Sundance Film Festival - Movie Review Example

7 April Sundance Film Festival – Critical Analysis One of the largest film festivals in the world is the Sundance Film Festival thattakes place in Utah on an annual basis. Over the years, this film festival has become renowned all over the world for its excellent taste and choice in awarding movies that have not only based themselves on trying to make and bring about a change in the world, but also movies that have class and portray meanings of concern to others. This festival has helped a number of independent film makers as well as famous directors of American descent come together and showcase their work and talent on a global basis. It is a great opportunity for any film maker to come forward and present his work to an international forum and panel of eminent people selected yearly. The festival hosts a series of different kinds of movies from all genres and includes feature films, short films as well as documentaries and dramas. The festival is now managed by a non profit organization that goes by the same name, i.e. Sundance Institute. This paper is a review of some of the movies that stood out during the festival in the current year, 2011. The movies discussed in the paper are How to Die in Oregon, Like Crazy, Senna, Kinyarwanda, Another Earth, Andy and Zach, and The Hunter and the Swan. These movies were exceptional on their own, and some of them even won the best awards for the season. A well analysed description has been further provided for each of these movies and the kind of talent and fresh potential they have brought forth to the world of cinema, on an international basis, in the world today. How to Die In Oregon: How to Die in Oregon was produced and directed by Peter Richardson and went on to win the Grand jury Prize for Documentaries prize in the Sundance Festival of 2011. It is a movie that consists of an immense political background with a view to legalize Washington’s physician assisted suicide or the Washington Death with Dignity Act. It speaks volumes of various ethical issues in society including subjects like euthanasia and suicide and whether or not they should be legalized and permissible by law. The film itself centres around a few patients that are undergoing struggles in their lives; it is a depiction of a certain section of people amongst us that do not possess the will to carry on further because of their belief that death will bring them face to face with a better life and tomorrow. It is a beautifully portrayed movie on dealing with the legalization of this particular law, and the lives of a few that have chosen their paths and want to tread on the same, with respect to this law. Thinking twice will probably bring the patients back with a will to measure reality, and that is why, in order to free themselves, as well as liberate their family members and friends from excessive pain and suffering, the patients have a different outlook towards ‘life’. This film is a wonderful documentary on staying strong and not admitting to defeat, and at the same time, resisting the clutches of society from being called a coward for adhering to this rule of ‘self suicide.’ It truly deserved to win the award it did, and gives out a stark message to people all around the world with respect to being sensitive to similar patients in the firm of their own family members and friends. (Barnes, Brookes) Like Crazy: Love is the source around which most stories – both real and fiction, circulate. Like Crazy was one of the main movies to look out for at the Sundance Festival of 2011 as well because of its simple yet stark portrayal of young love. It is a movie about two college students who go from being just friends to in a relationship, but how their love is forced to wander over distances because of visa issues faced by one of them. This movie is a wonderful depiction of most long distance relationships in the 21st century and how people cope with them. It shows how mostly young people these days need to follow their respective careers as well and thus in a way, almost everyone falls into a long distance relationship somehow or the other. But despite the miles, the love is not lost if it is pure and true. Infidelity and cheating have been portrayed in this movie as objects that lure a person away from his focus and goal, but how fighting them to keep track of one’s love and life is important. The story follows the lives of two young college students, with very quick and witty dialogues full of narration in places too. The main aspect of finding this movie appealing is its simple yet real depiction of the lives of two people very much in love, something like Before Sunset/Before Sunrise. It follows both the characters as they struggle to find their place in life while keeping a certain portion of their hearts reserved for themselves. The movie also has a lot to teach the younger and current generation about having the patience and taking the responsibility to wait for someone one truly loves. It is very intense and has some excellent pictography and cinematography to look forward to as well. (Barker, Andrew) Senna: “Senna in our hearts!” scream most formula 1 racing fans, and brought to them on a silver platter is a movie about the life and times of Ayrton Senna – one of the greatest racers there ever have been. This documentary on the great race car driver is a complete tribute by Asif Kapadia, written by Manish Pandey as it follows him through his life and struggles, both on and off the track. Not just his life, but the documentary helps the viewers to understand the kind of dirty politics that go on behind this sport as well, and how there are always certain people in every sport that cannot keep their hands off the worse emotions and feelings in life. Senna has been depicted in this movie as a very calm and spiritual being with a ruthless character and a need for perfection in his professional life. Despite these qualities, he retains his humility and generosity in his private life and has attempted to show the world the great potential lying within him. His charitable side has also been depicted in the film as the director has tried to show the kind of man he was beyond the track – a true man of the people. He served millions of his countrymen and helped them get by and live substantial livelihoods. However, the film also beautifully, but painfully, captures the so called ‘Black Weekend’ of Formula One Racing as it shows the tragic death that the great man suffered and how he met his end, in the presence of some 300 odd million people on the planet. The film won the World Cinema Award for documentaries at the Sundance Festival 2011, and truly deserved to win so as well. Many reports have also said that this documentary was able to capture very wonderfully, the life of one of the greatest sportspersons that have roamed this planet, and a man like Senna, who especially dedicated his life to serving others, both on and off the race tracks. (Sundance Film Festival 2011 : Senna) Kinyarwanda: Taking hold of and grasping political and social situations all over the world is very important in