Reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films slated to open in Hamburg in January 2005.

 

After the Sunset 1/2

(Osanna V) Opening January 6, 2005

Brett Ratner directs Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson in a comedy action caper, set on Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

Max Burnett (Brosnan) and his beautiful partner Lola (Hayek) are master thieves, and they have just completed their finest coup: the robbery of the second (they already have the first) of the three incredible Napoleon diamonds. Now it’s time to retire and consider marriage vows, and Paradise Island is the perfect setting for a life of well-deserved… tranquillity. However, people’s idea of paradise varies: Lola is thoroughly delighted with everything the island has to offer, but Max soon wearies of yet another stunning sunset.

Excitement returns into Max’s life with the appearance of Stan (Harrelson), the FBI agent who has hounded his steps for the last seven years and who is convinced Max’s thieving days are not over; especially as "by coincidence" a luxury cruise ship has just docked for a week at the island, and the third Napoleon diamond is being exhibited on board.

In spite of Lola’s refusal to get involved, Max feels compelled to rise to the challenge: to steal the third diamond and outsmart Stan one last time. But, is that what really happens…?

After the Sunset is a light-hearted and entertaining way to spend a few winter hours out of the cold. The characters are relaxed and likable even if the focus on Hayek is all sexual, though harmless. However, as one of the male attendees said: "that’s what the guys are expecting".

 

Alles auf Zucker!

(Thelma F) Opening January 6, 2005

Jaeckie Zucker (Henry Hübchen) is a gambler in trouble. His wife (Hannelore Elsner, who you probably know from German TV) has threatened to divorce him and, if he cannot soon find a way to pay off his gambling debts, he is off to jail. The last chance for the ex-East German sports reporter is his mother's inheritance. However, there's a hitch! In order to inherit her money, there is a stipulation in the will that Jaeckie has to make up with his estranged brother Samuel (Udo Samel), an orthodox Jew from Frankfurt. When Samuel and his family show up in Berlin to sit shiva (observe the mourning period) with Jaeckie's family, we have two dysfunctional families with two different "cultures" in one household. The director, Dani Levy, provides lots of laughs, but, beware: the pace of the movie is really hectic.

 

The Bridesmaid (La Demoiselle d'honneur, Die Brautjungfer)

(Becky T) Opening January 6, 2005

Phillippe (Benoit Magimel) lives with his mother and two sisters. The older sister, Sophie, marries her volunteer fireman. At the wedding Philippe meets Senta (Laura Smet), who is part of the wedding party on the groom’s side. Now we are supposed to be drawn into a psychological thriller, which is certainly what author Ruth Rendell’s book, which provides the screenplay, is. Sadly, nothing can save the film. Senta is not beautiful, sensual or mysterious and if my son brought her home, I would worry about his brain and his libido. Perhaps a clue to Phillippe is that he loves stroking the cold marble bust of Roman goddess Flora which originally stood in the family garden and is now hidden in his room. They meet in Senta’s huge mansion which is not scary, but tacky; she lives in the basement and her stepmother dances the tango with her boyfriend upstairs -- no, nothing intriguing about them, either. Sophie demands a four-fold proof of Phillippe’s true love: plant a tree, write a poem, sleep with a man, and commit murder. Director Claude Chabrol has fifty years of film history behind him with such excellent films as Une affaire de femmes, Madame Bovary and Judgement in Stone (also based on a Rendell book) all starring Isabel Hubert or La femme Infidèle (which spawned a recent remake staring Richard Gere). Why didn’t Chabrol stop before he became boring? Perhaps he was providing jobs for family members, as here various Chabrols contribute acting, music, and script supervision. Read the book or check out the video of a really intriguing story of a devious woman who demands murder for proof of love: The Last Seduction by John Dahl.

 

Jersey Girl 1/2

(Kirsten G) Opening January 6, 2005

Writer/director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Dogma) ventures into new territory – parenthood – in Jersey Girl, his first “grown-up” film. Girl stars frequent Smith collaborator Ben Affleck as Ollie, a PR executive at the top of his game until his new wife (Jennifer Lopez in a brief appearance) dies giving birth to their daughter. Suddenly Ollie’s life is in a tailspin, and when he completely loses it in front of the entire New York City entertainment press corps, he retreats to New Jersey with his baby daughter to live with his dad (George Carlin). When we see him again seven years later, he’s still in Jersey, working as a garbage man and happy with how his daughter has turned out but still longing for the life he had to leave behind.

