VIFF Day 8
When It Was Blue: A thoroughly engrossing film made by overlapping two 16mm films. The images are often recognizable, sometimes abstract, but never boring. I strongly recommend this; it plays again tonight (Friday) at 9:30. 9

Sheltered Life: I have seen a lot of boring films at VIFF this year, where all I could think of during the film was “when is this going to end”. Sheltered Life was not like that; it was completely watchable and interesting, but nevertheless not quite successful. Something seemed off about the geography of the movie; the script and actors suggested an Ontario location, but some scenes had obviously been shot in Vancouver. It gave the movie an artificial feel, reinforced by the style of acting (which you often see in Canadian movies and TV) that is more theatrical than cinematic. Questions kept occurring to me about how the characters were moving around. 6

The Romance of Astrée and Céladon: This movie was just so stupid, I kept think that Rohmer must be playing an elaborate in-joke, but I couldn’t figure out whether he was mocking the audience, movies in general, or himself. By the end I was wondering if he was intending to be serious; if so he failed completely. 3

Heaven’s Heart: A clever little Swedish drama, about two married couples. You find out at the beginning of the movie that one of the couples is getting divorced, then the action moves back several months to reveal why. The style is to use many close-ups, and it works because of what it catches in the faces of the actors. 8