ROTTERDAM: The Lovely Elaine on Takashi Miike's AGITATOR, Toshiaki's BLUE SPRING, Bogdanovich's CAT'S MEOW & more!!!

Hey folks, Harry here with our favorite in the field reporter of the moment... The Lovely Elaine!!!! She delivers another great report from Rotterdam, where she again demonstrates her genetic perfection through a mix of humor, concise observances and grace. Enjoy....

DAY 2

Day 2 of the festival is when I adjust. Once my initial excitement about being in Rotterdam again has waned, I have to get used to spending most of my day in the dark and coming out looking like a zombie. To living off quiche and spinach-and-cheese crepes rather than regular meals. To seeing blue-and-yellow banners all over the place, and to running from one theatre to another in blustery weather. To hearing people talk about films no matter where I go. And, for the first time since I began attending the festival ten years ago, to reviewing.

I won't lie to you - it's hard work, this reviewing. But it is an excellent way to deal with the deluge of images, ideas, emotions and quotations that is a film festival, not to mention a great way to get into contact with others on occasions where one finds oneself without company. I have yet to start jotting down my impressions without getting some sort of reaction from whoever is sitting next to me at the time. Needless to say, AICN should be getting some new visitors soon.

Today's reviews should interest quite a few of you. First of all, there is a look at "Address Unknown," the not-quite-latest by the director of "The Isle." Secondly, there are reviews of a cool Japanese flick called "Blue Spring" and Peter Bogdanovich's "The Cat's Meow." Finally, there is a critical look at the only film so far that I have walked out of: Takashi Miike's "Agitator."

Now I know what you are thinking at this point. You are sniggering, thinking "Poor Elaine, can't deal with a bit of violence" or something along those lines. But that's not it. I didn't walk out of "Agitator" because it was a sick or violent film, but because it was B-O-R-I-N-G. That's supposed to be an oxymoron, a boring Miike movie, but take my word for it - this film is dull.

Oh, well. There is always "Ichi the Killer," right?

ADDRESS UNKNOWN (Kim Kiduk, 2001)

If there is one thing I regret about this year's festival, it is that Kim Kiduk opted to have his latest film premiere in Berlin rather than Rotterdam. Having nothing but the deepest admiration for Kim's previous efforts, "The Isle" and "Address Unknown," I would have loved to see his new film this week. As it is, I will probably have to wait 51 weeks until I get to see it, which, considering the brilliance of "Address Unknown," really is some kind of punishment.

"Address Unknown" is an excellent film. Set in a Korean village in the 1970s, it deals with fucked-up people who do truly horrible things to themselves and each other. So far, the description could have fitted "The Isle," but the tone of the film is different. While "The Isle," thanks to its remote setting, misty surroundings and virtual lack of communication, has an otherworldly, fairly timeless quality, "Address Unknown" has a more realistic flavour. The despair and violence of its predecessor are still there, though - in spades.

"Address Unknown" is about what happens when normal people are driven over the edge. It is about what happens when a woman who has given birth to an American soldier's child receives one too many letter to the soldier returned unopened, or when she is called a "Western princess" to her son's face once too many. About what happens when a highly strung American soldier realises he has no right to be in the country he is in, a girl who has sacrificed the love of her life is constantly reminded by her new boyfriend of everything he has done for her, and a sympathetic teenager is bullied again and again and again.

Kim takes his time to set up the conflagration that is the final half hour of the film, but when his characters finally snap, they snap hard, finishing each other off in a manner which is sometimes funny but more usually intensely depressing.

"Address Unknown" is a shocking film. It may lack the outright perversion of "The Isle" (remember those fish hooks?), but there is plenty of gore, and the sadism displayed by many of the characters is as profoundly depressing as anything in "he Isle." If you liked "The Isle," you will probably be impressed by "Address Unknown," too. However, if bleak psycho drama with an inevitable downward spiral is not your thing, you had better steer clear of Kim's works. The man could teach Solondz a lesson about pessimism, and I mean that.

THE CAT'S MEOW (Peter Bogdanovich, 2001)

Peter Bogdanovich's latest is an intelligent fun flick. It is based on a scandal which rocked Hollywood in the 1920s, and while it may not be historically accurate, it is certainly entertaining.

"The Cat's Meow" starts with a black-and-white frame in which gossip writer Elinor Glyn (Joanna Lumley) introduces the historical case of the mysterious death of studio mogul Tom Ince (Cary Elwes). In a flashback, the action then shifts to a yacht where millionaire William Randolph Hearst (Edward Herrmann) and his mistress Marion Davies (Kirsten Dunst) are to throw a birthday back for Ince. Amongst the guests are Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard), gossip columnist Louella Parsons (Jennifer Tilly) and a host of starlets, mistresses and musicians. Once the party gets underway, Ince tries to talk Hearst into consolidating his position in the studio system, Davies and Chaplin make an effort to hide their having had an affair and the two gossip writers exercise discretion and indiscretion, respectively. Ultimately, Ince is carried off the yacht on a stretcher, and the film purposes to tell us how this came about.

Bogdanovich's film was based on play, which is clearly discernible in the construction of the film. The unities of time and place are observed, and the dialogues are of the rapid-fire variety more commonly associated with the stage. However, there is nothing stage-like about the look of the film; the period atmosphere is recreated in great detail, with lavish sets and even more fabulous costumes and jewellery.

