Review
THE CALGARY UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL
April 14 to 16
Some might find it tough to get excited about another film festival in Calgary, even one with a mandate to explore cinema outside the mainstream. But as the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) enters its second year, it proves its importance by offering a variety of shorts, docs and dramas, without so much as a dud in the bunch. Given the number of aspiring filmmakers out there, at times it’s easy to confuse low budget with low quality, but the programmers at CUFF have compiled a great bunch. If you are willing to trust them, they will give you film that you will never forget.
EXIST
(Canada, 2004)
Directed by Esther Bell
April 15, 9:30 p.m., Broken City
Composed largely of a cast of actual activists untrained for the cameras (not to mention Tunde Adebimpe, lead singer for TV On The Radio), Esther Bell’s Exist borrows a page from Haxell Wexler’s part-fiction part-documentary shooting style first explored in his 1969 film Medium Cool.
Telling a story of wrongful accusation, the film opens with a lightly comedic portrayal of the frustrations of running a collective household (reminiscent of Together, Lukas Moodysson’s brilliant portrait of commune living in 1970s Abba-obsessed Sweden), and soon moves quickly into far more political waters. Accused of shooting a police officer, Harvard dropout (and unwelcome rich kid squatter) Jake (Ben Bartlett) takes to the streets. Son of an abusive alcoholic cop, Top (great newcomer Nic Mevoli) is given the choice between facing charges of conspiracy to kill or tracking down his erstwhile housemate in aid of the investigation.
While I’m still not sure whether I buy the film’s final quarter (certain character changes don’t feel completely developed or warranted), Exist does provide an exciting new voice in director Bell and a refreshing style of filmmaking – one part cinema verité and one part homemade digital feature. There are moments where Bell’s reliance on in-camera tricks (slow frame rates, for example) to compensate for low-light situations, and graphical emphasis on certain points grow trying, but as a whole Exist works as both statement and drama.
GUARD DOG
(U.S., 2004)
Written and directed by Bill Plympton
April 16, 7 p.m., Broken City
As a longtime fan of Bill Plympton, I was delighted to see his recent animated short Guard Dog nominated for an Academy Award. To tell the truth, though, I was even more delighted to see the award go to Chris Landreth, only because (a) Landreth is Canadian and (b) Landreth was also the only nominee to not have an aisle seat. Plympton graciously stood up and allowed the presenter to push past and give the golden baldie to his Canuck rival.
None of this has anything to do with Guard Dog itself, which is an absolutely delightful little film about a walk in a park with a devoted but hyper little dog. See the inner workings of its paranoid little mind as the yappy, slobbery thing sees fit to bark at every innocent creature in its path. Classic Plympton – twisted and hilarious.
HAIR HIGH
(USA, 2004)
Directed by Bill Plympton
April 16, 7 p.m., Broken City
Fans of weird animation ought to know by now that Bill Plympton is a mad genius. If you’re not yet familiar with his work, here’s an excellent opportunity to see Plympton at his best. Hair High tells the story of young love in an oppressively image-conscious 1950s high school, but don’t worry about that. Narrative structure takes a back seat to grotesquely inspired images and set pieces, as Plympton shares his most nightmarish psychoses with us. Houseflies court, students scramble to reassemble their biology teacher, an aphrodisiac-maddened mascot runs amok in a chicken suit, and undead students escape their watery grave to visit vengeance upon their oppressors on prom night.
Plympton is working with an all-star voice cast this time (including Matt Groening, Sarah Silverman and Dermot Mulroney), but the film remains distinctively his own. Check it out, and get in touch with your inner crazy person.
JIMMYWORK
(Canada, 2004)
Directed by Simon Sauvé
April 14, 7 p.m., Broken City
Jimmy Weber is the kind of screw-up everybody knows – the guy who is on the outs with his family, always owes someone money and always has a plan to pay them back. From his kitchen, Weber runs a fly-by-night high-end pet food business, but he has his sights set on something bigger. When his pitch to advertise for Quebec’s biggest rodeo falls through, he comes up with a scheme so ludicrous you can’t help but wonder if the documentary Jimmywork isn’t actually a fake.
That depends on your viewpoint. Director Simon Sauvé chronicles the events as they happen, but who’s to say the subject hasn’t taken the storytelling into his own hands. Blurring the lines between documentary and narrative cinema, Jimmywork quickly abandons the rigorously mundane to turn into an off-the-wall caper flick. Grainy and grumpy, Jimmywork is as creepy as it is compelling, and will have you laughing in slack-jawed horror and shaking your head in disbelief. It’s bold, dangerous filmmaking of the highest order.
Filmmaker in attendance.
MADE IN SECRET: STORY OF THE EAST VAN PORN COLLECTIVE
(Canada, 2004)
Directed by One Tiny Whale
April 15, 7 p.m., Broken City
A few years back, a few Vancouver hipster intellectuals, bored with the plasticized porn that dominated the market, opted to make their own films. The group, under the tongue-in-cheek moniker of The East Van Porn Collective (EVPC), wanted more realistic stories with surgically unaltered casts that were actually erotic rather than insulting. Made in Secret follows the porn posse as they produce their eighth feature, Bikesexual.
A no-budget doc of the highest order, Made In Secret proves that there is drama to be found everywhere as long as you look for it. On the surface the film discusses concepts of body image and sexual hegemony, topics every member of EVPC feels strongly about. But what this film does best is use the titillation of porn to suck audiences into an exploration of group dynamic. As the EVPC evolves, they stay true to their mandate of consensus, even when it becomes difficult to achieve. Making a good case for DIY documentary filmmaking, Made in Secret is smart, intimate and, above all, interesting.
Filmmaker in attendance.
PLAYGIRL KILLER
(Canada, 1966)
Directed by Erick Santamaria
April 16, 4 p.m., Broken City
Wahoo! Man, you’ve just got to check this one out. Fans and critics disagree on whether this film’s a masterpiece or just laughably bad, but they all agree that it’s a must-see.
Bill (William Kerwin) is an insane artist on the run from the police. His last model wouldn’t hold still while posing, so he shot her with a speargun. Bill meets up with Arlene (Jean Christopher), a spoiled, rich nymphomaniac in need of a handyman. Arlene’s starved for male attention, since her last beau, Bob ("guest star" Neil Sedaka!) has already sung two songs, collected his paycheque and left the movie. Bill, having no place else to go, shrugs and moves in. Things get complicated from there.
There’s little violence and no nudity (although the film is surprisingly sexy) – nothing to get in the way of this becoming one of the most enjoyable crappy movies ever. Unmissable.
PUT THE NEEDLE ON THE RECORD
(U.S., 2004)
Directed by Jason Rem
April 16, 9:30 p.m., Broken City
What begins as an overblown look at the annual Winter Music Conference in Miami, Florida, quickly develops into a whirlwind exploration of DJ culture and the history of those who work behind the decks. From the genesis of Detroit house to the clubs of Ibiza, Put the Needle on the Record avoids being a rote music history lesson by having the biggest DJs in the world tell their own stories alongside the most exciting up and comers. Even if you aren’t into trance, deep house or techno, Jason Rem’s conversational approach to the DJ revolution is a must-see for any music lover. Be sure to show up early to see Rave Against the Machine, a compelling documentary about the explosive music scene that sprung up in Sarajevo during the Bosnian war.
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