FILM REVIEWS:
DAHOMEY (Senegal/France/Benin 2024) ***
Directed by Mati Diop
The Golden Bear winner at this year’s Berlinale, Mati Diop’s DAHOMEY traces the historic repatriation of 26 royal treasures from France to Benin, simultaneously forging a speculative and political reflection on cultural heritage, collective memory, and the implications of restitution. Diop directed the recent ATLANTICS which received rave reviews when screened at Cannes and at TIFF.
Benin, a French-speaking West African nation, is the birthplace of the vodun (or “voodoo”) religion and home to the former Dahomey Kingdom from circa 1600–1900. In Abomey, Dahomey's former capital, the Historical Museum occupies two royal palaces with bas-reliefs recounting the kingdom’s past and a throne mounted on human skulls. To the north, Pendjari National Park offers safaris with elephants, hippos and lions.
For centuries, the Kingdom of Dahomey, within the borders of modern-day Benin, was a central cultural meeting point in West Africa, a site of European colonial conquest and the transatlantic slave trade. In 1892, the French invaded and looted hundreds of treasures from the royal palace, alongside thousands of other works. Following years of appeals and reports, in 2021 an agreement was made for several of these artworks to be returned from France to Benin.
The doc, at the beginning, takes the view of one of the artifacts that calls itself number 26. It talks in voiceover (speaking in Don), of what it experiences while being stolen and then returned back to Benin. The star speaks in poetic prose, giving the doc an artistic feel.
A few artifacts are shown and described in detail. One of them is a statue of King Ghezo, one of the country’s rulers in the past. It is slightly damaged but was made of painted wood and steel fibre and still looks magnificent.
A large portion of the doc involves debates among the Beninese - University students. The debates open one’s eyes to the thoughts and demise of the people. Firstly, they main issue of concern is the return of only 26 figures out of a total of 7000. The important question is the reason for their return. There is a debate of whether the move is politically cultural. One person says that Francois Mitterrand just wants to improve his brand by allowing the run of the 26 figures. Another argues that there are two kinds of heritage - material and nonmaterial. The artifacts are the material ones that have been taken away from the people and the other like the dances, colour and music that stay in the country and conniver be taken away from the people. The point is also brought out of when the rest of the 7000 will be returned, if ever.
Other issues rain, making the problem more complex. Who will be responsible for looking after and preserving the artifacts? An elderly claims that he is too old and it is up to the younger generation to take responsibility. The returned figures now reside in the Palais and how can children in remote villages get a chance to view the history?
The doc also emphasizes the importance of history and the loss of the people’s native language due to colonization. The debaters in the doc all speak French and cannot communicate or speak in their native tongue.
Trailer:
DAHOMEY won this year’s Golden Bear at the Berlinale, was screened at the last Toronto International Film Festival, and opens at the TIFF Lightbox on October 18th.
HERE (USA 2024) **
Directed by Robert Zemeckis
The new film HERE puts the director Robert Zemeckis and Tom Hanks together, having had immense success from the past collaboration FORREST GUMP. But director Zemeckis has had misses too, and HERE, a high concept film is unfortunately one of them, but not for what of trying. HERE also demonstrates the worst of Zemeckis, sentimentality made worse with lots of segments set during the Christmas yuletide season.
HERE is a 2024 American drama film produced and directed by Robert Zemeckis, who co-wrote the screenplay with Eric Roth, based on the 2014 graphic novel by Richard McGuire. It stars heavyweights Tom Hanks, Robin Wright, Paul Bettany, and Kelly Reilly.
The story covers the events of a single spot of land and its inhabitants, spanning from the past to well into the future. The film is best described as a generational story about families and the special place they inhabit, sharing in love, loss, laughter, and life, but with distractions.
HERE is a concept movie and credit should be given to Zemeckis for trying something fresh and innovative. The concept is a piece of land that constitutes the term HERE and the film shows HERE from the time, it was just land that natives inhabited to the time when a house was built from colonial times to the present. There is also a frame on the screen that characters move in and out from. The film shifts forwards and backward in time, showcasing many families but concentrating on the couple Richard and Margaret played by Tom Hanks and Robin Wright, who sadly, separate because of the house.
There is also a black couple that is briefly considered in the story but then disappears. The film should have concentrated more on Margaret and Richard’s parents rather than showing the past inhabitants of the land, which tends to be distracting though one can admire director Zemeckis's ambition for a grander movie.
It is noticeable that instead of closeups of the actors, the actors move close to the camera. The cameras are placed like someone watching a play which in this case is the lace called HERE.
The question that arises is what will dominate. Would it be the story of the family of Richard and Margaret or the film concept? The answer is unclear as director Zemickis wishes both to succeed.
