JDIFF DAY 11 - Alice In Wonderland, and closing with I Am Love

Posted on Monday March 1, 2010, 08:59 by Sam Toy in Under The Radar

Our eleven days of film-related fun are at an end – for 2010, at least, and this year’s Jameson Dublin International Film Festival has now drawn to a close. For me, it went out in style with an early screening of Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland. To say I’ve heard mixed reviews about this is putting it mildly, so I went in with serious reservations. But I’m not a purist for the books, so I suspect that both of these elements helped me to find it a a mostly enjoyable family film; the all-ages audience seemed to feel the same (and bless the munchkin who was audibly amazed by the 3Dification of the Walt Disney logo at the beginning, which really set things up nicely).

You'll probably go to see this regardless, so I’ll be brief. Things worth shelling out £10 for: Helena Bonham Carter, and one of the best ensemble voice casts ever (special amongst them, Alan Rickman, Stephen Fry, Paul Whitehouse). Things to brace yourself for: Johnny Depp doing a cute, wholly inappropriate dance; a really, really dreadful song over the end credits. The animation is mostly tremendous, but there’s the odd bump. Post-screening, the audience were treated to a Q&A with stars Michael Sheen (voice of the White Rabbit) and Timothy Spall (voice of Brayard the bloodhound); the jovial Damned United duo were on fine form, happily regaling the crowd with tales from the recording booth.

My final stop on the JDIFF tour was Tilda Swinton’s I Am Love. I feel confident calling it ‘Tilda Swinton’s’, as she holds dual roles - actor and producer. The director is her long time friend and collaborator Luca Guadagnino (who incidentally is a producer on David Gordon Green’s Suspiria remake, and if this film is anything to go by, then Argento’s masterpiece is in good hands). Earlier in the day I had attended a special Q&A with Swinton, who proved a vivacious and energetic subject on everything from her beginnings in acting with the late, great Derek Jarman, to life post-Oscar, and passionately promoting art cinema (and indeed, cinema of all kinds - she's a fan of Avatar). Surprisingly, she revealed that she's not a fan of theatre, either as performer or audience member (with the exception of school plays starring her children). She mentioned both there and at the introduction to the screening of I Am Love that the film had been developed by the pair (herself and Guadagnino) for eleven years, that it was unashamedly a melodrama, and that it was their intention to claim that term back from being one of derision to one of celebration.

At the Q&A (which will be broadcast at the end of the month on Ireland’s RTE Radio 1, on the Arts Tonight programme), Swinton had spoken of her love for sensational cinema – not meaning overblown, she explained, but one which envelopes the senses with colour and light, and images that evoke and stimulate the sensory parts of the brain. As I Am Love played out, I certainly understood what she was getting at. It’s exquisitely photographed, full of fine architecture, fine art, haute cuisine and gorgeous scenery, all captured against a sublime, operatic score from John Adams. Opening in Milan, we’re following the Recchi family (Swinton speaks fluent Italian and Russian in the film). Grandpa announces over his grand birthday dinner at the beginning of the film that he will be handing over control of the large family business to his son Tancredi and his grandson Edoardo. The grandson becomes friends with a chef who dreams of opening a restaurant on his family’s land, which sits atop the mountains of Sanremo. Amid this and many other plot threads, the chef cooks a meal for Edoardo’s mother (Swinton), which sparks a reawakening, and sets in motion a series of events which lead to irreversible change across the entire dynasty.

It’s long - too long, but not by much - and the level of detail is incredibly impressive, but the film (the final act in particular) will live or die by an audience member’s stomach for melodrama. Personally I’m not a fan, so appreciated the pre-screening heads-up. I found for most part Guadagnino has exercised restraint; it’s not until the end that things begin to go over the top (especially one massive, crucial plot point that feels cringingly convenient), but the film had achieved so much by that point that I was willing to let it slide. All in all, an effective way to close a terrific festival. I’ve been impressed by the diversity of the films on display, the outlet it has provided for home-grown talent, and the volume of the audience it has attracted – every screening or event I’ve been to has played to a hearty, enthusiastic crowd. I look forward to returning for JDIFF 2011.