MIFF day 6

Instead of seeing five or six films on Sunday, I didn't see any at all, partially because I was recovering from a major hangover from my mate Jack's 30th birthday party the night before at the Marquis of Lorne (and ohmygooooooddddddd the food at that pub is superb); also because I had my first Art of the City column to write for Beat.

So, no MIFF day five, but straight on to day six, which started later than planned as I didn't get away from work as early as I wanted to.

Beyond Beats and Rhymes: A Hip-Hop Head Weighs in on Manhood in Hip-Hop Culture
(Dir. Byron Hurt, 2005)

MIFF says: "Beyond Beats and Rhymes is a provocative documentary that skewers hip-hop’s dominant sexual politics... How, [Hurt] asks sharply, can hip-hop, which was born out of conditions of oppression, justify its own oppression of black women, homosexuals, etc? His search reveals the relationship of culture, commerce and gender, including one particularly revealing explanation of how young white men now consume 70 percent of mainstream hip-hop."

I say: This documentary tried its best, but too often skated quickly across the surface of the issues it was exploring. Segments such as the control of the industry by white men in suits, homophobia and the 'down-low' phenomena, sexism etc, could each have been almost an entire film unto themselves, and could definitely have been longer. Nor did the film explore conscious hip-hop, which is a reaction to the very faults in the genre Hurt identified, and given the year it was made, it sadly couldn't include the outspoken Kanye West's condemnation of homophobia in hip-hop.

Such criticisms aside, Beyond Beats and Rhymes was an excellent and entertaining primer about the dark side of hip-hop culture, and thoroughly enjoyable. Sadly it had only one MIFF screening.

There's a good article about the film here, an interview with Byron Hurt here, and you can read Variety's review of the film over here.


The Pervert's Guide to Cinema
(Dir. Sophie Fiennes, 2006)

MIFF says: "Cinema, the projection of our dreams, desires and nightmares, has always been a fertile subject for psychoanalysis.
In his freewheeling and endlessly amusing signature style, world famous philosopher, culture theoretician and mad cinema buff Slavoj Zizek takes psychoanalysis on a ride through some of cinema’s seminal scenes and hurtles us, vicariously, on a journey into the recesses of the human unconscious.
Playfully utilising clips ranging from Blue Velvet to The Matrix, and Charlie Chaplin to Hitchcock’s favourite blondes, Zizek informs and enlightens but also raises some key questions: to what degree are filmmakers aware of the unconscious or subconscious components of their own creativity? And how much do these components contribute to the success of their films?"

I say: This excellent three-part documentary series was let down by the time it was programmed. I couldn't stay for the final episode, as it was already after 11pm by the time the second episode finished. I had to catch the tram home and was too bloody tired to concentrate any more on the complexities put forward by the entertaining Zizek (who reminded me of a heavily accented David Bellamy is all his bearded enthusiasm). My brain hurt after just two episodes!