Some Standout Films From ACS Filmland 5
The Arkansas Film Society's Filmland show (this year it's called Filmland 5) returns next week.
Looking at their schedule, perhaps the most publicized film is Christian R. Hill's documentary God Said Give 'Em Drum Machines, which explores the roots of techno music in the black urban communities of Detroit and Chicago as a unified culture." 1980s
As regular readers of this column know, I hate reviewing films I've never seen, and even though Drum Machines was selected for this year's Tribeca Film Festival, I don't get it. But I was intrigued by their reasoning, because what we call cultural appropriation is just one way in which art develops organically. There's a moral difference between Pat Boone covering "racing records" to cash in on a white audience with no access to reality and Keith Richards wanting to be Elmore James.
Usually I'm not a fan of artists who dictate the rules of the game or the media. Whites can play the blues. You don't have to listen to them.
And to be honest, when I think of techno, I immediately think of Kraftwerk, which was founded in Düsseldorf in 1970. Kraftwerk started out as part of the "kraut rock" scene, meaning they were a standard rock band that mixed psychedelic and art rock (think Teutonic King Crimson) used to use all electronic sounds in the 70s. Between 1974 and 1981 they released a number of highly successful pop albums: Autobahn, Trans-Europe Express, The Man-Machine and Computer World. In some circles, their sparse arrangements and hypnotic drum machines were seen as a sort of Apollo antidote to the Dionysian punk rock scene.
But I don't think Kraftwerk played any part in this particular history of techno, which, from what I've read, focuses on the "origins" of the genre in the simultaneous rise of house music in Detroit and Chicago. The film's thesis is that techno was largely created by six black Detroit artists who revolutionized black music in the 1980s. The style then spread to Europe, largely through the efforts of Englishman Richie Hawtin, who grew up in Ontario near Detroit and found success as a techno hitman in the early 90s.
I think Hotin is playing a salesman in the movie and the movie claims to be hated in Detroit because of the profit.
Although I'm not a techno expert, I'm intrigued by this argument. Most of the reviews I've read and most of the people who have written about God Said Give 'Em drum machines seem to have experience, or at least pretend to, and will probably roll their eyes at my naivety. Kraftwerk - acknowledges the film's usefulness, noting that it basically serves as a love letter to the Detroit scene. With amazing rhythm.
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I feel much better after Empire of Light, a Sam Mendes film (coming out early December) that opens the festival on Wednesday. Because I actually saw the movie.
Empire of Light's assets include a stellar cast and stunning visuals, as well as world-class environments; 1981 in the theater of the early era of "Chariots of Fire"). I haven't read much about it, but this is another film that, like Alfonso Cuarón's Roma (2018) and Quentin Tarantino's Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019), seems to be a retelling of the director's personal experience.
That is, at least at best, Empire of Light feels like an unconventional game. Mendes grew up in north London, but on the Easter weekend of 1981 there were several "beach riots" involving youth, including punks and skinheads, some of whom had fascist or Nazi beliefs, in several seaside towns, including Margaret, where there was 39 people. arrested. . Turning 16 that spring, Mendes was well aware of the Brixton riots in south London and the massacres on the beach. (It's sort of a 1981 England spring break tradition dating back to around 1964 when mods and rockers started competing. Check out Frank Rudham's 1979 film version of Quadrophenia.)
The main problem with "Empire of Light" is that it cannot be associated with any particular type of film. It's a workplace dark comedy, a quirky May-October romance, a beautifully crafted nostalgic exercise, a platform from which Olivia Colman could launch another Best Actress campaign, and Cinema Paradiso's stylistic acknowledgment of practical magic. The end result here is an impatient cable viewer who changes channels abruptly and way too often. It's a great movie and cinematographer Roger Deakins creates his amazing characters, but it's not the most enjoyable or safe movie.
However, it should attract a good audience and several Oscar nominations. I'm not very good at this, but I think Deakins and Coleman are almost sure candidates; and Colin Firth was nominated for Best Supporting Actor. (Although I'd like to see Toby Jones as a wise and seedy old projectionist to propose to.)
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Filmland 5 will also feature Nikiat Juice's debut "The Nanny" starring Anna Diop as the Senegalese babysitter of a Manhattan couple (Morgan Spector and Michelle Monaghan) who prepare for the arrival of their son, whom she has abandoned, when a violent supernatural presence begins: penetrating her dreams and lives.
OK. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and received positive reviews from critics, praising Diop's performance and Jussoux's effective storytelling in particular.
Other films this year include Neil LaBute's thriller House of Darkness, filmed primarily in northwest Arkansas; Inspection, the Breton drama Elegance about a young black gay man who joins the Marine Corps; 1998 Farrell brothers comedy Something About Mary; and Turning Red, a well-received Pixar family film earlier this year.
Announced guests who will take part in a post-movie Q&A session include House of Darkness director Labut and actor Gia Krovatin; Cinematographer and cinematographer Mark Irvine Something About Mary; and Drum Machines, directed by Christian R. Hill and produced by Jennifer Washington.
A number of seminars and panel discussions are also planned. Visit Filmland.org for prices for programs and events or to purchase tickets. ACS members receive a 50% discount on all Filmland events.
