Fantastic Fest ‘08 mini Reviews. JCVD, Sauna, Not Quite Hollywood and more

JCVD

I’m pretty sure that many many reviews will include the following sentence or something similar; “Who would have thought that Van Damme would bring an honest tear to my eye.” Cause really, I mean really, who in all of God’s green earth would think that Jean Claude fucking Van Damme would actually move you with his acting. In this brutally honest look at a failed career the once king of the B action films gives a tour de force performance as himself stuck in a bad situation in a country that idolizes him while the rest of the world considers him as a joke.  Director Mabrouk El Mechri handles his star with great respect and allows him to show his softer side, the real side, the side that doesn’t save the day by delivering a round house kick to the face and cowers in fear when guns are pointed towards him.
I still don’t believe this film had this effect on me. A great, great movie.
It will be interesting to see how this will affect his career however.

Fighter

The second martial arts film produced in Scandinavia Fighter tackles the issues of cultural differences, love and family. Aicha is a Turkish girl living in Denmark where the Middle East and the North clash quite frequently. She’s bored with her medical studies to impress her father but craves the excitement of martial arts. When she’s offered a spot at a dojo where girls compete with boys her father forbids her to continue practicing. But growing up in a different culture she doesn’t share the same world views with the rest of her family so she secretly continues and excels. This causes massive problems of course but she is determent to continue but at the same time threatens her relationship with her parents.
Wonderfully shot film with great fight scenes choreographed by Xian Gao this film is more of a drama than a straight of martial arts film so just remember that before going in. Great stuff.

Not Quite Hollywood

I don’t think anyone here has reviewed this one here on this site so this will have to do for now.
Not Quite Hollywood takes a look at how the film industry in Australia was built upon trash cinema who threw out all taboos and introduced the world to beer swilling, foul mouthed outback yahoos, post apocalyptic police men battling ravaging gangs and giant man eating pigs. Director Mark Hartley delivers a rollercoaster ride of continuous money shots from over a hundred movies and great interviews from directors, actors, producers, critics and fans who talk about their experience making these films and what impact they had on them. Funny, insightful and exciting this film makes you want to hunt down every damn title they feature in it. I sure am going to try to find as many of them as I can.

The Man From Hong Kong

This first feature film from the prolific Aussie director Brian Trenchard-Smith is a masterpiece of cheese. When the police apprehend a young drug smuggling Samo Hung they call upon the help of super cop Fang Sing Leng to bring him back to Hong Kong. But because the drug smuggler is connected to the biggest crime lord in Sidney things get a little complicated and bloody. This flick is almost none stop action, not very good or convincing action but I’m sure at the time it was the bees knees. Yu Wang is an utter prick on screen, and apparently off screen as well if the stories we were told are true, as the suave cop who kicks ass and taps some as well with the local beauties. One thing that surprised me was how well George Lazenby as the crime lord Jack Wilton handled his fight scenes and it was obvious he had some experience in the arts of martial.
It’s one of those films that is great with good company and a few beers.  Good times.

Sauna

Hmmm. I’m still not sure if I like this film or not. It’s beautifully shot, has some great atmosphere and solid acting but the story is way too convoluted for a rather simple message. The brothers Knut and psychotic army veteran Eerik are working with the Swedish and the Russian governments measuring out the borders between the two countries who have waged war for over two decades. After getting lost in a swampy wasteland they come upon a small village with an ominous sauna on its outskirts. Soon things start happening, people start dying, start seeing things and clawing their eyes out which is always nice.
I’m sure many people will call this film pretentious and I’m sort of on that same page because like I said before the script takes such a long way of telling a rather simple story that it kind of got on my nerves. But this is a film you have to mull over after you finish watching it and it’s one of those films that you either hate it or love it.

Nacho Vigalondo Shorts

One of the most fun persons here at the festival is without a doubt Timecrimes director Nacho Vigalondo. Because he didn’t have a feature to show this year at the festival Tim and company asked him instead to show some of his short films. These range from very simple single shot films to full blown musicals and sci-fi craziness.
Nacho was on site to introduce each one and entertained the audience with great stories and a confetti blast to the face.
Every film was very funny and entertaining, my favorite being the Code 7 trilogy and the musical 7:35 In The Morning. Most of these can be seen on Youtube so do yourself a favor and look them up. They are a great example of how a simple idea can become great cinema.

So sadly this festival has come to an end for me, which sucks ass cause I’ve met so many great people here and the atmosphere is so great. This festival has basically ruined movie going for me cause how can I go to a cinema now where I can’t order food and drink, the establishment threatens you with death if you talk during the movie and the audience is really in to the film. *Sigh*