Reviews

There's a lot of hype around at the moment surrounding new Hollywood blockbuster The Social Network and whilst it may be popular, the real Facebook film you should be looking out for is Catfish.

The film which has caused a stir at America's Sundance Film Festival and The BFI London Film Festival this year was created by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost in 2007, when they decided to document Nev Schulman's online experience as he gradually became friends with a family in Michigan via Facebook. Throughout the documentary it is revealed that Nev is starting to have reciprocated feelings for a member of the family, Megan; they talk on the phone, online and send each other texts, but it's not long until strange discoveries about the family arise. What follows is a series of strange events as Nev eventually meets the family and the saying "people aren't what they seem" springs to mind.

The three central protagonists Ariel, Henry and Nev are all very likable, funny and soon into the film the audience begin to sympathise towards Nev and his quest for the truth. The film is enjoyable, and does well in creating suspense throughout as the viewer and filmmakers start to learn more about "the facebook family", although the twist revelation near to the end of the film isn't quite as shocking as the trailer makes out, but it is still is an interesting one.

Catfish is shot using a camcorder to begin with, which can be quite disorientating and distracting but towards the end of the film the quality improves. There has been much deliberation as to whether this is really a documentary as has been claimed. It could be argued it is fictional because the content could appear to be unbelievable, and also because there seems to be a large amount of brand names used in the film such as iphone, Blackberry, Google Maps, Apple Mac and Supermarche – which might suggest these companies helped fund the film.

Whether or not it really is a documentary Catfish is still highly entertaining, and teaches a good lesson to be more internet aware, and to not take people at face value.

I admit it, before today I'd never really heard The Airborne Toxic Event's music, but after watching their part documentary part concert film All I Ever Wanted,I now confess I'm a fan.

The film is a behind the scenes look at the preparation that went into their December 2009 Walt Disney Concert Hall show as well as footage of the show in question. Hailing from Loz Feliz, Los Angeles The Airborne Toxic Event formed in 2006, released an album in 2008 which sold in hundreds of thousands of copies, achieved iTunes 1# Alternative Song of the Year with "Sometime Around Midnight", played sold out shows for two years and played a sold out show at the 2265 seater Walt Disney Concert Hall for their homecoming gig. I think it's safe to say this band are making it big.

The film switches between clips of black & white behind the scenes footage to songs of the concert and it's not long before we're treated to the first song of the show. The Calder Quartet which includes band member Anna's brother take to the stage and begin playing, The Airborne Toxic Event join them not long after with singer Mikel Jollet leading the group on the halls giant organ. They exchange excited glances at each other throughout the opening song which say "Is this really happening?" Every time a song is shown from the concert the film bursts from black and white into colour which gives the performance and songs energy and life. There's a tearjerker moment at the beginning of the second song as Mikel reveals that exactly a week before the concert his grandmother, who was looking forward to attending the show, sadly died. The band play a Magnetic Fields song The Book of Love and dedicate it to Mikels grandmother as he played it to her not long before. It's moments like this in the film which show the band made up of Mikel Jollet, Steven Chen, Noah Harmon, Daren Taylor and Anna Bulbrook as they are, as genuine talented people. They don't show off about their success and there's no pretension involved, they're very thankful for being given the opportunity to play The Walt Disney Concert Hall and they put everything they have into putting on a great show for the audience. The band wanted to include different musical groups from the East LA area to showcase the different cultures and talent in the area to a wider audience. A high school marching band, a children's choir, an accordionist, horn players, visual artists and traditional Mexican folkorico dancers all join The Airborne Toxic Event during the show and they all add something special, new and unique to each of the bands songs.

The behind the scenes footage is interesting to watch as the viewer realises just how passionate the band are about their music and wanting to put on a great show. Despite not being able to read music Mikel was known to be working around 10 hours a day leading up to the concert, wanting to perfect every aspect of his performance. He and Noah create some inspiring intricate compositions for the string quartet, horn sections and accordionist which sound amazing when all played together at the concert.

