In the final review set from this year’s Seattle International Film Festival, Bob presents short reviews for Tales from the Magic Garden, The Things You Kill, Scarecrow in a Garden of Cucumbers, and Twinless.
After 11 days of features and shorts, the 51st Annual Seattle International Film Festival has come to a close for in-person screenings (a selection is available to stream until June 1st, seek those out at siff.net/festival). It’s been a great joy watching a treasure trove of amazing films and sharing my reviews. This set of reviews closes out my coverage for the festival. For the moment at least. Slanted, Good Boy, and Dead Lover are currently embargoed on reviews; when that lifts for each, you’ll hear from me (I think I can say “yes, see them” as an impression). Additionally, some of the capsules, such as this set’s excellent Twinless, may be expanded when they are permitted.
THE THINGS YOU KILL (written and directed by Alieza Khatami)
Things aren’t quite working for Ali. He’s having trouble conceiving, his professor job looks to be ending after this semester, and his complicated feelings against his father are coming to a head with the death of his mother. Set in Turkey, standing in for Kahatami’s home of Iran, I can tell it speaks to the Muslim world of the family vibes and family standing in for country, but I don’t feel informed enough to speak to that, just what I see. Described in the program as a “surreal psychological thriller,” this is a small part. Make no bones, The Things You Kill is a slow, turgid family drama with a little extra. The little extra adds nothing except maybe to make it slightly more interesting. It’s all afterthought, like Khatami saw Lost Highway years ago, it bounced around his head and attached itself ot this dull story. I seem to hold the minority opinion, so check it for your own. By the way, you should check out the Turkish Film Festival, run in part by my friend Semih Tareen every November at SIFF.
SCARECROW IN A GARDEN OF CUCUMBERS (d. Robert J Kaplan)
Provided to SIFF via AGFA, Scarecrow is a long-lost slice of cult cinema from 1972, from the Andy Warhol factory starring Holly Woodlawn. She stars as a young woman who moves from Kansas to the city to break into the acting world, meeting a slew of interesting characters along the way. Despite the aglet of a shoestring budget and all the hallmarks of cheapie cinema of its day – think faded print and the acting style of Dreamland Waters – it works. Holly is good, all things considered, and the journey is a lot of sleezy fun, moving at a nice speed and clip.
TALES OF THE MAGIC GARDEN (d. Patrik Pass, Jr, Jean-Luc Rozec, David Sukup, Leon Vidmar)
Stop Motion! My favorite! Three grandkids and a grandfather tell stories to help process the grief of losing the vibrant grandmother in this Czech animation. First, the animation is great; lush and complex, one can tell the great amount of care into the design and presentation. The stories, however, aren’t quite there. They tend to feel incomplete, needing that extra oomph. Additionally, it’s the strange gulf of “who is this for?” The content is darker, dealing directly with death, hurt, and loss, but the stories are also aimed at a much younger crowd who might not be able to process or understand at all the concepts. Maybe it works better back home in Eastern Europe? Maybe they just needed more finessing to hone it. The film is only 71 minutes long, so there is more time to expand.
TWINLESS (Written, directed, and starring James Sweeney- Won Best Director at this year’s fest!)
This dark comedy is emotionally and comically brilliant. Dylan O’Brien is soulbearing as half of a pair of former pairs… O’Brien meets Sweeney in a group for people who have lost their twin. How to cope with losing the person closest to you? It’s complicated. Twinless is a complex, smart exploration of connections lost and found. Kudos to the whip-crack editing, with the skill of flowing an idea across scenes/locations/characters with perfect smoothness.
All films are presented through the Seattle International Film Festival, running in-person screenings May 15th – 25th and selected online screenings March 26th – June 1st. See Siff.net/festival for more.