Euro 2024 Film Spotlight

A criteria for previous Euro Film spotlights (Euro 2008, Euro 2012, Euro 2016) was to select previously unseen films or films from unknown directors. This led to some exciting discoveries and many months of viewing or hunting the film down. This time around, I have kept things a bit simpler. The main criteria for this Euro 2024 Film spotlight is to select some of the best films previously seen from each country. As a result, this will allow for a much more richer cinematic head-to-head competition. 9 decades are represented by these films with the earliest from 1949 and the newest from one from 2021.

Here are the 24 Top European films:

Group A
Germany: Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Werner Herzog)
Switzerland: The Boat is Full (1981, Markus Imhoof)
Hungary: Satantango (1994, Béla Tarr)
Scotland: Gregory’s girl (1980, Bill Forsyth)

Group B
Spain: Death of a Cyclist (1955, Juan Antonio Bardem)
Italy: The Battle of Algiers (1966, Gillo Pontecorvo)
Albania: Daybreak (2017, Gentian Koçi)
Croatia: Buick Riviera (2008, Goran Rusinovic)

Group C
Slovenia: Spare Parts (2003, Damjan Kozole)
Denmark: Babette’s Feast (1987, Gabriel Axel)
Serbia: Underground (1995, Emir Kusturica)
England: The Third Man (1949, Carol Reed)

Group D
Poland: Dekalog (1989/90, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
Holland: The Vanishing (1988, George Sluizer)
Austria: Homo Sapiens (2016, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
France: Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)

Group E
Belgium: Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Chantal Akerman)
Slovakia: Orbis Pictus (1997, Martin Sulík)
Romania:  The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Cristi Puiu)
Ukraine:  My Joy (2010, Sergey Loznitsa)

Group F
Turkey: Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
Georgia: What Do We See When We Look At the Sky? (2021, Aleksandre Koberidze)
Portugal:  Mudar de Vida (Change of Life, 1966, Paulo Rocha)
Czech Republic: Closely Watched Trains (1966, Jirí Menzel)

Results of the Group matches, knockout phases will be posted in a few weeks.

The films of Ulrich Köhler

Bungalow (2002)
Sleeping Sickness (2011)
In My Room (2018)

Unlike previously, I started in the middle. The first Ulrich Köhler feature I saw was Sleeping Sickness his 3rd out of 5 features. Although, when I saw the film it was his newest and thereby last. A single film doesn’t highlight the themes or signature elements of a director. That is why seeing two of his other films as part of a double bill was an eye-opening experience and helped place Sleeping Sickness nicely in Köhler’s style.

Alienation, loneliness, isolation. These words appeared over and over again when viewing Ulrich Köhler films in quick succession.

Bungalow

In the early moments of Bungalow, the elements of isolation and loneliness stand out. At the film’s start, we observe a group of soldiers following orders as they disembark in unison from their truck and make their way to McDonald's while ordinary civilians look on. When the captain calls the soldiers back to the truck, they walk back without any protests. Except one. Paul (Lennie Burmeister) continues to sit with a civilian, taking his time and missing his ride back on the truck. It is clear that unlike the rest of the Germans, Paul doesn’t want to follow. He is deserting his military duties. Instead, Paul goes back to his parents house to just rest, chill. Since his parents are away, Paul expects to have the house to himself but he is surprised to find his brother Max (Devid Striesow) and new girlfriend Lene (Trine Dyrholm) show up. Paul takes an immediate liking to Lene. Even though events are presented in a minimalist manner, there appears to be an undercurrent of tension akin to what Maren Ade brilliantly showed in Everyone Else. The overall style and tone of Bungalow also aligns the film within the ‘Berlin School’ movement similar to that of Christian Petzold.

Sleeping Sickness

Sleeping Sickness continues the lonely isolated theme of Köhler’s cinema by showing two of the main characters preferring to stay in Africa rather than return to Germany. Ebbo (Pierre Bokma) in Sleeping Sickness is cut from the same cloth as Paul. On another note, Ebbo also shares some traits with the character of Johann (Peter Ketnath) in Marcelo Gomes’ Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures. In Gomes’ film, Johanna leaves Germany due to WWII and wants to stay in Brazil.

In My Room

In My Room takes the lonely element from Köhler’s films to its ultimate extreme when Armin (Hans Löw) wakes up one day to find that he is the only human left on the planet. All the other humans, male and female, have mysteriously disappeared. In My Room perfectly encapsulates all of Köhler’s signature elements.

Reading

1. Michael Sicinski on In My Room

2. Mark Peranson on Sleeping Sickness

3. David Hudson on Sleeping Sickness

4. Dennis Lim's Cannes interview with Ulrich Köhler

5. Vadim Rizov's interview related to In My Room

HOMO SAPIENS

HOMO SAPIENS (2016, Nikolaus Geyrhalter, Austria/Switzerland/Germany)

In 2006, ruins were a tiny portion of Jia Zhang-ke's STILL LIFE and Pedro Costa's COLOSSAL YOUTH. But a decade later, they are the main focus of HOMO SAPIENS, an absolutely stunning documentary from Nikolaus Geyrhalter.

The film is a haunting and beautiful glimpse of our world without humans. We see real locations that are either abandoned or in a state of ruin. The film lets the everyday sounds filter in, sometimes the noisy waves or winds or in some cases birds flying in and out of the spaces. The end result is mesmerizing, engaging and contemplative. The film provides us enough moments to see our world with new eyes, complete with its waste and needless objects. It also gives a snapshot of what would happen if people had to leave a location immediately and what they would leave behind.

At times, the images evoke the Zone in STALKER and SATANTANGO. In this regard, we are given a view into the ultimate apocalyptic event without the usage of any special effects.

One of the best films of 2016!

