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National Observer

MOVIES: A US-Canada hybrid and three gems with horse handlers, a tragic pop star and unusual education

It's getting to be festival time again. VIFF in Vancouver is soon to announce its schedule for this year. TIFF in Toronto has been releasing bits of it for some time and this week revealed it all. There are almost 300 features including new work by Sarah Polley, Richard Linklater, Guillermo del Toro (Frankenstein) and get this, Jude Law as Vladimir Putin in The Wizard of the Kremlin. Baz Luhrman has a follow to his huge hit Elvis with 'EPiC: Elvis Presley in Concert' made up of concert clips, rare film and memories. TIFF will open with a documentary on John Candy and close with Peak Everything a Canadian black comedy that played well at Cannes. TIFF has also stirred up and then backed off its first controversy. It canceled a film about events after the Hamas attack on Israel. Reason given: copyright issues over some footage belonging to Hamas. Security and expected protest seem more likely. 'Censorship' was alleged. TIFF worked out whatever the problems were and yesterday re-invited the film. It is by Canadian director, Barry Avrich. The new movies this week are mostly "in select cinemas" or not previewed here (Nobody 2) but do include three well worth going to see and a caustic view of America. East of Wall: 4 stars It's Never Over Jeff Buckley: 3 ½ Folktales: 3 ½ Americana: 2 ½ EAST OF WALL: Looking for a truly unique film? Try this. It's just as moving as the last film I praised with those words, The Rider, back seven years ago. And it is similar in several ways. Also set in South Dakota, on a horse ranch and feeling almost like a documentary. It's that real. Only slightly fictionalized, the events really happened to the people we see in the film. Writer-director Kate Beecroft found them when she went looking for stories that don't just repeat other movies. She got to know Tabatha Zimiga and her daughter Porshia Zimiga on a ranch near the town of Wall and got them to, in effect, play themselves in the movie, along with other non-professionals plus a couple of actors, Scoot McNairy and Jennifer Ehle, in key secondary roles). Tabatha, with multiple tattoos and half her head shaven, is rebellious and tenacious. She's an ace horse handler. She can tell when the animal has had the bridle on too long ('she can diagnose a horse in two minutes') and how to assure a buyer that it won't kick. She sells horses on Tik Tok (a modern touch) and tutors riders at auctions to put on a show to stir the bidders. She has also taken in stray youths to live on her ranch and is struggling to keep it going while keeping them in line. McNairy arrives as a potential buyer (with a few strings attached to his offer) and Tabatha has to decide on it. And keep some tragic memories under control. It's a powerful story of resilience. And, real. (In theaters) 4 out of 5 IT'S NEVER OVER: JEFF BUCKLEY: I'm glad to finally learn about him through this documentary. I've seen references to him many times and read that his version of Leonard Cohen's song Hallelujah is the key interpretation. It was a big hit in Europe, not that much in North America and that may explain my lack of familiarity. Now I know that David Bowie said his one album is the best that he had ever heard and that another industry type called him 'one of the greatest singers of all time.' You get a lot of performances in this film to decide yourself. They are very emotional and with his huge vocal range, powerful. And you get his story. He had a bit of an imposter syndrome possibly because he was distant from, and felt rejected by his father, the singer Tim Buckley. He wasn't even mentioned in his dad's obituary. He was raised by his single mother. She's in the film talking about him as well as two women who had romantic relationship with, former band members and musical stars Ben Harper and Aimee Mann. She described his voice as having 'a boundary-less, liquid quality.' We learn he was influenced by artists from many genres: Nina Simone, Judy Garland, Edith Piaf, Pakistani singer Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Led Zeppelin. And that constant touring after his album became a hit wore him out. A chance to rest, though, led to tragedy, an early death (drowning) at age 30. Director Amy Berg gets across a strong sense of loss over what his career might have been. The film was a favorite at Sundance. (in theaters) 3½ out of 5 FOLKTALES: Right now, as many go to summer camps, this film is particularly apropos. It gets across the feeling of camaraderie, of learning, of exploration and growth. A bit effusive, yeah, but that was part of my reaction to this documentary about an educational tradition in Norway. Students are allowed time off from school to attend a camp north of the Arctic circle where they train sled dogs and ride the deep snow trails to show what they've achieved. Doesn't sound like a normal education but comments are made like 'a dog can unlock something inside a person'. The principal welcomes the students with the message to 'try to find a new version of yourself.' One student says he was bored by school and needed something different. Another talked about overcoming anxiety. The whole program is designed for students seeking independence and we see them develop from wary and even aloof to spontaneous and accomplished. They bond with the dogs and the other campers. They trade their stories (one says he's 'nice' but 'annoying') and in their vision of the future even the pessimists see things getting better. One narrates the film with the story of the god Odin and the three fates 'that weave our destinies out of yarn.' It gives a fable quality to this film about young people testing themselves and learning from handling the dogs. 'Take chances.' 'Chase a better version of yourself.' That's the optimism and message in this film by Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady who have been Oscar nominated for previous work. (Theaters in Toronto, Victoria, Vancouver, now; and London, Ottawa, Toronto again soon) 3 ½ out of 5 AMERICANA: There are good intentions and good ideas in this film but I don't think they're particularly well-presented. They look at the American west with a critical eye, trashing the old myths and arguing that they haven't survived at all in today's west. Good to consider alright, especially the clear-eyed view the film has of how the native tribes were treated back then. It even mentions the word genocide and shows a definite second-class attitude among the whites towards them even today. But most of those whites in here are so low-class it's not clear whether we should be seeing this as a comedy and how serious the film is meant to be. And, of course, the guns are quick to come out and shoot at anything. And by anybody. Of course that might be a comment on modern America too, made by the writer-director Tony Tost. He's got an intellectual background, which may explain why his script mentions Franz Fanon and Karl Marx and the religion created by the Lakota Indians. In the film robbers steal a valuable Lakota relic, called the ghost shirt, from a collector to sell for big money. Before the leader can get it sold he's bashed on the head by his angry girlfriend (played by the singer Halsey) and dies. Then various people are after it, including a band of indigenous activists who cite the American Indian Movement and The Black Panthers as inspiration, the collectibles dealer (Simon Rex) and his violent employee (Eric Dane) and a boy who says he's the reincarnation of Chief Sitting Bull. From the Also a chubby lovelorn guy played by Paul Walter Hauser and the waitress/country-singer-wanna-be that he teams up with (Sydney Sweeney, you know the woman in the ad with great jeans). Crowded cast; it thins out when the shooting starts leaving me to wonder about better ways to present such a thesis about modern America. This one is engrossing but awfully scattered. Made in the USA but produced by Bron Studios of Burnaby. B.C. (In theaters) 2 ½ out of 5