Canada

2023 Oscars Short Films Review: Live-Action

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

It’s interesting when the Academy deliver their nominations for feature-length films, they’re mostly for English-language films. Most of them being American films. Yet the nominees for the short films categories are often multilingual. For the films nominated for the live-action category, we have  films in French and Danish. We also have three English-language films, but two are from the UK. Not as much foreign language as the animated films but still it tells how these categories are among the most international of them all.

What’s interesting about the short films in the live-action is that many are from up-and-coming directors, as is the common case in this category, but we also have one British film directed by Wes Anderson! Also in the film are renowned star actors like Benedict Cumberbatch, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes and Richard Ayoade. The other films also show actors of renown like Brittany Snow, Leif Andree and David Oyelowo. So there’s something about short films that make well-known actors want to pursue them.

Without further ado, here are my thoughts on the Live-Action short films nominated for the Oscars:

The After (dir. Misan Harriman) – Dayo is a successful businessman in London. One day, he drives his daughter to the top floor of a parkade to meet up with his wife. Suddenly a man wielding a knife commits a massacre all over the parkade. The man stabs his daughter to death. The wife, heartbroken, jumps to her death as Dayo fights to restrain him for the police. Time passes. Dayo is resigned from his position and makes his pay an Uber driver. He has cut off all contact from his friends and colleagues and won’t even meet with crisis management counselors. Although he keeps to himself, it’s obvious he’s still hurting on the inside. As he waits for his latest customers at the airport, he takes the picture of his family and sings “Happy Birthday.” The daughter of the family he’s to drive looks very much like his own late daughter. He tries to restrain his emotions at first as the parents make their way to the car. During the drive, the couple are consistently arguing in front of the child, but the daughter is sensing something is wrong with Dayo. Dayo still tries to keep his cool. As he gets out lets the family off at their house, the daughter goes to hug Dayo and Dayo just breaks down. The parents are shocked by what they see and leave him, but Dayo picks himself up.

How do you live again after you’ve lost it all? This is the type of question we don’t normally ask ourselves or don’t want to think about but unfortunately, there are some people who have to do exactly that? This is a story that does a great job of showing the before-and-after of a tragic incident that claims the lives of Dayo’s wife and daughter. Throughout the story, Dayo is the storyteller through his actions and his emotions. Even without dialogue, you can sense what Dayo is saying through his body language. He doesn’t know how to live again or deal with his emotions. It’s right after the breakdown he has after the daughter hugs him that Dayo knows he has to continue on, despite how hard it will be. This film which is the directorial debut film for Misan Harriman tells a gripping story with a profound message. David Oyelowo does an excellent job in his performance in both scenarios of the story. If they could give Oscar nominations for performances in short films, I’d say give one to David!

Invincible (dir. Vincent René-Lortie) – The film begins with a young boy in the driver’s seat in a car named Marc who telephones his mother, but doesn’t say a word. His mother tells him to come home, but police lights flash. Rather than surrender to the police, Marc drives the car off the cliff into the water. Going back weeks earlier, Marc is on a family vacation having fun with his family at the lake. He plays with his little sister but is embarrassed of how she chickens out with her finger over his lighter. This is the last set of fun Marc will spend with him before being sent to the youth detention centre. The first day, Marc can’t stand being in a sweltering room with no way to cool off. He ignites the sprinkler system which the officials put him on a stern warning. A councillor tries to deal with Marc and tells him how he has what it takes to be a smart positive influence on others and can’t understand why he’s always getting in trouble. One day, the official sees progress in Marc and how he helps others. The officials decide to take the boys to a nearby community pool. it appears Marc is having fun with all of them but when the councillor isn’t looking, Marc does his latest escape. Marc runs into a car but as the woman enters a store to call the ambulance, Marc steals it, attempting to take his escape further. As Marc stops, he calls his family. The mother, aware the police are pursuing Marc, pleads for him to return as the sister tests her pain with the candle.

This is a story inspired by a troubled 14 year-old boy from Quebec who killed himself as he drove into a lake in 2008. The story haunted the people in the area for many years. The boy, Marc-Antoine Bernier, was a friend to the director. Here, it appears the director is using his film to bring some respect back to Marc. Marc was an intelligent boy capable of a lot of good, but kept on getting into trouble. We all have known a kid like that in our childhood. Although this is a story inspired by a real-life person and based on true events, there may have been events or happening added to the story. Only Marc knows what really happened. Nevertheless Vincent makes a good effort to redeem Marc from the story he tells and even tries to get us to feel some empathy for him. We’ve all had those years when we were younger when we all felt we were trapped mentally, if not physically. If Vincent doesn’t make you feel empathy for Marc, he does make for an intriguing story. That’s why I make this film my Should Win pick.

Knight Of Fortune (dir. Lasse Lyskjær Noer) – Karl is at a multi-chapel funeral home where he comes to mourn his wife. Left alone, he can’t bring himself to open the casket. He tries to adjust a light but it breaks. Frustrated, he goes to a bathroom where he encounters another widower named Torben. Torben claims he can’t open the casket for his wife. Karl goes with Torben to the chapel and helps open the casket. As Torben attempts to say his “last words,” a family comes in. They’re the real family of the deceased woman including the real widower. They allow Torben and Karl to stay. When the widower is at a loss for words, Torben is able to say the right words as if the woman really was his wife. Karl leaves Torben angrily but he later learns from the funeral directors that Torben lost his wife in a boating accident three years ago and never had a real chance to say goodbye. Outside in a nearby bench, Karl notices Torben. Instead of anger, Karl laughs and invites Torben to the chapel where his wife is. Torben is able to open the casket and Karl is able to say his last goodbyes. As Karl gives his wife one last kiss Torben sings “Knights Of Fortune.”

Another story of loss and coping. Although this story deals with the subject of death in a gentler manner, and even includes humor, We all know that loss is never an easy thing to deal with, but it needs to be dealt with. This is a story of a widower struggling to properly say goodbye encountering an imposter who knows the right words to say goodbye to a woman he’s never really met, but makes like she was his wife. Once Karl learns about Torben that he’s not simply an imposter, but a hurting man who uses funerals of wives to say the goodbyes he always wanted to say to his own wife, could Torben be the very person to help Karl deal with his grief? This is a story of grieving, healing and saying goodbye that is greatly different from other stories. Nevertheless it does offer a message of healing and hope. It’s ironic how this imposter is exactly what Karl needs to properly deal with is loss and say goodbye, and a friendship that really shouldn’t be, happens.

Red, White and Blue (dir. Nazrin Choudhury) – Rachel, a waitress in a diner, looks at a pregnancy test and sees a positive result. Rachel is a single mother who has difficulty to support her two children. She also lives in Arkansas where abortion is illegal, thanks to the overturning of Roe v. Wade. She plans a trip for an abortion procedure in Illinois where it is legal, but it’s more than she can afford. One day, a woman customer who somehow knows what Rachel is dealing with leaves her a tip which makes up the remainder for her abortion trip. Soon, she leaves her son Jake with a friend as she takes her daughter Maddy on this trip. This is the first time out of Arkansas for both of them. Before they go to the clinic, they go to a carnival as it’s just before Maddy’s birthday. Maddy wants a merry-go-round ride, but it’s more than Rachel can afford. She agrees to one ride and Maddy chooses the elephant. At the clinic, Rachel learns she’s late for her appointment but through past recollections and as the receptionist learns the dirty facts, she tries to make it urgent.

No doubt this story is about abortion. Especially in post-Roe v. Wade United States. The thing is this story is more than that. You know the story is about the pursuit of an abortion, but it’s not what you originally think at first. You think it’s about an impoverished mother getting an abortion because she’s two-and-through, but things change as you learn more information. You wonder why on earth would a mother take her young daughter on an abortion trip? Soon you learn there’s more to the reality of unexpected pregnancy and abortion that meets the eye. Including a lot of upsetting truths. It’s also surprising how in a story that has a theme that hits close to home and presents a story that many would find upsetting, it is still able to have a heart-warming ending that works. That is something in film that is very tricky to do, but Choudhury accomplishes it!

The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar (dir. Wes Anderson) – Based on a short story written by Roald Dahl, Henry Sugar is the pseudonym of a wealthy bachelor who loves to gamble away his inherited riches. Thing is he never seems to have enough and wonders how can he get more money? He learns the legend of a man from India named Imdad Khan who learned the fine art of levitating and seeing with is eyes closed, thanks to the teachings of a Great Yogi. Thing is as the doctors were studying Imdad, Imdad tells his story and dies suddenly. Henry tries through great lengths to master this technique through all he can learn. Once he finally masters the sight trick, he goes out gambling and wins big! Problem is all this money isn’t making him any happier. At first he thinks the right way to give the money away is to throw it off a balcony. After it causes a riot, police recommend Henry develop a better method. Henry then spends the next twenty years traveling the world, gambling, and donating his winnings to hospitals and orphanages.

This is the last of the five shorts shown in the shorts.tv reel. After seeing four stories that were either depressing, too serious or had dark subject matter, it was refreshing to end the reel with a light-hearted comedy. The story succeeds in making the tale amusing. Already we have a major director directing it and four major actors — Cumberbatch, Kingsley, Fiennes and Patel — acting in it. Nevertheless the story telling, set changes, and the acting of all make it a delight to watch. It makes for a “guilt-free guilty pleasure” as I like to call such things. That’s why I make this film my Will Win pick!

And there you have it. Those are my reviews of the five films nominated in the Oscar category Best Live-Action Short Film for this year. That also completes all my reviews for the Oscar-nominated short films. Those short film categories are usually the hardest to pick a winner. You think you know what will win, but end up surprised in the end. We’ll see how it all goes on March 10th.

VIFF 2023 Review: When Adam Changes (Adam Change Lentement)

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment
The teen years are never easy. And overweight Quebec teenager Adam proves it in the animated film When Adam Changes.

