Vancouver International Film Festival 2007

Review by Kiefer Doerksen.

The title of Brett Harvey’s documentary The Union refers to BC's underground marijuana economy, made infinitely more profitable by its prohibition. The film explains why keeping pot illegal is mostly about economic and public relations benefits to both the government and various industries. Growers are often actually in favour of the prohibition, since it makes their business much more profitable. Hemp was once widely used for superior clothing and paper production. In fact, the American Declaration of Independence was written on hemp parchment. Harvey begins the film with a discussion of pot stereotypes and the actual health risks involved with using it. He finds no links to cancer, brain cell deterioration or record of any death directly related to marijuana use while legally available tobacco products cause hundreds of thousands of deaths every year. The film also offers eye-opening look into a grow op which utilizes ten train cars and diesel fuel to house its plants.

One criticism of the film is that no one on the pro-prohibition side is interviewed or given voice to provide a counterpoint to the filmmaker’s opinion. Credible sources appear throughout - including university scholars, political scientists, historians, as well as people within the marijuana legalization movement. Even former Vancouver mayor Larry Campbell provides insight into why the drug should be legal. Tommy Chong and Fear Factor host Joe Rogan provide humorous comments on the ironic nature of the pot debate, as does Harvey's use of old anti-weed propaganda films throughout. The Union is an entertaining film, not just for marijuana enthusiasts but for anyone interested in the tangled web of business in politics.

The Union: The Business Behind Getting High
Brett Harvey | Canada | 2007 | 105min

Wed. Oct. 10 | 9:30pm | Empire Granville Theatre
Thur. Oct. 11 | 3:30pm | Empire Granville Theatre

Review by John Packman.

Vancouver has served as on-screen body double for so many American cities that it's a breath of fresh air when it actually plays itself as it does in Ernie Barbarash's scare flick They Wait. What's more, Barbarash and writer Trevor Markwart don't just let Lotusland sit there and look pretty, but attempt to integrate the city's complex racial history into what is an otherwise standard post-Ring ghost story. Sarah (a surprisingly capable Jaime King) returns home to Vancouver from her adopted home of Shanghai with her husband Jason (Terry Chen) and young son Sammy (Regan Oey) in tow. They stay with Jason's aunt at one of the Chinese benevolent societies that populates the Downtown East Side. What follows is a pretty standard variation on the "Ghosts That Only You Can See Are Pissed Off And You Have To Make Them Happy Again" horror template, so in vogue since the success of The Sixth Sense.

The film is at its most intriguing when alluding to Vancouver's immigrant history, suggesting that exploited Chinese workers in the '40s were essentially living their own kind of horror story. When Barbarash's attention shifts from exploring this subtext to provoking cheap scares, the film suffers; too often They Wait relies on frantic cross-cutting and extremely loud foley work for quick jolts rather than sustaining genuine suspense. Barbarash shows promise as a horror director, though; several hallucinatory sequences are chillingly effective, and it's sort of a kick to see the figurative demons of the East Side transformed into real ones. If you watch this, look for a brief supporting turn by Terminator star Michael Biehn, who is apparently still alive.

They Wait
Ernie Barbarash | Canada | 2007 | 95min

Sun. Oct. 7 | 9:30pm | Empire Granville Theatre
Wed. Oct. 10 | 3:00pm | Empire Granville Theatre

Review by gloria wong.

Gwen Haworth's feature-length documentary is, on its surface, a conventional autobiographical documentary. Albeit in this case, the subject matter may be new terrain for a general audience - the director's transition from being the young man Steven to the woman Gwen. What separates this touching film from the many other me-centric docs is Haworth's great attention to and love for her family. Interviews with her parents, sisters, and especially ex-wife Malgosia and bff Roari are intimate and thoughtful, revealing an articulate group of people who fully explore the gamut of emotional issues involved in their loved-one's life-changing decision. Interwoven with wonderfully witty animation, She's a Boy I Knew is an engaging and accomplished debut.