Sleeping Sickness

Sleeping Sickness (2011, Germany co-production, Ulrich Köhler)

Ulrich Köhler's film was my first choice for a German film entry for the Euro 2012 Book & Film Spotlight. However, the film only got a limited theatrical release in Canada (Toronto & Vancouver) and was not available for viewing prior to the Euro deadline of June 2012. Therefore, I had to leave the film out of the spotlight. Thankfully, the film is now available across Canada via Films We Like & iTunes and I am glad to have seen the film in 2012. Sleeping Sickness is indeed a mesmerizing film and it is easy to see why this film was #9 in Cinema Scope's Best of 2011 list. Cinema Scope's editor, Mark Peranson, has an excellent essay which outlines the film's beauty and charm. The entire essay is worth reading but I want to focus on the following:

Though there is a slight mirroring of Ebbo and Alex, there’s nothing simple about it, and this structural looseness is perhaps the closest that Köhler’s version of the cinema of the opaque comes to Apichatpong; to make this comparison due to the mere presence of a jungle is indicative of lazy thinking, akin to bringing up Claire Denis because she’s also a European filmmaker shooting in Africa. Indeed, I suspect most people who will watch Sleeping Sickness, like myself, will have formed their views of Africa through fiction, literature or film made by Europeans—hence the many comparisons of Sleeping Sickness to Joseph Conrad or Graham Greene (Köhler says the film was sparked by Sudanese author Tayeb Salih’s Season of Migration to the North, and indeed the main characters are richly novelistic and complex—they jump off the page).

I had not read his essay prior to seeing the film but surprisingly found myself thinking of both Claire Denis & Apichatpong while watching Sleeping Sickness. Peranson attributes this comparison as "lazy thinking" but atleast qualifies it with the following words that are true in my case: "most people who will watch Sleeping Sickness,...,will have formed their view of African through fiction, literature or film made by Europeans". It is not true that any film shot in Cameroon by a European brings Claire Denis to mind. In my case, the comparison to Denis' White Material came about by seeing Ebbo's isolation. In the first part of the film, it is shown that the sleeping sickness disease is almost cured and no longer an epidemic. That means there is no need for further funding and Ebbo can conclude his work & return to Germany. Yet, he does not return home like his wife. He stays behind for a further three years and becomes as isolated like Isabelle Huppert's Maria in White Material. Both Ebbo & Maria appear to be clinging on desperately so as to avoid returning back to Europe. It is clear that it will take a lot of effort to force both Maria & Ebbo to leave Africa. In Maria's case, Africa is her home and she has a business to protect while Ebbo seems to have developed a deeper connection with his surroundings. One part of Ebbo wants to return back but another part wants to live in the jungle. This inner struggle causes him to appear on the edge, one step away from ending it all. The Apichatpong reference also jumps out not only because of the jungle but the presence of a key transformation that occurs near the end of a film divided in two parts. Like Tropical Malady, there is a connection between the two parts shown in the film and the hippo transformation that takes place near the film's end is mentioned in the first part.

Overall, Sleeping Sickness is unique and manages to haunt one's memory long after the film's final image.

As a late correction to the Euro 2012 Spotlight, I decided to plug Sleeping Sickness into the game 1 results to see how the final group standings would get impacted. Currently, game 1 results show Portugal's Mysteries of Lisbon defeating Germany's Storm by a 5-1 margin. With Sleeping Sickness taking part instead of Storm, this is how things would turn out:

Germany (Sleeping Sickness) vs Portugal (Mysteries of Lisbon)

Acting: Portugal
Story: Both Portugal & Germany
Direction: Germany
Cinematography: Germany
Production: Both Portugal & Germany

Final result would see Germany prevail 4-3 over Portugal. As a result, Germany would get 3 points and Portugal 0. Therefore, the final group standings would look like this:

Team         Points   Goal Difference 

Portugal     6            5 - 3
Holland      6            5 - 3
Germany    4            5 - 5
Denmark    1            3 - 6

Portugal & Holland would end up with the same number of points and goal difference. But Portugal would still take first place due to their 1-0 win over Holland which will be used as a head-to-head tie-breaker. Therefore, the top 2 spots in the group won't get altered which means all the results from the quarter-finals onwards would remain the same.

Euro 2012: German Film, Storm

Entry #11 of the Euro 2012 Book & Film Spotlight looks at the single German entry. Ulrich Köhler’s Sleeping Sickness will not be available until later in the summer. Therefore, Hans-Christian Schmid’s Storm will be used for both the first and third group games.

Storm (2009, Hans-Christian Schmid)



Hans-Christian Schmid’s Storm perfectly illustrates why it is so difficult to convict war criminals in international courts. The film outlines how sometimes it can take years to capture some war criminals with the end result being that some of the evidence used in the trials is atleast a decade old. In the meantime, some key witnesses are pressured by opposing forces and therefore afraid to testify while other witnesses’ memories have forgotten certain crucial details. In other cases, witnesses use a relative's word of mouth descriptions as objective facts even though the witness may not have seen the event with their own eyes. The end result is that enough doubt creeps in the prosecutor's witness accounts thereby making it easier for a defense to win the case. The film also shows the background political deal making that goes hand in hand with international trials and how politicians and lawyers often perform favours in one trial in exchange for benefits in upcoming trials.

As an aside, it is more difficult for a soccer team to create a goal scoring chance while it is easier for an opponent to sit back, defend and thwart goal scoring opportunities. In a similar manner, Storm shows how a defense can easily derail years of evidence and creative effort of the prosecution.

Le Quattro Volte

Michelangelo Frammartino’s remarkable debut film uses an unnamed town in Calabria as an observatory to examine the metaphysical circle of life. The film’s title is translated to “Four Times” and comes from Pythagoras’ belief that a soul passes through four phases from human to animal to vegetable to mineral. Frammartino’s film is thus accordingly broken up into four distinct parts which are clearly separated by visual cues. The first part features an aging goat herder troubled by a persistent cough. The herder’s medicinal cure for the cough is quite unorthodox but is in keeping with the film’s metaphysical theme. One day the herder misplaces his medicine and that leads to a worsening of his health thereby preventing him from tending to his goats. Chaos takes place after a hilarious sequence involving a delivery truck and a guard dog results in the herder's goats having freedom to take over the town. The birth of a goat ushers the film’s second part, the funniest and heartfelt of all the four parts. The baby goat’s journey paves the path for the final two phases of the film which feature a tree and a steaming heap of charcoal.

Le Quattro Volte is a visually stunning film that packs each frame with plenty of incidents which are flushed out in more details later on, such as the purpose of the wooden cross and the delivery truck. The delivery truck plays a key role in the story and the contents of its delivery in the finale complete the circle of life. The cues to mark the beginning of each phase are smartly integrated in the film thereby keeping the story flowing smoothly. Also, the rich usage of sound coupled with the smart visuals hardly make one notice the absence of dialogues in the film. The few scattered inaudible words blend perfectly in the background sound and enhance the film watching experience.

