.
.
Tuesday I made two different screenings. Gary Cogill, the former film critic for WFAA in Dallas introduced Blood of Eagles. Attending the screening are the father/son team who made the film, the second in a trilogy about the Indonesia fight with the Dutch in the aftermath of WWII. According to the makers, the film parallels for the Indonesia people the American Revolution and for the Dutch, the film parallels the Vietnam War.
The best way to describe the film is a cross between the Dirty Dozen and Where Eagles Dare. The film is a stand-alone adventure with a ragtag group of former cadets who are forced to work together to fight the imperialistic forces of the Dutch. These guys must cross the countryside and take down an airstrip. They know that it is a suicide mission but they believe in freedom for their people. It runs more along the lines of one of those films shot during and just after WWII that showed the best of the troops.
Blood of Eagles is both a fun action adventure and a Indonesia flag waving patriotic flick. It is one of the best films at the DIFF and should not be missed, especially on the big screen.
.
My second adventure was the animation competition. It is another mixed bag of films with one truly standout. That film is Paths of Hate. It is a film of two WWII aces fighting in the skies and eventually on the ground, full of vile to the point of mindless destruction. Imagine Heavy Metal to a sinister degree. It rips at you in a way few films have ever done and is one of the best films of the entire festival.
The rest of the entries are ranked on nothing other than my opinion of best to worst. Something Left, Something Taken combines different styles of animation to tell a tale of a couple visiting San Francisco. They are the kind of individuals who obsess on the macabre and begin to wonder if their driver to the city may be the Zodiac Killer. Stanley Pickle is the most interesting film of the group. The story is of a wind-up family with a son who is interested in the fairy creature that lives in the woods just outside the house. It is done stop motion style but with live action creatures. The result is fascinating turn that rolls somewhere between an outtake of Hard Day’s Night and a Wallace and Gromit cartoon. Love Patate is an import about the love between a man and a root. It also mixes different styles of animation but does so seamlessly.
The Boy who Wanted to be a Lion is a weakly animated story of a hard of hearing boy who finds a kindred spirit with a majestic beast at the zoo. His eventual ending is telegraphed way too far in advance. Lipsett Diaries are an interpretation of the artwork of Lipsett, someone taken before his time. While somewhat interesting, all the browns and dark colors just didn’t work and the animation was purposely rough. It is kind of boring. Jupiter Elicius concerns a weather guy who dreams of carrying the biggest storm in the cosmos. The animation is flat and the story pedestrian.
More to come from The Dallas International Film Festival, so stay tuned!