Apparently Kevin Smith felt that having his first child meant it was time for him to move into more “adult” themes in his films. While this is understandable, it didn’t really work for me in Girl. The film is very inconsistent – sometimes sharp and witty, sometimes too cutesy to bear. The plot is very contrived and unrealistic (Ollie couldn’t have found any other jobs in PR in seven years?), and while Ollie’s later love interest (played by the winsome Liv Tyler) provides welcome levity, she appears and disappears for no apparent reason. Overall, there were flashes of the old Smith brilliance, but in the end this Girl was a pretty boring one to spend time with.

 

Ray

(Mary W) Opening January 6, 2005

The life of Ray Robinson and how he became the institution known as Ray Charles is engrossingly explored in this film biography directed by Taylor Hackford. From Ray's rhythm & blues hits of the 50s, through pop and country & western in the 60s, the words to his songs are linked to the events of his life. The music alone would be enough to enjoy this film but what makes this film truly wonderful is that Jamie Foxx really becomes Ray Charles. Foxx captures the essence of Ray not just in the way he walks and talks, but in his lust for life and love of music.

Ray also lusted after and loved many women but he stayed with his wife Bea who is thoughtfully portrayed by Kerry Washington. His relationships with women, his friends, heroin addiction and struggles with the business side of music are touched upon in a straightforward manner without any attempt to glorify or minimize Ray's actions. So Let The Good Times Roll and celebrate the life and music of Ray Charles on the big screen.

 

Sylvia

(Becky T) Opening January 6, 2005

How difficult is life for a young woman in a foreign country with two small children and no support? It’s hard enough, and for a complicated personality, that’s all it takes to turn on the gas. Gwyneth Paltrow is believable as young, blond, American poet Sylvia Plath on a Fulbright Scholarship in Cambridge. She is captivated by British poet Ted Hughes (Daniel Craig) in 1956. After their marriage, they move to the East Coast of the United States near Plath’s hometown, but this experiment in international living fails; Plath suffers writer’s block. They return to England and, in spite of some career successes for both, the grind of day-to-day life drives them apart. Plath had a record of attempted suicides, a difficult relationship with her mother, and an unhealthy jealousy, often well-founded due to Hughes’ extramarital affairs. The film realistically portrays the life of a young woman in the early 1960s, but rarely discusses the poetry of Plath or Ted Hughes except for cozy scenes of them reciting to each other and their friends. There is passing mention of Sylvia Plath’s two publications, The Colossus and The Bell Jar. She committed suicide on February 11, 1963, at age 30. Director Christine Jeffs’ film is an introduction to the person of Sylvia Plath, which should arouse your curiosity to learn more. It would be worth the effort, especially now that the deceased’s estate has relinquished its 30-year hold on research material and we could expect much about Sylvia Plath in the future.

 

2046 1/2

(Adele R) Opening January 13, 2005

If you have a sneaker for melancholy tales and incredibly beautiful women in exquisite clothes, this is your film. Wong Kar Wai, the director of the moving In the Mood for Love has brought six of China’s most breathtaking actresses together including Gong Li of The Red Lantern and Zhang Ziyi, the young star of Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The elegant, original clothes are an extraordinary blend of Chinese and Western fashion and are so lovely and so unusual that they are almost a distraction.

The story has a simple outline: a writer, Chow (Tony Leung, lead actor of In the Mood for Love) sits in a hotel room in Hong Kong in 1966 writing a science-fiction book about love in 2047. As Chow writes of the love story of the future, he recalls his past loves. Both the past and the future seem to come together, but it is not difficult to follow the plot. 2046 is the hotel room where much of the action took place in Chow’s past. The love scenes are eroticism of the mind barely played out on screen; the deep longing and in one case, unrequited passion, are wrapped in sadness and the regrets leave a bitter taste. It is a beautiful film.