Le Quattro Volte rightly won the Director’s Fortnight prize in Cannes 2010 as Frammartino is one of the best directors to have emerged in recent years. It is a must-see film that is easily one of the best films this year.

Lourdes

Lourdes (2009, Austria/France/Germany, Jessica Hausner)

Religion is a divisive element in the human race. It causes wars, divides families, heals and saves people while also leading them down a destructive path. There are struggles over whether God exists and then over which religion is the true path to salvation. Reincarnation is not accepted universally nor is the promise of afterlife. Yet, a majority of the human race still holds faith in some form of religion or God. Then there are those who do not believe in God but believe in an entity of some kind that holds sway over humans. The various faiths may differ but they are still united in their belief towards an omnipresent yet unseen force. The only substantial evidence comes in the form of a miracle, a sign that a higher power does indeed exist. This sign could be an act of a statue accepting a form of human devotion (example: the drinking of milk by Ganesh statues) or it could be an unexpected healing of a person.

Jessica Hausner’s film takes place in Lourdes, a place where millions flock every year to either get healed or observe a sign from a higher power. If people's intentions for making a pilgrimage to Lourdes is a selfish need, then it is inevitable that the small town will be buzzing with gossip and anticipation. The film shows that gossip spreads like wildfire because everyone believes they have an equal chance to get healed. One would expect a dedicated religious person to have better odds of observing a miracle but there are no rational answers as to who can get healed. In Hausner’s film, even the priests are forced to concede the often repeated statement “God works in mysterious ways”. As a result, each and every person who heads to Lourdes believes that a miracle is within reach.

The main character of Lourdes, a gentle and smiling Christine (played perfectly by Sylvie Testud), does not hold any bitterness in her heart, even though she is confined to a wheelchair. Christine also does not let her limited mobility get in the away of making various trips around Europe. Her conversations indicate that she often travels on pilgrimages and cites Rome as her favourite on the basis of the Italian capital’s cultural superiority over Lourdes. Christine has feelings for one of the male officers accompanying them on their pilgrimage trip but those feelings are only one way until Christine is touched by a miracle. The unexpected miracle brings some delight in people around Christine while arouses jealousy and distrust in others. The distrust arises because a miracle is portrayed to be like winning the lottery -- once someone is cured, then no one else can win the life changing prize on a particular trip.

Jessica Hausner brilliantly presents her film with dry wit and humour. The pilgrimage events are depicted documentary style while the script gently pokes fun at the beliefs, rituals and certain egoistic people seeking a miracle. The film does not openly satirize the characters but instead allows audience to derive their own sentiments. Such a vague and open ended presentation of faith and belief brings to mind the style of Todd Haynes’ Safe and Lee Chang-dong’s Secret Sunshine, two films that also present events in a straight forward manner while subtly eliciting laughs at the expense of people who blindly buy into someone else’s beliefs.

Calgary International Film Festival 2010, preview 1

The 2010 Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) kicks off in less than 2 weeks time. The film selections continue to grow in technical and artistic strength each year and this year the festival has some amazing films on display, with the Mavericks competition category showcasing some of the best films of the year. Last year, Mavericks contained some worthy films such as Karaoke (2009 Maverick winner), Be Calm and Count to Seven, Everyone Else and Fish Eyes but this year's selection is much stronger than the 2009 list.

Manuel di Ribera

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.

Note: The isolated Chilean island seems to echo the island in the third short of Andrés Wood's Historias de fútbol.

The Intern

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

Stand by for the one of the most brutal and dark films of the year!! The tag 'dark film' is easily thrown around but in the case of R, the tag is entirely justified. The film makes last year's 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.

The Robber

A highly entertaining yet intelligent film. This film is an example that an accessible film can be made without clichés or spoon feeding the audience. The two highs of running and robbing give Johann’s life meaning and it is clear these habits will eventually take a toll on his life. The entire film is defined by fast movement, shown by Johann's marathon runs or his perfectly timed car getaways. Remarkably, the story is not fiction and based on a real life character.

Hunting & Zn

This powerful Dutch film shows how a complicated relationship can be strained when lies and a pregnancy enters the equation. Like last year'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.

You All Are Captains

This fascinating award winning black and white film demonstrates that even an improvised film needs a structure to make the work engaging. The film's first 20 minutes feature a filmmaker teaching school kids how to use a camera. The filmmaker has no script or goal in mind and a result, frustrates his students who are puzzled by the filmmaker's motives. After the kids complain, the filmmaker is replaced with another director who gives a structure thereby letting the film's brilliance shine through. The ending of the film in color puts the whole work into perspective including the first 20 minutes. A film and filmmaker to watch out for.

Lucky Life

Lee Isaac Chung deserves a lot of credit for making a poetic film that deals with cancer in such a tender manner that one never gets the sense of impending death that will take over one of the characters. The film is more concerned with mood than specific details as most of the conversations appear to be improvised and not scripted cinema, which adds to the film's fluid flow. The film has a very cool mood around it and when the characters meet each other, there are smiles and tender moments throughout reflecting the strong friendship that exists.

Cold Water of the Sea

This Tiger Award winning film (Rotterdam) adds an artistic layer on top of an accessible coming of age tale. The parallels between a young girl and woman is interestingly shown as the two characters form reflections of each other. The beautiful landscape of Costa Rica contrasts the internal struggles of the characters.

Putty Hill

A unique and interactive film that blurs the line between documentary and fiction. The interactive aspect is executed by having the actors in the frame stop what they are doing and look towards the camera to answer questions by an unseen interviewer. And once they are done answering the questions, the camera steps back and films the action.

And finally, this year there is a Canadian entry in competition -- Snow and Ashes. It is a film that I am looking forward and is the only one that I have not previewed from the 10.

2010 Movie World Cup, Group D

Group D -- Germany, Australia, Ghana, Serbia

Films: Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler, Celia, The Perfect Picture, The Life and Death of a Porno Gang

Germany: Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler (1922, Fritz Lang)

Hypnosis, psychoanalysis, seedy gambling dens, stock market crash, mind control, greed, mystery, a long chase and ofcourse the magic words -- Tsi-Nan-Fu!

It is remarkable to think that Fritz Lang made this film in 1922. The film's black and white appearance give an indication of the production year but the story, acting and structure present a film far more mature beyond its years. Dr. Mabuse may be one of the earliest (or the first?) cinematic villians but few modern day cinematic villians can capture the brilliant insanity that Mabuse shows.

