Film Reviews A-H -- 2004 Hamburg Film Festival
Below are reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films shown during the Film Festival.
(Adele R) by Francois Ozon, France François Ozon, the young French director who gave us the superb Sous Le Sable (Under the Sand) and Swimming Pool (and the not so great Eight Women), has been awarded the tenth Douglas-Sirk-Prize by the Hamburg Film Festival for his work (other winners: Clint Eastwood, Stephen Frears, Jodie Foster, Isabelle Huppert). His new film, 5 x 2, certainly ranks among his best. It is the tale of five significant moments in a relationship, told in reverse. The film opens as the couple, Marion and Gilles (Valeria Bruni-Tedeschi and Stéphane Friess), are granted a divorce and scrolls back through a dinner with friends, the birth of their son, their marriage and their first meeting. Each incident holds a surprise, and the emotional portrayals by both actors are deeply moving. The script is both dryly intelligent and deeply engrossing, so much so that the end seems to come much too soon.
(Pat R) by Benoit Deléphine/Gustave Kervern, Belgium You have to have a pretty sick sense of humor to really appreciate this European tragi-comic "road-movie". Two Belgians, Benoit Delepine and Gustave Kervern, wrote, directed and played the main characters in this black and white film. They play two neighbors, a commuter and a farmer, who just can't get along in a small Belgian village. Their frustrations get the best of them and in a fit of rage they attack one another, causing a serious accident with a large piece of farm equipment. Both men end up paralysed from the waist down -- wheelchair bound and all alone. Rejecting suicide they join forces on a journey to claim compensation from the Finnish manufacturer of the defective farm implement, but their insensitive abuse of the kindness of strangers leaves you not really caring if they make it or not. It may depend on your state of mind when you enter the theater. I had just seen Land of Plenty about a country and people with serious problems, and these two baffoons just couldn't make me laugh with their silly antics, although they tried awfully hard.
(Adele R) by Youssef Chahine, Egypt The film, fourth in an autobiographical series co-written and directed by Youssef Chahine, was evidently a hit in Egypt, but it translates badly into our western film culture. The acting seems exaggerated, dripping with pathos; tears flow in torrents, especially among the male characters; it is a dramatic tale, but like a Bollywood film, it is also a (bad) musical. The sets are occasionally cardboard; sections of other films are edited in badly. The script leaps from one cliché to another, so corny it makes Love Story look like War and Peace. The film is one of five which the Film Festival has designated as “America before the Elections”, but it is not clear why it is included in that category. It has neither to do with the upcoming elections nor with 9/11, although it does take place in present day New York. It also presents an unrelenting picture of a perceived American prejudice against Arabs which, I suppose, makes it a political film. The story in brief: Yehia (Mahmoud Hemeda) goes back to New York and meets his first love, Ginger (Yousra), from his days at The Institute of Dramatic Art in California fifty years ago. Ginger has a son, Alexander (Ahmed Yehia), first dancer at the New York City Ballet (and the actor really can dance!). Yehia learns Alexander is his child from a brief rendezvous he had with Ginger in NY in 1975. We get the whole love affair in flashbacks with Ahmed Yehia also Yehia as a young man and Yousra El Lozy, the young Ginger. In building the case against Americans as Arab haters, no epithet or slight is omitted. In the end, the son rejects the father just because he is an Arab. The film is 128 minutes too long.
(Adele R) by Prasanna Vithanage, India Three narratives develop simultaneously in Sri Lanka in August of 1996. All the protagonists are caught in the machinations of the war between the Tamil Tiger rebels and the government soldiers. A Muslim community is forced by the Tigers to flee their homes and move further north causing one little boy to lose his dog. A woman enlists the aid of a television journalist to help her find her husband whose plane was shot down by the Tigers. A soldier on leave visits a brothel with comrades and finds his sister is one of the girls. The journeys seem to take weeks and do not resolve the problems. I found the film interminable.
(Kirsten G) by Mohsen Amiryoussefi, Iran This film, written and directed by 32 year old Iranian Mohsen Amiryoussefi (his first feature film), is part-documentary and part-fiction about a group of people who work at a graveyard in a small town in Iran. The main character is Esfandiar, the body washer. He is in charge of the other graveyard employees, such as the opium-addicted grave digger, the young man who burns the clothes of the dead (after taking what he likes), and the woman who washes the bodies of dead women. All the "actors" act out their real-life jobs in a part-serious, part-humorous fashion. Amiryoussefi, who grew up during the Iran-Iraq war, feels that Iranians "live in an atmosphere where death appears to be of greater importance than life," and he wanted to explore this idea through the medium of film. The final product is an interesting, though slow moving, look into Iranian culture and Iranians' relationship with their dead.
