A key flaw with most “message” films is that they invite a one-sided dialogue in the event that they invite one in any respect.
The filmmakers take without any consideration that they’re addressing an ideologically homogenous viewers. They usually ignore the gradations throughout the political spectrum or the chance that somebody with a diametrically reverse viewpoint is perhaps curious to listen to their facet of the story.
They search nodding heads as an alternative of initiating a dialog.
Ann Marie Fleming’s “Can I Get A Witness?” shouldn’t be a groundbreaker in its try to do the latter, but it surely positive appears like one. It’s good to observe a film making an attempt to speak with you rather than speaking right down to you.
At an unspecified future date, all our ecological issues have been solved. The waters are clear, the skies are smog-free, overconsumption is now not a priority and the worldwide carbon footprint has shrunk to the dimensions of your little toe.
Aye, however right here’s the rub: this has been achieved partially by imposing limits on the human lifespan. As soon as attaining the age of fifty, all are required to endure euthanasia, achieved by opening a field containing poison fuel.
Surprisingly, most residents not solely agree with this coverage however fortunately comply. They deal with their fiftieth and last birthday as a type of going-away-forever celebration.
Current highschool graduate Kiah (Keira Jang) is assigned her first job as a Witness. She should sketch the final residing moments of individuals to protect their reminiscence.
Why not simply take an image? As a result of all types of images, digital or in any other case, are among the many applied sciences which were banned as a drain on vitality and assets.
Accompanied by Daniel (Joel Oulette), a extra skilled Witness assigned to information her by her first assignments, Kiah begins to doc these last moments based on the needs of the soon-to-be deceased.
Over time, nonetheless, the emotional burden begins to weigh on her and he or she begins questioning her society’s values, particularly since her mom (Sandra Oh, terrific as normal) has began to arrange for her fiftieth birthday.
“Can I Get A Witness?” isn’t meant as a practical depiction of tomorrow. Nor can it’s thought-about a satire, though Kurt Vonnegut followers will possible reply nicely to its social commentary. It’s finest described as a futuristic fable within the custom of Ray Bradbury, an extrapolation of present tendencies carried out in a poetic style.
Fantastically photographed by C. Kim Miles on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast, it captivatingly depicts an inconceivable however not unattainable future, one which has regained a lot however at a morally unsure worth.
Author-director Fleming (finest identified for the great animated movie “Window Horses”) has made a finely-crafted dialogue piece that isn’t a cinematic argument as a lot as it’s a set of questions:
- How a lot are you prepared to sacrifice personally for the widespread good?
- Can a really simply system impose such calls for on its citizenry?
Aside from the usage of COVID-19 face masks to guard onlookers from the poison fuel, there’s little or no that’s heavy-handed. Fleming has directed it with a lightweight, lyrical contact that doesn’t detract from the seriousness of the problems concerned.
Fleming’s film belongs to a really small subset of political movies that talk to audiences throughout the ideological spectrum. That record consists of Don Siegel’s “Invasion of the Physique Snatchers,” Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove” and Rene Daalder’s “Bloodbath at Central Excessive” (sure, you learn that final one proper).
These movies intentionally open themselves to a number of interpretations from numerous viewpoints.
#TIFFTribute Jury Chair Sandra Oh stars in Ann Marie Fleming’s CAN I GET A WITNESS? which could have its World Premiere at #TIFF24.
The movie additionally stars Keira Jang and Joel Oulette.https://t.co/CTPQX2f7Ld pic.twitter.com/oJWQDNwWsG
— TIFF (@TIFF_NET) July 22, 2024
Conservatives and progressives alike will discover a lot to answer with “Witness” and to debate amongst one another, offered they’re prepared to take action. Some viewers who adhere to notions of “human exceptionalism” may even see an indictment of what they regard because the irrational and inhumane lengths some activists will go to save lots of the Earth.
Maintain on, progressive environmentalists and even the filmmakers themselves may counter. What this film is admittedly saying is that we have to enact social change proper now, lest such radical measures turn into considered vital for staving off catastrophe.
Maintain on but once more, say the conservative environmentalists and Third Method sorts: possibly this film is making an attempt to say that we have to develop a rational environmental coverage with out dropping contact with our humanity or casting away the advantages of civilization.
Any one among these views are legitimate, and for that matter, all of them may very well be true without delay. There are nonetheless different concepts at work, comparable to these on the roles and obligations of the artist in society, that present additional meals for thought.
Any movie that tries to impress a civil dialogue ought to particularly be welcomed in our fractious panorama.
Paradoxically, if the film has a serious flaw, it’s among the best issues about it. Kiah’s sketches come to life by some superbly rendered animation seamlessly built-in into the dwell footage.
The impact is spellbinding, but it distracts us at instances after we ought to be paying nearer consideration to characters and dialogue. It’s additionally used inconsistently, with many of the animated sequences coming in the beginning.
There’s an apparent thematic purpose for this. It signifies that Kiah has not simply grown up however had her illusions of the skin world dispelled. Nevertheless, it additionally makes the usage of animation appear pointless and self-indulgent when the movie is already in a position to create an ambiance of magical realism with out it.
Nonetheless, “Can I Get A Witness?” is simply too strongly made, written and acted to let one flaw fully unweave it. This has been a dreary, uninspired 12 months for films, with most of 2024’s fare meriting little greater than an off-the-cuff look.”
“Can I Get A Witness?” is among the few that deserves an extended, arduous look.
A.A. Kidd is a sessional college teacher in Canada who proudly volunteers for the Windsor Worldwide Movie Pageant. He appreciates basic films, arduous science fiction and dangerous puns.
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