Month: April 2006

Heavy Metal Jr. (Scotland, 2005, Director: Chris Waitt, 24 minutes): Hatred are a heavy metal band from Scotland. And they’re all under 13 years old. This hilarious film follows the band as they prepare for their first ever live performance. In the weeks before their show, their bassist quits, and they have to write some original songs to perform. One of the best parts of the film was watching their manager (the drummer’s father) show them some showbiz moves of his own. Along the way, we get some insight into band dynamics that wouldn’t seem out of place in a film like This Is Spinal Tap, except with parents as stand-ins for managers and girlfriends.

By the end, though, I was really pulling for the lads, and watching them perform their three original songs (including a catchy little ditty entitled “Satan Rocks”) in front of an audience of pensioners and teenyboppers dressed in pink was actually heartwarming. The sight of them signing autographs afterward just reinforced for me why all boys get into rock bands anyway: for the chicks.

(8/10)

The Railroad All Stars (Spain, 2006, Director: Chema Rodriguez, 91 minutes): The film tells the story of an unlikely soccer team made up of Guatemalan prostitutes, formed to draw attention to the constant harassment and violence they suffer. Although this sounds desperately sad, the film was filled with moments of humour and even joy. Shot on a tiny budget, the actual soccer scenes were hard to watch, both for the jerky camera movements and the necessity of watching subtitles. But this film was filled with memorable characters, from Marina, the one-eyed ex-prostitute alcoholic and her devoted husband, to Valeria, the beauty with the gang member boyfriend in prison for murder.

La Linea is the railway line that runs through their poor neighbourhood, and so they name their team Estrellas de la Linea and begin taking on teams all over the country, including a team of female police officers. The whole idea of these women forming a unified group is remarkable in itself, since the very nature of their work makes them rivals with each other. And indeed the team and its political program is short-lived, but we do get a sense that many of these women want to change their lives.

Unfortunately, the situation in Guatemala remains bad, with violence against women (especially prostitutes) continuing to rise. The hope for real change is dim, but at least in the lives of these particular women, we see some rays of light.

PDF and link to story from The Global Game from November 2004

NPR story from January 2005 on the team

(8/10)

NOW Toronto: NNN (out of 5) (review)
EYE Weekly: *** (out of 5) (review)