Sunday, August 21, 2011

Movies in Montreal

I saw three films at this year's Montreal World Film Festival.

The most important one to mention is the second one I saw. This film, called The Artist is a (mostly) silent film about a silent-film actor and how he deals with the coming of talkies. Not only is it meta, but it does meta exceptionally well: It is fantastic and is one of the most clever movies that I have ever seen. This one is slated to appear in US and UK theatres (presumably indie theatres) in the fall, and it is an absolute must-see. The film comes from France, and has both American and French actors in it. Awesome!

The first film I saw was Surnuaiavahi Tutar (The Graveyard Keeper's Daughter), which comes from Estonia. It was decent, and the strong-willed young girl protagonist was an interesting character.

The third film I saw, Aballay, El Hombre Sin Miedo hails from Argentina. I saw it because of the home-team connection. It was ok. I'm glad I speak Spanish, as occasionally some important meaning was lost in the subtitles. (The accents were rather thick, though, so at times I did need to rely on the subtitles.)

I doubt that either the first or third of these films will be released in theatres in the US, but you definitely want to go and see The Artist.

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