 

Closer (Hautnah) 1/2

(Osanna V) Opening January 13, 2005

Directed by Mike Nichols, Closer brings superstar Julia Roberts into the worthy company of Jude Law, Clive Owen and Natalie Portman, in a drama about relationships. It is based on the play by the same title.

Dan (Law) is a newspaper obituary writer/want-to-be author who meets and falls in love with Alice (Portman), a free-spirit type New York stripper who has chosen to "escape" to London. A year later, he meets Anna (Roberts), a divorced photographer. He is immediately attracted to her and has no qualms in letting her know it; but as soon as she realises he is already involved with someone else, she refuses his overtures. Later she meets and marries Larry (Owen), a dermatologist who adores her and gives her the kind of stability she is looking for. However, Dan’s obsession does not let him go. The outcome is the painful intertwining of four lives in a web of deception and bitter interludes.

Closer may well ask the viewer to reconsider the meaning of the saying: “All is fair in love and war”. It’s a disturbing portrayal of the subtle cruelties people are capable of inflicting on others if they are unable to rein in their passions. Though Owen and Portman in particular have been lauded for their performances, Law topped the bill for me. A different type of role for Roberts, she did not shine however, though her performance was perfectly adequate. In the end, I can not say I cared too much about what happened to any of them, an ingredient I found lacking to qualify it as a great movie. The language is frequently vulgar and in some sequences pornographic. There is no graphic sex, though everything is implied. This is most definitely an adult film.

 

NAPOLA - Elite für den Führer

(Shelly S) Opening January 13, 2005

Dennis Gansel and Maggie Peren won Best German potential film script 2003 for NAPOLA and will most likely be nominated for more awards with this completed version. Seventeen-year-old boxing talent Friedrich Weimer (Max Riemelt) catches the eye of an instructor who invites him to attend the National Political Boys School in Allenstein (NAPOLA). Against the will of his family, Friedrich grasps this opportunity. He comes from the working class and believes this is a chance to get an education and become a leader instead of a follower. His boxing talent is monitored very precisely and he attends classes in military training as well as the political indoctrination of the time. In order to succeed he must forget his compassion and empathy for others; he seems happy with his new friends. The film slowly picks up momentum as Friedrich meets the sensitive Albrecht Stein (Tom Schilling) who excels in writing rather than military skills. The highly respected and intelligent Albrecht, who comes from the upper military class, shows Friedrich through his writing that he questions the authority and political system laid out before them. The film climaxes when Albrecht refuses to renounce a report that he wrote after being forced to participate in a raid against defenseless children. An unwillingness to compromise their feelings leads these boys down a tragic road. This film manages gracefully to illustrate haunting and powerful images that leaves you with a sense of the passion and despair of that time.

 

Taxi (New York Taxi)

(Jenny M) Opening January 13, 2005

Queen Latifah clearly enjoyed herself when making this movie. After some spectacular stunt cycling in the opening scenes, she says goodbye to her colleagues, collects her brand new taxi and starts a new life on New York’s streets. Belle’s misfortunes begin when she is ordered by Officer Washbourne, NYPD, to follow some bank robbers. The cop is played by Jimmy Fallon from Saturday Night Live and the movie Almost Famous. Officer Washbourne is a very bad driver, but Belle is a spectacularly good one. Her standard taxi is transformed into a souped-up racing car at the touch of a few buttons and a quick change of steering wheel, and it’s quite capable of following the thieves’ getaway BMW. The head thief (Gisele Bündchen) manages to drive fast and look supercilious at the same time. Aah, but sensible Belle has the measure of the likes of her, and she and the bumbling Washbourne will get her in the end, won’t they? The car scenes are as good as any you’ll see in the movies today; the baddies will end up right where they ought to; Officer Washbourne will work with his old detective once more and Belle will fulfil two of her dreams. Director Tim Story has produced a light-hearted movie which will make you laugh.

