KIFF- Days 4, 5 and 6

        Yeah I was tired and I didn't feel like typing. Days 4-6 of KIFF were good enough with two highlights. I saw Interstellar and The Guest in between too. One I liked, one I really liked- guess which is which? I also walked out one screening but that doesn't count because they were playing a different movie than the one I had intended to watch and I barely sat for like half a minute.


Day 4:
1) Kaafiron ki Namaz (Ram Ramesh Sharma, 2013)- This movie belongs on a stage. So theatrical and wordy. It was like the worst of humanity gathered for a pointless discussion that was nevertheless fascinating. Sometimes it was too much to handle but it was also acerbically hilarious. The songs in it were kinda awful though.

2) Nymphomaniac vol. 1(Lars von Trier, 2014)- I kind of love this film. I don't know what kind of pervert that makes me but it is what it is. Most of all, I love its humour. We saw this in the biggest theatre and just like in Blue is the Warmest Colour, an audience that is otherwise more than ready to break out into fights watched all the sex scenes with complete silence and an almost reverence. It was hilarious to see some people shift in their seats in certain scenes. Btw, this was the "uncensored" director's cut and I'm super glad we didn't go for vol. 2 because we've heard some horror stories about what happens in that. LVT is a wackjob.


Day 5:
1) Refugiado (Diego Lerman, 2014)- This was a nice movie. It's about a kid and his mother who are on the run from his abusive father. It is a real human drama and it's filmed like that. There's no sentimentality but there is a gentleness about the characters which I really liked. The kid was v. good.

2) Omar (Hany Abu Assad, 2013)- I thought it was an excellent film. I thought I had it figured out but I was constantly surprised by it. Also, I am in love with it's lead actor now. Adam Bakri is fucking gorgeous and he was really, really, REALLY good! My friend and I were totally fawning over him the entire time. I don't understand how he can like walk anywhere without people trying to kiss him all the time. This was also one of the funniest/most annoying experiences as far as audiences go. The first 10 minutes people was just hurling hilarious insults at each other across the hall.

3) Two Faces of January (Hossein Amini, 2014)- It was okay. It certainly looked v. pretty and I was attracted to both Viggo Mortensen and Oscar Isaac at different points in the movie. But I don't understand anyone who's comparing it to The Talented Mr. Ripley except in the looks department. It was almost too straightforward if that's a thing, like annoyingly so. It lacked any complexity whatsoever and Ripley is complex as fuck.


Day 6:
1) Dr. Strangelove (Stanley Kubrick, 1964)- I think I first saw this film 6 years ago and I hadn't rewatched it since. I forgot just how great its satire is. Also, I don't think I had recognized George C. Scott's brilliance in this the first time 'round. Peter Sellers is obviously to die for as always. I did remember its ending clearly and god, I love it! Most of my friends went to watch some movie about a dog instead but I much prefer nuclear war and violence in the name of peace to that :)

2) Mommy (Xavier Dolan, 2014)- This was the movie I had shrieked so loudly about when I found out it is screening in the film festival, that I woke my grandma up in a fright. So yeah, it was kinda my #1 movie to watch in the fest and holy shit, it did not disappoint. Like I am so glad I watched it on a big screen because a movie THIS big needed that. I can't call it a perfect film mostly because it's more of a living, breathing, dynamic force than a film. It was so intense that after it got over, my friends and I barely spoke a word to each other and just sat silently throughout our bus journey. I felt like every emotion at the end and I didn't/still don't know how to fully react to it. Speaking in technical terms, it was fucking stunning to begin with. There is this thing that happens with its aspect ratio that made me go "Oh fuck" out loud. It's still giving me shivers thinking about it. The soundtrack is freaking perfect. The performances were out of this world. It's a blshame that Anne Dorval will almost definitely be overlooked during awards season. She's SOOOOO GOOD!!! And I don't know where Dolan found Antoine-Olivier Pilon but that kid has one of the most beautiful and cinematic faces ever. I could keep looking at it, at him, all day long, especially through Dolan's lense. Dolan himself continues to baffle me with his talent. How the fuck is a 25 year old this good? I have loved all 5 of his films and I can't wait for what he does next.


          We were supposed to watch Clouds of Sils Maria but there was a huge line + it was screening way past its allotted time + we were too full of Mommy emotions and so we skipped it.

          Tomorrow is the last day of the festival. Whiplash is another biggy that I hope to catch. I'm also going to go watch John Wick 'cuz why not.