Best Films from Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland

Doing a deep dive into a specific region or nation’s cinema often reveals blindspots and gaps in one’s knowledge. This proved to be case when compiling a list of top films from Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland for Wonders in the Dark’s “Rest of Europe” spotlight. The gaps again highlight the lack of viable legal options to see many classic films from these six nations. There are some exceptions though when it comes to older films from these regions such as Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film Jeanne Dielman and Paul Verhoeven’s 1973 Turkish Delight, both of which are easily available. The oldest film in this list is Michael Cacoyannis’s 1956 Greek film A Girl in Black and that isn’t a surprise because until the late 1990s, his films such as Stella (1955), Zorba the Greek (1964), Attila 74 (1975) were the most common Greek films available to rent on VHS tapes at my local video stores (yes those physical spaces). Next most common Greek films available were those of Theo Angelopoulos. Things changed after 2010 when newer Greek films became available due to works of New Greek cinema playing at most film festivals and finding distribution after their festival runs.

Top 15 films from “Rest of Europe” Poll: Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland

1. Homo Sapiens (2016, Austria, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
2. L’Enfant (2005, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
3. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Belgium, Chantal Akerman)
4. The Vanishing (1988, Holland, George Sluizer)
5. Rosetta (1999, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
6. Father and Daughter (2000, Holland, Michael Dudok de Wit)
7. Turkish Delight (1973, Holland, Paul Verhoeven)
8. A Girl in Black (1956, Greece, Michael Cacoyannis)
9. The Weeping Meadow (2004, Greece, Theo Angelopoulos)
10. Lourdes (2009, Austria, Jessica Hausner)
11. The Boat is Full (1981, Switzerland, Markus Imhoof)
12. In the Name of the Father (1993, Ireland, Jim Sheridan)
13. Revanche (2008, Austria, Götz Spielmann)
14. A Town Called Panic (2009, Belgium, Stéphane Aubier/Vincent Patar)
15. Dogtooth (2009, Greece, Yorgos Lanthimos)

Honourable mention:

Man Bites Dog (1992, Belgium, Rémy Belvaux/André Bonzel/Benoît Poelvoorde)

CIFF 2013

Every year I look forward to the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) in order to catch-up with some of the best Canadian & foreign films from around the world. However, this year due to unforeseen events I missed almost half the festival. Thankfully, the damage was not that bad as most films had multiple screenings which allowed me to catch an excellent crop of films.

Here are my top 10:

1. Like Father, Like Son (2013, Japan, Hirokazu Kore-eda)

A beautiful and quietly devastating film that shows the two-way impact parents and children have in evolving each other’s personalities. It is well known that children absorb what they observe from their parents but very few films show how parents are often forced to change, for the better, because of their children. Hirokazu Kore-eda has continued the cinematic tradition of Yasujirô Ozu but has also managed to carve out his own style. One of the year’s best films!

2. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (2013, Canada, Denis Côté)

Denis Côté toys with the audience by making a specific genre film under the cover of another genre. I am not going to reveal what the specific genre is because it is worth seeing this film cold without any prior knowledge. Côté clearly alerts the audience what to expect but his alarms are mistaken for humor which is why when the film does eventually reveal its true nature, it jolts the senses.

3. The Fifth Season (2012, Belgium/Holland/France, Peter Brosens/Jessica Woodworth) 

The two directors earlier work Khadak was infused with color but all color is mostly drained out of The Fifth Season in order to depict a bleak winter like feeling. Such a depiction works because this transmits the desperation and misery that hangs over the village. At times, the film hinges on dark comedy mostly associated with the cinema of Roy Andersson while some of the bar/tavern scenes and apocalyptic dread evokes Béla Tarr.

4. The Past (2013, France/Italy, Asghar Farhadi)

Examines the complicated and messy aftermath of a separation. As the film shows, a separation does not guarantee a better future but instead can lead one down a never-ending hole of misery.

5. Thou Gild’st the Even (2013, Turkey, Onur Ünlü)

This gorgeous black and white surrealist love story is unlike any film released in the last few years. It is packed with surrealist images that are seamlessly integrated within the ordinary fabric of town life. As a result, the film's blend of humor and shock results in a darker blend of comedy that most palates have not yet encountered.

6. Borgman (2013, Holland, Alex van Warmerdam)

The initial premise appears to be taking a page out of Haneke’s Funny Games but that is a red herring as Borgman takes multiple unexpected turns resulting in a remarkably unpredictable film.

7. Antarctica: A Year on Ice (2013, New Zealand, Anthony Powell)

A stunning and gorgeous film that covers a year long working assignment in Antarctica, capturing the tasks that are required for the workers, including their living quarters and various experiences. The end result is a perfect travelogue for a region which most people will never get a chance to visit. Essential viewing!

The film won both Best Documentary and Discovery Documentary Awards at CIFF 2013, with the two categories voted by the audience.

8. OXV: The Manual (2013, UK/Australia, Darren Paul Fisher)

A mathematical metaphysical coming of age film that incorporates romantic and apocalyptic notes. The underlying layer of science means this films forms a worthy companion piece to Upstream Color. OXV also shows that with some creativity, it is possible to create an engaging sci-fi world without any special effects or a large budget.

9. The Missing Picture (2013, Cambodia/France, Rithy Panh)

Rithy Panh has used a very creative method of mixing archival footage with clay figures to recount a painful and devastating moment in history, not only of his family, but of Cambodia. Such is the smart usage of Panh’s direction that after a while, the clay figures seem to be alive, inviting us to into their lives. Along with The Act of Killing, The Missing Picture shows the power of cinema to preserve history for generations to come.

10. The Tears (2013, Mexico, Pablo Delgado Sanchez)

Pablo Delgado Sanchez’s graduate film shows all the signs of a director whose work belongs to Contemporary Contemplative Cinema (CCC). The initial setting inside a Mexican apartment recalls Nicolás Pereda's Juntos but once the two brothers leave for camping to the countryside, the film recalls the earlier works of Lisandro Alonso. While Alonso’s film are about a solitary figure, the presence of two brothers creates a different dynamic in The Tears.

Strong & worthy viewings

Even though I missed a handful of films, 2013 proved to be an excellent balanced program for CIFF. All the 26 films I saw were worthy of inclusion and enriched the overall festival.

Here are some brief notes on a few of those other films, in no particular order:

The Grand Seduction (2013, Canada, Don McKellar)

A perfect opening gala film which uses a beautiful Canadian setting with an excellent cast to generate plenty of humor. The incorporation of Cricket & Lamb Dhansak enhances the film greatly.

In the Name of (2013, Poland, Malgorzata Szumowska)

At first, the film feels like an examination of a priest's challenge to balance his faith and inner desires. But there are two sequences which transform the film from a singular perspective to a larger examination of the religious establishment. The film starts off by showing that a rotten apple can spoil the barrel while the ending indicates that perhaps the whole barrel is now rotten.

Goltzius and the Pelican Company (2012, UK/Holland/France/Croatia, Peter Greenaway) 

Peter Greenaway's visual tour de force manages to creatively fuse theatre, literature & art thereby creating a feast for the senses.

Pandi (2012, Canada/India, Maria Saroja Ponnambalam)

The film takes us on an emotional ride with the director and her family as they put together the pieces surrounding her uncle Pandi’s death. Even though this is a personal tale, there are some universal themes the film explores, such as the desire to make movies. However, a significant aspect this film depicts is regarding mental health which is not openly discussed in some ethnic communities. The treatment of such a sensitive manner is handled in a dignified manner by the director.

