What begins as a promising Slovenian political thriller is derailed half-way through when the main character, after figuring out that his best friend was murdered because of a document that reveals secrets powerful enough to reignite a civil war, decides to take a holiday with his horny girlfriend. This guy is a complete tool. Later, he gets a lectured for being a dick by a sociopathic murderer and I think we're supposed to take the killers side, or maybe learn a lesson. I don't care. It's so frustrating to see a suspenseful, well-made film devolve into absurdity because of poor plotting.
This comedy was created by a trio of French-speaking Belgians, two of which also serve as the leads. I found it fascinating to watch because the leads look more like caricatures than people and they move in ways that seem alien. It's almost like watching a cartoon come to life, especially with the bold color palette. The largely silent nature of the film only adds to the surrealism that makes it impossible to look away from even if some parts drag on a bit long. Though I must admit that I was a little disappointed but only because I had high hopes for this after seeing the trios previous film. Ah, the burden of raised expectations.
Addendum: This screening was preceded by a short film called The Line. It's a somewhat amusing look at women waiting in line for the ladies room where the tension reaches absurd levels (a riot squad is eventually called in). I think it's a particularly notable film because, as far as I'm aware, it features the first on screen glimpse of a urinary director.
The clear winner for today was this affecting portrait of a broken French-Canadian family trying to make it through the summer of 1966. Told largely through the eyes of three siblings, this film paints a rich canvass of life in the suburbs. It examines how the characters come to grips with a reality that can be at times wonderful and liberating or cold and uncaring. Looking back on it, I'm amazed that they managed to touch on so many issues in such an organic way. If I gave you a list of the topics it covers (infidelity, prejudice, abandonment, homosexuality, tolerance, liberation, emerging sexuality, treatment of the developmentally disabled, etc.) it would just sound like a laundry list of 60s issues but this movie isn't about that. It's about lost people trying to find their way in the world and to me that's far more interesting.
So, this is a horror movie from Danish-speaking Belgium about a giant vagina in the earth. But not the good kind of Vagina. This was an evil vagina. An evil vagina that needs a woman to be sacrificed to it every seven years in order for the ground to be fertile. But it turns out that being eaten by a giant evil vagina, while certainly not good, isn't all that terrible. A quick side note to the budding filmmakers out there: If you're going to make a movie about a giant vagina that eats people, that movie should contain humor.
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