Hey folks, Harry here... Fearing the possible incarceration of the evil Dr Sotha, I decided to send back-up to help cover the ROTTERDAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL. Ahhh to have patat met dripping out of the corners of my mouth, to find the Beast again, to 'drink' at the coffee houses... I long to attend this wonderful film festival again. At least AICN will be represented by a lowly homunculus and the most beautiful correspondent this side of Junior Mintz, the lovely Elaine...
Hi Harry,
Here's a quick little something on the Rotterdam fest for you, as an introduction to some of the films I'll be covering later. As a bonus, I include reviews of two films I caught just before the festival: a funny Thai flick called "Tears of the Black Tiger" and the wonderful French psycho drama "Felix and Lola," made by the man who directed your beloved "Girl on the Bridge."
THE ROTTERDAM INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL
So I'm going to Rotterdam, as an official AICN representative no less. Why does this merit special mention, you may ask? After all, the Rotterdam International Film Festival is just another European festival, interesting in its kind but not a patch on Cannes, Venice, Berlin or Toronto.
Yes and no. While Rotterdam is unfortunately a tad reactive (most of the big winter releases tend to go to Berlin), it has two things that set it apart from most other festivals. For one thing, the festival is so chock-a-block with Asian gems that its lack of high-profile world premieres can be forgiven; for another, it has become quite a good spotting ground for new talent. Over the past 10 years, Rotterdam's Tiger Awards for interesting debuts have attracted many directors who went on to claim fame elsewhere. Lou Ye's "Suzhou River" was a Rotterdam discovery, as was hot-shot director Christopher Nolan, whose debut "Following" took a Tiger Award in 1998.
As for the films I'll be watching at this year's edition, well, it's a mixed bag. Some premieres I had been keeping my fingers crossed for (the latest by Francois Ozon, Tom Tykwer and Zhang Yimou) have (predictably) gone to Berlin, while other films I had been looking forward to (Shunji Iwai's "All About Lily Chou-Chou," Korean blockbuster "Musa") seem to have vanished from the festival scene. To make up for the loss of those films, however, Rotterdam boasts heaps of wacky Korean productions, plus four films by AICN cult favourite Takashi Miike. That's right - the preternaturally prolific Miike is not presenting one or two new films in Rotterdam, but FOUR. Three of these ("The Happiness of the Katakuris," "Ichi the Killer" and "Visitor Q") have been discussed on AICN before, but the fourth ("Agitator") to my knowledge hasn't been screened at any other festival outside Japan. I'll be viewing it on my fourth day, and I'll be sure to send in a report.
Miike aside, I should be able to present you with some interesting stuff. Working my way through the programme, I have come up with a set of films that ranges from the quite bizarre to the frankly sick and obscene. Besides the usual staple of neurotic housewives, alienated teenagers and voyeurs, there will be tales of vampirism, suicide pacts, murderous computer games, wheelchair-bound men who wish to have sex with their brothers' girlfriends, incest, necrophilia, male synchronised swimmers, vengeful peasants, floating mannequins, butchers who can't stop chopping up bodies after hours, grandfathers who prefer gypsies to their own families, would-be murderers who turn to Caligula and Lucrezia Borgia for advice, mythical islands, endangered sounds, gas attacks, Chinese junkies, Iranian revolutionaries and homicidal Inuit. Oh, and a German flick called "Suck My Dick," but that's a story I'll tell when I get there.
By way of warm-up exercise, I'm including reviews of two films I caught just before the festival. They are by no means new, but I haven't seen them reviewed on AICN before, so I figured you might be interested...
TEARS OF THE BLACK TIGER (Wisit Sartsanatieng, 2000)
Ever fancied a Western featuring Buddha statues, lotus flowers and sentimental love songs? Say, Sergio Leone meets Tsui Hark meets "Romeo and Juliet" and "West Side Story," or "Duel in the Sun" remade by a madcap po-mo director? If so, "Tears of the Black Tiger" might just be your cup of tea. A send-up of the Western genre as well as a loving ode to it, it features noble heroes, pining heroines, larger-than-life villains, over-the-top gun fights, macho rivalry, bizarre visuals, old-fashioned melodrama, big, metaphorical guns and a wacky sense of humour that should amuse all but the most anal. It's in Thai, but don't hold that against it; there are enough spectacular shoot-outs to make up for the subtitles, and the most impressive gunshot is repeated in slow motion to enable you to appreciate its intricacy. Where else would you find that kind of courtesy?
