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Unfortunately I was unable to get to any of the Asian films in the Sydney fest retrospective which included Kinugasa's 1954 Cannes hit
The Gate of Hell, Kurosawa's always profiundly moving Ikiru
(Living), Teshigahara's The Face of Another and Tian Zhuangzhuang's perennial favourite
The Blue Kite.
But while India didn't feature in the fest's retrospective, it was the generator of the fest's annual silent feature... sort of.
In some ways Shiraz (1928), was perhaps a sign of what is wrong with the Sydney fest's approach to Asian films.
The silent film presentation was actually a German, Indian and English co-production. Despite some interesting backdrops of Islamic buildings of the sub-continent, the film itself was incompetently directed and one suspects was primarily prepared for European audiences rather than the multitudes of the sub-continent. The clue is in not one, but two, visible kisses, which in Indian cinema was taboo and even now is still rarely seen. Nevertheless, according to the program notes,
Shiraz was released in India to controversial acclaim.
Static in the tradition of English cinema, Shiraz was basically an exotic bedtime story for those who were awed at the extent of the British Empire. For a modern film festival it is an odd choice, given the many silent films that deserve a spotlight. Silent films are problematic for modern audiences in many ways, but to indulge in this largely orientalist confection, is an odd choice given the PC emphasis on refugee-themed films throughout the rest of the fest. If ever a film needed to be contextualised by a seminar, this was it.
Making matters worse was the choice of two musicians who applied a desperately limited themes via a series of instruments of their own invention, with music that largely mismatched what was on the screen unless it was clinking of tubular bells for camels, donkeys and elephants. When the post-modernist, art stream takes over the cinema, be afraid, be very afraid. A collision of bad choices, lead the SFF audience to feel superior (if the laughter was anything to go by) to the film they were watching. This should not be the aim of a status festival, and at the risk of sounding pompous is a transgression of its internationalist principals. Given that this film was also in the Sydney audiences top five, is a damning comment of the cine-literacy of the festival audience.
And if you think that's harsh, be warned that everything else from here on in is going to get a bucketing. Click to another
Heroic Cinema page now if bad reviews turn you off.
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