|
| Borstal Boy |
Porvenir: Future, a documentary by Colombian-born Mirror Project founder Roberto Arévalo, offers a glimpse into the lives of the inhabitants of Porvenir, a small Columbian town on the Magdalena River, a few hours downriver from Bogota. At first glance, the scenes of rural living evoke a kind of bucolic nostalgia. Seeing children frolic gleefully in the river, men working in fields, and women lined up to buy milk-milked straight from the cow as they watch-makes you question whether we, with our fast-paced lifestyles, have lost touch with a more natural way of life. Let's ditch the cars and computers and head for the wilds!
But as the film unfolds, the dream slowly crumbles. The inhabitants of Bogota and countless smaller communities upstream horribly pollute the river where the children swim, and there is no feasible plan to clean it up. The children get skin abscesses, rashes, and recurring bouts of amoebiasis, complete with diarrhea, nausea and worse. At school, the children are supplied textbooks written in a dialect of Spanish they don't understand. The crops can hardly sustain the community, and any livestock they can get inevitably stray onto the roads to be hit by passing cars. With no voiceover and little dialogue, Porvenir: Future paints a powerful portrait of an indigenous community trying unsuccessfully to continue its way of life in the face of contemporary Western civilization. Wisely, Arévalo doesn't offer any simplistic solutions, but his film forces us to ask all the right questions.
http://www.buyindies.com/listing/995552439000
Peter Sheridan's Borstal Boy, based on the memoir by Irish writer Brendan Behan, recounts Behan's struggle after being captured by the British in an IRA bombing attempt during World War II. Too young to be sent to the gallows, Brendan (Shawn Hatosy) is instead placed in a reform institution for young offenders, known thereafter as Borstal boys. There, forced to spend his time with his British peers, he must confront his hatred for them head-on. Before long, he finds himself the focus of an unexpected love triangle, fending off the homosexual affections of sailor Charlie (Danny Dyer) while flirting with the headmaster's daughter, Liz (Eva Birthistle).
|
| Water from the Moon |
Borstal Boy occupies the artistic space between pat Hollywood drama and indie-film revolt: the story is mostly conventional, but there are enough barbs to shake you up a little. The characters are likeable, and Sheridan develops and resolves the plot with confidence and skill. But fans of Behan, who was known for his rebellious defiance and hard boozing later in life, may find things a bit too wholesome here. A couple technical complaints: the sound (at least on my review copy) is poorly mixed, making it hard to make out the dialogue at times; and some of the transitions between scenes seem rushed, clipped short, with no space for the events to resonate. Overall, though, Borstal Boy stands on its own as a good film, one that should please those who like Cider House Rules and other indie-but-nearly-mainstream efforts.
http://www.buyindies.com/listing/1030383206984
Water from the Moon, a short film featured at the Slamdance Film Festival by puppeteer Jenny McCracken, begins with much promise. A lonely woman wakes up to find a winged man-an angel, perhaps?-tucked into her wardrobe. The marionettes have a feeble, almost grotesque appearance, and their trembling, uncertain movements create a sense of pensive sorrow. The sparkling black-and-white film picks up glints of the wires that animate the figures, enhancing the emotional fragility of the piece. McCracken does an excellent job of establishing a mood for the piece, and skillfully evokes the quiet tension that develops between the two characters.
If only she could take it all somewhere. The abrupt, enigmatic ending feels almost like an abortive punch line. Some unexpected endings provoke thought and intensify your emotional response to the film; others just make you shrug your shoulders and slip in another tape.