Faces Places NZIFF Review

Faces Places NZIFF Review

From its animated title openings and closings, it's clear that Faces Places is something a little bit different.

Following 88 year old French film-maker Agnes Varda and young photo-muralist JR, the documentary has a light touch to begin with that's as infectious as it is entertaining.

With the idea of heading around villages and meeting people (and in the latter half of the film, heading more into Agnes' past) in a truck that prints out murals of the photos of people they meet, Faces Places becomes a document of the ordinary people and the extraordinary stories they hold within.

It starts with a series of poetic beats almost in line with Dr Seuss as the duo discuss how they did not meet, before settling on its genial road trip MO. With Varda's dual colour hair (a Beatles mop top which is all white, tinted around the edges in brown) and the beanpole JR's refusal to take off his sunglasses and hat, it's clear this is a pair for the ages - and as their working relationship and burgeoning friendship blossoms, it falls into a very watchable rhythm.

Set against a backdrop of capturing moments for the ageing and blurred-vision Varda so that "they don't fall down the holes in my memory", there's a poignancy leant to the film which is stirring to the emotions. A sort of daytime Banksy and OAP vibe seeps through and it's contagious.

But it's given a great deal more heart when it allows the celebration of ordinary people to sing out. From the sole occupant where miners used to swarm in an abandoned village to a waitress whose fame increases after she's plastered on the side of a building, it's the smaller moments which excel in this. It's a reminder of everyone being special in some kind of way and committing that to the ages.

However, in the latter parts of the film, the focus switches onto Varda.

Perhaps with JR being deferential to his subject and realising that she needs to be celebrated, he takes pictures of her eyes close up and toes, and uses those as a subject. And as Varda's visits to her past propel the greater edges of the doco, it becomes a more intimate piece that perhaps jettisons some of the joy for a more personal melancholia and acknowledgement of mortality.

Ultimately, though, its final sequence, featuring Jean-Luc Godard feels contrived and while there's no doubting Varda's emotions at this point, the set up and its resolution feels a little contrived, a kind of punchline to a story that could be seen a mile off.

Yet, that's not to detract from the wonder that Faces Places solicits throughout.

In an irony that Varda's eyesight is failing her (a tragedy on many levels), it's the vision of what's begun that shines out here. Granted, there's plenty of joy throughout, and this is a friendship that bubbles with the respect and tensions that the best friendships have.

Faces Places is a tour de France that, for the most part, excels.

Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web: NZIFF Review

Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web: NZIFF Review

A project some 4 years in the making, Annie Goldson's fearless telling of the Dotcom saga is a compelling watch whose 2 hour run time flies by.

For Goldson, this re-telling of it all began in 2012 when the Dotcom case began after the infamous Coatesville mansion raid - and after 4 years of interest and pursuit of her subject, she finally got her man with access granted for an interview.

Taking in the locals who were interested in who was buying the house in their region (as all good parochial concerns prevail), Goldson begins to weave her own web as she spins the story of Dotcom and his involvement in New Zealand's media landscape, and his destructive dalliance with NZ politics.

Taking in a brief look at his background from hacker to infamous security consultant after he was caught and sprinkling it with a dash of his earlier years and home violence, Goldson begins to shift the pieces of the jigsaw with relative ease and aplomb. Throwing in the media environment and the effect that music downloading (Napster et al) had on that industry, Goldson starts to give context to how Dotcom's pioneering ways and innate ability to profit and self-promote from any position proved to be his downfall.

With a wide range of talking heads - from Moby to Jonathan Taplin - and deep access to personal archives, what Goldson's achieved with Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web is utterly fascinating and totally thrilling. While it really doesn't offer much new evidence in the case if you've been following it, what it does do is present the facts and some of the fictions with a simplicity that anyone can understand.

Equally, it seeks not to vilify Dotcom or to praise him either.

And while the presentation of his lavish lifestyle from profits made from Megaupload make it hard to sympathise with him, it's equally difficult to sympathise with NZ police forces whose raid on the mansion was as fundamentally bungled as it could be. Goldson even takes footage from the raid and presents it unadorned, leading to some serious laughs as one man struggles to vault over a gate - this is not a documentary that takes sides as it presents the facts, and given how Dotcom is a master of spin and a prankster of PR, this is to be applauded.

Slickly put together and with some great input from journalist David Fisher, the only time that the film stumbles is in its interview with Dotcom, using little of that freshly granted access to provide new insights into the case (though admittedly, given the police and crown wouldn't comment, that would have ended up one-sided.) Equally, a long bow drawn that John Key's sudden resignation in 2016 came about because of some involvement in the case and the mounting tensions over the GCSB is presented without evidence and feels a conspiracy too far, regardless of your political leanings.

Archive footage from Dotcom's early days and concise cuts from her interviewees not only give Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web the range it needs but provide a depth of research. Though it takes a skilled story-teller to ensure that they don't fall into the web of their own making - and Goldson never gets tangled in her own threads, keeping the film clean cut and precisely executed.

