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Sundance
2001: Day 6
By Paul Fischer in Park City, Utah
Special to iofilm 25/01/2001
Paul
checks checks out some hot chicks and gives us a whiff of Perfume
Poultry
portrait
It's nice
when one's first film of the day leaves a big smile on your face.
Such was the case with The Natural History of the Chicken,
from Aussie director Mark Lewis, a true visionary in the field
of documentary cinema. Lewis, whose previous credits include the
Aussie classic Cane Toads, turns his attention on the hapless
chicken, and presents varied perspectives on these farmyard animals,
by visiting different Americans with their own agendas.
There's the
farmer that trains 100 roosters to be cock fighters, or the woman
that just loves her chickens. It's a film that gives us a very
different perspective on an animal we take for granted. With a
sharp sense of humour, Lewis humanises the chickens and the result
is a film that is both funny and poignant, with stunning cinematography
from around the country. It is easy to forget that one is watching
a documentary, as Lewis has a sense of depth and detail reserved
for narrative filmmakers. The work has been sold everywhere. Everywhere
except his native Australia. Obviously, distributors think Aussies
are only interested in eating chicken, rather than watching a
film about this remarkable creature.
Eurotrip
The Invisible
Circus was one of the more high profile films screening at
Sundance, and was largely disappointing. In this drama, 18-year-old
Phoebe (Jordana Brewster) has been haunted by the memory of her
sister Faith (Cameron Diaz), who died under mysterious circumstances
while travelling through Europe several years earlier. Looking
for closure, Phoebe decides to retrace her sister's journey in
hopes of finding out what happened to her. In the course of her
travels through France, Portugal, and the Netherlands, Phoebe
crosses paths with Wolf (Christopher Eccleston), Faith's boyfriend,
and finds herself falling for the man her sister once loved.
Based on the
acclaimed novel by Jennifer Egan, The Invisible Circus also features
Blythe Danner and Camilla Belle. Though handsomely mounted, the
film's seventies sequences are its weakest, while the flashbacks,
in which we get to know Faith and featuring a wonderful performance
by Cameron Diaz, are the most effective.
The problem
is with Brewster. Though pretty to look at, her inexperience shines
through, and her performance lacks a real emotional depth, as
does Eccleston. The film lacks a real dramatic centre, making
its final moments less involving than they should be.
Sweet
smell of success?
Finally, it
was time to check out Aussie director Michael Rymer's Perfume.
This mixed bag and largely improvisational piece is set in the
world of fashion and centres upon a disparate group of characters,
including: Lorenzo Mancici, head of the Mancici fashion empire,
who, on his way to his own surprise birthday party, learns that
he has prostate cancer.
It also features
mega-rap star McBrilliant, who along with Lorenzo's son Mario,
is launching a new line of street fashion; Roberta, whose partner
Camille has just left their company after seven years; Janice,
editor of a ruthless fashion magazine who discovers her long lost
and impoverished daughter; Anthony, a hipster photographer and
Arianne a typical supermodel diva.
This is an
eclectic film, containing improvised, hit-and-miss dialogue. There
are too many characters and too little time. But it's a film that
gets better as it develops and the cast are fun to watch. Great
work by Jared Harris and Mariel Hemingway. Carmen Electra has
two lines, so why on earth she is at Sundance is anyone's guess.
Not a great film from Rymer, but brave and somewhat entertaining.
Time to brave
the snow, falling softly as I left the theatre.
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