Moby-Dick as Quest Fantasy: The Age of the Dragons

In her novel Ahab’s Wife, Sena Jeter Naslund tells the story of the sailor’s wife only briefly mentioned in Melville’s Moby-Dick. An intrepid band of filmmakers did her one better, introducing viewers to Rachel, Ahab’s adopted daughter-crew member, whom Melville must have surely implied, but just never got around to writing about in his great American novel. They added dragons too. Yes, Moby-Dick is reset in an epic fantasy universe. A real curiosity piece, Ryan Little’s The Age of the Dragons (trailer here) is now available from Go Digital Media Group on platforms like itunes and pay-per-view youtube.

In this world, dragons are hunted for their vitriol, a highly combustible and expensive form of fuel. Of course, Ahab is not in it for the money. He wants revenge from a great white dragon—just like the book, except not really. Ishmael, should you chose to call him that, is a dragon harpooner looking too sign onto the crew of the feared dragon hunter. He and his moody sidekick Queequeg are hired by Ahab’s adopted daughter, Rachel (presumably a nod to one of the other ships mentioned in the Melville novel). Of course, she is attractive, generating all kinds of helpful sexual tension within the crew. This most definitely includes Ishmael, but she does not seem to mind his attentions as much.

Age would probably have worked better if they had been hunting sea-dragons, because that would have given them an excuse to serve aboard a ship. Instead, the Pequod is an anachronistic armored wagon that could have been a castoff from the Jawas. Shockingly though, the dragon effects are not all that bad, but brother, Danny Glover sure is. Perhaps Ahab’s make-up is partly to blame, making Glover look as if he were simply drizzled with candle wax. However, he is so overwrought and pointlessly venomous, he single-handedly reduces the film to low camp.

As the romantic leads (in Moby-Dick?) Corey Sevier and Sofia Pernas are a bit stiff perhaps, but not to a debilitating extent. Frankly, ex-footballer turned genre movie heavy Vinnie Jones steals the show as second mate Stubb, exhibiting charisma and energy well beyond viewer expectations. Unfortunately, the film inexplicably kills off their trump card before it even reaches the third act. Still, David Morgan also adds some nice supporting seasoning as the morally ambiguous first mate Starbuck.

Age actually had a theatrical release in the UK (where it was critically pummeled), but here in America it suffered the indignity of airing as a Syfy original movie. Granted, Melville given the fantasy once-over is definitely gimmicky filmmaking in the Corman tradition, but some credible work went into it. To their credit, Little’s effects team did not skimp on the dragons. There are scads of them and they look decent by outside-of-Hollywood standards, particularly when seen flying in the distance. However, the screenplay’s contrivances make it devilishly difficult to buy into the lunacy. Still, it is hard to resist checking out such a wacky high concept. So now you know this exists. It can be found on itunes.

MIFF ’11: Leonid’s Story (short)

Most of the perils of living in a police state are oppressively obvious. However, there are hidden dangers to the rigid control of information. Just ask the citizens of the former Ukrainian city Prypiat, if you can find one. Russians Leonid and Ludmilla Korzh were two such survivors, whose average-turned-remarkable lives are the subject of Rainer Ludwig’s animated-documentary hybrid short film Leonid’s Story, which screened at the 2011 Melbourne International Film Festival and is currently streaming free of charge at Mubi.

Leonid Korzh is truly fortunate to be alive. Not just a resident of Prypiat, he was also a so-called “liquidator,” one of the first responders charged with implementing the evacuation—once it was finally ordered. Indeed, it took a while, with no official warning from the Soviet authorities to at least stay inside. Of course, as a police officer, one of his most pressing assignments was to secure his station’s arms. All the while, he had a pregnant wife at home to worry about.

Chernobyl remains a gaping sore the Soviets conveniently abandoned in Ukraine’s lap. According to the film, only 300 of the eleven hundred-some villagers of nearby Kopachi survived. Those are bad odds. Clearly, it was not just the radiation, but also the Communists’ spin and denial that contributed to the staggering death toll.

Writer-director Ludwigs, in close collaboration with producer Tetyana Chernyavska, has crafted an artful fusion of animation, archival photographs, and contemporary documentary footage. It definitely evokes a sense of the bad old Soviet days, when assignment to a nuclear power plant’s bedroom community was considered a plum assignment in contrast to the Siberian backwater Korzh had previously been stationed in. Yet, it also captures the personal drama of a family in a time of crisis. Needless to say, it does not paint a particularly flattering picture of the Soviet government’s response then, nor of the Russian regime’s treatment of its permanently ailing liquidators today. Hardly shocking, but it is a fact worth underscoring nonetheless.

