Most Expected movies in Iffk2012 Part VI

      Tower

Directed by Kazik Radwanski

·         Canada 2012; 78 min

·         Original version: English

·         Genre: Drama

Synopsis

Derek, a 34-year-old man, lives at home with his parents in Toronto. Unlike his married brother who is expecting a baby, Derek is single and without a career, and although he aspires to become a graphic animator, he works part-time at his uncle’s construction company. Late at night, he wanders the streets alone and frequents nightclubs in search of companionship, until he meets Nicole and suddenly finds himself in an intimate relationship with her. When a neighbourhood raccoon becomes a constant nuisance by tearing up his family’s garbage, he sets out to catch it.

Press Quotes

Derek is certainly a tantalizing enigma, not only to the audience and the characters populating the movie but to himself as well.

Eric Kohn, Indiewire

Tower, which is impressive even beyond its ingenious low-budget engineering, represents a fruition for Radwanski. Where his shorts have a light, glancing quality, Tower sustains a strong and at times frightening sense of intensity. Its director jokingly refers to it as a “Toronto-set version of Taxi Driver,” albeit with less narrative pyrotechnics. It’s probably best described as a character study of a man who is an uncomfortable enigma to others and perhaps also to himself; Derek (Derek Bogart) is a would-be computer animator who lives in his parents’ basement and can’t seem to get a foothold in social situations.

“It’s a weird film,” says Radwanski, who shot Tower over six months with a cast of mostly non-professional actors for about $50,000 (the money came from various arts council grants). “I’m glad I was able to capture some of the feelings in the film before I forgot them. It’s always interesting when you take something that you love and put it out there for others to see.”

Both Radwanski and Montgomery are aware of the Locarno festival’s reputation as a haven for cinephilia – a place where people are more interested in the movies on the screen than what's being reported in the trades. “My understanding is that [Locarno] is the precise place for the sort of critical crowd that we want to see the film,” says Montgomery. “These are the people who can see it at the beginning and maybe sort of champion it from there.”

They already have at least one champion: Stacey Donen, a former programmer for TIFF and recently the Artistic Director of the Whistler Film Festival, who this week acquired Tower as the first film for his newly launched distribution company in Toronto. “We started College Street Pictures in part to cultivate and promote the next generation of Canadian filmmakers as innovative contributors to the international film scene," says Donen, who is planning on a fall release. “Tower reflects this. Kaz is a rarity and clearly he’s an uncompromising filmmaker.”

“We wanted to remain as hands-on with the film as possible,” adds Montgomery, “even though it’s finished. With College Street Pictures, we think we have that chance because it’s so new – their catalogue hasn’t even been established. Plus we know where Stacey lives and where he likes to get a beer, so we can always find him if we have to.”

That sense of community extends to MDFF’s online funding campaign, which offers a unique twist on the Kickstarter scenario beloved by independent filmmakers. Instead of soliciting donations to get their film off the ground, they’re asking for money to help polish the finished product. One of the items available on the website (indiegogo.com) is a wooden DVD case containing three MDFF shorts. It’s a nod to the company’s handcrafted roots (Radwanski’s family is in the construction business) and a comment on the increasingly ephemeral nature of film viewing and ownership.

“We plan to release the shorts online for free at some point,” says Montgomery. “The case is more of a gesture. It’s something that can be appreciated for the craftsmanship and the details, and the tactile feeling of picking it up and having an object.”

“We’re making these crude wooden cases in the hope that it’ll help us have a high-end thing,” adds Radwanski, who is undaunted by the possibility of crafting dozens of boxes by summer’s end. “Because every once in a while we sort of stop and realize that we’re about to show this movie in Switzerland to 1,000 people."

Locarno Review: An Awkward Loner Made Mesmerizing in the Canadian Feature 'Tower'

The anti-hero of "Tower."

More than once in "Tower," the discomfiting first feature from Canadian writer-director Kazik Radwanski, 34-year-old loner Derek -- memorably played by newcomer Derek Bogart -- issues a dubious refrain: "I don't want you to think I'm some sort of weirdo," he says. Of course, that's all anyone thinks of this squinty-eyed, cartoonishly bald and finicky bachelor as he juggles odd jobs while living with his parents. Getting uncomfortably intimate with Derek from the first scene of "Tower" until its last, Radwanski dares the audience to feel differently about him. It's no easy task.

Throughout the movie, Derek wears a distinctive frozen expression, his eyes locked in a distant gaze. Early on, after making the rounds at a nightclub and chasing a few women home, he awakes the next morning with a nasty red wound between his eyes. Never hidden from view, the injury is one of many merciless forces that turn Derek into an unseemly figure. Aided by cinematographers Daniel Voshart and Richard Williamson, Radwanski consistently frames his antihero in extreme close-up as he wanders through an empty life in which everyone fails to get a rise out of him.

