FESTIVAL DU NOUVEAU CINEMA: AN ATTENTIVE LOOK

Commentary by Sergio Martinez

The 53rd edition of the Montreal New Cinema Festival took place between October 9 and 20. It was a showcase that tried to include contemporary cinema and experimental works.

The following is a brief review of some of the films we had the opportunity to see.

The Seed of the Sacred Fig, directed by Mohammad Rasoulof (Germany-France-Iran).  Undoubtedly, it is one of the most interesting films at the festival, plus its own secret filming in Iran gives a special connotation to the story. Imam works for the judicial system and has recently been promoted in his job. When he tells his family this news, it is greeted with expectations of an improvement in his status, especially from his wife. Her daughters, on the other hand, do not seem very enthusiastic; the eldest of them is studying at university and has a close friend who is involved in protest activities, especially concerning women's demands. This happens in the times when a girl died at the hands of police for not wearing the veil (chador).

Suddenly, an incident occurs that can have bad consequences for Imam, lead to a head-on clash with his family, and reveal the work he actually does.

The film tells very well the tension that will occur within the family. However, the central character does not seem to be described in a very consistent way. At the beginning of his new job, he showed some reticence, but then he is shown as very possessed in the position he holds. In any case, this is a very good film.

Emilia Perez Dir. Jacques Audiard (France).  This surprising French film is set in Mexico and mostly spoken in Spanish. A very interesting plot shows us the brilliant lawyer Rita Moro (Zoe Saldaña), whose services are required by the drug lord Manitas del Monte (Karla Sofía Gascón) who, in order to mislead the authorities, has planned an elaborate scheme in which she will change her sex, where Emilia Pérez will be born, completely clean from her previous life, but with her fortune still in her hands. Eventually, however, some elements of the past will return to interfere in her new life. The film is a thriller with musical scenes, making it difficult to classify. At the same time, it reflects in a raw way the violence involved in the drug business.

The Apprentice, directed by Alia Abbasi (Canada-Denmark-Ireland-United States). A film that presents in a very accurate way “how it's done” a character who, from the always lurid world of business, moves into politics carrying with him the same questionable practices that have made him a mythical figure for many. The performances of the two main characters are very solid; Sebastian Stan adopts Donald Trump's mannerisms and gestures very well; Jeremy Strong, for his part, convincingly embodies lawyer Roy Cohn in all his exuberant display of power, and then also in his downfall. A highly critical approach to the central character, but without falling into superficiality or disqualification.

A Traveler's Needs Dir. Hong Sangsoo (South Korea). It is a bit difficult to classify this film, which has elements of a documentary, but at the same time tells a fictional story with French actress Isabelle Rupert in the role of a French teacher who travels around Seoul teaching her classes at home. Curiously, we almost never see her speaking in French as practically all the dialogues are in English. Basically, it is a succession of small, banal encounters where the only interesting note occurs towards the end when we discover with whom the Frenchwoman shares her life in Seoul.

A SMALL LATIN PRESENCE

La piel en primavera Dir. Yennifer Uribe Alzate (Colombia-Chile). A story with some potential: a woman who works as a security guard in a shopping mall and strikes up a relationship with the bus driver who transports her every morning. In the background, the aspirations of other women like her.  However, the film lacks focus in that all the plots are left in the air, with no way of knowing what is happening. These loose ends leave a disjointed story with incomplete characters, with a gratuitous final scene, without any justification or reference to an already incoherent plot.

More people die on Sundays Dir. Iair Said (Argentina-Italy-Spain).  The death of an uncle brings David (Iair Said), who is studying in Italy, back to Buenos Aires. In the midst of his Jewish family, David soon finds himself out of place, although he didn't seem to be any better off in Italy either. The film dabbles in the search for meaning in life, which David tries unsuccessfully, be it in his relationship with his father, who is in a coma, with his mother, who also has her own health problems due to her age, and in his relationships with other men, as David is gay.

It is a film that, at times, seems a bit dark, but it keeps the viewer's interest in David's fruitless search.