Although I can't remember the setlist of the concert or in which order they played them I do know that I had to physically restrain myself from clapping after such songs as Sometime Around Midnight, All I Ever Wanted and Missy, I kept forgetting I was in a cinema and not a gig venue. The bands energy and enthusiasm just seem to explode through the screen, their excitement and passion is very obvious and after the show they're just exhausted after putting on an impeccable performance.

The editing is very well done in the film, it's often fast paced when building up to big moments in songs which creates excitement in the viewer. Director Jon Danovic definitely succeeds in capturing an important moment in the bands career, all shots are very clear and the editing of the songs are put together well. I think the change from black and white to colour footage when the band perform on-stage is clever as it gives extra colour and energy to the film. Having not head The Airborne Toxic Event before viewing the film I think fans of the band will love it and others that haven't heard them may be converted by the end credits like me.

I saw a press preview screening of All I Ever Wanted as part of Raindance Film Festival on 24th September.

"One of the weirdest movies you'll ever see" and "El Topo meets 2001 Space Odyssey meets Nacho Libre meets a routine by Steven Wright or Eddie Izzard" are just some quotes used to describe Hitoshi Matsumotos second film Symbol (Shinboru) the word I've been using to describe it to people is just "weird".

Symbol begins in Mexico where a family is eating breakfast. The father is wearing a wrestling mask and is soon picked up by a swearing Nun who has a severe case of road rage to take him to where he'll be fighting that night. The film then cuts to a Japanese man wearing spotty pyjamas who wakes up in a large, completely white room. He doesn't know where he is or how he got there and he begins to search the room for any clues. He pushes what he thinks is a button and hundreds of laughing naked cherubs appear out of the walls, they soon disappear back into the walls leaving nothing other than remnants of their tiny willies on the paintwork, the man starts to scream and the craziness begins!

The man presses a willy and a toothbrush is thrown into the room from a wall, he continues to push many of them around the room and all sorts of objects appear, jars, sushi, magazines, a person who runs from one side of the room to another, a whole array of random objects. He soon realises that one of the willies reveals a door in the room but it always disappears by the time he gets to it, what then unfolds is him trying to find a way to escape from the room using different objects for different purposes, it seems almost like a video game.

In Mexico everyone is doubting that the father wrestler who's stage name is Escargot Man will win the fight, but it's soon revealed that he's secretly got someone to help him in the fight. The film is set half in the white room and half in Mexico, during the film it appears the two stories have no relevance to one another but by the end they do.

It's a very funny script and excellent acting by all characters but especially by director Hitoshi Matsumotos who plays the main unnamed Japanese character in the film. You have to have patience to watch this film, it takes quite a while to get into but once I got past the "What is going on?" stage but I really enjoyed it. It's quite silly in its jokes so don't go into the cinema thinking you're watching a serious arty film because it's anything but.

Directed and written by Mohamed Al Daradji, Son of Babylon is a gritty realistic drama about a young boy Ahmed and his grandmothers journey across Iraq to try and find the boys father. Set in 2003 after the fall of Saddam, Ahmed's father was forced to join the Iraqi army in 1991 and hasn't returned for 12 years, fearing he's in prison or dead the two remaining family members travel 600 miles to try and find out what's happened to him.

The dusty landscape and abandoned ruins of Iraq are a perfect backdrop for this harrowing story, they travel from the mountains to the sands of Babylon hitchhiking rides from kind strangers along the way. The cinematography and scenery in the film are spectacular, they capture the beauty in war torn Iraq when they stumble across Prophet Ibrahims house and mosques along the way. It's easy to believe how isolated the people of Iraq feel as the only thing that has always stayed intact are the roads, it's now a barren land.

