This was the first year that I really actively participated in the Wisconsin Film Festival. I had been to a few films featured at the festival in past years, but this year I bought tickets well in advance and made an effort to research the films and see the ones that interested me. I didn't make it to as many films as I had hoped (I didn't even go to a few I had already purchased tickets for), but I was happy to support the festival anyway.
So to wrap things up, here are some very brief thoughts on the remaining films I attended:
Treeless Mountain. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed by this one. It delivered what it advertised, but it failed to do so in a substantially interesting way. The film followed two sisters who are left with their aunt while their mother looks for their father. Everything is viewed from the girls point of view, which means we hear and see only what they hear and see. As we follow these girls, they spend their days trying to pass the time until their mother returns. The acting is done brilliantly well by these two very young girls, but unfortunately nothing really happens to them. Their mother never returns and they eventually move to live with their grandparents. There is no standard structure to the plot, there is no real climax or even a resolution to the conflict. I assume these girls will continue to do the same thing they have been doing even after the film ends. In the end, it was a decent concept that was well acted and shot beautifully, but ultimately not interesting enough to sustain even the short 70 minute film.
Secret Sunshine. This film was the most pleasant surprise of the festival. I went to it mainly because I was a fan of Kang-ho Song from seeing him in films like Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and The Host (and I'm very excited for the upcoming Thirst), but I found the film to be one of my favorites of the festival. Song was great, but Do-yeon Jeon was astounding. I have since found that she won the Best Actress Award at Cannes in 2007 for the role, which I agree with whole-heartedly. Watching her cope with extreme loss in a new town was incredibly compelling. Seeing her turn to faith in God to help her cope, only to lose that faith and turn to less savory ways to deal with her grief was actually more exciting than most thrillers I've seen lately. I spent the entire film trying to guess how it could possibly end. I was trying to figure out how they would resolve the issues brought up, which is a feeling mirrored in Shin-ae (Jeon) and her own search for resolution.
Jerichow. Calling this film a thriller may be a little misleading. There is an affair and a murder plot, but it lacks any heart pumping excitement. I'm not saying that this is necessarily a bad thing though. The story is generally interesting, and very well acted, even if it becomes inexplicable at times. Motivations are often left mostly unexplained, as the affair seems to come from nowhere without any warning. Perhaps it makes a little more sense to Germans. That said I did enjoy it quite a bit, it just was not a favorite of the festival.
Mermaid. I guess the best description of this film would have to be "magical." Not only does the main character develop some magical powers, which really isn't that important of a plot point, but really Masha Shalayeva was the most magical part. She is completely enchanting as a young woman who moves to Moscow after taking a vow of silence as a child. She finds herself at several demeaning jobs (including dressing as a cell phone and getting stuck in the middle of a soccer riot), but eventually falls for a rich young man who does not know she even exists. The whole film is surreal, clever, and funny. I enjoyed this film immensely, and really hope it does get a US DVD release. It has much of the same charm exciting visual style as something like Amelie and likely could appeal to the same audience, although I find this film to feel a little more genuine than Amelie, even if it does make it a little less accesible to general audiences (I also assume that people are more likely to enjoy people speaking French for an entire film than they are Russian).
So those are my final thoughts for the Wisconsin Film Festival. I had a lot of fun, and enjoyed most of the films immensely. Apparently I wasn't completely satisfied though, since the next day I went and saw Adventureland and Sunshine Cleaners back to back. I will hopefully post some thoughts on those later today.
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