After Tiller (2013, USA, Martha Shane/Lana Wilson)

A gut-wrenching film about people who seek abortion at a late stage (third-trimester) in their pregnancy and the doctors that help carry out such a procedure. The reasons some people go down this path are shown and their opinion is placed against those who call such an act murder. It is not an easy film to watch given the material. However, it is a well made documentary that tries to give multiple points of view, including the moral and ethical issues involved.

The Rocket (2013, Australia, Kim Mordaunt)

Set entirely in the beautiful locales of Laos, The Rocket is a heartwarming film that bursts with life. For people who rarely see foreign films, The Rocket is a perfect way to win them over and show the vibrant cinema that exists in other parts of the world.

The film won the audience narrative award at CIFF 2013 and should be a strong candidate to win the foreign film Academy Award in 2014.

Lily (2013, USA, Matt Creed) 

Takes a page out of the French New Wave as the mostly singular focus on Lily as she wanders the streets of New York evokes Varda’s Cleo from 5 to 7. Matt Creed has done a very good job of drawing audience into Lily’s world and the film always maintains a positive hopeful tone throughout.

The Artist

The Artist (2011, France/Belgium, Michel Hazanavicius)

Once upon a time, a megastar was effortlessly able to charm his audience. He smiled and everyone fell over backwards in awe, including producers who obliged to his every whim. A photo with him could turn a nobody into a page one headline. However, he was vain and refused to change with the times so his producer dumped him. The actor was so sure of his success that he became an indie filmmaker and bankrolled his own film. The film flopped at the box-office and when the stock market crashed, the actor went bankrupt. His fortunes were sold off at an auction and he had to pawn off his expensive suits for food and drink money. He turned into an alcoholic and was so washed up that even his shadow left him. When all hope looked lost, a loving hard tried to pull him out of the quicksand. Unfortunately, once again his pride got in the way and his fate appeared sealed.

But in the tradition of a typical Hollywood studio film, he is saved thereby ensuring a feel good happy ending that everyone loves.

Cut. Insert sound. Roll credits.

Applause.

Give film universal acclaim.

Jean Dujardin and Bérénice Bejo charmingly bring their characters to life but ultimately The Artist is a rehashed studio film sold in a different package. The silent film treatment feels like a gimmick as demonstrated by the nightmare sequence in which Dujardin’s character of George Valentin loses his voice. George is told by his producer Al (John Goodman) that talkies are the future and silent actors are on the verge of extinction. This causes George to have a nightmare in which he loses his voice but all the objects and characters around him break free of the film’s silent framework -- the objects make a loud noise while characters laugh in their own voice. This sequence draws attention to itself and makes the film appear more as a spoof of the silent film era, and not as a homage. Also, watching George and Al discussing talkies while reading intertitles appears to be joke geared towards the audience and not as a relevant scenario in the context of a silent film. It would have been more effective if The Artist was a pure silent film with no reference to talkies or if the film was about the making of silent movies where characters talked in their own voice. As it stands, The Artist comes across as a muddled effort trying to use a framework of a silent film without fully embracing the methodology of the era.

Invisible Cinema

The following words stand out from Anthony Lane's article for the New Yorker:

There’s only one problem with home cinema: it doesn’t exist. The very phrase is an oxymoron. As you pause your film to answer the door or fetch a Coke, the experience ceases to be cinema. Even the act of choosing when to watch means you are no longer at the movies. Choice—preferably an exhaustive menu of it—pretty much defines our status as consumers, and has long been an unquestioned tenet of the capitalist feast, but in fact carte blanche is no way to run a cultural life (or any kind of life, for that matter), and one thing that has nourished the theatrical experience, from the Athens of Aeschylus to the multiplex, is the element of compulsion.
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As Justine’s mother says of marriage, and as the movie tries to say of mortal life, so we should say of cinema: “Enjoy it while it lasts.”

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His words may be applicable to those who live in New York City but they hold very little relevance outside New York. The truth is that for people living in North American cities aside from New York and to some extent LA or Toronto, home is the only logical option to watch foreign films. There are no choices for people in majority of North American cities to catch Melancholia or even The Turin Horse in their local cinema. I can confidently vouch for the latter because no Bela Tarr film has ever played in my city. As for Melancholia, it might eventually get here but it won't be until the summer of 2012, more than a year after its Cannes premier. Is that considered a valid choice? Not really especially if the film is going to be available officially in Europe via DVD or by digital pay options much earlier than that.

Talking about the pure experience of cinema is not relevant for people whose weekly cinematic choices are Spider Man 1: the 10th remake, Shrek 7, Transformers 5 or Harry Potter, the diaper years. If these are the only theatrical options that I have each week, then I rather not visit a cinema hall.

Thankfully, there are great films being made around the world every year even though access to such films is getting more and more restricted via traditional theatrical means. Even rental DVD is getting hard as local independent DVD stores across Canada are vanishing at a fast rate. Before anyone else blames Netflix, they need to have a look at the dismal selection of films available on Netflix Canada. As for digital/pay-for-view options, they mostly carry the same Hollywood titles that play in every Canadian multiplex. However, the foreign films are out there. The onus is now on each cinephile to look hard to find those precious films lurking in some region free DVD zone or via other digital means.

Here are just a few worthy films from the last few years that I was lucky enough to see via the film festival circuit. For the most part, these films are still invisible to the rest of the world. That is a shame because they demand to be seen:

Manuel di Ribera (2010, Chile, Pablo Carrera/Christopher Murray)

This visually stunning film is a fascinating mix of Lisandro Alonso and Bela Tarr yet is completely original. The lonely journeys of Manuel, conducted with the aid of boats, has touches of Alonso (from both Los Muertos & Liverpool) while the mostly grayish/dark environment and the drunken locals' distrust of Manuel feels similar to Tarr's The Outsider and Satantango. Also, the film brilliantly plays with the concept of reality by having two almost similar scenes of an event incorporated into the film -- one real and one imagined. The audience is left to figure out what the reality is.

The Intern (2010, Argentina, Clara Picasso)

Clara Picasso's sublime film cleverly uses a Buenos Aires hotel setting as a springboard to examine wider issues, such as male-female power games and the thin boundary that exists between private and public life. Not a single minute is wasted in the film's brisk 64 minutes. Almost at each 20 minute segment, the viewer has to track back to the previous segment to get a clue as to mystery or relationship tussle taking place on screen. The end result is an engaging film.

R (2010, Denmark, Tobias Lindholm/Michael Noer)

The tag 'dark film' is easily thrown around but in the case of R, the tag is entirely justified. The film makes the wonderful Un prophète look like a feel good happy film. Besides being completely savage, R is intelligent and that is demonstrated by a clever perspective shift two-thirds into the film which shows the similar hierarchies of two rival gangs.

Hunting & Zn (2010, Holland, Sander Burger)

This powerful Dutch film shows how a complicated relationship can be strained when lies and a pregnancy enters the equation. Like Maren Ade's brilliant Everyone Else, this film is bold enough to look at the nasty side that exists in all relationships and thereby causes the audience to get deeply involved with the film. As a warning, pregnant women or couples expecting a child might want to brace themselves for an emotionally challenging film.

