Strange But True (Lipkes, 2017): Close-Up Cinema, 8.15pm
Close Up Cinema introduction to this screening:
We’re excited to present the second part of a programme of films by Michel Lipkes, in collaboration with Birkbeck Institute for the Moving Image. Lipkes’s films explore human solitude and yearning in a context of overwhelming urban alienation, in which relationships of power condition existential predicaments. His films convey a sense of cinema based on a variety of influences that go from Nicholas Ray to Robert Bresson and from Samuel Beckett to JG Ballard.
Rotterdam Film Festival introduction:
Jonathan and Yesi are in love, but fearfully keep this from Mister Clean, their dodgy boss on the bin wagons. In Mexico City, there is no end to the refuse. Cardboard and plastic are separated on the spot, and half-empty bottles of drink finished off in one go; for tips, they will collect the refuse from your kitchen. Everything changes when a body turns up among the containers, its pockets stuffed with cash. Mister Clean comes up with a plan that will benefit them all. In today’s Mexico, it’s simply impossible not to get tangled up in the wretchedness of the violent underworld. This second feature by Michel Lipkes shows an inescapable downward spiral – though not without a glimmer of hope – in luscious black-and-white. Film buff Lipkes nods to masters through clever references and symbolism, making Strange but True both an homage and movie-spotter’s delight on several levels. Hope, love, and belief in the power of cinema.
Here is the trailer.
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