Well that was an excellent week. Some vacations are a great way to disconnect from work while not being at all relaxing; this was one of those. I came back tired and a bit uncomfortable from a week of trying to navigate diabetes plus campus area quick food plus short blocks of time between movies. Informative on my current physical limits, though, and it was a shining Fantasia in terms of movies. We hope to go back next year, although in the process of going through this blog and tagging all my old Fantasia entries, I’ve found out how often I said that only to hit blockers. 30th anniversary, though!
I put together a ranked list of every feature I saw over on Letterboxd. For here, we’ll do some overview thoughts.
I was insane pleased to be able to see the new 4K restoration of Bullet in the Head, and it was everything I’d hoped. I think it’s been over 20 years since I’ve seen it last. My jaw still dropped at the savage pessimism. John Woo’s masterpiece.
And then I saw another masterpiece, Reflection in a Dead Diamond. Metatextural homage and critique of the Eurospy genre, drawing on fumetti extensively. It all makes for a very complex film. It made me gasp out loud at one point. So two five star movies at one festival? Success by any measure.
I was delightfully surprised by The Virgin of Quarry Lake, which cemented my belief that there’s something in Argentina that’s encouraging good film. Carrie meets Mean Girls in a horror film that uses the 1999 Argentinian economic crisis as a backdrop for a story about the fear of loss. Dog of God was not surprising: it’s exactly the profane Latvian historical rotoscoped epic that the trailer promises. Mother of Flies was much as I expected in tone — the Adams family is really dialing in on their groove — while also being a sublime experience. The audience in Theater Hall at Fantasia is really special; listening to the family talk about how much they love making movies together is amazing.
Points for every filmmaker doing their best work on a minuscule budget. Mother of Flies, The Serpent’s Skin (also with the Adams on the soundtrack!), A Grand Mockery, Every Heavy Thing, I Fell in Love with a Z-Grade Director in Brooklyn — I come to Fantasia for these. Didn’t love all of them, am glad that there’s a way for these to find an audience.
Broadened my world with movies from three new to me countries: Latvia, Kazakhstan (the incredibly charming Sasyq), and Bolivia (Cielo, although the director wasn’t Bolivian). Coincidental but fun.
Great week and I can’t wait for next year.
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