The animated film When Adam Changes fulfilled the third of my annual VIFF goals of seeing at least one feature-length Canadian film. It’s an animated film that tells a common story of growing up the oddball, but done in a unique and entertaining way.

It’s a summer in the 1990’s. A grandmother is dying in the hospital. All the family members surround her. Then the grandmother utters her last words. It’s an insult of the size of the torso of Adam, her 15 year-old grandson. Adam has endured a whole lifetime of insults from her because he’s overweight. Crazy thing about it is her insult makes Adam’s torso grow bigger! After she dies, everyone is in tears, except Adam.

With the grandmother dying, Adam’s family will be having family over to make funerary plans, host gatherings and also have Uncle Mario living with him, his older sister and his parents. With Adam being 15, the father wants him to learn responsibility. He gets him to do things like mow a neighbor’s lawn, take care of the house of his cousin’s, and walk a neighbor’s dog. The latter is a bizarre case as the previous walker takes the bags of droppings and hangs them from a neighbor’s tree. Adam’s not too happy about that. He just wants to hang out with his equally awkward best friend, play video games or watch action movies.

As the family and other relatives make funeral plans and arrangements, Adam goes about his duties the best he can. He even disposes of the dog dropping properly. However problems arise. In the area of his dog walking is a boy named Pierrot. Adam knows Pierrot. Years ago, he was encouraged to befriend him on the playground. It went well until an accident Adam caused led to a big gash on Pierrot’s face. The scar from the accident is still very noticeable on Pierrot’s face and Adam is afraid to make eye contact with him To add to his problems, he learns a bully from his school lives close by. He’s going to take pleasure in being mean to Adam. Adam does see a possible ray of hope in his girlfriend, who’s also a classmate of his. He notices she takes a liking to him. Can he win her?

As the days pass, the funeral happens. Adam does his best to speak about his grandmother, as all her grandchildren were to say something about her. It’s not easy since she was so mean to him, but he pulls it off. After that difficult task, Adam goes about doing his duties. It’s not always easy as the school bullies are harassing him and seeing him being left out of parties makes him feel like a misfit. To add to his personal insecurities, his sister has a boyfriend who doesn’t look like the type to trust. On top of it, he keeps seeing Pierrot walking down the sidewalk with a long metal rod. Why? Is it personal? Does Pierrot hate him from that incident from long ago?

One day, Adam has a ray of hope. The bully’s girlfriend invites him to Marianne’s party. His best friend encourages him. Things do not go all that well. It’s crazy but Adam wants to do something to be popular and win her love. He fantasizes being the hero as he watches the action movies. Then he tells her a party at his place. Hopefully this will make things work out.

Adam’s been waiting for this moment. He’s even watched some of his action movies to make him feel big. Then the doorbell rings. She came! But shoe brought friends along, including her boyfriend. This is going to be a long night for Adam. The party doesn’t go well and his sister caught her boyfriend cheating. Suddenly Adam sees an opportunity with his classmate. She gets into a scuffle with her boyfriend, but he turns abusive to her. That’s it. Even though he may have bullied Adam in high school, Adam’s not taking it and he gives him a piece of him with moves he learned from the movies. The bully’s down on the ground. Adam things he won her, but i9t’s not the case. Dejected, Adam leaves the house. He notices Pierrot and that the reason for the metal rod was to take the dog dropping out of the tree and sending them to the original walker. Adam helps and it turns out a friendship between the two was there after all. The film ends with Adam at the couch with family.

Let’s face it. The teenage years are the years you both love and hate. You love it for the best music and best movies of your life. You hate it because of all the jerks and mean peers you have to deal with. I’ve even said that high school is a total social “torture chamber.” I think everyone can remember the false sense of superiority some students had or the many times peers made one feel inferior. We see that in Adam as he’s often fat-shamed. He wants to fit in, but he also has his hopes on a bigger prize: that girl. Can he win her? He looks like he can win her and he has a chance.

Watching the film will remind us of our teenage years. They’re some of the best moments of our lives and some of the worst moments of our lives. The film does a good job in displaying that in a humorous form that can make us laugh off even some of our worst high school memories. It also doesn’t miss in showing some of the ugly cases of teenage life such as use of substances, bullying, infidelity and abuse. Even that thing where someone hurls an insult at an aspect of Adam’s body and that aspect grows, wasn’t it just like us back in our teen years? Didn’t we also feel that same way the instant somebody taunted us about a physical flaw of ours, whether it be minor or major? I guess that’s what the film is intended to do. Remind us of our teen years as the most frustrating years of our lives, but in a humorous way.

The film ends with a touching moment where the protagonist gets the message that despite the garbage and pressures around you, it’s important to surround yourself with people who care about you. There’s Adam with his teenage sister, Uncle Mario, his parents and his best friend watching a movie. Leaving the peers who used him and crashed his party somewhere else. With the frustrations that come with being a teenager, I guess that’s what you need to have. Have a time to be around the people who make you feel good about yourself. That scene is a good “To hell with it,” to the garbage of teenage peer pressure.

This is a unique story and film by Joel Vaudreuil. Up until now, Joel has had experience in creating animated shorts and even directing music videos. This is his first attempt at making an animated feature and it’s impressive. Its 2D animation is unique in its style and fits the story well. Vaudreuil also gives a story that does hit close to home but in a humorous way. Yes, the teen years were a hurtful time for all of us, but it’s able to make light of it well. Even some of the nastier moments of our lives. Very impressive first feature-length film.

This film has already won an award in animated film. The Ottawa Animated Film Festival made it the Grand Prize winner.  The Annecy International Animated Film Festival made it a nominee for the Contrechamp Award for Best Film.

When Adam Changes is an enjoyable animated movie. It’s another example of how Canada keeps on sending out winning animation time after time. It’s also a good reminder of why you’re glad your teenage years are long over!

VIFF 2023 Shorts Segment Review: Forum 2

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

With me having to spend the entirety of VIFF in Vancouver this year, I have better chances of completing my three annual VIFF goals. I was able to complete the second of my goals: see a segment of short films. I did so at a “Film Forum” titled Forum 2. Not the most original of titles, but the stories made up for it. On top of it, they’re all from Canadian film makers. Definitely worth checking out:

-Sisters (Ontario – dir. Marisa Hoicka): The film begins with a 1960’s look and it appears to be an instruction film on how to be a “proper woman.” Instead the film is the narrator talking about how her “sister” taught her how to be a powerful woman with what she said and how she lived.

This is a unique short film. It comes in the guise of your stereotypical instructional film on how to be prim and proper, but instead is a story about empowerment. Throughout it all, it never loses that 60’s feel it intends to have. Very good film that does a lot in its brief time.

-Four Mile Creek (Quebec – Dir. Ryan McKenna):****The story begins with the retelling of the Cormier family as they go through Ontario until their eventual settlement to La Salle, Manitoba. Their journey is in the mid-1880’s and during a time of rampant smallpox. While in Ontario, the Cormier children were hit and their eight year-old daughter Aurore died. She was buried in the plains near their house and outside Kenora, Ontario by her father because a priest would not perform the blessing. A century later, a group of University of Winnipeg archivists, including family and one claiming to be haunted by Moise Cormier’s ghost, go on a mission to research and uncover Aurore Cormier’s grave.

This is a docudrama that combines recalling of letters from the Cormier’s to re-enacting of the moments of the family and their smallpox ordeal to those involved in the uncovering telling their story. It’s two films in one and tells a revealing historical story known to few. Impressive and creative.

-Cloud Striker (B.C. – dir. A.W. Hopkins): At an Indian Residential School in 1931, four male students are being punished by the nun. Their crime: speaking in their Indigenous language. One student, Elijah Cloud Striker, is defiant and even uses his Indigenous name in front of the nun. She slaps him and gives him the hardest of the punishment. A man comes to visit. He’s Chief Cloud Striker and he’s looking for his son. Both the nun and the priest try to persuade him to stop but the Chief punches the priest in the face after he hurls the chief a racist slur. The Chief and Elijah make a run for it. Later while resting in a remote area, they talk and wonder why their people aren’t angrier about this

The treatment of Indigenous peoples through the residential school system has scarred our nation like nothing else. Especially since Canada has been dealing with the ugly aftermath this past half-century. It’s unclear if this is based on a true story or if this is a story of an incident the filmmaker wishes had happened. The film is good at retelling ugly things that happened at residential schools and how it hurt peoples. The ending talk between the Chief and Elijah gives an impression of how a lot of Indigenous people feel about this system. That mention from Elijah of two boys being buried is another ugly reminder. Even though the residential school system completely ended in 1996, I’m sure there’s a lot of harbored anger with the system, the Roman Catholic Church, and the Canadian government. This story tells a lot.

-Conviction (Alberta – dir. Bruce Thomas Miller): A former convict named Joseph, an Indigenous man, is released from prison after years of incarceration. He is given a job as a custodian at a thrift store. He is given residence with a man maned Quincy who himself was a former convict and is to look out for him. At his job, he has to deal with co-workers who find him suspicious, a second-in-command who wants to be at odds with him, a customer who hurls an insult at him and traumatic memories of his crimes and his incidents in prison. At the end, Quincy reminds Joseph of what he himself had been through and he’s someone for Joseph to turn to.

We go from a film about the ugliness of Residential Schools to a film about the aftermath. Over time, it became evident the residential schooling system was a terrible idea as it led to substance abuse, homelessness, substance addictions, suicides and crime among the Indigenous people’s. Joseph is like a lot of Indigenous men who want to leave their ugly past behind and want to start a new life, but doesn’t know if he can. The director/writer wrote this script as he himself was going through his own healing of PTSD. It speaks volumes of the struggle they have to go through. Sometimes, Joseph doesn’t know if his freedom is a bigger hell than prison and may feel it’s better to return. At the same time, it’s a reminder there is support along the way from those who also went through what they went through. Excellent story that’s well-acted and gets one thinking.

