Filmfestivalen 2016

The film starts with
a greeting from the director and the main actors to the audience. Well, not the
actual film, but at least this particular screening. The filmed greeting sets
the tone, though: it’s personal, it’s easygoing and it’s joyful.

The actual movie
also sets the tone right from the get-go. Fastpaced, humorous and innovative,
yet familiar in a sort of comforting way.

Some films are
predictable, and that can make the viewers feel that their intelligence is
being underestimated. Other predictable films can instead evoke a sense of
smartness. Requisitos…. is predictable, but in a good way. It is a romcom,
after all, the most formulaic genre there is. It’s fine for a romcom to be as
expected; the trick is to make the journey to the inevitable finale (where the
two obvious lovebirds finally kiss after some grand gesture) as enjoyable as
possible. And that, RPSUPN does. The disposable romantic foil is not a douche,
just… disposable. The little quirks the protagonist have are fun and unique,
not just there for the sake of quirkiness. There’s laughter and tears, some
Swedish (which is always good fun to come across in a foreign film) and a
general feelgood feel.

When Hollywood
attempts a remake, they will cast Anna Kendrick, Jason Segel and Paul Rudd in
the leads. But as always, there’s no need for that: the original is better!

Passed the Bechdel
test

5 ovens of 6

https://festival.giff.se/events/requirements-to-be-a-normal-person

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3720724/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_6

The RCC is guilty of
many things, and one of the less serious one is systematically inflating their
number of adherents, partially by means of making it really difficult to leave.

Gonzalo tries to,
and gets to experience the bureaucracy involved. Parallel to his dealings with
the church, he has some emotional problems, involving one one hand his cousin
and on the other his neighbour. At first, those stories seems unrelated to the A-plot,
but they tie in nicely toward the end.

Decent acting and a
lighthearted tone, but ultimately rather forgettable.

Failed the Bechdel
test

3 dictionaries of 6

https://festival.giff.se/events/the-apostate

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4156152/?ref_=nm_knf_t3

A collection of
shortfilms, eligible for the short film award ‘Startsladden’ (roughly
translated The jump cable) in a feature length package. As usual, some films
are better than others.

HOPPTORNET
– Axel Danielson, Maximilien Van Aertryck: 5 meters of 6
FRAGMENT AV ETT LIV I
FYRA SCENER – David Aronowitsch: 4 cookies of 6
MAMMA VET BÄST – Mikael Bundsen: 4 closets of 6
CIRKLAR – Frida Kempff: 2 situations of 6
JAG VAR EN VINNARE – Jonas Odell: 4 levels of 6
INFANTILE – Vera Sjunnesson: 2 noseclamps of 6
TAXI TBILISI – Johanna Bernhardson: 2 mobiles of 6
MOMS ON FIRE – Joanna Rytel: 3 cats of 6

5 failed, 3 passed the Bechdel test

On average: 3.125 sockets of 6

In the norternmost
parts of India, fairytale tradition still lives on, and Hazarika has filmed
some of those folk tales as a commentary on today’s situation for some girls in
the area. While the stories ranges from weird to gruesome, the symbolism is somewhat
lost on this troper. What does a vegetable (in which there apperently is an
albino baby) following a woman around mean? Is the tale where a girl is married
off to a python, believed to be an angel in disguise, an allegory on how
marrige consumes everything?

The four folktales
are told intertwined, which is a nice move, and done quite well. The evil
stepmom is Carrie’s mum caliber nasty, and the burial of the firstborn is a
ritual that still goes on in some places in India.

Sadly, the
production doesn’t really hold water. The acting is subpar, the special effects
unintentionally laughable and whomever was in charge of audio should be sent
back to school.

Passed the Bechdel
test

3 sticks of 6

https://festival.giff.se/events/the-river-of-fables
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4577388/?ref_=nm_flmg_wr_1

As framing devices
go, Decamerone is pretty much the original. And the concept can, and sometimes
do, work in cinema as well as in books.

What we have here,
though, is mostly surface. Spectacular scenery, spot-on costumes and a heavenly
beautiful cast. The five stories told within (making this, I suppose,
Quintamerone) are of varying quality. The falconry bit works fine, but the one
that’s supposed to be funny just leaves a bitter taste: I guess we’re to
sympathise with the simpleton being tricked into thinking he’s invisible, but
he uses what he believes is invisibility to be a dick. A violent, abusive dick,
at that.

But, yeah, I’d like
to go to Toscana someday, and preferably not during the plague.

Passed the Bechdel
test

3 supermodels of 6

https://festival.giff.se/events/wondrous-boccaccio
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3596952/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

As beautiful and
thought provoking as it starts, as dull and confusing it gets about halfway
through.

The deal with
mindfuck movies is to force the viewers to think and interpret, leaving a few
possible outcomes still hanging, each no more right or wrong than the others.
Too straightforward, and it’s not a mindfuck; too contradictory, and it’s not
rewarding, too many possible interpretations, and it’s pointless.

Turpin starts with
the right amount of mindfuckery, but gets ensnared in his own complexity. Too
bad, because Endorphine could have been great, with a sort of Caruth wibe, but
alas, not so, at least not after the brilliant beginning.

Passed the Bechdel
test

3 licks of 6

https://festival.giff.se/events/endorphine
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4247428/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

For a film that
takes place mostly on the wide open sandy beaches of the Danish west coast,
it’s eerily claustrophobic. Disarming mines or bombs where every little shake
can result in an explosion is an effective way of creating tension, though.

But Under sandet,
punnily translated as Land of mine, is not a film about disarming mines. It’s a
combination of a buddy movie and an opposites attract deal, as the aging Danish
officers in charge of the young German POW:s slowly but surely warming up to
his former enemies.

It’s a tad cheesy
and predictable, but decent enough, and quite engaging during the tension
filled mine moments.

Failed the Bechdel
test

3 beetles of 6

https://festival.giff.se/events/land-of-mine
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3841424/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1

In a
contemporary alternate take on christian mythology, jjjjj presents the god of
the bible as a married man, living in a closed apartment with his completely
silent wife and a preteen emo daughter. His son, JC, has already moved out.

God is
portrayed as a complete douche, abusive and commanding, ordering his submissive
wife around and beating his daughter. At work, he controls creation by means of
computer, and takes pleasure in torturing mankind for his own sociopathic
reasons. So, slightly more sympathetic than he’s portrayed in the bible.

Ea, the
daughter, gets sick and tired of her dad’s cruelty, and decides to go to the
mortal world and get disciples.

It’s
wonderfully blasphemous, and a quick take and easiness not far from Jeunet’s
style. It effortlessly mixes poetry and laughter, profoundness and profanity.
The camera work is beautifully put together, and all actors are terrific. Some
could see the film as somewhat pretentious, but personally I think it stays on
the right side of the line. Others, quite a few I’d wager, probably find it
blasphemous and will chose to get offended. Tough shit for them; I, for, one,
welcome a work of art that at least sheds light on the fact that Christians,
Jews and Muslims worship a complete arsehole, and especially when it’s done in
such an entertaining and visually stunning way.

Failed
the Bechdel test

5
stitches of 6

https://festival.giff.se/events/the-brand-new-testament
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3792960/?ref_=nm_flmg_dr_1