Playing Catch-Up

So it has been a beautiful summer... spent largely in the cinema! Here are a few final spiels on the Edinburgh Film Festival before I move onto the Galway Film Fleadh!

The Secret in Their Eyes

Despite strong competition from films such as Hanneke's The White Ribbon and the highly-acclaimed Un Prophet, this small Argentinian thriller surprised many by taking out the best foreign language film category at this year’s Oscars.

The Secret in Their Eyes tells the story of a retired legal attorney who revisits an old rape-murder case, intending to write a book about it. In the process, he reconnects with his beautiful ex-colleauge; a relationship that strangely mirrors the tragic case they investigated.

The film is an ambitious mix of genres, romance entwined with thriller, but one that ultimately delivers a powerful message about the extremes of passion; the devastating effect it can have both when it's expressed and when it's suppressed.

The Good Heart

Recovering from his fifth heart attack, Jacques shares a hospital ward with Lucas, a young homeless man who has been admitted after a failed suicide attempt. Resigned to the idea that he hasn’t got much time left, Jacques takes Lucas under his wing, housing him and training him up to work as a barman in his quirky and insular establishment. With a underlying bitterness towards humanity and very fixed ideas on customer service, Jacques' closed world slowly begins to open up in the presence of Lucas and his good heart.

Heralded by some as sentimental, I remain less judgmental. For me ‘The Good Heart’ was fresh, clever and heartfelt. Although there is an element of predictability and the plot does wrap up rather neatly, I was absorbed by the characters and their strangely insular world. This came down to the honest performances and the incredible attention to detail when it came to creating the bar; this little bubble; a world with so many quirks and features that it became one of the main characters in the film. The Good Heart is warm, raucous and full of humour, don't be too judgmental, just enjoy the ride.

If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle

Taking out the Silver Bear at this year’s Berlinale, I was really excited to see this small Romanian film by first-time director Florin Serban. With a bare-bones crew, two first-time lead actors and a supporting cast of real prisoners/ex-prisoners, the film is fascinating both in its how it was made and the world it portrays.

With only two weeks left of his sentence in a juvenile prison, Silviu's seemingly undisturbed existence is shaken when his mother arrives home from Italy to announce that she is taking his younger brother away with her. As his struggles to maintain his composure, Silviu also falls for Ana, a young social worker conducting a study within the prison.

If I Want to Whistle, I Whistle is not a 'prison film', nor does it give an entirely realistic portrayal of prison life; Serban claims if he was to do this, the film would be rated so high that it would be hard-pressed to get a release. However, it does deal with issues surrounding institutionalisation, emotional repression and rehabilitation, and gives an interesting insight into the phenomenon of 'strawberry kids': the Romanian term for children left to live with relatives when their mothers move abroad to find work (many work in strawberry fields).

This is a grim tale with powerful performances and a visceral chemistry between the young lead actors. Adapted originally from a play, it is clear that an incredible amount of research went into the making of this film. It is an impressive debut and one of the highlights at the festival; I was both entranced and haunted.

The Hunter (Shekarchi)

Entering into more grim territory, The Hunter tells the story of Ali, an ex-political prisoner who left with no choice but to make ends meet by working as a night watchman. Arriving home one morning to find his wife and daughter missing, he soon discovers they have been mysteriously killed and sets off to 'hunt' down the culprits.

Like most Iranian films, the production process was a highly choreographed affair; to have any hope of a cinematic release on home ground, films must travel through a series official hoops of approvals and as a result there is little room for manoeuvre. So, when the planned lead actor was forced to pull out only days before the film was to begin shooting, director Rafi Pitts decided fill the position himself. He gives a powerful performance, a steely and introverted anti-hero that plunders his way through grief with an eerie composure. Overall, the film is evocatively shot and full of allegory; a strong and suspenseful narrative, which will one day hopefully be screened on Iranian soil.

Kick Off

This small drama takes place in Iraqi Kurdistan, where a mixed group of Kurish, Assyrian, Turkish and Arab have set up camp in an abandoned football stadium. It's 2008 and the Iraqi football team has just won the Asian Championship. Inspired, a young man, Aso, decides to organise a football tournament within their own makeshift community. But as prepares for the competition, he must also care for his younger brother, maimed in a recent accident, and protect the livelihood of the community, which is under constant threat from authorities.

This is one of those beautiful films, full of humour and sorrow at the same time. A strong cinematic voice for the plight of human equality and those condemned to a life of displacement.