 

Without a Paddle (Trouble ohne Paddel)

(Becky T) Opening January 13, 2005

Thirty-year-olds Dan, Tom, and Jerry (Dax Shepard, Matthew Lillard, Seth Green) attend the funeral of their friend Billy. This leads to a rash of reminiscing, a visit to their childhood tree house and the decision to canoe into the forests of Oregon, USA, to seek the treasure of D.B. Cooper. They run up against a hard-nosed cop, a bear, two drug-running hillbillies, and a waterfall. They have gone full circle when they climb into another tree house, this time occupied by two beautiful babes, tree huggers for Earth Mother. Eventually, they realize that “being alive is the treasure. We got our most valuable possession back.” Or: the experience matured them and they return to girlfriend, doctor’s office, and Cub Scout den. What begins as Wilde Kerle turns into an adolescent Indiana Jones comedy with foul language, bathroom jokes, and male insecurity. The soundtrack is loud and fast with Blind Melon, Culture Club, Sigma, Rolling Stones, AD, R. Kelly, Spiderbait, etc. Burt Reynolds makes a cameo appearance as Dell the woodsman. By director Steven Brill, teenaged boys will love it.

 

25 Degrees in Winter (25 Degrés en Hiver, 25 Grad im Winter)

(Becky T) Opening January 20, 2005

Twenty-five degrees Celsius is hot for a winter’s day in Belgium, and unusual things happen to Spanish immigrant Miguel and his small daughter Laura. He is a courier for his brother’s travel agency. He is lucky to live in an era of mobile phones, because every time his brother calls for a progress report, he is certainly just delivering the tickets to the customer. Or not. Actually, he picks up a Ukrainian woman named Sonia who has fled from the airport immigrant holding center. By chance he meets his mother (Carmen Maura) who reports that daughter Laura is in the hospital. Soon all four are seeking Sonia’s husband, whom she planned to meet. There are episodes in an apartment, a senior citizens’ home, the travel office, and on the beach. Sonia finds her unfaithful husband living with a Belgian woman. As a parallel, homesick Laura dreams that her mother in the U.S. will send for them. It was fun to see Carmen Maura again, that actress well-known from Almodovar films. At this year’s Berlinale, director Stéphane Vuillet said he always wanted to film in his familiar Belgian neighborhood. He considers Spain his real country, which explains the flamenco sound-track. Although the film is quick and light-hearted, the topic of displaced persons is serious.

 

The Aviator

(Becky T) Opening January 20, 2005

Director Martin Scorsese has created a beautiful, fast-paced film about the life of billionaire Howard Hughes. Orphaned at age 18, Hughes was the sole heir of a Texas fortune derived from the Hughes’ Tool Company. The film opens four years later and HH is directing an action film in California about World War I aviators called Hell’s Angels. A perfectionist, the film was released with Hughes’ blessing three years later, the most expensive film ever to be made then. It was re-shot for various reasons, including having to turn it into the newest thing: a talking movie. This film career brought glamour girls to his house, but the film limits itself to a few prime examples such as Katherine Hepburn and Ava Gardner. He designed the half-cup bra for Jane Russel who starred in his film Scarface.

Flying was his real love and over the next thirty years Hughes builds, tests, and crashes airplanes such as the H-1 and a flying boat called the Spruce Goose. He broke Charles Lindbergh’s speed record. Film highlights are scenes in the Coconut Grove night club, an airplane crash in Beverly Hills, a visit with Hepburn’s family, his appearance at Senate Hearings in which he successfully represents his case of TWA’s right to fly trans-Atlantic against devious Maine Senator Brewster and the head of Pan Am, who wish to prosecute him.

