EIFF 2007 Part 5
Clark Gable struts his stuff once more in SAN FRANCISCO, one of the highlights of the Anita Loos retrospective and one of the precursors of the disaster movies that were to become so popular four decades later. Gable is good as the roguish lead, Jeanette MacDonald adequate as the singing love interest and Spencer Tracy fantastic as the film's moral conscience. It's the finale that really makes the film however - as the infamous San Francisco earthquake rumbles through the city tearing apart buildings and lives, even today some of the special effects leave one awestruck as to the scale of the movie. What begins as another Gable romance ends as a monumental action movie and a tale of the triumph of the human spirit - and it's all the richer for it.
From the highlight of the retrospective to the highlight of the festival in general.
My love of Dublin is well documented in previous blog entries, so the musical romance that unfolds on the city streets in John Carney's ONCE was the first film I looked for when the programme was announced. It had already been a hit in America, picked up a prize at Sundance, had no less than Steven Spielberg singing its praises and had picked up another prize (and sold out very quickly) when it received its home premiere in Dublin. I'd been at the Dublin festival when it played, but alas didn't get a ticket. The question therefore was would it live up to my expectations?
It did. The plot is simple enough; a busker on the streets of Dublin (musician-turned-actor Glen Hansard) meets a Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova) on the streets of Dublin. He's busking and recovering from a broken heart; she's trying to make ends meet while looking after her young child. They hit it off and each go some way towards turning the other's life around.
Hansard exudes charm while simultaneously managing to convey the heartbreak and sadness of a man with the world on his shoulders; Irglova makes a Big Issue seller wheeling a broken vacuum cleaner through the streets seem like one of the most lovely things that you could see on a city street. Together they make beautiful music.
The musical aspect of the film is the most pleasantly surprising. At no point does it feel like you're watching a musical; nobody just bursts into song for no reason. The songs (most of which were taken from Hansard and Irglova's own catalogue) are seamlessly integrated into the film and form an endless string of highlights in a film that is in itself one great big highlight. It's fun, it's touching and it's incredibly likely to make you leave the cinema feeling inexplicably happy. I attended this one with a friend; we both agreed as we walked out that it was the best film we'd seen at the festival.
That's not to say everyone will like it; if you don't like the style of music there's a chance it could grate (I'm not a huge fan myself, but it's a decent example of its kind); the low budget look and feel won't be to everyone's taste; nor will the naturalistic approach to the film of the actors and crew. In fact, the next two people I spoke to actually hated it.
So not everyone will like it, and certainly not as much as I did. That shouldn't stop you from seeing it though. In fact, if you're not prepared to at least give this little gem a chance, you should be banned from ever attending a cinema again.
EIFF round up continues again soon...
From the highlight of the retrospective to the highlight of the festival in general.
My love of Dublin is well documented in previous blog entries, so the musical romance that unfolds on the city streets in John Carney's ONCE was the first film I looked for when the programme was announced. It had already been a hit in America, picked up a prize at Sundance, had no less than Steven Spielberg singing its praises and had picked up another prize (and sold out very quickly) when it received its home premiere in Dublin. I'd been at the Dublin festival when it played, but alas didn't get a ticket. The question therefore was would it live up to my expectations?
It did. The plot is simple enough; a busker on the streets of Dublin (musician-turned-actor Glen Hansard) meets a Czech immigrant (Marketa Irglova) on the streets of Dublin. He's busking and recovering from a broken heart; she's trying to make ends meet while looking after her young child. They hit it off and each go some way towards turning the other's life around.
Hansard exudes charm while simultaneously managing to convey the heartbreak and sadness of a man with the world on his shoulders; Irglova makes a Big Issue seller wheeling a broken vacuum cleaner through the streets seem like one of the most lovely things that you could see on a city street. Together they make beautiful music.
The musical aspect of the film is the most pleasantly surprising. At no point does it feel like you're watching a musical; nobody just bursts into song for no reason. The songs (most of which were taken from Hansard and Irglova's own catalogue) are seamlessly integrated into the film and form an endless string of highlights in a film that is in itself one great big highlight. It's fun, it's touching and it's incredibly likely to make you leave the cinema feeling inexplicably happy. I attended this one with a friend; we both agreed as we walked out that it was the best film we'd seen at the festival.
That's not to say everyone will like it; if you don't like the style of music there's a chance it could grate (I'm not a huge fan myself, but it's a decent example of its kind); the low budget look and feel won't be to everyone's taste; nor will the naturalistic approach to the film of the actors and crew. In fact, the next two people I spoke to actually hated it.
So not everyone will like it, and certainly not as much as I did. That shouldn't stop you from seeing it though. In fact, if you're not prepared to at least give this little gem a chance, you should be banned from ever attending a cinema again.
EIFF round up continues again soon...
Labels: Edinburgh Film Festival, Film festivals, Irish film
posted by Alan at 6:09 pm
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