(Adele R) by Anurag Kashyap, India The film follows, chapter for chapter, a non-fiction book of the same title by N. Nataraja Subramanian. In 1992 Hindus in Bombay rioted, destroying the Babri Mosque, demolishing homes and businesses of city Muslims, raping and killing and setting off confrontations between Hindus and Muslims throughout India. A scant three weeks later, a gang of Muslims, collected together by a wealthy Muslim smuggler, set off bombs and grenades in the inner city of Bombay at 12 prominent landmarks almost simultaneously including the Stock Exchange. Nearly three hundred Hindus (and Muslims who happened to be in the area) died and over 700 were injured in the blasts. The film reveals the manipulations of the smuggler, Tiger Memon (Pawan Malhotra), using the hate and fear of almost 200 poor Muslim men to wreak vengeance on the Hindus in Bombay, and the arduous (and torturous) methods of the police, led by the investigating officer, Rakesh Maria (Kay Kay Menon), to capture them. Tiger Memon, himself, escapes to Dubai, where he remains today beyond the reach of Indian authorities. The director, Anurag Kashap (Paanch) does not hold back. There are graphic scenes of torture, incredible footage of a Bombay no tourist will want to see -- with garbage-infested canals, open sewer pipes draining into them -- and the crowded rabbit warrens where the poor live. And a there is a moral, illustrated by a quote from Ghandi at both the beginning and end of the film, “An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.”
(Adele R) by John Furse, Great Britain British documentary filmmaker John Furse has made a feature film out of a true story of two men captured and held prisoners for four and a half years in the political crossfire of the Lebanon civil war. The film is based on books written by the two men, who also collaborated on the script and were there for the filming. The men, Brian Keenan (Ian Hart) and John McCarthy (Linus Roache) are as diverse as it is possible to be. Keenan is a feisty Irishman from Belfast who went to Lebanon, where he teaches English and is loved by his students, to escape the agony of “The Troubles” in Ireland. McCarthy is a polished British journalist who is captured while trying to find out what has happened to Keenan. In their own worlds they would have been enemies. Here, trapped together in unending misery and fear, they develop a deeply loving friendship and learn to depend on each other to get through the long, agonizing days. The film is not sparing of the capricious kindnesses and cruelty meted out by the prisoners' captors. Hart and Roache give extraordinary performances, and the film is gripping and ultimately joyously rewarding.
(Jim G, guest reviewer) by Jamie Johnson, USA At least once in our lives, we have all dreamed about being ridiculously rich, about the
possibility that we would never have to work again, and about the hope that one could provide
for their children everything that they never grew up with. However, we have also probably
looked in disgust at those who are rich. We are nauseated by how they flaunt their money and
act like complete snobs, with few redeeming human qualities.
(Adele R) by Elénonore Faucher, France This is a lovely French film, with a beautiful, talented, young actress; scenic French countryside; sadness in the middle and a happy ending. A few colleagues found it boring; I didn’t. But one does question the premise of the film -- young girl gets pregnant and decides to keep it a secret. The question, never satisfactorily answered, is why -- in this day and age? Claire (Lola Naymark) has left her supermarket job after colleagues begin to notice her weight gain, and finds an assistant’s job with Mme. Melikan (Arianne Ascaride), an embroiderer for Haute Couture, Claire’s dream. Mme. Melikan has lost her son through a motorcycle crash and is suicidal. Eventually Clair is able to help her find new reasons to live. A romance develops between Claire and the brother of her best friend that is promising, but unresolved at the film’s end. Lola Naymark, with her freckles and bushels of red, curly hair, is enchanting.
(Adele R) by Suzanne Bier, Denmark Suzanne Bier, director of the deeply moving Open Hearts, and one of Denmark’s five top films, The One and Only, has again brought a compelling story to the screen with two superb actors, Ulrich Thomsen (Celebration, Killing me Softly and The Inheritance) as Michael, and Connie Nielsen (One Hour Photo) as Sarah. Michael, a successful career soldier with a lovely wife and two sweet little girls is on his way to Afghanistan for his second tour of duty. His brother, Jannik (Nicolaj Lie Kaas) is just the opposite, a heavy drinker, ex-con, drifter. But he deeply admires his older brother and in the warm relationship between the two, there is neither animosity nor jealousy. Then Michael’s helicopter crashes in the desert and he is presumed dead. To everyone’s astonishment, Jannik slowly takes responsibility for Michael’s family, installing the kitchen which had been languishing half-finished for years, being an affectionate and dependable uncle for the girls and even getting a job. And between Jannik and Sarah, mutual grief gives way to a growing warmth. And then Michael turns up alive, badly traumatized by his experience as a prisoner in Afghanistan. In a statement on the film, Bier said she likes “to get under the skin of my characters”. With her films, she gets under ours, too.
(Coppelia HB) by Leonardo di Cesare, Argentina This social comedy develops around Hernan (Ignacio Toselli), who is left alone to live in a rather large house when his brother leaves for Spain with his family to try for a better life. The quiet Hernan falls in love with Pato (Moro Anghileri), who is a gas station attendant, and she quickly moves in to live with him. Suddenly her family, consisting of father, mother and cute young daughter, which she has not told Hernan about, appear out of the blue to stay just overnight, but the day turns into a week, and when a churro (Argentinian doughnut) factory appears in the living room, complete with machinery and all, it is evident that his house has been occupied. After consulting with a lawyer, Hernan finds out it may take up to two years to evict them. So he takes matters in his own hands to get rid of them, but in the process he also pays a price and is caught in the aftermath. Pato eventually leaves him to move in with another interested man, and the family moves in with her yet again, and you see the story beginning to repeat itself. The question remains, is Pato an accomplice or a victim of the circumstances with her parents? Decide for yourself. Director Leonardo di Cesare's feature film debut has already won awards for Best Film and Best Screenplay in Mar del Plata.
