Possible Worlds- The Wild Hunt/Suck

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Winning Best Canadian First Feature Film at the recent Toronto International Film Festival, Alexandre Franchi’s The Wild Hunt is an original examination of power, or probably more accurately- the lack of it. Centred around medieval re-enactments and the world of LARPers (Live-Action Role Players), the film was shot in Quebec in an actual rural LARPing facility-Le Duché de Bicolline, using real LARPers as extras.

The film follows Erik Magnusson (Ricky Mabe), a non-player, as he enters the ‘medieval world’ to try and patch things up with his girlfriend Lyn (Kaniehtiio Horn), who has recently been seduced by the game. Will Erik enter into the spirit of the place with its Knights, Elves,Vikings and maurading Barbarians in order to reclaim his lady?

This film makes a pretty serious statement about modern men’s feelings of impotence. Seeking power by adopting identities from by-gone eras and getting thrills from staged battles- the fantasy world of the LARPers, in the film, is part-history, part-Tolkien. This imagined reality allows people with status concerns in everyday life to take on personas of kings and warriors- giving them a sense of power and purpose. This deliberate departure from the mandane ‘normal world’ is best realised through the character of Bjorn (Mark A. Krupa, Co-writer and Producer), leader of the Vikings and Erik’s brother. Bjorn is so reliant on his created identity that he is unable to leave the fantasy world, staying constantly in character.

The female characters in this film are left largely unexplored- especially Lyn, who is far from sympathetic, so much so that you wonder why Erik wants her back. The story surrounding the brothers, Erik and Bjorn is however a compelling one- making The Wild Hunt an impressive debut. The film takes its audience into a fascinating and curious setting- as it considers the darker side of human nature and the need to feel powerful. The Wild Hunt has a real sense of menace that grows as the characters push the boundaries of their created world and identities. How far will the game go?

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It was only a matter of time before a film combined vampires and rock music, because what’s cooler than the blood-sucking undead? The blood-sucking undead in a band! Suck is a rock musical that breaks with horror tradition, giving us vampires that aren’t all that pretty, or that broody; not concerned with eternal life, these blood-suckers are on a quest for eternal fame.

Suck tells the tale of a working band called The Winners. Touring bars in Canada and The States, the band has never had its ‘big break’. Living out of their tour hearse and with a truly crap manager (Dave Foley), The Winners seem to be going nowhere. That is until bassist Jennifer (Jessica Paré) has an unusual encounter with a mysterious audience member. Suddenly Jennifer’s stage appeal increases tenfold and the band actually gets a following. But at what cost?

Writer/director Rob Stefaniuk gives us a fun, at times absurdist, music-loving film with Suck. Along with the central band cast, the film also hosts to an eclectic mix of musician- including Alice Cooper, Iggy Pop and Moby. Suck plays for laughs not screams, with the more macabre moments twisted for comedic effect.

Using quirky special effects and with plenty of homages to the vampire genre and its musical influences this is a film with its tongue- firmly- in- its- cheek. Suck plays with a variation on the Robert Johnson and the Devil scenario, asking the question- how far would you go to be famous?

First Published in Trespass

Possible Worlds- Matt Ravier Interview

Possible Worlds- The Canadian Film Festival starts in Sydney on the 2nd August, for what will be its 5th year. Showcasing the diverse and exciting cinema of Canada the festival includes, features, shorts, documentaries and animations. Possible Worlds is the brainchild of Sydney based not-for-profit film festival organisation, The Festivalists, who also put on the Young at Heart and Access All Areas film festivals. On the 5th anniversary of the formation of The Festivalists (15th July) I caught up with one of its founders and its Artistic Director, Mathieu ‘Matt’ Ravier to discuss his passion for films, Canada cinema and Sydney’s Canadian Film Festival- Possible Worlds.

Matt’s interest in films was sparked at a young age, partially because of his limited access to them. His childhood bedtime meant that he only ever got to watch the first 20 minutes of films on television growing up- “this thing of having a curfew when I was younger and watching the first part of hundreds of films, really created this appetite because it felt like this forbidden thing that children didn’t have access to. You watch enough first half of movies- you just want to find out what happens to at least half of those”.

As a teenager Matt’s favourite pastime was going to the cinema, but it was a chance encounter with actor Harvey Keital, who was in Sydney promoting The Piano, that steered Matt towards a career in the industry. “Talking to Harvey Keital about his involvement with Tarantino, who was completely unknown at that time, producing Reservoir Dogs and acting in the film and just listening to him speak with such enthusiasm and passion… I think it was probably that day that I decided this is what I wanted to do- anyway possible, work in film. I had no idea back then what I wanted to do exactly within the film industry, but that was a key moment for sure.”

After school Matt returned to his native France to start a Business degree- “Both my parents are sort of lefty, ex-hippies and it was to get back at them. It was a rebellious move to go- look I’m going to become this really successful, really rich business man. Of course as soon as I started business school I realised I didn’t particularly enjoy it. But I did learn quite a lot of things that have been useful throughout the following years.” It was a last minute choice to study in Toronto that gave Matt his first exposure to the inner works of a film festival and Canadian Cinema- “I was really lucky to be able to do an MBA in Toronto, they have this amazing program there which is an MBA with a specialisation in Arts Admin. All your lecturers are Arts professionals and you get to learn a whole lot about how to run an Arts Organisation. As part of that I did an internship at the Toronto Gay and Lesbian film festival [Inside Out].” It was his experiences at Inside Out that propelled Matt into a career in film festivals. “That’s probably the year I thought wow, running a film festival is fun if you love films- because you get to watch a lot, you get to travel to film festivals, but it is also a cause in many ways. If you are working to showcase a cinema that is otherwise underrepresented then you are doing something beyond what say running a cinema entails- you are actually fighting for a cause. It is a cause I immediately recognised, it was something I believed in.”

The full interview can be read at Trespass