-Black Box Investigations (B.C. – dir. Paige Smith): A woman buys a disposable camera. She takes all sorts of pictures of her, of her surroundings and of various angles. She buys another with a flash. Again all sorts of weird photos, including inside her mouth. The photos are for all to see.

This is the kind of short film I’d expect to see in a shorts show of MODES. Although I didn’t exactly like this short film, I give the director credit for wanting to play around and want to do something creative and fun.

-Autre Chose (Quebec – dir, Etienne Lacelle): A biker is repairing his motorbike. He had a bad crash the day before. He has a hard time repairing his bike but succeeds. He wants to go for one last ride in the wild. On thing. Just before he leaves, he comes across a strand of long blonde hair on him. It’s a strand of his late girlfriend who died in the crash. He puts it in a small bag and heads off on his bike with a rifle. He drives through the terrain but gets his bike stuck. He tries to camp out and throws his girlfriend’s hair in a bonfire. While out walking the wilderness, he contemplates shooting himself. He doesn’t and moves on. As he comes across a lake, he cleanses himself in it. But as he drives off, he comes across her hair again.

This is a unique short film with no dialogue and lets the images and the sounds tell the story. You can get a sense of what is happening with the story. The images of the story even gets one asking questions. Like did he kill her during the accident? The thought of suicide and the bathing in the lake just after could mean it’s showcasing a chance at redemption. The ending can also send a message that even if redemption is possible, he still has to deal with the unresolved aftermath. The film really gets you thinking and will leave you with questions of your own..

-The Great Kind Mystery (Newfoundland =dir. Ella Morton): Images of Daniel’s Harbour, Newfoundland and its surrounding area are shown as young artist Amy Hull, who is of Mi’kmaq and Inuk descent, tells her story. The stories she tells are of the area of Daniel’s Harbour and its history, her denial of her Indian Status while she was attending university, and of the pride she feels of her ancestry.

This is the third Indigenous-themed short that was part of the segment. The first dealt with oppression of the past, the second dealt with the aftermath and this short deals with the current systemic racism in Canada’s Indian Act. This film is a reminder that Canada still has a long way to go to do things right and drop its racist systematic treatment of Indigenous peoples, especially in these post-Residential School times. This documentary is also a film that inspires hope. Amy is young and resilient and refuses to let racist politics destroy her pride or her identity and pursue her artistic dreams. She embraces her identity despite what has happened to her and won’t bow down. This film, and Amy’s story, is a ray of hope for the future.

-Element (Quebec/Ivory Coast – dir. Will Niava): It’s a hot summer day in Abidjan, the capital city of the Ivory Coast. A group of four young thugs have a hard time trying to make money. Their current business is not doing so well so they decide to get involved in illegal things. As the money gets better, things make a turn for the worse such as in their unity, the leader’s relationship with his girlfriend and even his soul. He even comes across a vision of himself of him dead and all of his loved ones at his funeral. It’s there he emerges from the ocean water and starts a new life, but not without something tragic at the end.

This is a unique story as it tells the story of pursuing life in the fast lane with the mix of spirituality. What the leader experiences is consequences both in the earthly world and the spiritual world. The inclusion of the spiritual world adds to the film and shows a form of spirituality rarely seen by others. It’s rare to see something like that in a film about young thugs trying to live fast. Overall, a great unique drama.

That’s what it was. Eight shorts from eight Canadian directors. Two were from BC, three were from Quebec. Three were from female directors and three were Indigenous themed. Most were dramas, some were experimental and some were even documentaries or docudramas. All of them are unique in the stories they showed and what messages they want to send. Also all of them showcase directors with a promising future.

Those are my thoughts on the eight short films of Forum 2. Some I liked, some I found intriguing, a few I didn’t. All of them did showcase the director’s works and abilities very well.

2023 Women’s World Cup: Group B Focus

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

It’s interesting that this year’s Women’s World Cup is timed well. Normally it would be held in June but summer up in the Northern Hemisphere is winter for the Southern Hemisphere. July and August will be like January and February down under. Nevertheless the weather should still be great for playing.

It’s crazy how because of COVID, there were a lot of setbacks in the sports world and football tournaments had to inch their way back to its normal holding. Euro 2020 was held starting in June 2021. The Women’s Euro that was to be held in the summer of 2021 was held in the summer of 2022 instead. The men’s World Cup in 2022 was held in November and December instead of July and August. Seeing how the Women’s World Cup is held only a month and a half later than usual shows things are slowly getting back to normal.

Now the focus is on Group B. There are teams with high expectations and underdogs. All can pull a surprise:

-Australia (10): Many can argue that the Matildas are the sleeping giants of Women’s Football. The highest they ever finished in a Women’s World Cup is in the quarterfinals. The highest they ever finished at the Olympics was fourth in 2021. They’ve won an Asian Cup and three Oceania Cups. Being host, they could surprise everyone and possibly make their first-ever semifinal.

Australia is coached by Sweden’s Tony Gustavsson. The team consists of nine members who have achieved more than 100 caps including captain Sam Kerr and defender Clare Polkinghome. Most of the players play for England’s Women’s Super League teams. Since 2022, they’ve scored wins against England, Spain, Czechia, Sweden and Denmark. They’ve also lost to Scotland and twice to Canada. I’m sure the Matildas are eager to show the world what they’re made of on home soil.

-Republic of Ireland (22): One thing about having 32 teams at this year’s Women’s World Cup, we will be having a lot of teams that have been underestimated in the past coming alive. One of which is the team from the Republic of Ireland, commonly known as “The Girls In Green.” Interesting they’ve never qualified for a Euro, but their qualifying stats for the World Cup resulted in them achieving a berth.

The team is coached by Dutch woman Vera Pauw who played for the Netherlands in the 90’s. Most of the players play in teams for England’s Women’s Super League. Since 2022, Ireland have won against Zambia, Morocco, Scotland and Finland. They’ve drawn against China and lost both their games against the US this year. Here in the Group Stage, anything can happen. It’s very possible Ireland can prove here to be a stronger team than what most of the world thought.

-Nigeria (40): Nigeria is one of only seven teams that have competed at every Women’s World Cup. The Super Falcons have often been seen as the best women’s team from Africa. They’ve made the knockout round of the Women’s World Cup twice, including the last WWC in 2019. They’ve won the African Women Cup of Nations eleven out of fourteen times and have won African Women’s National Team Of The Year four times. Nevertheless there’s no doubt they want to take things further.

The team is coached by American Randy Waldrum who has over 30 years of experience coaching women’s teams in both the NCAA and women’s national teams. Most of the women play for leagues around Europe but team captain Onone Ebi plays for the Nigerian league. Since 2022, they’ve achieved wins against Costa Rica, Haiti and New Zealand, a draw against Morocco and losses to United States, Japan and Colombia. 2023 is another test to see how far they’ll go.

-Canada (7): Canada is a team that’s hard to describe. At the Women’s World Cup, their highest finish ever is 4th. At the Olympics, the team has amassed two bronze medals and won gold in 2021! Canadians have produced many big names like Christine Sinclair, Melissa Tancredi and Kadeisha Buchanan. No kidding Canada wants to come here to challenge.

Despite not having a hard time qualifying for the WWC, the Canadian team is one of many women’s national teams that has had labor or pay disputes in the four years since 2019. The first came in February of this year when the team said they’d go on strike because of intended budget cuts, including to its youth team. They also received support from the men’s team as they claimed Soccer Canada obstructed justice in not making clear why the cuts were necessary. Teams from England, the US, Ireland and Japan wore purple armbands in support of gender equality for the Canadian women’s team. Things got uglier later in February as Soccer Canada forced the women to return to the team, claiming they never got legal permission to strike. Later that month, Soccer Canada president Nick Bontis resigned under pressure. Since March 9th, there has been no major news whether a pay equity resolution has been reached.

The team is coached by England’s Bev Priestman who was an assistant coach to England from 2018 and 2020. Most of the women play for American professional or intercollegiate teams. The current team has a lot of legends like Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt, Kadeisha Buchanan and Kailen Sheridan, but also has some rising stars like Jordyn Huitema, Julia Grosso and Jayde Riviere. Since 2022, Canada has had wins against Australia, Argentina and Morocco, has drawn against South Korea, has had two wins and a loss against Brazil and has had losses to the US, Japan and France. Anything can happen at the Women’s World Cup and Canada could just reach new heights.

My Prediction: Predicting for this group should be easy, but it’s not that easy since football is an unpredictable sport. I would predict hosts Australia to top Group B with Canada coming in second.

And there you go. There’s my look at the teams of Group B for the Women’s World Cup. Be sure to check the FIFA website to see which networks will broadcast the games.

2022 Oscar Shorts Review: Animation and Live-Action

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Did you think with this being an Oscar year I would miss my chance to see the films nominated in the short films categories? The chance was there and I took it again. All the films had a unique style about them and all appeared worthy of their nominations. So here I go. Here are my reviews for the nominated films in the Animation and Live-Action categories.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

The Boy, The Mole, The Fox And The Horse (dirs. Charles Mackesy and Matthew Freund) –

A boy is lost in the winter snows. A mole finds him. He hopes the mole will lead him home, a home he’s never had before, and wants to grow up to be kind. The two hope the river they find will lead them there, but they’re encountered by a fox. The fox wants to hunt them both down, but finds himself in a trap. The mole frees him and the fox runs away. The next day the mole falls into the river, but is saved by the fox. The fox joins the mole and the boy on the journey to the boy’s home. Along the journey, they encounter a white horse who is an outcast. The three welcome the horse along the journey. Soon they discover the horse has a special trait. He can fly like Pegasus! Soon they come to the village where the boy’s home is. The three animals say their good-byes, but the boy makes a surprising decision.

