Sydney Film Festival: Day 11

It had to happen some time. The last day of the festival, and three films to finish it off.

Nollywood Babylon

Nollywood refers to the Nigerian movie business, one which has boomed since the early nineties and is now only second to Bollywood as the largest film industry in the world. There are hundreds of these movies released every month, filmed on the cheapest stock available: these days, that means digital video. It’s fascinating stuff, and has allowed directors Ben Addelman and Samir Mallal to explore many aspects of not just Nollywood but Nigeria itself: the poverty, the religious fanaticism, the superstitions. Nollywood Babylon, however, opportunity wasted. The film is worth watching for its subject matter, but as a documentary, it’s too unfocused to be called a success. It opens up the world of Nollywood, but there are other documentaries out there on the subject that are, hopefully, more adeptly handled than this one.

5/10

I’ve already discussed my experience of Che at the State Theatre, but here’s an actual review!

Che

Soderbergh’s second film of the festival was two films in itself: a four hour long biopic of Ernesto “Che” Guevara, played by Benicio del Toro, divided into two films. The Argentine deals with his time as a guerrilla in Cuba, helping Fidel Castro (here played by Demián Bichir) overthrow the Batista regime. The Guerrilla follows his similar struggles in the jungles of Bolivia. The whole thing is played in a straightforward manner, with both films focusing on the drudgeries of the campaigns - living off the map, the dangerous battles - more than the politics of them.

The films are based on the writings of Guevara himself, so they have authenticity (save for a jarring Matt Damon cameo in The Guerrilla). This can make for a challenging four hours: by showing in miniature Che and the guerrillas living in the jungle, we really get a feel for how hard this life was. The consequence is that both films are made up of largely slow-moving scenes of said difficulty, punctuated by (quite thrilling) action sequences. Del Toro disappears into the role, and he's surrounded by similarly impressive, for the most part lesser-known character actors. It's all very admirable: Soderbergh has made a movie with an anti-commercial movie with a sizable budget which mixes very well made action set-pieces with slow character study. It is, in fact, more admirable than it is successful as a cinematic experience. A worthy film, and worth seeing... but just the once.

6/10

From a highbrow study of one of the 20th Century's most important and divisive figures from an indie auteur to... Nazi zombies. Should be the most perfect way to end the festival, right?

Dead Snow

Nazi zombies. Nazi zombies, chainsaws, disembowelment, and snowmobiles. In motherfucking Norway. This should be the greatest movie of all time. It should be a movie so amazing that they stop teaching Citizen Kane in film theory classes; this becomes the film that defines cinematic storytelling for a generation; perhaps for all time. But on the pantheon of horror-comedy, Dead Snow is not alongside Brain Dead, the film it wants to be. In quality, it's closer to Club Dread. Or Cut.

Tommy Wirkola's film has a group of eight medical students holidaying in a remote cabin in the Norwegian mountains. We know from the start something's wrong, when one of the eight doesn't arrive at the cabin, attacked and killed in the opening scene. The others are none the wiser until the arrival of a man credited as The Wanderer (Bjørn Sundquist) but who should have been named Mr. Fucking Stupid Exposition. He tells our group that the land they're on was once overrun by Nazis who terrorised a nearby town, but were killed by its vengeful inhabitants. He soon leaves, and the Nazis - now, without reason, undead - arrive.

Dead Snow redefines the term "one-note". It's a movie made by a fan of horror films, which can often lead to greatness - see Shaun of the Dead - but it can also lead to a Rob Zombie film. There's plenty of mayhem, a lot of violence, and a surprising amount of intestinal matter on display. Somehow, though, it's just not as fun as it should be. It aims to be so over the top that it's funny, but it doesn't get there. The biggest sin of the film is wasting the Nazi zombies. How do we know the zombies are Nazis? Other than Mr Fucking Stupid Exposition talking about the Nazi infestation, they have swastikas on their arms. That's it. There could have been some boundaries pushed. There could have been some really off-colour humour at play. It doesn't help that the film is Norwegian, so every last character is so Aryan that they'd make a card-carrying KKK member blush, but the bloody destruction of already dead Nazis could have been so much more satisfying if there was some sort of revenge at play. They're barely even zombies! They run, they talk, they fucking plan things! A film that promises Nazi zombies essentially delivers neither of these things!

There are a few fun moments, some creative gore, and there are worse horror-comedies around - Lesbian Vampire Killers has recently clawed its way to the top of that shit heap. Dead Snow, however, just isn't the romp it should be.

4/10

And thats it. The festival ended not with a bang, but with the splutter of a dying chainsaw.

Lessons Learned

• Che Guevara must have been the hungriest Marxist ever.

• Franke Potente of Run Lola Run can pass for South American.

• With Dead Snow following Cold Prey (and Cold Prey II!) Norwegians really like naming their half-arsed horror movies after the weather.