Breathless (2009, South Korea, Yang Ik-June)

This debut feature by Yang Ik-June packs quite a punch and as per the title leaves one breathless. There are many movies which claim to be anti-violence but instead end up glorifying violence because the consequences of violence is never fully explored. On the other hand, Breathless clearly depicts the danger of a violent life, whether that life is in a household or in a gang. There is a consequence to every violent action and Yang Ik-June’s film has a purpose for every scene of violence and abuse.

The Happiest Girl in the World (2009, Romania co-production, Radu Jude)

Winning a free car is supposed to usher in new freedom for Delia Fratila. All she has to do is act in a 35 second car commercial and drive away with her new car. But things don’t turn out to be that simple. Her parents want to exchange the car for money to finance a better future and the commercial shoot turns out to be an artistic and physical challenge. Funny and engaging. Another vintage film from Romania.

Katalin Varga (2009, Romania co-production, Peter Strickland)

Devastating cinema! After Katalin is kicked out of her home along with her son, she undertakes a journey. The music points to a dark past and even a darker future. Indeed, there is some darkness for Katalin Varga is a revenge tale. But it is unlike any other revenge movie. In fact, it carves out its own rules for vengeance. That means no dramatic dialogues but instead we are treated to beautiful images and haunting music which conveys the hovering tension in the air.

Call If You Need Me (2009, Malaysia, James Lee)

A visually sharp film that combines the sensibilities of diverse film-makers such as Hou Hsiao-Hsien, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang and Quentin Tarantino while still retaining a unique Malaysian flavour. Hou Hsiao-Hsien elevated a gangster film to an art form with Goodbye South Goodbye and James Lee does a very job in carrying on that tradition. Call if you Need me is about gangsters and kidnappings but there isn’t a single gun or drop of blood to be found on screen. All the violence is kept out of the frame and we are instead shown events that precede or succeed a violent act. The lack of violence allows audience to focus on the characters and their day to day lives, including their love interests and their choice of food and drugs.

Rough Cut (2008, Korea, Hun Jang)

Rough Cut has taken some aspects of the extraordinary Korean film Dirty Carnival and gone in a different direction with good effect. Dirty Carnival showed how gangsters complained about movies not having authentic fight scenes and in order to correct things, a local gangster (Byeong-du) helped his old college friend (Min-ho) to make an authentic gangster film by giving pointers to the actors and fight instructors. In Rough Cut, a once popular action star asks a local gangster to play a villain in his movies so that the actor can save his career. The gangster, who always dreamed of being an actor himself, agrees provided that all the fight scenes in the film are real and not staged. The end result is a no holds barred on screen contest where even the film’s director has no idea if the end result would hold true to his original script.

Wonderful Town (2007, Thailand, Aditya Assarat)

Wonderful Town is a tender love story between a Bangkok architect Ton, who comes to the southern Thai town Pakua Pak to work on a new beach resort, and Na, the owner of the hotel that Ton stays in. Everything in the film exists in harmony, be it the haunted house, the construction of the new resort, the empty hotel, the isolated beach or even a road-side garage. The town is empty, almost a ghost town, where everyone knows each other. Yet this loneliness never feels oppressive but just a natural cycle of life.

Kill the Referee (2009, Belgium, Y.Hinant/E.Cardot/L.Delphine)

This Belgium soccer documentary does not have any narration or title cards to guide the audience but instead dives right into the action. Like the Zidane film, this documentary gives a completely different perspective to what one experiences when watching a soccer game. One gets to see the game from an on-field angle, but instead of a player's point of view, we see the game from a referee's angle.

This film is essential viewing for anyone who has ever seen a soccer game. And since the film is artistically shot and edited, it offers non-soccer fans plenty to chew on as well. The games shown in the film are from Euro 2008 and if a person is familiar with some of the players, then that enhances the experience. This film does an excellent job in showing us the human side of the refs and also some of the egos that operate in the game.

Steam of Life (2010, Finland, Joonas Berghäll/Mika Hotakainen)

A beautifully shot contemplative film that places the viewer in an awkward position of a voyeur observing Finnish men pour their heart out while sitting in a variety of saunas. The film remarkably shows that any enclosed space can be transformed into a sauna, even a phone booth, and the calming effect of the steam is essential to allow men to tackle life's daily burdens.

Woman without a Piano (2009, Spain, Javier Rebollo)

A sublime film that uses a low key treatment in depicting a single night's events. The camera quietly follows Carmen around and the events that unfold around her are hilarious and sad at the same time. The film is set in Madrid and in some alleys we see situations which Pedro Almovodar uses in his films but Woman without a Piano is an art film through and through, with a pinch of comedy.

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Note: I have mentioned these films previously but I still get puzzled looks when I talk about these films to people. Since I have no power over these film's distribution, all I can do is repeat my words.

Around the world in 24 films

Just a brief mention of some worthy newer films from around the world. Some of these films will surely end up in my year end best list.

Note: films arranged as per country.

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El Camino du punto (2010, Argentina, Sebastián Díaz Morales)

The title's translation, The Way Between Two Points, perfectly sums the film which is about a character's journey from point A to point B. There are only a few minutes of dialog at the start and these dialogues are the weakest aspect of the film as the words needlessly try to give the story a higher worldly purpose. After the words are delivered, the film settles into a beautiful journey where we get both an overhead shot of the landscape that is to be covered and the ground level footage of the journey. The singular focus of the journey at all costs reminds a bit about The Limits of Control and Birdsong but El Camino du punto is free from any dramatic or religious baggage of those two other films.

Kill the Referee (2009, Belgium, Y.Hinant/E.Cardot/L.Delphine)

This Belgium soccer documentary does not have any narration or title cards to guide the audience but instead dives right into the action. Like the Zidane film, this documentary gives a completely different perspective to what one experiences when watching a soccer game. One gets to see the game from an on-field angle, but instead of a player's point of view, we see the game from a referee's angle.

This film is essential viewing for anyone who has ever seen a soccer game. And since the film is artistically shot and edited, it offers non-soccer fans plenty to chew on as well. The games shown in the film are from Euro 2008 and if a person is familiar with some of the players, then that enhances the experience. This film does an excellent job in showing us the human side of the refs and also some of the egos that operate in the game.

A Simple Rhythm (2010, Canada, Tess Girard)

A poetic and mesmerizing look at simple day to day rhythms that shape our lives. The film artfully layers images with sounds to create a calming and fascinating experiencing. In between the images are thoughtful interviews on a variety of subjects, ranging from music to mathematics.

Viva Riva! (2010, Congo co-production, Djo Munga)

In the TIFF write-up, Cameron Bailey noted:

Finally! An African feature film that merges the pleasures of Nollywood with sleek camerawork, satisfying genre thrills and a rare look inside the very heart of the continent. Viva Riva! is unprecedented: a story set in contemporary Democratic Republic of the Congo full of intrigue, music and a surprisingly frank approach to sex.

That is a perfect description as Viva Riva! molds elements of oil trafficking, corruption, violence and sex into an enjoyable film. In the fashion of Nollywood films, the villain is sinister and over the top while the hero, Riva, is a charming intelligent man who can have any woman he wants. Ofcourse, Riva falls for the one woman who will lead him into trouble but Nora is too seductive to resist. The camera ensures that Nora's beauty and Kinshasa's buzzing street life are captured nicely.