A truly remarkable epic film that is easily accessible and presents a fascinating journey into the depths of dark insanity.

Australia: Celia (1989, Ann Turner)


An intriguing film that parallels a young girl's nightmares to that of a society fearful of a rabbit plague and communists. The film also shows that not all young children absorb their parents fearful beliefs but the ones that do can become quite dangerous bullies and as a result taunt and torment kids.

Ghana: The Perfect Picture (2009, Shirley Frimpong-Manso)


The Perfect Picture is a humourous look at relationship issues of three friends and their quest to find true love in their lives. The three women are in different stages of a relationship, one is married, the second is having an affair and the third is caught between two men, but they all have their own problems. Their friendship gives them strength and comfort as they deal with their men.

This is the only light hearted film in the group and presents a nice break from the heavier material depicted in the other three films.

The Life and Death of a Porno Gang (2009, Mladen Djordjevic)


The word dark is incorrectly thrown around to describe plenty of movies but in the case of The Life and Death of a Porno Gang the word is perfectly applicable. In fact, Mladen Djordjevic's film is a base line standard that can be used to calibrate the words "dark movie" to judge other films. But ..Porno Gang is more than just dark. It is intelligent and presents plenty of material to chew on. Although the title does not do the film justice. The porn element is only at the start of film and is shown in a comedic manner like what is shown in Zack and Mirni Make a Porno. The film then moves into darker territory with violent torture elements related to snuff films and even a bit of Hostel. Since it is a Serbian film, a war/political layer is tacked onto the snuff videos. It is this addition of a political layer that helps to make sense of everything and gives a framework to the film. There is also a nod to Emir Kusturica's Underground in the final scene when the main character is wearing a jacket with the word "underground" clearly visible. The connection makes sense as this film can also be seen as an indirect successor to Underground. Aside from the political elements, the film manages to explore ideas about individual identity and how society immediately shuns those that dare to be different.

The Life and Death of a Porno Gang is not the easiest film to view given its content but it a relevant film that is one of the best films of the year. And it will clearly not be playing in a North American multiplex this year. As far as I know, the film's next showing in Canada will at the upcoming Fantasia film festival in Montreal as part of their Subversive Serbia spotlight.

Standings and Points (Maximum out of 9)

The Life and Death of a Porno Gang: 9
Dr. Mabuse: The Gambler: 8
Celia: 6
The Perfect Picture: 5

Soccer Group Prediction

Like the film results, both Serbia and Germany should easily advance from this group. Serbia are much more stronger than 4 years ago when they finished bottom from a very tough group that included Holland, Argentina and Ivory Coast. However, despite their strength I am not sure if Serbia can take their chances to beat Germany to top spot in the group. On paper, Serbia should finish first in this group but in reality, they may squander their chances and only tie Germany, allowing Germany to take top spot on goal difference.

Even with Michael Essien, Ghana would have had a tough time in advancing but without him, their chances to move to the 2nd round are limited. Australia are unlikely to advance from the group stages like they did in 2006.

Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski, authors of Soccernomics, have come up with a mathematical formula that predicts that Brazil will beat Serbia in the final of the 2010 World Cup. For that to happen, Serbia would have to beat Germany to take top spot in Group D otherwise if Brazil win their group and Serbia take 2nd spot, the two will instead meet in the semis, provided if the two win their knock-out round games. But very rare do results go as expected in the world cup.

Recent German Cinema

A spotlight on German Cinema featuring 5 very different films listed in order of preference:

Everyone Else (2009, director Maren Ade)

A fascinating look at how professional competition (architecture in the film's case) can put an already fragile relationship under more stress. The film has a slow start and at first it is not clear what the issues in the relationship are but gradually as we get to see more of the couple's behaviour, the problems become clearer and the film catches fire. Although it is not an open inferno but a slow burn which eventually leads to an implosion and not an explosion. It is credit to Maren Ade that the film does not resort to melodrama but instead lets the body language of the actors do most of the talking. The rawness and honesty of the couple’s relationship is unlike anything seen on film in the last decade.

Lulu & Jimi (2009, director Oskar Roehler)

A smartly developed film which perfectly combines a 1950's style forbidden racial love story with elements of Shakespeare (Romeo & Juliet, The Tempest, Othello) and David Lynch (Wild at Heart). The visuals are striking and oscillate beautifully from a dreamy feel to a nightmarish vision. It is a real delight to watch this film and pick out all the cinematic influences that are integrated in the story while still enjoying the refreshing and unique work.

Peaceful Times (2008, director Neele Vollmar)
Original Title: Friedliche Zeiten

A delightful light hearted German film about a fragile marriage shown through the eyes of the couple's three children, with the story focussing more on the dynamic between the two sisters while their younger brother is kept on the fringes. The performances of the children is excellent and their characters lend a cute touch to the film and manage to brighten the atmosphere despite the serious topics of divorce, infidelity and East-West German suspicions/tensions. The film is set in the 60's and forms a nice pairing with Lulu and Jimi as both are German films heavy with American pop culture influence from the 50's and 60's.

note: The humour and setting of Peaceful Times along with the story's focus on children is reminiscent of last year's enjoyable Canadian film Mommy is at the hairdresser (original title Maman est chez le coiffeur, directed by Léa Pool).

November Child (2008, director Christian Schwochow)

An engaging multi-layered story that looks at the consequences that arise from a woman's decision to cross the East-West German border. An interesting angle explored by the film involves how a professor seeks to profit by writing a book about someone else's troubled past. In order to complete his book, the professor decides to align himself closely with his subject, while observing the subject's emotional reactions at the pieces of evidence and research that he gives out in small chunks. Also, the film features a wonderful performance from Anna Maria Mühe daughter of the late Ulrich Mühe (The Lives of Others).

Variety's review.

10 seconds (2008, director Nicolai Rohde)

The wonderful 1999 Mike Newell film Pushing Tin shed a light on the stressful job of an air traffic controller. For an air traffic controller, the planes may only appear as tiny dots on a screen but each of those dots means hundreds of lives and an incorrect decision could lead to horrific consequences. 10 Seconds bases its story on a real life tragedy that resulted from a mid-air collision; the event also had dire consequences for the air traffic controller on duty at the time of the collision.

