Indian Horse, Vue Omni, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Saul Indian Horse and his brother are taken into the wilderness to avoid being taken by 'the white man' and sent to one of the residential schools in which children of the indigenous population were separated from their families and forcibly indoctrinated into christianity.  Despite the best efforts of his grandmother (less so his parents who have already been converted), Saul ends up in Saint Jerome's where the only thing he learns is how to survive the cruelty of the priests and nuns who make life hell for the children.  His saviour proves to be hockey, the national sport, which the apparently kinder Father Gaston has introduced to the limited range of activities available.  At first Saul is too young to be allowed to play, but through offering to clear the rink each day he teaches himself how to skate and handle a stick (including a very imaginative way of creating his own pucks) he soon shows he has a natural gift for the sport.

It will eventually take him away from the regime he's been subjected to, and towards a potential future as a pro hockey player.  But the racism that underlay the school system also permeates the crowds he must play in front of and it becomes clear that it will require much more than his talent if he's to make it to the top.

Although the film is based on Richard Wagamese's novel of the same name, the opening, packed with information about the brutal residential school system, and narrated by the adult Saul, gives it the feel of a docudrama, something it fails to sustain.  Three actors play Saul at different times of his life, but they become less convincing with age, and it's the six year old 1959 version (Sladen Peltier) who gives the best performance.

As an introduction to the iniquities of the treatment meted out to First Nation children (the system was only finally closed down in 1996) this is a powerful statement, showing the Catholic church in Canada to be the equal in their inhumanity to the Magdalen Laundries in Ireland.  It's also a reminder, through some excellent action sequences, of what a powerful cultural force hockey is in the country, and why it's one of the world's great sports.  But as a drama it sometimes feels let down by plot devices that jar rather than flow.  Well worth seeing, but there's a sense this could have been a better movie if the director had let the story tell itself.

Oh, and if any Caps fans happen to read this.... you'll have memories of our great #23 from a few years back.

Solis, Odeon, Edinburgh International Film Festival

After an explosion destroys his asteroid mining ship Troy Holloway (Steven Ogg) wakes to find himself in an escape pod, the only survivor of the disaster.  The pod's systems are damaged, he has no control over the craft, and it's heading towards the sun.  His Mayday call is answered by Commander Roberts (Alice Lowe), and it's soon clear that she's the only person who can save him, but she only has around 75 minutes before he's beyond reach.  Over an unreliable comms link Roberts assesses the situation and advises Holloway what needs to be done.  Their initial relationship is bristly, but changes as the time decreases and they find out more about one another.  Does Holloway want to be saved?  And why does Roberts insist he does?

Lowe is never seen on screen, with all the action filmed inside the pod, and occasional breakaway shots to emphasise how very alone Holloway is.  Leaving Ogg to carry the movie, which he does extremely well, and carries the audience with him throughout.  As the pod gets nearer the sun the pod gets hotter and the tension steadily increases.  We can feel the heat as the action progresses (or was that down to a packed cinema on a very hot evening...?) and final minutes of the film are as tense and involving as you could wish for.

For such a low budget product the set, and the special effects, are impressive.  What I did find the score irritating, overly portentous and intrusive, which spoiled my enjoyment of an otherwise gripping piece of cinema, often damaging the atmosphere the actors and direction had created.  That aside this is a better than average sci fi movie and enthralling as any thriller.

Terminal, Odeon, Edinburgh International Film Festival

It's noir Jim, but not as we know it.

Terminal is set in it's own very fictional and very familiar world, a stylish and stylised fantasy concoction outwith time and space.  Part LA and part London, part industrial wasteland and part nightclub strip, part 1930s and part future dystopia, the darkness of traditional noir and the gaudiness of neon.  It's sparsely populated with a few odd characters.  Annie (Margot Robbie), a cafe waitress with a strange line in black humour.  Bill (Simon Pegg), a teacher facing up to terminal illness.  Two killers for hire, Vince (Dexter Fletcher) and Alfred (Max Irons), unsure of who they are working for or who they've been sent to kill.  And a creepy night cleaner in the railway station (an almost unrecognisable Mike Myers).  All have their secrets, some are not what they seem to be.

Underlying these personas is a twisting plot based around revenge.  But who is the avenged in all this?  The final reveals explain all, some done with style, the last one somewhat overlong.  There's violence, tension and a lot of very funny moments.  There's a lot to enjoy.  Not least from Robbie, who looks to having a lot of fun herself portraying a character of many guises around whom the others revolve.

I suspect most people will find this a love it or loathe it movie.  Some will revel in the quirkiness, the artificiality, the jokes and references to other movies and genres.  Others will think it's being too clever for it's own good, too self conscious and lacking substance.  I'm definitely with the former group.  It's a daft tale, but clever enough to be satisfying, sufficiently peculiar to have it's own idiosyncratic charm.  Give it a try.

Spotlight on Canadian Short Films, Cineworld, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Seven short films, ranging in length from four to twenty five minutes, which have no common theme except their Canadian origins and a desire to play around with form and content.  A mix of fiction, documentary and animation.

Voices of Kidnapping shows the sights and sounds of the Colombian jungle, with the superimposed voices (with subtitles) of excerpts from real life radio broadcasts.  They were the voices of people sending messages to members of their families who had been kidnapped and held by the FARC guerrilla group.  Some had been held for fifteen years, and these heartbreaking communications were the only possible means of contact.  Sobering.

