He Hated Pigeons

Just came home from an extraordinary experience. Ingrid Venninger's new film He HATED PIGEONS is amazing. It's wonderfully paced, impossibly beautiful, deeply moving... and totally engaging. Her star, PEDRO FONTAINE, gives a beautifully nuanced and subtle performance... a performance that the film allows time to breathe and grow. Equally impressive was the live music. I haven't had that experience in a cinema since the TIFF glory days when the old silents were making the rounds. Ingrid and her cinematographer Dylan MacLeod force one to truly confront the epic and monumental landscape of Chile... and it perfectly compliments the emotions on display. I was so so IMPRESSED. Ingrid is a national treasure....and for me personally the perfect kick in the ass.

I cannot help but wonder who Ingrid's muse is for her work is original in every aspect. I was at the film Premier with a live orchestra and a full house who all appreciated the film. The story is one we all know - the sudden loss of a loved one and what happens to the person left behind. Dylan Macleod's work as cinematographer catches the magnificent always changing landscape of the West coast of Chilli as the young man drives south to reconcile his personal loss. Pedro Fontaine engages us and he drives to find his own truth about death and life. The story is complete. The script is honed. Ingrid has done it again on her own terms and given us a must see feature film.

I loved this film. What a blessing to have been included in this experience. Have you watched a film with a live score before? Not only is Ingrid Veninger choosing a new artist to score her film for each respective film festival, she's also limiting her screenings to festivals only. No DVDs. No streaming. So if this film is playing in your city, see it.

Rozalind MacPhail live scored Veninger's St John's International Women's Film Festival's screening this October, her delicate use of flute and looping tracks perfectly balancing Veninger's meditative use of the film's Chilean landscape. Our film's hero, Elias, who travels at length to find that ephemeral "closure", is played by newcomer South American actor Pedro Fontaine. Fontaine is magnetic, his subtle ability to convey a tortured sadness impressive and matches perfectly with Veninger's restrained storytelling abilities (those of which are up there with the likes of Gus Van Sant and Wim Wenders.)

See this film if you can. You will never have the chance again.

For me, it is enough to define it as a film who real I love, in profound sense.

For atmosphere and for the levels of poetry, from story of a promiss to the loss boyfriend to the image, talks and reactions of people around Elias. For dog and calls to mother, for notebook and the truck, for the memories.

And, first, not doubtt, first, for beautiful acting of. Pedro Fontaine.

A film about grief, duty and nostalgia.

About life, in gentle - precise manner reflected.

A very simple story, moving in admirable measure, to the virtue to become a personal story for viewer.

The only conclusion - see it !

For the salted air, ocean and a lonely man driving a red truck across Chile .

A relatable transition story, HHP has few characters but excels in its pure diegesis. You are on this journey with Elias. You hurt when he hurts, you see what he sees, you have an experience with him.

As a big sucker for beautiful visuals, Dylan Macleod did an absolutely sterling job of capturing the natural beauty of Chile. The pacing of the film really adds to the sense of journey that the character is on in this story.

I was lucky enough to see the live score at Cucalorus film festival, performed by the magnificent Rozalind MacPhail, her ability to flawlessly fuse her sound with the film really made it something else. Tense and almost horror-like, gave me goosebumps throughout.

Overall, this film ticks a lot of boxes, the production was on point, which resulted in a high-quality film. The fact that Pedro Fontaine had never acted before also aided the film in terms of his character. Ingrid Veninger has a subtle signature to her films, one which will impact you more than you think. Her films will stay with you.