![]() ![]() I think it may have been the first Ugandan film to premiere at TIFF as well. It was the first time director Nabwana IGG had ever been in a movie theatre. It actually premiered at TIFF last year, with VJ Emmie doing live commentary. They may not have the best equipment or all the skills, or even consistent electricity and clean water, but they still make ridiculously enjoyable movies that anyone can have a good time with! I love them to death and will buy every single release they come out with, even though they have them up for free on YouTube! I just want to support them, the Blu-Ray is actually amazing and you should all go buy it! Crazy World is a very special Wakaliwood movie. Think RiffTrax or MST3K.) and just the passion and work that clearly goes into making these movies. Only two of their movies have made it to the rest of the world so far, Who Killed Captain Alex? and Bad Black, and they are AMAZING!!!!! They have tons of heart and humour that comes all together thanks to Video Joker (VJ) Emmie (In case you don't know what that is, these movies have their own humourous commentary tracks built-in. Wakaliwood is an independent film studio in Uganda that makes micro-budget crazy, over-the-top, hilarious action movies. The fact that her triumph runs simultaneous over twenty years to Louise's real-life collapse from celebrated star to the washed-up drunk who returned to Wichita in shame feels cheap and unearned.Ahem, allow me to explain. The Chaperone's quick wrap-up suggests that Norma's snap decision to change her life (by breaking every rule that's guided her narrow existence) somehow results in a seamless transition from frustration and powerlessness to complete happiness and self actualization. That Louise will become an international film star whose persona embodied the iconoclastic flapper of the Jazz Age - the precursor to the modern liberated woman - gives the story more weight than it would otherwise deserve. Performances by the endearing McGovern, who is around twenty years older than the book's character, and the cheeky Richardson are solid and admirable, but they can't overcome a sense that the script feels pat and obvious, relying on both a metaphorical and a real restrictive corset to remind us how repressed women of the time were. Twists and turns of this movie are alternately predictable and engaging, but for the most part the story seems a bit too timid and neatly tied up to pack the emotional punch it might have had. In contrast, Louise is so unrestrained, her freedom may end up harming her in a society not yet ready for her. Together these disappointments lead her to take charge of her life. Flashbacks to a trauma in Norma's marriage make it clear that she remains sexually unfulfilled. ![]() When she works around the obstacles and finds her mother, she's faced with the hypocrisy created by more rules that hold women back. Norma was adopted in New York and though she eagerly tries to find out who her parents were, the nuns at her orphanage refuse access to her records. Norma is a prohibitionist and Louise mischievously sneaks out to get drunk at a speakeasy. Although Norma admires Louise's talent and supports her breaking free of certain restraints, they're still at odds. Norma is so starchy she can't even imagine that Louise's candy has already been "unwrapped" and that the girl cares not at all about her prospects for marriage, a form of voluntary bondage in her view. ![]() "Men don't like candy that's been unwrapped," Norma advises the bemused Louise. Predictably, Louise feels constrained by the corseted Presbyterian moralist sharing her room. While THE CHAPERONE imagines the story of Wichita-bred movie star Louise Brooks (Haley Lu Richardson) as she heads to New York City of 1922 to study modern dance with the famed Denishawn dance company, the focus is on local matron Norma Carlisle (Elizabeth McGovern), who volunteers to accompany and watch over the 15-year-old in the wicked big city. ![]()
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