Fading like a...

Because I have this blog here, which has been sitting rather forlornly while nothing interesting happens in my life, I may as well put something in to it. Especially since I actually have something I can add today.

You see, there’s this film Festival on in Adelaide at the moment. A whole bunch of films from all over the world. I managed to catch two over the weekend.

The first was entitled ‘We are Wizards.’

It follows the exploits of several people who have used the world of Harry Potter to inspire them in their endeavours. Some have formed bands, some have created animations or alternate narrations of the movies, some have written books on the fan culture, some have created fan websites and others have orchestrated a stand against legal action by Warner Brothers against said fan sites. And of course you have the obligatory Christian nutcase decrying Harry Potter as the end of civilisation because of links to the occult.

It’s a very entertaining documentary. It’s considerably amusing, even for someone who isn’t the biggest fan of the Harry Potter phenomenon. Seeing the enthusiasm of those in the documentary, and the challenges some have come up against (and conquered) is quite inspiring. And they also manage to make some good points about copyright laws and the importance of the fan community.

About my only criticism was that the movie seemed to have too many endings. It would build up to a spot where you thought would be a good place to end, and then it paused for a moment and took off again, just when you were expecting the credits to roll. It didn’t really detract from the enjoyment of the film, though.

The second movie I saw was entitled ‘Let the Right One In’

It’s a Swedish film with English subtitles (at least the version I saw was) and follows the story of a young, bullied misfit befriending a 12-year-old Vampire. There are also complications involving the relationship the Vampire has with her father (whether he is her true father or not is never really discussed) and the effect she has on a tight-knit group of life-long friends who suffer as the result of her predations.

While being quite a slow-moving film it is still very engaging. The acting is excellent, as I never once doubted the characters or their actions. I ended up really quite attached to the young Vampire, and although the story is nothing groundbreaking it is still told very well.

One thing I found very interesting in the movie was the way the Vampire mythology was revealed, and what was covered. Thankfully Vampires in this interpretation behave properly under sunlight (with none of this sparkly nonsense) but there were some other interesting aspects covered. I know I’m being vague but I don’t want to say something that would ruin the film for people.

That said, I don’t know if these films will be released to a larger market here, or if they have been in other countries. I quite liked both films, and would recommend them highly to others, but it may turn out that these films already have a more mainstream release in other countries across the world and many have already seen them!

I’d be curious to know if you have managed to catch these films somewhere and, if so, what you thought of them.

Other than that, have a good day! I’ll see you when something interesting next happens to me.

Deadstar_MRC