Vilnius International Film Festival 2021

[Silga]

Vilnius International Film Festival 2021

March 18 - April 5

[Silga]

Due to Covid-19 this edition, just like the one last year, will take place online, through web and VOD platforms.

Also, because it is online-only event, the program shrunk by at least 3-4 times and most of the major, prestige names of the usual festival circuit are not present this year. I guess most of them wait for a chance to appear in one of the major festivals that eventually will take place in-person.

Anyway, I've found some interesting titles that I plan to watch.

You can check the entire list of films here - https://kinopavasaris.lt/en/programa

All recommendations are very welcome.

Titles I've noted:

1. There Is No Evil (Mohammad Rasoulof)
2. All the Dead Ones (Marco Dutra, Caetano Gotardo)
3. The Woman Who Ran (Hong Sang-Soo)
4. Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn (Radu Jude)
5. Days (Tsai Ming-Liang)
6. Bitter Love (Jerzy Sladkowski)
7. Never Gonna Snow Again (Malgorzata Szumowska)
8. Heimat Is a Space in Time (Thomas Heise)
9. Notturno (Gianfranco Rosi)
10. Social Hygiene (Denis Côté)
11. Apples (Christos Nikou)
12. Goodbye Mister Wong (Kiyé Simon Luang)
13. Fauna (Nicolás Pereda)
14. The Real Thing (Koji Fukada)
15. Walchensee Forever (Janna Ji Wonders)
16. Berlin Alexanderplatz (Burhan Qurbani)
17. New Order (Michel Franco)
18. Night of the Kings (Philippe Lacôte)
19. Quo Vadis, Aida? (Jasmila Žbanić)
20. The Painter and the Thief (Benjamin Ree)
21. Song Without a Name (Melina León)
22. The Twentieth Century (Matthew Rankin)

[niminy-piminy]

8. Heimat Is a Space in Time (Thomas Heise)

the only one i have seen from the list.
it is very long, proceeds slow, a lot of charming (black & white) landscape shots, extensive voiceover (microhistory of director's family vs. big history of 20th century).
i liked it.
otherwise, i watched SOLAR SYSTEM (2011) and THE HOUSE (1984) by him.
plus, i have a few more in storage to see (hopefully, in near future).
he is a filmmaker i am interested in.

[Silga]

Thanks for your comment, Jiri!

Heimat is definitely the most mysterious of the titles I've listed. Maybe I'll feel in the mood for a film like Heimat and give it a try. Festival times are when all kinds of experiments in genre and form are welcome.

[nrh]

3. The Woman Who Ran (Hong Sang-Soo)

i loved this movie, but it's a little hard to recommend - my favorite hongs are the very small ones, and this is one of his smallest - a series of conversations between women, nothing very dramatic. but he is one of my favorite working directors, though this might not be the best film to connect to his work if you haven't seen anything yet.

[Silga]

3. The Woman Who Ran (Hong Sang-Soo)

though this might not be the best film to connect to his work if you haven't seen anything yet.

I've watched Right Now, Wrong Then during London BFI Film Festival back in 2015. I liked his directing and film's focus well enough and wanted to watch another Hong for some time now.

[St. Gloede]

The Twentieth Century and There is No Evil are among my favourite films from the last 2-3 years. I have also seen Days, which was a slight disappointment to me - but I know many critics have placed it among their favourite films of 2020.

Bad Luck Banging or Loony Porn 2021, Radu Jude) is the one I'm most excited by, as it is not only from one of my very favourite active directors, but just won the Golden Bear 6 days ago.


What I wrote on the first two:

The Twentieth Century (2019, Matthew Rankin)



The Twentienth Century is a visually breathtaking, thoroughly bizarre and certifiably campy reimaging of the rise to power of one William Lyon Mackenzie King - one of Canada's longest-serving prime ministers and a symbol of pre and post WW2 Canada.

In this reality Canada is a poor, gaslighted and willing prisoner of a Fascistic Britain - represented by Lord Protector Moto - and flying the flag of the "Old Disappointment". Canadian citizens are to "do more than expected, and accept less than deserved". Freedom is terrorism, loyalty is all - and democracy is nowhere to be seen: replaced by baby seal clubbing, the art of passive aggressiveness - and a long line of other great trials of "Canadian manhood".



The stylization here is simply exquisite. We see old, outdated acting styles, and a purposeful tints, degradation to time footage - though it is not the cinema of the 1900s, but the early 30s and 40s we are reminded of. Just as Rankin's countryman Guy Maddin, this is not done in a mocking way, but rather to create the feeling of a neverworld, a surreal, eerie pastiche reality where extreme patriotism, ridiculous trials, men playing women, women playing men and fake talking birds are instantly accepted.