Cate Blanchett plays Katherine Hepburn as exactly as anyone could; she is close enough for us to realize how much we miss Kate. Thirty-year-old Leonardo DiCaprio as Hughes ages from 22 to about 45. He disappears into the role until you forget that this is baby-faced Leo. If Jamie Foxx does not receive an Academy Award for Ray, then Leo has a chance. Scorsese has collected a fine cast for all roles: John C. Reilly, Alec Baldwin, Kate Beckinsale, Jude Law, Ian Holm, Alan Alda, Kelli Garner, etc., but the film stands on its excellent script (John Logan) and editing (Thelma Schoonmaker) and camera (Robert Richardson who likes shots from the back of the head). It’s a visual gift with colors copied from old Technicolor techniques, costumes designed from old photos, and authentic sets, some filmed on the original sites (Hughes’ house at Muirfield House or Grauman’s Chinese Theater) and some on the Queen Mary luxury liner, but most are filmed in Canada. The story stops before hypochondriac Hughes completely loses his senses to his different forms of phobias and his death at age 71 in 1976. He was probably truly a bastard or at least a profiteer in business (“I don’t want them bribed, I want them bought.”) with connections to the CIA and Richard Nixon, but the film emphasizes his human side which is good enough to awaken an interest in pursuing the subject: genius or monster, on your own. (Highly recommended)

 

De-Lovely

(Adele R) Opening January 20, 2005

Cole Porter ranks as one of the greatest songwriters in America’s glorious musical history. No film with Cole Porter’s ever-hummable melodies, throat-choking ballads and clever, wickedly funny lyrics can be really bad, and this film, about the man himself, is a perfect example. The film takes as its modus operandi the conceit that Porter, old and battered, ravaged by the drugs and alcohol he always abused but more so after his devastating horseback-riding accident in 1957, is taken by the ghost of a producer, kind of like Scrooge, to a theater to experience a musical revue of his life. It’s pretty hokey in the beginning, but once the music begins to fill your ears and the musical numbers are brought to life, you can forget your film critic head and just wallow in the music and the sentimental story. Kevin Kline plays Porter and sings nearly half the numbers himself, in a thin, reedy voice, sitting at a piano in his own or some wealthy friend’s elegant living room in New York, Paris, Hollywood and wherever else he found himself. These pieces were recorded live on the sets and are among the best in the movie. The stage productions, taken from many of Porter’s greatest hits – from Let’s Do It to his final Broadway hit, the late, great Kiss Me Kate – are sung by some of today’s popular singers: Natalie Cole, Sheryl Crow, Alanis Morisette, Robbie Williams and the inimitable Diana Krall.

Porter, born in Peru, Indiana in 1891, was the grandson of the richest man in Indiana at the time and grew up in luxury. In 1918 he married a wealthy divorcee, Linda Thomas (Ashley Judd), ten years older than he was (but not in this movie!) and well aware of Porter’s secret life as a homosexual. Linda Porter loved her husband, and the movie and biographies say he loved her too, if only platonically. She managed his Broadway and Hollywood successes. The movie implies she had a miscarriage, something not confirmed anywhere in the five or six biographies of Porter. The silliest scene in the movie is the old-time Hollywood death scene where Linda Porter succumbs gracefully, without even a hint of a hacking cough, from emphysema. But leaving this scene aside – the clothes, the sets, the music are glorious and the entire movie is just, well, delightful.

 

Nine Songs

(Adele R) Opening January 20, 2005

I am not sure if anyone ever got around to defining what qualifies as pornography, but in my opinion this film certainly fits the bill. It is 71 minutes long, about 50 of which are graphic, non-simulated sex scenes. The New York Times would say, I “can’t give you the details as this is a family paper”, but to be clear, nothing at all is left to the imagination. There is no real story – the plot, if you can call it that: a British scientist (Kieran O’Brien) flying in a small plane over the Antarctic remembers, in flashbacks, his sexual relationship with a young American girl (Margot Stilley).

The multiple sex scenes are interspersed with nine badly filmed and poorly recorded live music gigs from rock stars such as Primal Scream, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and Michael Nyman.

Director (and screenwriter) Michael Winterbottom has made a number of gripping, unambiguous films, Welcome to Sarajevo (1997) and In This World (2003) come instantly to mind. His intention in this film, he told The Guardian, was to show a relationship entirely through the explicit sexual encounters of the couple, and that he does, in overwhelming detail.

 

Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (Lemony Snicket's Rätselhafte Ereignisse)

(Osanna V) Opening January 27, 2005

Starring Jim Carrey, Meryl Streep, Billy Connolly and more, as well as the narrative voice of Jude Law, this dark, children’s adventure is directed by Brad Silberling. The screenplay is by Robert Gordon and is based on three books by Lemony Snicket (Daniel Handler): The Bad Beginning, The Reptile Room and The Wide Window.

