Brooklyn Film Festival Preview — Opening and Closing Features
by William J. Hammon, ActuallyPaid.com
For the 2023 edition of the Brooklyn Film Festival, the chosen theme is “Human Times,” which puts the focus squarely on the persons and personalities that drive stories in an increasingly divisive world. The two features picked to open and conclude the festival are prime examples of this idea, executing similar stories, but on decidedly different scales.
Forgive Me Father
Written, directed, and starring James Biberi (who’s had a steady career in film and TV, particularly in the crime procedural genre), Forgive Me Father is a compact, intimate look at a man seeking redemption after a checkered past.Biberi plays Daniel, an ex-con looking to get back on his feet and follow the straight and narrow path. Unfortunately, fate has other plans.
This is a deeply personal story, with a heavy focus on how trauma stays with us and shapes us as people. At times it plays like a low-key version of The Boondock Saints, with a healthy mixture of serious stakes and playful, realistic dialogue. The nightmares where Daniel relives his pain at the hands of Father Reilly are particularly strong visual metaphors. And it’s all kept within a very small circle of characters and events, with the backdrop of New York giving the proceedings an air of suspense and a mournful sense of loneliness, showing that many little moments can have dire consequences, but still not matter to the wider world.
Tales of Babylon
Closing the celebration this year will be Tales of Babylon, written and directed by Pelayo De Lario, and produced by his brother Pablo. Set in London, the non-linear story sees several different hitmen crossing paths when it comes to the security of a crime lord’s grandchildren.
This is a delightful film that wears its inspirations plainly on its sleeve. There are several homages to Pulp Fiction (including an outright declaration of reference at one point), and stylistically things play out like a bridge between Quentin Tarantino and Guy Ritchie, with recreated camera shots as well as self-aware lines that comment directly on the absurdity of the situation. There’s even a minor character who speaks in an unintelligible accent a la Brad Pitt in Snatch.
Told on a much larger scale than Forgive Me Father, this movie features a very game ensemble cast, with engaging and funny turns from the likes of Aaron Cobham, Maria Crittell, and veteran character actor Clive Russell. But by far the star-making performances come from two sources. The first is Philip Tomlin as Martin, a normal workaday bloke pushed to the limit in scenes that bookend the picture (imagine a younger, cockney version of Milton from Office Space once he cracks). The second is Ray Calleja as “X,” who pairs up with Cobham’s “Y” as a duo of enforcers. They play off each other exceedingly well, but Calleja steals nearly every scene he’s in, carrying the bulk of the comedic load.
But it’s not all winking laughs and knowing glances. There’s also a tight, easy-to-follow plot, as well as some pretty exemplary fight choreography and stunt work courtesy of AJ North, who also has a small role. Add in some excellent editing and music, and you’ve got a film that’s clearly tipping its hat to its genre forebears while also staking out some territory of its own. As X himself notes early on, “It’s not copying if it’s inspiration.” That could come off as a cheap excuse for parody in lesser hands, but the De Lario brothers make it clear that they’re showing due respect and appreciation while demonstrating that they’re capable of taking well-worn ideas in new directions.
The Brooklyn Film Festival kicks off this Friday, June 7th at the Windmill Studios in Brooklyn, NY. For more information visit the festival website.
Originally published at https://behindtherabbitproductions.wordpress.com on June 1, 2023.