(Adele R) by Joseph Mealey and Michael Shoob This is not a study, scientific or otherwise, of President Bush’s brain, but rather of the man credited by most for Bush’s political success, Karl Rove. A shadowy figure that prefers to stay in the background, Rove has been called Svengali or Rasputin more than once. His reputation for down and dirty politics has been thoroughly confirmed by his work for Bush over the years. The film states unequivocally that Rove is behind every political decision in the Bush administration. The documentary is based on a book by the same name by two journalists, James Moore and Wayne Slater, who spent almost two years on the road with Bush and Rove leading up to Bush’s election as President. Mealey and Shoob interviewed both of them and any number of journalists and former friends of the President in Texas and from his past. This film reveals nothing new to anyone who has ever heard of Rove, and it is not as hard-hitting or shocking (nor as moving) as the extraordinary film The Hunting of the President, about the five years of vindictive manipulations of Ken Starr and friends who went after Clinton. A lot of talking heads do not make a very interesting documentary, even when the subject is such a fascinating figure.
(Mary W) by Maurice Berthélemy, France “Todo mach! Todo mach!” makes no sense at all, and neither does much of this fake-umentary in which Maurice Barthélemy directs and stars in his own screenplay about a real loser, Casablanca Driver, who boxes his way through life after a childhood of abuse. Set in 1969 probably just to showcase the Afro, Driver accidentally becomes a hero in spite of being the worst boxer of all time. His fame lands him in the ring with champion Jimmy La Renta (Whitfield One), where all bets are off. My colleague to my left snoozed blissfully throughout much of the film while another critic to my right was laughing herself silly. Barthélemy is quite comic speaking gibberish and punching anywhere, anytime but he doesn’t give himself enough screen time. Only worth seeing if slapstick nonsense is your preferred film du jour.
(Adele R) by Marek Najbrtm, Czech Republic This movie is billed as a black comedy, and the production company is fittingly called Negativ Film Productions, but despite the desperate circumstances the characters find themselves in, the story is redeemed by their naïve belief that things will change. They do, but not the way the characters expect. The permutations of the plot lead from one devastating incident to another, some of which are indeed blackly funny, and the viewer reluctantly, and against all evidence, longs to believe the dreams. Karel is married to Zdena, who is in love with the only man around with a job, the bus driver Milan. She discovers she is pregnant and believes the baby will change her life. Karel runs a pub, if you can call it that, in an abandoned gymnasium where the men of the village, all five of them, gather to drink and watch the Czechs compete in the World Hockey Championships on a broken down television. The local alcoholic, Bohous, who drinks kerosene, sniffs gasoline and downs quart bottles of a lethally potent schnapps, has visions from which he appears to predict the winners of each match. Jarda is a paraplegic in a wheelchair who dreams of being able to ride his motorcycle again, and his son, age 13, who sneaks cigarettes and hungers for Zdena, dreams of escaping from his father and finding his mother. Karel and Josef (who is referred to as “gypsy” by the other men and dreams of solving the mystery of his parentage to obliterate that rumor) hatch a plot to use Bohous’s visions to win a huge bet on the hockey games. Karel steals the money from his wife’s tiny savings… This film, quite realistically, does not have a happy ending.
(Nancy T) by Pieter Jan Brugge, USA Wealthy, handsome and gifted businessman Wayne Hayes (Robert Redford) is kidnapped by an unremarkable, unemployed ex-employee Arnold Mack (Willem Dafoe). Both are family men, but their lifestyles and personalities could not be more different. Mack drives Wayne into a forest, saying they will hike to a hut to meet his partners in the crime. When Wayne does not return home for their dinner date, after the guests leave his strong wife Eileen (Helen Mirren) calls the police. FBI agents (Kathleen Duggan and Ray Fuller) move into her home along with her grown children, a son (Alessandro Nivola) and daughter (Sarah Koskoff). Messages from the kidnapper (-s, it is never clear) demand the ransom be delivered by her alone. In the middle of all this upheaval, she discovers Wayne had deceived her by continuing to see Louise (Wendy Crewson), an affair he’d promised to sever. The story, based on an actual incident that happened in Holland, is simple, without the twists or turns we’ve come to expect in films: so much so that I was a bit disturbed at the end. This simple story, Helen Mirren’s performance, and the interaction between Redford and Dafoe on their lonely journey through the woods make this a very memorable film.
