What a delight to have all our tickets for Thursday and Friday’s films. That means no one had to get up at the crack of dawn to go to the box office! That was particularly important on Thursday because we had tickets for a midnight show of Takashi Miike’s THE GREAT YOKAI WAR. In preparation, Scot and I spent the morning asleep. I didn’t stir until nearly 11:30 a.m., a testament to the long hours I had been keeping the preceding days.
Our first film wasn’t until 3:00 p.m., and I was having trouble mustering much excitement for it. Not surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the high points of the festival for me! Mark Dornford-May’s U-CARMEN EKHAYELITSHA was a stunning, modern, South African retelling of Bizet’s “Carmen.” Dornford-May had already directed the Dimpho Di Kopane lyric theatre company in a stage version of “Carmen,” but his realization on screen truly captures the incredible power of opera. Lead actress Pauline Malefane embodies the Carmen character so completely, vocally, visually, and through her acting, that I can’t imagine a better person to play her. The sheer emotion her singing evoked in me had me close to tears. It was delightful to see her with the director to introduce the film, but I would have had a much finer appreciation for her presence had I known what she was capable of!
Of course, for sheer entertainment value, the high point of the festival came at Thursday night, 8:30 p.m. Several Chlotrudis members had already been privvy to the joys of Nobuhiro Yamashita’s LINDA LINDA LINDA. What could be better than four Asian high school girls in uniform with electric guitars? Set in Japan, the film stars Korean actress Bae Doona, so good in TAKE CARE OF MY CAT, in a hilarious role that had me breathless with laughter. And if I can’t get that catchy tune out of my head, I honestly won’t be all that upset. Indie music fans take note, James Iha wrote the score.
We finished the night with something unexpected, a Takashi Miike film marketed to kids in Japan. If I saw THE GREAT YOKAI WAR when I was a kid, I definitely would have had a nightmare or three! Gotta say, I don’t think kids and Miike make a good fit. I would have enjoyed this film more without the children’s film conventions, but the freaky images were certainly a lot of fun.
Stay tuned for the report on our last day!