FILM REVIEWS:
BOOKWORM (New Zealand 2023) ***½
Directed by Ant Timpson
During a time of crisis, a freak electrical accident involving a faulty toaster switch results in another being going into a coma and then recovering, a washed-up American magician Strawn Wise (Elijah Wood) and his precocious estranged daughter Mildred (Nell Fisher) take to the New Zealand wilderness, in search of a mythical black panther.
Like in the LORD OF THE RINGS, it is Frodo (Wood) embarking a different kind of journey in BOOKWORM, one in which he discovers himself and achieves redemption from the daughter he had abandoned,
The script contains quirky dialogue expected from a film entitled and about a BOOKWORM. “I am officially telling you your mom is ok,” says Strawn when he first sees his daughter. “Does that mean that a professional has officially told you that my mom is ok?” comes the precocious reply. “Do you want to see something amazing,” the dad later asks. “Does it take a long time?” comes the questioned reply. When told that it would not, she goes on: “Then show me something amazing.” Many other dialogue samples making upshots can be termed ‘smart talk’ creating a wry and quirky observation of events in the film. Mildred not only speaks cleverly but knowledgeably as she is widely read, as compared to her father.
The film clearly demonstrates how fresh and entertaining it can be with smart yet simple dialogue without resorting to expensive CGI special effects, action sequences and pyrotechnics. The young daughter has a lot of smart talk that comes naturally believable for the reason that she is well-read and a bookworm. Though the term bookworm can take a variety of meanings, the one referenced in the film is an avid reader and lover of books. Complaints often come from the fact that many writers treat children as if they can speak as adults - the best example being the Neil Simon plays where all the kids speak as adults complete with punch lines.
Even as a daughter-father relationship drama, the film contains quite a few thrills including a cliffhanger scene (literally) as the two attempt to cross two cliffs on a role while pursued by a black panther.
The film contains almost all the elements of a movie including drama, adventure, action, suspense and comedy. There is a it of everything for everyone.
The ending is a bit stretched out both in length and in credibility which disappoints a bit as the film is otherwise quite well laid out and built up.
The film is a coming-of-age story set in a father-and-daughter relationship with the roles reversed. The child-like father who in short can be described as a man-child with nobles undergoes a dramatic change and recovery under the guidance of his 11-year old daughter whom he finally connects with.
Trailer:
DAHOMEY (Senegal/France/Benin 2024) ***
Directed by Mati Diop
The Golden Bear winner at this year’s Berlinale, Mati Diop’s DAHOMEY traces the historic repatriation of 26 royal treasures from France to Benin, simultaneously forging a speculative and political reflection on cultural heritage, collective memory, and the implications of restitution. Diop directed the recent ATLANTICS which received rave reviews when screened at Cannes and at TIFF.
Benin, a French-speaking West African nation, is the birthplace of the vodun (or “voodoo”) religion and home to the former Dahomey Kingdom from circa 1600–1900. In Abomey, Dahomey's former capital, the Historical Museum occupies two royal palaces with bas-reliefs recounting the kingdom’s past and a throne mounted on human skulls. To the north, Pendjari National Park offers safaris with elephants, hippos and lions.
For centuries, the Kingdom of Dahomey, within the borders of modern-day Benin, was a central cultural meeting point in West Africa, a site of European colonial conquest and the transatlantic slave trade. In 1892, the French invaded and looted hundreds of treasures from the royal palace, alongside thousands of other works. Following years of appeals and reports, in 2021 an agreement was made for several of these artworks to be returned from France to Benin.
The doc, at the beginning, takes the view of one of the artifacts that calls itself number 26. It talks in voiceover (speaking in Don), of what it experiences while being stolen and then returned back to Benin. The star speaks in poetic prose, giving the doc an artistic feel.
A few artifacts are shown and described in detail. One of them is a statue of King Ghezo, one of the country’s rulers in the past. It is slightly damaged but was made of painted wood and steel fibre and still looks magnificent.
A large portion of the doc involves debates among the Beninese - University students. The debates open one’s eyes to the thoughts and demise of the people. Firstly, they main issue of concern is the return of only 26 figures out of a total of 7000. The important question is the reason for their return. The debate of whether the move is politically cultural. One person says that Francois Mitterrand just wants to improve his brand by allowing the run of the 26 figures. Another argues that there are two kinds of heritage - material and nonmaterial. The artifacts are the material ones that have been taken away from he people and the other like the dances, colour and music that stay in the country and conniver be taken away from the people. The point is also brought out of when the rest of the 7000 will be returned, if ever.
Other issues rain, making the problem more complex. Who will be responsible for looking after and preserving the artifacts? An elderly claims that he is too old and it is up to the younger generation to take responsibility. The returned figures now reside in the Palais and how can children in remote villages get a chance to view the history?
The doc also emphasizes the importance of history and the loss of the people’s native language due to colonization. The debaters in the doc all speak French and are unable to communicate or speak in their native tongue.
DAHOMEY won this year’s Golden Bear at the Berlinale and was also screened at the last Toronto International Film Festival and opens at the TIFF Lightbox on October 18th.
Trailer:
MadS (France 2024) ***
Written and Directed by David Moreau
Nothing in the movie is what it seems. What appears to be an animal scouring around his car turns out to be an older woman. Her supposed injury turns out to be something else.
And nothing is what Romain (Milton Riche) has expected. He never expected to drop his lit cigarette in the car and to shop by the roadside as a result If not the woman would not have entered his vehicle. The question also arises whether the audience is put in Romain’s shoes, as he is high as a kite, after experimenting with a new drug at his dealer’s.
Eighteen-year-old Romain has just graduated and makes a stop at his dealer’s place to try a new pill. He, of course, has snorted a few lines of coke as well. As he heads off to a party with his girlfriend waiting for him there, hoping to score more drugs, he sees an injured woman on the side of the road and decides to help her, but when she gets in his car, she suddenly smashes her own head against the dashboard, bleeding out until she dies. So is this a hallucination bad trip? Or is it something else? One thing is for sure to the audience, it’s only the beginning of the wild night where anything else can happen and probably will.
The film MADS is advertised as a thriller/mystery/horror and works equally well in either of these genres.
Director Moreau ups the ante with strobing lights and weird noises on the soundtrack to let his audience feel the intensity and uneasiness that Romain feels. It is not helped when his girlfriend Ana shows up and keeps asking him if anything is wrong, and whether it is her. Things get worse when her friends show up, all intending to have a wild night partying. While all this is happening, a voiceover goes: “Subject C39 achieved! Contamination!”
Spoiler alert (this paragraph only:) For what is lacking in the story - the film has a loose narrative based on the single premise of the end of the world scenario, which it makes up in interspersed scary scenes like the women suddenly appearing all bloodied in Romain’s bathtub or Romain suddenly violently beating up a girl at a party. Some suspense is also generated with his father, away on business constantly calling Romain asking if everything is all right when obviously, everything is not. The dad calls Romain at one instant when the alarm in his house goes off, and Romain has to check on what is going on, cycling frantically home to turn off the alarm system. All the while, he is high on drugs and not wanting the police to show up, though he clearly needs help. MADS plays like a madcap horror film, which is an intensive watch, making it a standout horror film because the end-of-world scenario has never been done beef this way.
MADS has premiered at several film festivals internationally and opens for streaming on the streaming horror service, Shudder on October 18th. This one is worth a look.
Trailer:
