A sure sign of Spring: The Wisconsin Film Festival.
Once again, Madison opened its doors to hundreds of local and international movies. We had quite a few big names. Here is a quick summary of the films I saw:
Awesome; I fuckin' Shot That
This is the movie that opened up the film festival for me. It's a concert video from the Beastie Boys during a 2004 Madison Square Garden Show. The premise: 50 cameras handed to various concert goers around the show. Amateur filming: professional editing.
The effect was pretty spectacular. You get the sensory overload effect of being in a concert with quick cutting images and lots of camera effects. Often, the filmmakers would have a shot of all 50 cameras going at once in small boxes filling up the screen. We even took a trip to the bathroom with one of the concert goers: a required experience of course.
The concert itself showed off the beastie's versatility and talent. I'm not a huge fan, so I couldn't appreciate all of their lyrics, but you can see that they are great musicians and skillful entertainers. A not-miss if you're a fan. If you're not, you'll sill be very entertained and find yourself grooving to the beat.
Our Brand is Crisis
A 2005 documentary from filmmaker Rachel Boyton. This documentary chronicles the (2003?) Bolivian election of Gonzalo (Gonzi) Sanchez de Lozada. This former president wants to get re-elected after being out of power for many years. But, he's got an image problem: his people don't like him. His solution is to hire American political consultants Greenville, Carville and Shrum to help get him elected. So, they roll out all modern election techniques: polling, focus groups, ad campaigns, and carefully crafted TV ads to try and sell Gonzi to the Bolivians.
The documentary chronicles every step, focusing particularly on Jeremy Rosner, the lead consultant in this campaign. The scenes with James Carville are easily worth the price of admission.
The documentary offers surprising insight into American politics, as these guys were the brains behind the Clinton campaign. Gonzalo's very carefully measured and controlled image is both disturbing and fascinating. He's often his own worst enemy.
Lonsome Jim
This was perhaps my favorite film of the festival. It was directed by Steve Buscemi, with Casey Affleck and Liv Tyler in the starring role. Affleck plays Jim, returning to his small Indiana hometown after a failed stint in Manhattan walking dogs and working at Appelbys.
His divorced brother Tim (Kevin Corrigan) lives at home with his two parents. All three of them work at a ladder factory owned by his parents, a job Jim has wanted to avoid working at all his life. Tim also coaches is daughters' basketball team: a team that not only hasn't won a game, they haven't made a basket all year.
After Tim fails suicide and must recover in the hospital, Jim is forced to stick around and work in the factory. He must also face his relationship with his family, and his own failures.
While he's there he falls for the very lovely Anika (Tyler). A single mom who works as a nurse in the local hospital. Her enduring optimism and idealism contrast with Jim's maudlin life.
The movie is slow and understated. Buscemi steps back and lets his actors act and develop. It's funny and thoughtful. Go see it.
The Wendell Baker Story
This silly comedy by the Wilson Brothers would be alright if it were a renter with a bunch of friends. It doesn't really have a place at a film festival. Luke Wilson plays Wendell Baker, an ex-con whose idealistic schemes always get him into trouble. After a recent arrest, his girlfriend Doreen (Eva Mendes) finally leaves him. When he gets paroled, he starts his job at a retirement home and works out a plan to revitialize the home and get her back. When he discovers an evil plan by the home's nurse (Owen Wilson) to take advantage of the residents, as you can imagine, zaniness ensues. It's silly and non-sensical. I laughed a few times, and Baker is likeable enough, but there is just nothing special with this one. Save it for cable.
Darwin's Nightmare
This Oscar nominated documentary is truly a nightmare. It's a frightening account of the effects of Nile Perch on a fishing village near Lake Victoria in Tanzania. The Perch was released in the lake in the 50's or 60's. Although the fish brings profits to a few fisheries near the lake, it has destroyed a lot of the natural diversity in the lack.
The horror, however, is not the environmental effects of the fish on the lake ecology. Rather, it focuses on the plight of the people in the village. While a few fishing companies make a fortune selling the perch to Europe, the local population scrapes by on the fish heads and leftovers from the factory. Women, widowed by the AIDS virus must turn to prostitution. Children, often parentless, fight amongst themselves for scraps of food. The few available jobs only pay enough to barely survive. Herbert Sauper's documentary is slowly paced and unforced. He lets the story come to life in the various people he follows during his visit to the lake. His blame is mostly tilted toward the Europeans who happily consume the fish while ignoring the plight of the locals.
See this one with a friend.
The final film I saw was a collection of Wisconsin shorts. I won't go into detail because it's unlikely that they would be seen elsewhere, and I can't recall most of the names. They covered diverse topics from folk singer Ben Glazer to a man in a doughnut shop.
The festival was a great mix of films. I can't wait until next year!
