FIC Xixón 2009

Some weeks ago we could enjoy the 47th edition of FIC Xixón, a film festival mainly focused on independent cinema that is held in my town.
This year I attended a total of 11 films, of which only 2 were unbearable, 3 were absolutely great, and the rest fall somewhere between OK and Good.
Maybe one day I'll feel like writing some full reviews, but so far here is a brief description:

• Cargo 200 (Aleksey Balanov), Thursday 19th. I quite liked it, but it didn't live up to my rather high expectations. I liked the industrial wasteland cityscape and the depressive atmosphere, but maybe it was not enough. The 80's Russian Punk band playing on the car's casete was a plus.



• Los Fugaos, Saturday 21st. I ended up in this projection a bit by chance. There was a huge queue to get the tickets for this session and someone with tickets left gave me one. It's a documentary about people that after the end of the Spanish Civil War stayed hidden in the mountains fighting against the Fascist Dictatorship. It's OK, but it's rather lame that the directors chose a shitty politician like A. Guerra, a compulsive thief responsible of the economical destruction of Asturies, to talk about these heroic guerrilla.



• War (Aleksey Balanov), Saturday 21. It was OK if what you expect is just an action film, because that's what it is, sort of the Russian Rambo, killing Chechens instead of Vietnameses. Of course Chechens are very, very, very bad people, evil terrorists, compulsive rapists... This vision would be acceptable if it were the opinion of one of so many Russians that have to struggle to make ends meet, with few chances and interest to go beyond Krenmlin's propaganda... but it's too simplistic for an acclaimed film director that is able to travel all over the world... I'm not neglecting some of the attrocities commited by some Chechen yihadists... but what I'm missing in the film are references to the attrocities commited by Russian forces against Chechen civil (moderate muslim or light muslim) population...



• Contra la Pared (Fatih Akin), Sunday 22. Wow, this film blew me away. Great, great, great. It seems like a recurrent topic in this great German-Turkish director to depict the lives of German-Turkish people, how they have got integrated in Western society, which cultural elements they keep and which ones they replace, and of special interest, how they see themselves. This film is an absolute must, the story moves between comedy and drama, between hilarity and tragedy, with interesting shifts and many great moments.
  
  
• Between Two Worlds, Sri Lanka. Sunday 22. Absolutely unbearable. Terribly boring with no reference to the Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka nor to the "disaster capitalism" in their coasts after the tsunami...



• Barking Water, Monday 22:15. A good film, not as tough as the synopsis could make us think, but tough anyway. A couple of native Americans with have shared their lives with ups and downs, several interruption, set off for their last journey, as the man has a terminal disease. Drama road movie with some great visuals.



• Mammoth (Moodysson) Tuesday, 22:30. Not as impressive as Lilya 4-ever, but anyway a good film. It links together 2 troublesome stories through the life of a wealthy, happy family which bliss is at risk. All in all the general feeling is not gloomy at all, but rather happy (this great song in the soundtrack by LadyTron can give you an idea).



• Louise-Michel Wednesday, 22:15. Sort of French bittersweet comedy. Between smile and smile you get a good critic to economical globalization, tax havens, desensitized human beings... A small factory in a French village gets closed from one day to another, and the (un)employees decide to take revenge. I like that attitude.



• Fish Tank, Andrea Arnold, Thursday. Wow, take note of this name, Andrea Arnold, and keep it somewhere accessible in your head. 2 films and she's a cult director for me. After the incredible Red Road that I could enjoy in FIC Xixón 2006, we get a great depiction of realities that may seem far to us but are really close. How shitty it can be being a teenager in an impoverished housing state area in UK. There are some moments in the story where things are in the verge of total disaster... and it gives you that uneasiness that lasts for a while after the lights are on.
  
  
• Border, Friday. Unbearable film-documentary or whatever they want to classify it as.



• Polytechnique, Saturday 22:15. Absolutely amazing. The perfect culmination for an excellent edition of this festival. Impressive film, it manages to turn a story of disaster (the Canadian Columbine) into an astonishing beautiful visual and narrative discourse. It's been compared with Elephant, but for me the comparison does not make it justice at all, this is a much better film in all senses. The first sequence in the film blows you away, it's one of the most stunning starts in a film that I can think of, but the rest of the film is just at the same level. This external review perfectly describes my opinions:
  "The paradox may sound grotesque, but it must be stated loud and clear: Denis Villeneuve and the cast of Polytechnique have transformed the tragedy of the Montreal Massacre into a work of profound beauty."