A Scene at the Sea (1991) vs. Festival (1996) These two films are polar opposites.
A Scene at the Sea is filled with lots of wordless long takes where the characters simply inhabit and exist in a place and time.
Festival constantly has characters narrating, talking, reminiscing and arguing.
A Scene at the Sea centers on two characters spending a lot of time at the beach. He surfs, she watches.
Festival is an ensemble piece about an entire family coming together after their grandmother dies.
While it is true that one film is much closer to my person tastes in film, it just so happens that it’s also the film that does a much better job at being what it sets out to be.
A Scene at the Sea goes all out with its commitment to an aesthetic and the idea, so much so that both characters are mute. It is their actions that speak of their affections, fears, mistrusts and devotions. Plenty of characters talk around them, both in terms of being around them and not quite understanding them, but they never feel the need to explain themselves to others.
Meanwhile,
Festival can never fully commit to anything. The voiceover appears and wanes as the film feels it needs to drop information on the audience, the film follows the family members, then it follows an outside reporter (another hackney tool to present information to the audience), then it follows the family members again. There are flashbacks, but they lack cohesion of purpose. Are these to paint a portrait of the dying grandmother or are they trying to demonstrate the nature of the family?
And then there is the whole upbeat nature of the family that seems to keep forgetting that they’ve come together because of the grandmother’s death. Drinking and partying happens until someone remembers and hushes everyone to represent the proper amount of grief. This, too, fails to lack clarity.
Festival tries to be more, but the purity and simplicity of
A Scene at the Sea is so much better. Some might say this is because it is less ambitious, and it is, but I think it’s just as hard, if not harder, to make a film as simple as compelling as it ends up being.
Festival is sloppy, using lazy techniques to deliver an overabundance of information that doesn’t feel like it adds up to anything.
A Scene at the Sea gives the audience just enough to remain interested and invest in the characters, which is always a hard thing to achieve in this style of film.
Above all else,
A Scene at the Sea ended up being a lot more enjoyable. Watching the boy slowly acclimate to surfing while the girl wordlessly watches on is a much more low-key, relaxing affair. It feels like taking a vacation with these characters, experiencing moments of reprieve in their lives. The almost constant soundscape of the rolling waves is soothing and relaxing. In contrast,
Festival feels cluttered, noisy, obnoxious and overbearing.
VerdictA Scene at the Sea moves up to the next bracket. Yes, I’m partial to this style of film, but it’s also much better at realizing its style than
Festival is at realizing its style. How long it will last will probably live or die with the disposition of whoever covers it next, which is fine. It’s not a film for everyone, I can’t see this film making it into the final sixteen, but it will probably be one of my favorites of the bracket by the time we get to the end.