Fighting sleeplessness and exhaustion, I have made it to the end of Day 3. Here's a recap.
Rafiki
If any shamelessly self-promoting and jingoistic Indian Cinema fan says you're biased against "our" cinema even though it's tackling "social issues" just as much as international cinema, show them Rafiki. The most "Indian" foreign language film to be playing at this year's fest, it deals with two women belonging to warring clans who fall in love, yet it has so much that our desi audiences can relate to: social stigmas, controlling and regressive parents, restrictive religion, gossiping neighbors, a "chawl"-like housing and social space and more colors than the eye can digest. And all of that without the amount of melodrama that usually sinks our ships.
There is nothing remotely pathbreaking about Rafiki. It won't win any awards for cinematography. There's no deep lyricism or even a second layer of theme to it. It isn't bleak in the Oscar bait sense. But what it does get right is its understanding of love, that it could happen to anyone with anyone at any time. It sticks to its simple narrative rather than shooting for the moon, its sunny cinematography capturing little details that establish the culture of its setting, its musical score transporting us to the streets of Kenya.
Rafiki doesn't try do a lot but what it does, it does it better than more ambitious films without the obvious melodramatic manipulations of tear-jerkers.
The Long Day's Journey Into Night
My annoyance at the fact that Bi Gan's film was actually showing in 3D soon turned into delight as this mystical beast of a film sucked me into its vortex and never let me go. It's a living daydream fantasy with rippling water and naked bulbs and the most magnificent use of 3D you'll ever see.
A film about obsessions and the regrets and ruefulness that go hand in hand with it, Gan uses surrealism better than Claire Denis did in High Life. There is a feeling of melancholy emanating from every single frame, thanks to the brilliant cinematography, and the extended long take during the 3D sequence is a work of marvel. It's hard to talk more about this brilliant film before I can rewatch and relive this experience and I plan to do so before this festival is over. Safe to say, my favorite film of MAMI so far.
The House That Jack Built
There is no doubt that Lars Von Trier is a brilliant mind, and for all of his rivalry and comparisons with Nicholas Winding Refn, his is a creative brain like no other. Having said that, his latest film is basically the equivalent of him pleasuring himself for 2.5 hours in front of the audience.
The story of a serial killer who kills (mostly) women and children in grotesque ways, Von Trier throws as much blood and gross-out gore on the screen as he can but I mostly found all of it to be tame and useless. All he wanted to do was to provoke a reaction; he didn't make me flinch even once. My interest in the proceedings went up and down throughout the running time, with the most involving bits being when he actually tries to be smart about his concept and tries to approach it from another angle instead of the blood and guts. He throws in unnecessary VO full of clunky biblical and World War references left over from the script of his previous Nymphomaniac, and he even casts Bruno Ganz, who had somehow managed to evoke sympathy for his portrayal of Hitler in Downfall.
The entire climax is only slightly better than the 6th story in Buster Scruggs and his referencing of his reputation and his filmography in the middle was more off-putting than a scene where a woman's breasts are cut-off. Matt Dillon as Jack was great, though.