It seems like every year, there has to be at least one animated short from the UK that’s nominated. This is this year’s nomination. This is an adaptation o f a 2019 children’s book from Charlie Mackesy, who co-directs this short film. This is a 2D short that has been on Apple TV starting this Christmas. It has a quiet soft tone that’s more touching than sentimental. It makes the right moves and is able to be soft without getting too mushy or manipulative. This is one charmer that I give both my Should Win and Will Win pick.

The Flying Sailor (dirs. Wendy Tilby and Amanda Forbis) – It’s the morning of December 6, 1917 along the coast in Halifax. Two ships collide within each other with one catching on fire. A sailor thinks nothing of it and lights a cigarette. Only the burning ship soon explodes. The sailor goes flying naked in an out-of-body experience. His life flashes before his eyes from childhood to his life at sea as Halifax is engulfed by the blast. The blast sends him out of earth and even out of the galaxy. Then all of a sudden, he’s brought back down into the galaxy, then earth, then back into Halifax into a body of water. Miraculously he’s still alive. He even stares a shocked fish in the eyes.

As I was watching this, I asked myself “Is this about the Halifax Explosion?” Yes, it was. In fact the film makers dedicate the film to a sailor who flew 2 kilometers in the explosion and lived to tell! This film from the National Film Board of Canada is one of of two animated features from The New Yorker Screening Room to be nominated. It’s a clever story that doesn’t need any dialogue for us to get the message. It lets the images and the moments tell the story of a man who’s near a sudden death contemplate his existence. A fast film, but entertaining and even humorous from start to finish.

Ice Merchants (dirs. Joao Gonzalez and Bruno Caetano) – A widowed father and son run an ice selling business. The ice comes from a box they fill with water, let freeze overnight, and break up to sell the next day. They get their freezing temperature by being up on the very mountain they have their house upon. The house is thousands of feet above the ground hanging from ropes and requires a system of pulleys and ropes to get to. They have to skydive down together into the town to sell their wares. The flight always causes their hats to fall off. They use the money from sales to buy new hats. Then one day, the son notices the water in the box didn’t freeze. The temperature is above freezing. The high temperature of the snow is causing an avalanche and the house’s ropes are breaking. The parachute falls from the house. The father makes the decision to jump with his son. Fortunately a female skydiver finds the two in the air, grabs hold of them, and opens her parachute. The two survive, but in a surprising way!

This film from a Portuguese animation company is another film from The New Yorker Screening Room. It’s a good 2D film that is as much about its art as it is about telling its story. It uses only a few colors at a time for each of its scenes. It has the visuals and the music tell the story without having any dialogue. It also does a very good job in showing the drama of the climax. It also ends on a happy and humorous note that works well with the story.

My Year Of Dicks (dirs. Sara Gunnarsdottir and Pamela Ribon) – It’s 1991 in Houston and Pam seeks to lose her virginity as she is approaching womanhood. She, however, is undecided which boy she wants to lose her virginity with. She constantly trusts the opinions of her best friend Sam, who is male. The first boy she tries to lose it with is David, a skateboarder who thinks he’s a vampire. She’s attracted to his mystique, but soon learns what a jerk he is and of the little game he had with his guy friends. The second boy is Wally, who’s a theatre usher. They try to do it in a broom closet during work hours, but it doesn’t work out. Third boy is Robert, whom she finds as nice. She soon learns he’s gay and was interested in Sam. Pam tries a party hosted by her friend Karina. She meets a boy named Joey who appears to be orderly. The party comes to a sudden halt and Pam learns Joey is a Nazi! The story ends with a surprise that Pam learns what she was searching for was there all along.

It’s a story with both intrigue and humor. The rotoscope animation adds to the story and adds to the comedic elements of the story. Pam brings an intriguing story and Sara Gunnarsdottir does a great job of animating and directing it.

An Ostrich Told Me The World Is Fake And I Think I Believe It (dir. Lachlan Pendragon) – Neil is a telemarketer trying to sell toasters. His boss confronts him of his poor performance and threatens to fire him. As he continues working, he hallucinates and notices things missing from his cubicle. He wakes up and he sees an ostrich. The ostrich can speak and tells him this world is a ‘sham’ and advises him to get a better look at his surroundings. Neil soon finds his way out of the animation world and into a prop box full of his own mouths. The following day, Neil is shocked to see all the furniture removed. A co-worker named Gaven tells him it’s a corporate decision, but Neil rips his mouth off. The creator tries to intervene, but Neil falls off the set. With Neil’s body all broken up, the creator puts him back together and on the set. The next day, Neil is confronted by his boos, and quits.

This Australian short is an amusing stop-motion animated film. It goes from the animated story to the world of the production studio. It’s funny how the film knows it’s stop-motion and knows how to joke around about that fact. That adds to the humor of the story. It’s a funny film that goes from the animated story to the real world and back to the animated story. It seems odd at first, but it’s very likeable.

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

An Irish Goodbye (dirs. Tom Berkely and Ross White) – Two brothers from Belfast, Turlough and Lorcan, have lost their mother. The priest gives the sons the ashes and attempts to give them their mother’s ‘bucket list,’ but Turlough thinks its useless. Turlough, who works in London, wants to sell the farm and have Lorcan, who has Down’s Syndrome, live with his aunt. Lorcan wants nothing to do with it. Lorcan says he has the bucket list and still believes they can fulfill his mother’s wishes with her urn. The two agree to try all 100. However it’s the 99th, skydiving, that her urn smashes. Turlough soon finds out the truth about Lorcan’s bucket list the priest. That leads to even bigger friction, but a resolution does occur after they proceed with the 100th item.

This Irish short film is a well-acted film that’s mixes both tragedy and comedy with the intensity of family drama. It also deals with the issue of Down’s Syndrome in a humorous manner that doesn’t tread on being insulting or having mockery. It’s a story you anticipate to be sad, but instead turns out to be humorous, enjoyable, and even heart-warming. It’s worth seeing.

Ivalu (dirs. Anders Walter and Rebecca Pruzan) – It’s morning in Greenland. The Queen of Denmark is to visit. Pipaluk is looking for her older sister Ivalu. Her father, who acts like he doesn’t care, says she ran away. Pipaluk tries looking for Ivalu. She sees a raven and thinks Ivalu’s spirit is in the bird. As she continues the search, she remembers the conversations she had with Ivalu. It’s then she faces the facts of a lot of ugly secrets about Ivalu and how her father treated her. Pipaluk feels she has to confront the awful truth. In the end Pipaluk wears Ivalu’s dress for the Queen’s visit.

This is a story that touches on a taboo rarely discussed but is well-known among indigenous peoples. Child sexual abuse is also very common in the Inuit populations of Canada. Although this is touchy subject matter, it does a good job in adapting a short story into a watchable film. The film has visuals that are both mystic and disturbing. It’s a sad story that does come as life-affirming at the end. Its imagery is the film’s best quality.

Le Pupille (dirs. Alive Rohrwacher and Alfonso Cuaron) – The story revolves around a Roman Catholic boarding school in Italy during World War II. The central character of the story is a girl names Serafina. She’s an outcast at the school and the nuns are strict to all the girls, including Serafina. Mother Superior Fioralba is the strictest of them all. Christmas is fast approaching and the girls are to put on a Nativity play. The people in the town see the girls as darlings, but Fioralba always finds something to scold them about like singing a romantic song on the radio, which Fioralba describes as ‘filthy.’ She’s angry Serafina won’t admit to singing the lyrics and tells her what a bad girl she is. On Christmas, a rich socialite, who’s frustrated by her cheating boyfriend, gives the nuns a big red cake for the girls. Fiorabla thinks the cake is a bad thing as soldiers are starving. At the Christmas dinner, the girls are about to have dessert of the cake, but Fioralba tries to convince them not to have it. Serafina, shamed by her scolding, is able to get a slice. Fioralba hoped to use the cake for the Bishop’s visit. In the end a chimney sweep is given the cake which, thanks to him falling, is enough for everyone from the schoolgirls to his chimney sweep friends to the alley-way pets to have some of the cake.

It’s a charming story. I didn’t think Cuaron would be the type to do a short film for Disney. And in Italian. At first, you think with subject matter like this, it would be a dark story. Instead it turns out to be humorous and also turns out to be a good lesson in charity the girls and the chimney sweeps end up teaching a stern but dishonest nun like Fioralba. It’s also a story that shows how freeing yourself can even triumph over in a strict religious boarding school. And during World War II in Italy to boot! That’s why I give this film my Will Win pick.

Night Ride (dirs. Elrik Tveiten and Gaute Lid Larssen) – In a town in Norway, a woman with dwarfism named Ebba is waiting for a tram on a cold night. A tram arrives, but the driver is taking a half-hour’s break. Impatiently, Ebba sneaks her way on the tram as he’s in the washroom. She plays along with the buttons in conductor’s controls and is able to get the tram moving. The conductor leaves the washroom shocked to find the tram moving, but Ebba moves on wit the runaway tram. Two rude males board the train along with a woman named Ariel. One of the males hits on Ariel, only to learn she’s trans. The two males get confrontational with Ariel, even threatening, but Ebba stops the tram to face up the men to stop. Even as the men are rude to her about her height, she doesn’t back down. She then tells the men to lead the tram and Ebba and Ariel get off. It’s just Ebba and Ariel on the bus bench as they watch a police car chase the runaway tram. They both laugh together.

It’s very rare that a film can take the topic of transphobia and make a comical situation. Here we have a case of a woman with dwarfism who steals the train and the trans woman whom the woman prevents from being attacked. It’s almost as if the runaway tram was a miracle for Ariel as it prevented physical abuse from happening. Not to mention the eventual comeuppance of the transphobes as both Ebba and Ariel see the police car chasing the tram on a bench. Both are cold, but they’re both safe, unlike the transphobes. And an unlikely friendship to boot!

