{"id":4006,"date":"2015-09-23T14:00:06","date_gmt":"2015-09-23T19:00:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/?p=4006"},"modified":"2015-09-22T14:03:24","modified_gmt":"2015-09-22T19:03:24","slug":"fantastic-fest-2015-preview-day-eight","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.revolutionsf.com\/revblogs\/geekcurmudgeon\/2015\/09\/23\/fantastic-fest-2015-preview-day-eight\/","title":{"rendered":"Fantastic Fest 2015 Preview Day Eight"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Art<\/a>

Art by Chris Bilheimer<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

It\u2019s that time again for my sojourn to Fantastic Fest<\/a>, the annual Alamo Drafthouse week long love letter to horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. This year\u2019s festival runs from Sept 24-October 1, here in Austin at the South Lamar location.<\/p>\n

As in year\u2019s past, I begin my coverage with a multi-part\/day preview.<\/p>\n

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Fantastic Fest Preview Day\u00a0Eight<\/strong><\/h1>\n

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Evolution<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/h2>\n

Life probably began in the sea. Billions of years ago, amino acids joined together in the primordial soup to form the first simple microbes that evolved over the eons into the complex organisms that now dominate this world. Because of this, we\u2019re frequently drawn to use the sea in film as a metaphor of life. Lucile Hadzihalilovic\u2019s newest film, EVOLUTION, takes our longing of the sea and shows its beauty; even lingers on how wonderfully alien it can be. Life probably began in the sea, but it\u2019s still unknown and deadly to us, as life can certainly also end in the sea.<\/p>\n

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Like her 2004 film INNOCENCE, Hadzihalilovic\u2019s narrative here is an examination of gender and morality that uses children as its main characters. With EVOLUTION, Hadzihalilovic introduces us to Nicholas, a pre-teen boy who lives on a small Mediterranean island populated only by young boys and women. Nicholas takes medicine for a mysterious illness that forces him to visit the local hospital. Whatever is wrong with him, it\u2019s bad enough that he needs emergency surgery and is then quarantined to round-the-clock care. He\u2019s never told what\u2019s wrong with him or the other boys, but he resists what\u2019s happening to him and holds onto a memory of a world outside his captivity.<\/p>\n

Framed by lush cinematography, Hadzihalilovic\u2019s vision plays out like a bastard child of PICNIC AT HANGING ROCK and THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU. Layer in a Lovecraftian fascination with the mysteries of the ocean, and you have one of the weirdest, most beautiful and enduring experiences of this year\u2019s fest. (James Shapiro)<\/p>\n