Somehow though, Leonid’s Story is not unremittingly bleak, thanks in large measure to Rainer’s stylish animation. Somewhat timely, it also proves how forthcoming and responsible Japan was in comparison when faced with its own nuclear crisis. At nineteen minutes, it is quite a substantial short. A topical work of artistic merit, Leonid’s Story is highly recommended both on Mubi and as it continues to play the festival circuit.

Online Cinema: Buried

The Chinese Independent Film Festival has something of an identity crisis. For the rest of the world, it is a small but scrappy film festival. However, in China, it bills itself as an “exhibition” because all proper “festivals” fall under the purview of the state film authority. It is a safe bet the government bureaucrats would not have been too keen to program the fest’s 2009 winner for best documentary. Fortunately, dGenerate Films, the leading international distributor of independent Chinese film, has made Wang Libo’s Buried available in its entirety on youtube, (with all twelve parts embedded on their website here).

Much like 1428 (also distributed by dGenerate), the tragic earthquake that shook the Sichuan region on May 12th, 2008 was also the impetus for Buried, but Wang takes a radically different tack, looking back to the even greater devastation of the 1976 Tangshan quake. As it turns out, the 2008 earthquake was neither unprecedented nor wholly unexpected.

Globally, the practice of predicting seismic activity with any real precision is highly controversial. The American scientific community remains dubious, which is why we have concentrated on earthquake-proof construction rather than prognostication. Given our resources, this is in fact a logical decision. Conversely, China had devoted considerable wherewithal to forecasting, even largely sparing their seismic researchers the pain of the Cultural Revolution, at least according to the film. Yet, in 1976, their seismologists’ warnings repeatedly fell on willfully deaf ears.

Buried might look like it was shot by a closed circuit security camera, only offering late middle aged scientists and government documents as its visuals, but Wang methodically assembles a damning indictment of the Chinese government. Time and time again, concerned seismologists approached their superiors and various state and party leaders with what they considered compelling signs of an imminent quake in the Tangshan-Beijing region, only to be told to go back and give the matter more study.

Regardless whether their methods had validity, if the Chinese government was supposedly in earthquake predicting business than one would think the authorities would listen to their scientists. Instead, in at least one case, a particularly outspoken seismologist was reassigned to cadre school shortly after pressing the matter with his supervisors.

Unless Wang fabricated Buried out of whole cloth, he presents an airtight case of government negligence and craven bureaucratic cya-ing. Of course, the kicker is that similar warnings were ignored leading up to the Sichuan quake, which is why the veteran seismologists interviewed on camera are so angry. An estimated 240,000 people died in the 1976 and another 80,000 to 100,000 died in 2008, but despite their warnings, they and their colleagues were blamed for not foretelling these disasters.

Buried is not particularly cinematic, but it is certainly convincing. It is also about as independent as cinema gets. To understand contemporary China, viewers should check out it, as well the other films like it that dGenerate specializes in.

Online Cinema: Crash Test Dummies

In late April of 2004 the European Union was looking forward to its largest expansion since its original constitution. Anyone holding a valid European passport would soon be able to drive from the Atlantic Ocean to the Baltic Sea. Anyone that is, except the dysfunctional characters of Joerg Kalt’s Crash Test Dummies, which premiered at the 55th Berlin Film Festival and is currently available for free online viewing at Babelgum.com [now sadly defunct].

While the growth of the EU should facilitate transit between member states, the characters of the pan-European Crash all have transportation issues. Since Romania is not due to be fully integrated until 2007, Ana and Nicolae are technically illegal aliens in Vienna. Desperate for money, they have come to shuttle a hot car back to Romania. The only hitch is it has not been stolen yet, leaving them in a lurch.

As their cash reserve dwindles, the Romanians’ relationship strains to the breaking point. Bitter and separated, they come into contact with an unlikely circle of Austrian misfits. After a minor accident, Ana finds shelter with Jan, a heartbroken security guard at a Tesco-like retailer, who has recently lost his driver’s license. His roommate Martha works as a crash test guinea pig in an auto safety lab. Meanwhile, Nicolae puts the moves on Dana, a friend of a friend of Martha, who ironically works as a travel agent.

Crash is one of hundreds of films to hit the festival circuit in which a large cast of seemingly unrelated characters is connected through a series of accidents and random happenstance. However, Kalt ties the film together better than most, without indulging in any cosmic pretentiousness. While appropriately modest, its conclusion is arguably worth the free hour and a half of online viewing time to get to. Unfortunately, despite Crash’s relatively promising international reception, it will be the director’s final cinematic statement. Tragically, Kalt took his own life six months ago.

