IFFR Reviews: Round 3 - When things got interesting
Animal Politico is an existential comedy about a woman who realizes her mundane life is empty and meaningless and heads into the desert on a spiritual journey of self discovery. Also, she is a cow, and she is voiced by a man. Surrealist fukkery ensues and I fukking loved it. Not just because it's like Kubrick meets Oyasumi Punpun meets Monty Python, although that certainly helps. It boasts intelligent philosophical questions and monologues and personal reflection that somehow never come across as pretentious or self indulgent because it's presented with a lot of humor and self-awareness. But the true highlight might not even be this story itself, it's an intermezzo entitled
The Little Caucasian Girl, which chronicles the story of a naked redhead pawg who has become stranded on an island. She too ponders about life questions, and wonders about the changes society has gone through since she has stranded, but what makes it the most brilliant thing ever is that her narration quickly identifies her as an airheaded and self-entitled daughter of a plantation owner who looks down on minorities and the poor. So when she wonders about society, she wonders if improved health care is a good thing because how do you tell the rich and poor people apart when everyone has good teeth? And so it becomes an absurdly clever commentary on post-colonialism that might hit even harder than the hilariousness of the self-discovery of the female cow man. 5/5
Tenemos La Carne aka
We Are The Flesh is the best Gaspar Noé movie that Gaspar Noé didn't make. Seriously brehs, look at that fukking poster. That shyt screams Gaspar Noe, albeit with a healthy dose of Almodovar as well. So that's why it should come as no surprise that I scoff at that plebian
@FlyRy because this movie is far removed from his usual podcast-approved comfort zone. The movie follows a ragged madman who lives in a ruined warehouse. He produces makeshift gasoline from rotting meat and trades it for food with outsiders through a hole in the wall, or simply drinks it himself. One day a wandering couple of brother and sister arrive to seek shelter on their way through the city, and the man quickly recruits them to help him transform the warehouse into a makeshift mother womb. With the restraints of "societal rules" gone he slowly starts seducing them to give in to their primal urges and desires, after which they engage in incest, drinking period blood and many other increasingly sexual/surrealist "fantasies", all shown very explicitly of course, so if you're bothered to look at a close-up of vagina for fifteen seconds, followed by a close-up of a pair of pulsating testicles, you might want to give this one a pass. What is a big deal here though is that in terms of ability director Emiliano Rocha Minter isn't really that far behind on Noé either because the camerawork is a thing of pure beauty, the use of colors and editing phenomenal and it's clear as day that the young man is a talented director, which probably explains why so many big names of Mexican cinema have co-signed him. And although he still has some ways to go, I largely agree. 3.5/5
El Abrazo De La Serpiente aka
The Embrace Of The Serpent was the
other movie I was desperately hoping would play at the festival (the first and foremost was The Assassin, which I'll be seeing later today), which chronicles the explorations of the Amazon by two white men (40 years apart) in search of a rare sacred flower, guided both by the wandering shaman Karamakate, aka the OG Coli Black Militant. The young Karamakate witnessed the murder of his people at the hands of white men and despises them, but also laughs fruitfully at their incompetence to do something as simple as peddling a boat, albeit his enjoyment might be more naivety and underestimation. The old Karamakate is a more bitter man, but as he has started to forget his own culture, his need for purpose pushes him to join yet another white man in his search across the Amazon. Shot in stark black and white, it looks incredible. It might be the best use of black and white since I can't even remember, but it's truly exceptional. There's also something about the photography that stands out but I can't put my finger on it. The camera work feels strangely subdued and static, with most scenes shot on steadicam with no movement almost like it's a documentary, yet despite this the atmosphere still feels so feverish and oppressive, like the madness of the jungle is continuously closing in on you. I don't think I even got the words to describe truly how much it gets to you, but goddamn it just crawls right underneath your skin all the way into your brain. 4.5/5
in that, drunk tho)
at Bunk being in this after i finished a The Wire binge recently), damn bateman was a real ass hole 
Enjoyed it alot, 8/10
