Antarctica Experience: Technique outdoes narration

After viewing a VR immersive film...

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Robert: It certainly felt as if you were there, right there, in Antarctica.

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Roald: And moving your head around, seeing a penguin come up behind you.

Come here often?

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Robert: A stunning film. But what impression did it leave you with?

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Roald: Um, well, like I had actually been there.

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Robert: Yes, aside from flying by helicopter and hearing people who work there telling us this is the cafeteria and the meals are great, and I can’t talk loudly or I’ll disturb the penguins. Was there a theme?

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Roald: Research into climate change by drilling down into the ice for core samples.

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Robert: But was there a story?

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Roald: Well, in a 22 minute film you can’t do much more than say CO2 levels have risen to double the amount they have ever been in recorded history. Maybe Al Gore’s use of a ladder was more dramatic, even if it lead to climategate.

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Voice-over

Some films get carried away with technology, like 3D or VR. Maybe there aren’t enough human resources or budget left to hire a scriptwriter. You could almost hear the director saying to the people, “Look at the camera and when the light comes on, say something. Like what is your job about.” Or “Here comes a penguin.” How about, “What hours do you work when the sun is up all day?” Or “Do you name any of the penguins?”

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Once Upon a Time in Hollywood

Tarantino surprises time and again…

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Brian: The ending wasn’t what happened in real life.

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Leo: You went expecting a documentary of the Charles Manson murders in a Tarantino movie? Once Upon a Time in Hollywood?

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Brian: I went to see it, aware there was an alternative ending of the real life story.

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Leo: As it certainly was. You wanted a happy ending? [SPOILER ALERT]

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Brian: As with most of Tarantino’s films, the drama is bizarre black comedy, the ending unexpected. I mean, using a flamethrower on a woman in the pool while she’s firing a gun at the sky?

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Leo: Classic Tarantino. Conversations almost disconnected from the action. Go back to Pulp Fiction see Jules quoting Ezekiel 25:17 as he and Vincent shoot multiple rounds into the hapless Brett. "The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother's keeper and the finder of lost children...”

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Voice-over

Quentin Tarantino’s knowledge of films built up over the years makes his latest a treasure hunt of movie scene replays stitched into a gruesome comedy, it’s his retelling of the Manson murders against a 1969 Hollywood backdrop. The contrast of casting the murderers as inhumane, celebrating the victims Sharon Tate and her friends as angelic. There’s so much to talk about in this film, the real life story, the superimposition of the fairy tale on that, the cast, the locations, the retro feeling the nostalgia for the 60s, the references to other films. A rich tapestry, a fruity cake mix.

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Intricacies in shocking, stressing and spying scripts

After TIFF…

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Olga: How many films did you see during the festival?

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Oliver: Five.

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Olga: Only five? You usually see more.

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Oliver: Yes, last year I saw fifteen. But this year, the shows didn’t align with my planning.

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Olga: Anything remarkable?

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Oliver: They were all great. But the last three, they were all so … so intricately layered.

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Olga: You mean complicated?

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Oliver: Well, Advantages of Travelling by Train, that was layers of stories of a paranoid schizophrenic. Shocking. And Marriage Story, well the story gets complicated when Charlie and Nicole start on the road to divorce and the lawyers come in like jackals to tear strips off what little they had, oh total gobsmack. And WASP Network, Cuban migrants in Miami, some groups for Castro, others anti-Castro, all spying and counterspying on each other through the FBI.

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Voice-over

Movie plots with labyrinthine complexities.

Advantages of Travelling by Train: Paranoid schizophrenia > parallel universes.

Marriage Story: Spousal mental anguish > legal venality.

WASP Network: Castro’s political naivety > migrants’ political intrigues.

In such films, it might help if the scriptwriter works with an editor from the get-go.

And not try to review three films in one post? Yes. Point taken.

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Rediscovered 1964 Tokyo Paralympics film

Festival of Love and Glory…

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Tomoka: I was so surprised using the smart glasses, wherever you looked the subtitles moved around the screen.

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Kaneko: And you could switch subtitle languages too. It felt odd watching an old movie with modern technology.

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Tomoka: Yes, a black and white movie. The commentary and music made it seem like I was caught in a time-warp.

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Kaneko: But you could see what society was like back then. You know some disabled people were kept in institutions.

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Back then

Tomoka: And the wheelchairs they used then for sports events were just ordinary ones. Not special sports ones.

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Kaneko: Right. And the Paralympians attitude was more casual. Like “I’m not expecting a medal, but I’ll do my best.” Now Paralympics is more competitive.

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Tomoka: Yes, and the events are more hyped up with music and decoration and entertainment.

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Kaneko: I hope that after the 2020 Paralympics barrier-free develops further.

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Tomoka: And the attitude of people towards disabled people becomes more understanding.

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Voice-over

The first use of the expression “Paralympics” was from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. Having Tomoka Igari, a disabled entertainer, and Kaneko Yamamoto, a researcher from Sophia, come on stage at Tokyo International Film Festival and talk about their impressions of the film before its screening added depth to the event.

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