Valhalla Rising (2010, Denmark/UK, Nicolas Winding Refn)

The film starts off in an ancient time when men settled their disputes face to face in a bloody hand to hand combat. However, as the warrior crew enters a new land, the change in warfare tactics ensures that man will have to learn to adapt in order to survive. In the new land, arrows fired from unseen enemies lead to death meaning one could die at the hands of someone they do not even see.

A savage bloody film that is also one of the year's best.

Scheherazade Tell me a Story (2009, Egypt, Yousry Nasrallah)

The film uses a soap opera/talk show format to probe at deeper issues not only within Egyptian society but the rest of the Middle East especially regarding the treatment of women in households and at workplaces. It helps that the film is well acted and packed with more gorgeous women than one would find even in a Pedro Almodovar movie. Overall, a pleasurable film.

Steam of Life (2010, Finland, Joonas Berghäll/Mika Hotakainen)

A beautifully shot contemplative film that places the viewer in an awkward
position of a voyeur observing Finnish men pour their heart out while sitting in a variety of saunas. The film remarkably shows that any enclosed space can be transformed into a sauna, even a phone booth, and the calming effect of the steam is essential to allow men to tackle life's daily burdens.

Win/Win (2010, Holland, Jaap van Heusden)

This Dutch film about a stock exchange manages to find a calm balanced middle ground in between Ben Younger's Boiler Room and Aronofsky's Pi. In fact, the main character in Win/Win Ivan looks like a more laid back version of Max from Pi. Win/Win artfully shows that it is possible to find zen like moments even in a high octane stock market setting.

Gallants (2009, Hong Kong, Clement Sze-Kit Cheng/Chi-kin Kwok)

A homage to the 1970’s Shaw Brothers films, complete with amazing fight sequences, memorable characters and over the top hilarious situations. Even if one is not familiar with older kung-fu movies, this film stands on its own. Knowing about the Shaw Brothers films will just enhance the experience. There are some moments when the action stalls but the film has many high energy moments. The homage would have been perfect if the film title was something which captured the story’s spirit such as “Gates of Law” or if the title used a variation of the words “Dragon”, “Tiger” or “kick”.

Ocean of an Old Man (2008, India, Rajesh Shera)

Simple. Beautiful. Meditative. Haunting. Tragic.

The old man in the title is played by Tom Alter, easily recognizable to Bollywood fans because he always played an evil villain in Indian films, and was almost always an evil British general in period films. In Rajesh Shera's film, Alter's character plays a school teacher who is devastated by the loss of his wife and daughter in 2004's tsunami. Unfortunately, he can never forget his loss as he has to cross the same ocean everyday to teach his students. To make matters worse, he has to listen to the ocean waves crashing onto the shore and rocks every night while in the day, his students paintings and stories revolve only around the ocean.

There isn’t much dialogue in the film but that does not matter because the beautiful images and fascinating sounds convey the tragedy and gravity of the situation. Also, the sound track is smartly turned off when the sounds of the ocean fill the screen. The minimalist style might frustrate some viewers but patient viewers will be rewarded with an absolute gem of a film.

Peepli Live (2010, India, Anusha Rizvi)

A smart satire that uses the real life story about farmer suicides to poke fun at the mercenary Indian satellite tv channels preoccupied with ratings. However, Peepli Live does feel like two films in one. The film starts off in the village but then lets the media circus take things over. At times, the two stories (farmer suicide, tv ratings circus) compete with each other and eventually the farmer story is brushed aside. Also, there are some moments where the film un-necessarily goes over the top (such as the mention of Saif Ali Khan's grade 8 kiss) when a more subtle approach would have sufficed.

Overall, it does feel like a lost opportunity to make a truly great film. That being said, the ending is perfect when the camera shows us images without any words.

Gorbaciòf (2010, Italy, Stefano Incerti)

The sound of Gorbaciòf's proud walk on the streets and the sound of money stay long in the memory after the film ends. Many films show bundles of money but not many films actually let the sound of crisp notes being counted filter through to the audience. Gorbaciòf counts money everyday both in his day job and at night with his bribe money. The dangerous combination of taking bribes and gambling is never a safe bet for a trouble free life but Gorbaciòf's problems multiply when he falls for a Chinese woman who does not speak any Italian. Gorbaciòf wants to be the woman's knight in shining armour and in order to ensure a better life for her, he needs more money. That need leads him down a slippery yet predictable slope. The love angle is the film's weakest aspect and if it were not for the love story, Incerti's film would be one of the year's best films.

On another note: the male leads in The American, Gorbaciòf and The Robber are all related with their dangerous ways of life. It is not surprizing that the ending of all three films finds these three very different men (an American, Austrian and an Italian) in the exact same situation looking through the glass towards a better future.

The Tiger Factory (2010, Malaysia/Japan, Woo Ming Jin)

The film follows a young girl, Ping, in her attempt to gather money to illegally leave Malaysia for Japan. Ping's life is controlled by her aunt who witholds her passport and pays for men to get Ping pregnant so that the aunt can sell the baby. The story sounds bleak but thanks to the cinematography and lighting, the film does not feel gloomy and instead makes for a fascinating viewing. The style evokes the Dardennes, albeit with a bit of lightness.

Woman on Fire Looks for Water (2009, Malaysia/South Korea, Woo Ming Jin)

This is one of the most visually beautiful films of the year!! The film is about two love tales on opposite ends of the age spectrum. One story shows how a young boy is forced to take his family's fortune into account before deciding upon marriage while the other story shows if love is not truly acknowledged, then even at old age, it continues to torment and bite. In between these two stories, there are many remakarable shots which show the fishing business and every day life, plus there is plenty of humor shown in a subtle manner.

Kinatay (2009, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)

The first 20-30 min of Kinatay perfectly capture the sights and sounds of the street life. After that, the camera moves inside a van and this is where the negative publicity regarding the film starts. Although it is hard to understand what all the fuss is about because there is nothing graphic or gory that is shown but instead we mostly listen to sounds of the horrible butchering and only see a tiny glimpse of the murder weapon. The briefly lit scenes allows viewers to fill in the horror themselves using the audio cues. Maybe in a theater, these audio cues are magnified thereby causing a claustorphobic effect.

Still, the film is powerful in how it goes about showing what it does and it is hard to be not shook up by the ending. I can see why Mendoza was awarded the best director for this film in Cannes 2009.

Lola (2009, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)

Lola is a touching film regarding two grandmothers and how they go about dealing with their lives while finding themselves as opponents in a criminal case. One woman is seeking justice for her grandson’s murder, while the other is trying to save her grandson from going to jail for murdering the other woman’s grandson. The film switches perspective from one grandmother to the other and this method highlights many relevant points such as the true price of justice for people who are trying to make ends meet.

Manilla Skies (2009, Philippines/USA, Raymond Red)

The start gives a false impression of being another film depicting the frustration of being jobless in a major Asian city but the story then takes a dramatic turn towards a heist and an even more unexpected turn towards a plane hijacking. The cyclic nature of the ending, when one of the final scenes is neatly tied with the opening shot, depicts a beautiful pattern to the story. The lead performance is amazing and the film grows in strength as it moves along. Also, the dark/grayish visuals perfectly echo the gloomy mood of the character's situation. Amazingly, the film is inspired by a true story.