The Red Suitcase (dir. Cyrus Neshvad) – Ariane, a young woman from Iran, has just arrived at the Luxembourg airport. She looks fearful. She has her red suitcase but refuses to leave past security. This causes suspicion among the guards and they check her suitcase. All that’s inside is clothes, pencil drawings. and art supplies. Nothing threatening. The true threat is past security. A middle-aged man her father arranged for her to marry. Her father even instructs her to approach the man through text message. Ariane has to escape and try to avoid catching his eye. She tries to get her money exchanged for Euros. It doesn’t exchange to much. She then tries to go out to look for an escape. She sees an airport bus and boards it, using her exchanged money to get on. Meanwhile the man is impatient as he has a big wedding planned that day. He received a message from Ariane’s father that her flight has arrived. He notices her money envelope so he knows she is outside. He searches in the bus area. He boards the very bus Ariane is on. Ariane finds an escape. He sees her suitcase but can’t find her. Ariane hides herself in the baggage area of the bus and won’t leave until it’s safe. Even a text from her father promising if she returns home, she can have anything won’t calm her. Then the bus drives off with the man on board and Ariane still at the airport.

The theme over here has to be the subject of arranged marriages. This is especially an important film as the Iranian feminist movement has been fighting for their freedoms since October. Those scenes where Ariane takes off her hijab and one where she cuts her hair are definitely part of the message. Even though the film is important because of its subject matter, the way the film plays out as we see one side of the subject matter and we learn more as it goes along is a creative element. Even the scenes of near-misses add to the intensity. We all wants Ariane to avoid being with the husband she doesn’t want, but we fear for her safety. We get the relief at the very end. Ariane is alone at the airport with all her money spent and without her suitcase, but she is free. It’s because of this that I designate this film as my Should Win pick.

And there you have it. That sums it up for the Animated and Live-Action short films nominated for this year’s Oscars. Those that aren’t normally film buffs, watching these shorts are more worth it than you think!

World Cup 2022 Preview: Group F

Jon The Blogcentric2 Comments

As we move on throughout the groups, just to let you know it’s not easy to make a call on which groups are going to qualify and which aren’t. Even the surest of sure shots aren’t a guarantee.

Some may wonder why I include past games as references for how I feel teams are going to do. Sure, it’s most often a case that they did not play the same teams before in the recent past, like the past year and a half. However past play can tell a lot about a team. It may not tell everything, but it does give a good sense of how the team is doing. I’m also aware that such a viewpoint isn’t all that accurate either. A team could be lackluster in qualifying and in friendlies but suddenly come alive at the World Cup. Plus the COVID pandemic changed a lot. Players were out of training as a team for months, games were cancelled and tournaments were delayed. How each team dealt with the pandemic differed team by team. How some of the bigger-name teams do here in Qatar will tell a lot of how the pandemic affected them. Whether they dealt with it best or whether they were hit hard.

Next group of focus is Group F. Interesting is that two of the teams in this group are teams that both finished in the Top 3 of the last World Cup! It’s all about the luck of the draw how we get these World Cup groups, or sometimes lack thereof.. This is a very interesting mix of nations, as I’ll review henceforth:

-Belgium (2): The run of The Red Devils’s luck actually started with their failure to qualify for Euro 2012. It began as they hired Marc Wilmots who played for three World Cups as coach. Soon the changes were noticed. They qualified for the 2014 World Cup with one game to go and got as far as the quarterfinals during the Cup. Their “Golden Generation” was just being born, but not without bumps. After they only got as far as the quarterfinals in Euro 2016, Wilmots was replaced by Spanish coach Roberto Martinez. Martinez led Belgium to its best-ever World Cup finish in Russia 2018: third. Belgium still ranks as one of the top teams in the world.

Despite only going as far as the quarterfinals in Euro 2020, Martinez is still head coach. Many of the big names from 2018 — Vertonghen, the Hazard brothers, de Bruyne, Alderweireld, Witsel, Lukaku — are back, along with some new faces. The World Cup squad has eight players that rank among Belgium’s ten most capped players ever. Recent wins include Estonia, Poland and Burkina Faso. They drew against Ireland and had a win and a draw against Wales. They also lost both their recent games against the Netherlands. Qatar is the stage for Belgium to continue their greatness and even reach new levels.

-Canada (41): For Canada, the World Cup has been mostly an ethnic affair. In the past, the team only qualified for the 1986 World Cup. Since then, Canadians normally cheer for the team of their ethnic background at the World Cup or just simply pick a favorite. Things really changed leading up to the qualifying rounds. In 2018, they hired John Herdman, who guided Canada’s women’s team to be a top power, to be their coach. The turnaround was amazing. In the first round of CONCACAF qualifying, Canada won all four of their games. In the second round, which consists of a single game, Canada won their match against Haiti thanks to a single goal by Cyle Larin. In the third round which consisted of eight teams and fourteen games, Canada clinched qualification with one game to go! They ended the round with the best results of all CONCACAF teams.

You can be sure the Maple Leafs want to deliver a good show this World Cup. Back in 1986, they lost all three of their group stage games, scored no goals and conceded five. Most of the current squad play for teams of the MLS. Active on the team are Atiba Hutchison, Milan Borlan and Samuel Piette who all rank among Canada’s ten most capped players ever. Also on the team are Cyle Larin and Jonathan David who are Canada’s two biggest goalscorers ever. Not to mention forward Alphonso Davies, who is a rising talent at 22 and considered one of the best full-backs in the world. As for their Group F opponents, Canada has never previously played Croatia, and they’ve never had a win against Belgium or Morocco. Their most recent wins came to Mexico, the US and Japan. They had a recent 2-2 draw to Bahrain. They’ve also had recent losses to Costa Rica, Uruguay and Honduras. Whatever the situation, Qatar is the area for Canada to go better than they ever have before, and maybe even pull a surprise or two.

-Morocco (22): Morocco is a sentimental favorite for many. They are the first African team to qualify for a World Cup, back in 1970. They are the first African team to qualify for a World Cup knockout stage, back in 1986. However they’ve continuously been trying to get their team’s top form back and even trying to take the team to new levels. Their last World Cup had them out in the group stage and their last Africa Cup in 2021 had them out in the quarterfinals.

Managing the Atlas Lions is French-born Moroccan Walid Regagui who played for France’s Ligue 1 team Toulouse and represented Morocco at the 2004 African Cup. Regagui was named Moroccan head coach this August 31st. The current team plays for a wide variety of teams in European leagues and leagues in Arab countries. Recent wins they’ve achieved include Chile, Ghana and South Africa. They’ve had a win and a draw against DR Congo. They’ve also endured recent losses to Egypt and the United States. 2022 is Another chance for Morocco to write another chapter for the team.

-Croatia (12): There’s one World Cup rule that you should never dismiss the “minnows.” That especially holds true for Croatia. They’ve only been in five previous World Cup s since their independence but when Vatreni are on, they go way further than expected. That was especially made true when they made it to the World Cup final in Russia 2018. Their player Luka Modric was also awarded the Golden Ball for being the top player of the Cup and won the Ballon D’or that same year.

The team’s coaching staff is predominantly Croatian with Zlatko Dalic head coach since 2017.Modric is back and is captain of the team. Returning with Modric are other renowned players Ivan Perisic, Dejan Lovren and Domagoj Vida. Most of the team plays for teams in either Germany’s Bundesliga, Italy’s Serie A , or Croatia’s Prva HNL. Recent wins include Bulgaria, Denmark and France (for the first time ever!). Recent draws also include France along with Slovenia. Their only loss came to Austria in UEFA Nations Cup play. Nothing is guaranteed in football. One thing that can be certain is Croatia can go further than you expect it to.

My Prediction: It never fails. Once I’m done reviewing, I have to predict the two that will advance. For this group, I anticipate the advancers to be Belgium and Croatia. Best chances for an upset will be Morocco. With the World Cup being played in a desert climate, they could do it.

And there you go. This is my review of the Group F teams and prediction. Only just six days to go until the start of the big event. Already close to 3 million tickets have been sold. Stay tuned!

VIFF 2022 Wraps Up With Excitement

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In the past, you’d have to wait until late in November for my VIFF wrap-up blog. However this was one of those years I could only stay for half the Festival. I will get into my reason why I didn’t take in the full festival later in my blog.

Anyways the Vancouver International Film Festival wrapped its 2022 Festival up on Sunday, October 9th. Just in time for people to have their Thanksgiving dinner! The Festival consisted of over 200 short and feature-length films from 74 countries. The films were a wide range including Oscar contenders, documentaries, short films, animation and various Canadian films. With the return of the VIFF to the International Village, it allowed for more opportunities for films to be seen on the big screen and less through the VIFF Connect streaming service. The Festival also brought back more features of VIFF Amp and VIFF Immersed and also allowed for some fun with a classic church performance of Nosferatu!