It is near impossible not to write about The Twentieth Century without writing about Guy Maddin. The amount of work I needed to put in to not place referenced to him and his work in the first sentence can hardly be described. The Twentieth Century simply invites too many comparisons, and can, if taken badly, be accused of plagiarising one of the last centuries most unique styles. The acting style, and the way the bizarre neverworld is created, where the ridiculous is simultaneously fitting and amusing - is unmistakable. 

However, there are clear differences. Where Maddin uses his style solely to create unique worlds, dissect his own memory and present a personal, introspective form of cinematic poetry coupled with the amazing and the ridiculous - The Twentieth Century do it in the aim of cultural and political examination - in a light-hearted but still extremely slick way. Rankin is also not incorporating Maddin's silent aesthetics - and does something far different - and spectacular in crafting bring, minimalist outside sets - perhaps best described as sets from German expressionist plays shot almost as if in neon colours - though the minimalist here goes even further.



I also have to say that this is a degree of ingenuity, passion and drive that Maddin has been sorely lacking of late. While it may be dismissed as a copy, I'd praise it as a continuation of a style that should be used more often - and an exercise within it that rivals Maddin's very best.

The Twentieth Century is absolutely hilarious in its spin on Canada's place 120 years ago - as well as the 20th century as a whole. It is always playful - the tone is spot on - the actors all deliver incredible and pitch-perfect performances within this campy neverworld - and the balance between comedy, visual art and play is incredible to observe. It does not just get bogged into a fun exercise, it contains emotion and depth - and is one of the few magnificent films you can truly get lost within. There are so many details, so much play, so much clear passion that it is - if this style is alluring to you - hard not to love every single second.

9.5/10



Sheytan vojud nadarad / There is No Evil (2020, Mohammad Rasoulof)



This may be one of the bravest denunciations of the oppressive Iranian regime - and what is accepted as the rule of law. There is No Evil leaves the vile just on the edges - and focuses on the mundanity, familiarity and intimacy of life - all amidst actions and choices of deadly and ever-lasting consequences. 

In exploring close relationships - and the choices people make, or do not make - There is No Evil places an emphasis on submission or resistance in what soon becomes clear to be a no-win situation. This connected theme is carried through 4 separate stories capturing entirely different emotional motifs - for the slow lull of every day - to gripping tension - to sneaking realization to a sombre life on the outside of society. 

I really can't say more without spoiling the film. It packs several punches - and the first encounter with the "evil" in question comes out of nowhere - and acts as a gateway into just what is in a "choice". 9/10.

[St. Gloede]

Going through the other films I did catch further great films such as Air Conditioner and Waiting for the Barbarians. I have also seen Love Affair(s), which was perfectly solid.

[ofrene]

liked Days and The Woman Who Ran, and Preparations to Be Together For an Unknown Period of Time is good, too(slightly disappointed at ending though)
and just can't understand hype about Night of the Kings-.-

[St. Gloede]

Just to clarify.

To participate you first pay for the streaming service and then for a bundle or individual films, correct?

https://kinopavasaris.lt/en/tickets-offers-2021

[Silga]

Going through the other films I did catch further great films such as Air Conditioner and Waiting for the Barbarians. I have also seen Love Affair(s), which was perfectly solid.

First of all, huge thanks St. Gloede for your thoughts on The Twentieth Century and There is No Evil. These two are already my two most anticipated films from the lineup.

I watched Waiting for the Barbarians last month and while I'm not sure if films story reached its potential, but I absolutely loved how beautiful it was. Visuals were amazing. Would have loved to see it on a big screen.

Just to clarify.

To participate you first pay for the streaming service and then for a bundle or individual films, correct?

On festival's own streaming service (they are debuting it this year) and on another streaming service called ZMONES CINEMA you don't have to pay any service fee - only get tickets for individual films or buy a bundle of 3, 5 or 10 films. As for TELIA TV, its a major cable TV and internet provider here in Lithuania, so people pay a monthly bill for its basic TV services and can separately rent films via its VOD platform.

[Silga]

and just can't understand hype about Night of the Kings-.-

And that hype is big. At least among the people I know, who already posted what they are planning to watch, pretty much everyone has Night of the Kings on their lists. It's one of the better known films already due to its Oscar campaign and some glowing reviews from critics.