It’s day five of Hot Docs 2011 and Andrew Parker has chimed in with reviews of Jig, Kumare, and Dragonslayer.
Jig
World Showcase
Director: Sue Bourne
It seems like an odd thing to say, but stylistically and thematically Jig would make for a great double bill with this year’s other Hot Docs selection Fightville. Despite being a film about children and young adults preparing for the Irish Step Dancing World Championships, the mental and physical preparation that goes into such dancing is a sight to behold. These young men and women train for a full year for one day and only six minutes on stage. Jig is beautifully shot and the people being profiled are extremely interesting. There really isn’t a whole lot of bite to Jig, but it is nice to see a film about children pursuing dreams of being a dancer where not all the parents are crazed. The film does stumble a bit in the final third by dragging on longer than it needs to, but even that section isn’t without it’s share of excitement.
Rating (out of five stars): ***1/2
Showing
Wednesday, May 4th at 4:15 p.m. at Isabel Bader Theatre
Kumare
World Showcase
Director: Vikram Gandhi
After growing disheartened by the nature of fake gurus only interested in making money, director Vikram Gandhi abandoned the original concept for his documentary and decided to become a guru himself. Adopting the name Kumare, Gandhi amasses a group of followers whom he manages to help, but clearly are not in on the joke. Part Sacha Baron Cohen and part Morgan Spurlock, Kumare is a thoroughly entertaining and often laugh out loud funny look at the nature of religion and also a very touching look at how many people need something more to believe in no matter how silly it might seem to everyone else. It helps that Gandhi is not only a skilled satirist and a commanding comedic presence, but also that he has such a good heart that they audience can see just how much his own ruse is taking a physical and mental toll on him. Kumare, an audience award winner at SXSW, has the perfect blend of heart, truth, and humour. It’s a real winner.
Rating (out of five stars): ****1/2
Showing
Sunday, May 8th at 3:30 p.m. at Cumberland 2
Dragonslayer
International Spectrum
Director: Tristan Patterson
It might be a backhanded compliment to say that Tristan Patterson’s film is the best movie about disaffected stoner youth to come down the road in quite some time, but it is a compliment to say that the film does take a thoroughly unlikable character and makes the audience actually want to see what happens to him. Skateboarder Skreech Sandoval is the perfect definition of a burn out. He is technically a professional boarder with a sponsorship deals and a beautiful and articulate girlfriend, but he has let his mind and body go to seed, he can’t stop smoking weed or drinking for more than several hours, he barely skates anymore, and he has a child that he hardly ever sees because he is just far too busy doing nothing. Shot with a certain degree of gravitas and divided into chapters, Dragonslayer manages to be an artsy film that takes all the cliches of an “artsy film” and manages to do them right. Definitely a step above passable, but it is doubtful that anyone will really care what happens to Skreech by the end of the film.
Rating (out of five stars): ***
Showing
Monday, May 2nd at 11:45 p.m. at Bloor Cinema
Wednesday, May 4th at 9:15 p.m. at The Royal
Hot Docs 2011 runs until May 8. For more information, and to purchase tickets, visit hotdocs.ca.
Top image: A scene from Dragonslayer. Courtesy Hot Docs.