She's a Boy I Knew
Gwen Haworth | Canada | 2007 | 70min

Thur. Oct. 4 | 9:15pm | VanCity Theatre
Tue. Oct. 9 | 1:30pm | Empire Granville Theatre
**ADDED** Thur. Oct. 11 | 6:00pm | Empire Granville Theatre

Review by Richard Toews.

Perhaps the most ironic statement in Yung Chang’s film Up the Yangtze is that of an elderly gentleman as he watches the waters of the Yangtze River rise: “Our country must be very strong and prosperous, we can stop the river.” Mao’s dream to stop the river at the Three Gorges Dam, the subject of the Chang’s film has indeed altered the lives of the people along the Yangtze River. For many the prosperity that China seeks from damming the river has come at a price too few can afford.

Inspired to make a farewell journey along the river, Chang decides to return to China from his new own in Canada. In a statement that is both visually and sociologically powerful, Chang effectively blends the story of his own past with the story of the people of China who are most affected by dreams of economic growth. Within this union there is a third story, seemingly unobtrusive and yet forcefully overshadowing everything connected to it — the story of the river itself.

The story of the river is the story of an end to a way of life for nearly two million people who have been forced to relocate. The stories are unique and yet there is sameness to them all. From the Yu family, illiterate farmers who silently watch their home disappear under the water, to the shopkeeper forcibly relocated - the pain of their disruption is palpable. Set against these are the stories of two young Chinese teenagers who work on a river cruise ship for Western tourists, Yu Shui, daughter of the Yu family (assigned the name "Cindy" aboard the cruise ship) and Chen Bo Yu ("Jerry"). Ostensibly, Cindy and Jerry benefit economically from the changes brought about by the damming of the river, but any benefit is set in stark contrast against the shattered lives of those who dwell along the river.

Up the Yangtze is a terrible beauty. While it is visually stunning, it is agonizingly difficult to watch, particularly when the river, a symbol of life, slowly and methodically swallows up the homes of the people, and by extension the life of China. One can only wonder, is this the final sting of the Cultural Revolution?

Up the Yangtze
Yung Chang | Canada | 2007 | 93min

Sun. Sep. 30 | 7:00pm | Pacific Cinematheque
Tues. Oct. 2 | 1:30pm | Pacific Cinematheque
Sun. Oct. 7 | 11:00am | Pacific Cinematheque

Review by Gorrman Lee

Martin Gero, director of Young People Fucking, says of himself and writer/actor Aaron Abrams, “We both like romantic comedies, but I feel like they’re neutered. To us, the interesting parts of a relationship happen while you’re having sex, or in the moments before of after.” And you know what? This shows.

Young People Fucking is a romantic comedy that feels very un-neutered. The very funny, sometimes romantic and definintely sexy film follows the basic structure of intercourse, with titles at the start of each chapter (Prelude, Foreplay, Sex, Interlude, Orgasm, Afterglow), and, for the most part, we are just watching five couples getting ready to have and then having sex. The characters are very well written - most viewers will be able to identify with at least one of the characters, if not one of the couples. The more we get to know them, the more their distinct personalities come out, and the more wonderfully they are performed. Overall it’s a very honest, clever script, right down to the juxtapositions of the titles.

My one criticism would be of the kinds of characters we see. Yes, they are funny, entertaining, well-written, etc., and perhaps it’s just my skewed perspective, but I felt cheated that all the characters seem hip, modern, and well-off. If we are seeing five different couples, why can’t we see more diversity? And where is the colour? There was only one character who was of “colour”, and he was portrayed as the idiot/goofball who is not sexualized at all. Given that the director and writer/actor are from Ottawa and Toronto, respectively, I find that unforgivable.

Nonetheless, this was a small qualm - one that hardly took away from the overall enjoyment of this very sexy romantic comedy.

Young People Fucking
Martin Gero | Canada | 2007 | 91 min

Fri. Oct. 5 | 9:30pm | Ridge
Tue. Oct. 9 | 4:00pm | Empire Granville Theatre