Sator
Friday, February 21st, 8.45pm (Lido rooftop), Sunday, March 1st, 9pm (Lido), Sunday, February 23rd, 9pm (Ritz)
Two adult brothers and their grandma, in the woods. Grandma has stories. She knows of a presence in the forest, a supernatural entity called Sator, that might have something to do with the disappearance of their mother years before. Reminding me of the haunted existential, cosmic horror Resolution, also set in the woods and dealing with some kind of supernatural entity, able to fuck with space and time, this take on grief, mental illness, and familial bonds, is a real coal burner. But the burn feels good.
It also looks sensational too. Writer/director Jordan Graham is a one-man movie machine, handling almost every single department with the exception of the pproducing, which he shares with a few others. While Sator might not satisfy horror hounds looking for more conventional fare, if you like your creepiness with a subtle dose of Lynchian in between moments, then this is the folk horror for you. I hope Graham continues on the horror path, and delves even darker.
The Mute
Friday, February 21st, 9pm (Ritz), Sunday, March 1st, 8.45pm (Lido rooftop & Ritz laneway)
If Nicolas Winding Refn’s Valhalla Rising had been made by Andrei Tarkovsky it might have looked a bit like The Mute, a simultaneously gorgeous and grotesque Polish rumination on faith, trust, and survival of the fittest, as the narrative follows the plight of two men, somewhere in the Middle Ages, somewhere in Europe, somewhere where the shadows of xenophobia run long, where the tenebrous treachery of faith cuts to the bone. A determined older Christian en route to convert the pagans, and a young knight, who leans into a more empathetic approach, and opts for an extreme decision.
One of the most exquisite looking films I’ve seen in a long time, with its cold, hard hues, the stark, rugged beauty of the landscape, the ritualistic pagan face paint. The performances are stellar. It’s not an uplifting movie, yet it moves in mysterious ways. A dark and powerful film about humanity and trust in a time when you were only as reliable as your last glance. “God’s blood” spilled that stains the mind, its imagery burnt onto your retina.
S He
Saturday, February 22nd, 4.30pm & Sunday, March 1st, 7pm (Lido), Sunday February 23rd, 7pm & Sunday, March 1st, 4.30pm (Ritz)
Like something out of a very strange dream, Shengwei Zhou’s stop-motion animated feature is, literally, in a realm of its own. An authoritarian world run by shoes (men), who keep the high-heels (women) imprisoned, and when they have baby stilettos, the men have them immediately transformed into baby shoes. It’s a cruel and harshly chauvinistic existence for the high heels. Until one of them seeks freedom and retribution for all the shoes’ injustice.
Imagine the early animated work of David Lynch, combined with the equally surreal stop-motion work of Jan Svankmajer, and the dark satirical gender twistings of Pedro Almodovar. And then add a drop of acid. Yup, this is weird-dream-as-kitsch-nightmare, its black comedy slapping you about the face with a cold hard slipper. No dialogue, just grunts and gasps of indignation and exasperation. A brilliant sound design, inspired production design, and startling use of animation. It probably would’ve worked better as a long short film, but it’s definitely worth investing ninety minutes in, you’ll feel oddly inspired, strangely moved.
Horror Noire: A History of Black Horror
Monday, February 24th, 7pm (Lido, Melbourne & Ritz, Sydney), Saturday, February 29th, 4.30pm (Ritz)
A documentary based on the book Horror Noire: Blacks in American Horror films from the 1980s to the Present by Robin R. Means Coleman, the history actually dates back many more decades. Coleman, and a couple other historians, along with numerous actors and filmmakers, wax lyrical about the plight of the African-American in cinema, and the path made toward proper representation. From 1940’s Song of Ingagi through to Jordan Peel’s breakout Get Out via Night of the Living Dead, the influence of blaxploitation - especially Blacula - and the token use of the sacrificial and magical Negroes.
Actors Keith David (The Thing), Ken Foree (Dawn of the Dead), Rachel True (The Craft), Tony Todd (Candyman), and Loretta Devine (Urban Legend) are just a few of the familiar, but older faces nestled in a small cinema auditorium watching clips and discussing their culture’s place, both rightful and sidelined, in vintage and contemporary genre cinema. It’s a rich and fascinating journey, with a healthy sense of humour, and it never meanders or gets bogged down in unnecessary academics, despite the strong socio-political nature. [Ed: I never realised how enormous Tony Todd’s hands are!]
Nobadi
Saturday, February 29th, 7pm (Lido & Ritz)
Well, I’ve not seen a movie quite like this one. Almost impossible to categorise. The studied observational distance of Ulrich Seidl with a real sting in its tail. The less you know about this one the better. Suffice to say, it deals with a grumpy, elderly man who lives in a Viennese allotment. His dog has died, and he wants to bury him in the back yard. Begrudgingly he hires an insistent young vagrant, an Afghanistan migrant (without a visa), to do the hard work. The young man has a nasty, festering wound on the sole of his foot. It is this injury that will lead the two men to an alarming and very serious situation.
Most of this movie is the kind of flick Jim Jarmusch might have made if he’d decided to film in Europe in the native tongue. But the last third is something else entirely, and squeamish be warned! Brilliant performances from the two leads - and this is very much a two-hander chamber piece - Nobadi seemingly does nothing and everything at the same time. It’s an elusive study of the peculiar bond of complete strangers pulled together in extraordinary circumstances, each one forced to appreciate the others shadowy, very fallible thoughts. It’s grace under pressure, it’s the end of the line, with fresh secrets buried under old soil. You won’t forget this one in a hurry!
Suicide Tourist
Tuesday, February 25th, 7pm (Lido), Saturday, February 22nd, 7pm (Ritz)
Max is a life insurance agent with a terminal disease. An investigative job takes him to a remote alpine hotel, Aurora, which is actually a clinic where his client’s missing husband had signed on the dotted line for an assisted suicide. It is here that Max faces his own mortality, his relationship with his devoted wife, and what appears to be a clandestine organisation with a seemingly sinister agenda. But just how much of Max’s reality is reliable?
A Danish/Norwegian/German co—production, constructed as a slow-burn drama that gently evolves into a mystery thriller, but never quite pays off in the conventional sense, yet rewards and satisfies in other delicate and elegant ways. I’m reminded of Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy for similar reasons. Strong performances from Nikolaj Coster-Waldau and Tuva Novotny as husband and wife, and striking direction from Jonas Alexander Arnby, Suicide Tourist slyly swerves past the controversial nature of its premise, whilst delivering a stylish, very watchable mood piece.
For complete program, all venue times, and ticketing please visit fantasticfilmfestival.com.au