#HIFF movie recap for today. Two screenings again. Work is getting in the way of watching films, would do more otherwise!
First movie was a documentary called "Mariupolis 2". I spent a lot of time while watching it gathering my thoughts on what I would write about it. The pace was ... slow. See the clip for a good example. One could have easily had a laptop and written a whole review while watching without missing anything. The documentary was filmed by Lithuanian director Mantas KvedaraviÄiusin who never got to see his documentary finished. He was taken captive and killed by Russian troops while trying to leave Mariupol after the filming. Through the documentary we follow a group of people taking shelter at a church. There are no soldiers, no tanks. Only the people, the church, constant bombing and rubble. The first 10 minutes the bombing makes you jump on the seat. Then you get used to it, and watch the people in the film gather firewood to make food and make small talk while the explosions go on, and wonder how long it took for them to get used to it.
The film makes great effort to show you the mind numbing endless days of living in the rubble while scavenging to survive. War as it is for the common people whose lives are destroyed whoever wins. Quite a few times through the two hours of explosions and looking at rubble I wondered what I was spending my days doing during March when the filming was done. And how I would cope in the situation these people were in. How would I explain to my kids why their houses are turned into rubble and they need to shelter in a basement for days at times? Humans really have not changed at all during the tens of thousands of years we've been given time to.
Clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQIqGFPwda0
Second movie was something I was expecting be a bit of a silly one, something to easy up the mood after something I was sure wasn't going to be an easy experience. "Raging Fire" is an action film from Hong Kong. Sadly, director Benny Chan of this film also died before the film was released, possibly not killed by Russia though. I loved this film! Some really cool well designed and filmed action scenes. With just that little bit of humour once in a while without taking it over the top, maintaining a rather serious feeling to the film. The plot was also pretty well thought out, giving the characters a reason for doing what they were doing. The absolute best epic scene since a long time has to be the main hero, forced in an epic motorcycle vs car battle to crash his car towards a small child, jams the car sideways at the last minute, catapulting himself out of the car and grabbing the kid before the car slams into the wall, both of them landing safely on top of the car. Pure gold.
