The children this weekend past, and in an effort to improve them and find constructive ways to pass the time I showed them "The Red Balloon" by Albert Lamorisse. Now don't follow the links and Wiki it, it will destroy the surprise. A charming - or as the boy punned - "Uplifting" film about a little boy and his balloon. Short, only 30 some odd minutes, visually spectacular (esp. given it was filmed in 1956 - Paris), appropriate for all ages. Treat your kids to something not by Disney, in Calgary you can rent it at Bird Dog Video.
- Details
- Category: Film
Anything by Czech animator Jan Švankmajer is worth recommending.
Working in a variety of animations techniques, from stop motion to live action, with puppets, claymation, and just about anything else you can imagine in between, his films are grotesque, disturbing and haunting. Punch and Judy, for example, pictured left, go to war over a guineau pig and possibly the most violent scenes of puppet madness ensue. He's been the inspiration behind a lot of other animators as well, including Tim Burton and The Brothers Quay. I've been watching, in rationed installments, several of his short clips, allowing as it were time for them to digest. They settle into the unconcious where their images are added to the stock photography of dreams and nightmares.
A favorite film is his rendition of Faust - Slightly contemporized, but true to the spirit, a live actor Faust finds himself making an unholy bargain with puppet Mephistopholes, surreal plot developments ensue. Recommended further links and viewing as follows:
The Cabinet of Jan Švankmajer - a short homage by the Brothers Quay [Online Video via Daily Motion]
Various Shorts and Clips - via You Tube
Most of his films can be rented at Bird Dog Video.
- Details
- Category: Film
"Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man"
So runs the motto of "The Up Series" - a documentary that follows the lives of 14 children at 7 year intervals.
Beginning in Britain in 1964, the films documents the lives and attitudes of the children - a mixed group from a wide range of socio-economic backgrounds, at 7, 14, 21, and every 7 years thereafter. It's an ongoing project still in production. In the first film we are introduced to the characters, 3 wealthy boys who claim in turn - "I read the Financial Times" to "I read the Observer and the Financial Times" and so on, a young man from the Yorkshire Dales who resents being asked if he has a girlfriend (and in no uncertain terms tells the interviewer), and 10 others of mixed class and backgrounds. The stage is set. Each of them is observed in their own environment, is interviewed about various things, and the story continues. Especially notable is the change in attitudes not only of the subjects, but of society and the filmmaker.
Very worthwhile. You can rent it at Bird Dog Video.
- Details
- Category: Film
This weekend past I took the children to the Marda Loop Justice Film Festival. On Friday night, just me and the boy (the girl at a Brownies sleepover), we went to see "Sand and Sorrow" - a documentary narrated by George Clooney on the civil war in Darfur. OK, informative, but not a great documentary.
On Saturday we attended 2 more - one a CBC documentary on the Alberta Tarsands, incredibly boring. Television brought to the big screen, but I wanted the boy to see it. Our "local" ethical commitment. And then one on Chernobyl - a very well paced, informative and enlightening documentary on the disaster at the Chernobyl power plant in 1986 in the Ukraine. An enjoyable film, which more than made up for the afternoon's presentation.
For those of you not familiar, the Film Festival is used to highlight topical social issues both in the world at large, and nearer to home in our communities. The format is a selected film is shown, then followed by a brief (3 or 4 question) discussion with "experts" present on the issues raised in the film. The "real" discussion is held in the lobby afterwards. Overall the films are chosen to overlap themes - for example the Saturday film on the Tar Sands raises the possibility of a Nuclear Power plant in Alberta's north to fuel the tar sands, and the following film on Chernobyl explores what happens when Nuclear Power goes wrong. This was my/our first time attending.
The festival was modestly well attended, slightly more than half full, good for the event, but a disinterested showing for a city of a million people. Noteworthy was the fact that in the last 2 films we saw we recognized most of the audience as people who were at the previous film(s), so one might generalize that those interested in social issues are very interested. Probably we should have stayed and chatted with some of them in the lobby afterwards to learn more, but 3 documentaries in a weekend was enough punishment for the boy...
Link: www.justicefilmfestival.ca
- Details
- Category: Film