Essential Killing (2010, Poland co-production, Jerzy Skolimowski)

Like in Valhalla Rising, the male lead in Essential Killing never speaks a single word. Yet, Vincent Gallo's character does not need to talk as his expressions of pain and anguish perfectly convey his inner feelings. Gallo plays a taliban fighter who is captured in Afghanistan but finds himself on the run in a frozen European country side after a series of events lead to his escape. From then on, the film alternates between chase scenarios as the dogs/soldiers close down on Gallo's character and survival scenes where his character does anything just to survive in the brutal cold. It is understandable to see why Gallo won best actor in Venice for this film as his raw performance shows how much can be conveyed without needless dramatic dialogues.

Between Two Worlds (2009, Sri Lanka, Vimukthi Jayasundara)

This Sri Lankan film is a good example of what Bresson mentioned in his book, Notes on the Cinematographer, in the Sight and Hearing section:

”What is for the eye must not duplicate what is for the ear."

”If the eye is entirely won, give nothing or almost nothing to the ear. (And vice versa, if the ear is entirely won, give nothing to the eye.) One cannot be at the same time all eye and all ear.

”If a sound is the obligatory complement of an image, give preponderance either to the sound, or to the image. If equal, they damage or kill each other, as we say of colours.

Between Two Worlds has a beautiful visual and aural language while the story has a nice fable and mythical element to it. There are some scenes which fluidly mesh the imagined and real with a smooth easy manner. The only minor complaint is that some scenes appear staged, drawing attention to themselves and thereby weakening the dramatic effect of the situation. Two such examples are the youthful mob at the film's start and the dance by the river near the end.

Guest (2010, Spain, José Luis Guerín)

Guest is José Luis Guerín's travelogue of his year long film festival circuit tour from September 2007 till September 2008 with his film In the City of Sylvia. Even though Guest starts and ends at the Venice Film Festival, Guest is not a documentary about film festivals. Instead, it is a truly global film that gives a glimpse into everyday life in open public squares in various places such as Bolivia, Columbia, Peru, Brazil, Mexico, Cuba and Hong Kong. Places that do not have open squares are not covered by his film which naturally means that Canada and the US are not shown on the screen. For example, Guerín was in Vancouver in 2007 to premier In the City of Sylvia but Vancouver does not get a single shot in the film. Basically, any place that did not have adequate public space would not have allowed Guerín to interact with the locals and get their views. Guerín freely filmed everything around him and was not shy to keep his camera rolling. As a result, we get to witness some fascinating parallels regarding religion in diverse places such as Brazil and Hong Kong. Guest takes about 20 minutes to spring to life but once it awakens, it has plenty of interesting stories to share.

Woman without a Piano (2009, Spain, Javier Rebollo)

A sublime film that uses a low key treatment in depicting a single night's events. The camera quietly follows Carmen around and the events that unfold around her are hilarious and sad at the same time. The film is set in Madrid and in some alleys we see situations which Pedro Almovodar uses in his films but Woman without a Piano is an art film through and through, with a pinch of comedy.

Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand co-production, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)

Joe's film is a visual treat like his previous works but instead of the two part structure found in Tropical Malady and Syndromes and a Century, Uncle Boonmee is a single flowing work that manages to blend the two worlds of humans and spirits. This is his most accessible work and also his most openly political. In Blissfully Yours one could faintly hear the tank fire going on in the distance but the soldiers were not shown. However, in Uncle Boonmee we get to see futuristic pictures (really the present) of army actions. As enchanting as the film is, it pales slightly to the hypnotic beauty of Tropical Malady and Syndromes... Still even a Joe lite work is better than most current world cinema.

Four Lions (2010, UK, Christopher Morris)

A well made and acted film from the two writers of the witty In the Loop. Four Lions tries to use the same humour style of In the Loop with mixed results. The humour style of In the Loop made sense because it dealt with the circus like world of politics where a single sentence can be endlessly interpreted and rehashed. However, that style is more difficult to pull off with a topic of terrorism and suicide bombers. In that regard, one can watch Four Lions in a state of shocked horror and find it entirely offensive. The film is also brave in its treatment of the subject, especially since neither of the writers or director is Muslim.

Spoiler note:*****

Credit must go to the film-makers for remarkably maintaining the same consistent tone throughout even after the characters start dying whereas it would have been easier for the film to have taken on a more serious tone after the first accidental death.

Monogamy (2010, USA, Dana Adam Shapiro)

A fascinating modern day treatment of Antonioni’s Blow Up. Blow Up was made during the free love decade where the main character had no problem getting any woman he wanted so solving the murder mystery became a more important challenge for him. But in modern times, free love isn’t that readily available. And the presence of email and text messaging has changed the nature of relationships by limiting face to face hook ups. As a result, Theo’s (Chris Messina) “free love” is reduced to a voyeuristic kick. Things are complicated by the fact that Theo is on the verge of getting married and already he feels the walls closing in on him.

The acting is stellar, especially in the scene where Theo’s fiancée catches him looking at pics of another girl. The ending is not as dramatic as we are led to believe. The true identity of Theo's subject is quite clear but maybe the ending was supposed to emphasize that Theo was so blinded by the little details in the photos he took that he missed the obvious bigger picture.

---

Top 5 in order of preference:

1) Kill the Referee
2) Ocean of an Old Man
3) Woman on Fire Looks for Water
4) Valhalla Rising
5) Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives

I cannot praise Kill the Referee enough. The fact that the film is about soccer is also its biggest handicap because that would mean limited release and certainly no press coverage in North America. I have read rumours that UEFA might have had the final say on what could make the final cut but regardless of the truth, what is presented on screen is fascinating enough. The footage allows the audience to identify some of the egos, heroes and villains that operate in the game.

JCVD

In theory it appeared to be a great idea -- Jean-Claude Van Damme playing a washed out action hero struggling to make ends meet, reflecting on his career, all the while speaking in his native tongue. That was enough to get me intrigued. I stayed away from reading the story and chose to have the film speak for itself. But unfortunately, it only appears to have been a great idea on paper. When translated to the screen, something does appear to be missing. Although the film does hold a lot of promise and contains enough to make it worthwhile, it truly feels like a missed opportunity for something better, something greater even.

Mabrouk El Mechri’s feature begins in brilliant fashion. Van Damme is shooting a scene for an action film, doing what action heroes do best, but at the end of the take he appears to be tired. That is when he approaches his Asian director and tells him that he can’t do action scenes in one take anymore as he is “47 years old”. But the Asian director wants none of it and continues to throw darts at a Hollywood target poster. The director’s translator conveys the words to Van Damme along with a jibe about John Woo and Hollywood. The John Woo reference is brought up again later on in the film by a few Van Damme fans who believe that if it were not for “the man from Brussels” John Woo would still be “shooting with pigeons” in Hong Kong. The best part of the film is such film jokes which poke fun both at Van Damme and even at the action film industry in general, such as how Steven Seagal beat Van Damme to a part because he agreed to cut off his pony tail. The film is sprinkled with these jokes and balances the serious moments delicately along with the lighter side of things.

