EIFF2010: Restrepo, Third Star and Perestroika

Blog by Gail Tolley | 02 Jul 2010
A final blog from this year's EIFF and in the last few days of the festival I managed to cram in several of the most talked about films.
Everyone was curious to see the David Lynch-Werner Herzog collaboration My Son My Son What Have Ye Done? Being a big fan of both directors I had high expectations which unfortunately weren't quite met. The film tells the story of a son who loses his mind, kills his mother and barricades himself into his house whilst the police outside attempt to piece together what has happened. It's full of Lynch's signature stilted dialogue which is occasionally humorous but more often than not slips into self-parody. There are some nice scenes - I particularly loved the flamingoes who feature at a couple of points - but overall this isn't a film that stands out from either director's body of work.
From the surreal to the very real. I was glad I got to see American war documentary Restrepo which won the Best Documentary award in Sundance. Through a mixture of front line footage and retrospective talking heads the film paints an insightful picture of Afghanistan's most contested region, the Korengal Valley. The skill in Restrepo is that is successfully negotiates the thin line between emotional resonance and sentimentality which ensures the film always feels genuine and respectful.
Something which didn't quite succeed in this area was the closing gala film Third Star - the tale of four men in their late twenties who go on a trip to Pembrokeshire at the request of their terminally ill friend. There are some moments where the natural, almost improvised, dialogue between the group feels very fresh and convincing but overall the film feels emotionally manipulative, especially in its final scenes and fails to shed any new light on friendship and/or illness.
And last but not least there was one film hidden away in the programme which was a real delight to come across. Perestroika by London artist Sarah Turner is shot entirely from the carriage of a train as it travels across Russia and Siberia. The film uses footage from two journeys the director made along the same route several years apart, accompanied by voice recordings also made at the time. Turner begins by recalling a recent accident she's had, the medication she is on and her chronic insomnia before describing the death of a friend who made the first journey with her. Painful memories collide with the stark landscape that rushes by outside to create an emotional and visual journey that is at once thought-provoking and deeply moving. If only there had been more of these such finds at Edinburgh this year. 

 

A final blog from this year's EIFF and in the last few days of the festival I managed to cram in several of the most talked about films.

Everyone was curious to see the David Lynch-Werner Herzog collaboration My Son My Son What Have Ye Done? Being a big fan of both directors I had high expectations which unfortunately weren't quite met. The film tells the story of a son who loses his mind, kills his mother and barricades himself into his house whilst the police outside attempt to piece together what has happened. It's full of Lynch's signature stilted dialogue which is occasionally humorous but more often than not slips into self-parody. There are some nice scenes - I particularly loved the flamingoes who feature at a couple of points - but overall this isn't a film that stands out from either director's body of work.

From the surreal to the very real. I was glad I got to see American war documentary Restrepo which won the Best Documentary award in Sundance. Through a mixture of front line footage and retrospective talking heads the film paints an insightful picture of Afghanistan's most contested region, the Korengal Valley. The skill in Restrepo is that is successfully negotiates the thin line between emotional resonance and sentimentality which ensures the film always feels genuine and respectful.

Something which didn't quite succeed in this area was the closing gala film Third Star - the tale of four men in their late twenties who go on a trip to Pembrokeshire at the request of their terminally ill friend. There are some moments where the natural, almost improvised, dialogue between the group feels very fresh and convincing; but overall the film feels emotionally manipulative, especially in its final scenes and fails to shed any new light on friendship and/or illness.

And last but not least there was one film hidden away in the programme which was a real delight to come across. Perestroika, by London artist Sarah Turner, is shot entirely from the carriage of a train as it travels across Russia and Siberia. The film uses footage from two journeys the director made along the same route several years apart, accompanied by voice recordings also made at the time. Turner begins by recalling a recent accident she's had, the medication she is on and her chronic insomnia before describing the death of a friend who made the first journey with her. Painful memories collide with the stark landscape that rushes by outside to create an emotional and visual journey that is at once thought-provoking and deeply moving. If only there had been more of these such finds at Edinburgh this year.