The Nashville Film Festival is still currently underway at the Green Hills 16 Theater by school, and I’ve been given the chance to see a few movies as the semester winds down. Here’s a few thoughts on the films that I’ve been screening.
LUNARCY!
In the chipper documentary Lunarcy!, filmmaker Simon Ennis showcases individuals who, in some way, shape or form, gear their lives in accordance to the moon. Among the film’s many subjects, we spend a great deal of time with Christopher Carson, a lunar devotee with a dream of getting a one-way ticket above, Alan Beam, a former astronaut who now prefers to paint about his time in the sky and Dennis Hope, the supposed ‘President of the Moon.’
For much of its runtime Lunarcy! is a sheer joy to watch. It’s clear that Ennis is fascinated by his subjects, regardless of how naïve or silly their aims may appear. It’s easy to initially write-off the focal points as hollow daydreamers, but Ennis digs deep into why someone would hang their aspirations on something as far-fetched as living on or owning something that’s hundreds of thousands of miles away – which works wonders for the end product. Instead of being a novelty, Lunarcy! turns into something more – an intimate portrait about why we dream. The film fights for the idea that no matter how unobtainable your aims are, they’re justified because they’re a part of you. Lunarcy! is a gem that deserves mainstream attention.
DIE THOMANER: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF THE ST. THOMAS BOYS CHOIR LEIPZIG
Die Thomaner: A Year in the Life of the St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig advertises itself to the best of its ability. This is, indeed, a drawn-out examination of a year in the St. Thomas Boys Choir Leipzig in Saxony, Germany. While the choir itself in one of the most talent bunch of youngsters I’ve ever heard, the movie itself is an overindulgent infomercial.
Each talking head is simply either a school official lavishing praise on the school or a happy-go-lucky kiddo who’s simply happy to be on camera. This isn’t the fault of those involved (what would you do if someone asked you about the company you were a part of/were 9?) as much as it is the filmmakers (Günter Atteln and Paul Smaczny) not being able to have their idea (following around a boys choir for a year) work well for a feature film.The film likens itself to a band that’s still performing their 5th encore for the cleaning crew.
For a thirty minute TV special, Die Thomaner works. For a nearly two-hour movie where a pinnacle moment includes how the group spends their free-time? Simply put, Die Thomaner is devoted to its topic to an unfortunate fault.
REMOTE AREA MEDICAL
My favorite film of the festival easily has been Remote Area Medical, a harrowing-yet-inspiring film about a group that offers assistance to thousands of uninsured Americans in Bristol, Tennessee at the Bristol Motor Speedway. The documentary is a simple three-day account that hits you with an ice-cold gut punch of realization. The filmmakers (Jeff Reichert and Farihah Zaman) find heart-breaking stories among the masses in need of care that really help drive home the project’s central theme – that health care is a mess right now and no one has a clear cut answer on how to solve it.
Instead of doing what most docs about health care issues do – play the blame game, Remote Area Medical tries to shed some light on the hard-working individuals who sacrifice their time, efforts and, in some cases, lives, to help those who are in dire need of care they can’t afford. It’s uplifting in the sense that we rarely get an entire film that praises the individuals who are helping the problem instead of making it worse. The “bad guys” often get the headlines instead of the benevolent. The documentary accomplishes an admirable task by highlighting an issue and showing how some are trying to fix it. It’s easily the best film I’ve seen so far.
KON TIKI
The only narrative film I’ve seen so far at the festival, Kon Tiki easily takes the cake for the most exciting film I’ve seen in 2013. Kon Tiki follows the true journey of explorer Thor Heyerdahl (played by the impressive Pål Sverre Valheim Hagen) as he ventures to prove the early migration path of the Polynesians.
The film refreshes with its old-fashioned spirit. Too many big tentpole releases these days are falling ill to the desire to be new or revolutionary, or, as I like to call it, having self-indulgent ambition. Sometimes, a traditional adventure story is all that’s needed, and the filmmakers behind Kon Tiki must have had the same idea.
Kon Tiki is best described as a plate of adventurous comfort food. It’s satisfyingly straightforward storytelling in its purest form. Thor wants to go across the ocean to prove his point, and he puts together a ragtag team to do so – simple as that. It’s a film where the only villains are sharks, storms and seasickness.
Directors Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg set up a lush palette in which they lay an engrossing spectacle of epic proportions. A lot of the enjoyment just comes from seeing this film on the big screen, as the art direction and cinematography are breathtakingly sharp.
At the end of the day, Kon Tiki is a masterful adventure film that demands to be seen in the biggest venue possible (and I expect the lead actor to be receiving a few casting calls very soon).
I’ll be back on Friday with part two of my recap. Until then, make your way to the fest if you can!