It begs the question: what am I looking for in film festivals? Is it to see sneak previews of upcoming films? To broaden my film horizons? To see weird shit that probably won’t get major distribution (or that will run for a week at Lincoln Center where I’d inevitably miss it)? Tribeca so far has given me the most choices in what I end up seeing, and this year I’m not sure I used my choices wisely.
One thing I can definitely say I did was watch more documentaries than I usually do; typically they’re not my cup of tea. I generally chose smaller fare than the most buzzed about docs (In Transit, Thank You For Playing, Transfatty Lives), but I did catch some interesting stuff.
The first thing I saw was Autism In Love, which follows four autistic people who are reconciling love and relationships with a condition that popular opinion believes doesn't have emotions. There's an interesting range of experiences from all the subjects: Lenny, a twenty something still struggling with his identity as an autistic person while longing for female companionship, Stephen, a middle aged married man, and Lindsay and Dan, who live together. The multiple subjects don't just provide different views of love, but also show the viewer the true spectrum of autism; even though we hear about the "autism spectrum" all the time, most of us still have a relatively narrow view of what autism looks like. Autism in Love shows us that the presentation of autism is just as individual as personality.
The downside of this though is that some parts seem like they could be a film all their own; I was left wanting to know more about Lindsay and Dan, and especially Lenny, whose story is probably the standout of the doc. He really opens up to the camera and the audience about his wants, insecurities, and fears, and goes through the most emotional turmoil. This isn't to say that the film is all (or even mostly) sturm un drang; there are really touching moments and its generally a feel good documentary. It's a movie that's really stuck with me for the last two weeks; every time I think about it, I like it more.
Bodyslam: Revenge of the Banana was probably the most enjoyable doc I saw; considering I've been watched a whole lot of pro wrestling, it was pretty much right up my alley. Bodyslam starts off as a he said/he said story surrounding Seattle Semi-Pro Wrestling a tight-knit pro wrestling parody promotion (one summary describes it as 'cabaret wrestling') and the outcast who takes it, and life in general, Very. Seriously. It's immediately fun to watch the contrast between Paul, the titular Banana who is in it for the wrestling more than the camaraderie, and the rest of the group, who revel in getting plastered and singing kareoke after the raucous sideshow they've put on, but things take a sharp turn once Paul brings the law of the Athletics Comission down on little SSP. Then it turns into a bizzare legal drama, where Fox News laments the government's harrassment of "Ronald McFondle" and the wrestlers have to fight for the right to be ridiculous.
As a wrestling fan there's an extra level of humor involved when watching it; just like SSP is a parody of the already often silly pro wrestling (butt humor is rampant in wrestling, from Rikishi's Stinkface attack to...well, this from New Japan Pro Wrestling ), Paul almost seems like a parody of the 'smart mark' wrestling fans; ones that, in response to the constant 'you know it's fake, right???' questions take it as a Serious Sport when in reality it's closer to combat theater. Even without that reference though, Bodyslam is a fun ride that shows the perils of being too serious and how even the silliest things can create strong bonds between people.
The last doc I saw, A Nazi Legacy, took me off guard a bit; although it's listed as being about two men, Horst and Niklaus, whose fathers were top officials in the Nazi party and heavily involved in the Jewish genocides, there's really a third subject: Phillipe Sands, a human rights lawyer who lost an entire branch of his family to the Holocaust, in particular a specific mass killing in Ukraine overseen by Horst's father. On one hand it's useful to have a third party onscreen, especially the person who brought these two men together, and he never hesitates to press the impact that these men's fathers had. However, he can be distracting; since this is a personal journey for him as well, sometimes his narration will intrude upon something one of the other men is saying that frankly, I'd like to hear. Something about the pacing also made it not quite work as a feature film for me; I can't put my finger on it, but it seems more like a television special. Either way, it is an interesting, and often uncomfortable watch; while Niklaus vehemently despises his father, Horst not only has fond memories of him, but through leaps of logic and denial is convinced that his father was a good man who wasn't involved in any of the mass killings (and if he signed any papers, he was forced).
Coming next: the narrative films: Sworn Virgin (which won the Nora Ephron award), Mojave, Jackrabbit, and Sleeping with Other People.
As a wrestling fan there's an extra level of humor involved when watching it; just like SSP is a parody of the already often silly pro wrestling (butt humor is rampant in wrestling, from Rikishi's Stinkface attack to...well, this from New Japan Pro Wrestling ), Paul almost seems like a parody of the 'smart mark' wrestling fans; ones that, in response to the constant 'you know it's fake, right???' questions take it as a Serious Sport when in reality it's closer to combat theater. Even without that reference though, Bodyslam is a fun ride that shows the perils of being too serious and how even the silliest things can create strong bonds between people.
The last doc I saw, A Nazi Legacy, took me off guard a bit; although it's listed as being about two men, Horst and Niklaus, whose fathers were top officials in the Nazi party and heavily involved in the Jewish genocides, there's really a third subject: Phillipe Sands, a human rights lawyer who lost an entire branch of his family to the Holocaust, in particular a specific mass killing in Ukraine overseen by Horst's father. On one hand it's useful to have a third party onscreen, especially the person who brought these two men together, and he never hesitates to press the impact that these men's fathers had. However, he can be distracting; since this is a personal journey for him as well, sometimes his narration will intrude upon something one of the other men is saying that frankly, I'd like to hear. Something about the pacing also made it not quite work as a feature film for me; I can't put my finger on it, but it seems more like a television special. Either way, it is an interesting, and often uncomfortable watch; while Niklaus vehemently despises his father, Horst not only has fond memories of him, but through leaps of logic and denial is convinced that his father was a good man who wasn't involved in any of the mass killings (and if he signed any papers, he was forced).
Coming next: the narrative films: Sworn Virgin (which won the Nora Ephron award), Mojave, Jackrabbit, and Sleeping with Other People.
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