While Crash is the sort of film where characters often do frustratingly stupid things, it is anchored by two consistently likable and sympathetic performances from Maria Popistasu and Simon Schwarz as Ana and Jan, respectively. They also have genuinely memorable chemistry in their bittersweet scenes together.

Though several supporting characters are somewhat thinly sketched, the Romanian Popistasu and German Schwarz are present in enough scenes to carry the film. A very European production from a French-born Austrian-based German director, featuring Romanian, German, and halting English dialogue, Crash is an interesting portrait of the little changes wrought by macro developments in the EU. If not spectacular, it is still worth checking out while it is available for free at Babelgum.

On Screens Everywhere: Rage

In the 1960’s colorful sprawling epics were filmed in Cinemscope or Panavision to deliver a huge widescreen viewing experience. Today, directors are deliberately calibrating films for the small screens of wireless phones and online video sites. Evidently, this is progress. Sally Potter, the acclaimed British director of Orlando and The Tango Lesson, took the trend a step further, filming her latest film Rage as if it were shot by a student on his cell phone. After premiering at the Berlin International Film Festival, Rage (trailer here) will be released by Babelgum online and as a series of cell phone downloads starting tomorrow, with the DVD hitting stores on Tuesday.

Rage is the knowingly ironic truncation of the fashion industry cliché: “all the rage.” For the ill-fated show Michelangelo ostensibly documents for his school project, it becomes especially apt, as protestors picket the outsourcing of textile jobs and models start dying under mysterious circumstances. How Michelangelo gained entrée into this rarified world is never explained, but presumably there is something disarmingly unassuming about him that gets the leading lights of haute couture to reveal their insecurities to him, which of course, he duly posts on the internet for all to see.

Shot with a single camera from Michelangelo’s POV, Rage is essentially a series of dramatic monologues with no interaction between characters. The success of Potter’s approach varies depending on the actor on screen. Not surprisingly, Dame Judi Dench provides the film’s highlights as Mona Carvell, the journalistic terror of the fashion world. While her caustic philosophical musings are thoroughly entertaining, Dench also convincingly brings out the jaded critic’s buried humanism.

Steve Buscemi also fares particularly well in Rage’s minimalist structure. Though he essentially does his regular shtick as Frank the gonzo news photographer, his bug-eyed cynicism is perfectly suited to be diced into snippets and posted online. Danish actor Jakob Cedergren is surprisingly believable as Otto, the corporate PR flack, and Eddie Izzard plays fashion mogul Tiny Diamonds with appropriate larger-than-life panache.

Ironically, John Leguizamo might give the best performance of the film, capturing the physical presence and emotional alienation of Jed, Diamonds’s bodyguard, but it might be too nuanced for installment viewing on handheld screens. Unfortunately, Jude Law is simply an embarrassment as Minx, the androgynous supermodel. This was a case of gimmicky casting that went terribly wrong.

Due in part to its stylized format, Rage is a hit-or-miss affair. While several characters are frankly dull, Potter elicits some nice performances, particularly from Dench, Leguizamo, and Cedergren. Potter’s use of saturated color backgrounds is quite effective on miniature screens and the moody background music she co-composed with avant-garde guitarist Fred Frith strengthens its cinematic cohesion. It might be uneven and stagey, but Rage is more successful than other films made expressly for digital dicing that have recently screened at New York film fests. Look for it online tomorrow and on DVD the next day (9/22).

Online: I Am Because We Are

A recent documentary gives audiences a new appreciation for Sally Struthers, for persisting in her African relief PSAs despite the regular mocking she endured. Unfortunately, she is not in it, but Madonna certainly is. Make no mistake, as producer, narrator, and “star,” it is indeed her film (director Nathan Rissman is often described in press accounts as her former gardener). In a true happenstance of providence, I Am Because We Are, an ego-trip travelogue of her visits to the country, was uploaded to youtube and hulu to be screened for free right as she returned for the court hearing on her controversial second adoption case. Of course, just because it is free, does not mean you have to watch it.

Within the opening seconds, the formerly influential pop-star puts the audience on high cliché alert, telling us: “People always ask me why I chose Malawi and I tell them, ‘I didn’t, it chose me.’” She then explains a Malawian-born activist called her out of the blue asking for help. She caps her prologue with the groaner: “I ended up finding out much more than I bargained for about Malawi, about myself, about humanity.”

By this point, most reasonable people will have disabled their internet connection. However, if you stay with IABWA, you will hear Bill Clinton join the spectacle of self-serving condescension, claiming: “people ask me ‘why do you love it so much there [in Africa]’ and I always say it’s because they have the highest percentage of people, I believe, anywhere on Earth, who wake up every day with a song in their heart. They sing through their pain and their need.” So do not feel bad about the Rwandan genocide that happened under Clinton’s watch, because they still have their music. Disgusting.

