Once Upon a Time in the Fest (Part 2)- My Thoughts on A Hidden Life

Day 2 of my LFF experience was pretty great even before I saw A Hidden Life. I'll review it in a minute, but first I want to talk about my general Southbank experience today, because that was so awesome. After the best DVD haul ever (High and Low, Celine and Julie Go Boating, Audition, Saturday Night and Sunday Morning, The Knack.... and How to Get It, the Jeunet and Caro Collection, Playtime, The Discreet Charm of the Bourseogie and Persona), I checked out the BFI's Mediatheque, where I passed the time by watching Derek Jarmon's Jubliee, which, mini review, was okay. I liked a lot of the ideas in it about art, history and sex, as well as the general aesthetic, but I found all of the characters incredibly unlikeable, and not in a good way. It also felt like it had something to say, but didn't actually know what it was it wanted to say. So yeah, it's kind of decent? Anyway, back to the review!

Terence Malick is a strange one. At his best, he makes some of the most poignant visual poems you're likely to see, but at his worst, he churns out navel-gazing, faux deep nonsense. So it's good to see that his latest, A Hidden Life, is a thrilling reminder of what he can do when he's at the height of his powers. The film revolves around a conscientious objector in the Second World War, and it's kind of incredible. True, at nearly three hours long and covering a very weighty subject matter, it's far from casual viewing, but this is a film that engages every one of your senses in the way that only Malick can. It's a patiently told story, with these beautifully shot images of Radegund, an idyllic village in the Austrian mountains. This being a Malick film, the sound and visuals truly tell the story. There's so much in the wind blowing through the grass, and the buzz of insects. The actual plot itself is revealed very slowly, but it rewards the viewer for sticking with it with a heartbreaking and deeply fascinating musing on what it means to stand up for what you believe in.

I love how patient this film is. It sets itself up gradually, never giving away too much at a time, and leaving it down to the viewer to decide what they think. It's heavily focused on ideas of morality, and how much a person is willing to sacrifice in an uncertain and complicated time. Amidst the heady, mountain-set visuals is a series of really difficult discussions about doing the right thing, and the way the dialogue regularly flips between English and German is a really effective way of emphasising that. There aren't any subtitles here, and Malick lets everything play out in the language these people are actually speaking whenever he risks overexplaining. It doesn't even progress as much of a plot, instead mining the deeply ethical discussion from visual representations of the ordeal of Franz Jägerstätter, with all of the dialogue suggesting rather than providing exposition.

Hell, the only criticism I could really give it is that, with its length and subject matter, it really isn't a fun watch. I wouldn't call it overlong, although I did feel its runtime as I was watching it, because, when the film had ended, I realised that its ultimate conclusion wouldn't have impacted me as much if it was shorter. At times, the weighty subject matter gets a little bit much, and if you're not a fan of Malick, then I can't see this doing much to change your mind (unless you really do like looking at grassy mountains), but as someone who really likes him when he's good, I absolutely loved this film. It's tough yet moving, complex yet sensual, and so deeply haunting while also dealing with absolute truth. Malick deals with the most difficult of subject matter in the most nuanced way possible, gradually drawing the deep reservoir of emotion from this story while keeping the tough moral questions at the centre intact, and then fusing those things with his own unique brand of woozy visual poetry. Add in an incredibly brief scene that features one of the biggest rabbits I've ever seen, and you've got one of the best films of the year. In many ways, it's the ideal Terrence Malcik movie: all of the profundity, none of the self indulgence. Would I watch it again? Probably not, but its soulful musings are sure to ring in my brain for years to come

So that was what I thought of the two films I saw at the LFF. First Love is a batshit crazy romp that sets a high bar for next decade, while A Hidden Life is a gut wrenching meditation on the price of doing the right thing that is absolutely one of my favourite films of 2019. As first film festival experiences go, I don't think I could have had a better one!

Once Upon a Time at the Fest (Part 1)- My Thoughts on First Love

So this is the first of a two-part saga chronicling my time at the London Film Festival, my first ever festival. Tonight's screening was Takashi Miike's 105th film, First Love. The screening actually started with an introduction from Miike, who stressed that, crazy as the film is, it is a love story, and he's absolutely right. As romances go, this is undoubtedly a crazy one, with yakuza, Chinese gangsters, ultraviolent fight scenes and a moment involving a toy dog that's utterly unforgettable, but it always keeps this genuinely believable love story at its centre. It's also a movie that doesn't get a release until 2020, but I'm reviewing it now because, y'know, film festivals. I'm literally just out of this film, so apologies if this review is a little unstructured, because I'm still just trying to process exactly what it was I saw. This is a film that turns your brain into soup, and spends the next hour and a half aggressively slurping it until there's nothing left. This film is wild, but it's also kind of amazing, and I can't wait to dive into it. Also, there are no spoilers in this post. Regular readers will know that I never spoil films in reviews anyway, but since we are talking about something that isn't actually out until next year, I'd absolutely understand if you didn't want to know anything. By and large, you're good to go, but just keep the release date in mind. We good? Good!

First Love follows a young boxer whose life intersects with that of a young woman with connections to the yakuza. Their relationship triggers a crazy series of events that come to involve the police, the Chinese triads, and a whole raft of assassins. I'm not going to go into specifics, but this plot is freaking mental. It's always on the move, twisting and developing and always going to the very last place you'd expect it to. There's a lot going on here, and even if the film occasionally loses track of all these different characters and ideas, it's pace and energy are enough to steer it back in the right direction. Confusing? Sometimes, but it's never boring, and it moves fast enough to get back into the action almost right away. The story melds mind bending action with surprisingly genuine emotion, and Miike's devotion to both of these aspects is what gives it such a unique punch.

This is my first Miike film, so I can't say how it compares to the rest of his filmography, but as an introduction, it definitely got me in the mood to check out more of his stuff. This is one of the most purely enjoyable cinema experiences I've had in ages. It's the perfect blend of comedy, action, romance and balls-to-the-wall craziness. Sometimes it's even weirdly profound in its musings on life, death and loneliness. I have a soft spot for movies that take place over the course of one night, and the way that this film is able to fit such wildly different tones and elements into its plot, while also making them feel completely organic is really special. This feels like that one wild night, one that starts off relatively normal but explodes into something really unique and special. The imagery is surreal and wild, yet weirdly meaningful. True, it's absolutely batshit, but Miike is telling a genuinely sweet story where everything happens for a reason. The crazy stuff is certainly crazy, but every batshit visual is grounded by something with real weight. When it slows down for the conclusion, it wraps up every idea it has presented, and that's when I realised that I really did care about what was going on. I think the crazier you make something, the more you have to build investment in something, and, although there's a lot going on here, you care enough about these two leads for the story beats to properly register. Under the crazy flourishes is something really substantial, and that's what makes it work

Obviously there's a lot more that I could and want to say about this movie, but I'll leave it at this: it was the perfect first festival movie. First Love is buckets of fun, with the exact kind of surreal humour and crazy plot that I never knew I needed. It's honest and genuine as well as being absolutely batshit insane, and also has some of the best side characters of the year (one gangster in particular is especially hilarious). So yeah, I kind of absolutely love this movie. The exhilaration of the whole thing gave me such a buzz, and the fact that I saw it with a huge crowd just added to the atmosphere. Everyone I saw it with was so into it, and as a viewing experience, it was pretty spectacular. Still trying to wrap my head around the fact that I've seen a movie that's coming out next decade, but if this is the standard for 2020, then we're in for an absolute belter of a year. This is pure cult fun, and I'm glad it kicked of my LFF experience.