The wealthy and talented Baudelaire children – Violet (Emily Browning), an inspired inventor; Klaus (Liam Aiken), an avid reader; and Sunny (the twins Kara and Shelby Hoffman), a consummate biter – are orphaned as the result of a mysterious fire that destroys the family home. Their closest relative is an obscure count – Count Olaf (Carrey) – who takes them under his wing; or rather puts them under his thumb. It is immediately obvious that he’s only out for their money and, while waiting to be named their official guardian, he treats them like his personal slaves. However, the children are rescued from his machinations and sent from one charming replacement – Uncle Monty (Connolly) a herpetologist – to another – Aunt Josephine (Streep), an eccentric lover of the written word. Yet Count Olaf reappears time and again, always disguised in some new character who manages to dupe all but the children. As they are moved from one new home to the next, they stumble across a series of clues – a spy glass, newspaper cuttings about fires, and photographs – indicating a curious thread that brings all these people together. Will the children manage to discover and expose their parent’s murderer?

Interestingly enough, the story line of this movie is extremely straight forward and obvious; yet the acting, sets and costumes well make up for this weakness. At first I would not have recognised Carrey if I hadn’t known it was him. Count Olaf and the subsequent personas he takes on are brilliantly performed. Meryl Streep shines and Billy Connolly is always a favourite of mine. The setting is dark Victorian, but with an unusual and effective use of modern day paraphernalia, such as a remote-controlled car key and a walkie talkie.

The movie makes for good family entertainment, though probably too scary for younger children. I would suggest as of six or seven years.

 

A Very Long Engagement (Mathilde – eine Große Liebe, Un long dimanche de finançailles)

(Becky T) Opening January 27, 2005

Mathilde lives with her aunt and uncle in a small village. She loves Manech who lives in a lighthouse near the sea. He must fight for France in World War I, where trench warfare is inhumane and five soldiers, including Manech, inflict wounds upon themselves in order to be sent home. As traitors they are sentenced to wander unprotected in no-man’s land, that area between the trenches of the French and the Germans. A quick death is certain either through the enemy or friendly troops, who are allowed to take pot shots. Mathilde insists on searching for Manech. She is well-organized, a talent she might have developed as a result of having to cope with being lame from childhood polio. She hires a private detective; she coerces her lawyer who manages her inherited money; she writes letters to the families of the other four men and visits them. From here the film turns into a detective story about a delicate woman with an iron will, who, for seven years, never believes in her lover’s death. We don’t believe it either, but the ending is still a surprise.

Director Jean Pierre Jeunet (Delicatessen) knew what he was doing when he cast Audrey Tautou as Mathilde, having directed her signature film: Amélie and her actions, posture, and wide-eyed-doe-in-the-headlights look carry over well from Amélie to this film. This is an ensemble piece with many bit parts well-acted by excellent French actors. A surprise is Jodie Foster, a soldier’s girl grown older. She is listed in the film credits, but is entirely missing from the press packet, supposedly because she was dissatisfied with her smaller role. The sets were planned in detail; the trench warfare is realistic and anyone who has never seen the likes in a film will become educated; the same goes for the scenes of 1920s Paris. The colors are brownish like old daguerreotypes, except for the war scenes which are grey/blue to match the soldiers’ blue uniforms. Although this is a serious topic, there is humor just as real people laugh and cry at the same time. Author Sébastien Japrisot wrote the book, but died before reading the screenplay. The only dissonance in a perfect film is the language in German (or even English for that matter). Try for French with subtitles if possible.

Second Opinion by Patricia R

Jean Pierre Jeunot skilfully blends together a powerful film from the very different stories of a brutal war, a young romance and a bumbling detective plot. He is successful at combining these stories that normally would compete for your emotional attention because they all tend to be in the realm of the absurd. Ask any soldier on leave how difficult it is to move between the two very different realities of battle and home. Try to convince two star-crossed lovers to consider practical matters and possible problems ahead. Follow a detective as he tries to separate truth from fiction. Fortunately Jeunot is a master story teller that is as comfortable with dark comedy (Delicatessen, The City of Lost Children) as he is with whimsy (Amelie).

