[FIFAM 2015 – Josef Staif]

The Kentucky Fried Movie (1977)

This American comedy is completely crazy. But I believe that in 1977 when the movie was made it was revolutionary. This short stories combined in the form of TV commercials or advertisements are really funny, sometimes even provocative. Actually I can imagine that in 1977 this film could have been forbidden. It is parody on the most iconic things from the era of 70's from fast food, through pornography to kung-fu movies or TV news in general. Most of the time I was really amused and it made me smile and laugh loud even now, almost 40 years later. It is important to see the old movies so we can appreciate the work of the directors and other people who participated in the process of creating this movie. Today the technology is really different so it is a different type of work, in my opinion.

Eva ne dort pas / Eva no duerme (2015)

This movie is a great addition to the famous Evita movie (with Madonna and Antonio Banderas) or stage musical by Andrew Lloyd Webber, because the musical is about the life of Evita Perón and ends with her death, but in Eva ne dort pas we get the second part of her story, what happened after her death. It is not documentary movie even when it contains parts of historical archive footages of argentinian crowds crying for Evita or rebelling after her death. It is really a mysterious story of the evil Argentina. How the oponents of Juan Perón wanted Evita and her body being erased from the people's memory. I loved the soundtrack that perfectly joined the movie and in some parts even I wanted to cry for Evita's death. The story was not difficult to understand even in spanish language with french subtitles. The process of embalming the corpse of Evita, transportation of her prepared body and then one of the Perón's generals being interrogated by the oponents to know where is her body, it was very emotional. The director showed us Argentina in very realistic way and that is what I appreciate the most about this emotional movie.

The Blues Brothers (1980)

This movie from the begining of 80's is about the power of friendship and how can be put together the effort to help our friends, to do the blues music and in the same time to run away from the police. This movie is iconic and it had really nice PC game in 90's, that I knew before the movie. I am glad that finally I had the oportunity to see the movie thanks to Film festival in Amiens. This film is full of blues music and I always appreciate good music used in the movies. It is also one of the older movies with later well known actors John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd and Star Wars star Carrie Fisher this time in the role of assasin. The music influence in 80's is really present througout all the film and I would reccomend this movie to everybody who loves blues music - join Jake and Elwood Blues on their journey to get the money to save the convent where they have been raised...

The Picture of Dorian Gray (1945)

Everybody knows the story of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde. It was made into movies already many times, but this is one of the first adaptations of the famous story. What I loved the most was the atmosphere of old movies, it was black and white, obviously, with few coloured scenes with the painting - the picture of Dorian Gray. But what helped this atmosphere was the music, it made whole film just perfect. We could

[FIFAM 2015 – Josef Staif]

see one of the future stars - Angela Lansbury in the role of naive actress and singer Sybil Vane. The classical story got a new dimension for me, because I read the book and I saw the newest film with Ben Barnes playing the role of Dorian Gray. But this old film version is the best, better than the new movie, better than the book itself. The way how it was done just brought me to the age when it happened, the end of 19th century. I could only recommend this book to everybody who loves old black and white movies, just as I do.

Crache-cœur (2015)

This french-polish movie is focused on the themes that are still very important - family and growing up. It shows both of them in a very naturalistic way, how it actually is in the real life sometimes. I think that this movie is good for us to realize what we have and what we experenced in the past. Also the meeting with the polish director Julia Kowalski was very interesting. She explained the background of whole story and talked about the relations between the actors. Also when somebody from the audience asked her about the music in the film, she said that it was her brother who composed it and that it was his first work on a movie for cinemas. These meetings are amazing because usually you do not have the chance to ask the director or any other creator about the things behind the story etc. One of the themes in the discussion was about female directors. It is also another interesting thing to discuss, because most of the directors are men. I liked this movie because it was something different from the other films that I saw during this film festival.

Jack et la mécanique du cœur (2013)

This is the only movie for children that I saw during this film festival. Even though it is not counted to the ten movies we had to see, I decided to write about it, because it just made me sad and in the same time happy. Firstly, the animation used in this movie is not much often used. It reminds a little bit movies by Tim Burton, but it is different. I liked it a lot. The story was unusual and it was not predictable, how it ends. Usually this kind of movies has its happy ending but not this one. This different ending makes Jack et la mécanique cœur a sort of melancholic film, but why not, I really apreciate that it is different from the others. Next thing I really liked about this movie is the soundtrack. Even the story is set to the end of 19th century, the music was very modern and sung mostly in french but also in english or mix of both in the same time. Also the selected countries where the story takes place is interesting, from Edinburgh in England to Valencia in Spain. In the end, I do not think this movie is only for children. It can be easily watched by the adults and they will not be bored...

