On Sunday–MIFF Day 3–we had altered our schedule dropping VALO to see MOMMA’S MAN.  Today offered a second opportunity to see VALO.  This Finnish film is based on a true story about a real individual Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo.  Not only is he known for getting the youth in his community to form their own school in the face of oppression from Czarist Russia, but this was only the beginning of a long life devoted to opposing injustice.  This film is part of the Fireflies Youth Film Program which is dedicated to presenting films from around the world that are for children and the child that resides in all of us no matter one’s actual chronological age.   The film’s story is quite inspiring and the film is generally competently presented by a professional cast and crew including a talented–if not outstanding–group of child actors.  There are some moments when the storytelling seems more a pageant of  Aleksanteri Ahola-Valo’s life than a drama, but the biggest liability was  having a reader for the subtitles.  The reading was flat and unemotional robbing the film of its humanity and vitality.  Unfortunately, the subtitles included the main character’s name ”Valo” when he was being addressed by other characters and the reader followed his instructions to read everything in the subtitles.  There really isn’t much gained by having the reader echo what the characters in the film have articulated clearly.  Readers are one option for making films from around the globe accessible for pre-reading and beginning reading children.  There are FM broadcast systems that would allow the subtitle readings to be targeted to just children (or adults) that need them.  I daresay that the three youngsters at the screening that I attended were probably all at the low end of the suggested age range of 10-18 and should have been able to read the subtitles by themselves.  The decision on whether a reader is used may need to depend on what is the low end of the age-appropriate target audience.  Audiences expected to include youngsters under eight years of age should probably have a reader.  Another option would be to have some screenings of a particular film designated as having a reader and others without the reader so that filmgoers can choose.  A reader could also be available and the audience asked if anyone wants to have the subtitles read.  However, we certainly would hope to avoid having a child feel pressured to decline having a reader if the child really needs one.  Another point of emphasis should be making readers familiar enough with the film’s story that they can read with the appropriate emotional infection.  It may also be beneficial to have more than one reader.  Certainly the Fireflies organizers need to continue to evaluate this aspect of the program.

Writer-director-actor Emmanuel Mouret’s SHALL WE KISS is a delightfully gentle comedy that elicits smiles and chortles throughout.  It has been pithily described as an amalgamation of  the sensibilities of Woody Allen and the French director Eric Rohmer.  The subject, as both directors have been wont to investigate, is love.  Emilie (Julie Gayet) is a Paris fabric designer who happens to be on a business trip to Nantes.  Looking for a taxi, she asks for assistance from passer-by Gabriel (Michaël Cohen).  He ends up giving her a ride, then sharing a meal, and, afterward, tries to give her a kiss.  Emilie demurs telling him that she is afraid of the power that can reside in a single kiss.  At Gabriel’s urging she goes on to tell the story of her fellow Parisians Nicolas (Mouret), Judith (Virginie Ledoyen), and Judith’s husband Claudio (Stefano Accorsi).  Starved for physical affection, Nicolas approaches his longtime close friend with a request for her assistance and it must include kissing.  It isn’t hard to fathom where this behavior might lead and there is an elaborate set of machinations that are set in motion, but a la Rohmer the film never builds up the freneticism to be classified as farce though it is very amusing.  Back in Nantes, Gabriel and Emilie have to leave the restaurant with the story still incomplete and end up in Emilie’s hotel room.  The story continues as the lovers plot to find a new love for Claudio.  Eventually, Emilie reveals how she fits in with the people in her story.  Mouret’s film has a wonderful romantic score carefully culled from classical music.  Gayet is terrific as the warm, yet mysteriously reserved Emilie who pours out her Sheherazade-like tale.  She manages the near-impossible task of out-shining the beautiful Ledoyen.  As their day together turns into the next morning, Emilie has to decide if Gabriel’s patience should entitle him to a kiss.  The two of them will always have Nantes.

Turkish-born, but Italy-based writer-director Ferzan Ozpetek also offers his own meditation on the vagaries of love, friendship, and grief with SATURN IN OPPOSITION.  Working with co-screenwriter Gianni Romoli, this is an ensemble piece with a group of friends some of whom are gay and others are straight.  This has beautiful people who sometimes look a little too much alike.  The film unfolds primarily as a series of conversations. The score is beautifully melodic and soothing.  Though there is the pain of betrayal and the grief borne of the untimely death of a lover, these raw emotions seethe instead of explode.  In short, it is a less-than-ideal film for a fatigued festival-goer to see as the final film of the day.  Alas, I fell asleep and not just for a momentary prolonged blink now and again.  There were several minutes of unconsciounsness in a couple of different places.  So I have to refrain from offering an assessment as to the quality of the film.  It would, no doubt, be a much different film to watch at a different time when I am able to stay awake for the entire film.