Mark's blog about the 2005 Melbourne International Film Festival.Saturday, August 06, 2005
A somewhat disappointing day at the festival.
ROLLING FAMILY
6.5/10
A story about how an extended Argentinian family all pile into a campervan and go on a road journey to a relative's wedding. I dunno, I like Argentinian films mostly from what I've seen, but this was a little too slow-paced for me, and the characters didn't gel - I don't feel like there was enough development of who they were in order to become emotionally involved with their various highs/lows. It was quite nicely shot though. Ultimately, it felt a little like taking a long car journey - not much happened. Dan, who sat next to me claimed that this was a good film, yet he slept through half of it, so I'm unsure how he can judge...
THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX
7/10
This documentary was interesting in that it was done over a few years, and focussed on a girl in a small Texan town, who was raised by two republican christians, has taken a vow through her youth church group not to have sex until she's married, but in the meantime seems to question her religion, her parents value system, and tries to push for sex education in schools, representation of gay rights amongst youth, and is a self proclaimed democrat. I suppose 15-17 year old questioning the beliefs they were raised with is nothing particularly new, but I thought that she had a lot of guts to do what she did where she is. I also think she's a little confused (which is fair enough) and perhaps, as suggested by her competitive rival, did hunt for the limelight a bit more than issues at points. I also reckon her parents were pretty ace too - given that you could tell they had difficulties accepting that homosexuality exists, they still supported their daughter. Worth a watch if it comes on TV.
A DIRTY SHAME
6.5/10
I've seen some but not vast amounts of John Waters' films, and the last I did see was Serial Mom, which I thought was great and worth a repeated viewing or two. I understand that his films are puerile, but I really wasn't sure what the point of this zombie-like film was. Was it meant to introduce me to the world of fetishes out there? Was it meant to shock and offend? I don't know - probably both. Overall it had some amusing moments, but there wasn't enough substance to pull off a full length film in my opinion...
5 X 2
6.5/10
Hmm. How to start. Well, this film is filled with unlikeable characters/couples who treat each other quite poorly. Really, in a story about five different phases in a relationship, you'd like to think that deceit/mistrust/insensitity/etc wasn't prevalent at every phase... Or maybe that's the point - that their relationship was doomed from the start. Anyway, call me traditional or a romantic or something, but in five phases of a relationship, I'd like there to be some pure warmth and happiness and not have it laced with bad. If seeing films that show the negative of relationships is you thing, check it out. I'd have preferred a more balanced representation personally.
ROLLING FAMILY
6.5/10
A story about how an extended Argentinian family all pile into a campervan and go on a road journey to a relative's wedding. I dunno, I like Argentinian films mostly from what I've seen, but this was a little too slow-paced for me, and the characters didn't gel - I don't feel like there was enough development of who they were in order to become emotionally involved with their various highs/lows. It was quite nicely shot though. Ultimately, it felt a little like taking a long car journey - not much happened. Dan, who sat next to me claimed that this was a good film, yet he slept through half of it, so I'm unsure how he can judge...
THE EDUCATION OF SHELBY KNOX
7/10
This documentary was interesting in that it was done over a few years, and focussed on a girl in a small Texan town, who was raised by two republican christians, has taken a vow through her youth church group not to have sex until she's married, but in the meantime seems to question her religion, her parents value system, and tries to push for sex education in schools, representation of gay rights amongst youth, and is a self proclaimed democrat. I suppose 15-17 year old questioning the beliefs they were raised with is nothing particularly new, but I thought that she had a lot of guts to do what she did where she is. I also think she's a little confused (which is fair enough) and perhaps, as suggested by her competitive rival, did hunt for the limelight a bit more than issues at points. I also reckon her parents were pretty ace too - given that you could tell they had difficulties accepting that homosexuality exists, they still supported their daughter. Worth a watch if it comes on TV.
A DIRTY SHAME
6.5/10
I've seen some but not vast amounts of John Waters' films, and the last I did see was Serial Mom, which I thought was great and worth a repeated viewing or two. I understand that his films are puerile, but I really wasn't sure what the point of this zombie-like film was. Was it meant to introduce me to the world of fetishes out there? Was it meant to shock and offend? I don't know - probably both. Overall it had some amusing moments, but there wasn't enough substance to pull off a full length film in my opinion...
5 X 2
6.5/10
Hmm. How to start. Well, this film is filled with unlikeable characters/couples who treat each other quite poorly. Really, in a story about five different phases in a relationship, you'd like to think that deceit/mistrust/insensitity/etc wasn't prevalent at every phase... Or maybe that's the point - that their relationship was doomed from the start. Anyway, call me traditional or a romantic or something, but in five phases of a relationship, I'd like there to be some pure warmth and happiness and not have it laced with bad. If seeing films that show the negative of relationships is you thing, check it out. I'd have preferred a more balanced representation personally.
