Cinema | World Pieces: Only a couple Global Lens titles work as cinema, rather than just educational ethnography. | Film Reviews | Salt Lake City Weekly

Cinema | World Pieces: Only a couple Global Lens titles work as cinema, rather than just educational ethnography. 

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Has anyone ever been convinced of a thing’s importance by being told that “it’s good for you”? Global Film Initiative’s Global Lens film series is certainly a noble idea; Americans, on the whole, are desperately ignorant about cultures besides their own, even more so about cultures in the developing world. But ethnographic cinema is a decidedly tricky proposition. Are the 10 films in this year’s Global Lens series good for you, or are they actually, you know … good? Here’s what you can learn about the world—and about the uneven quality of international cinema—if you check out the whole program. (China’s Luxury Car and India’s Let the Wind Blow are also included).

• Johannesburg apparently has both a thriving stand-up comedy scene, and a fondness for “mumblecore.” John Barker’s Bunny Chow mimics the low-budget, largely improvised aesthetic in this tale of three South African comedians dealing with relationship issues before, during and after a road trip to a music festival. Just like in American “mumblecore,” your level of appreciation will depend on how charming you find the characters and their meandering narrative.

• If faking an abortion is your only way to get money from your parents, your life is in pretty bad shape. That’s the situation in the compelling opening sequence of Martin De Salvo and Vera Fogwill’s Kept and Dreamless, which deals with coke addict Florencia’s (played by Fogwill) inability to raise her 9-year-old daughter Eugénia (Lucía Snieg). But once the film moves past that sequence, it attempts to become more darkly comic, with decidedly erratic results.

• Argentina is really f—king depressing. In case Kept and Dreamless wasn’t enough of a nightmare for the tourism board, Rodrigo Moreno’s The Custodian paints an even bleaker portrait. Ruben (Julio Chávez) works as a bodyguard for a government official, immersing himself so deeply in his job that he has virtually no personal life. And while the secretive protagonist provides intrigue for a while, the violent actions that close the film seem to come out of absolutely nowhere just for punishing effect.

• Bosnians have a weird sense of humor. One of the better entries in the series is Antonio Nuiç’s All for Free, a grim comedy about 30-year-old Goran’s (Rukan Rushaidat) decision, after the death of his two best friends, to sell his family home, buy a catering truck and travel the countryside giving away free drinks. It’s an episodic tale that dwells a bit on the facts and figures of Bosnia’s post-war human landscape, but still manages to remain engaging thanks to Rushaidat’s appealing central performance.

• The Lebanese have an even weirder sense of humor. That might be an expected development in the world of Randa Chahal Sabbag’s The Kite, after Israeli annexation places a no-man’s-land between two parts of a community. Initially, it’s pretty hilarious watching two families attempt to finalize an arranged marriage via bullhorn—complete with details about the size of the groom’s penis—but it gets tangled up in an awkward Romeo-and-Juliet thing between the would-be bride (Flavia Bechara) and a guard on the Israeli side (Maher Bsaibes).

• The number “18” in the Philippines apparently represents “testicles.” At least that’s what Amelia—the superstitious titular protagonist of Jeffrey Jeturian’s The Bet Collector—believes, as she roams the streets working for the country’s omnipresent numbers racket. Too bad there’s little more than 90 minutes of her roaming; not even Amelia’s economic desperation and token efforts at psychological subtext can make this movie something that doesn’t suck “18.”

• I’d rather go to the restaurant portrayed in Ali Raffi’s The Fish Fall in Love than watch the movie about it. The director shows plenty of lovingly prepared meals in this story of a man (Reza Kianian) returning to his hometown after 22 years to find his one-time fiancé (Roya Nonahali) running a restaurant out of his family home. The clumsy efforts to work in female empowerment and the jailing of political dissidents collide with wooden acting—but hey, that food looks yummy.

• Indonesian opera kicks ass. The one bona fide gem is Garin Nugroho’s Opera Jawa, a through-sung modern re-telling of the “abduction of Sinta” folk tale. And it’s a spectacular piece of visual filmmaking: bursting with color, fascinating dreamlike set pieces and a range of terrific choreography from tribal stomps to pure modern dance. Sure, I learned something about Javanese culture: I learned that someone there can make a great movie.

GLOBAL LENS @ Broadway Centre Cinemas, 111 E. 300 South, 321-0310, Sept. 5-11, GlobalFilm.org tttt

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Scott Renshaw

Scott Renshaw

Bio:
Scott Renshaw has been a City Weekly staff member since 1999, including assuming the role of primary film critic in 2001 and Arts & Entertainment Editor in 2003. Scott has covered the Sundance Film Festival for 25 years, and provided coverage of local arts including theater, pop-culture conventions, comedy, literature,... more

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