Immediately after the opening scenes, we witness how Van Damme is involved in a custody battle for his daughter, an issue that forms the crux of the actor’s pain. After stopping for a brief photo and autograph session with some fans, Van Damme heads to the post office when some gun shots are heard. We see his face through the broken window asking the local cop to get away, but the cop assumes that Van Damme is the one holding hostages at the post office. The media jump on this story and his action fans gather around the post office to support their hero. There are some clues given to who is doing the actual hold up, but the film then does a rewind of sorts and shows the post office scenes from a different point of view, explaining how Van Damme became a hostage himself. While some of these scenes were useful, the film’s momentum is actually halted by explaining things unnecessarily in detail as there is enough for the audience to gather on their own. Still, the hostage situation brings its own mix of humor and reflection; humor when one of the robbers turns out to be a big Van Damme fan and asks his hero to demo some karate kicks while Van Damme reflects on his own life and what he has accomplished. In an interesting sequence, Van Damme is lifted high above the ground and addresses the audience directly, exposing himself via his honest confessions.

JCVD does raise some interesting points about perceptions of actors and even the film industry in general. Van Damme is frustrated to be getting the same cliched parts, playing the action hero in the nth sequel of a meaningless film, and blames some directors for ruining his career. Mabrouk El Mechri’s film does show that Jean-Claude can indeed act and offers much more than brainless action roles he plays over and over, so why is he not getting offered anything else? By playing himself in the film and given some of the dialogues, the film does have a autobiographical feel to it, but there are also some cuts which allude to the film within a film nature of JCVD. Even though the film only has a running time of 96 minutes, it would have been much stronger had another 10 minutes being trimmed. Still, overall it was refreshing to see a director integrate humor, action and tender emotions and allow Jean-Claude Van Damme to open up and use his face and expressions, and leave his muscles on the side.

Rating: 7.5/10

Since Otar Left, Killer of Sheep

Otar has left with the Killer of Sheep

We interrupt our regular programming with this breaking news!!!

"Otar has left the country along with the killer of sheep. The killer of sheep was last seen 30 years ago in 1977 but has recently surfaced again. He is a wanted target and a threat. I repeat, he is a THREAT!!! His recent relationship with Otar could prove to be very dangerous for everyone. We are working on...hang on...what?...ok."

Dead air.

"And we are back. We have just received some new information. It appears that Otar has not left with the killer of sheep. I repeat, Otar has not left with the killer of sheep. Otar has left for Paris but the Killer of Sheep is still at large. Please lock your doors and stay in front of the tv for the rest of the night. We will continue to work on this story for our 11 pm news tonight."

Booming Announcer Voice: "We NOW return to the current program".

Tick Tock. Time flies by.

11 pm. Booming Voice: "Welcome to channel 847's nightly news. Here's your host Jim Newswallah"

"Good evening and glad you could be with us. We begin with our top story involving Otar and the Killer of sheep. Police have now confirmed that Otar has illegally landed in Paris and has gone missing. He has nothing to do with the Killer of Sheep who still poses a threat to the people of the free world. For more on Otar, we join ace reporter Valencia Fernandez on location in Tbilisi".

Valencia: "Yes thank you Jim. I am in Tbilisi, Georgia covering this remarkable story about Otar. It appears that Otar left Georgia for France in order to provide a better living for his family. The economy in Georgia has been going through a rough transition after the collapse of communism and people are struggling to make ends meet. In fact, some people still fondly remember the days of Stalin and the Soviet rule. One such person who misses the old regime is Otar's grandmother Eka."


"Eka lives with her daughter Marina and grand-daughter Ada

in an apartment complex in the heart of Tbilisi. The three women had to solely relay on Otar and now they can only hope that Otar can quickly find work in Paris and send some money back."

"This is Valencia Fernandez reporting for Channel 847, Tbilisi, Georgia."

Jim: "Well that was one part of our story. It appears that Otar doesn't pose a threat to anyone at this point. But the same can't be said for the killer of sheep. Who is this killer of sheep? Why is he a danger for all inhabitants of this planet? For more on his identity, we join the hip and manly Chaz Henry in L.A"

Chaz: "Good evening Jim."

Jim: "Yes, good evening Chaz. What can you tell us about this sheep killer?"

Chaz: "Well it appears that this story has been blown out of proportion. We ain't talking about no murderer but an ordinary hard working human being."

Jim: "With a name like killer of sheep, how can be innocent?"

Chaz: "Oh he got that name because he works in a slaughter house. That's all. In fact, he don't even slice the sheep. He merely mops the floor after the sheep get killed and takes them dead sheep towards the ice storage."

Jim: "Well that explains the title. But who is this man?"

Chaz: "His name's Stan."


Chaz: "He got a wife and two little kids. The kids spend all day playing around and getting in trouble. You know, the sort of stuff that kids do.


His wife is real pretty but she don't do much work around the house. Poor Stan got to do it all. He works all day long in the slaughter house, surrounded by blood and dead sheep. He got to wipe up all the blood off the floor. Then he comes home and instead of having dinner has to either fix some appliances or something."

Jim: "So is Stan a threat?"

Chaz: "Oh I get it. The only reason we doing this story is because you all think that Stan is a threat, eh?"

Jim: "No. Not at all. We thought he was a murderer and sent our ace crew to cover the story."

Chaz: "Well you got it all wrong. Stan could never hurt a fly. Well he may one day kill a sheep. But he won't lay a finger on a human being. You see.."

Jim: "Sorry Chaz. We have to go."

Chaz: "But I ain't finished yet."

Jim: "It does not matter. Stan is of no interest to us."

Chaz: "Ain't that the problem. Just because Stan is an ordinary man with every day problems and an honest job, he ain't interesting enough for you?"

Jim: "Chaz, we really don't have time for this. We are about to go to commercials"

Chaz: "No you ain't. You ain't going nowhere until you hear about my story about Stan."

Jim: "Chaz we have no place for real humanistic stories in our news. We only cover sensational news so that we can cause fear and panic in people. Only then will people submit to the greater powers. And once we have scared them enough, we feed them with mindless entertainment to numb them further."

Camera Man #1: "Jim, we are still on air"

Jim: "F*($#*^#$$#. I thought you said we went for commercials."

Camera Man #1: "You never gave the cue."

Jim: "You want a cue. I will give you a #$*&#$ cue."

Dead Air.

Booming Voice: "Due to technical difficulties with the news broadcast, we instead join an episode of the award winning drama 'Crime Beat Team: Suburban patrol."

---

Since Otar Left (2003, France/Belgium, Director Julie Bertucelli): Rating 8.5/10

A very tender and touching story about the relationship between three women. Beautifully acted, especially by Dinara Drukarova who plays the young Ada. Ada is the peace maker in the house as she balances the icy wars between her mother Marina (Nino Khomasuridze) and her grandmother Eka (a very sweet and measured performance from Esther Gorintin).

Killer of Sheep (1977, Director Charles Burnett): Rating 9/10



I can't believe such a poetic and simple film about a man's everyday struggles was made in 1977. The late 1970's American cinema was known for big Hollywood blockbusters, like Star Wars which got released in 1977 as well. So it is refreshing to know such a humble independent film was made three decades ago.

Note:
Killer of Sheep pics -- Copyright © 2007 Milestone Films
Since Otar Left pics -- Zeitgeist Films

October Film Wrap-up

October was supposed to be a relaxed month in terms of film viewing after all the film festival movies that I saw between Sept 20-Oct 4. But as it turned out, the third week of October ended up being pretty crazy in terms of film viewings -- 15 movies in 5 days with 7 movies watched in one day. I certainly had no intentions of putting myself through this ordeal but things ended up that way. While I talked about some of those 15 movies in previous posts, the following six were left out.

