AFI Fest 2007: Day Five – Dysfunctional Families

How refreshing it was to see three films that offered such stylistically different takes on a similar subject-matter during my fifth day attending AFI Fest! As the title of this piece suggests, all three of these pictures deal with the tormented souls living in dysfunctional families and, to a lesser extent, the healing that they discover through their kinship. Still, Carlos Reygadas’ Silent Light, Tamara Jenkins’ The Savages, and Sol Tyron’s The Living Wake couldn’t be more different from one another. Not only do they all take place in radically different locations (geographically and socially) on the globe; they are also miles apart in terms of plot, circumstance, and theme. This is a testament to the versatility and openness of the medium of film as a whole. It was a joyous experience for me to be able to watch each picture on the same day as its counterparts, an opportunity that allowed me to juxtapose the works in my mind and come to better understand all of them in the process. [Read more]