2009 MIFF diary part the third

As in previous years, I'm trying to run a series of micro-reviews of every film I see at this year's Melbourne International Film Festival. I'm a little bit behind today, as I still haven't reviewed Sunday's films, let alone last night, so away we go!

TYSON
(Dir. James Toback, 2008)

Ninety minutes of direct-to-camera reminiscences by former Heavyweight Champion of the World Mike Tyson - a notoriously troubled and troubling individual - might not seem like an especially fascinating subject for a documentary, but this film by director James Toback rises above its sometimes problematic subject matter to craft a fascinating portrait of the retired boxing superstar.

A fat child who was often bullied, Tyson fought back for the first time in his life as a boy, after a neighbour had wrung the neck of one of the pigeon's young Mike bred. Thereafter, he says, he refused ever to be intimidated again. In this film, we glimpse that troubled child within, and come some way to understanding - even sympathising - with this damaged yet dangerous individual.

This is definitely Mike Tyson's story in his own words - there are no other opinions offered other than his own, but an array of photographs and archival film clips flesh out the surprisingly emotional story. Seeing this notoriously brutal man wiping away tears as he talks about the death of his mentor and father-figure Cus D'Amato more than 20 years ago reveals that beneath the tattoos and the scars, Tyson is still a compassionate and emotional being.

Conversely, while discussing his notorious rape conviction - a crime he still denies ("I was falsely accused by that wretched swine of a woman") Tyson is frightening frank in describing his sexual misadventures: "I may have taken advantage of women before, but I did not take advantage of her," he says. That such a phrase should spill from the lips of a man who has already explained how his view of women as objects to be conquered was shaped by his idolisation of men such as Errol Flynn is hardly surprising, but it still shocks.

While the film goes too far in its literal representation of the jigsaw puzzle which is Tyson's life - the constant overlapping of the man's dialogue both visually and aurally rapidly grows tiresome - it is nonetheless an engaging and rewarding viewing experience for boxing fans and film lovers alike.

Rating: Three and half stars


ALPHAVILLE
(Dir. Jean-Luc Godard, 1965)

One of the original dystopian science fiction films, Godard's Alphaville, une etrange adventure de Lemmy Caution is a curious blend of high concept speculative fiction and film noir cliches. Secret agent Lemmy Caution (American actor Eddie Constantine), a gun-wielding, trenchcoat-clad chain smoker, is sent to Alphaville (in reality 1960's Paris), a society where emotions have been banned, and which is ruled by a despotic computer, Alpha-60.

In the course of destroying the computer's cold control of the city, he meets a beautiful young woman, Natacha Von Braun (Anna Karina), the daughter of Alpha-60's creator, Professor Von Braun, who Caution has been told he must either kidnap or kill. In the course of his mission, Caution and Natacha fall in love - or rather, he shows her his less icy side, and she begins to learn what the forbidden concept of love actually means...

Alphaville contains some striking cinematography and dazzling scenes - such as a sequence in which criminals are executed by a combination of firing squad and knife-wielding synchronised swimmers in an Olympic-sized pool; and a visit to the sort of flea-pit motel that William S. Burroughs would have felt at home in - but it is not easy viewing. By modern standards its premise - that love can triumph over a robotic regime - feels a little hackneyed, and there's no real chemistry to speak of between Karina and Constantine.

The film's visual flourishes, such as regular cutaways to neon signs spelling out scientific equations, distract rather than reinforcing the film's exploration of the individual vs the machine, but its message remains strong, and its flaws are overshadowed by Godard's vision of a remote but not so distant future.

Rating: Three stars


EASTERN PLAYS
(Dir. Kamen Kalev, 2009)

The debut feature from director Kamen Kalev is a slow-paced study of family life and ethnic divisions in contemporary Bulgaria as seen through the disaffected eyes of two brothers: Georgi (Ovanes Torosian), a 17 year old hanging around the edges of a gang of violent ultra-nationalists, led by the dreadlocked Fish (Chavdar Sokolov), a thug in the pay of a far right politician; and the considerably older Itzo (non-professional actor Christo Christov, who sadly died last year after the film's completion), a former heroin addict and frustrated artist chafing at the confines of his life and sliding into alcoholism.

When 28-year-old Isil (Saadet Isil Aksoy) and her parents pass through the Bulgarian capital Sofia from their native Turkey en route to Germany, they are attacked by Fish's gang. Coming to their aid, Itzo is also attacked, but manages to call an ambulance as the gang retreat. As her father recuperates in hospital, Isil and Itzo are slowly drawn together, much to her family's dismay.

While there is a quiet beauty to Eastern Plays, the film goes nowhere - which given the alienated status of its leads is perhaps deliberate. The separate strands of the story are never fully integrated, and the film only really comes to life in the scenes when Izil and Itzo are together. Elsewhere it is quietly observational, but not especially engaging.

Handheld camera work, and intimate and honest performances ensure authenticity but fail to lift the film above the realm of the ordinary.

Rating: Three stars