Mystery Movie at Film Festival

Johnny_Fontane

Does anyone know what it was, did anyone go? I missed it unfortunately.

Favourite movie of the festival was the proposition, worst movie was Edmond.

lardboy

The Mystery Movie was The Squid and The Whale. It's a little film about a family coping with divorce. Given that the last few years movies have been crowd pleasing fare like Starsky and Hutch and The Jacket, I was utterly disappointed to have this seriousish drama thrown at me. I was very close to walking out when I saw the title, but I hoped it might impress me. It didn't.

It was a direct consequence of this film being shown that I didn't bother with the closing film. I was thouroughly bored and pretty hungry so I decided that a nice meal would be more enjoyable than another serious drama.

Bad choice, Michael Dwyer!

However, Paradise Now and The Civilisation of Maxwell Bright were both amazing films. Outside of The Squid and The Whale, I think One Day in Europe was the worst film I saw.

Was Buffalo Soldiers a fews back, which i thought was average enough.
I would have thought it should be a serious film with a lot of quality for a "mystery film", why show something like starsky and hutch?

lardboy

I think it should be something different to the rest of the films on offer. There were many serious dramas from around the world, many of which were better written and performed. This film is one that will probably get a minimal release and won't get much fanfare, so I think that having it as a surprise mystery film was just setting us up for a disappointment while making sure that the film gets higher box office receipts than it should.

Having spent 9 days seeing 20 films, I fancied a change, and a low budget indieish film is not that. If I had known what the film was I wouldn't have wasted my time on it, I'd have rather been at home watching the football, and I can't imagine I'm the only one who feels cheated by the surprise film.

halenger

The one thing we have to remember is that it's possible this wasn't their first choice of film. Even still, it wasn't that bad. Fairly watchable if a tad bizzare. Also, a lot of people were dreadfully disappointed by The Jacket last year - not entirely relevant but I'm just making a point.

I can't say I found it particularly sad. Even my girlfriend didn't and she gets more affected by films than I do - just referrencing what Michael Dwyer said before the film.

What was sorely missing though was someone from the film in some way or other to talk about it. They said time was tight but that's not an excuse really. Maybe I just expected it because last year I was at the Jacket (I hadn't been to the festival before last year). Maybe they'll learn a bit from this year. They did the guests thing far better anyway but they needed more on the last night in my opinion. Ralph Fiennes gave a nice long interview after the White Countess, as did John Madden (director) after Proof.

shuushh

the squid and the whale is a poor choice for a suprise festival film really should be something fun

ive only heard good things about the film though

Almarsáre

I thought it was a fantastic film and I really enjoyed it. I also thought it was a great choice for the surprise film as it would introduce it to people who probably never consider seeing it.