The Son (2002, Belgium/France, Directors Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne): Rating 9.5/10

Fists in the Pocket (1965, Italy, Director Marco Bellocchio): Rating 8.5/10

Japón (2002, Mexico/Germany/Netherlands/Spain, Director Carlos Reygadas): Rating 8/10

Chocolat (1988, France/West Germany/Cameroon, Director Claire Denis): Rating 8/10

Transylvania (2006, France, Director Tony Gatlif): Rating 7.5/10

Electra, My Love (1970, Hungary, Director Miklós Jancsó)

Revenge and pain: There is something so simple but brilliant about the Dardenne brothers films. The verite style allows one to focus on only the relevant details and shut everything else out. The Son is another highly infectious movie to watch, although the topic of revenge is handled quite differently from other films.

Family problems: Fists in the Pocket is Marco Bellocchio's dark and un-relentless film which looks at the complicated relationships within a religious Italian family. It is not a surprize that this film caused such a sensation in Italy back in 1965 because the movie shows absolute cruelty and no remorse in how a man plots to kill his family. But the movie is not just about murder but includes topics of incest and religious defiance. And to think this was Bellocchio's debut feature!

A Journey:

Carlos Reygadas's Japón is a simple tale of a man's journey across the Mexican landscape. The man is tired of the city life and just wants to escape the noise and chaos. But he finds that he still can't shut off his desires despite being away from civilization. The best thing about this movie is the imaginative camera angles, especially during the final sequence when the camera slowly turns around 360 degrees and allows us to fully soak in every surrounding detail.

I have a huge admiration for Tony Gatlif and his depiction of journey tales spiced with gypsy music. Both Exils (2004) and Gadjo dilo (1997) were such movies and as it turns out even Transylvania contains such elements. In fact, both Transylvania and Gadjo dilo have a lot in common. In Gadjo dilo, Stéphane (Romain Duris) heads to Romania to track a gypsy singer he once heard on a cassette. In Transylvania, a pregnant woman (Zingarina played by Asia Argento) heads to Romania as well to find a gypsy singer who is the father of her child. In both films, the main characters find themselves enchanted with the Romanian way of life and find happiness only when they give themselves up fully to a different culture.

Exile in Africa: I do believe that some movies lose their luster when viewed in a different decade than when they were made. Claire Denis's Chocolat is a decent movie but watching it in 2007 hardly has any impact as opposed to maybe watching it back in 1988. The movie is set in Cameroon on the eve of World War II and shows the daily relations and tensions between the French and the local Africans. The movie handles some issues in a very careful and subtle manner, especially regarding the inter-racial sexual tension and the brewing revolution. There are plenty of beautiful camera movements but over the years plenty of movies have depicted Africa in a better manner.

A staged greek play: I was really eager to watch Miklós Jancsó's Electra, My Love. But unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this Greek tragedy too much. Even though the sets are impressive and certain aspects of how the camera freely flows from one set of characters to another are interesting, I was not a fan of this effort.

Global Cinematic Duels, Part I

I am tired of people saying that there are no good movies being made currently and that the best cinema was back in the 50’s & 60’s. Ok, back in the 50’s and 60’s, International cinema was something all right. Besides the great directors plying their trade in a number of countries, there were some vintage movies. For example, I don’t think there can be a finer movie than 1966’s Battle of Algiers made today which captures the essence of a society so well. But the same thing can be said of literature as well. The literature of the past meant something but today it is mostly nonsense best sellers. That being said, there are some very good collection of non-fiction work out there nowadays, more so than previously. In the end, it is all subjective really. We all connect with an artistic work at some subjective level, no matter how much we objectively try to judge it. And when it comes to movies or books, sometimes the true merit of a work can’t be assessed until the future. Four decades ago, Philip K. Dick, Aldous Huxley and George Orwell wrote about a dark future where individual freedoms didn’t exist. And yet, in the modern year of 2006 we are living some sort of future that those writers imagined. Life has imitated art or maybe Life has taken its inspiration from art? I will never forget the section from Arthur Clarke’s 2001 where he mentions a future where man can read any newspaper from the world on a small computer like device, which is achieved in the present by reading papers via the internet on a laptop. While some works can mimic or predict the future, others end up remaining timeless because of their inherent humanistic meanings, like Shakespeare. Shakespeare will never go out of fashion and will be forever interpretated and continue to add meaning. And two such interpretations were made in Bollywood recently. One wonders why it took so long? Love, treachery, jealousy and murder are all trademarks of the usual melodramas but this time, those stories are told via the lens of the talented bard's works.

If one is tired of seeing nonsense in the theatres, there are always foreign movies one can rent. If that is not possible, then surely, one can rent the old cinematic gems just to tune out the noise of the big budget crap. I decided to conduct an experiement – over the course of 2 months, I would try to balance my viewings with new released big budget movies mixed with foreign movie rentals from past and present. Then I would set up a competition with the movies divided into different cinematic regions and at the end, just see which country or continent came out on top. The only restriction I put on myself was that the movies would be all that played either in the local theatres or were available at one of the video stores -- no internet renting (something I have been lucky to avoid so far). The end winner really surprised me and provided me with a cliched lesson – quality always wins over quantity, no matter which country the movie is from and regarless of the film's budget!!

Countries/Continents and Film Selections:

USA: Pirates 2, A Scanner Darkly, The Devil Wears Prada, Serenity, FlightPlan

The first movie of this competition was a movie that I relunctanly watched its opening day – Pirates 2. I loved the first movie but I didn’t expect much from the second one. Yet I found myself in the theatre on opening day at the 4:20 pm show. And I was really surprised – the movie was much much WORSE that I could have imagined! In fact, it was the worst movie I have seen this year. It is solely responsible for sinking the overall rating of the USA category. Is it fair to let a commercial crap sink other worthwhile movies? Yes!! If junk is made from one country, then it deserves to shame all other movies from that region. For the record, here are the other ratings:


Pirates 2: Rating 5/10
A Scanner Darkly: Rating 9.5/10
The Devil Wears Prada: Rating 8/10
Serenity: Rating 8.5/10
FlightPlan: Rating 6.5/10

Overall rating: 37.5/5 = 7.5


The only true brilliant movie in this list is A Scanner Darkly with Serenity getting a good nod. Linklater has taken a typical Philip K. Dick story and added the classy animation technique used to success in Waking Life and produced a wonderous paranoid big brother drug induced nightmarish reality. Serenity does proud to the much put down sci-fi genre and brings a fresh far away universe to cinema, and along the way, proves that film (and even tv) fans know more than studio executives, who never wanted the original tv series or movie to exist in the first place. The Devil Wears Prada is sheer fun. Nothing extraordinary here, but plain fun. The first few minutes are one of the best sequences in the movie, which show different women getting dressed. Just by their clothes, we can tell a lot about the different women and that scene captures the classiness of the film, which really is thin on substance but has plenty of style. The less said of Flightplan the better. In fact, I don’t think I can better review this film than Pacze has on his blog – his review is just wicked and completely spot-on.

