PARK CITY ’08 NOTEBOOK
International Films Shine At Sundance: "Abu Raed"; "Absurdistan";
"Mermaid"; "Stranded"

Indiewire
January 24, 2008
by Eric Kohn

Movies made outside the United States can illuminate the individuality
of distant cultures for American audiences–while simultaneously
highlighting the similarities to our particular surroundings. In both
its narrative and documentary components, the international entries of
the Sundance Film Festival convey both possibilities. The best of them
combine universal storytelling devices with a unique sense of places.

"Captain Abu Raed," a bittersweet feature in the World Cinema Dramatic
Competition, offers little in the way of originality–but its precise
conventionalism has a distinct appeal. Touted in the Sundance catalog
as "the first independent film to come out of Jordan," the movie
follows the life of the titular elder gentleman (Nadim Sawalha), whose
dead-end job as a floor cleaner has left him feeling isolated after
the death of wife. After randomly plucking a pilot’s hat from the
garbage and wearing it home, Abu Raed catches the attention of several
local boys eager to hear tales of his aerial adventures. Intrigued by
the sudden popularity, Abu Raed sustains their misconception and finds
himself uncharacteristically content. The plot builds to a climax as
Abu Raed takes particular interest in a neighborhood child whose
father constantly abuses him; meanwhile, an authentic female pilot
develops a vested interest in Abu Raed’s kindliness, leading to a
friendship that unlocks a bleak secret from his past.

Because it combines an airport setting with heavy sentimentalism,
"Captain Abu Raed" suggests a foreign version of "The Terminal," but
writer-director Amin Matalqa brings a steady approach to the material
that allows it to surpass that notorious Steven Spielberg
misfire. With a gorgeous score and subtle performances all around, it
introduces Capra-esque pathos to fresh terrain. Matalqa’s competent
technique struggles near the end, when the story grows too sappy and
loses its convincing edge. But these flaws arrive after "Captain Abu
Raed" becomes just solid enough to work.

Matalqa’s directorial debut fails to break familiar rhythms, but two
of its categorical neighbors, both from Russia, appear to have arrived
from distant lands. "Absurdistan," the sophomore feature from playful
visionary Veit Helmer, blends fantastical imagery with folktale
simplicity. Helmer’s production has no relation to the popular novel
by Gary Shteyngart of the same name, but both survey confused young
men through quirky humor. The film "Absurdistan" is set in a tiny,
insular village where the all the men are hypersexual oafs and the
women dutifully serve them. When soft-spoken teen Temelko (Maximilian
Mauff) takes an interest in his childhood companion Aya (Kristyna
Malerova), their burgeoning courtship veers into conflict after a
drought causes the women to abstain from sex until the men repair the
water pipe. About as arbitrarily interesting as it sounds,
"Absurdistan" compensates for ugly, brutish stereotypes with sparkling
visual finesse, giving literal meaning to the term "flight of fancy":
Its strongest sequences involve airborne characters adrift in a
whimsically colorful world. Consequently, "Absurdistan" is flawed, but
never grating.

The other Russian narrative at the festival, "Mermaid," contains
comparable surrealism and a versatile performance at its center, but
the themes rarely stray from reality. A gentle and considered portrait
of growing up, "Mermaid" revolves around contemplative teen Alisa
(Masha Shalaeva), whose uncomfortable childhood (during which she
rebels against her neglectful mother) is supplanted by an alienated
young adulthood filled with random sexual encounters and a
discomfiting gig in the advertising business. The direction, by
neophyte Anna Melikyan, engenders an omnipresent surrealism: Alisa
develops spectacular telekinetic abilities, but they can’t repair her
troubled personal life. For its lighthearted whimsy, "Mermaid"
instantly recalls "Amelie," but its immersive exploration of the
blurry distinction between imagination and its material origins has
plenty of novelty.

In heavy contrast to the blithe patterns in "Mermaid," the darker
components of human nature take central stage in Gonzalo Arijon’s
"Stranded": I’ve come from a plane that crashed in the mountains," a
thrillingly provocative look at the unbelievable survival tale of
young rugby players whose lack of food after their downed aircraft
traps them in the Andes forces them to turn to cannibalism. Despite
the sensationalistic description (many people compare it to "Alive"
after hearing the synopsis), "Stranded" remains firmly believable and
non-exploitative, alternating between philosophical ruminations from
the remaining survivors and reenactments of their journey through the
frosty landscape. Their group decision to survive on the bodies of
dead passengers is merely one aspect of the extraordinary saga, but it
introduces a shockingly nightmarish element to the gripping adventure.

A scene from Amin Matalqa’s "Captain Abu Raed." Image courtesy of the
Sundance Film Festival.

Other international documentaries at the festival take measured
approaches to their divergent locales. The lavish Chinese film "Up the
Yangtze" studies the remarkable construction of a dam to power the
country’s electricity, and Tanaz Eshaghian’s "Be Like Others" provides
viewers with the plight of transsexuals in Iran. The latter film could
benefit from a larger scope to explore its issue, but Eshaghian brings
an exclusive glimpse at the country’s specific religious regulations,
which permit sex changes but not homosexuality. Another impressive
look at social confusion in the Middle East arises in "Recycle,"
Mahmoud Al Massar’s calculated examination of the clash between
fundamentalist ideology and apolitical daily routine.

Given the public’s general disdain for subtitled films, it’s important
to rally for them, but not all of Sundance’s international fare merits
recommendation. The uneventful Swedish narrative "King of Ping Pong"
doesn’t justify its zany title, which refers to a lonely sixteen year
old whose troubles at home lead him to the eponymous sport. And where
"King of Ping Pong" suffers from too little action, "Mancora" is
afflicted by an overabundance of contrivances. The Peruvian movie
develops a juicy love triangle between three acquaintances after a
young man (Enrico Murciano) loses his father and launches on a
soul-searching (and, admittedly, beautifully shot) roadtrip to the
countryside. Promising at first, "Mancora" can’t maintain its initial
emotional lift, wasting time with pointless orgy scenes and a lame
conclusion.

Fortunately, a few nice surprises lurk among the relatively unnoticed
foreign titles. The Danish film noir "Just Another Love Story" crafts
an expressionistic remake of the standard woman-in-despair scenario,
with a crime photographer daringly pretending to be the boyfriend of
an amnesiac crash victim. Hong Kong’s "The Drummer" begins as a
cliched gangster flick, but it delves into novel territory when the
troublemaking lead is forced out of town by a dangerous crimelord and
finds himself immersed in a jungle community where drumming provides
an essential component of the town’s meditative qualities. There’s an
argument to be made for relying on the cinema to access other worlds,
but these works allow us to visit unlikely places in our own.