Here, in my order of preference, are the films I saw at the 2009 festival:

 

·          My Favourite: Mr. Nobody

Very much like last year, I had a very difficult time picking a favourite this year, as once again there were really four or five strong movies that I saw but none that was really outstanding. Although last year I went with the most suspenseful for my top two, this year I've decided to go with the most ambitious. Mr. Nobody certainly deserves consideration for that distinction, as it weaves together three alternative timelines of one man's life (similar to Sliding Doors) and jumps from one point in time to another, Slaughterhouse Five-style, creating a complex tapestry of a story, examining the nature of destiny and the consequences of the decisions we make. The art direction and effects are fantastic (in every sense of the word) and they provide the foundation for the sort of surreal yet charismatic movie I really enjoy and which usually only comes along once every few years. Also laudable is the way the overall screenplay is constructed as well as the direction and editing supporting the complexity of it; for the most part I didn`t find it confusing (although you generally do have to pay attention throughout) and they did a remarkable job keeping the emotional dimension of the film consistent and contiguous, considering how disjointed the plotline was. The biggest complaint I have is the junk science of the plotlines, and I fear that it may get marketed or promoted as a science fiction movie, which it absolutely is not; it must be viewed as a fantasy or even romantic drama to be forgiven its unrealities and appreciated for its aesthetic and logistical achievements.

 

·          Honourable Mention: Enter the Void

Perhaps even more ambitious than Mr. Nobody, Enter the Void is an adaptation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead (a pitch I can still hardly imagine anyone undertaking, but kudos to Gaspar Noe for pulling it off) focusing primarily on a set of westerner friends/relatives/acquaintances in Tokyo. I read a fair bit of criticism for Enter The Void, moreso than probably any of this year's festival movies except for Jennifer's Body, and exceptionally little of it was positive. Most of the negative comments I read were related to the fact that within the first hour it telegraphs the plot for the remaining two hours, which is quite true, and was my biggest complaint too. I suppose some might also say it was overly graphic (I found that it had a couple of scenes more shocking than anything in Antichrist, despite the controversy around that movie, and it's certainly not for the prudish) or too long and/or slow, but despite all that, I found this psychedelic journey through the afterlife rich and bold and satisfying (and perhaps even a little mind-altering too, although I'm not sure you would get that effect if you didn't see it on the big screen).

 

I also recommend:

·          The Double Hour – I love a good psychological thriller, especially when it seems to make no sense until the end when everything is explained in an unexpected yet logical way (as opposed to supernatural, which usually feels like more of a cop-out or cheat) and this is a very good one. In fact, this may well be a better movie than the two I ranked above it, because it is certainly much tighter and more disciplined than them, but as I said, I gave them the nod because of their admirable ambition. An Italian film, the ending is distinctly European, which might turn off those accustomed to a steady diet of Hollywood blockbusters, but as long as that's not you, I recommend it highly.

·          Leslie, My Name Is Evil – Reg Harkema follows up his debut Monkey Warfare with this stylish expressionist take on the Manson trials, focusing on one of the defendants and one of the jurors. Although the subject matter is obviously dark and still a bit ticklish to address even now, Harkema succeeds in conveying a visceral, evocative sense of the times on many levels, including echoing a certain 60s raucous and rebellious aesthetic of filmmaking, while still being quite entertaining, innovative, and thought-provoking.

·          Micmacs – Like Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium, my hopes for Jean-Pierre Jeunet's Micmacs were probably unreasonably high, given that his Amelie is my all-time festival favourite. Therefore even a creative charmer like Micmacs left me something less than satisfied. I think the main problem was that whereas Amelie was all sweetness and light and warmed the heart, there was something very mean-spirited about the whole plotline of Micmacs that left me chill, even though it was about meting out poetic justice of a sort, and the targets clearly deserved it on some level. I still recommend it, especially if you have liked any of Jeunet's other films (Amelie, Delicatessen, City of Lost Children) but if you haven't seen Amelie, go check it out first.

