By: Henry J. Fromage –
Day 3 at NYFF features new films from two directors that are appointment cinema for me, plus another heartbreaking Gaza-set documentary.
622. The Fence
The legendary Claire Denis returns to the continent of her youth and her greatest successes for this unspecified African country-set drama in which a man (the incomparable Isaach de Bankole) stands outside a worksite compound of some sort, demanding the return of the body of his brother, who worked there and died earlier in the day. It’s pretty obvious from the jump it was adapted from a play, and unfortunately nobody’s able to bring the broad and stagey dialogue into the realm of believable human speech besides de Bankole, despite the game efforts of Matt Dillon, Mia McKenna-Bruce, and Tom Blyth. Something more subtle and dangerous could have been made from these elements, perhaps by the Denis of 20-30 years ago, but her never-wavering fans of whom I’m close to a member will find it worth their time regardless. Three Beers.
623. With Hasan in Gaza
Palestinian-German filmmaker Kamal Aljafari found three tapes of mini-DV footage he shot 24 years ago and assembled it into this unique documentary. He never intended to make a documentary at all with it, and had in fact forgotten all about it, but when he runs across it his perspective has changed. He’s a bona fide filmmaker for one, instead of the teen visiting Gaza excited to simply shoot what he’s experiencing. And on the other hand, he went through his own seven-month wrongful imprisonment by the occupying Israeli regime for seemingly simply being a student of a certain age in a particularly uncertain time. While perhaps not narrative or explicatory in the traditional sense, context and the simple fact that we’re seeing a vibrant community that no longer exists makes it tragically fascinate. Two Beers.
624. Resurrection
I am an absolute Bi Gan homer, so when this didn’t play TIFF I was hardcore hoping this would play NYFF. My patience was rewarded with yet another stone cold masterpiece from Bi Gan, who has to be on a short list of most audacious filmmakers working today. Here he tells a story that spans a century of film history and styles, from Dr. Mabuse-style expressionistic silent film to misty Film Noir to 60s magical realist Shaolin temple-set dramedy to 80s popular cinema to early Aughts Chinese neo-Noir. This absolutely should not have worked, and yet it does, from Jackson Yee and Shu Qi’s throughline of performance to the dream logic that both does and doesn’t quite tie it all together. Fuck, Bi Gan’s positively thrills with the potential of cinema. A Toast.
