A Day Of Average Films

IFFK Day 3

I saw two films today: Sweet Rush by the acclaimed Polish director Adrezej Wajda and Bad Day to Go Fishing by the Uruguayan director Alvaro Brechner. Both films failed to match with the standard of the movies of the previous two days.

Poor planning forced me to miss one film. The first film, Sweet Rush, at Remya theatre, started at 10 am and finished around 11.30. It left me with only one choice in the second screening time segment – Nothing Personal (a Dutch film directed by Urszula Antoniak) at the same theatre. However, there was a huge rush for this movie and I could not even enter into the theater. Rumor has it that a particularly attractive poster of Nothing Personal, with a naked lady lying in a bed, caused this unprecedented rush.

Sweet Rush

Sweet rush is a “grass-like plant growing in wet places and having cylindrical often hollow stems”. The movie is based on a novel, in which the plant is an indicator of disasters. The movie has a two-layered structure. The first narrative structure is an actress’s monologues about her lover’s disease and about the problems about making a movie called Sweet Rush by Adrezej Wajda. The second narrative shows the movie in which she is acting. At one point towards the climax, both narratives intercept.

The director has shown deft craftsmanship in intercepting the two narratives. However, there is no point in hailing the narrative skills of a master like Wajda. The whole world knows it. Despite the narrative brilliance, the movie fails to engage the viewers.

One can find some of usual themes of Wajda’s films here also: The Second World War, existential questions, and personal grief and sorrows. Still, the lengthy single frame shots of the heroine’s monologue are monotonous and painstakingly slow. One feels like listening to an audio novel at times.

Bad Day to Go Fishing

Well, this is not boring or slow-paced. This is a happy film that deals with the life of an exiled wrestler and his cunning agent. The film opens with an ambulance, taking a body of an unconscious man to a hospital. The rest of the film actually reveals who is that unconscious person and how he ends up in the hospital bed.

The agent makes a living out of taking the “world champion” to various villages in Uruguay and arranging mock fights, like WWE wrestling fights seen on sports channels. The champion always wins and opponents who fake defeat too get some money.

In this particular village, they run into problems. The arranged opponent was arrested after drunken brawl in a bar. In addition, a strong-willed woman comes on behalf of her strong-bodied fiancée to challenge the world champion. The circumstances force them to accept the challenge. Despite the determined efforts from the agent, the challenger and the fiancée refuse to accept his terms. The agent tries to flee on the previous day; however, world champion intimidates him to stay on. Eventually the fight takes place and one of them ended up in the hospital bed. Well, I am not spoiling the climax by saying who it is.

This is a well-made film, suitable more for commercial box offices than festival circuits.

No Monday morning blues

Tomorrow is going to be a big day (for once, I am eagerly waiting for a Monday). I have reserved seats for Anti Christ by Lars Von Trier and Dream by Kim Ki-Duk. I think I will have to miss Puska's Hungary (a documentary about Ferenc Puskás and his magic Magyars, the mighty Hungarian football team) as its screening clashes with that of Anti Christ.