EIFF '25 Days 1 & 2
So sadly, both my thrilling travels with my pal Xenia and the start of the Film Festival were cut short by an accursed bout of Covid caught on our adventures. Bubbled in my flat, I was unable to make it to either of the first two official days of the Festival, meaning we missed the midnight madness showing of "Odyssey/Sleazy Tiger" on Friday night, and also heartbreakingly the launch event UK Premiere of "Sorry, Baby" that I had been super hyped for on Thursday (as it's been a bit of an Indie darling making the 'rounds at all the international film festivals, is apparently very strong on the feels and also quite centrally features a small kitten as a positive role model - y'all know I am always there for small kittens).
Honestly, I was worried that I could be down for the count over the entire course of the festival, which would majorly, majorly suck. However, I tested negative on Saturday morning, so this became my first day of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. I've compiled short mostly spoiler-free reviews of all that I saw on my first two days in this blog, and will get Days 3-5 together once the festival wraps.
"Brides"
The story of two teenage girls on a journey to Syria in the mid 2010s. It's clear that this film was created in direct response to the vilifying of Sharmeena Begum and her friends in the British Press after the schoolgirls were found to have been brides of the Islamic State. It reframes the story from the two young Muslim's perspectives, showing both how easy it is for extremist propaganda to compel and British fascistic nationalism to alienate.
Doe and Muna are working class high school kids, already rejected by the growing fascist sentiments in southern England. They see an idealised simpler life helping the war efforts against Assad in Syria, believing they will be able to help the resistance (not realising that ISIL already has a very set role for them to fit into as war brides). Due to their difficult home lives, each girl is able to egg on the other throughout the trip, determined that this is the only route to a better life. It is a tragedy in how it plays out, especially in how the people around them respond (calling authorities, behaving predatorially, not acknowledging their agency or simply not asking the correct questions that might stimulate deeper reflection on their goals).
The tragedy is that neither girl starts off particularly radicalised in their views. Muna isn't rigid in her religious practice, she's just fed up of the system and her abusive home situation. Doe does have a stronger moral religious code that seems to be flouted by her home situation, but hers is a longing to practice that religion in more accepting surroundings than anything else. In a Britain where being an immigrant is being made impossible, our focus needs to be on social welfare and support for those trying to make Britain their home, not shirking of responsibility and withdrawal of citizenship from youth in an attempt to make them scapegoats!
This film has so much heart. 5⭐
This film is a wonderful meditation on Catholic guilt and teenage femininity, and is likely far more resonant for those who have grown up in VERY religious surroundings. The pacing in this film is super slow and contemplative, which will likely only appeal to a certain audience (we did have a few folks with shorter attention spans falling asleep during this one). I kept focussed though, as there was enough to spark my interest.
I was a fan of the visual and sound motifs used throughout: The corrupting fly. The domestic ginger tom cat prowling near the workmen. The flowers and blatant carnality of the religious art. The prayer songs used both for harmony and discordance. The grapes! I love the grapes, for it is no longer sour grapes for a girl who knows her path.
The film casts a pretty grotesque view of masculinity though, with some of the insinuated relationships being quite obviously inappropriate power balances of age or privilege. Nothing predatory is shown on screen, but the policing of the girl's 'straightness' and suspect behaviours are constant. I'd actually struggle to say that any of the male characters were honourable in their intentions.
Challenging viewing, and perhaps leans a bit too heavily on Christianity as a route to dealing with a crisis in self-identity? 3⭐
A mournful but intensely heartfelt tale of fisher folk in a small Anglesey village working the mussel beds. One older father of three finally acts on his queer urges when a strapping young Scottish itinerant worker comes to town. There is a gulf in intimacy between him and his wife, his son is a tearaway, the mussel trade is failing and he is deeply in the closet with everyone around him. It has left him very lonely and longing for a masculine touch (as one does). The film really excels at showing male intimacy in its many forms, from toxic brotherly ambition to dangerous peer pressure, the understanding of comradeship to the desperate need for sensual touch. Repressed emotion runs high!
Yes, the central relationship is technically cheating, and the fact Jack leaves it right until the end to tell Maggie is, frankly, the worst thing about the story. Dammit folks, I really need y'all to realise monogamy isn't working for you and legitimately discuss this shit with your partners - cheating just sours everything. However, Jack's local community is very, very homophobic, so it defo feels like something that there is no alternative but to keep secret for so long. Could they have raised the stakes on the sheer depression of alienation alone, instead of to potential 'bury your gays' levels? Yes. Would that have made the ending less tinged with sadness and bitter-sweetness? Undoubtedly. So ultimately it worked for the story, but I wish it weren't such a tale of gay sorrow.
Perhaps not a perfect score, but a solid one nonetheless. 4⭐
"Em & Selma Go Griffin Hunting" (Short)
Really nicely made short film about generational tradition and the expectations of womanhood. It is incredibly well-acted by its two protagonists, but honestly just feels rather bleak in the conclusions it draws. Did we have to have a graphic mythical creature rape scene? I feel this tumbled right out of a later volume of 'Berserk' , and whilst it works in context to shock it doesn't really lead to much character revelation (or any impact on how the protagonists ultimately behave toward Griffins?) I get that Selma as a mother is very jaded and suspicious because of the shit she's gone through herself, but her observations on beasts are still shown to be correct throughout, when surely she is letting tradition delude herself?