(Becky T) by Agnès Jaoui, France Lolita takes singing lessons with plans to perform in a village church. Her teacher Sylvia admires the writer Etienne for his talent. Etienne is the father of Lolita and encourages fledgling writer Pierre who is the husband of Sylvia who is the teacher of Lolita. And so we come full circle. In the end everyone, including Etiennes’ young second wife and Lolita’s long-suffering boyfriend, are assembled in Etiennes’s summer house. How many films have you seen where, once in a summer house, everyone lets it all hang out? For 110 minutes these people discuss their weaknesses, dreams, failures, animosities, which I always find to be typically French. They are all striving for recognition and praise from other people without taking the trouble to change anything about themselves. Possibly the best part is the beautiful classical music which sets in at all the appropriate places. Director Agnès Jaoui plays Sylvia, and her partner in real life, Jean-Pierre Bacri (a French-Algerian immigrant) plays Etienne. Together they wrote the script which won best screenplay at the Cannes film festival this year. Jaoui burst on the film scene with Le Gout de Autres (Other People’s Taste) in 2000 for which she won the French Oscar and was nominated for a U.S. Oscar. She’s definitely worth watching, as perhaps a worthy successor to Woody Allen. Second Opinion by Adele R Culture is of paramount importance in France. Literature, philosophy, music, especially are accorded the highest respect and the big players are featured on talk shows and recognized everywhere like Hollywood celebrities. Etienne Cassard (Jean-Pierre Bacri) is one of those players, an overbearing, conceited, self-centered author whose egoism causes constant suffering among friends and family. But no one bears the brunt more keenly than his older daughter from a previous marriage, Lolita (Marilou Berry). Lolita is a nice-looking woman with a full-sized figure, not the model size or beauty she is sure would be interesting for her father, who is besotted with his pretty (thin) young wife, and their eight year old daughter. Etienne has little time and no interest whatsoever in Lolita, or in her career as a singer. Lolita, however, is not above manipulating her father’s fame. Thus when it becomes apparent that her singing teacher, Sylvia (played by the director, Agnès Jaoui) will give her more attention because of who her father is she uses it to her advantage. Sylvia is married to an author, Pierre (Laurent Greville) who is suddenly “discovered” on his fourth novel by Etienne and propelled into a celebrity world virtually overnight. Meanwhile, Lolita has a suitor to whom she pays little attention because she is mesmerized by another handsomer, young man who uses her casually and disposes of her like Kleenex. It is a film with humor, depth and flavor and is enhanced by wonderful music, and a background of enticing book-filled Paris apartments, a beautiful country house, and an enchanting medieval church.
(Coppelia HB) by Alberto "Chicho“ Durant, Peru A dramatic comedy based on the true life experience of Peruvian director Alberto “Chicho“ Durant. This movie illustrates what it is like to live in a world of lies and pretence. The backdrop is Lima, Peru in the year 2000, when the government of President Fujimori falls, and it comes to light that he, and his well organized mafia of cronies in high and powerful positions, has swindled the country out of millions. This urban, middle class narrative is a reflection of the times, of the deceit at the heart of power. Rafo (Fabrizio Aguilar) is an unemployed young movie director who lives with his girlfriend Laura, whose passion is playing the piano. Satie’s music is ideal for this situation. Rafo is in conflict with his millionaire father who wants him to come work in his factory and take it over, but Rafo has other dreams for his life. In his desperate need for money to pay the bills, he decides to sell his pride and joy, his car. At the same time, Mary, a middle-aged divorcee who appears to live a comfortable life but in reality does not have a dime to support herself and her two children and is thus living at her mother’s house, tries to sell real estate in a poor market. Her friend, the elegant Carmen, wants to be an interior decorator, which will give her some breathing space from her domineering and controlling lover. Jaime, an accountant in his fifties, has been fired from the company for which he has worked for 20 years but does not tell his family and tries to make a living as a taxi driver. All these characters experience unemployment and suffer from the overall downward spiral of the economy and the country itself. The plot is set for Salvador (Fernando Cayo), a Spaniard with a flair for showing a trail of wealth, to waltz in and mesmerize anyone that crosses his path. This first class swindler charms them all, from the taxi driver to the realtor to the interior decorator and of course, Rafo. Salvador spins a fascinating web of connections and through the power of his words, gains the characters’ utmost confidence. How vulnerable are we when we are down and desperate and the future looks dim? Come and see what could, and to a certain extent, did, happen. Chicho Durant, one of the most talented directors of Peru, is a fascinating storyteller and has been able to translate his actual experience into a riveting movie. This social satire was the first Peruvian film to premiere at Sundance earlier this year. His four previous films have equally been dedicated to the social and political causes of Peru, especially Coraje (1998).
(Mary W) by Mark Meily, Philippines Living in the backstreets of Manila’s Chinatown, three ordinary women are just trying to make a living. Stella (Sharon Cuneta) has recently gotten out of jail for stealing and wants to find a real job so she can take care of her son Bong. Her best friend Doray (Hilda Koronel) runs a shop and dreams of her past career as Rhoda Riviera, a B-movies actress most notable for being crushed under the foot of a giant. Choleng (Angel Aquino) is a devout Catholic who can’t resist the sexual allure of her best friend’s husband, so instead she frequently goes to confession and works for a charity as penance. When a rich local dies, the three women are hired to cry at his funeral, a Filipino-Chinese tradition that believes the more who cry at a funeral, the better chance the deceased has of getting quickly into heaven. When the ladies go to the funeral, Stella recognizes the deceased as the local gangster responsible for putting her in jail. Doray is recognized as the famous Rhoda Riviera. Choleng sneaks away for another tryst. The funeral ends by giving a new beginning for these ladies as they turn their lives around. Have a good laugh while they are having a good cry!
(Kirsten G) by Gjergj Xhuvani, Albania The amazing bravery of the everyday citizen during World War II is showcased in the wonderful Albanian film Dear Enemy. Writer/director Gjergi Xhuvani tells the true story of his grandfather, Harun, a friendly but savvy Albanian shopkeeper. As the Italian soldiers depart in September 1943, Harun is stopped by a wounded Italian soldier who asks for shelter from the Germans. Harun brings him home and hides him in the cellar with another temporary occupant, a wounded partisan. Soon after, the town’s Jewish watchmaker also sneaks to the house in hopes of sanctuary. But once the Germans move into town, Harun is asked to provide supplies to the German army, and in the process, becomes friendly with the German procurement officer. Can all of these characters, plus the many members of Harun’s family, interact without killing each other? Dear Enemy is a poignant story, affirming the basic goodness in people while still showing the brutalities of war. The actors are all excellent, and though the plot is rather uncomplicated, it is still very suspenseful. The screenplay won the Best European Screenplay award at Sundance, an honor I think it deserves. The only thing I didn’t like was the pacing, which was a bit slow for my taste, but that’s a minor point. With so many films showcasing the evil nature of humanity, Dear Enemy is a welcome change.