The story of Margaret and Richard is a complex but real relationship issue. They live in Richard’s dad’s house as they do not earn enough to live on their own. Richard promises to have their own place for their family but fate does not allow it. The result is their eventual separation. Margaret also suffers from dementia due to old age but their love survives. It is a stormy love story, but the shifts of this story in time and with other elements undermine the dramatics.
Hanks, Wright, and Bettany are nothing short of excellent in their roles. Production values are also excellent.
HERE opens in theatres on November 1st.
Trailer:
INFIDELITY (USA 2023) ***
Directed by Rob Maargolies
Review embargo lifted Nov 4th
INFIDELITY is available on Digital and VOD on Tuesday, November 5th.
Trailer:
OUR DAD, DANIELLE (USA 2024) ***
Directed by S.E. King
The doc is the story of a larger-than-life IP lawyer in Sugar Land, Texas, who at 57, came out as a trans woman and is now navigating LGBTQ+ issues while fighting for trans rights, as she and her family challenge the idea of what modern love looks like. The story concept was originally conceived as a comedy series but that did not work. This doc is the result,
The subject of the film is Danielle, a trans who has transitioned. In order to understand more about Danielle, the term transgender should be understood.
A transgender person (often shortened to trans person) is someone whose gender identity differs from that typically associated with the sex they were assigned at birth.
Often, transgender people desire medical assistance to medically transition from one sex to another; those who do may identify as transsexual. Transgender does not have a universally accepted definition, including among researchers; it can function as an umbrella term.
At the start of the film, the audience is introduced to Danielle. He first mentioned to another human being that he was trans when he was at the age of 44. As a kid, he had a mace or rather, female cave where he could wear women’s clothing insert. Trans people make the best CIA or FBI agents, Danielle claims, as they are very good at hiding.
Danielle speaks a lot to the camera and the film contains a lot of footage of her. Quite a bit of insight is also provided from interviews with Danielle’s wife, Becky, and her best friend, Anita. Becky talks about their first comical first date, and how they fell in love. If I had lost my wife and my kids, I would not have transitioned, says Danielle at one point in the film, showing how stronger her love for family is. Anita talks about Danielle at work and how supportive and fun she is as a best friend. These episodes show Danielle as a human being with love and compassion and as a freak of nature. Danielle is currently a little overweight after transitioning and walks with the aid of canes.
It takes a tremendous amount of energy to live a life not of oneself. Danielle was exceptionally good at hiding other family and she would not do anything to hurt the family.
Starting in 2018, OUR DAD, DANIELLE follows 4 years of Danielle’s life as she faces the unexpected adventures of transitioning alongside her wife and kids who undergo their own transition: adjusting to a new name, pronouns, and social fallout. At best, the doc shows, as do many previous docs on the subject of trans, that a trans cannot live otherwise and that transitioning is the only option. Danielle is shown as a success, but not without many trials and tribulations.
Over time, as the political landscape evolves and Danielle's world expands, she integrates into the LGBTQ+ community, using her legal prowess to help fight for the rights of her trans and queer brothers, sisters, and siblings.
OUR DAD, DANIELLE opens on Digital and VOD on Friday, November 01, 2024
Trailer:
SPIRIT IN THE BLOOD (Canada/Germany 2024) **
Directed by Carly May Borgstrom
Young 15-year-old teen Emerson Grimm (Summer H. Howell) has just moved, to her disdain to the country with her family. She hates the place and on the first day of school, is made fun of, as the new girl on the block. At the same time, a young girl is found dead in a secluded religious mountain community. What follows is Emerson, befriending an outcast in school, Delilah Soleil (Sarah-Maxine Racicot). The two lead a pack of teenage girls who decide to fight against the evil spirits they believe killed her by embracing their own dark nature. They ignite the spirit in their blood, for bravery to encounter the monster in the woods that had killed the young girl
Director Carly May Borgstrom’s film is unfortunately all over the place, touching but never going deeper into the many issues it brings up like growing up pains, teen isolation, bullying, religious cults, and family relationships. It is all difficult to identify or feel for any of the characters, all of them exhibiting bad behaviour. Emerson’s father is rash and angry, and, at one point, he ditches his daughter out of the car in the country. The daughter, Emerson also is no well behaved daughter, often angry and rebellious. Her best friend Delilah is also a rebellious teen, smoking and having underage sex with the local boys. The pastor leader figure in the town is also overzealous and not sympathetic to the younger youth,
The story also contains a lot of plot loopholes. The monster that is responsible for the killings suddenly appears at the end attacking both Emerson and Delilah. Where did this mountain man come from? The film that contains unsympathetic characters, for the most part, fails to interest for the most part of the film. The film does pick up in intensity during the last third of the film, even though it defies logic.
A co-production between Canada and Germany and shot in Canada, SPIRIT IN THE BLOOD is an ultimate failure though not for want of trying. SPIRIT IN THE BLOOD. SPIRIT IN THE BLOOD is in theatres on November 1.
Trailer:
