As per the MIFF guide: “In 1917, British diplomat Edward is stationed in Burma and travels by train from Rangoon to Mandalay, where Molly, his fiancée of seven years, is finally arriving to join him. But before her steamship can dock, Edward loses his nerve and flees on the next boat to Singapore. This doesn’t deter the exuberant Molly, who promptly sets off after her cowardly bridegroom. He leads Molly on a chase through Bangkok, Saigon, Manila, Osaka, Shanghai, Chongqing, Chengdu and onwards – even through history, transcending storytelling itself.”
Coming into Miguel Gome's “Grand Tour”, I had no idea what to expect nor whether I was to like it, but I was significantly enough entranced by his 2012 film “Tabu”, that I thought it was worth taking a chance on, and boy was I glad that I did because what I got with “Grand Tour” was a celebration of cinema, of what it can be, and the playfulness that can be had within it. Gome's “Grand Tour” was an absolute delight from start to finish, and at just past the half way point of this year's MIFF, I can say that it is currently my favourite film of the festival.
The way the film came about is a story in itself so I will briefly detail that now. Director Miguel Gomes and his co-screenwriters Telmo Churro, Maureen Fazendeiro and Mariana Ricardo were making the same journey across South East and East Asia as their characters from “Grand Tour” end up making. They travelled through Thailand, Vietnam, the Philippines, Japan and China, and were accompanied by cinematographer Sayombhu Mukdeeprom who took 16mm footage of the local flavours, particularly of the arts and demonstrations of them. Moments of people just living their lives, the local traffic etc were filmed to document the journey in some detail. It is during this trip that Gomes and his writers came up with the characters and the story specifics that was to become “Grand Tour”. However before their journey ended, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the filmmakers to abort their journey to China, where footage from that country was ultimately shot by cinematographer Guo Liang, while being directed by Gomes through a computer screen at his home in Lisbon. The actual story scenes featuring the characters Edward and Molly were then shot in a studio with Gomes' regular cinematographer Rui Pocas.
What I loved so much about “Grand Tour” was that it just felt so fresh and alive; it was so much fun. Gomes was clearly enjoying himself as he was playing around with cinematic convention and styles at a rapid rate, but it all feels of the same whole (if that make sense). This is a movie that really shouldn't work and yet it does so beautifully. It is part documentary, part travelogue, and part narrative feature which when combined together creates this energetic, playful and simply amazing movie. I must admit that it actually took me a little while to understand what I was looking at, when the film begins with documentary footage of modern Burmese fairground workers before transitioning to the story of Edward, a British man who has been engaged to Molly for the past seven years. Edward's story may take place in the same country as the documentary footage, but his story is set way back in 1917. So for me, the connection between the two elements was not immediate, but once I worked it out, it didn't make me question why the director would choose to put elements so different from one another together, it excited me that he would try such a daring thing. The documentary footage is just as brilliant as the images created for the narrative sections of the film.
Another aspect which shows how playful Gomes is being is his use of language throughout the film. While we are watching this documentary footage of wherever Edward and Molly may be within the story, elements of their story are narrated to us by an unknown narrator. Depending on which country the action takes place in, determines what language is spoken by the narrator (who changes each time a country does). So if Edward or Molly are in Japan, the narration detailing their journey would be spoken in Japanese, which would then change to Mandarin when they move on to China. I absolutely loved the idea, and again thought it worked splendidly throughout, but what makes it even a little more interesting, is that the characters themselves all speak Portuguese no matter where they are in the story. An added wrinkle to this is that Edward and Molly are actually British and yet never speak a word of English, only Portuguese.
In regards to the story of Edward and Molly, it is as simple as it comes, with Edward getting cold feet just before reuniting with Molly and fleeing on the first boat he sees. Molly amused by the antics of her fiance, follows on the next boat while anticipating where he may turn up next so she can meet him there. She sends correspondence to him via telegrams, which in turn makes him flee further and the chase continues. The story is a small intimate one, but told in a large grand style. As I mentioned above, Gomes shot these scenes on a stage with his regular cinematographer Rui Pocas, and the black and white images are stunning. Gomes and Pocas lean into the artifice of cinema creating the most perfectly composed images to tell their story. The stage bound look of these images is obvious and necessary, so Pocas can get the exact light and conditions needed to create said shots. Instead of trying to hide the fact that these images were created on a stage, they embrace it, so you always remember you are watching a movie and not a documentary. The final shot of the film even goes so far as to rise above the stage to expose Gomes and Pocas themselves filming the actors down below. Just like every other part of this film, this narrative section sees Gomes having his fun by using iris shots (like a silent film), superimpositions, and bleeping out unexpected swearing (in a very funny sequence) to name a few. As the characters enter a new country and are amazed by the sights, sounds and colours of this new place, the switch back to documentary footage of that same place today exposes the similar amazement Gomes and his team must have felt when visiting those places too.
Goncalo Waddington and Crista Alfaiate play our heroes Edward and Molly, and both are wonderful. Waddington plays Edward as a nice guy, a little lost who doesn't really know what he wants, but through his journey begins to discover what is important to him and who. At times he is a little grumpy, and hates on himself the more he discovers how much of a coward he actually is. Alfaiate as Molly though is just this burst of energy. She is constantly smiling, styled in a look as if she had come off of a film set of a 1930's movie, moving through life like a force of nature. She is just so alive, which turns out to be quite an ironic observation. You cannot help but fall in love with Molly; she is constantly laughing and enjoying every moment of her journey. Even when the trip starts to wane on her and her strength, she still holds herself with class and a respect towards others. She is a beautiful character. The other character that I loved was Ngoc, a Vietnamese maid that Molly befriends late in the film. Played by Lang Khe Tran, I was rapt when Molly ended up taking Ngoc on her journey with her, as she becomes less of a maid and more of a best friend.
Overall, if you cannot tell already, I absolutely adored Miguel Gomes' “Grand Tour” and as of this writing, it is my favourite film I have seen at MIFF this year. Part documentary, part travelogue, part narrative feature......complete brilliance! I honestly do not know how “Grand Tour” all comes together as well as it does, because it really shouldn't, but not only did I love the film, it also excited me by how playful it was in regards to cinema itself and what cinema can actually be. It didn't play by the rules and was all the better for it. Thankfully, I have overheard other people at the film festival echoing my sentiments about “Grand Tour” and just how great it was. It truly is a stunning achievement and Miguel Gomes definitely deserved his Best Director Award at Cannes this year for it.
4.5 Stars.
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