Many of the profiles of children in dire circumstances which follow are honestly moving on a basic human level. These are good kids, forced to grow up too quickly, and too often die at far too young an age. If the film simply told their stories, it would be a perfectly respectable exercise in documentary filmmaking. However, the film constantly shows us Madonna’s Lady Bountiful act, which is always accompanied by her nauseating false modesty, breathlessly telling us: “I know I haven’t solved all his problems . . . but, at least it’s a start.”

Then suddenly, things get weird, as Madonna’s Kabbalah colleagues swoop in to teach the Malawians their Spirituality for Kids (SFK) curriculum, not that its Kabbalah origins are identified in the film. It is this deceptive nature of IABWA that is most troubling. When speaking of young David Banda, whom she would eventually adopt, Madonna claims: “no one knew where his father was.” Unfortunately, this does not appear to be wholly accurate. Evidently, Yohane Banda did indeed visit his son at the orphanage, having committed him to their care in hopes they could save David’s fragile life, with the intention of eventually reclaiming him. It seems that won’t be happening anytime soon.

This is a deeply problematic film—a cynical act of self-aggrandizement that actually exploits those it purports to help. Wisely, IABWA was not picked up by an American distributor after its festival run, but it can currently be viewed for free online. For a truly inspiring documentary about the plight of African AIDS orphans, I recommend catching up with Louise Hogarts’s Angels in the Dust, a profile of Marion and Con Cloete, who run an orphanage in South African out of laudably compassionate motives and are infinitely more interesting than Madonna.

Online: Princess of Nebraska

Kids today, with their video-phones and text-messaging. Life was not so easy for their elders, which for those in China often included periods of required marching and waving around little red books. Such generational divides lie at the center of the two companion films directed by Wayne Wang, best known for The Joy Luck Club and Smoke. The first, A Thousand Years of Good Prayers, a quietly elegant picture that lingers in the consciousness long after screening, is currently in theatrical release. The second, The Princess of Nebraska (trailer here, film here), is an okay film, currently available to viewers at the click of a mouse, free of charge at youtube’s Screening Room.

Princess and Prayers share similar themes, with both subtly hinting at the profound and continuing disruptions caused by the Chinese Cultural Revolution in its characters lives. However, where the characters of Prayers were mature and painfully self-aware, those of Princess are young, and rather shallow and self-absorbed, particularly the main character Sasha, but in her defense, that might be changing.

As Princess opens, Sasha arrives in the Bay Area to have an abortion. An international student in Nebraska, she was impregnated while still in China by Yang, a star in the Beijing Opera. Though we never see or hear him in the film, it quickly becomes clear how narcissistic and self-centered he must be. Evidently, bisexual as well, since it will be Boshen, his former American lover, picking up the tabs.

Sasha is young and understandably confused. After ditching Boshen at a dreary dinner party, she starts walking the seedy streets of San Francisco, in search of enlightenment, or for lack of a better idea. Eventually, she meets X, a bar hostess, whom she accompanies on a hospitality gig that approaches geisha (oiran to be more accurate) territory. Eventually, she and X wind up in bed together, as Sasha’s phone records the proceedings, presumably to be sent to Yang in hope of generating a reaction, though none is forthcoming. (The use of the videophone perspective is a frequent motif, which honestly feels clichéd by now.) After her nocturnal detour, Sasha makes her appointment at the health clinic, where she meets probably the most frank and even-handed abortion counselor in the world, Claire, a brief part memorably played by Emily Beck.

Ultimately, Princess ends on an ambiguous note. This is not Bella or even Juno (far from it). However, Sasha seems to come to the realization that her actions have consequences and moral implications, which is frankly an unusual place for a film to conclude. Ever so obliquely, this message is reinforced by the references to the Cultural Revolution, from an expat bartender, and X, as she relates her mother’s experiences in the film’s other particularly strong scene. As in Prayers, we ever so discretely see how the chaos of the past continues to influence the present. In a more macro sense, Sasha and her friends are growing up largely without an appreciation for tradition, because much of their cultural heritage was destroyed by the Cultural Revolution.

Unfortunately, there is also a lot of aimlessness in the relatively brief Princess (even at an eighty minute running time). In terms of writing and acting, Prayers is the far superior film, so it makes sense it would be the one to receive theatrical distribution and Princess would get the youtube premiere. Still, it is at times an interesting film, and Pamelyn Chee deserves attention for her performance as X. Gorgeously shot by cinematographer Richard Wong, Princess is a finely crafted film that has screened at legitimate film festivals. For free on youtube, it is certainly of an entirely different magnitude than most of the home-movies of people slandering politicians or falling off ladders that you typically find on the site.