Milk is a fly-on-the-wall-style look at events in the life of a young dairy farmer, contrasting the way her pregnancy is handled with that of the cows.  A bit bleak, but informative if you've ever wanted to know what noise a cow makes when it's giving birth, or hear the sound of cowshit hitting concrete.

Loretta's Flowers follows a beautiful young woman cycling through Toronto, meeting a stranger, a friend and a lover, but never managing to connect with any of them.  Beautifully filmed and acted, it's a nice look at the way we have such difficulty saying the things we mean, communicating real emotion.  Lovely ending too.

Embraced (Entreintes) is a brief, and word-free, monochrome animation about loneliness and love.  Drawn in a very simple but effective style, the characters emote a tragic yearning for human bonding.

Three Thousand uses archive footage and animation to comment on the last hundred years of the history of the indigenous people of northern Canada, and the threats to their quality of life.

Memory of the Peace is also about the challenges First Nation people continue to face in Canada, this time taking the form of interviews with individuals threatened by a planned flooding of the Peace Valley, an important site of great historical significance.  It's a moving insight into a culture that is constantly at risk.

RgBebop/Anthropology is a 4 minute abstract animation set to deconstructed jazz pieces.  An oddity, but fun.

While all the films had some interesting features my top picks Voices of Kidnapping for the simple way it touches our humanity, and Loretta's Flowers for the way it frames the miscommunication in our lives.

What Will People Say (Hva vil folk si), Vue Omni, Edinburgh International Film Festival

Nisha is an ordinary Norwegian teenager, hanging out with her mates, playing basketball, flirting with the boys.  She's also the daughter of an ultra strict Pakistani family who often see her more in terms of a family asset than a human being.  When her father finds her messing about with a boy in her room she swiftly finds out which half of her life dominates.

In order to save 'face' within their community the family use lies, threats and physical coercion to remove Nisha to her paternal grandmother's household in Pakistan.  There's she's treated as little more than a servant, and punished if she steps out of line, kite flying the only innocent pleasure she's allowed.  Can she adapt to this new life, or will there be a way back?  We, the audience, suffer with Nisha, but will her to overcome her setbacks.  The drama is intense, but powerful, and leads to an unforgettable end scene.

The relationships portrayed are complex.  Nisha's father reacts selfishly, yet under his brutal responses there is also love, and the affection between the two is never far away.  Understanding is another things however, and the film exposes the extremist mentality that can come up with the inhuman concept of "honour" killings, the pressures second generation immigrants face in reconciling the two cultures they are a part of, and the difficulties social services face in intervening.

Beautifully acted, with Adil Hussain giving an outstandingly nuanced performance as father Mirza, there's also some wonderful cinematography.  Emotionally harrowing, but this is an important movie and one that deserves a wide audience.

The Heiresses (Las Herederas), Odeon, Edinburgh International Film Festival

A couple in their late fifties, Chiquita (Margarita Irun) and Chela (Ana Brun) have been able to live comfortably, and with some social standing, on the wealth inherited from their families.  But now money is getting tight and they are selling off some of the heirlooms.  Chiquita is the driving force, pushing things along, Chela is an artist, quieter, prone to depression.

When Chiquita is imprisoned on fraud charges Chela is forced to emerge from her place in the background and find a way to earn some money.  In doing so she starts to rediscover aspects of her own personality, long submerged within the relationship, and realising that when her partner returns she won't be able to fit back into the same mould, that there must be more to life than what was there before.

A slow burning tale, shot in short scenes and with a lot of close ups.  An almost entirely female cast, the few men in bit parts, with dialogue bouncing along on the surface of the underlying emotions.  And a stunning central performance from Brun who conveys so much while saying little.  A performance of the eyes.

The film is a bold statement coming from a Paraguay that (the director told us after the screening) remains fixated on macho culture, yet is so much driven by the actions of women.  It's a universally applicable study of the power dynamic in relationships, and what people sacrifice, often without realising, to make them work.  A brilliant achievement, and no surprise that it's been winning so many awards at festivals.

The Heiresses gets a UK release in September and is well worth seeking out.

Dallahan, Voodoo Rooms

Opening the gig was local guitarist DaveBeMac.  At times reminiscent of the great Andy McKee in his fingerstyle playing, Dave is fascinating to watch at his craft, playing his own compositions.  Laying the guitar across his lap he plays it like a combination of strings, keyboard and percussion, weaving complex tunes across a rhythmic background.  Held more conventionally he uses sampling to build layers of sound, adding fast fingerpicking to round off the depth of the piece.  There are more influences in there than you could shake a stick at, but you get the sense of a true rocker in the heart of the music.  He's funny too, with a fund of stories about the background to his writing.  A perfect start to the evening.

This is the fifth Dallahan review I've written, so previous readers will be aware that I'm a fully paid up fan.  Tonight's performance only served to confirm that.  The ensemble playing is as tight and imaginative as ever, Jack Badcock's vocals seem to improve year on year, and it was good to hear an even stronger Hungarian influence coming through, courtesy of Jani Lang's fiddling and vocals.  There were several new songs which will be appearing on their long overdue third album, out in October, which promise to make it every bit as satisfying as the previous two.  The merger of Celtic and Eastern European playing styles and influences continues to produce a sound that is unique and enjoyable, and the band has a relaxed and engaging stage presence, much of it from Andrew Waite's interjections and the obvious friendship shared across the quintet.

So it was a shame that some people from a private party in another room made their way into the audience and talked during much of the performance, to the band's clear and justifiable irritation.  Dallahan's music deserves so much more than that.