HOT DOCS 2014: Reviews Set 3

April 30, 2014 | By Mark R. Hasan

With the final third of Hot Docs 2014 approaching, here’s another set of reviews covering an eclectic quartet of subjects.

Canadian film icon Claude Jutra (Mon oncle Antoine) is revisited in the clever short film Jutra (2014) which covers his entry into filmmaking and his tragic death at 56 via film and audio of the director from various archival sources. Little of Jutra’s work is on DVD, but the NFB’s website contains several of his short and feature-length work. (Hint: checking both English and French language criteria in a search will yield more titles in the NFB’s online catalogue of viewable / buyable titles, of which you can expect to see a few reviews here in the coming months.)

Japan’s love hotels – places where singles and couples can engage in guilt-free fantasies, whoopee, or just cuddle – are explored in Love Hotel (2014), apparently legit venues under threat from a more conservative government wanting to curtail terrible things like dancing after midnight and mirrors on the ceiling.

Next is The Nose – Searching for Blamage The / The Nose – Zoeken naar Blamage (2013), a zippy and beautifully photographed short doc about perfume creator Alessandro Gualtieri and his quest to find his third perfect scent for his next perfume. From Holland to India, Dubai and Italy, this is a gorgeous little film that’s equally funny.

Lastly, there’s Pipeline / Truba (2013), a Russian production in which the 4500 kilometers of Siberia’s Urengoy-Pomary-Uzhgorod natural gas pipeline are seen via short stays with eccentric locals in towns and cities that flow from Russia to Germany. At 2 hours, it’s among the longest films at Hot Docs, but worth it if you appreciate striking images, a pacing where the camera hovers, sits and observes, and some truly oddball characters, including bad tuba playing and a veterinarian demonstrating the extraordinary dimensions that lie inside a humble bovine.