Kiernan Shipka (Sally from "Mad Men") stars in "The Blackcoat's Daughter."
It was 8:45 p.m. on Friday, and I was feeling lost. Sitting in Cinematheque in Vilas Hall, I completely blanked on the movie I was about to watch. Which of the 150-some movies did I choose? It was a horror movie, right? The Blacksmith’s Daughter? Blackbeard’s Daughter? The Blacksomething’s Daughter. It was far too early into the 2016 Wisconsin Film Festival for me to be losing my bearings like this.
Turns out we were about to watch The Blackcoat’s Daughter, a solid little horror movie with all its parts in place: a deserted Catholic girls’ boarding school in winter, an obscure folk song, strange noises coming through the heating ducts, a drawer full of knives and something wicked roaming the halls. Add to that a few adult fears (abandonment, loss of loved ones, etc.) and young Kiernan Shipka (Mad Men’s Sally Draper), who has always had something creepy about her, and you have all the ingredients for a satisfying and legitimately frightening 1970s-style scare-fest. Now that I’ve seen Blackcoat, I am not likely to forget its title anytime soon. I’d go so far to say it was the most memorable film in a very memorable weekend. (The Blackcoat’s Daughter shows Monday, April 18, 9:00 p.m. at Sundance).
This film about humans who behave like apes is not for the weak-stomached.
Or rather it was the most memorable thing I feel safe in recommending. If you’re really looking for something that you’ll never forget, try Aaaaaaaah! That’s with eight A’s, mind you. I caught this micro-budget British oddity late Saturday night. In his curtain speech, festival organizer Mike King said he “just had to come here to see who showed up for this thing.” This “thing” was a look into a world where humans live using the rules and language of apes. If you’re thinking this is a chance to see every bodily fluid, you’re right. It is so far beyond the bounds of taste that adjectives like “good” and “bad” don’t apply, but if you work in primatology, you’ll find it fascinating. Forty years ago, it would have fit perfectly on a double bill with Pink Flamingos. I will not say Aaaaaaaah! is a failed movie; it accomplishes what it sets out to do. It’s just a question of whether the audience can endure it. If you can, take it as a point of pride. (Aaaaaaaah! shows Tuesday, April 19, 9:00 p.m at Sundance.)
If you want a movie that features characters being a bit more human, try Louder Than Bombs with Jesse Eisenberg, Isabel Huppert and Gabriel Byrne. Joachim Trier’s dense, novelistic movie about a family dealing with loss is a rare achievement. It flits through space, time and perspective in a stream-of-conscious manner, yet it never loses track of the narrative or the audience’s attention. A different director could easily have made the same story dull or incomprehensible. Trier makes it captivating, and Byrne, usually the coolest guy in any scene, works well out of his comfort zone playing a dorky, ineffectual father. (Louder Than Bombs screens Tuesday, April 19, 8:15 p.m at the Barrymore.)
600 miles is a simpler tale about an ATF agent (Tim Roth) who has a disastrous run-in with a young Mexican gun runner. It doesn’t seem to know what movie it wants to be. Is it an ultra-realistic indictment of how easy it is for American guns to wander over the border, a fatalistic mob thriller, a hostage drama or a buddy comedy? It’s a little bit of each, but not enough of any of them. Still, it cranks up to a nice little climax, and a very dark punchline that makes it all worthwhile. (600 Miles shows Monday, April 18, at 9:15 pm at Sundance.)
If you need a reminder about the power and importance of movies, check out The Lovers and the Despot, a documentary about a South Korean husband-and-wife filmmaking team kidnapped in the 1970s by Kim Jong-Il, when the dictator hoped to jump start the North Korean film industry. Kim does not want propaganda, per se; he just wants his nation to be respected artistically. As with so many stories out of North Korea, it walks the absurd line between high drama and farce. Somehow Kim’s plan not only works, but it also brings the estranged couple back together, while granting them artistic freedom unheard of in the South. (The Lovers and the Despot shows Tuesday, April 19, 1:30 p.m at Sundance.)
I closed my weekend with another documentary on a subject a little closer to home, The Smart Studios Story, which shows again Tuesday, April 19 at Sundance. The Barrymore was filled to capacity for this story of these local boys made good. The movie got a late start, and people were waiting outside to see if just one more seat could be found. According to festival coordinator Ben Reiser, scalpers were selling $10 tickets for $50.
The film audience included the very people being celebrated in their home town, including Butch Vig and Steve Marker from Garbage, who did a Q & A with filmmaker Wendy Schneider. This was a moment that film festivals are made for. I was, for a minute or two, an extra in someone else’s life story. That’s a strange honor, and one I am not likely to forget.