A struggling animator whose greatest success is 13 seconds of a ridiculous animated short film that took him two months to complete, Derek wanders through a part-time construction job while evading advice from his helpless parents (John Scholl and Deborah Sawyer). These characters are never given names, possibly because they're so irrelevant to Derek as he continues to brush aside their efforts with eternal ambivalence. For no apparent reason other than boredom and desperation, he falls into an ill-fated relationship with an affable woman named Nicole (Nicole Fairbairn), who mistakes his alienating behavior for a kind of serene innocence.

Derek is certainly a tantalizing enigma, not only to the audience and the characters populating the movie but to himself as well.

Derek is certainly a tantalizing enigma, not only to the audience and the characters populating the movie but to himself as well. While "Tower" continually frustrates in its brash avoidance of a story to sustain its fascinating creation, Radwanski has an incredible eye for deepening his protagonist through images alone. Derek regularly stares down his reflection with palpable dread, rendering in physical terms what other screenwriters might attempt through dialogue. Whether contemplating his invasive wisdom teeth or desperately attempting to bury his facial injury with makeup in a moment both cringe-inducing and deeply funny, Derek struggles through his world with symbolic moments that reflect his urgent need to pull things together.

However, even as "Tower" grows increasingly frantic, there's not quite enough activity here to sustain a feature. Outside of an irreverent breakup scene that turns unexpectedly touching, at just under 80 minutes, it hardly pushes the uneasiness any further than the bare outline of a plot can carry it.

The closest recent point of comparison for "Tower" is Ronald Bronstein's "Frownland," which also followed a perpetually antsy and confused character with relentless detail. But in that case, the movie eventually opened up to chart a path of character development that "Tower" lacks. Radwanski never extends beyond Derek's claustrophobic headspace.

Early discussion of the movie's central figure has included comparisons to "Taxi Driver" eccentric Travis Bickle. But "Tower" lacks the earlier movie's explosive payoff, which featured a heroic act that may or may not have taken place. By contrast, Radwanski concludes with a defiant anticlimax that finds Derek facing down a raccoon in his backyard. The encounter provides a decent metaphor for the feeling of confinement Derek perpetually experiences. Nevertheless, by then, "Tower" has already made its point many unsettling times over.

       Ape

Directed by Joel Potrykus

·         USA 2012; 86 min

·         Original version: English

·         Genre: Comedy drama

·          

o    Best Emerging Director / Cineasti del presente & Opera Prima Jury Special Mention - FF Locarno

Synopsis

Struggling comedian Trevor Newandyke not only bombs on stage, but he ignites bombs offstage as a pyromaniac frustrated with the frenzy and the tension surrounding him. He’s fed up with the threats from the cable company, 7-11 raising the price of Slurpees, and all the jerks who think they can push him around. He turns to the din of his headphones and the crackling glow of fire to ease his mind. After a typical night disappointing the crowd, Trevor finds that one of his jokes comes to life. A fruit salesman posing as the Devil, or vice versa, strikes a bargain with him: a golden apple for a joke. Trevor sees the apple as a magical force. Eating it gives him the power to get angry and fight back. Of course, deals with the Devil never turn out well…

Tutti Giù

Directed by Niccolò Castelli

·         Switzerland 2012; 98 min

·         Original version: Italian

·         Genre: Drama

Synopsis

Three youngsters, all quite different in character, must square up to the “adult” world. Put to the test, they achieve self-awareness in attempting to retain the inner fire that drives them so they can grow up without losing their dreams.

Good Luck, Sweetheart(Boa Sorte, Meu Amor)

Directed by Daniel Aragão

·         Brazil 2012; 95 min

·         Original version: Portuguese

·         Genre: Drama

·          

o    Cinema & Gioventù Jury Prize - FF Locarno

Synopsis

Dirceu, 30 years old, works as a demolition man in Recife, Brazil, despite his aristocratic origins. The victim of a “subjective amnesia”, he tries to bury his family’s past. Maria, a carefree and joyful music student, also comes from the countryside, but uses the city for a different purpose. If Dirceu aspires to a stable world, Maria lives in total discord with the present. To her, nothing is as it should be. Their encounter unleashes an urge in Dirceu to be someone else.

Press Quotes

"...arty, sensual, poetic"

The Hollywood Reporter

"Aragão is clearly a promising young talent, and this spellbinding symphony in saudade will haunt your memory long after the credits roll."

The Hollywood Reporter

Memories Look at Me(Ji yi wang zhe wo)

Directed by Fang Song

·         China 2012; 91 min

·         Original version: Mandarin

·         Genre: Drama

·          

o    Opera Prima Leopard for Best First Feature - FF Locarno

Synopsis

Fang comes back to her parents’ home in Nanjing, to spend some time with them. During her stay, her elder brother’s family comes for a family reunion, she receives a Yengisar knife as a gift and her sister-in-law tries to set her up on a blind date. Around her, time goes by, memories come back in the conversations, some she knows, some not. The present is mixed up with the past, and the steps towards the future may walk along the path of eternal loss.