Indonesian martial arts throw back to the classic martial arts plot of the master picking a successor and picking not the one that was expected by another choice. The student who thought he had in the bag kills the master and steals the symbol of power only to be chased by the chosen one. That's the plot of this film and other than being set in actual locations, fighting involving pole/cane fighting and a deadly serious earnestness that strips away all the fun there is little new here. If you've seen any number of classic martial arts films you've seen this before. My interest waned quickly despite some excellent battles.
H. (2014)
Strange film did not work for me.
Its the dual story of an older couple where the wife makes realistic baby dolls. This is counterpointed by a young performance artist considering a break with her boyfriend who is stalled by a pregnancy. A meteor crashes to earth setting in motion chains of events which will alter their lives.
Bouncing around the festival circuit for a while (I've seen it listed on several slates and it sticks in my head thanks to the picture above) this is a film that the filmmakers insist is about something.However after almost 100 minutes in the dark I'm pretty sure its not about anything other than the pretentious notions of the two directors. I won't fathom what they are getting at, I was to bored by the end to fathom a guess. Earnestly made it is in the words of William Faulkner "sound and fury signifying nothing"
THE INTERIOR (2015)
Uneven split personality film about a young man who tosses his high paying job and upwardly trajectory life to go off and be a hermit in the woods. Its a film that gets better as it goes on but which suffers deeply because of the split.
The first half of the film plays like a horrendously stupid comedy that lost me with our hero getting stoned in the doctor's office. It was a non sequitur moment that had me turn off. The rest of the first half didn't fare better as I liked the character less and less. I would have walked out had the Fantasia write up not mentioned the second half shift. One the film moves to the woods the descent into madness is expertly handled.
The second half of the film is most definitely worth seeing echoing Werner Herzog's work in a good way (director Trevor Juras took classes with Herzog) , The trick will be getting to it after the terrible first half (especially compared to the second half).
I've done my job and noted this film exists- your choice as to whether to see it.
LIMOILOU (2015)
This is a non-review- the screener I was given had no English subtitles.
That said it looks great. it sounds great and has great performances. I just wish I understood what was being said.
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