The 75th Berlinale is coming to a close. Did the film festival make a sharp turn upward? For this Chat Cinema podcast round up discuss the cinema event under new leader head Tricia Tuttle.
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Tag: film critic
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CALLED IT!
For Chat Cinema Podcast guest filmmakers Tom Berkeley and Ross White talked about their well received film ROY, character driven story of loneliness. The duo looked poised to make the next step. Fast forward to March 12th, Tom Berkeley Ross White won the Best Film Short at the 95th Academy Awards in Hollywood for AN IRISH GOODBYE.
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The Compellingly Divine
A seemingly straightforward two-hour documentary of Pope Francis, Francesco otherwise manages to compel. Directed by Evgeny Afineevsky, the film is noteworthy for mostly competent direction and production values.
Jorge Mario Bergoglio was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1936. He is the first Pope to be born outside Europe since Gregory III (731–741). As the new Pope he took the name of Francis. His untimely succession to Pope Benedict XVI was the result of the former’s ill health. Francis was also following a conservative Pope with outspoken and often controversial values.
A Pope Who Questions the Institutional Status Quo
Francesco follows Fernando Meirelles’s dramatization The Two Popes (2019). Jonathan Pryce played Pope Francis, and Anthony Hopkins was Pope Benedict XVI. The Two Popes imagined a bromance of sorts between the outgoing conservative and incoming liberal. There was also Wim Wenders’ documentary Pope Francis: A Man of His Word (2018). This film lauded Francis’ concerns with issues such as the climate crisis, refugees and inequality. Likewise, Francesco shows he is an outspoken critic of unbridled capitalism and free market economics, consumerism, and over development. Since 2018, he has also been an opponent of populism. At the same time, he has welcomed tolerance for the LGBT community in the Church.
On the global stage, Pope Francis has helped to restore full diplomatic relations between the United States and Cuba. He also supported the cause of refugees during the European and Central American migrant crises. Furthermore, he has tackled child abuse, particularly a case in Santiago, Chile. Juan Carlos Cruz wrote to the Pope detailing his abuse from Father Fernando Karadima. After initially dismissing this claim, Francis eventually defrocked Karadima and apologized to Cruz.
Francesco also remains respectably (or, perhaps, forcibly) distanced. At times it raises the question of how much the director had direct access to his subject. For example, included is some footage of Francis talking to someone off-camera. There are also excessive drone shots, and Francis only seemingly gives interviews to friends and colleagues.
On the whole, Francesco is a worthwhile and at times enigmatic portrait of Pope Francis. Despite occasional editing flaws and questionable one-sidedness, it opens a window on the head of the Catholic Church.
By Steve Yates
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Last Film Show at Tribeca
Should I or Shouldn’t I? How many stars do I give a film I like? I decided on 4.5 stars. The Last Film Show is worth a watch for every film lover.
Stay Tuned for the full review. Screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
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Directors Notes on “SAMP”
An interview with film directors Flavia Mastrella and Antonio Rezza from the Venice Film Festival.
1.This is your sixth feature film in a 30-year career that has encompassed Television, shorts and medium-length films. How difficult is it nowadays to get a film financed?
Flavia: “Escoriandoli” (our first movie) was the only film we shot with a producer. It was an interesting experience but we soon realised it was impossible to replicate it. The production pressures had too much impact on our artistic choices. We produce our films and use independent distribution channels.
Antonio: For us, getting a budget is never the main issue. We can always sort something out. A budget is useful because it offers warranties to the film. Without that guarantee, we can’t start shooting. So we look for funders.
Idea for the Film
2. Where did the idea for the story and the script of “SAMP” come from?
Flavia: The inspiration came from the ancestral landscape of Puglia. I was deeply involved in the stories from “La terra del rimorso” (The Land of Remorse), written by Ernesto De Martino.
Antonio: Flavia made a location scouting in the Triana Valley in the spring of 2001. The idea was born there. The screenplay is the result of a cycle of abandonment and reconnection with an on-again, off-again 20 year-long work.
The Sense at Venice
3. What should audiences infer from this film and take away from it?
Flavia: Our films are open to interpretation. We do not offer a truth. We just gather some thoughts. I would like the audience to grasp that sense of expressive liberty we encourage.
Antonio: The great sense of freedom and lack of interest in all forms of power.
4. What are your feelings of having the film play at the Venice Festival this year?
Flavia: We are happy. We can finally see if our communicative experiment works, see the reactions of an audience. We continue to seek new methods to surprise ourselves and others. I enjoy the risk.
Antonio: I was moved by the great acclaim that welcomed the film. It’s nice to feel emotions. It is very childish to vibrate to the sound of approval. But it is the only thing that keeps us attached to the world.