The film's story features multiple characters who are all tied to the night of the collision -- the air traffic controller who is an emotional wreck after the incident, his wife who handles the stress in her own way, a policeman on duty at the crash site and a man who is haunted by the loss of his wife and child who were on the plane. The film has slick production values but unfortunately fails to properly bring all the different elements together with the right amount of emotional depth that is required.

A global mess requires an international film..

One would think that the arrival of film where the villain is a bank would make for great timing. Surely the film would benefit from the public’s resentment? Right? Apparently not. The International made about $10 million in the opening weekend despite opening in more than 2,000 screens. On the other hand, the 100th edition of Jason’s slasher adventures (dice, cut, scream, blood) made 4 times as much (yes it did open in 1000 more screens). The metacritic rating for The International is only 52/100, so clearly the critics were not impressed. So their bad reviews must surely have made a difference as it turns out that on the particular time I chose to see the film I was the only person inside a giant multiplex theater. Imagine that, a giant screen, stadium seating and I was the only person there. Surely that indicated that the film was awful, right? NO.

Tom Tykwer’s The International is an entertaining film that has a gripping action sequence (the bullet ridden shoot-out) and moves at a nice pace ensuring that the audience gets a good look at each locale (no fast cuts or frantic camera moments). Plus it has a very believable story regarding the evils of a big bank. Sure there are some flaws but the same problems plague most Hollywood films. Interestingly, most critics ignored such flaws when it game to The Dark Knight. Anyway, here are some interesting points the film brings up:

Cut out the middle man

When governments engage in stirring a revolution in another country they need massive funding for weapons and training. In democratic countries this means getting funding approved via some cryptic hidden causes because the general public can’t know that their tax money is being used to kill innocent citizens in another country. And when the funding is approved, the banks get to work moving the money around. All this process does take some time. So what if the banks decided to ignore the governments and start moving their own funds to stir up civil violence in nations? And when the civil war is over and the bank’s chosen government comes into power, guess which bank they will turn to get mega loans for rebuilding their nation?

There is a great line in the film which indicates that the goal of banks is to control the debt. So if a bank can know where to cause a war and where to stop one, then it would control that nation's debt. Hmmm...

Follow the weapons..

While following the money is important, in this day and age it is also important to follow the flow of weapons. There are only a handful of nations that manufacture weapons yet their weapons are freely available in most African and Asian nations. How? Why? If ones understands who moves the weapons and how then one understands the true villains of a conflict. But why is there no attention placed on the weapon flow? Because that would implicate the good nations who don’t want to get their hands dirty.

Don’t trust the man with the clean suit

Clive Owen’s Louis Salinger character constantly wears crushed suits. That is because he has no time to get his suit cleaned up as he is constantly in pursuit of his enemies. Most of the time he is unshaven and wears his anger on his face. On the other hand, the bankers and lawyers he meets are perfectly dressed -- clean shaven and wearing perfectly cut suits. These bankers and their lawyers do have a lot of money, blood money as it turns out, to ensure their looks and respectable appearance helps them trap more clients. There is an Italian politician in the film who is honest yet well dressed so obviously he can’t last long because the film ensures that the only well dressed men are the evil ones.

Look, look a bit longer and now action..

The film travels through multiple cities such as Berlin, Lyon, Milan, New York and Istanbul. And in each city the film ensures we get a good nice look at each specific location. There is a moment when the camera descends from the sky to give us a perfect view of Istanbul’s beauty. But unlike most movies the camera does not quickly cut away and it hovers a few extra seconds to ensure we can make out the people walking on the bridge and the cars driving about. A simple point but this aspect allows us to soak up the atmosphere and know the surroundings where the next moments of action will take place.

Note: The opening sky shot of Istanbul reminded me of Heaven and that is not surprizing as both both Tykwer and DOP Frank Griebe worked on that film as well.

Point A to B, Action, Point C to Point D, Action...

As soon as the film’s angry hero Salinger arrives at a location, the action takes place. On one hand it appears that each location is existing in a state of suspended animation and only when Salinger arrives do things move along. But there is a reason for this. There is a strict deadline that the bank works on in trying to eliminate all the people who can implicate them. At the film’s start when a innocent person is on the trail towards the bank’s evils, he is eliminated. The bank then eliminates the other person who could expose them within 9 hours. When Salinger goes on the move, he hits the road on the trail of an assassin. Since the assassin travels multiple cities via commercial flights (no private jets as the bank is probably cutting back) there are only a few fixed time slots on which he would appear in a city. So all Salinger has to do is follow him and as a result, he tags along all the film’s action sequences. Is that script cheating? I have seen this complaint in a few reviews so clearly people who don’t like the film use this. But no such excuse was used for The Dark Knight when the film moved from one action sequence to another.

Comments:

Overall, I enjoyed The International. But I might be just one of the few who not only bothered to see the film but actually relished spending time in an empty multiplex for this.

Rating: a subjective 9/10

A Taste of Western Europe

Switching gears for a bit to witness themes of love against culture and tradition, voyeurism, affairs, mafia crime & a tale of a boy genius.

France:

Where Fig Trees Grow (2004, Director Yasmina Yahiaoui): Rating 7.5/10

Another in a line of French productions depicting life of North Africans settling into their new French life. The story is similar in parts to Inch'Allah Dimanche but that film dealt with the relationship and marriage issues in a serious tone. Where Fig Trees Grow adds a touch of humour while depicting how a barber balances his feelings for a local belly dancer and his wife. The barber enjoys his profession and secretly loves his belly dancing neighbour. But his life is complicated when his parents force him to get married to a sweet innocent woman because of family honor. The title comes from Rue des Figuiers (Fig Tree Road) where the characters live; as the film progresses, we witness the growth of love and understanding among the main characters. But then there are some characters who choose to not inhale the air surrounding them and are content in rooting themselves in a land far away.

Exterminating Angels (2006, Director Jean-Claude Brisseau): Rating 7/10

A darkened room, a couple sleeping. Two shadowy figures mumbling in the background. A radio transmitting messages over the air. Then a clue -- the two figures are fallen angels, doomed to follow instructions and induce human behaviour and desire by suggestions. Even wonder where those thoughts enter our brains? Well the fallen angels ofcourse!

