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Near completion of the Telluride Movie Celebration over Labor Day weekend, a festival host introduced the documentary If These Walls Might Sing as “wondrous.” There was an immediate and audible sigh in the audience: For the next 86 minutes, festival visitors would not need to fret about another Telluride title sending them into despair.
Great movies do not constantly make you feel great, and this year’s edition of the Telluride celebration embraced that concept, nearly to a fault. Yet in spite of a consistent stream of tough films– with Sarah Polley’s drama Ladies Talking possibly the most celebrated and emotionally requiring– the celebration was ultimately exhilarating.I saw more than a lots Telluride movies, each of which was having either its world or North American premiere in the Colorado resort town. A few of the films likely will compete for awards, consisting of the Oscars, in the months ahead. However their impact shouldn’t be determined by statuettes gathered. A better metric may be how audiences were mentally moved by the stories they saw.
What follows are Telluride titles that seemed to have the best effect on audiences (including me):
‘Great Night Oppy’
The documentary follows the brief but much-longer-than-expected lives of the Mars rovers Spirit and, as the title refers to, Opportunity. These 2 Red Planet visitors were expected to work for about 90 days when they were released into area in 2003. Despite horrifically cold Martian winter seasons and blinding dust storms, both rovers kept going for numerous, many years. Great Night Oppy concentrates on the Jet Propulsion Laboratory team (based in Pasadena) who imagined, constructed, released and worked with the rovers– and their relationship with the makers is not unlike a parent-child love story. Imagine a real-life Wall-E. But these robots are not immortal.Back to Leading’Ladies Talking’Polley, who formerly directed Away From Her with Julie Christie, adjusted Women Talking from a Miriam Toews book of the same name
. While the film
is a work of fiction, Toews stated she was reacting to a real story of ladies being raped and sexually assaulted by the male members of a Mennonite community. While Women Talking avoids any denominational reference, it’s painfully faithful to the effect these assaults have on the ladies (who are blamed for being responsible for triggering them ). The females are required to make a decision: stay, battle or leave, and their dispute is, basically, the film. Back to Top ‘Wildcat’The documentary Wildcat was possibly the festival’s most mentally wrenching. Harry Turner is a British soldier who served in Afghanistan and experiences PTSD.
emotional
recovery, he takes a trip to the jungles of Peru, where he winds up dealing with child ocelots who have actually been orphaned by loggers.Throughout Wildcat, Turner records not only his work with the felines but likewise his own major mental health battles. Turner’s sincerity prompted ratings of Telluride visitors to approach him and talk about their own psychological health concerns, which is a substantial part of eliminating the stigma connected to the health problem. Back to Top’If These Walls Might Sing’That audiences were prepared for a documentary like If These Walls Might Sing is hardly surprising, provided the films preceding it. The movie, from photographer Mary McCartney, reviews a few of the recording sessions that unfolded inside
‘s daddy, Paul, and a young Elton John(playing in a band for The Hollies). As in reality, misery and happiness in some cases go hand in hand. As John when sang, I think that’s why they call it the blues. Back to Leading What questions do you have about movie, TELEVISION, music, or arts and home entertainment? John Horn host our weekly podcast
Retake, asking: Do the stories that Hollywood tells about itself truly reflect what’s going on? Ask a Question