but unreliable flaky Kate. It’s obvious why she would be Luke’s  (Johnson) secret and not so secret object of affection, but it’s also equally understandable that despite the obvious attraction to and from Kate, he would never go there with her. What makes her a great friend would make her a disastrous girlfriend. The course of their relationship through the film struck a cord in that to some degree we’ve all had similar experiences.

Some might view the film as mundane in nature. It’s more of an observational piece than a narrative. I’ve never seen any of Joe Swanberg’s other films, but I know enough about him that he is a student in the school of mumblecore. His classmates include Mark Duplass (The Puffy Chair), Lynn Shelton (Humpday) and Head-Boy Andrew Bujalski (Funny Ha, Ha) and while I have seen a number of these films and have enjoyed the naturalistic dialogue, low budget quality and honest portrayal of ordinary people, Puffy Chair, Do-Deca-Pentathlon and now Drinking Buddies, I equally had some of the most infuriating cinematic experiences for more or less the same reasons (Frances Ha comes to mind). It can be incredibly alienating when what is presented in front of you is a particular worldview, with naturalistic language only naturalistic to the people part of the film. I also have sympathy for those who hate this kind of filmmaking because sometimes a lack of script does mean a lack of direction and a lack of story, which can be dire for a film audience.

While Drinking Buddies has been termed the least mumblecore and therefore most accessible of Swanberg’s films to date, the essence of mumblecore is still there. The film is essentially a slice-of-life affair. Moments of drama are not in grand dramatic sweeps of emotion but in the small moments of ordinary interaction. In small moments we’ve all had before. In this instance, that sense of realism had more of an effect on me than a scripted romantic drama. Coupled with the tight shots and close-ups of cinematographer’s Ben Richardson (of Beasts of the Southern Wild fame), this is a very intimate film. Swanberg’s intention was to present a intimate experience that is universal and relatable in concept. he more or less succeeds in the execution.

As in real life situations rarely end satisfactorily or with a definitive answer, the film follows suit. While for some the apparent lack of a conclusion seemed fitting for a film that appears to say nothing, I thought this was the strongest part of the movie and elevated my appreciation. It’s distinct lack of a Hollywood ending made it a perfect ending.

There are faults with the film in particular the long takes sometimes didn’t always work and if an actor seemed uncomfortable with the improvising, it was apparent and uncomfortable watching the struggle. These scenes, of which there are a couple, drag, become irrelevant and left me thinking they would have been better left on the editing floor.   These scenes remind me of what I don’t like about mumblecore, and although I enjoyed Drinking Buddies, it’s still a film style I’m not completely converted too.

Despite all of this, the film felt fresh in it’s honesty, the performances were good and that’s why  I would recommend it.

Its on general theatrical release in the UK but this film works well if not better on the small screen. Keep that intimacy!

Next up on LFF Round Up (I’m beginning to regret seeing so many films!): Gravity, Mistaken For Strangers, B For Boy, Portrait of Jason, Gone Too Far!