Concessions

EIFF Film #6

A film which not only wears it’s influences on it’s sleeve but seems to be a love letter to said influences (made only the more apparent by the end with special thanks to a number of filmmakers). Listing said filmmakers would perhaps be a worthless experience, as there’s something sort of special witnessing a movie like this which harkens back to filmmakers, and filmmaking, which seems to be missing from the current oeuvre on offer.

The film follows the employees of a movie theatre which is closing down. In a very Dazed and Confused fashion, it not only follows the people working there but a whole cast of characters who occupy the halls, and the surrounding building. Bouzidi manages to create a world out of a very limited space. It’s incredibly impressive, as with a lot of lower budget independent cinema, the film is confined but never did this feel empty or not lived in, as some do. The restrictions in the set felt like they were purposeful, like the story had to be told the way it was.

Never did the draws from other filmmakers feel like pastiche though, this still felt like a new director breaking through with his own voice. One that so clearly holds in high regard the theatrical experience and the magic of movies. Hearing Bouzidi talk it’s clear that he has a passion for filmmaking as an art form, in the sacredness of films, and wants to preserve it as an art form. That also comes through, bleeds through, the screen in this film.

This is where the film shines - in its conversations around movies, in feeling like a real lived in workplace. The conversations that are had in said cinema felt so natural to the way some people speak about it. For any film fan who enjoys having conversations about film, I’m sure they will feel very seen by this film. It also is just really funny. It’s filled to the brim with little gags and jokes, and a colourful cast of characters, that I’m sure people will get a lot from. (The news reporter gag was a real highlight).

However, the film also tries to tackle a more deeper, profound theme of purpose and moving on, and it just falls short slightly. There are some more serious conversations in the film, characters facing the idea that their life is about to move on, but we don’t explore this idea enough. It would’ve been interesting had this been slightly longer or if less time was used meandering with side characters. Perhaps the film would’ve left a stronger impact as it nearly gets there.

But add this to the selection of just wonderful hangout movies, if you’re a lover of film you will get a lot out of this.

Quite a special experience as well having half the film shown in digital and half in film (some of the reels were held in customs) it really proved to me that there’s something truly different about seeing a film on film. The film looked gorgeous all the way through, it was sun soaked, drowning in colours that pop and there was the glorious grit you get from shooting on film, but when it switched to film, the depth that those colours took on, the way the scenes felt so much more dense was incredible.