(Coppelia HB) by Alvaro Velarde, Peru This hilarious comedy takes place in the home of a wealthy housewife whose husband has rented out the garden grounds for the filming of a locally well-known and avidly followed soap opera. Much to her annoyance, he then proceeds to go on a business trip leaving her with the two maids. At first, the snobby woman is appalled by the presence of the film crew and cast, but she quickly develops a keen interest while spying from her bedroom window. When she is mistaken for an actress during a casting and is selected on the spot for the role, she decides to play along, much to the dismay of her maids. As she enters the soap opera world, her reality starts to blend with the make believe realm, and it turns hysterically funny as she tries to keep it all under control. Intrigue, gossip and blackmail blend to pique one‘s interest and create moments of invigorating humor. The enigmatic absurdity of being paid in chickens will continue to make you laugh well after the film is over. The Peruvian director, Alvaro Velarde, has ingeniously inserted clever humor where fiction and reality blurs and becomes one another. Is life not like a soap opera at times? Brilliantly funny when seen in the context of the allure of soap operas and the fascination they hold over a vast segment of the Latin American population in particular, this is the feature film debut of Velarde, and it took him 6 years to write the script, direct and produce the movie. So far, it has won several awards such as Best Film Audience award in Montreal and Madrid, as well as Best Actress and winner of a Script prize. The young Velarde has been described as the upcoming Almodovar of Latin America.
(Becky T) by Ayse Polat, Germany “I didn’t want her to die: It was because of my hearing.” Thus starts this German film by Kurdish director Ayse Polat. Alice (Maria Kwistkowsky) lands in a Catholic home for girls after her airhead mother never even tries to fulfill her duty as a parent. Alice is awkward and silent and wants to fade into the woodwork. She suffers from hyper acuity, which means that all sounds are too loud, from the rustling of leaves outside the window to the breathing of sleeping roommates. Alice’s only friend is Berivan (Pinar Erincin), a refugee who has lost her parents and hopes for a residency permit. Her nickname is “baggy” because she carries her passport, family photos, letters, etc., with her in a plastic bag. The two girls alternate between being friends and disliking each other. There is a fire in the home; some of the girls terrorize Alice and she is no match for them. Clara, the adult in charge, struggles to keep order. An extra activity is fencing, which they learn to like because there are set rules and one can concentrate on just one thing for a while. It’s good for character development. Kwistkowsky is very convincing, even though this is her first film. Women (there is only one male in the film) will identify with the characters. Also, the suffering from over-sensitive hearing is palpable. En Garde won second prize at the Lucerne film festival. Ayse Polat received money from the FilmFörderung Hamburg, which has subsidized other successful Hamburg-Turkish directors such as Fatih Akin and, perhaps in the future, Özgür Yildirim.
(Kirsten G) by Luís Galvão Teles, Portugal/Brazil/Luxembourg “Crime is an equal opportunity profession – anyone can do it.” This becomes the motto of friends Amadeu (Ângelo Torres) and Leonardo (Danton Mello), two dreamers trying to make a living in Rio. Discouraged, they decide to move to Lisbon in hopes of a better life. Instead, when all their contacts fizzle, they end up breaking into the home of Leonardo’s idol, crime novel author Reis, in hopes of convincing him to join them in a robbery. They get more than they bargain for when they meet femme fatale Lia (Ana Christina Oliveira) instead. Fado Blues is a light but entertaining crime caper film, owing much of its charm to star Ângelo Torres, who was chosen as Portugal’s 2004 European Shooting Star (young actor on the move). Portuguese director Luis Galvão Teles, whose previous film Elles was popular on the film festival circuit, manages to parody the crime drama genre while still building up tension to the final heist. This is not a film that will change the world, but it does make for a fun 100 minutes that are guaranteed to drive away any blues you may have had.
(Becky T) by Pablo Trapero, Argentina In this road movie, twelve members of the Rodante family from grandma to the baby squeeze into a trailer to travel to a wedding 1200 miles away. Although they are not gypsies, they live the gypsy life, camping along the way (although they try to stay in hotels at night), swimming in the sea, and repairing their vehicle. Except for passing cowboys riding their horses in the water along the beach or a villager willing to sell a motor part, there is little influence from the outside world. All their adventures arise from interaction among the members of the family. This film reminded me very much of my own family reunion: 22 people in Florida. Contrary to the Rodantes, we only squeezed eight people into a van (not 12), were concerned about helmets for the cyclists and car seats for the children, and nobody got socked in the jaw or fell in love with a cousin or in-law or adopted a stray dog. At the same time, there were many similarities. We cooked together, worried about leaving that child to cry all by herself, wondered what our brother saw in that woman, cared for the turtles on the beach at night and “did it all for grandma.” Second Opinion by Coppelia HB
The role of the grandmother, Emilia (Graciana Chironi), is played by the real 84-year-old grandmother of the director. Her acting was great considering she is a non-professional actress. This family trip, incorporating four generations traveling in a motor home from Buenos Aires to Misiones, seems endless at times. It appears more of a home movie than an actual film. Stretches of rolling scenery are interspersed with family interactions oscillating from teenage romance to middle age doubts and regrets amongst the heat and closeness of a small confined space. Although the film could remind some of personal family reunions, there is not a hook to captivate the attention at large. What is amazing is that they "did it all for grandma."