·          Year of the Carnivore – I have a real soft spot for Sook-Yin Lee. I've had the good fortune to see a couple of her endearing short films and was really looking forward to her debut feature. I'm sure this story of a young woman driven to take drastic measures to solve her relationship problems is edgy enough to make many viewers uncomfortable, but Lee's exceptional skill at fearlessly and honestly portraying the insecurities and vulnerabilities we all share (or at least shared at some point in time) is clearly evident here, and makes it worthy of a recommendation. I did find it somewhat uneven in terms of the acting (and therefore direction and editing also) lacking continuity from shot to shot and scene to scene, but there are some real flashes of brilliance here and I'm really looking forward to seeing what she will do in the future.

·          Up In The Air – When I found out (after seeing it) that Up in the Air was an adapted screenplay, I assumed that it was adapted from a stage play, not a book, because it really felt like a play to me; a very good one, mind you, with a very capable exploration of important themes and some excellent performances, but not the sort of thing you'd typically see nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.

·          Jennifer's Body – Diablo Cody follows up her deservedly award-winning screenwriting debut Juno with another script about a high school girl, but this time with a decidedly darker tone. Unfortunately, Cody's witty dialogue doesn't serve the story as well here, and there are definitely Hollywood contrivances here (such as the blatantly gratuitous (and I would argue disappointing) kiss between Megan Fox and Amanda Seyfried). Again though, to the extent I was disappointed, it likely had a lot to do with unrealistic expectations; I had heard comparisons to Heathers, one of my all-time favourites, and while there is some resemblance, this one can't quite qualify for that league. Overall though, it works well as a teen horror flick, with enough intelligent subtext to justify recommending it to everyone.

·          The Vintner's Luck – Whale Rider director Niki Caro's latest reaffirms her uncanny ability to bring intrinsic stories of humanity to life. The subject matter here doesn't measure up to her previous films, and I suspect there were a couple of places where she tried to be a bit too faithful to the book from which it is adapted, meaning that it didn't translate all that well to the screen, but the end result is still an admirable epic tale of what life is and should be about, with a few nice twists and turns and sumptuous visuals to boot.

·          The Disappearance of Alice Creed – This simple tale of a kidnapping gone wrong is full of clever twists and turns, and is quite entertaining, like a good play. A great example of clever, resourceful, independent film-making.

 

Also worth seeing:

·          Youth In Revolt – Michael Cera is a great comedic actor, and he's in his element here, particularly with the device of him also playing his insecure and relatively innocent character's rebellious alter-ego. Overall, while this movie mostly works as a comedic intellectual adolescent fantasy, I just found the main characters a little too precocious and unbelievable to take the extra step of recommending it.

·          Antichrist – Much was made of the brutality of Lars von Trier's psychological horror film, and it certainly isn't for the squeamish (a popcorn date movie this ain't) but I found it fascinating and daring. The most obvious comparison would be Repulsion, but I think it also compares well to Rosemary's Baby and Eraserhead. This was the first von Trier film I've ever seen, and I suppose I was expecting a low-tech guerilla-style dogme film, so I was very impressed by the elegant cinematography (probably the best of any film I saw this year, with the possible exception of Mr. Nobody or Micmacs). That didn't make it any easier to watch, but the only reason I leave this one short of a recommendation is the heavy subject matter (von Trier made no secret of the fact that he wrote the screenplay while going through a bout of depression) and a vague (though inconclusive) sense of serious misogynistic undertones.

·          Suck – This fun-spirited rock-and-roll vampire movie by Rob Stefaniuk (Phil the Alien) is a good time, wedding some good intense vampire scenes with a humorous rock tour storyline and some great rock legend cameos. I'm tempted to call it Roadkill with vampires, but I`d have to say Roadkill was a better, smarter movie overall.

