All things perfect and poisonous

Boy A
dir. John Crowley
Contemporary World Cinema

It recently occurred to me that there have been a few films, usually from the UK, that tell a story about childhood from the point of view of a bully. And what is particularly striking about some of these stories is that they refuse to judge the protagonist for these actions, instead they just observe them with little commentary on the act of bullying. Boy A on some levels does this too,

In Boy A, Jack (Andrew Garflied) has been released from prison. His mentor, Terry (Peter Mullan) help him establish a new identity in a new place, far away from the crime that he commited and served time for. During their meetings, Jack occasionally wants to talk about his past life, before prison, but Terry wants him to move on. To live in the present and to focus on becoming a new man.

And Jack really does seem to be doing quite well in his new life. He is liked at work, makes friends, and even finds a girlfriend. This is a huge success story cons…

The Edge of Heaven
Dir. Fatih Akin
Emerging Masters Series

There have been so many recent films that could be compared to The Edge of Heaven due to its structure of intertwining stories. Crash, Short Cuts, Magnolia. But to do so, is misleading. The Edge of Heaven is not actually a story made up of stories that entertwine due to coincidence, but it really just one story, or one shared goal, to help Ayten.

In the first part of the film, titled the death of Yeter, Ali invites Yeter to live with him and in return he will pay her salary. Yeter is a Turkish prostitute in Germany. While living with Ali, she comes to know his son, Nejat, who is a professor. Due to the circumstances of Yeter's death, Nejat tries to find her daughter in Istanbul to fund her education.

Unbeknownst to him, Ayten has fled Turkey and is in Germany living with Lotte, who tries to help Ayten get political asylum. After another tragedy, the story winds back to Turkey ending in a German bookstore owned by Nejat, …

The Mother of Tears
SIFF Series: Midnight Adrenalin
Dir: Dario Argento

The Mother of Tears is the third and final installment of Argento's trilogy that started with Susperia. And in The Mother of Tears, his daughter, Asia, steps into the lead role. And Mother shares a lot with its predecessors, including the sometimes erie, but more often silly Gobin soundtrack that, in this movie, tended to consist primarily of "Mother of Tears" whispered over electronic rock music.

If you don't want the movie spoiled, don't read too much further. The Mother of Tears is a good time if a scary monkey, geysers of blood, large bands of goth chicks marauding witches that stick their tongues out and say Blah, alchemists with ancient texts written story book style in modern English, glimpses of cannibalistic lesbian orgies (I think) and Asia Argento covered in sewage. This was all quite popular and met with much laughter and applause. But it should be noted that The Mother of Tear…