18th Kolkata International Film Festival

The 18th Kolkata International Film Festival (10-17 Nov, 2012) has, as of today - after 6 running days and 11 watched films, already proved a success to me. Let me jot down briefly my experiences so far - before the memories turn stale.

1. Pogodak u glavu (Headshot) [Dir:  Pen-Ek Ratanaruang; Country: Thailand/France; Lang: Thai]:
This was a good experience - one of those which numbs your thoughts so that at the end of the movie, you have to force yourself with all your will to clap, and which leaves you walking like a zombie as you come out of the hall. I myself was haunted for quiet 20-30 minutes - and I was thankful that the next movie on my schedule had about 2 hours gap. The movie walks us through the mind of a cop turning into something like a hitman to do justice for cases where law fails owing to its stringent procedures, and finally turning a Buddhist monk towards salvation. After a headshot in such a hitman endeavour, which he survives with difficulty, the protagonist sees everything with his eyes upside down. This is a dark theme - but the movie is not fully dark in that sense - it is treated quiet gracefully and accommodating some beautiful sequences.

2. Tot Altijd (Time of My Life) [Dir: Nic Balthazar; Country: Belgium; Lang: Dutch]:
This, I should say, was a mediocre experience as per my Film Festival Expectations. This was a real life story about a man who legalised euthanasia in Belgium, himself fighting his own battle for the cause. Of course the film was good, but somehow it did not appear that 'fresh' - which it should have been given the number of films already made on the issue. My experience of 'Mar Adrento' obviously came in comparison, thereby rating this one down. Oh - I must mention that the opening 10-15 minutes of the film were absolutely great - rendering an utopia of youth in a group of friends.

3. Nocni Brodovi (Night Boats) [Dir: Igor Mirkovic; Country: Croatia; Lang: Croatian]:
This was a more pleasant experience. The storyline involved two elderly people, staying in elderly homes, re-discovering love, and then re-living their youthful spirits through an adventure of running away together from the the home and reliving their absolutely juvenile and carefree instincts. This was a nice happy film.

4. Melancholia [Dir: Lars Von Trier; Country: Denmark; Lang: English]:
I loved the experience of this one. The film had an opening musical 'prelude' of about 10 minutes, showing videos (with a lot of special effects) primarily in slow motion with an excellent background score, which really enthralled me and the audience. The movie used a 'story' of a planet called 'Melancholia' on its course to crash with earth, and showing the events of a family as they become aware of the impending destruction. This is not a science/action movie - the focus is entirely on how the family members go through these days. The name of the movie has been very adeptly prevailed throughout the movie in its screenplay and characters. The experience of this film will be remembered for a long time.

5. Polvo (Dust) [Dir: Julio Hernandez Cordon; Country: Guatemala; Lang: ?]:
I have nothing to say for this except that the start was somewhat boring and slow, as a result of which I fell asleep, and as a result of which I don't really know what happened thereafter.

6. Narenji Poush (The Orange Suit) [Dir: Dariush Mehrjui; Country: Iran; Lang: Persian]:
This one I'd rate as the best experience so far. The theme/story is simple and light - environment awareness - social responsibility of not littering the environment with trash and disposing them as they should be, and a father-son relationship with a mother whose commitment to her career goes against to that to her family. But the way the story was developed provided an excellent experience - containing humour enough to send the audience laughing out loud multiple times, and sentiments enough to bring them to tears. This is one of the movies which you come out of feeling all good positive and happy about it.

7. B A Pass [Dir: Ajay Bahl; Country: India: Lang: Hindi]:
The director came before the audience and made a speech in which he mentioned that this film was a defiance against the Indian Censor Board. That indeed it was - by virtue of the plot which basically rests on a college youth's adulterous relation with a elder married woman, and his subsequent foray in being a male prostitute with the woman filling in for the pimp. The movie had ample sleazy scenes - though not full exposure. The plot and the scenes perhaps do justice to what the director said, but the movie fails totally to do any kind of justice at all to the audience. This one had nothing to make it eligible for any kind of film festival!

8. Gibier d'élevage (Shiiku, the Catch) [Dir: Rithy Panh; Country: Cambodia; Lang: Central Khmer]:
[To be updated...]

9. La mer à l'aube (Calm at Sea) [Dir: Volker Schlondorff; Country: Germany; Lang: German/French]:
[To be updated...]

10. Where the Road Meets the Sun [Dir: Yong Mun Chee; Country:Singapore ; Lang: English/Japanese/Spanish]:
This movie showed a set of people coping their own situations, connected together by the same lodging hotel they are staying at. There is a bit of guns and bloodshed towards the end, culminating from mental tension. Overall, a below expectation experience.


11. Wo 11 (Eleven Flowers) [Dir: Wangxiao Shuai, Country: China; Lang: Mandarin]:
This was a better experience. The protagonist is a 11 year old boy walking the audience through his experiences - involving his fight to get and keep a new shirt, his confrontation with a murderer, his dynamics with his friends all through these, etc. This had a strong direction and adept screenplay keeping the audience hooked in rapt attention even without too much complex plot or drama.

More films will be added as they get consumed....