During the First World War Mathilde (Audrey Tatou) receives a letter that says that her young French lover has been court marshalled and sentenced to death. He and four other fellow soldiers shot off one of their hands or limbs hoping to be sent home to escape the horror of the trenches at the front. Actually Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) raised a lit cigarette over his head and let the Germans shoot his hand off. They were ordered to be executed and were pushed into no man’s land to let the Germans kill them instead.

Never quite satisfied with the official accounting for his death, Mathilde hires a detective (the late Ticky Holgado) and begins her own search for the truth, always hoping that he is still alive. Jeunot masterfully weaves eccentric characters in and out that tell their own chilling version of Manech’s fate as well as their own. It also reveals the struggle of those who survived the war, returning to their homes and families, but still haunted with the memories. The cold detachment of the French Generals for the harsh conditions at the front that the soldiers had to struggle to survive in. The horror of war, and the strength of love.

Most of the scenes were in sepia tones, as in faded old postcards, which helped blur the distinction between past and present, truth and something less. We are fortunate to have a gifted storyteller to remind us that the war to end all wars did not and could not – not until we all come to believe that war itself is too absurd to be allowed in a civilized world. The mechanically signed letters that were sent to the families of the deceased soldiers in Iraq should begin new searches for the truth, just as it did for Mathilde.

 

Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe

(Geysa W) Opening January 27, 2005

I was already familiar with director Helmut Dietl due to his many television productions. Still I was amazed when I watched this film. It is full of nice phrases, thoughts, perfect dialogues and acting, which is unusual in German films. The film is a poem about love (the German title, Vom Suchen und Finden der Liebe, would be loosely translated to Seeking and Finding Love in English), based on the Greek myth Orfeo and Euridice. As in history, the film’s apocalypse is also in Greece. The background music comes from Glück who also describes love between the same two persons in the opera Orfeo and Euridice. Dietl tries to make an apology about love: love and death…or sex without love…or love after death …or death for love… …or love without sex is death …who knows? The tragedy and problem of the relationship is when people wake up to see that the deep feeling they had for each other has died and none of it could be anticipated nor avoided. And there is the wish to repeat the past, getting a second chance to do it better. The perfect or eternal love: is that real or only a fantasy? Years ago I watched a similar film with the same topic, which was also nice: Orfeu do Carnaval by Vinicius de Moraes and he said love, “…may be not forever because it is a fire, but should be enormous as long as it burns …” There is a very illustrious cast of German actors: Moritz Beibtreu, Alexandra Maria Lara, Uwe Ochsenknecht, Anke Engelke, Harald Schmidt, Justus von Dohnányi, and Heino Ferch.

 

Der Wald vor lauter Bäume

(Becky T) Opening January 27, 2005

In this German film, Melanie (Eva Löbau) arrives in Karlsruhe to assume her first job: teaching German and Biology to ninth graders. She originally comes from Bavaria, and in her enthusiasm to be perfect, overdoes the jolly attempts at friendship without recognizing one true friend, whom she sorely needs. She is too nice. This turns off the other teachers and the neighbors, especially one woman her own age. Have you ever tried being nice to a class-room of ninth graders? Your authority will fizzle immediately, which is what happens to Melanie. The more rejection she experiences, the more loneliness she endures, the more she struggles to make contact, until finally she is totally alone and without hope. The film is especially effective because it’s so real: we all know someone like Melanie and might have been similar to her ourselves at some point in life. Director Maren Ade was happy to film on video, making it an inexpensive way to experiment. Her mother really is a teacher and helped provide the location for the classroom scenes. This is an excellent first film and I especially recommend it to anyone interested in new German cinema (if you understand some Bavarian Schwäbisch). The film appeared at festivals in Toronto, Vancouver, Cairo, Göteburg, Hong Kong, Seoul, Buenos Aires, San Francisco and Sydney. I wonder how people in those countries understood or accepted some typical German customs, such as introducing yourself to the neighbors when you are the new person on the block.

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