Festival screens two dark tales of urban life
It’s a study in contrasts. Visitors to the 50th International Thessaloniki International Film Festival (wrapping up this Sunday) will be met with throngs of passers-by, music, sunny weather and even the happy sight of a couple in a 1960s convertible throwing wads of money to the crowds on the sidewalks (part of the festival’s «Street Cinema,» which according to festival director Despina Mouzaki aims «to wrap the whole city up in celluloid, to take film out of the auditorium»). Venture into the movie theater, however, and you will find two films in the festival’s International Competition that show a less celebratory but still valuable study of unwelcoming cities. Latin American ‘Taxi Driver’ «Blood and Rain» is a contemporary, Latin American spin on «Taxi Driver.» Directed by Jorge Navas, it stars a Travis Bickle-type figure prowling the streets of Bogota. Cab driver Jorge has reason to be angry at the urban squalor that surrounds him – his brother, head of a squad of vigilantes set on catching criminals, was murdered just 15 days earlier as he tried to clear the scum from the streets. Now the formerly law-abiding Jorge, fueled by vengeance, wants to avenge his brother’s murder. Jorge might not have the dynamism of a young Robert De Niro, but a customer Jorge picks up, Angela (Gloria Montoya), just might. A young woman with a rum-filled flask and lip-gloss vial filled with cocaine, Angela is a perfect match for the darkest and most dangerous streets of Bogota where Jorge works. As driver and passenger, Jorge and Angela not only bond over the course of one night but also save each other’s lives. Come 4 a.m., Jorge plans to drop off Angela at her home. He has made the decision to avenge his brother’s murder. As often happens when bottles of alcohol and uncountable lines of cocaine are involved, events don’t go according to plan. While «Blood and Rain» tells its story through a car window, «The Unloved,» British actor-turned-director Samantha Morton’s first feature, spotlights another city, one not so anarchic but certainly hamstrung by bureaucracy. Nottingham is seen from the perspective of 11-year-old Lucy, who is taken in by the state when both her parents are deemed unfit to raise her. Samantha Morton drew from her own experiences in foster care. This probably explains why «The Unloved» has an authentic feel, lacking all trace of cheap sentimentality that it would have been easy to lace the story with. For Lucy, her surroundings are nothing but unwelcoming paths that lead to the homes of her mother and father – homes Lucy must repeatedly leave to be placed back into her assigned group home. Despite the film’s grim subject matter, Lucy remains a hopeful and curious creature. The bright spots in her life are carefully recorded by Morton: Lucy finds a friend in a rambunctious red-headed boy at the home and fashions a mother figure out of her tongue-pierced, shoplifting teen roommate. But the 11-year-old’s smile vanishes as quickly as it appears and she makes a habit of sneaking out at night and running away unnoticed. «The Unloved» proves in its melancholic way that even in the most developed of welfare systems, a child can be left in a painfully vulnerable, exposed and, above all, lonely place. «Blood and Rain» will be screened at 8 p.m. today at the Frida Liappa cinema; «The Unloved» is showing at Olympion cinema at 6 p.m. today and at 3.30 p.m. tomorrow. Visit www.filmfestival.gr for the latest festival news.