(Becky T) by Tomas Alfredson, Sweden and Denmark In spite of its extraordinary length (three and a half hours including a 15-minute intermission) and in spite of its quietly slow pace, this is a film that needs to be seen twice. Four stories are interwoven but never mixed together. In the beginning it takes some concentration to ascertain, “Where are we now and who are we suffering with?” Because, in spite of the black, sweet-and-sour humor, these people suffer an extraordinary loneliness. One young man returns from a ten-year, self-imposed exile for a man-to-man talk with his father. The father, wily old bastard that he is, escapes the confrontation by conveniently dying 43 minutes earlier. He manipulates his family from the grave. Or a self-help group meets officially as a cooking class in order to qualify to use the community center facilities. The five participants analyse each other’s problems: kinky sex, misunderstood charisma or spousal abandonment. The serious problem appears late in the film. Or a young couple own a vacation beach hotel. The man’s magician parents visit, accompanied by a con artist who has captivated the mother’s heart. This stranger drives one of the couples apart and cements the relationship of the other. In the fourth story a couple’s idea of togetherness is to sit side-by side, each reading a copy of the same book by Henning Mankell* at approximately the same speed. Their compassion is impersonal; they support an orphan boy in South America, but cannot hug their own teenage son. It takes a destructive hot flame to melt the cold void. All of these characters are not bad people, just very human in their weaknesses. Director Tomas Alfredson is a member of a Swedish cabaret group, Killinggänget. It’s easy to imagine these vignettes being tossed around at the group’s creative planning sessions. Parts might have been tested in their cabaret performances. I’ll bet you’ve never seen a horse in jeans or imagined being resurrected with eight penises. This very much resembles other Scandinavian films in that the humor is often destructive (Green Butcher) and there is a melancholy undertone (Old, New, Borrowed, and Blue or Music for Weddings and Funerals). My colleague Adele mentioned the similarities to Thomas Venterberg’s Celebration (family secrets) if only it had been shorter. The photography is beautiful from long shots of the ocean to close-ups of fast food going into the oven. Churned brown mud (or maybe chocolate cake batter) often appears in keeping with the title, but nobody in our group knew what the symbolism referred to. *Swedish author Henning Mankell will read from his newest book at the Deutsche Schauspielhaus in Hamburg on September 29. The moderator will be the popular German journalist Elke Heidenreich.
(Adele R) by Salam Salur, Iran Two brothers in their early teens trying to survive in the Iranian desert alone. One steals fuel from the trucks carrying salt from the salt flats and sells it back to the drivers, the other sells opium to the drivers. He is actually supposed to give it to the camels to keep them addicted and thus in the area to carry contraband, but he does not want to do that to the animals. The film moves at a pace dictated by the desert, slowly. And like the desert, which appears to be nothing more than sand, searing sun and an occasional bush or two, nothing much seems to happen. But in fact, a psychological dynamic is developing under the surface. And then a suicidal man inspires the boys to do something else with their lives. The film has its own beauty and magnetism, but it is unlikely that it will be shown in Hamburg any time soon.
(Shelly S) by Reis Celik, Turkey Director Reis Celik persuaded his leading star Tuncel Kurtiz to drive with him 2000 kilometers to return to his native home in a remote village in Anatolia in order to make this film. The journey before the movie ever started was quite an undertaking in itself since the mountains are high, the roads are narrow and rough, and the weather was difficult. It was also interesting to hear how these two set off with no set story line and came up with a documentary drama. The story begins with a bet between the driver of a traditional horse-drawn sleigh and the driver of a modern new minibus with heater. Who can reach the nearest town first? As each vehicle begins its journey, the traditional storytellers in each vehicle begin to tell their regional stories of the people of the area and their fates. The one human characteristic that links these stories and the race is stubbornness and what becomes of those who have this quality in their character. This film is very fresh and wonderful. It gives us a sense of history and tradition and displays the wonderful ethnic costumes of that area. Tuncel Kurtiz has unbelievable talent. He is really the only professional actor at the scene and plays several parts. Together Kurtiz and Celik create an amazing adventure story with a cast of isolated villagers with no acting experience.
(Shelly S) by Zhang Yuan, China Zhang creates a film is based on the short novel Adiliya by the River by Jin Renshun. There is not much of a storyline but the artistic style and mood of this film captures the attention of the audience. The film is mysterious and seductive as it looks into relationships between men and women. Wu Fong is an uptight but clever university student who expands her horizon by going on many blind dates. She is on an endless search for the right man to marry but she is always careful. She reads their tea leaves to find out exactly what kind of men these blind dates are. She then meets Chen, a strange but interesting artist who has had very little success with woman and only drinks coffee. She always keeps her distance from him despite his constant efforts to get closer to her. Then macho Chen meets the seductive piano player Lang Lang who looks like Wu Fong, but is completely different in character. He then is unsure which direction to take. The film is beautifully made and gives the viewer the feeling of not only seeing but also tasting the bittersweet taste of green tea.
