Okay ? technically Sky Blue started last night but it did overlap to finish very early this morning so I?m claiming I?ve done three movies in one day. Today I tackled Sky Blue, The Return and My Summer of Love.
Sky Blue. Sky Blue is an animated movie from Korea and exactly why it was showing so late was a mystery to me and apparently most other people in the cinema. I was chatting with some people next to me and we just couldn?t figure it out. It wasn?t a particularly adult movie so there didn?t appear to be any clear reason for its late showing. We could only conclude that there must have been so many films to show during the festival that this was the only open slot.
The movie is set in the future and earth, of course, is dying. There appears to be only one ?living? city left, Ecoban, an enclosed organic city that has resorted to generating pollution for its power needs as there are no more natural resources left. Not everyone lives inside Ecoban and many of those on the outside are sick or dying. We enter the story learning that pollution levels outside the city appear to be dropping. However, the elite living within Ecoban continue to want to create pollution to allow them to carry on living the luxurious life they are used to. The sky is constantly grey from the generated pollution so it is the dream of one man to set this energy free and clear the sky of clouds to let through the blue of the sky instead. Interwoven with this rebellion is a romance and many examples of love and loyalty. It?s a good movie that engages the senses ? visually it appeared to combine CGI animation with traditional cell-drawn characters with the odd scene that was so realistic it looked like it had been filmed, and audio-wise the soundtrack, climaxing in an opera-like piece, does well to provide the relevant emotion. All in all I can give it the thumbs-up.
The Return. Not much to say about this movie because I didn?t like it very much. The movie was set in Russia and tells of the coming home of a father and the effect this has on his two sons. The father comes home after being away for over 10 years and takes the boys on a road trip of sorts. It starts off as a basic weekend fishing trip but ends up with the father taking the boys away to an island to dig up a mysterious box. I won?t ruin the ending for anyone keenly interested in seeing it but suffice to say the ending was abrupt and didn?t conclude anything at all (and even more infuriatingly you never do find out what is in the box!) It wasn?t even a particular joyous movie ? rather depressing and too much work involved to try and interpret what was going on. This one gets a thumbs down.
My Summer of Love. Involving story of a relationship between two girls during one English summer. Both girls are extremely strange characters yet you find yourself liking and sympathizing with them. One girl lives only with her brother ? a reformed criminal who has found god and as a result transforms the pub into a place of worship and the other comes from a well-to-do, but according to her dysfunctional, family and who appears to have nothing better to do than act out. Again I had a problem with the ending ? though it tied things up it wasn?t a very positive or nice ending. I guess its my fault for having these expectations of a happy Hollywood ending as I don?t really like to come out of a movie feeling sad or sorry for the characters. This movie gets a thumbs horizontal (that is, it was so-so.)
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