While the radio transmitter element feels straight out of Jean Cocteau's brilliant film Orphée, the rest of Exterminating Angels feels like a mix of Brisseau's defense of his previous film, porn portrayed as art and voyeurism. One can't judge the film without taking each element into consideration:

Secret Things was an interesting take on power that sex can wield. In that film, two woman freely toy with men by teasing and arousing them. Both decide to use their sexuality to advance in the world. What they didn't count on was running into a ruthless man who could crush both of them in an instant. It was an interesting film that was not afraid to take risks with plenty of nudity and sexuality shots which fit in nicely with the film's structure. But a nasty lawsuit resulted from the film when an actress claimed that Brisseau exploited her to do certain risky scenes in public. Brisseau has taken this scandal and made a film that attempts to explain his reasons for wanting his actresses to do simulated sex scenes because that is the only way he can decide if he wants her for the role or not. Now, is this exploitation, voyeurism or just plain disturbing?

I am not very fond of films using extreme sex scenes and trying to pass them off as 'art'. And there are plenty of such scenes in Exterminating Angels especially the main scene with three women pleasuring each other while François (the film director playing Brisseau's alter ego) watches and films them. This is one of the best shots of the film as the fast past music and dim lighting really lend to the mood. But still, is there a need for this scene in the film, even though it looks enticing? In order to defuse any criticism, Brisseau has added such questions in the film with François' wife asking him the need for having such shots. Also, his wife tries to talk some sense into François by telling him that he is being used by the girls. François feels he can accurately understand sexuality by filming women pleasuring themselves; he wants to understand what goes on in their head as their bodies hit peaks of pleasure. But as his wife points out, he is not just a mere observer because he is directing the women -- he is telling them what to do and in most cases, the women are telling or showing him what he wants. Is that still a natural observation?

The dialogues in the film are mostly hollow and pointless. After a while, even the repeated scenes of women living out their fantasies in front of François get taxing. Still, there is some merit in this film even though it appears to be exploitative cinema.

Germany:

Summer 04 (2006, Director Stefan Krohmer): Rating 9/10

A wicked little German film which feels part Roman Polanski (A Knife in the Water), part Eric Rohmer (Claire's Knee), a touch of Lolita and even has a hint of the creepiness and awkwardness in Michael Haneke's Funny Games. A German family head out to the lake for a vacation. Along with the couple is their 16 year old son with his 12-13 year old girlfriend. While boating, the 13 year girl meets a much older stranger who clearly fancies her. That sets up an interesting dynamic within the family which gets even more complicated when the mother also starts taking an interesting in this stranger. The older man liking the young girl feels like Lolita and the key scenes on the boat contain the air of tension that Polanski's first film had. Powerfully acted by Martina Gedeck (The Lives of Other) as the wife and mother, this was a really engaging watch.

Italy:

Romanzo criminale (2005, Director Michele Placido): Rating 8/10

Based on the real life Roman gangs of the 1970's, Placido has carefully crafted an intense look at the rise and fall of the group that wanted to conquer Rome. Based on Giancarlo De Cataldo's novel, the film contains plenty of scenes familiar to mafia films -- the childhood friends getting into crime, drugs, gun fights, gang's family elements, mob vs police battles and the eventual decline. Also, thrown in is the love story with a prostitute which causes one of the gang member's wanting to get out of the gang, which leads to the often repeated dialogue that mafia is something one can't get out of. Despite all the familiar elements, it is still an interesting watch that is very well acted even though the movie feels quite long at 140 minutes.

Switzerland:

Vitus (2006, Director Fredi M. Murer): Rating 6/10

A run of the mill film about a genius child prodigy. As a six year old, Vitus has a gift for playing music which leads to his parents pushing him more and more. But Vitus has an interest in other things, like flying, which is helped by his grandfather who encourages him to do what his heart desires. As Vitus grows up, he discovers how to use his talents in other areas -- at 12 he understands the stock market which leads to a lively second hour where he is able to structure a company and share his riches with his grandfather. The first hour is much duller than the second hour where things take on a lighter tone because of how Vitus is able to manipulate and run a fake company.

German & French cinema

The latest viewing included 5 films, 3 from Germany and 2 from France. The directors were -- Werner Herzog (2 movies), Rainer Werner Fassbinder, Eric Rohmer & Claude Chabrol.

Aguirre: The Wrath of God (1972, Herzog): Rating 9/10

I never saw a Herzog film until Grizzly Man came out in 2005/06. As it turned out, that was the wrong point to start watching his work. Not until I saw his first feature, the beautiful Signs of Life, did I understand the importance of Grizzly Man. And now having seen Herzog direct (a brave feat in itself) Klaus Kinski in Aguirre, do all the pieces start to fall in place. Now I can appreciate if there was anyone who had to make sense of Timothy Treadwell and his love of Grizzly bears, it had to be Herzog. A common thread in all these 3 Herzog films is that they are great character studies of men who are on the verge of insanity; these men who inhabited different time periods believe they are on the point of greatness, yet they often tip over the fine line that divides greatness from insanity. But Herzog also makes beautiful poetic films and all these movies have an easy going rhythm to them. He loves to let the camera discover magic by having long uninterrupted shots, and at times, leaving the camera running, just a little bit longer to discover that something extra.

The story of Aguirre is simple enough -- the Spanish head to Peru & Amazon to find the city of gold and riches -- "El Dorado". But the journey is packed with dangers -- the climate, unknown forest, native tribes lurking with their spears and poisonous darts. And when there is an internal mutiny among the group, well the outcome is obvious. Man vs Nature is not really a contest in non-Hollywood movies (Nature always wins) but (Man vs Man) vs Nature is even more of a bleak situation. But yet, Herzog has crafted a movie that is absorbing to watch. While the recent Apocalypto ends before the Spanish hit the New World shores, Aguirre.. gives us a closer look at Spanish attempts to penetrate the New World deeper. Aguirre (Kinski) wants to emulate the Spanish discovery of Mexico by carving out his own riches in the Amazon. He convinces his men and even a priest to drive further and further up the Amazon looking for gold. But when the men start dropping dead like flies, the remaining crew label Aguirre as a madman. But Aguirre does not care -- he is lost in his dreams even though in reality his raft is dominated by 400+ monkeys and all his men are dead. The final shots in the film are sheer beauty and as Herzog admits on the DVD commentary, those shots feel into his lap. He happened to come across 400 monkeys at the Peruvian airport, where they were about to be checked onto the plane. Herzog made a false health claim and managed to take away all 400 monkeys. He then placed them on the raft with Kinski and remained there only with his camera man, Thomas Mauch to film the drama. In the movie, when 50 or so monkeys jump from the raft and appear to be escaping in the river, they really are escaping. Herzog and Mauch just stood back and filmed the chaos unfold and what happens is something that scripted film can't ever do. Klaus Kinski is so emersed in his character that he improvises the scenes with the monkeys perfectly.