Yasser Talib who plays the young boy Ahmed is just brilliant at portraying an abandoned boy who's never known his father. He's comical at times but deals with the films serious nature very well. Shazada Hussein is the Grandmother in the film, she's very believable as a distressed mother in search of her son, her task of looking after her grandson in certain very dangerous parts of Iraq in a tough one. Shazada was actually the only woman to have testified in Saddam Husseins trial so this film must be very personal for her. Together the two characters form a great bond, they annoy each other easily but deep down there is much love and respect for one another.

Throughout the film the two characters keep travelling on buses that break down and are only met with disappointment when they arrive at the town they believe Ahmeds father to be in, but along the way they meet some good people who help and look after them. The Iraq we see in the film is a very different place to the one the media portray. There is even more death and destruction than is reported and the film shows Iraq from it's peoples point of view, not from an outsider looking in, in fact there are barely any troops featured in the film, only a few they have to pass on the road. The only music in the film is when Ahmed plays his flute and the singing of people they meet on their journey, I think this gives the film a more authentic and real feel, it's not glossed by a melancholy soundtrack to how the characters are feeling at any particular point in time.

The slow-paced film overall looks amazing, the acting is brilliant and the plot is strong, you really hope these characters find what they're looking for.

I saw a preview press screening of Son of Babylon as part of Raindance Film Festival.

Directed by Briar March, There Once Was An Island: Te Henua E Nnoho is a documentary about a Polynesian community living on the Island of Takuu in the South Western Pacific and the effect that climate change is having on their Island.

400 people live on the tiny Island of Takuu, they're an intelligent community which hold their traditions and culture close to their heart but live in fear that they may have to all move to Bougainville, Papa New Guinea due to the rise in sea levels and farming problems they're having.

The film focuses on the lives of three members of the community in particular Teloo, Endar and Satty and how the environmental problems are affecting their lives. Due to sea levels rising, crops on the Island can't grow properly forcing the Island to often ask for food from Bougainville but the boat which visits the Island only comes a few times a year so the Island has to be very much self-sufficient. The town have a meeting to decide what their plan of action is, some people believe that God made the Island so he will know that the water level is rising and therefore help them in someway but most people agree that they need scientists to visit the Island and study it before they can know how to save it or if they need to move elsewhere. Oceanographer John Hunter and Geomorpholgist Scott Smithers travel to the Island and do tests, teach the farmers how to protect their crops and confirm the communities fears that the Island could soon be underwater if they don't create stronger sea walls and move the houses onto higher parts of the land. During their visit massive waves hit the Island causing a dangerous damaging flood which destroys many wooden buildings, crops and all of their school books. Days after the flood the islanders still can't fish or farm crops as it's too dangerous and the only ship that can visit the Island from Bourgainville is not sailing due to the crew being on strike. The community hardly have anything to eat and this event shocks them into considering maybe moving to Bourgainville is a possibility as when things get worse on the Island there won't be much help available to them. The people talk of how hard it would be moving though as for once they'll have to work for money to buy food rather than grow it or fish for it themselves which will be a big culture shock and they don't want future generations to forget their culture and past.

The Cinematography in the film captures well the beauty of the island and it's people's lives. Beautiful sandy beaches, palm trees and forest cover the Island and some of the shots are just spectacular. The film is quite slow paced but this works due to the islands relaxed way of living. The only minor flaw I had with the film was that there was a lot of chunks of information to read instead of their being a voice-over which I think would've resulted in the film flowing better, but as I said this isn't a big problem.

Overall I really enjoyed the documentary, it was very interesting, all people were very likable and it's shocked me into thinking more about climate change. Takuu is slowly being destroyed due to the of the rest of the world, the Islanders have played no part in this happening and it causes the viewer to sympathise with them and want to cut down their carbon footprint seeing innocent people's lives being ruined in this way. I believe the film should be shown on a popular TV channel where many people can view it, I think it could change the way a lot of people think about climate change.

I saw the film at a Press Preview as part of Raindance Film Festival on 21st September.