The word on the World

>> Reviews and news on the WFF's final weekend

by MATTHEW HAYS

Without a doubt, the best thing I've seen thus far at the 24th annual World Film Fest is Denis Villeneuve's Maelstroem. Intelligent, sensuous, beautifully shot (by André Turpin) and brilliantly acted, it is Villeneuve's gem, a thoroughly rewarding follow-up to his '98 critical fave August 32nd on Earth.

A freak car accident leaves Marie-Josée Croze in an existential funk. After a series of mishaps, she finds herself in a relationship with Jean-Nicolas Verreault, the son of the man she inadvertently killed in the auto accident. If it sounds odd, that's because it is. In fact, the entire film is narrated by a fish, a funny little quirk that makes Villeneuve's latest all the better. This will win big at the Fest awards, to be announced Monday, and, I suspect, will also play well at the Toronto International Film Fest, where it's due next.

Also of note in Maelstroem's cast is Stephanie Morgenstern, who can also be seen in Passengers, a poignant, elegiac short being screened at the World. In the film, Morgenstern plays a woman driving to her father's funeral. On the way, she's haunted by her unresolved past, as she was never able to tell pops that she was a lesbian. This dramatic short comes from Francine Zuckerman, who also made the excellent feature doc Punch Me in the Stomach. Morgenstern fans will recognize the actor, who divides her time between Montreal and Toronto, from her stints at the Centaur and also from her appearance in The Sweet Hereafter.

Bullies and bimbos

Janet Perlman's NFB animated short Bully Dance is a charming piece, with Perlman artfully employing repetition and stick figures to spin a droll tale. The Oscar-nominated Perlman, who's worked extensively in children's TV, manages to spin a yarn about bullying that's both entertaining and thoughtful. David Mamet's nasty feelings about the film biz (he started out in the theatre, you'll recall) are laid bare in State and Main, his film about filmmaking. It's a sharp comedy, in which William H. Macy is a jaded filmmaker forced to relocate his film shoot to a small town in New Hampshire. In the film are Alec Baldwin, who plays a narcissistic, libidinous actor, and Sarah Jessica Parker, as a bimbo-like actress. Much of the ribbing of the sleazy biz is funny, but some of the gags may inspire less interest among those not involved directly with the film industry.

Though at times the World does feel like a decidedly older, more conservative event (as compared to, say, the New Film Fest or Fantasia), this year's event has its quotient of sex and raunch. There's the excellent doc The Lifestyle, about swingers (see page 47 for full-length review), as well as The Acrobatic Sex Cult, a short from Leah Walker in Toronto, who depicts a couple of buddies (Shannon Olson and Jordan Walker) who have trouble keeping their friendship afloat after the two decide to get slutty and do the nasty.

The bad and the ugly

The World Film Fest is supposed to be about the films themselves and not any of those dreadful, money-worshipping Hollywood types (who stand in stark contrast to film types in other parts of the world, who want nothing to do with money). But visiting filmmakers were bitching quite loudly about this year's event. A number of filmmakers couldn't get tickets to the opening party, nor any other events, and were left adrift with nothing to do, nor any place to meet other filmmakers.

As well, for all the talk of the World Fest being so very European in flavour, some of the loudest complaints about the Fest's open-to-the-public press conferences are coming from the Europeans themselves. Held in Complexe Desjardins, the setting makes the visiting filmmakers and actors feel like they've been plunked in the middle of a mall--and they have. A funny choice for a fest that claims to be distinctive from the Toronto event on the basis that it's less commercial in style. :

The World Film Fest continues through this Monday, Sept. 4. On-line schedule: www.ffm-montreal.org