The Epoch Times: Montreal New Cinema Film Festival (part 4)

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Stories Certainly Serious-Part 4
Film Reviews of the Montreal Festival of New Cinema
By Frederic Eger
Special to The Epoch Times
Nov 06, 2006
According to its publicity material, the Montreal
Festival of New Cinema held in October each
year presents a distinctly avant-garde focus.
Viewers watch film and video, installations,
websites and performances with special
emphasis on digital work. The festival has four
main sections�Feature Length Film and Video,
Short and Medium Length Film and Video, New
Media, and Digital Cinema. Reviewer Frederic
Eger has selected his top picks to critique.
(Editors)
The Violin
"The Violin" opens with a documentary-style
camera shot where the audience witnesses a
cold-blooded interrogation and torture of
villagers by military officials in a basement.
After the credits, the almost unbearable
opening scene changes to street
entertainers�an elderly violinist and farmer
Don Plutarco (Tavira), his son Genaro who plays
guitar (Gerardo Taracena) and grandson Lucio
who sings and collects donations (Mario
Garibaldi).
Their street entertainment day job alternates
with providing weapons to the peasant guerrilla
movement trying to overthrowing the country's
dictatorial regime. The three return to their
village where the military has wrecked havoc,
burning down homes, and possibly raping
women. While Genaro prepares to fight back,
Don Plutarco initiates a coincidental yet
fortunate relationship with a former
schoolmate, the cynical military captain
(Dagoberto Gama). The friendship between
Plutarco and the captain plays a key role in this
guerrilla war-military thriller by showing chaos both at the beginning and end of the story. As Don
Plutarco plans to recover ammunition hidden in his cornfields, music and violin lessons play a central role
in the developing trust between the two men. Believing he is above suspicion, the father leads the
military directly to his rebel son.
The opening sequence is memorable yet morbid. The 81-year-old Tavira expresses emotional complexity
as he assists the guerrilla cause even as he loves his son. Tavila is a Sancho Pansa�a harmless-looking old
man who heaps loss on himself because of his own ego. Tavira's real-life loss of his right hand in an
accident at age 13 creates a metaphor of the character's hand that is lost (which is not explained in the
film) and the son he is about to loose.
As the writing/directing debut of Mexican filmmaker Francisco Vargas, "The Violin" is an outstanding piece
of well-driven drama. Not only is the performance of Don Angel Tavira perfectly balanced but the choice
of black and white film to tell the story makes the intent clear�to expose and denounce human rights
violations and social injustices in these places. The impeccable storytelling guarantees a clear success for
an arthouse/indie film that will find its audience. Simply beautiful! Written & Directed by Francisco
Vargas with Octavio Castro (Zacar�as), Dagoberto Gama, Mario Garibaldi, Ferm�n Mart�nez, Gerardo
Taracena (Genaro), Don Angel Tavira (Don Plutarco). Runtime: 98 min.
2:37pm "2:37pm" tells a complex tale of six high school students whose lives are frighteningly
contemporary. The film is, in many ways, another teenage movie about unsatisfaction and despair
but�for once�is about Australian and not American youth. The characters face serious issues of brother-
sister incest and rape, and the shame of a heterosexual kid who wonders if he's homosexual, or at least
bi-sexual. It's really more than a teenage drama: the force and originality of this film make it reality-
based. The script's structure drives the film like a police drama. The film opens with the discovery of a
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The Epoch Times | Stories Certainly Serious-Part 4 http://www.theepochtimes.com/news/6-11-6/47844.html
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2. suicide note and we are left to find out who committed suicide. With skillful cinematography, Director
Muralli Thalluri chose an original approach to plot resolution by alternating the point of view among the
characters and showing how each character experiences the tragic morning and afternoon. Thalluri also
cleverly uses a documentary approach to some interviews, a kind of "Road to Guatanamo" re-enactment,
while still retaining the narrative stream. At times, pacing weakens the flow of the story and
sometimes�and only sometimes�the viewer could get bored.
The casting and fresh performances of these Aussie kids elicits plenty of sympathy. It is obvious we are
watching a dramatization of an actual tragic event. "2:37pm" shows us that things are not so different on
the other part of the globe. Two thumbs up!
"2:37" was an official selection at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival and the 2006 Toronto International Film
Festival and was the "secret" opening-night film of the 2006 Melbourne International Film Festival.
Written, directed and produced by Muralli K. Thalluri with Clementine Mellor(Kelly), Teresa Palmer
(Melody), Joel Mackenzie (Sean), Frank Sweet (Marcus), Charles Baird (Uneven Steven), Sam Harris (Luke),
Marni Spillane (Sarah), Sarah Hudson (Julie), Chris Olver (Tom), and Xavier Samuel (Theo).
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