JohnnyBulgakov Reviews

Ayiti Mon Amour (2016)

Powerfully magic Tale from Haiti

[9/10 · 9 February 2021]

Ayiti Mon Amour This is no ordinary film. Dream-like and beautifully shot in the fishing hamlet of Kabic, director Guetty Felin's magic realist tale of post-earthquake Haiti unfolds delicately, an allegorical love poem to her homeland. Executive produced by Mira Nair, this 2017 release was Haiti's first submission for the foreign language Oscar. Felin tells three overlapping stories with equal skill. Teenaged Orphée (Joakim Cohen) knows that he is different, and he soon discovers a remarkable-and literally shocking-superpower that may put an end to his alienation. In the second tale, an old fisherman Jaures (Jaures Andris) turns to the sea in order to cure his wife Odessa's (Judith Jeudy) illness. She is his entire world, so the stakes couldn't be higher. And finally, in a nod to Borges perhaps, a lazy writer (James Noel) learns the full consequences of his literary torpor as his main character and muse Ama (Anisia Uzeyman) decides to physically escape from the book itself. The film opens with a quote from Aimé Césaire's French-language poem Cahier d'un retour au pays natal which was a literary call-to-arms for his native Martinique to rid itself of the psychological scars of colonial rule. For the US-based Felin the film is a return as well, a poignant look at a country ravished not just by French colonialism, but also by native-born dictators like Papa Doc Duvalier, as well as by the devastating earthquake of 2010. Felin ultimately suggests that like Ama Haiti may also be determined to emerge from a difficult past, ready to write its own story, on its own terms.

Moving Parts (I) (2017)

Moving Parts: a sobering look at human trafficking in the 21st Century.

[8/10 · 27 January 2021]

Emilie Upczak's smart 2017 debut film tells the story of ZhenZhen (Valerie Tian), a Chinese girl who joins her brother Wei (Jay Wong) on the island of Trinidad and Tobago after her father's death. A local gang leader extorts an exorbitant fictive tax to the price of her ticket over and will sell her off if she cannot make up the difference. ZhenZhen ends up having to work as a prostitute, while Wei turns to gambling in order to try and make up her debt. A possible savior arrives in the person of local gallery owner Evelyn (Kandyse McClure). Meanwhile ZhenZhen lands a job working in a local restaurant but it's barely enough to make ends meet, let alone repay her debt. Owner Mrs. Liu (Jacqueline Chan) doubles as an island Madam and soon draws ZenZhen into a seedy world of prostitution-an especially difficult situation for one as sensitive as she. The audience watches distraught as the two siblings descend into an abyss that they seemingly cannot escape. ZhenZhen desperately tries to keep track of all the moving parts of her new existence, but they threaten to overwhelm her. Human trafficking, also known as modern slavery, represents one of the most widespread crimes globally, with over 4.5 million people trafficked yearly in the United States alone (70% of them women) and an estimated yearly profit of over $150 billion worldwide. The film's melancholic pacing and Nancy Schreiber's resourceful cinematography successfully convey the psychological and physical torment that Zhenzhen undergoes-a victim to a cast of unscrupulous characters who consider her nothing better modern-day chattel to be exploited as they please.--Johnny Bulgakov

My Mexican Bretzel (2019)

Haunting Imagery, tricky Narration

[8/10 · 18 January 2021]

We are told at the beginning that the text which occasionally appears on screen (the film is silent, minus occasional sound effects) is taken from the diary of Vivian Barrett, one half of a wealthy socialite pair that travels the world with seeming insouciance. Vivian's husband Leo has been injured while piloting a small plane and as a result suffers both physically and psychologically (also losing his hearing, lending logic to the silent film trope). A miracle anti-depressant may save him from a life of constant anxiety, and he is the entrepreneur who lucratively brings it to market. The happy couple starts their travels in Switzerland and Germany, then passes through London, Eastern Europe and North America. Vivian's diary quotes all along from an Indian sage whose book was found in Mexico among her family belongings- silly, almost satirical quotes about life and death and everything in between that seem like parody of Rumi or Khalil Gibran. But all is not as it seems, indeed, in this recreated idyll, and the last few minutes turn our assumptions about the narrator upside down. My Mexican Bretzel's dreamy, languid quality lulls the viewer into a false sense of security- but you'll just have to watch the film yourself to see exactly what I mean. Johnny Bulgakov

The Harvest (2019)

Techno capitalism in the Republic of Georgia

[9/10 · 2 January 2021]

This tender film shows local people harvesting both traditional crops, as well as high-tech digital cryptocurrency-hence its title. Director Misho Antadze juxtaposes the computers and satellite dishes used in cryptocurrency mining with old family homes and farms. The two worlds seem to perfectly coexist in this idyllic patch of mountainous land where people still take time out to break bread and drink wine together under the noonday sun. The film is mostly unscripted - the director lets the machines and the local people's daily routines speak for themselves.Old and new, traditional and cutting-edge exist side-by-side today in the countryside of the former Soviet Republic of Georgia.