The showcasing of films went well. Once again, people were up to giving their opinions with the ballots they were handed after the film. And awards were handed out. Here are the award-winning films:

JURIED AWARDS

Best Canadian Film
Presented by the Directors Guild of Canada
Winner: Riceboy Sleeps (dir. Anthony Shim)
Special Mention: Queens Of The Qing Dynasty (dir. Ashley McKenzie)

Best Canadian Documentary
Presented by Rogers Group Of Funds
Winner: Geographies Of Solitude (dir. Jacquelyne Mills)
Special Mention: Ever Deadly (dirs. Tanya Tagaq & Chelsea McMullan)

Vanguard Award
Presented by the Lochmaddy Foundation
Winner: Other Cannibals (dir. Francesco Sossai)
Special Mention: Tortoise Under The Earth (dir. Shishir Jha)

Emerging Canadian Director
Presented by Directors Guild of Canada
Winner: Charlotte LeBon – Falcon Lake
Special Mention: Sophie Jarvis – Until Branches Bend

Best BC Film
Presented by Creative BC and Company 3
Winner: Until Branches Bend (dir. Sophie Jarvis)
Special Mention: The Klabona Keepers (dirs. Tamo Campos & Jasper Snow-Rosen)

Best Canadian Short Film
Presented by VIFF and William F. White International
Winner: Baba (dirs. Meran Ismaelsoy & Anya Chirkova)
Special Mentions: Heartbeat Of A Nation (dir. Eric Janvier) and Agony (dir. Arnaud Beaudoux)

AUDIENCE AWARDS

Galas And Special Presentations
Winner: The Grizzlie Truth (dir. Kathleen S. Jayme)

Showcase
Winner: Crystal Pite: Angels’ Atlas (dir. Chelsea McMullan)

Panorama
Winner: The Blue Caftan (dir. Maryam Touzani)

Vanguard
Winner: Harvest Moon (dir. Amarsaikhan Baljinnyam)

Northern Lights
Winner: Riceboy Sleeps (dir. Anthony Shim)

Insights
Winner: The Klabona Keepers (dirs. Tamo Campos & Jasper Snow-Rosen)

Spectrum
Winner: The Hermit Of Treig (dir. Lizzie MacKenzie)

Portraits
Winner: Lay Down Your Heart (dir. Marie Clements)

Altered States
Winner: Rodeo (dir. Lola Quivoron)

And now for my volunteering experience this year. This was a rare year I could only stay for half of the Film Festival. My sister was to have her wedding in Winnipeg on Saturday October 8th. She and her husband married two years earlier, but it was a private ceremony due to the pandemic. They still aimed for that particular day in October 2020 because it would mark the milestone of the anniversary of the day they first met. They tied the knot that day, pandemic or no pandemic. Nevertheless they still wanted a ceremony for the family. After two long years, they got sick of waiting and decided to have it in Winnipeg that day.

For me and my love for the VIFF, that meant I had to cram my volunteering. When I applied, I let them know that it may be possible I can’t do the full amount of expected shifts and explained why. The person in charge of volunteering was good about it. They said they understood and had no problem. Especially since they checked back with my past supervisors and they gave me good word. When shifts were allotted, I rushed to book to the best of my availability and to have it completed in good time before my departure.

The venue I was given was the International Village Cinemas. The dates I chose were the opening day, Thursday the 29th, Saturday the 1st and Sunday the 2nd. All were evening shifts. On the first day, Vancouver was going through a heat wave that wouldn’t end. I swore if it continued to be hot on the weekend, I’d wear shorts. On my first shift, I was given line control. Lines for the films were to be separate from the regular Cineplex patrons to the cinema on the third floor. Those who wanted to see films had to stand in line on the second floor, or if there was a film with huge demand, the standby line on the ground level. Thursday’s line control wasn’t as tiring. Saturday’s line control was a lot busier as I had to do line control for many films that were big attractions. The most annoying thing about line control for the International Village wasn’t exactly the lines, but the smell of the garbage area. The mall didn’t have their main-floor garbage area doors locked and you could smell it even on the second floor!

For Sunday, I lucked out. I was an usher. I could lead people to their seats, take ballots for films finishing, do some clean-up, scan tickets, and even watch some of the films! That was the treat since line control wouldn’t have me see the films. I had no problem with it. I knew for years when we volunteer, our top duty is to be an usher. Watching films depends on the luck of the position. Sunday ended up being my lucky day as I was able to see Music Pictures: New Orleans and Like A Fish On The Moon. For watching films outside of volunteer times, my first chance was the evening of Friday the 30th where I saw two films at the Cinematheque: Love Will Come Later and The Word. My next chance was the afternoon of Saturday the 1st when I saw Klondike. That fulfilled one of my annual VIFF Goals to see a nation’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature Film, and would end up being the only one of my three annual VIFF Goals that I achieved!. My last chance to see a film was the late evening of Monday the 3rd. The last film showing that night was Riverside Mukolitta. That was a delight to see.

And that was it: six films. With my work and having to finally fly out to Winnipeg on Wednesday the 5th, that ended up being it. During the Festival, I attempted to see films on VIFF Connect from a computer in Winnipeg. I was even willing to pay the regular box office fee to do so. VIFF Connect only allows viewership in BC! So six ended up being it. I didn’t fulfill all my film goals and I didn’t have too much opportunity to chat with others I had not seen in a long time, but I’ll make up for it next year! Yes, I’m glad I went to the wedding. It would be ridiculous for me to hold it against my short time at VIFF. Nevertheless I still look forward to a good full VIFF next year.

So to end my wrap-up, I have to say it was great being back at the International Village. It was enjoyable getting to talk with other volunteers and reconnecting with others. Also I was happy with all six of the films I saw. It was a shame I could only do half of the festival. But I intend to make up for it big time at the Vancouver Film Festival of 2023!

The VIFF Is Back For 2022

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I know it’s been a long time since I blogged. Normally I would fill my summer blogging with a major football event. However the World Cup doesn’t start until November. In addition, this summer I was involved in a heavy duty post-secondary course that took up a lot of my time. However the VIFF is starting up soon so now I’ve got my drive back.

The Vancouver International Film Festival returns. This year, the Festival is an eleven-day event from Thursday September 29th to Sunday October 9th. The Festival this year is a move to having less streaming on VIFFConnect and more getting people to return to the theatres. This year, VIFF returns to having films at the International Village like they did back in 2019.

Me, I will be volunteering this year at the International Village as an usher. This is the first time in three years I will volunteer there. Each year, I talk about my VIFF goals including the three that stand out: Canadian feature, shorts segment, foreign-language Oscar contender. This year is different as I will be leaving Vancouver in the middle of the Fest to attend a wedding. I will have to cut my film-watching short. However I do still have a goal of seeing at least seven films. We’ll see how the week goes. Also it depends if I’m lucky with my volunteer position for each film. Yes, you will get reviews from me. Some of you remember I still had reviews to post but I ran out of energy. You can thank an accounting class for that. But I’m sure I’ll have the energy to post reviews for all the films I see this year.

The Vancouver International Film Festival isn’t just about films. It also has a wide variety of events related to film and the industry including talks from business insiders, high school programs, interactive exhibitions and even an orchestrated replay of a silent film taking place at a church. Here’s what’s on the roster for this year’s VIFF:

VIFF Talks: This year’s VIFF Talks include Brother director Clement Virgo; Avatar costume designer Deborah Lynn Scott who will deliver a masterclass, Dean Fleischer Camp who will showcase his new short film Marcel The Shell With Shoes On.

VIFF Industry and VIFF Labs: VIFF Industry holds talks from industry professionals this year include such topics as filmmaker’s influence on climate change, showrunners of sci-fi talking of their craft, the challenges and opportunities of international coproduction in Canada, shooting analog and guests from the Directors Guild of Canada. VIFF Labs allow people in film to cultivate their craft and is for invitation-only groups.

VIFF Amp: Once again, VIFF Amp explores the connection of music and sound in film. Guest speakers include film score composers, music supervisors, songwriters and managers. Events include masterclasses, case studies, panel discussions, networking, breakout sessions and musical showcases. All are meant to promote up and coming musicians, especially from marginalized communities, to a thriving future in film.

Signals: In the past, it was VIFF Immersed that showcased the latest in virtual reality. Now it’s renames Signals. The interactive exhibitions are back. There’s more variety of new technologies including virtual production, volumetric capture, holograms, and VR/AR/XR technologies.

An Evening With Michael Abels: The composer who composed scores to Jordan Peele films like Get Out, Us, and Nope will be at the Vancouver Playhouse for a night of insight, creativity and his music performed by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra.

Nosferatu 100 by Big Kill: Pop group Big Kill set the score of gothic pop for a resurrection of Nosferatu in what is it’s 100th anniversary. Set at St. Andrew’s-Wesley Church for the right goth feel, this promises to be an experience like no other!

And of course with the Vancouver Film Festival comes films. There are 130 films and 100 shorts from 74 countries. Theatres include the VanCity theatre (the main theatre only), the International Village, Rio Theatre, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre, Centre for the Performing Arts, Cinematheque and the SFU Goldthorp Theatre. There’s a lot to look forward to and to watch at the Film Festival. Here’s a sneak peak of some of the biggest highlights:

OPENING GALA: Bones Of Crows-Marie Clements directs a story of a Metis woman who goes through the 20th Century enduring the harsh systemic racism forced upon her from residential schooling to enlisting in the army for World War II.

CLOSING GALA: Broker- Directed by Hizoraku Kore-eda, this story starring Parasite’s Song Hang-Ko about a man conducting a baby adoption scam in Korea. It’s described to be as touching as it is comedic. Song’s performance won the Best Actor award at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Banshees Of Inisherin- directed by Martin McDonagh, this story starring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson is of two good friends in Ireland in the 1920’s whose friendship takes a turn for the worse and their enmity has the whole village consumed.

Corsage- directed by Marie Kreutzer, this Austrian film is a comedy of 19th Century Austrian empress Elisabeth. Elisabeth is nearing 40 and struggles with her appearance. Meanwhile she has been politically sidelined against her will and starts acting out. Vicky Krieps’ performance won a special award for performance at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Decision To Leave-Another South Korean film with buzz. By director Park Chan-wook, this story is of a homicide director who falls in love with the Chinese widow of a bureaucrat who committed suicide. At this year’s Cannes Festival, Park won Best Director.

Empire Of Light-Directed by Sam Mendes, this is a story of an English woman who works a cinema job in the early 80’s. Soon she is taken aback by her black co-worker. She strikes up a romance, but it does not go well in the Thatcher-dominated UK of the 1980’s.

EO-Polish director Jerzy Skolimowski directs a story of a donkey who first starts life as a circus performer in Poland. Animal rights activists change everything and his life is changed where he goes from being a part of a petting zoo to playing a Polish soccer game to encountering a countess. Shared winner of the Prix du Jury at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

The Grizzlie Truth-Directed by Kathleen S. Jayme, this is a documentary of the ill-fated Vancouver Grizzlies of the NBA. Despite the Grizzlies’ short life in Vancouver, Jayme remained a true fan and she goes in and connects with former players and fans alike.

