On the Road: Montpelier

While this was not our first time attending the annual Green Mountain Film Festival in Montpelier, Vermont, it was our first time staying in town overnight in an effort to see as many movies as possible over two days.  We stayed at the Capital Plaza Hotel right downtown.  It served our purposes well, though we didn't spend much of our time there - perfect place to sleep and park our car with participating theaters within easy walking distance.  We managed to see five films in all, representing a reasonably broad range, I think.

Title: Ernest & Celestine
Directors: Stéphane Aubier, Benjamin Renner and Vincent Patar
Original Release: 2012
My Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

Ernest & Celestine was the festival's main family-friendly feature, based on the children's book series of the same name by Belgian author/illustrator Gabrielle Vincent.  Ernest is a bear, sweet-natured but down on his luck.  Celestine is an orphaned mouse with an artistic flair.  Their worlds want nothing to do with each other but the two form a bond that surprisingly reminded me of The Professional, though certainly cleaned up for a younger audience.  Wife and daughter both liked this animated movie more than I did.  The story is, indeed, very sweet but one viewing was enough for me.

Title: The Keymaster: Patrick Olwell's Story
Director: Blayne Chastain and Jem Moore
Original Release: 2013
My Overall Rating: 3 stars out of 5

via Whistle & Drum

The festival's bread and butter is documentaries and this profile of master Irish flute maker Patrick Olwell (Irish flutes, that is.  The creator is American.) seemed a likely fit for us.  While there are some panning shots of the craftsman's workshop, most of the film centers around Olwell, his sons and the many players who are partial to his product, up to and including Matt Molloy of the Chieftans.  I certainly enjoyed the film but I couldn't help feeling there was something missing from it and I didn't realize what it was until we watched the fifth and final movie in our marathon - so more on that when we get to it.  Of the five, it was also the one that proved the strongest test of Our Girl's stamina - nothing inappropriate, but still well short of child friendly.

Title: More Than Honey
Director: Markus Imhoof
Original Release: 2012
My Overall Rating: 4 stars out of 5

via Facebook

I am a sucker for nature documentaries.  Our daughter likes them, too, but My Wife is not so keen.  As such, she approached this German film about the global bee crisis with great reluctance.  But in the end, even she was impressed.  Of the three documentaries we saw, this one definitely had the biggest budget, with travel through Europe, the United States, Australia and China plus CGI graphics portraying the miniature world of bees.  Some have criticized the film for not taking the bee problem quite seriously enough but I was definitely convinced of the threat to the world's food supply.  According to the movie, 1/3 of what we eat is dependent on bees and populations are dwindling throughout the globe.

Title: Approved for Adoption
Directors: Jung Henin and Laurent Boileau
Original Release: 2012
My Overall Rating: 5 stars out of 5

via Eye on Films

Approved for Adoption, our second animated French-Belgian film of the weekend, was my favorite of the whole bunch.  Based on his comic book of the same name, the movie is Jung's autobiographical account of his childhood being adopted from Korea into a Belgian family.  Interspersed with the animation is family-movie footage as well as a live-action documenting of his first return trip to Korea as an adult.

Classified by the festival as a kids movie, Approved for Adoption is definitely PG-13.  While there is plenty of humor, a lot of the material is very heavy.  Jung's quest for self-identity was not always a happy one and we are spared few details.  There is also brief, animated nudity during an adolescent fantasy sequence ("Why'd they have to show that?" Our Girl demanded to know.).  Any movie that makes me tear up is guaranteed at least a 4 in my book and Approved for Adoption was safe on that score.  5s are the films by which I judge other films and this movie's honest portrayal of navigating family dynamics and coping with a sense of otherness was breathtaking.  The story was riveting.  Of the weekend's five movies, it was the one in which I worried about our daughter's restless wiggling the least.

Title: Béla Fleck: How to Write a Banjo Concerto
Directors: Béla Fleck and Sascha Paladino
Original Release: 2013
My Overall Rating: 5 stars out of 5

via Wikipedia

Regular visitors to The Squid know that I award movies a 5 only very rarely so seeing two worthy films within a few hours of each other was a delightful surprise.  When banjo virtuoso Béla Fleck was commissioned to write a concerto for his instrument, he decided to document his creative process with the help of his filmmaker half-brother Sascha Paladino.  Beginning with an empty computer screen in a cabin on the Oregon coast and ending with the first public performance at Nashville's Schermerhorn Symphony Center, we are witness to moments of triumph, doubt and anguish throughout.  While certainly a grand master musician by any measure, Béla is a bit out of his depths with orchestral music and is very generous in sharing his insecurities with us.

As part of his process, Béla asked to visit with the Nashville Symphony's principals so he could learn about their instruments.  He was surprised they accepted but I wasn't.  Orchestras commission works all the time and I would imagine few if any of the composers bother to ask the contra-bassoonist, the principal trombonist or even the concertmaster for input before submitting a near-finished piece.  For me, these interviews were the best part of the movie.

Watching this film helped me to sort out what was missing from The Keymaster.  What I love most about music documentaries or films about any art form is learning about the creative process.  The Keymaster was mostly about Olwell's life - fine but I don't know a thing about making flutes.  Even if I did, I'd want to see more of the craftsman in action, to understand what his art is all about so I can better marvel at his genius.  As the title implies, Béla Fleck's movie was all about process and was far more satisfying to me as a result.

Finally, the real treat: the headliner moment of the entire festival.  After the screening, Béla Fleck himself came out, first to perform, then to answer audience questions.  We didn't stay for the entire session - Our Girl's patience was reaching a quite reasonable limit by that point - but long enough to enjoy the magic of the moment.  Both on film and on stage, Béla Fleck comes across as a very articulate and accessible artist.  Bluegrass has never really been my thing but I'm certainly a fan now.


The festival was definitely a test of endurance for our daughter but on the way home, she said she'd do it again sometime.  If our school and work schedules allowed it, I'd happily go for the entire 10-day event.  I'm not sure My Wife is quite there but I think she'd be up for more.