The Whirlpool (2012)

Sexy Love Flick

[9/10 · 2 January 2021]

What happens when a lonely girl (Agathe) on vacation at Niagara Falls meets a handsome young Frenchman (Victor)? Both it turns out have somewhat dubious careers and pasts, and they quickly fall for each other. What follows is a sexually explosive love affair shot in a retro experimental style reminiscent of the 60's Nouvelle Vague-think Goddard and Truffaut. Agathe is honest and raw in her emotions, while Victor can be controlling and mean. As their romance morphs into a road trip eastward across New York State, they discover that they may in fact be made for each other. Beautiful cinematography by director Alvin Case makes the film.

Family (I) (2017)

Morbid family fun

[9/10 · 9 December 2020]

Ever felt like you truly were on verge of actually murdering a family member or friend who has mistreated you over the years or perhaps just simply drives you mad?? Lily Brooke's family seems out to prove Tolstoy's adage in Anna Karenina with a vengeance, namely that while all happy families are alike, but each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Lily (played by director Kedar) shows up unannounced one evening at her psychiatrist's apartment for an emergency session. Her shrink's angry daughter Talia (Tommy Baremboem) slowly warms up to her as Lily recounts the trauma of the past days. It's a clever structural device to move the action forward: the series of unfortunate events that have recently transpired in Lily's home provide a dark look at a famil riven by mental illness, cruelty and a complete inability to connect with one another in a human way. Her mother Carmela (Mira Awad) is an addict, her father (Eli Denker) abusive, her sister Smadar (Hen Yanni) insane. Not to be outone her brother AVi (Ishai Golan) has incestuous urges that he finds difficult to conceal. And that's just the beginning in Veronica Kedar's superbly acted dark comedy. This one comes from Israel with love-and lots of disfunction.

The Merger (2018)

Great buddy film about Australian football, cultural diversity and love, at anya ge!

[9/10 · 9 December 2020]

This documentary belongs to the annals of female bonding films. It follows five women from the South African townships who have all suffered through difficult life circumstances, including physical abuse and drugs as they backpack through the IMfolozi game reserve and recount their troubles. Class and personal differences slowly melt away as the protagonists truly become sisters. Along the way, they brave the elements and discover the plight of the square-nose rhino, now almost extinct from poaching, and the danger posed by two coal mines that threaten to forever alter the beauty of the surrounding age-old nature. "Sisters" also offers a heartbreaking look at the devastation that humans continue to wreak on the environment. A must-see.

While You Live, Shine (2018)

A Life Changer

[9/10 · 8 December 2020]

A mesmerizing look at the oldest known music in the Western world, through the eyes of a remarkable self-taught American musicologist. Having at first discovered recordings of the compositions on old 78 records, director Chris King travels to rural Epirus in Greece where he interviews locals and falls ever deeper into a magical land and culture. From educated youth from around the world to local shepherd boys, all participate in the ancient Paniyiri music festival. Participants start off prostrate on the ground in complete silence, then slowly rise to the sound of the lute and other age-old instruments. They proceed to dance trance-like until they achieve a state "where musician and dancer become one." Along the way, King delivers a powerful disquisition on the materialistic emptiness of modern American life and the importance of tradition, community and music to any society. His love for the music shoes through in every shot. If you let yourself really enter into these melodic, deeply soulful rhythms and the almost direct links to the beauty of traditions have survived seemingly unchanged since the Ancient World, you should experience a sense of deep satisfaction and yes, even joy. If you listen to what the filmmaker--and the music--is telling you, this important documentary could save you from wasting your time with self-help gurus so in vogue today.

A Feast of Man (2017)

Edible Fun in Upstate New York

[8/10 · 8 December 2020]

How far would you go to honor a best friend's last wishes in his will and testament once he's dead? Would you transgress even the most basic of human taboos? How about for a million dollars? When five friends converge at their buddy Gallagher's country house in Upstate New York, they must test the limits of their own will in this comedic look at money, love and human greed. Caroline Golum's first effort as a feature director is also a humorous send-up of The Big Chill or what happens when a group of socialites get together for a potentially cannibalistic encounter. A Feast of Man-truly edible fun!

Hemel (2012)

Hannah Hoekstra Naked-Body and Soul

[9/10 · 8 December 2020]

"Hemel" is a remarkable film--like Greenaway's best for example, what you find disquieting at first--here the raunchy soft porn realism of Hemel's love/sex life--slowly becomes fascinating when you realize that she is actually suffering a great deal. And Hemel, the emotionally stunted tart in this 2012 Dutch release directed by Sascha Polak is certainly promiscuous. Like Peter Pan, the boy who wouldn't grow up, Hemel is happy leading the life of a wayward adolescent. She sleeps with just about anything that comes her way, including one unsavory character who chokes and rapes her and a thin blond Dutchman who makes her shave her private parts before having intercourse. Hemel's cold dad Gijs is at the root of much of her trauma and this film is also a smart psychological study. Hannah Hoekstra as Hemel tows a fine line between sexy and skanky-she bears an uncanny resemblance to Nicole Kidman, both in her fine, uh, features and superb acting ability.