Two more short documentary films from this year's online Bolton Film Festival.
1. Tears Teacher - Japan - Dir: Noemie Nakai
We take a look at a Japanese man who believes in the restorative and curative power of crying, and from his own personal experience now teaches seminars and group workshops to help people allow the tears to flow. He's much more 'touchy' and emotional now, but also feels much healthier and happier because he cries a lot.
There really is nothing more to this documentary and even at 10 minutes the film feels too long. We watch parts of a group therapy session he conducts and listen to him speak monotonously and repetitively about his obsession. It doesn't help that the film is in Japanese - a language not noted for its inflective and tonal variance. And ultinately, apart from gaining the knowledge that there is a Japanese man out there helping people to cry, we learn nothing more and nothing new.
2. A Fistful Of Rubbish - Spain - Dir: David Regos
With a comedy homage title to the famous Westen, 'A Fistful Of Dollars', this documentary takes us to Europe's only desert, a large area of South West Spain called Tabernas. This has been the Hollywood filming location for so many iconic and famous Western films, and the Wild West townships they built for the films are now renovated and lived in by both those who want to get away from the rat-race of city life, and the actors who make a living by taking extra roles and bit parts in the big Hollywood films that use the location.
The problem however is the rubbish! Because it is a desert, waste doesn't decompose as it would do in a more termperate climate, and because it is remote and sparsely poopulated, the city folk come here to fly tip. The desert is filling up with human-produced waste. It's not just plastic, but household items and furniture, bulding materials, and everything in between, and so the residents, headed by one Jules Phillip, have taken it upon themselves to clean the desert of waste. Not only do they have days when they go out and collect as much as they can - often bringing back several tonnes worth of rubbish - but they also regularily petition the government environmentalists for help too. They won't be satisfied until the desert is spotless again.
Some of it comes across as a bit religious, a priest is involved in the clean-up posse, but his tone can be seen as a little sanctimonious; and this seesaws with the director wanting to Westernify the frames or mood every now and again, and so we are left with something that is a little disjointed. But it gets the point across, and the desert scenery is truly magnificent and breathtaking.
Reviewer - Matthew Dougall
on - 21/10/20
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