Ahoy, squirts! Quint here to present Monki's newest report from Bermuda. The lucky so and so has been chilling watching flicks and playing on this island paradise. Enjoy his report!
Hey there folks, Monki here again typing on top of a swaying palm tree in b-e-a-utiful Bermuda. We’ve passed the halfway point here at the 9th annual Bermuda International Film Festival and I’m pleased to say things are going swimmingly. Today I caught a couple of films, one of which blew my socks off.
HERMANAS (SISTERS)
This movie tells the story of two sisters who were separated by the Argentinean revolution in the mid-70s. The older sister was ready to settle down in her life and didn’t want to become involved in the revolution while the younger was anxious to get out and really make a difference and fight. The younger sister ends up having to run from the government while the older sister moves herself to Texas and has a child. The story takes place in Texas in 1984 with flashbacks to the prior times in Argentina.
The younger sister comes to Texas with hopes to start anew and make something of her life, only to find her sister ashamed of her militant ways from the past. Her brother-in-law blames her for the loss of his friend and her nephew thinks she is a terrorist. The story unfolds as we dive deeper into the history of these two women.
The two beautiful women who play the sisters do some amazing work here. I haven’t seen this kind of connection between actors, playing siblings, in ages. The younger sister Natalia (Ingrid Rubio) does quality work here as a woman who wants to do as much as she can with her life, and Elena (Valeria Bertuccelli) does great as a woman who just wants to keep her life as steady as possible.
It is interesting to fly all the way to Bermuda to see a movie shot in Texas, but even closer to home was the next film I caught.
THE DEVIL AND DANIEL JOHNSTON
Wow. This movie is exactly what a documentary should be. Director Jeff Feuerzeig has taken Daniel Johnston’s life and summed it up perfectly into a 109 minute documentary of an agonized soul.
Daniel Johnston is a tortured genius. He grew up in a strictly religious family, the youngest of five children and quickly grew to hate his surroundings. He was the “art kid” in his high school and took to music at an early age. By college he had started to grow tired of his surroundings and made his way to Texas where he ultimately ended up in Austin, playing music.
Both his music and his art defy traditional description. They are both quite simple, but at the same time so much more true, passionate and raw than work by any other artist. His music is sung with such a pain, directly from his heart and finds it’s way into your head. His artwork expresses this equally via pencil strokes and paint instead of lyrics.
Daniel is a manic-depressive and had a breakdown at the absolute height of his career. He was in an insane asylum while two giant record companies actually fought over the rights to put out his next album. He slowly slipped into obscurity after his brief stint with fame, and now he resides with his parents in Waller, Texas where he continues to produce new music and art.
What Feuerzeig did with this film is astounding. This is the best documentary I have seen all year. Feuerzeig forged through a plethora of material to produce this diamond of a documentary. Daniel has produced hundreds of songs, and many of them are used in this piece. Daniel also audio-recorded various conversations he had had throughout his childhood as well, those ending up in the film. Combine that with the home movies shot by him and his friends and you have piles upon piles of material to work with. Someone with all of this could have just created a mindless fact-filled piece about this man’s life, but instead Feuerzeig took his time to create a masterwork of documentary filmmaking. Finally an incredible character has an equally incredible film. I can only imagine this story being told in narrative form someday, perhaps with Sam Rockwell as a younger Daniel?
So that wrapped up the day of films here in Bermuda, I’ve finally gotten a chance to look around the island and really experience what I thought Bermuda would be: beautiful beaches, palm trees, crystal clear water, etc. This really is a beautiful place and I’m lucky to be here.
Tomorrow means another music doc, Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey. I’m disappointed I missed this one at SXSW but will be happy to see it down here! Until then up to the treetops I return!
-Monki
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