It is meant to be one of those moral fairy tales, but the way it ends offers no alternative for the person who acts unconventionally; it's just really kinda nihilist.
Loses points for its inability to imagine better. 2⭐
Really solid sci-fi vengeance tale in which a woman jumps between parallel universes killing off the serial killer who took her daughter from her. A compelling story of motherhood and loss. Her routine changes only when she happens upon his next victim.
This movie has an epic synth soundtrack that works with the piece seamlessly. A suitable throbbing background to the wearing down of the human psyche of its protagonist, who feels like she has lost her humanity in the repeated extermination of her enemy. It is more a character piece than hard sci-fi in any way, but that is perfectly fine. We don't need to know how or why the dimension jumper works, just that it does and is starting to wear down after so many consecutive universe jumps. The way this reflects on the protagonist herself is also very interesting - almost like she has become the machine on some level.
Enjoyable movie with a touch of grit and gore. 4⭐
This feels like an elevated 'Clerks' for the current generation, and I'm not going to lie - I loved it. It takes place on the closing day of the Alamo Theater, filled with utterly delinquent but loveable characters. It is a study in the decay of the American Cinema industry which is true to the experience of cinephile retail (as an ex Blockbuster employee, I can substantiate that claim). It is observant of capitalist truths, aware of racial issues and the antipathy of white male GenXers to ultimately drag down any form of valid conversation around the aforementioned. This self-awareness serves it very well. There is a readiness to let go of the old in favour of retaining only those elements which make the old worthwhile. That seems really valuable in this modern consumerist hellscape we live in.
I personally love the slight magical realism of the Theatre Philosopher, the wandering stuntman-turned-outlaw and the sudden exit of flamin' hot cheetos dude. The absurdity is perfectly interspersed with the movies elements of mundane reality. It makes the truly insane sparkle with greatness, including the oddly on-point films-within-the-film.
A genuinely wild ride giving a fond farewell to the heart of Americana. 5⭐
An odd smush of a movie combining an Aesop's Fable with the 4chan gender categorisations (featuring bimbo Stacey, smart girl Becky, alpha chad Chadwick and virgin loser Sebastian... as well as a few other familiar faces who might be familiar from the meme-space). It was certainly interesting to see these stereotypes played around with, especially in a film that is so explicitly clowning on capitalist society. The plot revolves around Becky's growing envy toward the vapid Stacey, Stacey's ever decreasing sense of self-worth, her brother Sebastian's increasing levels of fascism due to his Incel nature and the influence of a seemingly all-powerful djinni sent to grant the wishes of corporate America.
Cruelty and envy are central to this plot much like in 'Saltburn', but it is admittedly harder to empathise with stock characters than it is original creations. With 'Saltburn', even though the protag was a heinous POS, there was perhaps a touch more to understand about him than with Becky. There is certainly something restricted about the characterisation of these characters - almost as if stereotypes themselves are... limiting? Huh. Whodathunkit?
A good romp, but sadly didn't give me any deep-seated feels to sit with. 3⭐
Eeeee, this film! I absolutely loved this film! The tale of a mixed-race black lesbian called Quinn, after her mum dies, she travels from her home in Britain to South Africa in search of her father. Along the way she meets a non-binary fella called Harley who is greatly taken with her and becomes her driver. Despite Quinn's initial disinterest, Harley always returns; a scale-like balance to remind Quinn that her quest for patriarchal acceptance is not all there is. They are the pounding heart of self assertion who is also gloriously neurotic in their own way. Harley is also there to give root to Quinn's wandering heart, which for a long while does not truly know what it wants.
This is a film so thoroughly intersectional, it feels like a celebration even when it dips into darker emotional depths. There is an almost oppressive sense of danger and threat from white spaces in the places our protagonists travel, which is inverted into unconditional acceptance once they finally meet their people in the queer community. Queer joy needs to be reborn and reaffirmed through self-discovery and indigenous community support. In finally casting off parameters of cis male whiteness that keep trying to control her narrative, Quinn discovers who she truly is and whose love matters most.
Not gonna lie, this film had me spontaneously bursting into tears throughout. It feels like a cry for radical self-acceptance to all queer folk. Definitely one vying for a Top 4 spot. An easy 5⭐
A contemplative story about two women briefly escaping their mundane life in Maine through art. It has old school 'Carol'-esque vibes. Older, potentially married lesbian sweeps young woman off her feet but ends up showing her the hardships of the world. There is inevitably cheating involved. Why does there ALWAYS have to be cheating involved? Sheesh, I have to ask, why are folks with their partners in the first place if they simply never talk to them about the stuff that matters?
The movie plays on the mysterious link between artist and muse, which has often strayed across boundaries into complicated power dynamics. The women's love affair still feels more like a spontaneous fling over anything that might have lasted longer though. For the central relationship, it feels strained to say the least. This is also the second rather meditative movie that ends with our protagonist completing one small but meaningful task for herself as a form of self realisation and care (Little Trouble Girls being the other). I suppose it just makes me wonder a little; should we not want more? Other people have had quite earthshattering effects on these women's lives, but they never really get the agency for something larger, more grand? It's always just concentrating on the small things that make you happy in the face of your entire way of life being shattered.
Oh, I dunno. Maybe I'm looking for too much in these movies. I like decisiveness and impact driving agency if possible. 3⭐
Anyway, that is me for my first two days. Better get me some sleep. More cinema tomorrow!