One Fine Morning-Directed by Mia Hansen-Love, this is a film situated in Paris. Sandra, played by Lea Seydoux, is going through financial difficulties and it’s made even more complicated as her father is suffering with Benson’s syndrome and needs to be place in a care facility. During that time, she has an affair with a past friend she meets again by chance.

The Son- Directed by Florian Zeller, this film is the story of a 17 year-old boy struggling to find himself. He feels he has to leave his mother to be with his father (played by Hugh Jackman), but the father’s new family and the son’s struggle with depression may prove to be too much.

Stars At Noon- Directed by Claire Denis, this film is a story of a young American journalist who has her passport seized. She tried to do whatever she can to make it out, but when she falls for a British man, what she thought was her way out was a path to worse trouble. Shared winner of the Cannes Grand Prix.

Triangle Of Sadness-Winner of the Cannes Palm d’Or. Directed by Ruben Ostlund, An influencer couple go on a luxury cruise for the mega-rich. During that time, they contemplate their status and their relationship. Along with a captain (Woody Harrelson) that is arrogant and quotes Marx, this cruise is bound to hit stormy weather.

The Whale-Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this film focuses on a morbidly obese teacher, played by Brendan Fraser. Turns out his eating is a suicide attempt in order to be reunited with his dead boyfriend. Will reuniting with his estranged teenage daughter change that?

Women Talking- Sarah Polley directs a story adapted from the novel by Miriam Toews. News has hit a Mennonite community in Canada that a colony in Bolivia has systematically abused over 100 women over a two year period. Eight women in the Canadian community were among the victims and they try to make sense of it all.

And there you go! There’s a sneak peak of what to expect at the 2022 Vancouver Film Festival. For more information and to buy tickets for yourself, just go to: https://viff.org/

2021 Oscars Shorts Review: Animation and Live-Action

Jon The Blogcentric1 Comment

Last year, I was only able to see the Oscar-nominated short films online through VIFF Connect. This year, they returned back to the theatre. I had the good fortune to see the nominated films for both the Animated and Live-Action categories. All the films are unique and deserving of their nominations. Here’s my review of the nominated films for Animation and Live-Action:

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM

Affairs Of The Art (dir. Joanna Quinn) – Beryl is a struggling artist. She comes from an eccentric family. She has a sister whom, as a younger child, had a fixation with deceased animals and dissecting them. It paid off for her as her sister has done a very profitable post mortem business in Los Angeles and has attracted many big name celebrities. Beryl has always had an obsession with drawing and colors and has a goal of being an ‘artiste of note,’ but it’s only paid off very humbly for her. How can she make it work?

This is a charming animated film. Full of quirky drawings with a quirky story and charming characters. Not to mention very colorful 2D animation. It’s a story that will get you either laughing or weirded out. You will find yourself liking it in the end.

Bestia (dir. Hugo Covarrubias) – This stop-motion animated film tells the story of a Chilean woman. She has a good relationship with her dog. The outside world on the other hand, she is savage to. She is cold and calculated in every move she does. She cuts her meat in sinister fashion. Whenever she plays music, it’s in cold fashion. And she’s cold to the people she meets. She just comes as a very sadistic emotionless person.

The character is inspired by a female prison guard who is one of the most infamous Chileans ever. The film in stop-motion is done excellently giving a cold feel of the story. Although most of us outside of Chile may never know this person, it does an excellent job in capturing someone cold, merciless and emotionless. Also a reminder of how Chile still harbors silent wrath over some of its past infamy.

BoxBallet (dir. Anton Dyakov) – The film is a story of two people. One is a female ballet dancer, slender and graceful. The other is a male boxer, rough and laden with visible scars. Boy meets girl and opposites attract. But can it result in love? What unfolds is a love story between two people that one would not expect to see happen.

This is another charming 2D animation story. It has its own quirky style of animating and telling the story. The visuals are comedic and entertaining to watch. The story does seem odd at first, but the relationship and the story does come across as right in the end. Very enjoyable.

Robin Robin (dirs. Dan Ojari and Mikey Please) – This is a sweet fable of a robin who is raised by mice since birth. The mice have a habit of stealing from humans houses. But every time they attempt stealing, the robin gets the ‘who-mans’ angry and after them. It happens every time. The Robin breaks the top rule of their stealing: “Don’t attract attention.” And now they’re down to the last house in the neighborhood. On Christmas, the robin wants to prove to the mice, and a cat who’s pursuing her, that she can be a good mouse and steal the Christmas Star. In her attempt she fails again, but she later learns a lesson of self-acceptance.

This is a charming story, a fable put to good visuals, Kind of what most of us expect of animation. Aardman Animations, the studio famous for the Wallace and Gromit and Shaun The Sheep movies, does an excellent job in telling the story with great visuals and great characters in its short time. A charming delight for all to see. It’s because of this I give it my Should Win and Will Win picks.

The Windshield Wiper (dir. Alberto Mielgo) – Inside a cafe, a man is smoking a whole pack of cigarettes and reading a newspaper. Then he poses a question he asks all of us: “What is love?” The film then goes over his narrative of how humans view love along with visual images of dates, encounters and even dating apps.

The film is a 2D film full of visuals that are key to telling the story. It gives us colors and various images that we can identify with and also add more significance to what the man is talking about. Funny thing is in these 2D images, we can see us. Sometimes it makes it look like humans nowadays are more clueless about love than ever!

To sum up the five nominated films, all are good in their storytelling. Some are 2D and some 3D. All have their own different style. No two are alike. What’s most surprising is that none of the films shown before the Disney Studios or Disney Pixar films were nominated this year! Most years, one of the films is nominated. That’s a surprise!

BEST LIVE-ACTION SHORT FILM

Ala Kachuu: Take And Run (dir. Maria Brendle) – Sezim is a young girl in a village in Kyrgyzstan who dreams of going to college. Her friend Aksana is supportive of her and arranges an interview with the college for her. She even gives her a brief driving lesson. This does not sit well with Sezim’s mother who wants her to be more traditional. One day while working at the bakery, three men come looking for one of her female co workers. The co-worker is absent for her shift. They first leave, but then return to abduct her and have her married off to a man she never met before. This breaks Sezim’s heart because she had so many future goals. Her mother is very approving. The village is supportive of this and her husband acts loving to her. However Sezim is frustrated and needs to find a way to escape. Can she seize the opportunity?

This is an excellent film from director Maria Brendle. It deals with the taboo of marriage-by-capture or “bridenappings.” This is something that is happening in many countries. In most of them, they’re illegal, but law officials are too laxed to enforce the law. Traditionalists often embrace it as the way to be. Often the woman is pressured to stay in the marriage by the society and even her families. This story puts a human image to this taboo issue. Even seeing of how her mother is approving of this sends a message of one of the barriers to stop it. That scene where Oksana is searching for Sezim, but her mother talks scornfully to her about her independent way of living also adds to how traditionalism adds to this problem. Even the attitude of traditionalists to “city girls” says a lot about this issue. It’s because of how a hot but taboo topic is tackled is why I give it my Should Win pick.

The Dress (dir. Tadeusz Lysiak) – Julia is a woman with dwarfism in her thirties who works cleaning motel rooms. She’s been single all her life. Her best friend, Renata, her co-worker for years, is a full-grown divorced woman and the mother of three. Julia often confides to Renata her personal feelings. Julia hates feeling like a misfit. She strongly feels if she was “normal-sized,” she’d have a man in her life. One day, she attracts a patron named Bogdan. She later learns Bogdan lives in the same building as her. Bogdan has been showing attraction to her, but it’s hard to date since he has a trucking job where he frequently goes to Kyiv and back. Could she finally have a chance at love? Julia always dreamed of having a nice dress. Renata helps assemble a dress for her for the big night. The big night between her and Bogdan finally happens, but it turns out to end not how she expected at all.

This is a story you want to have a happy ending. Like finally Julia meeting the man of her dreams. Finally Julia’s in love. Instead, Bogdan turns out to be a misogynist. The ending of the film leaves you wondering if the overall message of the film is about the way women are treated. Julia learned Bogdan gets misogynist in his lust, but Renata has an abusive husband. Maybe the message is saying that it doesn’t matter whether a woman is full sized or small like Julia. Women share the same struggle with their treatment from men. I mean the story appears to be one about a woman with dwarfism searching for a purpose or a belonging but maybe it was meant to be something else.

The Long Goodbye (dirs. Aniel Karia and Riz Ahmed) – The film begins with an Indian family in the UK getting ready for a wedding. Everyone in the house is excited and panicking at the same time. They all want to look their best but will they be ready? However the simple concerns about being dressed properly end as they notice a group of white nationalists enter their area with a van and a gun. Riz is the first to notice and warn the family, but it’s too late. The nationalists enter and demand the family get out of the house where they are lying down on the street. Then one of the men shoots five of his family. Riz gets up and does a rap full of anger about British imperialism and how his people have been treated by the UK in history.

White nationalism is on the rise in many countries, including the UK. Something that many were hoping to see become a thing of the past has seen a recent resurgence as many right-leaning politicians in the world have help embolden racists and stimulated in them a will to be more vocal. Most threatened are the racial minorities. Like families from India who come to settle in the UK. And this is where Riz starts his angry rap about where he’s from. They came to the UK to get a better life only to get this racist incident. He doesn’t know whether to see the UK as a country of opportunity or this monster who’s constantly running his people through the mud time and time again. The mix of drama and Riz’s rap really makes a strong angry statement. He concludes it well when he says “Where I’m from is not your problem, bro.” That’s why I give it my Will Win pick.

