MSP Film Fest 2

The truncated stay-at-home film fest is due to come to an end on Saturday. Will they have a "best of the fest" extension? Not likely. Is there any point in describing a few more of the entries? Well, why not?

Especially good was Kuessipan, a depiction of life on the Innu Reserve in the wilds of Atlantic coast Quebec. The story focuses on the lives of two Innu girls who grow up together, party together, but do not seem to be headed in the same direction. Mikuan, who was raised in a relatively stable family environment, has a talent for poetry and even hitchhikes into town to take creative writing classes with the white kids. Shaniss has a more troubled past, a hot-headed boyfriend, and soon enough, a baby on the way. The situation becomes further complicated when Mikuan starts dating Francis, one of the Quebecers in her class. 

I'm making it all sound schematic, but these are the pillars of attachment upon which a succession of casual episodes are draped, including a tribal council meeting, drunken evenings at the local bar, hockey games, family hunting trips, a brief visit to a shelter for battered women, court-room appearances, and lots of laughing and heartfelt talk. If you've never seen a deer butchered on the living room floor, this is your chance.

The film exposes plenty of problems associated with life on the reservation, but it also highlights the affection, camaraderie, and pride that keep the tribe together. The portrait struck me as authentic, less depended on jokey humor than such classic reservation films as Powwow Highway and Smoke Signals. The poetry that Mikuan writes, and sometimes recites, adds another dimension to the film, underscoring how difficult it is to move beyond the patterns and traditions of the reserve without risking the loss of one's own deep connections to it.

Those Who Remain

Postwar Hungary. Lots of people never came back from the battlefield, the camps. This quiet film focuses on the relationship that develops between Aldó, a mild-mannered gynecologist, and Klára, an impetuous young patient who still writes letters to her parents and imagines they'll be back from Norway soon. Aldó also lost his family in the war—he now lives alone—and he becomes a sort of foster-father to Klára, who is otherwise being raised by her great aunt. 

It's a chaste relationship, but a peculiar one, full of inquisitive conversation on Klára's part and thoughtful, sober responses from Aldó. The situation would be easy to misinterpret, and some of the locals do, but that doesn't seem to be the main issue. For the most part, the film charts Klára's growth into adulthood, her discovery of boyfriends, and her entry into the adult world as she emerges from the security of this father-daughter bond.

In the role of Klára, Abigél Szőke is simply brilliant. Károly Hajduk, who plays Aldó, looks like Adrien Brody's sensible younger brother. To add a further element to the plot, Communist persecution gathers steam as the film unfolds. 

Lunana: a Yak in the Classroom

This simple but arresting film, set in Bhutan, features Ugyen, a young man completing his training as a teacher with an obvious lack of enthusiasm. He has no interest in pursuing a career in teaching, and plans to go to Australia to become a singer. In the final year of his compulsory training, Ugyen gets sent to the most remote schoolhouse in Bhutan, and maybe the world—an eight-day climb on foot from the end of the bus-line.

He's welcomed into the village, but one look at the schoolroom and Ugyen knows it will be impossible for him to teach there. The elders are crest-fallen, but they "understand." As it happens, in the three days it takes the mules to recuperate from bringing him up to the village, things change. He meets the kids, who are full of charm and enthusiasm. He takes a look around. He's in the Himalayas, after all. He begins to meet the townsfolk, learns how to start a fire with yak dung, and makes the acquaintance of a young woman named Saldon who often sits on top of the hill delivering her gift of song to the world. The village has a population of 56, so it isn't a very big "world," but little matter.

Ugyen is also somewhat charmed by the respect he receives from both the students and the adults. They consider him someone who "touches the future." He decides to stay and serve out his term. It's a gratifying transformation to watch, and a beautiful part of the world in which to spend an hour or two. 

Veins of the World

A tribe of Mongolian nomads are discomfited by the approach of industrial gold mines that will ruin the water table and destroy their pastures. Every family has been offered compensation and moving expenses, and many have already taken it, seeing the arrival of the mines as inevitable. A few want to hold out and fight.

It's a common theme in "international" films. But this plot soon veers off into several subplots involving a young boy, a car accident, a singing contest, and a "wild-cat" mine operated by some of the nomads themselves. Touching moments are scattered throughout, and the final scenes somehow bring things together. Somewhat.