Some films from Galway Film Fleadh 2008
It might be a while before I manage to post again (but hey, it might not) so I thought I'd briefly squeeze out a few words about my recent trip to the Galway Film Fleadh. The main reason I went is Galway's strong reputation for new Irish cinema - so in order to keep things brief, I'm going to start by telling you about the few non-Irish films I saw. All the Irish features and shorts will follow soon!
BLACKOUT is a horror/thriller which sees three people trapped in a lift during a power cut in a largely abandoned building. Unfortunately, one of them is a real nasty piece of work. Even more unfortunately, the film is dreadful.
The script is weak - dialogue is the worst culprit, and the more adult (or offensive) it tries to sound, the more juvenile it becomes. Things are not helped by the cast being filled out by a bunch of nobodies either. It even strays into the now-tired "torture porn" category with one particularly nasty but unintentionally hilarious murder scene. All in all, it's tosh of the worst kind.
THE WAVE, thankfully, was a different story. This German film sees an unorthodox school teacher trying an experiment with his class following the declaration of one of his pupils that the Nazi horror could never happen again. When it goes too far, he decides to stop it, only to discover that he is no longer in control.
My main reason for seeing THE WAVE is that everyone I spoke to at the EIFF last month saw it and raved about it - and I managed to miss it. I'm glad I caught it here (though it should be assured of a wider release soon) because it's brilliant. Easily one of the year's best thrillers - in fact, one of the year's best films - and I urge you all to see it.
YOUNG @ HEART is a moving portrait of a choir who tour the country covering well known pop songs. The director's politely spoken voice-over grates at times, often being redundant or intrusive but otherwise it's all rather touching. You see, the choir members have an average age of about 80.
Naturally, at that age, things are not always smooth-sailing so you can see where some of the emotional moments are likely to arise. That does not however stop it from being extremely moving. Originally made for TV, it was extended, re-jigged a bit and is now doing cinemas all over the place. A wise choice, as this is something that deserves widespread exposure.
Irish features and short film coverage to follow. Sometime.
BLACKOUT is a horror/thriller which sees three people trapped in a lift during a power cut in a largely abandoned building. Unfortunately, one of them is a real nasty piece of work. Even more unfortunately, the film is dreadful.
The script is weak - dialogue is the worst culprit, and the more adult (or offensive) it tries to sound, the more juvenile it becomes. Things are not helped by the cast being filled out by a bunch of nobodies either. It even strays into the now-tired "torture porn" category with one particularly nasty but unintentionally hilarious murder scene. All in all, it's tosh of the worst kind.
THE WAVE, thankfully, was a different story. This German film sees an unorthodox school teacher trying an experiment with his class following the declaration of one of his pupils that the Nazi horror could never happen again. When it goes too far, he decides to stop it, only to discover that he is no longer in control.
My main reason for seeing THE WAVE is that everyone I spoke to at the EIFF last month saw it and raved about it - and I managed to miss it. I'm glad I caught it here (though it should be assured of a wider release soon) because it's brilliant. Easily one of the year's best thrillers - in fact, one of the year's best films - and I urge you all to see it.
YOUNG @ HEART is a moving portrait of a choir who tour the country covering well known pop songs. The director's politely spoken voice-over grates at times, often being redundant or intrusive but otherwise it's all rather touching. You see, the choir members have an average age of about 80.
Naturally, at that age, things are not always smooth-sailing so you can see where some of the emotional moments are likely to arise. That does not however stop it from being extremely moving. Originally made for TV, it was extended, re-jigged a bit and is now doing cinemas all over the place. A wise choice, as this is something that deserves widespread exposure.
Irish features and short film coverage to follow. Sometime.
Labels: documentaries, Film festivals, Galway Film Fleadh, horror
posted by Alan at 7:01 pm
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