High Life: NZIFF Review

High Life: NZIFF Review

More of a frustration than an outright success, Claire Denis' High Life is an intriguing space odyssey which doesn't quite know what exactly it wants to say.

Equal parts mesmerising and equal parts confusing to its narrative, High Life focuses on Robert Pattinson's Monte as he tries to bring up his daughter in what appears to be the confines of outer space.

But as the film progresses, the reasons for his isolation play out, leaving you with more questions than perhaps answers.

And yet some of the visuals that Denis commits to the screen convey both the isolation of the void and the beauty of it. There's a feeling science is at play here, and an idea perhaps that this is the future we get not the one we aspire to in many ways.

Slow and moody, frustratingly paced, there are many arguments why High Life is not the full package, but a mesmerising turn from Robert Pattinson gives the film the life it needs. There's a feeling of redemption from his character, given his predicament, and a broodiness in the opening sequences that doesn't quite feel right.

Yet, as the elements combine toward the end of High Life, there's a desperation and a sadness which sets in that's hard to shake off. It may be arty, it may be moody, and it may fall short of what you'd expect, but there's no doubting that High Life will provoke some form of discussion long after it's done.

NZIFF 2019 Q&A - Richard Lowenstein, director of Mystify

NZIFF 2019 Q&A - Richard Lowenstein, director of Mystify

My film is.... Mystify: Michael Hutchence

The moment I'm most proud of is ...
The level of unseen archive and especially finding the Kylie and Michael footage. 
When we interviewed Kylie for the doco she described how Michael had filmed their first date in Hong Kong using a little wind-up camera which I had given him. I asked Kylie if she knew where the footage was and she said it was lost a long time ago and possibly at Paula’s place.
Months later, I had handed over films for scanning and the guy from the lab called me and said ‘we’ve got this footage of a very young Michael and Kylie on a boat on Hong Kong Harbour’.
It had been in my attic all along.

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is.....
I’m stubborn.
Filmmaking is chipping away at a big wall and trying to convince people to give you 2, 3, 4 or 10 million dollars all based on what’s written down on paper. Every time someone threw barriers up, it just made me more resilient and determined to push through and achieve what I wanted to do. There were extraordinary hurdles we had to get over to get it done

The one moment that will resonate with an audience is......
This is a very sad film.
 You’re not going to come out signing and dancing, you’re going to have real feelings about a real story and this is something that’s going to make you really feel.

The hardest thing I had to cut from this film is........
Footage of Michael performing so I could keep it to 100 minutes. I would have liked to have shown more songs and to have had a section about his acting career.

The thing I want people to take from this film is ......
Notice what’s happening to people around you. This is a plea for observing and understanding, and in a way it’s my apology. I was in Michael’s inner circle and I saw something disturbing and didn’t do anything either. Watch, understand and do something – watch the car crash happen.

The one thing I'd say to aspiring filmmakers is.....
Persevere. You need to have passion for what you are doing, and perseverance to keep doing it … and be unique and different.

NZIFF 2019 Q&A - John Chester – director of The Biggest Little Farm

NZIFF 2019 Q&A - John Chester – director of The Biggest Little Farm

My film is....
The Biggest Little Farm

The moment I'm most proud of is....
At Year Five on the farm when we started to see the purposeful intent behind the coyote, the weasel, the gopher and the badger. Before then we didn’t understand their role in what was happening. I had turned my back on filmmaking to be a farmer, but was so inspired by things that I kept capturing them on film and then at that Year Five mark I realised we had our key players in nature and there was a story to tell.

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is.....
Even when things are not easy, there isn’t really the option to walk away from other things which depend on you including plants and animals. In the end the film was made over eight years and I just stuck with it because I knew we have a profound story to tell which hadn’t been told before.

The thing I want people to take from this film is ......
Hopefulness about the future. I hope people will be inspired and that hopefulness exists when humans focus on a collaborative and innovative way to co-exist with nature to solve problems. Within diverse eco-systems, the solutions are infinite.

The one thing I'd say to aspiring filmmakers is.....
You must be so inspired and passionate about your subject matter to be willing to live with it and go as deeply as you can get to bring it to life. And be open to feedback, but know your own compass.

Vivarium: NZIFF Review

Vivarium: NZIFF Review

Irish director Lorcan Finnegan's Vivarium has been compared to Black Mirror, because of look and tone.

Though this tale of two would-be surbanites (Jesse Eisenberg, Imogen Poots) finding themselves stranded in a housing estate after a visit to an oddball estate agent's, has more in common with a darker Tales of The Unexpected or Inside No 9 via Escher.

Gemma (Poots, digging deep when needed and yielding great rewards) and Tom (Eisenberg, increasingly detached and desperate) are wannabe homeowners, given the chance to visit a new housing estate called "Yonder".

When their creepy estate agent disappears while they're looking around the house which is "near enough and yet far enough away", the pair find themselves stuck when they can't escape Yonder....

Finnegan creates an atmosphere of unease early on in the piece, after a cutesy opening showcases both Gemma and Tom's relationship and their approach to life.

But with some digital trickery and some genuinely unsettling moments (it's wise to go into this unspoiled, and with a blank mind approach), what Finnegan crafts is something that haunts you after you've seen it.

Colour palettes add to the cinema of unease, and the sense of suspense as the rug threatens to be pulled out from under you at any moment. Parts of the film occasionally feel like the idea's been stretched as far as it can with its essentially two-hander cast, but just when the film seems to be out of breath, an audacious third act moment visually jolts you back into it.