Ultimately, Kim Dotcom: Caught In The Web is a fascinating examination of the case. Its nuanced presentation and slick editing makes the complex very approachable (and bizarrely entertaining too). As an examination of surveillance tactics, copyright laws and an ongoing PR war, it's a gripping documentary by someone clearly well versed in the intricacies of the case and the innate absurdities of it all.

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy: PS4 Review

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy: PS4 Review

Released by Activision
Developed by Vicarious Visions
Platform: PS4

Crash is back.

And quite frankly, after the brief appearance in Uncharted 4 where Naughty Dog let you play a level of the original, it's about time.

Vicarious Visions has truly done the old spit and polish remaster with a rebuild up from the ground level, taking in concept art and ensuring the game looked how it should have done.

Taking in the three original games - Crash Bandicoot, Cortex Strikes Back to Warped - these were trendsetters for the PlayStation brand early on and really set the pace for platforming.

A lot's been made of how difficult and punishing the games are - but quite frankly, this high polished remaster merely re-presents what was always there in the first place. Platforming was punishing back then, but the reward for completion of Crash was truly something that felt like an achievement.

The first game is still the hardest, and while Warped feels like the game made things a little too easy, this trilogy is still way too addictive and truly compelling gaming.

Allowing you to play Coco throughout adds the different feel to the game, and it gives a nice new touch in many ways; the moves you remember from before, including the spin and jump still make Crash the basics of all platformers but it's all you really need to ensure the game's playable.

If there are errors or you die, it's truly down to you, nothing more, nothing less.

In terms of how the game looks, there's more 3D depth to Crash and the world around him - whereas the first game looked basic originally, but was still eminently playable, the new version of Crash Bandicoot adds a great deal more in terms of perspective and is gorgeous to look at.

Equally, Cortex Strikes Back and Warped look great - this is a remaster that really sparkles in HD and loses none of its playability as a result. With remastered audio and cutscenes, as well as new dialogue, you'll get the fuzzies from playing Crash again - and while it punishes you for a mis-timed jump and can see your blood boiling, it's still a sign that you start all over again the moment you die.

Crash Bandicoot: N Sane Trilogy is a beautiful ode to the past and a terrific take on the present.
Now if they could just consider making a new Crash Bandicoot game for the PlayStation, we'd all be happy.

Lady Macbeth: NZIFF Review

Lady Macbeth: NZIFF Review

"Do you have any idea the damage you can bring upon this family?"

A star is born in the devilishly sizzling William Oldroyd helmed Lady Macbeth, a reinvention of the Russian novella Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.

Florence Pugh burns up the screen as Katherine, a young bride trapped in the shackles of marriage and in a home of pure hell. With an extremely strict and brutal father-in-law and a husband who has no interest in her other than barking orders, this repressed bride finds life dull and boring.

Coming across a new stablehand Sebastian (Cosmo Jarvis), Katherine falls into lust - and the inevitable happens. However, plotting to escape the confines of a positively Victorian ethos could lead to dark resolutions.

Make no mistake, Florence Pugh positively owns the screen and burns it up in this chilling tale of desire as her character goes from victim to villainess.

From Katherine's desire for Sebastian to her desire to do whatever is necessary to escape and to live a life that's her own, Pugh uses the simplest of facials and the subtlest of moves to convey this. Whether it's the sheer joy of walking outside on the moors (which she's forbidden to do) as the mist hangs low or leaving buttons undone on her pristine outfit, Pugh brings a level of physicality to the role that's compelling to watch from beginning to end. She finds happiness in the growing moral turpitude and it's unsettling and conflicting to have you root for her every small victory.

Equally, Oldroyd's helming brings a degree of clinical chilliness to proceedings.

With a stripped back soundtrack and simple eye of precision behind the camera, Oldroyd concentrates on the moments which will bring maximum shock to the screen - be warned, there are moments that will stun you as this tale of barbed feminism plays out.

Atmospherically built and viscerally sparse, Lady Macbeth is a truly seminal experience; a peek into feminist politics and a mesmerising lead make it an unmissable and gut-wrenching piece of cinema.

Brigsby Bear: NZIFF Review

Brigsby Bear: NZIFF Review

Mixing BE KIND REWIND mentality with traces of UNBREAKABLE KIMMY SCHMIDT, BRIGSBY BEAR is a low key lo-fi tribute to 80s TV and fan culture.

But scratch below and underneath that, it's about something fundamentally deeper.

James Pope (Kyle Mooney) spends every day in his room, watching a show called Brigsby Bear, about a hero who saves the universe on a regular basis.

Under the watchful eye of his parents (Mark Hamill and Jane Adams) James obeys them and avoids leaving the house because of pollution in the air.

But one day, when he's taken from the only world he's known, he finds the only way to cope is to try and imbue others with the love of Brigsby Bear.

Essentially, Brigsby Bear will be seen by many as a quirky low beat comedy that sees a slight oddball having to reintegrate, and whose mouth lets loose some very odd things for laughable effect. (To say more is to spoil the journey, and while this hints there's a big reveal, it's perhaps pertinent to say there's not, merely to acknowledge much of what happens denies the film its MO).