Asia: Omkara, Mixed Doubles, Good Men, Good Women (Hsiao-hsien Hou), Ab Tak Chaphhan, Maqbool, Election 2

Gangster central really. 3 out and out gangster movies, with 2 of them of them being Shakespearean adaptations and the third being a Godfather mould. A 4th movie is gang related but shown from the side of cops, often left out in gang movies. The remaining 2 movies may be out of place but they capture a time and place of Asia that is worth showing, one modern (Mumbai in Mixed Doubles) and the past (Taiwan in Good Men, Good Women). The biggest disappointment for me was Hou Hsian-Hein’s feature which really was the weakest showing in this category. Having loved his other movies, maybe I had set the bar too high and was not engaged with a story whose fragments can be found in his other movies.

When it comes to the gangster movies, it seems a common theme was present – power won by unfair means will never result in peace and will always end in destruction. Typical story of Godfather like mafia movies that cine flicks around the world have emitted previously, but this time Vishal Bhardwaj has taken that story and wrapped it around the core of Shakespearean plays. Maqbool was a remake of Macbeth and got plenty of praise when it was released. It is a very good movie with excellent acting from all but one main character – Lady Macbeth’s character. Of all the actresses that Bhardwaj could have taken, why did he have to take Tabu? Tabu is over-rated and has been useless in the last few films that she has been in. She was the dull muse that could not inspire anyone and sank M.F Husain’s Meenaxi and has since been playing the stupid innocent_woman_ role for a few years now. In Maqbool she was dull, uninspiring and certainly not as manipulative as she should have been. That is why I had to take my points off my rating for this movie. Omkara on the other hand was far more superior in the acting category as the vibrant Konkana Sen Sharma lit up the screen with every word and Saif Ali Khan and Ajay Devgan played their roles perfectly while enacting Othello in a rural Uttar Pradesh setting. The only negative was the unnecessary songs which hampered the otherwise cool flow.

The first Election movie was perfect as it added a layer of democracy to the gang genre. The second one picks up where the first one left off and has a wicked ending which promises more feature sequels with far more destruction in store; the cycle will be complete surely in future such sequels. At the end of the first movie, Lok is democratically elected to rule all the triads and it seems that peace will reign. The second movie picks up 2 years after the first when another election is coming up. Lok can’t think of giving up his position and his greed makes him far more ruthless (Shakespeare would have understood Lok’s situation). Jimmy on the other hand just wants to be a "businessman". But he finds that he can’t go clean until he becomes the chairman of the Triads himself. So starts a ruthless battle between Jimmy and Lok which ends only when Jimmy hacks (literally) his way to the top. But a tasty twist leaves Jimmy in a precarious position where he might never be just a "businessman".

Ab Tak Chaphhan is a Ram Gopal factory production which is quite good much to my disbelief as I had previously rejected this movie on a quick viewing a year ago. The story is about cops who have to break the law themselves in order to keep the balance with Nana Patekar giving a riveting performance. Mixed Doubles is an decent comedy about a young couple living in Mumbai who are duly going through the stages of their marriage until the husband gets obsessed with the idea of ‘swinging’ to spice their married life up. The one bright spot in the movie -- Konkana Sen Sharma!


Omkara: 9/10
Mixed Doubles: Rating 7.5/10
Good Men, Good Women: Rating 5.5/10
Ab Tak Chaphhan: Rating 9.5/10
Maqbool: Rating 8.5/10
Election 2: 9

Overall rating: 49 = 8.17


Europe: Man Bites Dog (Rémy Belvaux, Belgium), Pusher (Nicolas Winding Refn, Denmark, 1996), Buffet Froid (Bertrand Blier, France, 1979), I, Soliti Ignoti(Big deal on Madonna Street, Mario Monicelli, Italy, 1958), Element of Crime (Germany), Descent (Neil Marshall, UK)

A completely mixed bag of European flicks with my favourite being the Brit thriller The Descent. The story is simple but very well done – 6 women go cave exploring until they find something sinister hidden beneath the earth. Blood and darkness are the main elements in a gripping edge of the seat thriller that is truly worth watching in a dark theatre. The only negative has to be the chopped up ending for the American version which tries to give a glimmer of hope but I rather would have preferred the Brit version which really ends in darkness. Man Bites Dog is an interesting experiment – a film crew follows a killer who randomly picks his victims and executes them in unique ways. Shot in black & white, it is not a tasteful watch but was made long before the crazy of American reality tv shows started to dominate popular watching so, in a way this movie was a landmark in how cinema is observed. With TIFF 2006 showing two movies where the audience simply observes two characters, one a soccer player going about his job of entertainment, and another where a woman is going about her deadly task of killing, Man Bites Dog fits in with that category of observing different people try to make sense of their lives.

Pusher has a lot of hype around it and that is all it is, just hype. It is nothing great! In fact, I wish the movie was in reverse like Gaspar Noé's Irréversible as that really would have made this watchable because the best parts of the movie are near the end. The movie chronicles a week in the life of a drug pusher. At the start of the week, things are looking good for him as he is collecting his payments and is happy (these are the boring parts of the movie which one has to painfully endure). But a few bad situations leave him in debt and as the week goes on, he sinks further and further. This is probably the most interesting segment in the movie as we desperately see him trying to stay afloat. And in the end, just when things might finally turn around for him, all his hopes are snatched away in an instant. Two more sequels have been made for this Danish indie but I think I will pass on those ventures.

Element of Crime was one of Lars Von Trier’s earlier movies and it is a seductive crime thriller viewed through a cool yellow lens. Everything appears yellow in the film and this filtered lens heightens the mood of the film and punches certain features up a bit more, for example, a pool of blood stands out more in the background. A detective is on the trail of a killer but in order to catch him, he tries to mimic the killer’s ways until, he steps too far and starts acting like a killer himself. Not a perfect movie but a great start from a director much known to controversy nowadays.

The mad caper comedy Big Deal on Madonna Street starts out really well but ends up dragging itself to nowhere. Bordering more on slapstick comedy, it has a nice role by Marcello Mastroianni but overall the film feels dull. Dull is the farthest thing from the Gérard Depardieu starrer Buffet Froid which requires perfect attention to detail as a dream like situations led to the killer becoming the victim, enemies becoming friends and buildings swapping forests (shades of Surrealism & Luis Buñuel's works).


Man Bites Dog: Rating 9/10
Pusher: Rating 6/10
Big deal on Madonna Street: Rating 6.5/10
The Descent: Rating 9.5/10
Element of Crime: Rating 8/10
Buffet Froid: 8.5/10

Overall rating: 47.5 = 7.92


South Africa: Tsotsi, Son of Man

These were 2 late movies that were added to my viewing and honestly, South Africa was not a country that I had planned to cover this time around, but I got lucky here. I had missed seeing Tsotsi on a few occasions so it was only fair that I finally saw it. And Son of Man had a special festival screening in our city and I have to say, I was very impressed. Son of Man is a modern interpretation of Jesus live in the slums and streets of Africa – a time where gangs, religion, politics and corruption reign. It really seems that nothing has changed in the last few thousand years, really? :) Just that we have tv and radio which can transmit news of miracles and tragedies faster than ever before! And guns are readily available to those who need to kill people easily. A very commendable film, not perfect but worth seeing!

Amazingly, the two South African movies stood narrowly beat out the 3 other regions and won this contest. A real surprise indeed for a country whose movies were the last ones to make the cut!


Tsotsi: Rating 8.5/10
Son of Man: Rating 8/10

Overall rating: 8.25