On My Mind (dir. Martin Strange-Hansen) – It’s morning in a bar in Denmark owned by a husband and wife named Preben and Louise. Louise doesn’t have too many customers to serve which allows Preben to do accounting of all the receipts from the previous night. A depressed-looking disheveled man comes into the bar and asks for a large amount of a whisky. His name is Henrik. As he’s drinking, he notices the bar has a karaoke microphone. He asks Louise if he can do a song for his wife: the country song “Always On My Mind.” The problem is the karaoke system isn’t on until the evening. Henrik can’t wait until the evening. He has to do it now. He even gives the two 500 Krone to do it. Preben is stingy about it, but Louise is more willing. Preben begrudgingly allows him one chance. Henrik starts singing and Louise records his singing on his smartphone, but it’s interrupted by a message. Henrik attempts to do it again, but Preben cuts the power to the screen. He’s had it with him, especially since running the karaoke machine is costly. He even gives Henrik his money back, but it’s there when Henrik explains the reason why this is so important; his wife doesn’t even have an hour to live. It’s there when Preben is willing. Henrik is finally able to complete his rendition of the song and play for his wife to hear, even if she’s brain-dead when he plays it for her.

At the end of the showing of the shorts, I was with some Danish students who said it’s very common in Danish student movies to have it set in a bar. I never knew that. Whatever the situation, this is a good story. You think it’s one thing but it turns out to be something more instead. You think it’s a simple karaoke song, but instead it’s Henrik’s last opportunity to tell his wife he loves her. Even though she’s brain-dead, he senses she got the message. The film gets you believing in the human soul and it convinces you the love between Henrik and his wife is eternal. Not just “til death do us part.”

Please Hold (dirs. K. D. Davila and Levin Menekse) – A young man named Matteo is just living his life normally when all of a sudden, a police drone, gun and all, has let him know he’s under arrest. He’s ordered to enter the automated police car which takes him to the automated holding centre. He’s instructed to go to his cell, where he’s unattended and supervised by video cameras. He can see a lawyer, but it’s through an online legal service where lawyers meet through Zoom-style meetings. Making phone calls to anyone is very costly and credits can be earned back through time or hobbies automatically delivered. That’s especially frustrating since Matteo is in danger of being sentenced to over 20 years in prison. He needs a lawyer bad. He takes a knitting hobby which he slowly earns credit. He does get the lawyer money he needs from his mother, but the appointment fizzles out, leaving him extremely frustrated. However there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

This is a very unique “What If” scenario. We have computers and Zoom meetings taking care of a lot of our duties. Can we really trust an automated justice system or police drones? Sure, the flesh-and-blood police have lost a lot of our trust, but replaced by computers? This film seems to think computerized technology can’t replace human interaction. Also Matteo’s scenario of being in a prison where he can only communicate through automation could even remind a lot of people of the pandemic and of its tightest days of how people had to confine themselves to their houses. A lot of ways you can look at this film.

To sum up the nominated Live-Action Shorts nominees, all of them are very good films. There are a lot of stories that are well thought-out and some stories that end up being more than what one originally expects. Some have topics that are very relevant to what’s happening now, like about racism and sexism. There’s one that focuses on a futuristic topic and fancies what the future of justice will be like, which is nothing to fancy over. And there’s one about a universal topic of love beyond death that has always been one of thought and continues to be one of thought.

And there you go. This is my summary of the films nominated for the Oscars for Best Animated Short Film and Best Live Action Short Film. Hope you’re lucky enough to catch them in the movie theatre like I did. Some may be seen on streaming services or YouTube, but the big screen experience can’t be beat.

VIFF 2021 Review: Drunken Birds (Les oiseaux ivres)

Jon The BlogcentricLeave a comment
A Mexican migrant worker in search of the woman he loves (played by Jorge Antonio Guerrero) is the centerpiece of the Canadian film Drunken Birds.

Drunken Birds is Canada’s official entry in the 2021 Academy Awards category of Best International Feature Film. It’s a film that meshes French with Spanish and Chinese to create a film that stands out.

The story begins with a Mexican family inside an apartment in Montreal. We learn of a man who’s searching for a woman named Marlena. Flash back many years ago. Workers for an arrested drug lord in Mexico chase down a car with a burning top. They then chase a worker for the cartel by the name of Willy down. They know what he’s been doing behind the drug lord’s back the whole time and they warn him at gunpoint.

Flask forward to the present to the Becotte farm near Montreal. The boss, Richard Becotte, is the latest to run a vegetable farm of his family going back many generations. He’s fair to the Mexican migrant workers who agree to work, but strict. Show up at 5:30am or no pay for the day. There are many who are returning, but there are some new men, including Willy. Willy does his work along with the other men, but he doesn’t really care about the pay. All that matters is he finds Marlena. In fact while the men communicate on Skype or Zoom with their wives, children and other family, Willy uses his time to search for Marlena, who has gone by a pseudonym. He has a feeling Marena lives in Montreal.

Flash back to many years ago. A Chinese art studio is given orders to either make replicas of legendary paintings of painting versions of photos. One of the photos is the picture of the Mexican mob boss. Flash to months later but still in the past, police visit the house of the drug lord some time after it was raided and the boss arrested. They talk of admiration of how they brought this tyrant with many riches down. They also notice a letter from his young wife Marlena that appears to be a suicide note. Instead it was a letter Marlena concocted with the help of Willy to plan her escape. Turns out before the raid, Willy was the ‘other man’ of Marlena. Marlena’s true love. A love that had to be kept complete secret. Four years ago, the two decided to escape together, but go their separate ways after that. Willy has been searching for Marlena for four years. He’s tried places in Mexico, knowing her pseudonym. Now hes here in Montreal hoping he’ll be able to find her here once and for all.

However the Becotte family have friction of their own. Last year in their cornfield, Julie had an affair with one of the workers. Daughter Lea knows about this and she confronts her mother about this, even mentioning Richard knows about it. This is hard to deal with as now Julie is starting to take a liking to Willy as she drives him off to a place. Meanwhile Lea is becoming an adult and she rebels against her parents. She’s trying to fit in with her friends and even try her way into the Montreal night club scene. She’s willing to try anything, including drugs and prostitution. Actually racers for the Montreal Grand Prix are in town from around the world. Lea is hoping to hook up with one of the racers and make some money. Her pimp gives her a pager and puts a drug in her mouth. She does win a driver and gets taken into his hotel room, but she leaves him, and the pimp’s phone, behind. She’s on the streets and dreams of being met up with the racer in his car, but awakens to find herself beaten up by the pimp.

Willy notices a beaten Lea in tears. He takes her in his arms and tends to her. However Richard comes in and mistakes Willy as the man who beat Lea up. Willy is in pursuit and tries to run off. However in a rainy night as he is chased in by a truck back to the Becotte farm, Richard has his men and he’s ready to square off with Willy. Richard shouts spiteful things to Willy and the Mexicans, blaming them for what happens to Lea. As the men try to beat Willy up, the Mexicans defend Willy and start charging at Richard’s men. Willy is able to find his way out and hide in a cornfield. Richard tries to search, expecting Willy to come out, but to no avail. Richard soon learns he has to make peace with his family. In the end, willy didn’t stop running. He made it to Montreal for his main goal: to find Marlena. The film ends in an expected but unexpected way.

This is a unique story. It’s a story of two worlds. The world of the past in Mexico and the world of the present as part of a farm. It’s a story of a man in search of the woman he loves and the story of a family that appears falling apart. It’s a story that deals with the issue of migrant workers and how they’re treated by their bosses in Canada. At the same time, it’s a story that blends in a colorful romance. It’s like two films in one in many ways. It’s not easy to mix the two, but it’s done successfully here.

In a lot of ways, this film shows a lot of similarities between both scenarios. Here we have Willy who’s the object of the kingpin wife’s desire. It’s a desire they have to keep well-hidden or else Willy will be killed. Both have to move on after the kingpin is arrested and his mansion raided. In Canada, we have the farm-leader’s wife who falls for the migrant workers. Willy becomes one of the men she falls for. It’s a case for Willy that both world’s collide with him. He has to cope with the aftermath of the raid and the immense possibility of never seeing Marlena again. He also comes across the possible danger of Richard crossing his path if he knows that he’s one of the workers Julie falls for.

Even though Willy is the centrepiece of the story, it’s not just about Willy. It’s about the Becotte family. Julie has her affairs with some of the migrant workers. Lea is upset with what she sees and claims Richard knows. Meanwhile Lea appears she wants to establish herself as an adult and she feels that means choosing her own direction, even if it is dangerous. When you see Richard and his men attempt to square off against Willy, blaming him for what happened to Lea, you can easily get the feeling Richard knows of Julie’s affairs and feels he has to take it out on at least one Mexican worker. Before he takes it out, you could notice by the look on his face he most likely blames himself for his family’s failures.

This is an impressive work from Serbian-born Canadian director Ivan Grbovic. His films like La Chute and Romeo Onze have won acclaim at past film festivals. This film hasn’t won as much acclaim outside of it’s Oscar entry. It did however earn a Platform Prize at the TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival). This is an impressive film that blends in modern storytelling with imagery of classic films and common Mexican dramas. What we have here is an excellent film that’s as much a joy to watch as it being a story that will keep you intrigued.

Jorge Antonio Guerrero is excellent as Willy. His performance as a man caught between his passion and always having to be on the run keeps you on the edge of your seat and hoping he succeeds in finding Marlena. Claude Legault is also very good as Richard. He does a good job of playing a man that’s supposed to be tough on the outside, but is hurting on the inside. Helene Florent is also good as the flirtatious Julie who later has to confront her wrongs. Also excellent is Marine Johnson as Lea. She does a great job of playing a teenager angry with her home life and wanting to break free, only to find herself more entrapped by her choices.

Drunken Birds is more than just a film with a story. It mixes modern drama with a social message and traditional Mexican drama to give the viewer a story that’s a delight to experience.