But at its heart, this bittersweet film is about the ongoing effect of trauma, PTSD and ongoing coping with a momentous change in life that sees everything known uprooted.

In watching James try to fit back in, Kyle Mooney's underplaying of his re-assimilating and repeating phrases is entirely reminiscent of Agent Cooper's reincarnation in Dougie Jones in Twin Peaks' latest season.

Sure, there's a childlike naïveté at play here as the infectious enthusiasm for the show is spread around (in that way that the uncool becomes retro cool), but there are also signs that James is a deeply traumatised individual who despite the coaxing around him is unable to cope with his return.

Granted those involved don't ladle on the undertones here and the subtlety pays off in swathes, but at its core,there's an undeniable sadness and rebirth at play here and it's conflicting to see it play out.

At the end of the day, Brigsby Bear is blessed with an innocence of execution which is both charming and deeply upsetting. Its central message is powerful and it's to be hoped what it's saying isn't lost on audiences willing to look past its quirks and charms.

The Lost City of Z: NZIFF Review

The Lost City of Z: NZIFF Review

More a contemplative adventure than a full-on swash-buckling colonial romp, The Lost City of Z sees a quietly soft-spoken Charlie Hunnan taking on the mantle of Brit explorer Percy Fawcett.

Unadorned of medals, and with a father who squandered the familial name, Fawcett is struggling to make his place at the turn of the century in military postings. So, when called up to the Royal Geographical Society in lieu of his mapping skills, and surrounded by fellow explorers making their own names, Fawcett feels the pull of the opportunity to provide a better life and reputation for his wife (Sienna Miller) and young family.

Posted to the Amazonian jungle and teamed with Robert Pattinson's Henry Costin, Fawcett finds his journey is blighted and simultaneously enlivened by the possibility a new civilisation lives deep within. But on returning, his claims are scoffed out, and sensing once again the chance to rid his name of ridicule, he sets out again on a quest that will consume his life.

Director James Gray isn't interested in making The Lost City of Z a thumping adventure of derring-do. In fact, it brings to mind elements of Embrace of The Serpent from a few years back at the festival - which is no bad thing.

In the wash, it's the complete opposite, a slow-moving exploration of what makes the explorer tick and the demons that consume those who've been thwarted for generations.

Frustrations among the fronds of the jungle and realistic problems mark out The Lost City Of Z as something both grand and equally languorous. Hunnam's quiet approach to Fawcett makes his hero feel infinitely more human, and when he's tackling the mores of society and the hypocrisies of belief, Fawcett emerges as a more rounded and infinitely more plausible character. Plus Hunnam's flawed Fawcett as he rails against inequality but forbids his wife from joining them on the trail speaks well to the internal conflict of narrow-minded convictions.

There's a melancholy to this adventure and it seeps through every frame as the journey to capture the feeling or re-capture the belief of what lies unexplored is laid out. Gray consumes his screen with closeness within the jungle, which doesn't lead to claustrophobia but promotes a very real sense of belonging within.

Ultimately, there's a sprawl to The Lost City of Z which seeps through your eyes as you view. Its slow pace may put some off, but its realistic view of the adventure genre is a welcome touch in what could easily have been an overblown post-modern take on colonialism and distant beliefs.

Spookers: NZIFF Review

Spookers: NZIFF Review

Kiwi director Florian Habicht is a habitual film fest offender.

His latest doco takes a look at the New Zealand institute of Spookers, a fright fest themed attraction based at the old Kingseat psychiatric hospital.

Andy and Beth Watson run the park and have set about making sure its cast of horrifying workers have a good solid workplace, as well as ensuring that visitors to the place get scared enough to deliver their own Code Browns.

It's into this world that Habicht and his non-intrusive camera and soft questioning approach head in - and what emerges from Spookers, in its first half, is a film that captures the quirk of Kiwis and the heart and soul of those who live there. Whether it's asking a zombie bride if they go to the supermarket wearing the outfit or revealing a depth to one woman who works in insurance and who channels her frustration into the scares, Habicht has an eye for ensuring there's as much heart as there is offbeat material in the film for us all to latch onto.

But it's in the back half of Spookers that it feels a little like Florian's lost his way.

Relying increasingly on more performance art pieces which feel fresh and enticing early on,  than any kind of ongoing narrative, it feels like Spookers becomes a touch repetitive and lacking in anything new to say, other than to compound its previous speakers who talk of their connection to one another.

That's not to deny the power of those stories - and while Beth and Andy seem grounded, the range of their workforce appear to have a whole heap of issues that they have to contend with. From mental health to actual health issues, the sense of community behind the make up is pervasive in Spookers and deserves to be applauded.

More interestingly the former patient and nurse of the hospital get to deliver their views on how the attraction is now, providing a contrast in perception and an ideological conflict with then and now. Habicht allows his speakers the time and space to breathe thought into these beliefs and is also smart enough to not belittle anyone in his film.

There's no denying that Spookers is an essential piece of Kiwiana and a quirky celebration of the power of family, both adopted and parental, but if the back half's structure were a little tighter and perhaps the journey a little more strongly plotted, Spookers could have risen a bit more strongly to the top.