The Epoch Times: Montreal New Cinema Film Festival (part 4)
•
1 like•134 views
The document summarizes and reviews two films shown at the Montreal Festival of New Cinema in October 2006: 1) "The Violin" is a black and white drama about a elderly violinist, his son, and grandson who are involved in a peasant guerrilla movement against a dictatorial regime. It explores the relationship between the violinist and a military captain. 2) "2:37pm" tells the complex story of six Australian high school students facing issues like incest and rape. It uses interviews and alternating points of view to reveal which student committed suicide. Both films deal with serious subject matters and feature strong performances.
![[Hi 366] Smoke Signals: Counternarratives of Indigenous Identity](https://cdn.slidesharecdn.com/ss_thumbnails/hi366filmcritique-kaytychus-200329133730-thumbnail.jpg?width=560&fit=bounds)
More Related Content
What's hot (19)
Similar to The Epoch Times: Montreal New Cinema Film Festival (part 4) (7)
More from Frederic Eger (10)
Recently uploaded (20)
The Epoch Times: Montreal New Cinema Film Festival (part 4)
- 1. (Alfredo Estrella/AFP/Getty Images) RELATED ARTICLES - Stories Silly and Serious: Montreal Film Festival Friday, November 03, 2006 - Stories Silly and Serious: Montreal Film Festival, Part 2 Saturday, November 04, 2006 - Stories Silly and Serious: Montreal Film Festival, Part 3 Sunday, November 05, 2006 Home Subscribe Print Edition Advertise National Editions Other Languages SEARCH Nation World China Business Opinion Life Health Science & Technology Arts & Entertainment Sports Features Nine Commentaries on the Communist Party Organ Harvesting in China's Labor Camps Gao Zhisheng Hunger Strikes for China Bird Flu Quitting the CCP Epoch Times Reporters Jailed in China The Real Story of Jiang Zemin Previous Features Advertisement Home > Arts & Entertainment > Movies | Region: Canada Printer version | E-Mail article | Give feedback Stories Certainly Serious-Part 4 Film Reviews of the Montreal Festival of New Cinema By Frederic Eger Special to The Epoch Times Nov 06, 2006 According to its publicity material, the Montreal Festival of New Cinema held in October each year presents a distinctly avant-garde focus. Viewers watch film and video, installations, websites and performances with special emphasis on digital work. The festival has four main sections�Feature Length Film and Video, Short and Medium Length Film and Video, New Media, and Digital Cinema. Reviewer Frederic Eger has selected his top picks to critique. (Editors) The Violin "The Violin" opens with a documentary-style camera shot where the audience witnesses a cold-blooded interrogation and torture of villagers by military officials in a basement. After the credits, the almost unbearable opening scene changes to street entertainers�an elderly violinist and farmer Don Plutarco (Tavira), his son Genaro who plays guitar (Gerardo Taracena) and grandson Lucio who sings and collects donations (Mario Garibaldi). Their street entertainment day job alternates with providing weapons to the peasant guerrilla movement trying to overthrowing the country's dictatorial regime. The three return to their village where the military has wrecked havoc, burning down homes, and possibly raping women. While Genaro prepares to fight back, Don Plutarco initiates a coincidental yet fortunate relationship with a former schoolmate, the cynical military captain (Dagoberto Gama). The friendship between Plutarco and the captain plays a key role in this guerrilla war-military thriller by showing chaos both at the beginning and end of the story. As Don Plutarco plans to recover ammunition hidden in his cornfields, music and violin lessons play a central role in the developing trust between the two men. Believing he is above suspicion, the father leads the military directly to his rebel son. The opening sequence is memorable yet morbid. The 81-year-old Tavira expresses emotional complexity as he assists the guerrilla cause even as he loves his son. Tavila is a Sancho Pansa�a harmless-looking old man who heaps loss on himself because of his own ego. Tavira's real-life loss of his right hand in an accident at age 13 creates a metaphor of the character's hand that is lost (which is not explained in the film) and the son he is about to loose. As the writing/directing debut of Mexican filmmaker Francisco Vargas, "The Violin" is an outstanding piece of well-driven drama. Not only is the performance of Don Angel Tavira perfectly balanced but the choice of black and white film to tell the story makes the intent clear�to expose and denounce human rights violations and social injustices in these places. The impeccable storytelling guarantees a clear success for an arthouse/indie film that will find its audience. Simply beautiful! Written & Directed by Francisco Vargas with Octavio Castro (Zacar�as), Dagoberto Gama, Mario Garibaldi, Ferm�n Mart�nez, Gerardo Taracena (Genaro), Don Angel Tavira (Don Plutarco). Runtime: 98 min. 2:37pm "2:37pm" tells a complex tale of six high school students whose lives are frighteningly contemporary. The film is, in many ways, another teenage movie about unsatisfaction and despair but�for once�is about Australian and not American youth. The characters face serious issues of brother- sister incest and rape, and the shame of a heterosexual kid who wonders if he's homosexual, or at least bi-sexual. It's really more than a teenage drama: the force and originality of this film make it reality- based. The script's structure drives the film like a police drama. The film opens with the discovery of a Advertisement The Epoch Times | Stories Certainly Serious-Part 4 http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-11-6/47844.html 1 of 2 2/28/2015 9:40 PM
- 2. suicide note and we are left to find out who committed suicide. With skillful cinematography, Director Muralli Thalluri chose an original approach to plot resolution by alternating the point of view among the characters and showing how each character experiences the tragic morning and afternoon. Thalluri also cleverly uses a documentary approach to some interviews, a kind of "Road to Guatanamo" re-enactment, while still retaining the narrative stream. At times, pacing weakens the flow of the story and sometimes�and only sometimes�the viewer could get bored. The casting and fresh performances of these Aussie kids elicits plenty of sympathy. It is obvious we are watching a dramatization of an actual tragic event. "2:37pm" shows us that things are not so different on the other part of the globe. Two thumbs up! "2:37" was an official selection at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and the 2006 Toronto International Film Festival and was the "secret" opening-night film of the 2006 Melbourne International Film Festival. Written, directed and produced by Muralli K. Thalluri with Clementine Mellor(Kelly), Teresa Palmer (Melody), Joel Mackenzie (Sean), Frank Sweet (Marcus), Charles Baird (Uneven Steven), Sam Harris (Luke), Marni Spillane (Sarah), Sarah Hudson (Julie), Chris Olver (Tom), and Xavier Samuel (Theo). Choose your edition | About Us | Contact Us | Site Map | Rights and Permissions | Privacy Policy | Feeds Copyright 2000 - 2006 Epoch Times International The Epoch Times | Stories Certainly Serious-Part 4 http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-11-6/47844.html 2 of 2 2/28/2015 9:40 PM