Melbourne Film Festival: The Congress (2013)

Year: 2013

Running Time: 122 minutes

Director: Ari Folman

Writers: Stanislaw Lem (novel), Ari Folman (screenplay)

Cast: Robin Wright, Harvey Keitel, Jon Hamm, Paul Giamatti, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sami Gayle

The Congress screened at the Melbourne International Film Festival on the 28th of July and 8th of August 2013.

The Congress is a film like no other.

With it's combination of live action and animation, The Congress is incredibly creative and original and is visually an absolute masterpiece. However, you can count on one thing when it comes to The Congress, and that is that opinions will absolutely be divided. Some people will love it for it's creativity and original take on the future, will others will find it's surrealistic elements just too strange and bizarre to tolerate.

Robin Wright (played by herself) is an actress faced with the reality that she has not made a decent film in 15 years and is unsure what where her career is going. Her manager, Al (Harvey Keitel) comes to her with an offer that would see her signing her life away to the studio as a result of the changing face of the film business. This decision affects Robin in ways going into the future that she, nor anybody else, ever would have considered possible.

Based on the novel by Stanislaw Lam, "The Futurological Congress", The Congress is really one of a kind. It can be described as sci-fi in it's futuristic qualities. The future in the film is represented by animation and with this animation comes the ability to create a more surrealistic feel to the film, as there is so much more which animation is capable of when creating this world. It is able to do things for the visuals of the film which CGI still would not be able to accomplish. As a result of this mix of live action and animation to tell the story about the future of the film business and then the future of human kind, The Congress is not like any other film. It is completely intriguing and very, very clever.

However, it is the content and visuals combined that will make this film just too strange for some to tolerate a full viewing of. Many of the futuristic scenes contain some very surreal images, especially when Robin inhales hallucinogenic fumes (that could well speak for itself) and the many of the scenes that follow that. If surrealism in film doesn't interest you and you don't find it entertaining, than The Congress will not do anything for you. Indeed it is something you need to be open to and accept in order to see the beauty of the film.

The animated scenes are visually brilliant. The colours used are exquisite and overwhelming in the emotions which they themselves are capable of evoking. What is so incredible about the animation, is that it is not just the main characters and objects that receive the most attention, but everything around them. There is so much going on in each scene that it is impossible just to concentrate on one item or character. One such scene is where Robin and Dylan (voiced by Jon Hamm) are in the restaurant and there are many animated versions of well known personalities wandering around in the background, which is a real treat to try and spot as many as you can!

Robin Wright is the centre of the film. She is really quite wonderful in all the live action scenes of the film which she is in. Her performance, in both the live action and the animation which she lends her voice to, is really very melancholy and she never really seems very happy, which after awhile can become quite distressing to watch. Harvey Keitel is very good in the scenes which he is in. He has one really incredible scene in which he goes from telling and amusing and funny story to ending up in heartbreaking tears. Kodi Smit-McPhee also does well as Robin's unwell son and Sami Gayle does well as her sassy daughter, Sarah.

The Congress will definitely prove a little too weird for some, but for those who are open to the concept of surrealism and the marriage of that surrealism with animation, they will have a wonderful treat.

7/10

You may have also seen Robin Wright in.....
The Conspirator as Mary Surratt

Let Me In

Year: 2010
Director: Matt Reeves
Cast: Kodi Smite-McPhee, Chloe Moretz, Richard Jenkins

In My Own Words
I often wondered (until about 2 days ago) why American studios decideto adapt foreign films not too long after they are released in their home countries. It used to make me slightly angry why they did, it was like I thought they couldn't come up with ideas of their own so they had to "steal" ideas from other countries. Now I realise that I was being really unfair by thinking this. Now I see that foreign films are remade as a means of exposing the story to a greater audience. Many people do not take pleasure in watching foreign films as they are too far removed from what they know, and they also involve a fair bit of reading of subtitles unless you know the language. So making the film into an English speaking film exposes the story to a greater audience. And if it is a great story, why shouldn't it be exposed to an audience? It would be selfish to let language barriers get in the way of great storytelling! Especially when it is a story like "Let The Right One In", the Swedish film which "Let Me In" is based on. I must admit, I was extremely weary going into this film, as I normally am when seeing a remade film, or watching a vampire film. However, it has cometo my attention as of late that a remade film doesn't mean a bad film, especially those that are remade from a foreign film. Just look at "The Departed"!

These are my own words and here is my review.

Review
The thought of another vampire movie may bring on a cringe for some people. With so many vampires going around in movies and on television, one can be forgiven for thinking that "Let Me In" is just another one of those films that has come along with the fad. It isn't. It is far darker and more disturbing than any other vampire phenomenon you have seen in a long. long time. Like it's mother movie, "Let The Right One In", it evokes a number of emotions which are strange to see together in a film. There is tenderness and innocence, as well as fear and horror. Young Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is an outsider at school, badly bullied and is in the middle of his parents divorce. He is without a friend in the world, until he meet a mysterious little girl by the name of Abby ( Chloe Moretz) in his courtyard of his apartment block. He develops a strong friendship and falls for her in the way only a 12 year old can. He finds out in the worst way possible that Abby is a vampire and that everything is far more complicated than it should be for 12 year old best friends.

"Let Me In" is dark, but somewhat beautiful. It stays true to the film which it is remade from, but it is set in New Mexico rather than in Sweden. There is nothing corny about this vampire film, and it represents what vampires should represent, fear in the heart of those who meet them. It is extremely unsettling at times and very intense and suspenseful. However, there is a feeling of sympathy for both Owen and Abby. The film focuses of human emotion and the troubles of a child growing up being bullied and in a troubled family. There is a real sadness to the film, as well as real terror. It wouldn't be a vampire film or a main stream remake without having more blood than it did in the original and therefore leading to some cringe-worthy moments. The "scary" scenes are definately not subtle. "Let Me In" is very dark and not for the faint hearted, it is everything a traditional vampire movie should be.

Kodi Smit-McPhee and Chloe Moretz are perfectly cast for the lead roles. Smit-McPhee is wonderful in this film. He shows so much emotion and his performance will ring true to many parents who are watching their children going through the same things he is going through. He really has a bright future ahead of him. Moretz is no stranger to horror movies or to playing roles of the young girl who is beyond her years. She is not the traditional vampire girl, but that only makes her more suited to the role. She is very good in her role as she is cute and sweet, but also an absolute horror.

"Let Me In" takes the vampire movie back to where it belongs. When vampires were beings that were capable of violent killings and would kill without rhyme of reason and there is no corniness to be seen. There is always something troubling about children in horror films, and this movie is no different. Yet, there is still something very sweet about the friendship between Owen and Abby and that is what makes "Let Me In" work. The combination of childhood love and the presence of pure terror.
8/10