There's a satire in Vivarium here both of suburban expectations and family expectations - albeit poured through a prism of genuine discomfort.

It's heady, thrilling, exciting, frustrating and audacious - Vivarium truly messes with you - but its ride is well worth hopping on.

American Woman: NZIFF Review

American Woman: NZIFF Review

Sienna Miller excels in this portrait of life after grief from director Jake Scott.

Book-ending the film with two distinct portraits of the same character, Miller is Deb, a wild-child mum at 16, now a grandma at 38. With a laissez-faire attitude to both her own family (including a fraught relationship with mother and sister)and reputation, Deb's heading for destruction.

But when her daughter goes missing, Deb finds her world completely changed, as she becomes a sole carer to her grandchild and needs to re-evaluate, and start over again.

Essentially a portrait of grief, survival and coping, American Woman's strength in its familiar story comes from its lead actress, who burns up the screen with a powerhouse performance from the moment it begins.

Miller gives Deb a fiery heart at the start that allows you to support her through everything - from her sister (played admirably by Christina Hendricks) and her judgement through love to the abusive cheating men she aligns herself with.

"You make do with what's left" Deb says at one point early on, and that's equally true of what Miller delivers with Scott's material of flawed people and life's mistakes and bumps.

Scott delivers some time jumps that bleed into the screenplay with ease as years segue, and lives evolve; it's a fascinating technique that never disorients but cleverly ruffles perceptions and the usual dramatic cliches.

Ultimately, it's the honesty of American Woman, coupled with an awards-worthy performance from Miller, that wins you over - quiet moments deliver such gutpunches towards the end that you realise how invested you are in Deb's life.

It's a powerfully acted film that breathes life into a story and tropes we've all seen a million times before - and for that, it's one of the festival's most quiet and under-lauded triumphs.

NZIFF 2019 Q&A - Armagan Ballantyne - Hush (part of Short Connections)

NZIFF 2019 Q&A - Armagan Ballantyne - Hush (part of Short Connections)

My film is…. HUSH

The moment I'm most proud of is….I loved how up for a challenge the Toi Whakaari Actors were, I’m really proud of them.

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is….. Because so many of the crew had given their time generously I knew I needed to push through the tricky bits and try to make something they could feel proud of

The one moment that will resonate with an audience is…….Hopefully the scene in the spa where Ava connects with her friend after feeling alone in the world

The hardest thing I had to cut from this film is........
We had shot a couple of scenes that had lovely performances from other actors in them but we needed to cut them so the film wasn’t too long

The thing I want people to take from this film is …… I hope people will empathise with Ava and her struggle to find comfort because she doesn't feel like she can honestly express what has happened to her.

The reason I love the NZIFF is……. There is nothing better than sitting in the Mighty Civic filled with people and watching a Film Festival film !

What I want to see at this year's NZIFF is......So many ! All the Agnes Varda films, The Invisible Life of Euridive Gusmao, For my Father’s Kingdom,  Animals, Bellbird, Come to Daddy, Judy and Punch to name a few…

The one thing I'd say to aspiring filmmakers is….. Try not to be too hard on yourself, you learn the most from your mistakes !

NZIFF Q&A 2019 - Adriana Martins da Silva, director of Upstream

NZIFF Q&A 2019 - Adriana Martins da Silva, director of Upstream

My film is....”Upstream” from the Short connections’ section. / a part of myself. All films
are but this one more so. The story is deeply connected to my journey here in New
Zealand.

The moment I'm most proud of is.... Getting the local community as involved and central to the making of this film as the professional cast and crew. From Palmy all the way to Portugal. From my neighbour next door building props for the film, to my boss from the hospital brewing beers for the crew. The weaving of the cultures and
relationships that happened on and off screen is what I’m most proud of. For me a film is as much about the end result as it is about the whole journey getting there.

The reason I carried on with this film when it got tough is.....The same reason that made me want to birth the film in the first place. Wanting to honour my journey in New Zealand, the people, the land. As well as my own roots. I’m not the same girl that arrived here on the 1st of January 2014. This land has taught me so much... Whenever it got tough (and there were many such times), that calling is where I sourced the strength to carry on.

The one moment that will resonate with an audience is.......I hope more than one moment, but I’m sensing the last scenes of the film will resonate more deeply.

The hardest thing I had to cut from this film is........
The scene that takes place at Tui’s kitchen. It had so many details on the page and we ended up having so little time to shoot it... It’s still hard for me to watch it without cringing.

The thing I want people to take from this film is ......
I’m not really into telling people what to think or feel. A film has its own personal resonance with each person and their life experience. That relationship is sacred to me and it sits at the core of the magic of storytelling.

The reason I love the NZIFF is.......It’s such a diverse program that screens all across the country! It’s remarkable, really. I love that is not centralized to one city, we don’t have that in Portugal.

What I want to see at this year's NZIFF is......
Well, first of all our film on the big screen, of course! (laughs) But every year I’m especially keen on the Aotearoa section of the festival. Kiwi humour has grown immensely on me and I value any opportunity to immerse and learn about Maori culture. Also, this year I’m quite keen on the Agnès
Varda section of the festival .

The one thing I'd say to aspiring filmmakers is…..
If you can feel it in your heart, you can do it. Don’t let perfectionism or the lack of resources get in the way, just start.
Be flexible, as things will change. Actually, a LOT will change. And that’s the beauty of it as well. It’s like a dance... So stay centred and keep listening to the beat and enjoy the ride.