Today, four more films brought to you by the fine folks who programme the Vancouver International Film Festival, two documentaries, a France-German co-production from an acclaimed director, and the auspicous début of a young Japanese director. VIFF ticket and pass sales continue online.
The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (Canada). As Norman Wilner writes in his Georgia Straight review of Joel Bakan’s and Jennifer Abbott’s follow-up to their 2003, made in BC-made documentary, The Corporation, “The New Corporation concludes we’re all pretty much screwed.” The 2003 doc was that rare political film with the power to remove the scales from our eyes, not simply asserting that big companies were destroying the world, but looking at the legal frameworks that created corporations that consistently placed profit over social or ethical concerns.
Investigating the evolution of corporate greed, in The New Corporation Bakan and Abbott provide a dense yet fast-paced exposé on how corporations profit from the carnage they’ve created both environmentally and politically, and their embrace of nihilism as an economic raison d’être, as elucidated by the MAGA folks who’ve latched onto the fear-mongering these corporations promote, those who march in the streets denying our current pandemic, all the while allowing Charles Koch and his cohorts to profit through the misery of others while netting profits through privatized prisons and schools — and working to make our lives as miserable and disconnected as possible — not just in North America, but across the globe.
Undine (Germany/France). Winner of the Silver Bear (Best Actress) for Paula Beer at the Berlinale this year, Undine represents an odd new beauty from German auteur Christian Petzold (Transit) who explores and updates the myth of the water nymph who has to kill her lover should he betray her.
Unsurprisingly, water plays an important role throughout the film — Undine comes from the Latin word for “wave,” suggesting both water & movement — and there are several beautifully shot underwater scenes that work on a visual level while making room for Petzold’s usual thematic concerns, capturing frantic characters doomed by dark obsessions. At its core, a haunting, fantastical and passionate female-centred supernatural romance revolving around a doomed love, Undine also questions the fixed nature of human behaviour in a world whose borders are constantly shifting.
The Town of Headcounts (Japan). One of the five Canadian premières that represent a constituent element of this year’s VIFF Gateway Asian series, Japanese director Shinji Araki’s The Town of Headcounts — a chilling, beguiling and electrifying thriller — makes its international début at the 39th annual Vancouver International Film Festival.
One of the most politically astute films to come out of Japan in years, as well as a potent and disturbing sci-fi classic, Headcount offers viewers an allegory of a dystopian Japanese society dedicated to keeping its citizens docile and dependent on sexual abandon, instant gratification and transactional sex — where rules of etiquette are nonetheless strictly enforced — in order that the state might direct the attention of the populace away from the near constant threat of terrorism, the incessant intrusion of the surveillance state, the unrelenting malaise that has the globe in its grip, and the decimation of democratic institutions.
“With contributions from our programme consultants — Maggie Lee for Japan & Korea, and Shelly Kraicer for China, Hong Kong & Taiwan — the Gateway series offers VIFF members an intimate window into the vibrant cultures of East Asia,” avers PoChu AuYeung, VIFF programme manager and senior programmer. “This year’s eclectic collection of cinematic experiences is at times sentimental, inquisitive, and occasionally even shocking — but what unifies them is the authenticity of voices and beauty of expression from one of the film world’s most exciting creative regions.”
The Town of Headcounts is Shinji Araki’s riveting directorial début.
Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President (USA). The Canadian première of director Mary Wharton’s infectiously charmingly and wistful remembrance of an earlier and, perhaps, more sane time in American politics, in its 96-minute running time tells the tale of an enlightened U.S. commander-in-chief who was a true aficionado and lover of American popular music.
Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President is more than just a record of Carter’s knowledge of our musical history. This lively documentary explores his belief that American music reflects the country’s soul: “I think music is the best proof that people have one thing in common no matter where they live, no matter what language they speak.” Director Mary Wharton, in collaboration with writer Bill Flanagan, help make Carter’s case by weaving together interviews with entertaining, at times inspiring, archival and concert footage. The film will make you nostalgic for great music and for a return to true spiritual leadership down south. The Man from Plains was not a mere peanut farmer who stumbled into the country’s highest office; he was a principled leader whose spiritual beliefs and southern roots brought youthful passion and moral direction to the presidency.
After the misery, cynicism, and division of the past four years in America, Jimmy Carter: Rock & Roll President is a breath of fresh air.
