By Tom Jozwik
Filmed in 2019 and directed by Iuli Gerbase, “The Pink Cloud,” a 105-minute Brazilian entry in this year’s Milwaukee Film Festival (MFF), might be labeled a precursor of the coronavirus pandemic. But an even better description of the cinematic story would probably be “COVID-19 on steroids.”
In a contemporary time frame, without apparent warning, a lethal pink cloud materializes and encircles the earth. A dogwalker drops dead on a Brazilian pier. Soon, people are advised to close their doors and windows and sequester inside their homes or whatever buildings happen to be closest at hand. In the midst of sequestration, supplies are delivered (via “the tube”) to the citizenry, school classes are conducted remotely, relatives and friends are forced to limit contact to cellphone calls (sound familiar?).
On the positive side, as somebody in the movie points out, car crashes are nonexistent and the crime rate is way, way down. Perhaps the suicide rate is down as well, although one high-rise window jumper is seen from a distance in “The Pink Cloud.”
This is a dark film, figuratively and literally, a dystopian drama in the tradition of “Testament” (1983), a claustrophobic motion picture along the lines of “Room” (2015). Still, “The Pink Cloud” is undeniably intriguing in a world that, of necessity, has become much more virtual since the movie was made. “We’re fine,” positive thinker Yago (Eduardo Mendonca), the male lead, tells his fellow characters after several years of confinement. Maybe they aren’t, really. But viewing “The Pink Cloud,” COVID-19 veterans will realize that we, comparatively, certainly are.
***
A much lighter movie is “Jackie & Oopjen,” a Dutch offering in the MFF’s Rated K: For Kids category, directed by Annemarie van de Mond. The 90-minute film is a fun fantasy in which Oopjen Coppit (Sarah Bannier), female subject of a Rembrandt painting displayed in an Amsterdam museum, returns to life and befriends Jackie Meyer (Frouke Verheijde), 12-year-old daughter of the museum’s curator.
Recommended for viewers aged 8 and above, “Jackie & Oopjen” is a Disneyesque picture, capably acted, quick-paced and good-humored, with a dash or more of poignancy. Its plot has the adult Oopjen bent on finding her long-lost sister, who has been memorialized in a portrait by another artist. Jackie introduces the 17th century visitor to 21st century life as she joins in Oopjen’s quest. Oopjen’s bemusement with electricity and electronics, conveyances and colloquialisms—and her regenerated interest in beer after some 400 years—provide plenty of levity along the way.
***
The 2021 Milwaukee Film Festival runs online through May 20. Individual films can be viewed for $8 ($5 for Milwaukee Film members), and more information can be obtained, at mkefilm.org/festival.