A BIFF-e day. There and back again.

The 8^th annual Bangalore International Film Festival or BIFFES finally rolled around this weekend. Though, with the proliferation of various film sites, discussion boards, and near constant bombardment of information throughout the year, most of the films on display were ones that the tuned-in film buff would have either already seen, or heard of.

Let’s begin with the choice of location – The PVR in Orion Mall, Mordor Rajaji Nagar. Beats me as to why they would choose that place. The previous edition was held in the CBD vicinity (near M.G Road and Cunningham Road), and conveniently accessible from any corner of the city. This edition, not so much. The message from the organisers seems to be one of “Fuck off, we don’t want anyone watching these films”. A few of my friends have decided not to attend this year’s fest, and a couple of others, might just go for a day or two. I fall into the latter category, as well.

Now that we’ve got the wonderful choice of location out of the way, let’s get down to business.

I set out for the fest on Friday, the 29^th, with H. I particularly wanted to watch “Victoria”, this had been hyped up by a few discussion boards that I frequently visit. However, I was pretty much going in blind. All I knew was that it was a German film, and shot in a single take. The film was supposed to be shown at 2:20 in the afternoon. We set out at around 1 (there had been mentions of special bus services from all over Bangalore to the venue, to make the journey easier. But alas, that was not to be. The idea seems to have fizzled out). 

After what seemed like an eternity, we reached Shelob’s lair Orion Mall, a lot lighter on the pocket due to the auto (I can foresee being penniless on the streets, and the subject of a documentary if I attempt to visit every day of the festival).

The security guards saved the mall from destruction by patting a few thousand crotches, and we were finally ushered in.

Contrary to my belief, the venue was actually packed (though I believe this was due to the initial euphoria). After fidgeting for a few minutes, wondering if we’d get seats – due to the first-come-first-served policy – we were finally let in. As far as I could tell, out of the various movies playing at that time, “Victoria” had the most people in line, waiting to get in. I guess the hype is real. 

Once inside, we were treated to the traditional Indian “technical glitch” inauguration. The film started, played, stopped, started again, and on and on. A lot of people got frustrated and walked out of the screening. We were wondering whether we should head out and catch another film, as well. I finally checked with one of the interns running around, if the screening was cancelled. He assured me that it wasn’t, so we took our seats again and waited for the auspicious time when things would get rolling. That proved to be at 3:10. Just a miniscule 40+ minute delay, no biggie.

I really loved the opening of the film. The opening credits started rolling on a black background, overlaid with a faint German techno-ish track, that gradually increased in volume.  The dum-tss, dum-tss really took me back to my partying days, back in the day. The opening shot was a kind of a blurry image of people swaying around to techno, under the strobes. Sob :( 

Link to that scene (with some dirty German goodness): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3nZyRlIgFLY

As for the film itself, it's a one-shot take, which follows a young Spanish woman – Victoria – living in Berlin, through a wild night (and I mean really wild). All the events take place over a period of a few hours, from pre-dawn to the morning. Also worth noting is the fact that the film appears to be shot in natural light.

As much as I’d like to get on the hype train and praise this film, I’d have to say that it is an average film. It's your typical heist-gone-wrong feature. People might find the premise surprising, or struggle to comprehend how Victoria ends up doing the things she does. Though there are a lot of logic leaps in the film, Victoria’s motives are not a surprise at all. From the opening scene, where we see Victoria dancing alone in a club by herself, and attempting to talk/flirt with the bartender, to the scene where we see her talking with (what we assume are) a bunch of (creepy) guys, it’s obvious that she’s a loner and desperately craves company, and wants to fit in. She also wants to cut loose and really live life, something she missed out on as a child. This is made all the more apparent when she talks about her past to her soon to be romantic interest (one of the afore-mentioned creepy guys)

So yeah, like I said this is an average film that gives out a “been here, done that” vibe to the viewer. However, it is definitely worth a watch for the single, long take, as well as the filming, done in natural light. It’s refreshing to watch a heist film without the abrupt Hollywood-style scene transitions and loud obnoxious music and effects.

Next up, H wanted to watch a bunch of shorts playing in screen 5 (along with a Q&A with a few of the shorts directors), I reluctantly agreed and we went in. Screen 5 happened to be Gold class, so we put our feet up and prepared to dig in. 

The first short was “Chameleon” by Arun Shankar, about an individual suffering from “Bipolar disorder”. This was the worst of the lot, with hammy acting, and loud saas-bahu type music. However the most unforgivable aspect was the fact that bipolar individuals were portrayed as violent lunatics and people to be scared of. It adhered to all the tropes of mentally ill people portrayed as unhinged lunatics, out to kill everyone, made famous by numerous crappy films.

The next short was “Lucky Star” by Priya Amritraj focusing on illegal immigrants in the US. Though overtly preachy and PSA-like, this was well made, with good acting (though it seemed a bit too polished and professional at times. Props to girl who played the protagonist). Also starring ex-Bollywood baddie, Gulshan Grover.

Last up (we didn’t watch the final short – The Projectionist), was “Leeches” by Payal Sethi. This was about the practice of old Arabian Sheikhs coming down to Hyderabad and paying off and marrying very young, virgin, muslim brides, and divorcing them once they have sex. There was quite a famous case/controversy around a decade back about this very practice.

This short was the pick of the lot. Very well made and felt damn authentic. Acting was top-notch. The lead is the irritating “hipster chick” from that piece of shit film, “Margarita with a straw”, but here, she is in fine form. Even though it was a short feature, it was fully realized and felt like a full-length film. I see a bright future for the director, Payal, provided she doesn’t fall into the typical Bollywood trap.

Our last feature of the night was the Swedish “Alena” – a film about a misfit at an elite boarding school - in screen 2. This was a rather predictable feature leading up to the expected twist/reveal before the ending. Though for a change it tried to work in elements of the misfit becoming popular, and the popular kid kind of becoming an outcast, ultimately, it was a very derivative film, typical of the numerous films we had seen in this genre. Though, there were underlying themes of class differences, mental disorders, immigrant experience and blah blah, we were pretty much tuned out by the time the film ended. 

Thus ended a very long day, we paid the Uber driver a tiny Smaug-ian fortune to ferry us back to the Shire.

Fin.