It is hard to believe that Herzog took all the actors and crew into the dangerous Amazon terrain back in the early 70's, with such a limited budget and managed to craft such a fine work. In that regard, this film is another example of a time when directors were strove to make movies not for commercial sake. Coppola was another director in the same decade who stuck past terrible weather and persevered to make Apocalypse Now.

The Enigma of Kasper Hauser (1974, Herzog): Rating 8/10

Kasper Hauser is in some ways similar to John Merrick (labeled Elephant Man in Lynch's film) -- both men are outcasts to a society which finds it amusing to watch and poke fun at the two men. Yet, both individuals could not be as physically different from each other. Kasper looks normal but since he was abandoned at birth and never raised in a proper family, he never learned the rules and words required to exist in a society. John Merrick was by birth considered a physical anomaly and not considered appropriate for society. As chance has it, both characters end up as circus attractions -- while Kasper is called a riddle, John is labeled as freak. But when both men are rescued and given proper education, the two turn out to be quite learned. As their minds are nourished with the arts, they start having vivid dreams -- Kasper's dreams involve far off places such as the Sahara and even the enchanting temples of Angkor War. However, just like in The Elephant Man, the men's past comes to haunt them and eventually leads to their demise. Like John Merrick, Kasper leaves the physical world in his sleep.

The opening credit sequence is a beautiful shot of the crop field swaying in the wind. There are a few other such picturesque shots found in the movie but in the end, the movie is about Kasper and society's rigid rules to mould every person in their shape.

Claire's Knee (1970, Rohmer): Rating 8.5/10

Oh the evil games men and women play! This story may have shades of Dangerous Liaisons all over it, but it is not as sinister. On a vacation, Jerome (Jean-Claude Brialy) encounters Aurora, an old friend. Aurora is writing a novel and wants Jerome to play a guinea-pig for her story's sake -- she wants Jerome to seduce the innocent 16 year old Laura. Jerome is a month away from getting married but after years of being with women, he has lost all interest in women -- sex does not interest him. So he attempts to play the game, but young Laura is not as nieve as she seems. She understands the game and in turn tries to make up her own rules with Jerome. Jerome is quite bored by the whole thing but when Claire (Laura' step-sister) arrives, he is intrigued. Claire already has a boyfriend but Jerome wants Claire to break up with her oaf of a lover. The end result is a complicated match of desires and feelings. The title hints to the body part that Jerome identifies as a weakness in Claire, and something he can use to gain her trust. Overall, an interesting character study of men and women, and the numerous emotions and feelings that relationships contain -- trust, jealousy, possession, freedom, friendship, love and physical desire.

Les Bonnes Femmes (1960, Chabrol): Rating 7/10

Are all men predators? Chabrol's 4th feature starts out by introducing us to a quiet motorcyclist -- he seems to be lurking and waiting for the women to appear. And when the woman do come out of the theatre, two loud predators emerge as well (Marcel & Albert). It is clear that Marcel and Albert are after women -- Marcel is the vocal smooth talking guy, while Albert is the quiet yet equally lustful man. They get in their car and chase two women -- Jane and Jacqueline. After they manage to get the two women in the car, they go out for dinner and a cabaret. All the while, the motorcyclist quietly follows. During the cabaret, the true animal nature of Marcel and Albert comes out. Jacqueline eventually gets away but Jane is left behind and Marcel & Albert have their way with her (even though it is not shown, it is hinted). The movie then focuses on Jane and Jacqueline's day to day life -- job, trips to the zoo, theatre and restaurant. Every now and then, we do see the motorcyclist following Jacqueline quietly. In the film's final third, when Marcel and Albert land up a public swimming pool and start bothering Jacqueline and Jane, the motorcyclist ends up saving the day by chasing them away. The quiet motorcyclist is Andre and he has been in love with Jacqueline all along but was waiting for the perfect opportunity to talk to her. The two engage in a romantic affair, all the while one question keeps coming up -- is Andre a good man or a predator as well?

There are some moments of pure cinematic energy to be found in this film, like the chaos & elegance of the cabaret sequence. But there are a handful of needless scenes which add nothing to the film. Overall, a dark and chilling look at the predatory nature of men -- can anyone really be trusted?

The Bitter Tears of Petra von Kant (1972, Fassbinder): Rating 6/10

If Claire's Knee was about the game between men and women, this Fassbinder film is about the games that women play with each other, in work, society and in love. Petra Von Kant is an aging fashion designer who falls for a young 23 year old model. However, as the title indicates, there is no happiness for Petra Von Kant. During all her bitter episodes, Petra's secretary, co-designer and slave maid, Marlene, quietly watches. Marlene's eyes sometimes hint at her disbelief at some of Petra's choices but she quietly obeys everything she is told to do. The entire film takes place inside Petra's bedroom and was adapted by Fassbinder from a play by the same name. Interesting for some of the ideas about love and society, but overall, not very gripping.

Power and Hell

The theme of power and hell is a common element in all four films I saw recently -- each film shows how abuse of power can lead to the victims being trapped in a perpetual hell. All the movies are interesting in a way, but I have to admit I was quite disappointed with the two big name movies set in Africa.

The Last King of Scotland (Director, Kevin MacDonald): Rating 7/10

What a major disappointment! I expected to see a powerful political film which peered deep into the hellish terror of Idi Amin. But all I got to see was a film that scratched the surface while only briefly dipping into the horror underneath. Not having read the original novel the movie was set on, I can’t fully comment on if the problem is with the story itself. However, there is a problem with how the film is constructed. The first 30 minutes are about how a young person can be easily seduced by power. A newly graduated Scottish doctor (Nicholas Garrigan played by James McAvoy) can’t imagine leading a dull boring life in his little town. He spins the globe and picks Uganda as his land of adventure (this was after he rejected Canada as an interesting option). It does not take him long to be seduced by Uganda & Africa. Getting laid and being welcomed as a hero get him off on the right foot. He lands in Uganda just as Idi Amin leads a successful coup and is installed as the new president. It does not take long for Garrigan to be seduced by Amin’s power. After a chance encounter, Idi is impressed by the young Scottish lad. Very soon, the dreamy eyed Garrigan is working for Idi and becomes his trusted advisor. Despite all the warnings of Idi’s terror, Garrigan continues to worship the president. This has to be the weakest part of the film, even though it keeps us interested by giving a few hints for darker things to come.