(Mary W) by Bill Plympton, USA Independent animator Bill Plympton (Mutant Aliens) goes back to high school to tell the romantic tale of Cherri, Rod and Spud. Cherri is the most beautiful girl (blond, pouty lips), Rod the most handsome guy (Elvis clone). Spud is the new kid in town (nerd). Spud turns the entire school against him when he gives Cherri the wrong answer which she says out loud in class. As punishment, Spud becomes Cherri’s slave. Of course they fall in love with deadly consequences. The colors and composition of this animated life are quite interesting with lots of good music to move the story along. But the characters are not in the least likeable and the cruelties, though animated, will make your skin crawl. There is some fun in picking out all of the clichés, of which “crack a smile” was my favorite – a slow cracking sound as the devious smile slowly breaks across a bad boy’s face. But overall the story left me feeling like I needed a good cleansing shower.
(Mary W) by Antonia Bird, United Kingdom and Germany What happened in their lives to cause a diverse group of Muslim men to choose to die together by killing thousands of strangers in a foreign land? Director Antonia Bird along with writers Ronan Bennett and Alice Perman try to find out through exhaustive research into the lives of several men involved in the planning and executing of September 11th, 2001. Based on investigative files, court transcripts, personal interviews and unpublished correspondence, this television dramatisation provides insight into what happened in the years before, right up to the tragedy. The film looks closely at Mohamed Atta, who flew the first plane into the World Trade Center, Zaid Jarrah, who had the controls of Flight 93 when it crashed in Pennsylvania, and Ramzi bin al Shibh, who, from Afghanistan and Germany, coordinated with co-conspirators. These three men met at the Al-Quds mosque in Hamburg. Egyptian Atta appeared detached from the Western lifestyle, refusing even to spend an evening out with his religious brothers. By contrast, Lebanese Jarrah seemed to embrace life, falling in love and into bed with a lovely Turkish student, Aysel. Both came from financially secure families and were sent to Germany for advanced studies. Shibh, outgoing and friendly, exerted considerable influence over Jarrah, helping him learn a corrupted kind of Islam that advocates violence and martyrdom as a direct route to paradise. Jarrah led a double life, marrying Aysel and promising a life with children while he prepared for jihad. Atta struggled with his father’s expectations. If you have followed news reports, you won’t really learn anything new here (except about personal relationships), but the outstanding organization of relevant facts into the dramatisation puts what occurred before September 11th into a coherent perspective. Whether that helps one to understand why nineteen men decided to sacrifice themselves in a senseless massacre of innocent people will be a matter for individual thought.
(Coppelia HB) by Gracia Querejeta, Spain This heart-rendering film is a sensitively displayed portrayal of the internal turmoil that Héctor (Nilo Mur), a young boy of 16, undergoes when, at his mother’s death, he must leave his well-to-do home and move in with his lower middle class aunt, Tere (Adriana Ozores), and her family in an apartment on the outskirts of Madrid. With deep awareness, the Spanish director Gracia Querejeta conveys the process of adjustment to a new reality which becomes more familiar and comfortable with each passing day. During this development, Tere, who did not speak to her sister for several years before she died, comes to find out the terrible truth under which her sister lived and thus, Héctor. We all have our hidden secrets. The priest, who is a good friend of the family, at the request of Tere’s sister, contacts Hector’s father, Martín (Damián Alcázar), estranged from the mother years ago. Martin flies to Madrid to find his son and tries to convince him to return with him to Mexico where he will have the opportunity to live a financially better life by his father’s side. Thus the internal conflict becomes more complicated, and he must decide what to do. In the end, he follows his heart and displays a very courageous act.
(Kirsten G) by Zrinko Ogresta, Croatia Here provides a glimpse of life in post-war Croatia. Director Zrinko Ogresta (whose last film, Red Dust, was the Croatian entry for the 1999 Best Foreign Film Oscar) presents a dozen different characters in loosely-connected vignettes: a junkie trying to find money for her next hit, a lonely retired man looking for friendship, an alcoholic former television actor hoping for another break, some former soldiers trying to adjust to life after war, and a mentally-handicapped man just trying to get by. All have hope for the future, but none can seem to make their lives any better. All I could ascertain from this film is that none of the characters can seem to establish normal relationships. Most likely this is due to the war for the soldiers, but I’m not sure of the reasons for the others. I found the film slow and tedious, with the only salvation being occasional interesting camerawork. Perhaps this film makes more sense for Croatians, who have lived through the conditions shown in the film, but I found it difficult to understand what the filmmakers hoped to say, especially since there was no resolution to any of the stories. Overall, I found Here to be a place I wasn’t too interested in being in.
