CS Weekly Archive > The Big Picture > 11/06/09

Lovers, Trolls, and The Worst Prom Ever:

2009 AFI Fest, Part One

by Adam Stovall

While the artistic aspect of cinema continues to reflect the times, the business aspect is a bit more schizophrenic in its response. Salaries dwindle as ticket prices rise. Art-house studios and film festivals the world over are closing down or going on indefinite hiatuses. So, when it came time for the American Film Institute to host their annual film festival, they decided to use the opportunity to address the problem and find a solution that worked for the people.
 
Typically, AFI counts on a combination of ticket sales and sponsorships to allay their costs. With sponsorships already in place this year, they took the markedly outside-the-box tactic of scaling back the size of the festival and doing away with ticket sales. That's right, this year's AFI Fest was a free event.
 
While the size of the festival has been reduced (67 feature films, as opposed to just over 100 last year), the scope remains vast. Still the only U.S. festival with a FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations) accreditation, the AFI continues to host a strong sampling of World Cinema—which is where CS Weekly begins its coverage of the 2009 AFI Fest.
 
Everyone Else (pictured above), the second film from Germany's Maren Ade, tells the story of Gitti (Birgit Minichmayr) and Chris (Atef Vogel), a young German couple on vacation in Sardinia. Written with a keen eye and ear for how couples behave when they're left to their own devices, the screenplay explores the ever-diminishing division between the sexes. Both have jobs in artistic fields: Chris is an architect known for esoteric designs. While many consider him a genius, he's broke and unemployed. Gitti is a band manager for a music label, managing itineraries and various logistical endeavors. Ade uses the varying degrees of practicality in their jobs as a microcosm, then expands on it by showing them in contrast to a series of couples who seem happier but also fall more easily into traditional gender roles. In the end, though, the focus is on Chris and Gitti and their dynamic. He worries that he's not masculine enough for her. She worries that she's not feminine enough for him. Yet, despite their many worries, and in 119 minutes there are many worries, no one seems willing to make any real changes to their behavior—which might just be Ade's greatest insight, and indeed the point of her film.
 
Best Worst Movie is a documentary about Troll 2, the "best worst movie of all time" as it is often referred to online. Michael Stephenson, star of Troll 2 and director of Best Worst Movie, uses the documentary to explore not just the people who made the film, but also those who have reacted so strongly to it. Fan events, ranging from intimate Troll 2 parties to traveling road shows with inflatable screens, have sprung up all over the world. To Stephenson, this begged the question: Why were people insisting on showing a film even the cast wants to pretend never happened? But it is precisely these shows which "help the healing," and we see cast members reuniting and coming to terms with this little film that couldn't—but did anyway.
 
At midnight on Halloween, Australia's Sean Byrne presented his horror film, The Loved Ones. A favorite of the festival thus far, it tells the story of Brent (Xavier Samuel), a troubled high school senior who's carrying the weight of surviving a fatal car accident. He's asked to Prom by one of his classmates, Lola (Robin McLeavy), but declines as he's going with Holly (Victoria Thaine), his girlfriend. Lola and her Father (John Brumpton) feel that this will not do, so they abduct him and take him back to their house where they can torture him until he's the prince Lola so desires. Byrne's screenplay takes a very simple "torture porn" concept and up-ends it by never taking its eyes off the fact that these characters are real people in a real world. Also, he keeps tabs on the world at large, which helps manage the tone of the piece. Brent's friend, Sac (Richard Wilson), has scored a date with his dream girl, Mia (Jessica McNamee). Holly is working with Brent's mother and the police to find him. And perhaps this isn't the first time Lola and Daddy have done this sort of thing? Byrne balances all of these elements, and makes sure there's a payoff for every question raised. Mark my words, this is an instance where you will cheer as a boy hits a girl.
 
Another favorite of the fest thus far is Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold's exploration of the British working-class through the eyes of 15-year-old Mia (Katie Jarvis). Mia lives in a housing block with her mother, Joanne (Kierston Wareing), and sister, Sophie (Charlotte Collins), all of whom are incapable of showing even the slightest sign of affection. Mia has no friends and has been excluded from school for disciplinary reasons. The only joy in her life is when she breaks into an empty apartment to practice her urban dance routines. Then Joanne gets a new boyfriend, Connor (Michael Fassbender), who shows genuine interest in Mia's life and talent. These are broken people, and Arnold recalls early Scorsese by keeping every frame alive with the possibility of violence. The plot unfolds in a way that's at once wholly natural and unexpected. The specificity with which Arnold draws her characters never strays into sentiment, and while this is solidly Mia's story (Jarvis, in her debut, gives a bravura performance), one never feels Arnold catering the film to her.
 
Check back next week for the second part of our 2009 AFI Fest coverage!



Everyone Else courtesy Komplizen Film

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