today’s day and age when the mediums for awareness are many, but the interest among the current generations is slowly warping away with time. The Rwandan genocide is of prime importance in order to understand global socio-cultural scenes all over the world, and also to comprehend the kind of struggles that the people of Rwanda had to go through, that too, in the 20th century of modernity and development. This movie is a depiction of the kind of betrayal that was faced by many from their neighbours, friends and families, during the genocide, in order to protect oneself. The director has beautifully tried to show that how, when it comes to saving himself, man is ready to sacrifice others for his own good. This is a true depiction of the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’, and in a time like this, no one really cares about whether or not they would be giving up their friends in the name of surviving. The movie shows explicit circumstances and the reality of the Muslims and their clash with the Christians and Hutus in Rwanda. This movie is an account of true life stories of some of the survivors that lived through and still remember all those episodes of struggle, vividly in their minds. It is a recollection of six stories given by six people, and how they are interconnected, but add up to undergoing the same kind of pain and hardships, of keeping their guard up at all times and protecting themselves from the mass destruction that was going on in the mosques and madrassas. It is a story of human bondage and emotions, as well as an amalgamation of complicated characters with broken personalities, surviving in the world today, long after the result of the genocide. The movie is very emotional and heartbreaking, and brings a person to realise the kind of belief and effort that people put in their respective faiths just to be able to proclaim themselves as ‘right’, both morally and ethically. It is ironic, how on one side man preaches about humanity, and on the other, cannot live without following his faith and making others follow it too. (Kinyarwanda, Alrick Browns) Another Earth: This movie can be called a science fiction movie, even though it harps on the heartstrings of the people watching it. It is a heart wrenching movie about discovering a planet full of possibilities and a better tomorrow, in the literal sense of the title. The movie follows a young astrophysicist who ends up accidentally killing a family while being distracted by another foreign planet in the sky. In order to undergo her punishment, she is locked in jail for a period of four years, after which she tries to meet and connect with the widower of the family that died. On understanding more, she comes to know that the planet she saw was a mirror planet of Earth and that in order to visit it on a space shuttle; she must win an essay competition. The possibilities that the young woman then ponders over include the kind of mirrored life her ‘other self’ would probably be living on reaching the other planet. This movie is thus a very deep and profound one, full of thought of the possibility of having a parallel existence, much like that of a mirror reflection. It helps the viewer to broaden his horizon by helping him understand the complexities in life and how a person always feels as if he could have done something better. However, what people don’t understand is that whatever they do is according to their own free will and there is no second best option. This movie thus, tries to show exactly that, and helps the protagonist realise that despite having a mirror image or self, she can still not go back on her life and try and change things that she regrets. This is because these mistakes are a part of being human and without them, one cannot survive. (Stewart, Andrew) Andy and Zach: Andy and Zach is again one very real and down to earth short film submitted in the Sundance Festival of 2011, which depicts the lives of two young men who are roommates. Such movies help to strike a better chord with the audience because people are able to connect with such everyday scenes better. The movies follows two characters, one of which moves out from the home they both shared, and it is about how the other learns to adjust and starts his life afresh without any help from his friend. This movie is again, an eye opener for most youngsters out there trying to make a life of their own, but probably who have been dependent on their roommates for security and belonging. This movie helps to teach how people should be self sufficient and how, if this trait is not developed earlier, one might encounter certain problems trying to adjust to the same. ("Sundance Film Festival 2011 : Andy and Zach) The Hunter and the Swan: This movie follows a world of reality intertwined with fantasy, made in the hands of Emily Carmichael. Her influences have arisen from sketching, drawing and sculpting random things that find the fancy of the inner confines of her mind. She finds that this is where most of the creative art and ideas arise from, and that a person should give his mind the utmost importance while trying to find and create something new. This movie is a reflection of the relationship shared between two characters that have been portrayed as a hunter and swan; they carry the same characteristics of these metaphors, with respect and comparison to another couple portrayed in the film. It is full of a magical origin, according to the young director, and is based on small fragments of her imagination with respect to the emotions of love, joy and sorrow and pain. The entire story is very explicit and heavy for the average viewer because it is a very raw example of how everyday lives are lived between people. It has two main scenes; of a lake and of an apartment in downtown Brookyln, the style of creating the movie was very different and gives it that cutting edge. (Q&A W/Sundance Filmmaker Emily Carmichael) Works Cited Barnes, Brookes. "Unflinching End-of-Life Moments." New York Times. Jan. 2011. Web. 8 Apr. 2011. . Barker, Andrew. "Variety Reviews - Like Crazy - Film Reviews - - Review by Andrew Barker."Entertainment News, Film Reviews, Awards, Film Festivals, Box Office, Entertainment Industry Conferences - Variety. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . "Sundance Film Festival 2011 : Senna." Sundance Film Festival 2011 : Home. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Kinyarwanda, Alrick Browns. "Kinyarwanda (2011) - IMDb." The Internet Movie Database (IMDb). Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Stewart, Andrew. "Earth Awarded Sundances Sloan Prize - Entertainment News, Sundance News, Media - Variety." Entertainment News, Film Reviews, Awards, Film Festivals, Box Office, Entertainment Industry Conferences - Variety. 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . "Sundance Film Festival 2011 : Andy and Zach." Sundance Film Festival 2011 : Home. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . "Q&A W/Sundance Filmmaker Emily Carmichael "The Hunter and the Swan..."" Watch the Best Online Short Films | Short of the Week. Web. 07 Apr. 2011. . Read More