(Kirsten G) by Michael Mayer, USA We all want a place where we can call home, but what really defines a home? This is the question posed by A Home at the End of the World, a film based on the novel of the same name by Michael Cunningham (also author of The Hours). It tells the story of Bobby, who endures several tragedies when very young and ends up living with his best friend Jonathan’s family. Even when Jonathan moves away to New York, Bobby stays with Jonathan’s family until they retire to Arizona, forcing Bobby to move on with his life. He moves to New York and stays with Jonathan and his roommate Clare. Once back together, Bobby and Jonathan must confront their feelings for each other, and the relationships get more complicated when Clare, who had been in love with Jonathan, falls for Bobby. A Home deals with a lot of weighty topics: relationships, the definition of family, our place in the world, the need for love, and how to move on with life after tragedy. There is not a lot of action, but there is a lot of emotion, portrayed brilliantly by all of the actors: Colin Farrell as the adult Bobby, Dallas Roberts as the adult Jonathan, Robin Wright Penn as Clare, and Sissy Spacek as Jonathan’s mother Alice. First-time film director Michael Mayer obviously used his extensive stage directing experience (his version of Thoroughly Modern Millie won six Tony awards in 2002) to get the most out of his cast. In the end, A Home doesn’t offer a lot of answers, but it does offer a glimpse into the life of characters trying to find the answers – just like us – and struggling through a lot of ups and downs along the way.
(Shelly S) by Jack Neo, Singapore Jack Neo, a famous comedian in Singapore, presented his first film. He said that he wanted to make a serious film about children, which is not common in the current film industry in Singapore. He also wanted to take a historical look at Singapore when it gained its independence from Malaysia. Kids today can hardly believe that in the 60s people had to struggle so much to earn a living, especially now since Singapore is one of the wealthier countries in Asia. Neo’s film opens with a young boy, Ah Kun, begging a shop owner to give his family one cup of rice on credit. He has the misfortune of setting down his sister’s only pair of shoes on a basket that belongs to someone else. He arrives home and tells his sister Seow Fang what has happened and begs her not to tell their parents, who are currently arguing and struggling over their family’s financial situation. The two try to share one pair of shoes since their school schedules are at different times. Unfortunately the two are punished for different reasons but always relating back to the shoes. Ah Kun tries many ways to buy a pair of shoes for his sister, and in the end, he runs a marathon barefoot in order to win a race for the shoes. The film is beautifully filmed. There are times where you cry and where you laugh. It is a film made from the heart. The basic theme is: in order to solve problems, people must work together. It asks the question, “Even if the problems become more difficult, will we be able to solve them together?” It certainly hits home to anyone who has had to solve a problem and might not be able to manage it alone.
(Becky T) by Nickolas Perry and Harry Thomason, USA Former U.S. president Bill Clinton made enemies from his early days as governor of Arkansas. When he went to Washington, people who hoped to go with him or at least reap the benefit of a new job were disappointed. These people were the first members of a group which desired to “bring him down.” In the end there was the so-called Independent Counsel, headed by Kenneth Starr, which investigated Clinton’s financial dealings, specifically a property sale called Whitewater. When it was evident that there was no wrong-doing here, the “investigators” decided that his Achilles heel would be his sex life. As everyone knows, the Monica Levinsky affair almost did just that. Perry and Thomason interviewed many people who were involved in the case (although 130 people refused to comment for the film). Starr was definitely not independent. James McDougal was courted by the investigators, regardless of the fact that he was suffering from manic depression. (McDougal eventually died in prison.) His former wife, Susan McDougal, was the only morally upright person in the film. She refused to testify to the grand jury, refused to be persuaded to tell lies, and was sentenced to two years in prison. Reporters, sensing the opportunity to make their career a la Bernstein and Watergate, “saw” and reported information when there was nothing. In the end 60 million dollars of taxpayers’ money was wasted. There was no case against Bill Clinton. The intrigues and battle for power make the U.S. look like a banana republic. This is an extremely interesting film, especially for anyone who followed it while happened. It might be confusing for newcomers to this topic because of the many comments from many different people. For some reason little scenes from old black and white forties’ movies are spliced into the film to underline commentary.
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The
Hamburg Film Festival on September 23-30 was open to the public for the price
of a ticket. More than 90 films played at Metropolis, Cinemaxx, Abaton, Grindel and 3001.
The Hamburg Film Festival is is a unique opportunity to see films which may never return to
Hamburg and if they do return, then only months later. Many films are in English or have English
subtitles. Watch for more information in English and German on 
5
x 2 (Cinq fois Deux) 
Aaltra
Alexandria...New
York 
August
Sun (Ira Majiyama) 
Bitter
Dream (Sommeil Amer, Khab é Talkh) 
Black
Friday, the True Story of the Bombay Blasts 
Blind
Flight 
Born
Rich 
Brodeuses
Brothers
(Brødere) 
Buena
Vida Delivery 
Bush's
Brain 
Casablanca
Driver 
Champions
(Mistri) 
The
Clearing (Anatomie einer Entführung) 
Comme
un Image (Look at Me, Schau mich an) 
The
Con Game (Doble Juego) 
Crying
Ladies 
Dear
Enemy 
Destiny
Has No Favorites (El Destino No Tiene Favoritos) _sm.jpg)
En
Garde 
Fado
Blues (Tudo Isto é Fado) 
Familia
Rodante 
Four
Shades of Brown (Fyra nyanser av Brunt) 
From
the Land of Silence (Saskenine Sarzamine Sokoot) 
Geschichten
vom Cildirsee (Ynat Hykayelery, Stories of Cildir Sea) 
Green
Tea (Lu Cha) 
Hair
High 
The
Hamburg Cell 
Héctor
Here
(Tu) 
A
Home at the End of the World (Ein Zuhause am Ende der Welt) 
Homerun
The
Hunting of the President