CIFF: Trailerpark & Independent Shorts program 3

Trailerpark was one of my picks for films to watch. After seeing it, I still feel that it's worth watching, but don't feel strongly about the story. Entertaining, yes. The array of personalities demonstrated was wide arcing and well thought out. A lot of troubled people, each facing their own demons...or, denying them as the case may be. A hamster obsessed woman sets the trailer park on edge as she amasses an ever increasing army of hamsters. Everyone's preoccupation with the park's "no pets" rule and the perceived threat of infestation draws the gossipy colony together. Turns out she is crazy and her trailer becomes overrun by the animals she maintains for safe-keeping, rummaging through people's trash to find suitable housing for the hamsters.

The only other far-reaching story that ties all the pieces together is of a single, older man (the grand father-figure of the film) who has done well with the lottery. Everyone needs to know what he's doing with the money and wants to give their input as to how he should make all of their lives better.

Otherwise, the stories of the community are disjointed and do little to further an actual occurrence in the film. Nothing every really happens, and thus a "resolution" as it were is unattainable. Really it's a few shorts that have been cobbled together under the theme of "look, every one has some baggage and we all live in close proximity."

This film: C+

Later on, however, I was able to catch the Indie Shorts program 3.

Very nice.

A collection of highly imaginative, if not absurdist vignettes. At the risk of trying to recap the entirety of a "short" I'll just make mention of some notables.

"The Devil's Wedding" was a stellar, probably high-budget, film based on the idea that the devil needs to sell his soul in order to make his marriage work. The entire film is presented in a sing-songy, sonnetesque dialogue: actor's lines rhyming with one another the way you would find in a long poem by Poe, such as "The Raven." Casting to perfection, this witty dark comedy ought to win at least honorable mention. This film: A

The animated short "Alma" was one I was dying to see. It was a clever, well edited short. What seems like a playful, cute film at first is revealed in the final moments as a terrifying, claustrophobic, twisted play on childhood desires. This film: B+

"X to Y" reeked to high heaven of Werther's Original: Beautiful eye candy. Searing white landscapes of sand dunes are home to the yet unborn children who carry two glass orbs with them labeled "X" and "Y" for "Father" and "Mother." The orbs carry images of the would-be parents and it's the child's job to get them to meet, and conjugate, rescuing the child from this pre-born purgatory. Unfortunately for the film, of all the little boys in the world, the casting for the male child was poor at best, ruining much of the intended profundity and beauty of the film. This film: C

That's all for now; More tomorrow, friends.

See you there.