COWARDS BEND THE KNEE
(Canada, 2003)
Directed by Guy Maddin
Thursday, April 15, 9:30 p.m.
An hour-long silent film shot in Super 8, Cowards Bend the Knee was originally presented as an installation in which the movie’s 10 chapters were viewed through peepholes. The format fit with the somewhat risqué nature of Guy Maddin’s unusual film – which the Winnipeg filmmaker calls a work of autobiography, even though it’s set in the 1930s. But because of its robust narrative (a new quality in Maddin’s work), Cowards Bend the Knee actually works better as a standalone piece. This is the story of a morally impaired hockey player named Guy Maddin (actually played by Darcy Fehr) who gets mixed up in a backroom abortion clinic, several steamy affairs and cold-blooded murder after he inherits the hands of a murderer. Delivered at a breakneck pace and with outrageous panache, this may be the most astonishing and delirious work in Maddin’s uniquely deranged oeuvre.
FIVE SIDES OF A COIN
(Canada 2003)
Directed by Paul Kell
Friday April 16, 9:30 p.m.
This insightful documentary succeeds on two levels. As a hip-hop history primer, it traces the connection between break dancing, street grafitti and turntablism in New York City in the mid-to-late-’70s. As a critical look at the state of the hip-hop nation, it polls artists from all over the world. From the genesis of the term hip-hop to the ever-expanding musical scene, Five Sides of a Coin boasts interviews with veterans Michael Franti, Phase 2 and Afrika Bambaataa along side artists from the next wave such as DJ Vadim and DJ Shadow. Not content to rest on the fame of its subjects, the film is a well-organized, finely tuned testament to the power of hip-hop that provides not only history, but context.
|
Copyright ©2004 FFWD. All rights reserved.