GFF22: Microreviews
A mini round-up of more films from this year’s Glasgow Film Festival programme.
Nitram
Justin Kurzel’s latest film is a disturbing look at the true events leading up to the deadliest shooting spree in Australia’s history. It stars Caleb Landry Jones (Get Out, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) as a troubled and mentally impaired man based on Martin Bryant, the Dunblane-inspired mass murderer who killed 35 people in the Port Arthur massacre of 1996. Landry Jones won the Festival de Cannes’ Best Actor award for his performance and is sensational as an intellectually-challenged man who finds a short spell of solace through an unlikely friendship before it ends prematurely, setting in motion a chain of events that comes to a horrific and deadly conclusion. Kurzel resists the need to overdramatise or sensationalise the actions of Bryant, instead allowing powerful performances from a terrific supporting cast (Judy Davis, Anthony LaPaglia, Essie Davis) and beautiful cinematography to assist in recounting the shocking story of the Port Arthur massacre.
Ashgrove
Earth is in the midst of a pandemic where the world’s water supply is infected with bacteria that poisons humans if they drink too much. Scientist Amanda Brugel (The Handmaid’s Tale) has a stress-related breakdown and visits her home in the country to escape from the pressure of leading the planet’s pandemic response, but the strange actions of those around her begin to make her question the real purpose of the break. An interesting concept that suffers from an identity crisis. Is it a relationship breakdown drama? A study of a pandemic with obvious parallels to COVID-19? An M. Night Shyamalan-inspired twist-filled conspiracy thriller? It tries to be all three.
True Things
Kate (Ruth Wilson, Luther) is miserable and alone, living a grey existence as a Benefits Officer in a seaside town in South-East England. She meets an ex-con, known only as Blonde (Tom Burke, Mank), during a routine work assignment and becomes swept up in a steamy, whirlwind romance that gives her means to escape from the mundanity of her solitary life. Adapted from a Kay Davies novel, the relationship at the centre of True Things fails to fully captivate and convince us of the lustful power of Blonde; his mystique isn’t explored or expanded upon and Kate’s blinkered obsession feels contrived when the subject of her affection is nothing more than, well, a waster. Jude Law served as a producer on the film and was originally set to play Blonde before stepping aside. The one that got away.
Love, Life and Goldfish
A Japanese musical that sees a hotshot Tokyo banker sent to a remote rural village as punishment for an outburst at work. Whilst initially captivating and stylish - with some catchy and well-choreographed musical numbers - Love, Life and Goldfish runs out of steam ahead of a finale that revolves around the bizarre Japanese pastime of goldfish scooping.
Adult Adoption
Rosy (Ellie Moon) is a 25-year-old bank employee who grew up in foster care. She starts to use an app that is, essentially, Tinder for people seeking step-parent/step-child relationships, and Adult Adoption follows an ever-increasingly ridiculous thread of left-turns that Rosy tackles with a mindset of someone still suffering from the underlying trauma that stems from being an orphan. The film has shades of Search Party - the hilarious HBO comedy-drama series starring Alia Shawkat - but suffers by feeling like it packs far too many odd twists into a 90 minute film. Search Party has the benefit of spreading strange events over a 10-episode series, letting them breathe as quirks of a wider, more focused storyline, but Adult Adoption’s use of cults, a prospective-step-father-turned-lover, a desire for a BDSM relationship, and a sensitive Russian pub landlord is spread too thin to develop into something engaging.
Once Upon a Time in Uganda
Cathryne Czubek’s documentary tells the story of Wakaliwood, an action movie studio founded by Isaac Nabwana in the slums of Uganda. Nabwana, inspired by a love of cheesy American action films, set out to make his own ultraviolent action flicks using homemade props, ridiculously bad special effects, and amateur actors, as well as a pioneering technique never before seen in cinema: a video jockey joker who commentates on the film as it unfolds with jokes and comedy quips. Wakaliwood, however, is no joke. One of its films - Who Killed Captain Alex - has amassed a cult following with over seven million views on YouTube, and Once Upon a Time in Uganda takes the audience backstage to show what goes in to making a Wakaliwood film. It is told through the lens of Alan Hofmanis, a New Yorker who was so inspired by the trailer for Who Killed Captain Alex that he sold all of his possessions and moved to Uganda to help the cause. It’s an unbelievable and heartwarming story that culminates in Hofmanis arranging for Nabwana to leave Uganda for the first time and present his work at the Toronto International Film Festival.