An American Werewolf in London (1981)

This film is interesting because it shows us how the werewolfs were presented almost 25 years ago. Nowadays you can see werewolfs quite often in the movies so we can compare the presentation of those creatures in the past and the present. I think that the transformation from man into the werewolf in this movie is very realistic and considering when the film was done, the designers and costume makers did really good job. The rest of the movie was quite predictable and not so good, but in general review I am really glad, that I saw this film because it was interesting to see a science fiction movie from the past that is not so well known.

[FIFAM 2015 – Josef Staif]

The Stupids (1996)

The Stupids is a really good comedy. The humour in this movie is very stupid, but I just loved it. This kind of humour made me laugh a lot during this film. I think that John Landis choose good language and cultural jokes, that he successfully put together to make this grotesque movie. I can only recommend it to those who love witty humour and jokes and I am sure I will watch this movie at least once more in the future...

Innocent Blood (1992)

From the werewolfs in the movie American werewolf in London, it took John Landis 11 years to come up with a film about vampires. But Innocent Blood is very interesting combination of different genres - it combines horror movie about vampires with action movie about mafia gangs. Again I can mention the special effects, that were used here. The vampire eyes, supernatural strength, vulnerability to sunlight or killing a vampire, that is only few of the special effects that were used in Innocent Blood. I think that it is really interesting combination of themes, mafia and vampires. It is original and I really appreciate that and I would deffinitely recommend it to my friends...

Spies Like Us (1985)

In this movie, John Landis tried another theme - the espionage. And he mixed it with a humour so the result is espionage comedy. And it works. The film was funny, the plot was unpredictable and it takes place in Pakistan and Soviet Union, so another thing that is not so common in the films. Those who saw more of John Landis movies can recognize some familiar faces like Dan Aykroyd or Frank Oz, who already played in his movies in the past - Dan Aykroyd in Blues Brothers, Frank Oz in Innocent Blood...

Into the Night (1985)

Action movie about two characters who didn't know each other before. Running away from gangsters from Persia / Iran and why all that? Because of stolen emeralds... John Landis chose famous Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Pfeiffer as the lead characters, but this was only the beginning for their careers as both got famous later in the 90's. And once again, we could saw Dan Aykroyd in one of the side roles. I suppose he is John Landis' favourite...

The World's Fastest Indian (2005)

This movie is not as old as the others I saw during this film festival (if I do not count the competition category) and it was really good choice. The story about old man Burt Munro from New Zealand who loves his motorbike and his dream is to travel to United states to set the new world record with a motorbike on a track. What I liked about this movie was the main idea of going for a dream no matter what. He had some problems with his heart, he had problems with money and with his motorbike, but he never gave up and worked hard so he got what he dreamed about. In addition, this film was made of

[FIFAM 2015 – Josef Staif]

a true story and this is almost always the best way what to choose. This film is definitely one of the best I saw during this fim festival...

General overview of FIFAM 2015

Firstly, I have to say that I really appreciate this film festival. I have never been to a film festival like this one and maybe that now I will start, because I really liked it. The movies were really different one from each other even if the director was the same. Different themes, different decades… But all of the movies I saw during FIFAM 2015 was great. I have to admit that normály I wouldn’t watch some of these movies, so I am really glad that I saw them now. I like comparing them and trying to find some similarities or differences. I didn’t knew John Landis before FIFAM 2015 so I am also glad I had the opportunity to discover his movies and his style. Comparing those eleven movies I saw (plus one extra movie for children), they were really different one from each other. From sci-fi, through horror movies until film musicals or crazy comedies. There was also one biographical movie and those are usually quite good, from what I saw before. I think that the students and people should go to these festivals and try to see those different movies, because it is something what you can’t see at home. I also appreciate the old black&white Picture of Dorian Gray, because it wasn’t screened in Czech Republic where I came from, and I really loved that, because it is one of my favourite styles. And from the movies in the competition category, I understood even if it was in French or with French subtitles. That means that the films are so good that the language isn’t a barrier. Thanks for this opportunity and I wish FIFAM good luck in the following years and who knows, maybe I will return to Amiens one day for this amazing festival, again…