·          The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus – I won't rehash the story of how the tragedy of Heath Ledger's untimely death nearly derailed this film, but I will say that the result doesn't particularly show the scars, and any deficiencies likely would have been there anyway. Once again unrealistic expectations more than likely played a part in my disappointment (since I consider Terry Gilliam my favourite director, with Twelve Monkeys, Time Bandits, Brazil, and The Fisher King (not to mention The Holy Grail) all ranking among my favourite movies of all time) and this is quite a passable Faustian fable. Nonetheless, at the risk of sounding like a parent who wonders where the other 10% went when his child brings home a 90% report card, I can't help but think that given his resume and the all-star cast he backed into, he could have done a lot better, as I found some aspects (some of the writing, sets, and props, and even bits of the acting and (gasp) directing) amateurish and glib.

·          Ajami – Critical darling Ajami is an intricate story of interrelationships involving Palestinians and Israelis, Jews, Christians, and Muslims, and I suspect it gives a pretty realistic picture of life it that part of the world, but I found some of the storylines superfluous and distracting. I wouldn't call it a bad movie in any sense, but perhaps a bit overrated and only slightly above average overall.

·          Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans – Nicolas Cage goes way over the top in this cop drama, but that's kind of the point. Director Werner Herzog apparently encouraged him to push the character to extremes, and the result is really rather comic (particularly as compared to Harvey Keitel's melancholic Bad Lieutenant) which gives the movie its share of entertainment value, but also left me feeling guilty for enjoying it. I've never played any of the Grand Theft Auto games, but I suspect that this is roughly the cinematic equivalent.

·          Phobidilia – This Israeli movie about an agoraphobic young man is populated with some interesting characters and situations, but comes to an odd (though satisfactory) conclusion, and doesn't have a whole lot of substance to offer, so it's a good time-filler but not much more.

·          Last Ride – This road movie follows a father and son travelling (or rather, drifting) across Australia. It's easy enough to tell that it's adapted from a book, and the subtle character-illustrating techniques employed here are what make it worth seeing, but the characters are generally so unsavoury and the tone so bleak that I won't go so far as to recommend it.

·          Jean Charles – I found this true story of a Brazilian immigrant to Britain who ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time around the time of the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks on London worthwhile for its portrayal of London and the immigrant experience there, and the actor who plays Jean Charles does a great job, but the whole terrorism angle is extraneous and misleading, so don't let that factor into your decision whether or not to see it.

·          Accident – This Chinese movie about a mercenary assassination squad who specialize in making the assassination look like an accident packs enough visual and intellectual punch to make it worth seeing, but I thought there were one or two plot holes big enough to drive a truck through, so don't go too far out of your way.

·          Green Days – Hana Makhmalbaf tries very hard with this documentary about the most recent elections in Iran and the protests that surrounded them, and she clearly feels extremely strongly about the political situation in Iran, so her passion is enough for me to say this is worth seeing, but (in my opinion) a good documentary requires healthy doses of courage, careful planning, and good luck, and this one is short on all of those ingredients. However, let me plug her wonderful earlier film Buddha Collapsed Out of Shame, which I saw at the festival a couple of years ago and still highly recommend (if you can find it somehow).

 

I don't recommend:

·          The Unloved – I made a point of going to see Samantha Morton's directorial debut (she's one of my favourite actresses, and I think she was robbed of the supporting actress Oscar for Sweet & Lowdown) but while it did have some pretty good performances and there's no doubt that its heart is in the right place, I have to say that on the whole it was mostly pretty dull and dismal.

·          Valhalla Rising – I was quite looking forward to a viking story that supposedly had elements of sci fi, but what I got was a load of gratuitous violence and overwrought religious babble. Perhaps some of the fight scenes were a bit innovative, and I suppose the moralistic subtext had some interesting food for thought, but the languid pacing was more sleepy than suspenseful and I felt that the underlying concept was more like cheating than clever.

 

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