ROTTERDAM: TekSmurf on BULLY, STORYTELLING, TAPE, Mike Figgis' HOTEL and more!!!

Hey folks, Harry here with TekSmurf's look at some of the films thus far that he's checked out at the Rotterdam International Film Festival! The nice thing about this report is that we learn that in Rotterdam, they have mean and cruel bosses just like everywhere else that don't let you spend all your time watching films. THE BASTARDS! THESE CRIMINALS MUST BE TRAINED TO UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BEST IN LIFE!!!!

Hey Harry,

I'm at work contemplating the movies I have seen so far at the International Rotterdam Film Festival. Due to some , what must be, serious genetic defects, my boss is unable to comprehend the bliss that is movies and as such has not given me time off to see everything I wanted to see. Hence i am restricted to only 16 movies which i have to see late at night, after work. Bastard....but i'm not mad, i'll just get back on him by writing some reviews during working hours :)) As a big AICN fan I try and visit the site every day, but due to the aforementioned 'person' i do miss out on some things every now then, so don't get mad if i review stuff that has been reviewed b4. Right then, why don't i start out with telling u a bit about what i've seen so far; Bully, Storytelling, Tape, Hotel, From Hell, Ghostworld.

Bully

(Larry Clark, 2001)

This is a very solid movie which unfortunately loses something near the end. Rather than giving us a remake of his '95 Kids, which i half expected from what i heard about this one, Clark presents us with a story that leaves the viewer confused, amusingly shocked and ultimately sad. The story goes on about two 'friends', Marty (Brad Renfro) and Bobby (Nick Stahl). Almost immediately we hate both. Bobby, for being this really nasty, extremely dominant bastard, who demeans, belittles and shits on Marty every chance he gets. And Marty for doing jack shit about it. Pretty soon they hook up with two chicks, who Bobby sorta rapes both. Marty's girlfriend, Lisa (Rachel Miner), can't stand Bobby for what he does to Marty every day and , well, the rape bit, and comes up with the brilliant plan to kill him. Throughout the movie she is the manipulating force who convinces Marty to take action and gets her friends to join in the 'fun'. These friends are not rocket scientists. This is where part of the confusion starts, for it it utterly unbelievable, at least it was for me, how totally without a moral compass these kids operate. They see the planned kill, as some party they have to organise for a saturday night. I won't give away how the story plays out. At times it is simultaneously funny and disconcerting, but Clark takes this so far that it becomes unreal, which is too bad. Though he makes an effort to provide some character background for some of these kids, it's done so plain-to-see, that their lack or morals becomes laughable instead of a serious symptom of how fubarred American teenagers can get. The only thing i have left to say about this movie is Renfro's performance, which was impressive. The way he portrays Marty, as this submissive, cowardly, deeply troubled kid outclasses the rest of the cast completely. Although it was sorta strange to see him get talked into killing his best friend/nemesis, after all taking action against a guy who has been terrorising you your whole life is not something you just get talked into, it was extremely cool to see Renfro make the switch between loser Marty and killer Marty. There's one scene, which i wont spoil, where Renfro once again has that 'Apt Pupil' look in his eyes, you know, the one that says "KILL KILL", the one that makes Damien look like a fluffy bunny. That scene ruled, and you'll know which one i mean when you see the movie. Despite its flaws this movie rocks and should be seen by everyone.

Storytelling

(Todd Solondz, 2001)

Now Storytelling has been measured and weighed quite a bit at AICN, so i'll keep this one short. Two stories. The first doesn't have a whole lot to say, other than to attack all those would be literary critics who ever so eloquently exercise excessive linguistic pressure (will get back to that phrase) to dump on other people's work. Or i could be wrong and it was all about the moral behaviour of white american middleclass young adults with respect to minorities, in which case it did not get its point across all that well. The thing i did like about the first story was Solondz choice for a lot of light-dark scenes, which were very well done. Example: skinny Selma Blair standing naked (woohoo) facing her black professor who is backlit making him appear as a dark giant towering over her, completely in control of her. Very cool. The second story is more elaborate and highlights american society through this one family, each member of which a typical part of society. The father trying to keep everything together, 'forcing' his way on his kids. The mother, seeing how fubarred her kids are but chooses not realize it. And then the three kids, each of which representing a typical high school subculture. The jock, the stoner, and the nerd. pay close attention to the youngest kid, the nerd. He is simply to die for, awesome. Go and see this one, excellent dialogue and nekkid Selma..what more can you ask for?

