RVIFF Day 8: Moving Moroccan Drama, Galician Neighbor Trouble, and the Tilda Swinton Refraction Zone
September 13th, 2024 | Robin
A Ken and Robin Consume Media Special Feature
The Blue Caftan (Morocco, Maryam Touzani, 2023, 5) For the sake of his steely, ill wife (Lubna Azabal), a maker of exquisite handmade garments (Saleh Bakri) suppresses his attraction for his handsome new apprentice (Ayoub Missioui.) Sad, life-affirming drama painstakingly assembled from small, true moments.
The Beasts (Spain, Rodrigo Sorogoyen, 2022) In rural Galicia, a dispute between an educated French couple (Marina Foïs, Denis Ménochet) who have moved to the area to start second careers as small-scale organic farmers and poor neighbors who want them to sell out to wind farm developers turns increasingly dangerous. Tense social drama of uncompromising people in an uncompromising landscape.
Films with confusingly similar names are a staple of a TIFF slate. I didn’t set out to replicate that by scheduling The Beast yesterday and The Beasts today but I am awarding myself bonus points for it nonetheless.
The Souvenir Part II (UK, Joanna Hogg, 2021) Film student (Honor Swinton Byrne) turns her grief over her ex-boyfriend’s suicide into her graduate project. Autobiographical drama captures the uncertainty of young adulthood and gaining one’s footing in a creative career with Hogg’s knack for finding evanescent magic in everyday moments.
Tilda Swinton again appears as the protagonist’s mother; Lydia Fox plays a character based on Swinton.
Fallen Leaves (Finland, Aki Kaurismaki, 2023) Alcoholic factory worker and glum grocery cashier encounter grim obstacles on the road to love. Melancholy deadpan (but I said Aki Kaurismaki already) rom com counterpointed by news reports of Russian attacks on Ukraine.
When our heroes go on a date to a rep cinema they watch and enjoy The Dead Don’t Die, by kindred spirit Jim Jarmusch.
For the third year running, my wife Valerie and I are attending our own at-home film festival. It takes the place in our hearts and vacation plans formerly reserved by the Toronto International Film Festival. The Robin and Valerie International Film Festival is the cinema event you can play along with at home, with a roster of streaming service and SVOD titles. Its roster includes the foreign, independent and cult titles we used to love to see at TIFF, but cheaper, hassle-free, and on the comfort of our own couch. Daily capsule reviews roll out throughout the festival, with a complete list in order of preference dropping a day or two afterwards. Review ratings are out of 5.
If you enjoy this special text feature of the Ken and Robin Talk About Stuff podcast and don’t already support our Patreon, consider tossing a few bucks in the tip jar. Or check out my book on action films and their roleplaying applications, Blowing Up the Movies. Or the roleplaying game inspired by the Hong Kong films I first encountered at TIFF, Feng Shui 2.