The Hermit of Treig
The winner of this year’s Audience Award at the Glasgow Film Festival is Lizzie MacKenzie’s documentary about Ken Smith, an elderly man who has spent the last forty years of his life living in isolation in a log cabin near Loch Treig. Despite being close to Fort William, the loch is known as the lonely loch and Smith is the only known resident, electing to live without power or any contact from the outside world, supporting himself by fishing, wild berry picking, and even synthesising his own alcohol using liquid drained from trees. The film explores Smith’s early life and the events that made him desert the rat race in favour of a life of solitude. As well as being impressive for being able to remain self-sufficient for four decades, Smith’s incredible photography from his time in Canada and then around Loch Treig is featured throughout the film. Once the dust settles from the premiere of the documentary about his life, maybe a photography exhibition is next.
Tigers
Tigers is based on the true story of Martin Bengtsson, a 16-year-old Swedish football star who is signed by Italian giants Inter Milan. After moving to Milan, Bengtsson (Erik Enge) is outcast from the rest of the youth squad because of his status as the new kid, a talent who may disrupt the status quo and threaten some of the other players’ position at the club. This leads to high school-style bullying that goes too far, meaning Bengtsson becomes outcast from the rest of the squad and begins to suffer from depression. His only solace is his friendship with an American goalkeeper (Alfred Enoch) who takes him under his wing. Tigers is an extremely convincing dramatisation of football, something which so often goes wrong with over-dramatic match scenes and comedy-level goalkeeping as the ball floats into the back of the net in slow motion. It’s a moving study of the pressures faced by so many real-life teenagers who are plucked from relative obscurity and expected to be able to perform - under an intense microscope - while being defined by the amount of money their new owner has paid for their services.
Catch the Fair One
A female boxer, Kaylee (played by real life world champion Kali Reis), searches for her sister after she is abducted by a human trafficking ring. Exec-produced by Darren Aronofsky, Josef Kubota Wladyka’s film is a realistic, female-led Taken, with less Hollywood-worthy monologuing and more waterboarding. First time actor Reis handles lead role duties well as she travels through America’s seedy underbelly to locate her sister against a backdrop of well-crafted shots of rural America.
Ride the Wave
Martyn Robertson’s documentary follows 16-year-old surfer Ben Larg, who won Scotland’s under-18 Surfing Championship at age 12. Ben’s step up to international competition in places like Japan and Portugal sees him struggle to make the same impact, so he sets his sights on successfully conquering some of the most dangerous waves ever surfed off the coast of Ireland. Robertson’s film is as much about Ben’s struggles outside of surfing - he experiences serial bullying when he returns to school from surf trips - and the challenge faced by Ben’s charming parents as they reflect on how they raised their children and deal with the prospect of Ben’s dangerous next challenge.
Wild Men
If the Coen Brothers had Danish cousins, they would probably make something like Wild Men. Martin (Rasmus Berg) has given up on the real world and has retreated to the Norwegian mountains to live like his ancestors; a real wild man. It has only been ten days, so he’s not quite got the hang of being completely self-sufficient, sometimes relying on a nearby petrol station to stock up on essentials when he isn’t able to source them in the wild. Musa (Zaki Youssef) is a drug smuggler whose car crashes en route to completing a job, meaning he is stuck in the wilderness. Inevitably, Martin finds Musa and the pair strike up a friendship as they journey towards Musa’s intended destination (with Martin being clueless to the real reason for his trip). As local police and Musa’s drug trade associates close in, this cat-and-mouse caper harnesses all of the quirky twists you would normally expect to find in Fargo.
Hold Your Fire
Stefan Forbes’ documentary centres on the botched robbery of a sporting goods store in Brooklyn, 1973. The expectedly routine heist ultimately dragged on for 47 hours until the 11 hostages escaped, but not before one policeman lost his life and a media scrum resulted in national news attention. Forbes has access to people involved on both sides: two of the four men who committed the crimes, plus policemen and hostage negotiators who were on the other side on the fateful day. It’s eye-opening to see how each participant maintains their stance on their motives and the events of the robbery with as much militant conviction as they appeared to have in 1973. The documentary’s slick editing presents statements from the criminals that are instantly offset with a contradictory claim from the policemen involved, or vice versa, and contains jaw-dropping interview footage that sees retired policemen offer some extremely questionable views that capture the racist attitudes of much of the predominantly-white NYPD of the 70s. Forbes’ film looks at more than just the events of the heist; using it to frame the racial tension simmering between the NYPD and the black communities in New York, but also presents the handling of the situation as a turning point in the approach to hostage situations by police forces across America. It’s a study of America’s hangover from the militant Islam of Malcolm X in the 60s and how the prejudices of certain factions of white America were still so blatantly deep rooted in 1973, with drama worthy of sitting alongside Dog Day Afternoon or any Sidney Lumet film.