Tape

(Richard Linklater, 2001)

Well, I read Quint's review of this I have simply nothing to add :) It rules.

Hotel

(Mike Figgis, 2001)

Bunch of stuff has been written on this, but i do have something to add, ohh yes! Possibly the worst movie (next to Wing Commander) i have seen in my 25 yrs of existence, damn Mike wtf were you thinking? Try to imagine picking a random never before seen episode of Twin Peaks and running it backwards while looking with one eye, standing on your head wearing night vision goggles. That sorta describes the experience i had. No plot to speak of, cannibalism, giving birth to plastic babies and a score they should use in hostage negotiations. Well that was the bad. On to the good. Mike has guts. And i triple dare anyone claiming otherwise. Four frames, three frames, single screen, different screen sizes, night vision (very cool). Here's a man who dares to experiment, not only with technique but with the very essence of 'what is cinema' and even though, imo, the end product was a piece of excrement, you have got to respect that. Two scenes were very very good. The flamenco scene, where four frames were used to show the intricacy of this dance, here you see what Figgis brought with him from Time Code and how well this can be applied. The scene where Rhys Ifans is lying on the floor after being shot without his crew noticing him dying. The passage of time is wonderfully illustrated using some pretty bold digital techniques.

Mike dropped in after the movie ended and did a little Q&A. Very nice and soft spoken man, who , contrary to what i heard, is not arrogant and self important at all. Just a guy who likes to do his own thing. According to him, they did not work with a script , rather from a synopsis. He apparently had a huge fight with one of his actresses (no name) about her not wanting to see herself on screen, whereas he wanted her to attend the screenings he prepared so that he could include the cast in the editing process and get input from them on what they thought the right direction for the movie was. And of course someone just had to ask him what he thought of Dogme. Though he wasn't as soft spoken as before, hehe, he did say he respected it. He thought it to be just one of many ways of doing movies, some adhere to that and some adhere to another way. One is not necessarily better than another. At least that's what made of it, coz then the irritating little festival weasel starting bitching about the time (1 am). Before he left though Mike told us not to miss sunday's live remix of Time Code, to which of course i could not get tickets, baastaaards!!

From Hell

(Hughes bros, 2001)

New for us, old for you, no sense for me to tell you all about it. Except that I did not get why even though all the elements for suspense where in place, there was none. Exquisite view of London, eerie looking streets, scary Ian Holm but still no suspense. Why? Was it because we all know Jack never got caught? I don't think so, yet i can not put my finger on it why this movie didn't work for me.

Ghostworld

(Terry Zwigoff, 2001)

Again, old news for you, new for us. I hope you take this into account Harry next time you start complaining you want to see something now NOW. Think of the poor dutch who have to shake their fist at all you lucky bastards in the US who get to see everything months ahead of us:( Needless to say this movie was excellent. Filmgo-ers are asked to rate each movie from 1 to 5 and no doubt most of the audience gave it a five. Of course my friends and me hung around during the credits to see Steve Buscemi kick Dave Sheridan's ass, but alas, the bastards had the british print.

Well Harry, this is it for now, use what you want, dump the rest, I had some good fun writing this all and managed not to do work for at least 3 hours:)) Stick around for more cause this week I will be attending among other Ichi the Killer, Tears of the black tiger, Avalon (Oshii Mamoru), Don's Plum and Donnie Darko.

Cheers,

call me TekSmurf