But when the darkness does descend, it quickly lifts and is followed by more scenes of dullness. By the end, I was both disappointed and angered that I had wasted my time watching this. Sure, Forest Whitaker has brilliantly acted his part out – he dives deep into his role and relishes it; his expressions are fascinating to watch and he precisely delivers each dialogue. But everything else about the movie is just tiring and exhausting to watch. My expectations might have been misplaced but I truly got nothing from watching this movie.

Blood Diamond (Director, Edward Zwick): Rating 7.5/10

“T.I.A. This is Africa.” Yes going by the film locales, this really is Africa. But unfortunately, it is Africa as seen through Hollywood’s lens. And when it comes to Hollywood, it is all about “bling bang”, a little flashy show followed by loud explosions. Ofcourse, I am taking the words of Leonardo DiCaprio’s character, Danny Archer, out of context, when in the film Danny utters the following words “over there it is bling bling, but here it is bling bang…” The strongest aspect of this film is DiCaprio’s fresh and lively acting. He plays his Rhodesian character with great aplomb.

The movie does have some scenes of genuine political implications as it attempts to shed light on the lucrative diamond business and how the quest for a mere stone impacts the lives of innocent people. The film shows how ‘conflict diamonds’ are used by ruthless dictators to finance their personal wars. The civil wars and genocides result in innocent victims being forced in leaving their homes and living in refugee camps – in fact, one of the best scenes in the film is when the journalist Maddy (Jennifer Connelly) comments on the million displaced people living in a substandard refugee camp and how such a scene would barely get a mention in the Western media. Seriously, does the average North-American really care? How can they be expected to care when they are busy killing the environment with their SUVs, hummers, mini-vans while gulping extra-large, no fame lattes!

Overall, I did like this film but what bothered me is how it is flawed because of Hollywood’s touch of adding un-necessary action sequences and melodrama. Blood Diamond also continues the recent trend of depicting African children soldiers in Western commercial films likeThe Interpreter, The Constant Gardener and Lord of War. In addition, a lot of scenes felt like a rehash of Lord of War and The Constant Gardener. The ending sequence and the beautifully shot street scenes of Sierra Leone are framed & edited similar to how Kenya was depicted in Fernando Meirelles’s film – in both films close-up street scenes of garbage and poverty serve as interludes in between the film’s story line. The potential is there for this movie to be much better than what it is and the film’s long length of 142 minutes does not help either – it is about 30 minutes longer than it should be.

Hell, L’Enfer (Director, Danis Tanovic): Rating 9/10

Based on Krzysztof Kieslowski’s proposed trilogy of Heaven, Hell and Purgatory and written by Krzysztof Piesiewicz.

The first 45 minutes seem pretty straight forward – three sisters are stuck in their own personal hell. Each of their relationships is complicated and only serves to torment them further. Sophie (Emmanuelle Béart) discovers her husband is cheating on her. A beautiful scene is shown when she follows him to the hotel to catch him in the act. As she looks up from the lobby of the hotel, she only sees an endless spiral of stairs (Dante’s Inferno?). Each floor is spiral shaped with the walls painted red. In fact, the color scheme of red, blue and white can be found at different points in the film, clearly evoking memories of Kieslowski’s color trilogy. Anne (Marie Gillain), the youngest sister, is having an affair with her professor while Céline (Karin Viard) is the only sibling to look after their mother. Upto the hour mark, the film feels like a typical French movie – relationship problems, crisp dialogues, shots of cafes and French apartments. But then a revelation changes the film’s complexion. A truth about the past gives importance to the opening scene in the movie and also reveals how the three sisters are living in their hell. In fact, the three women are playing different roles in the exact version of hell that had changed their lives when they were little. The same endless play is being continued forever and ever. The film references the Greek story of "Medea", a play about a revenge of a woman. Hell is a portrayal of that play and shows how one woman’s revenge caused others around her to be forever plunged into a never ending hell. Interestingly, when the discussion of the play is shown in the movie, Sophie’s character is shown to be shielding her children in the rain. In the context of the film’s story, this simple gesture might seem to indicate that Sophie is trying to break away from her circle of suffering and is not willing to let her kids go down the path that she was dealt.

I have to say, the last 30 minutes are pure perfection!!! I was not that impressed with the first 45 minutes of this film but the revelation at the hour mark truly changed my outlook on this movie. Overall, this truly is a film that feels worthy of having Kieslowski’s name associated with it. Now, I can’t wait to see what the third film in this installment will contain.

Otomo (1999, Germany Director, Frieder Schlaich): Rating 8/10

It starts with the cold stare. Fassbinder knew that and depicted that in Ali: Fear eats the soul. That was back in 1974 but the stare never went away, despite the passage of time. Stuggart 1989: the stare is still there. Otomo is used to the stare. But he can’t help getting upset by the hassle that follows the stare. After more than 8 years of frustration in a city that refuses to give him his dues, he loses his cool and lashes out at the problem instigator. Ofcourse, his instigator is a white German and Otomo is black. No question on who will be blamed! This was West Germany before the wall came down. Have things changed now? Will the stare disappear one day? In a way, a stare never goes away. The stare can be about skin, race, religion, choice of soccer team, or whatever else. And people who believe they are superior will always try to exert their power. Now false power also comes with meaningless jobs because in a given context, even a peon can feel like God. In a train, a traffic inspector checking for valid tickets feels he has power over every single person on that train. The traffic inspector can decide who is allowed to sit on a train and who is not. Who can question this God? Not his fellow white police men for sure. Police are often known to abuse power as well, no matter how 'democratic' a country is. To quote a few lines from Spiderman: "with great power comes great responsibility." Some people are responsible, others are not. Unfortunately, it is the ones who are irresponsible that destroy others lives and are the ones who give every other responsible person a bad name.

Otomo is a powerful film shot very much like Fassbinder’s cinema. Otomo was a real person, but the only real elements in the film might be facts about Otomo’s life, the incident with the train conductor and the film’s climax. The final credit rolls indicate that the story shown between the train conductor and climax might just be pure imagination. Whatever the truth, that imagined story gives the film an earthy feel; those scenes show that even in hell, there is usually some hope. Out of all the stares, one stare might be tender and warm!

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