5. Do you feel a little cheated by the Covid-19 crisis with less people attending the festival?
Flavia: For us it is completely normal to be selected in times of crisis, it is our bizarre destiny.
SAMP screened in Competition at the 2020 Venice Film Festival.
Production Company: Rezzamastrella
Running Time: 78 Minutes
Country: Italy
Steve Yates contributes to Black and Paper.
For all things cinema, check out our Chat Cinema Podcasts.
Imagine Frank Zappa (who was no stranger to acting, or the absurd) in his prime starring in a debut film like Peter Jackson’s Braindead(1992) combined with Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi(1992). Chuck in elements from the anarchy of El Topo(1970) by Alejandro Jodorowsky and Alex Cox’s Repo Man(1984), but with an original take on everything. This pretty much sums up what is taking place here in SAMP, a high octane, no-rules feature by Flavia Mastrella and Antonio Rezza. However, although it is the case with the other aforementioned directors, this is not their debut film. In fact they have been making films for nearly thirty years. This is their sixth feature film, alongside various television programs and countless short and medium-length films.
The Plot
The basic and immediate plot of a man called Samp, who, in the midst of wild dancing somewhere in old Puglia, leaves the ceremonial proceedings to inexplicably and insanely kill his mother, before ranting about her superficiality and how she somehow had failed him. After this, he visits some powerful crime boss who commissions him to start doing the same to ordinary people. The objective is the suppression of tradition and human feelings.
Without any moral justification, Samp starts taking down men, women and even children indiscriminately. Along the way, he gets paid by a pedestrian guarantor, meets poetic figures, seemingly normal people and a musician with whom he seems to form a genuine friendship. More than this, he even falls for various problematic women further causing him loose sense of reality.
INSANITY!
The director’s explaination of SAMP, a film with the pace of a journey, the dynamics of a performance, mixing traditional archaic Puglia with a modern world inflicted by violence due to economic power. SAMPis therefore a metaphor of cultural disintegration without perspective, something they claim we have always experienced. Worth noting: SAMP took nineteen years to make and the characters age together with the authors.
The stark color images of the film enliven the action. There seems to be more bullets fired here than even John Woo’s Hard Boiled(1992). The frantic pace barely slows down, only when Samp briefly pauses to monologue, justify his actions or falls in love again. The insanity of what takes place, projected in such an anarchic way. I could compare to Luis Bunuel at his most extreme. SAMP is a road movie on foot that shatters the script, captures the locations, and takes no prisoners.
SAMP is screening at Venice Film Festival in the Venice Days section. The film is out of competition in the Special Events side bar.
Steven Yates is a cinephile. He regularly contributes to Black and Paper.
We decided to profile Mr. Reeves for the first performer profile. Why? We like his movies. After 35 years in the business, he continues to be relevant.
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I finally saw Skywalker
I saw the latest Star Wars film: Rise of Skywalker. I know the film has been out for a while. Contributing to the discusion seems pointless. The Rotten Tomatoes reviews are right.
Episode 5
Once again I ask the fallback question: How does it compare to The Empire Strikes Back? At 2 hours 23 minutes, the answer; please end this film soon.
There are so many problems with this film. The original Star Wars played it simple, a story of good versus evil. 2019, the world has become more complicated. That is one problem with the latest sequel. Filmmakers have not figured out a tone for the films. It has become weighed down trying to please everyone, not offend, stay modern, and hold true to the formula. A heavy order to fill.
JJ Abrams and team combed through an old Xerox copy machine recycling box at Lucasfilm for a story. The entire movie is a reference to other films lacking original ideas with a repeated premise that comes off as lazy and vague.
Repeating Better Works
The evil Sith Emperor returns to reconquer the galaxy. Off the band goes jumping from planet to planet chasing clues on where to find, then stop Palpatine. Guess how it ends? No spoiler needed.
Some character interaction scenes were painful. Just saying the lines, woodenly interacting each other. I could almost hear the word “action” to the actors. I had little empathy for these characters. There were groans in the large cinema, not a single laugh.
Chewie, the reliable comic relief character in Episode 4, seemed more of an overly contrived plot device for nostalgia sake.
CGI is what you would expect from a Star Wars film. However, even this did not propel the story in an awe inspiring way.
How will the next Star Wars team move forward? I have no clue. No advice to give. But the future instalments cannot continue to rely on the good will of the fanbase.
2.5 out of 5 stars. I could push it to 3 stars.
StarWars: Rise of Skywalker is playing in local cinemas.
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Chat Cinema Reviews
Check out our latest episode of Chat Cinema Podcast. What is new at the movie theatres this weekend? We give you a rundown.
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Cannes Day 1
France 24 reports on the great film festival.