It isn't all about guns, though. Although "Tears of the Black Tiger" is firmly rooted in the Western, it is first and foremost the tale of two star-crossed lovers. When the story opens, virtuous Rumpoey is waiting for her childhood love Dum (who, unbeknownst to her, has joined a gang) to save her from an arranged marriage. When he fails to meet her at the appointed time, she dutifully resigns herself to her marriage, but not without a good many sighs and sad love songs. Meanwhile, Dum (known to his buddies as "The Black Tiger") is having problems of his own. His boss isn't quite the father figure he was supposed to be, his partner begrudges him his success, and to top it all off he is being hunted by a police-man who (wouldn't you know it?) happens to be Rumpoey's fiance. From this Shakespearean muddle, lots of mayhem ensues - some tragic, some laugh-out-loud funny, and none of it like anything you've seen before.
"Tears of the Black Tiger" pushes the boundaries of post-modernism. Besides the aforementioned repetition of the Impressive Gunshot ("There! Get it now?"), there are plenty of gimmicks to remind you that you are looking at a severely artificial structure. For one thing, there is the exuberant, surreal look of the thing (the film was bleached and manually recoloured, with half of the original colours replaced by - gasp! - pink); for another, there is the acting, which is so gloriously over the top it is downright infectious. Throw in the dodgiest moustache imaginable and you've got a thoroughly hip parody - with a classical lustre which only a strict adherence to the rules of the original can lend.
Needless to say, "Tears of the Black Tiger" isn't for everyone. Those who dislike films that flaunt their artificiality will hate this one, as will those who object to flat characters and songs that get in the way of the action. However, there can be no doubt that those in the mood for some campy fun will find much to enjoy in it. After all, there are some spectacular shoot-outs on display, and the gaudiness and "otherness" of the thing neatly complement the fun of watching evil men getting blown to pieces. And what pieces. And what utterly, utterly glorious bazookas.
FELIX AND LOLA (Patrice Leconte, 2001)
Patrice Leconte is back. The French maestro has released a film in which he advocates openness in relationships, explores his ongoing fascination with fairs and circuses and comes up with a way of using photo booths that would astound Jeunet's Amelie. And while the result lacks the zest of "Ridicule" or the surreal charm of "The Girl on the Bridge," it is a vast improvement over "The Widow of St Pierre," which (despite a terrific performance by Daniel Auteuil) turned out rather bland. It's a strangely intense drama about fear and authenticity, with enough mystery and deceit thrown in to warrant at least one repeat viewing.
"Felix and Lola" is about a showman (Philippe Torreton) whose eye is caught by a young woman (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in a dodgem car. Her enigmatic air intrigues him, and before you can say "love at first sight" they are an item. It is by no means an easy relationship, though; the obviously troubled Lola is reticent about her past, and the closer Felix presses, the more she retreats into a world of her own. However, just when you think you are looking at a conventional psycho drama in which love will save the day, Lola turns out to be a bit of a manipulator, and the question arises whether she has Felix' best interests at heart - a question the prologue to the film would seem to answer negatively.
Leconte gets everything right here. With his hyper-French dialogue, powerful close-ups of the characters' eyes and metaphorical footage of dodgem cars in action and at rest, he externalises the inner turmoil of his protagonists to perfection. He also gets the best out of his actors, all of whom turn in fabulous performances. Charlotte Gainsbourg (looking very Rive Gauche) has Lola's little-girl-lost despair down pat, while Philippe Torreton is even more impressive as the increasingly frustrated Felix. The look in his eyes during the final minutes of the film alone warrants some kind of award. As a bonus, there is also a very tangible chemistry between the leads (a Leconte trademark), which makes their problems all the more harrowing.
"Felix and Lola" represents an impressive return to form for Leconte. From its wrong-footing prologue to the emotionally satisfying but ambiguous ending, it is French cinema at its very best, and it comes highly recommended to anyone who likes a good psycho drama.
Elaine
