Thursday, October 9, 2008

EIFF: The Miracle / Jonna's Body, Please Hold

These were two short movies that were shown together.

The Miracle is about a little-person recounting a "miracle" that happened when she and her mother fulfilled a life-long dream of visiting Lourdes. (I don't think what happened was well set-up to be a "miracle" ... it was a bit more of an "obvious" ... but potayto potahto) I believe it is based on the actress's own life. I really liked the fanciful storytelling in this movie, especially how the actress played herself from age 5 to 48 (she's a youthful-looking woman, and frankly makes herself positively adorable in high pigtails as a 5 year old). At times, it was a bit surreal and goofy for my tastes, but there is no getting around how watchable and endearing this actress is.

Jonna's Body, Please Hold is a story told primarily from the point of view of the inner workings of a woman's body -- I believe all bodypart characters are played by the same actress. I think I was expecting something like a live action Osmosis Jones. What I got was a lengthy (even though it was short film) inside look on what happens when a body is fighting cancer. It was like those Archie comics I bought on one vacation when I was a kid that turned out to be Christian-message Archie comics. Nothing bad, just not what I thought I was buying into -- and a bit more preachy than I was looking for.

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