"The Cat's Meow" is quite amusing. Aside from the fun of observing real-life persons of almost mythical stature bickering amongst each other (discussing a lot of tangential film history into the bargain), a great deal of fun is to be had watching the ensemble cast sneaking around the yacht in search of gossip and illicit love. There are some great digs at money and what it does to one's morality, and the way Glyn (the narrator) comments on the action is at times hysterical.

Most of all, though, it is an actors' film. Herrmann is hilarious as Hearst ("RW"), the sensitive bully who tries to impose his will on others, while Izzard makes a convincing and dangerously seductive Chaplin. However, the show belongs to Dunst ("Shut up and keep me happy, Pops"), who is positively radiant as the golddigger who actually cares for her sugar daddy. The frowns and grimaces Dunst throws at Izzard are a hoot, as is the scene in which she is seen acting in a silent film.

"The Cat's Meow" is not the sort of film that stays with you for a long time, but while it lasts, it is perfectly enjoyable. A must-see for everyone who is interested in 1920s Hollywood history, or good comedy in general.

BLUE SPRING (Toyoda Toshiaki, 2001)

"Aimlessly walking into the night." That is the refrain of the song that plays over the end credits of "Blue Spring," and it is an apt description of the movie itself.

"Blue Spring" is about teenagers without aims. Its hero, Kujo (played by Matsuda Ryuhei, the beautiful young man from "Gohatto"), at one point tells a friend that people who know what they want scare him. For his part, Kujo can't for the life of him figure out what he wants, so he spends most of the film standing on the roof of his school (the titular Blue Spring), overlooking his turf and generally being cool. For Kujo is cool - genuinely cool. Because he doesn't care about the impression he makes and doesn't try to convince others that he is cool. He just is.

Obviously, Kujo in the end does find a purpose in life, and it is this which sets him apart from his friends, whose only passion is maintaining the school hierarchy. They hold dangerous competitions to determine who their new leader will be and bully the other students into submission, often in a very violent manner. Lots of students lose body parts, and in the struggle for domination, a friend of Kujo's now turned rival dies because he tries too hard to be cool.

"Blue Spring" isn't necessarily a good film. Rather in keeping with the subject of the film, there are many scenes which don't really go anywhere, and the cinematography isn't particularly impressive either. However, the ending is brilliant, and the film makes an interesting companion piece to more generic Japanese crime movies in that it reveals the power structure that draws young men to the yakuza. The turf war fought at the Blue Spring is a training ground for what goes on in the yakuza: trying to prove oneself, being humiliated, enlisting the help of one bully to get back on another, wishing to become a bully oneself, and the fear of betrayal once one is one. It's all there in this film, and it's pretty terrifying to see how 16-year-old boys get carried away by it. Especially the not-so-cool ones, who tend to become the most ruthless bullies.

File this under "scary" or "sociology."

AGITATOR (Takashi Miike, 2001)

A few thoughts I had before and during the screening of Miike's "Agitator":

- 5 minutes before the film: "This is going to be a yakuza film along the lines of "Fudoh" and "Dead or Alive," i.e. lots of action, little heart, but thoroughly entertaining."

- 1 minute into the film: "Holy shit, a Miike film with a heart!"

- 10 minutes into the film: "Miike does Kitano."

- 30 minutes into the film: "Miike should leave Kitano films to Kitano."

- 40 minutes into the film: "Is is going to go on like this for another two hours?"

- 50 minutes into the film: "People are leaving. Hmmm."

- 80 minutes into the film: "My friends are leaving. Is there any reason why I shouldn't join them?"

- 81 minutes into the film: "I'm leaving, too."

As you can tell from the above, "Agitator" isn't all I hoped it would be. Billed as a thoughtful yakuza flick, it is in fact an overlong string of shootings that is neither cool nor interesting. I walked out of it before it reached the halfway point, and I was by no means the only person to do so.

The film gets off to a promising start. In a fairly mysterious frame opening, an intelligent-looking woman (as opposed to the usual Miike staple of bimbos and school girls) looks back on a relationship which once was. From there, however, the film goes downhill, until it is little more than another yakuza flick in which dumb logs shoot members of rival clans (and occasionally their own) and so bring on a series of revenge murders. This sounds more interesting than it really is, for in fact, the thing gets repetitive very quickly. What is boils down to is this: Young thug shoots big boss. The capos convene to discuss what should be done. A few of them join hands, and a lot of people die, which results in more meetings, more pacts, more in-clan struggles, more betrayals, etc. Ad infinitum. Ad nauseam.

"Agitator" has few redeeming values. To be sure, there are a few flashes of trademark Miike brilliance (skulls kicked in in creative ways, backs getting tattooed in a painful manner), but they are few and very far between. What is left is an ugly-looking film in which for two and a half hours, virtually interchangeable, none-too-interesting gits shoot their rifles for reasons neither they nor the viewer understand. There is no feeling, no empathy and no intelligent thought, for as one of the characters says, "We are yakuza. We are not supposed to think. Our bosses don't approve of it." As a result, the film becomes such an aimless mess that the viewer inevitably switches off his brain and stops caring about who belongs to which clan and why, and doesn't notice when an interesting (ahem) new sub-plot emerges.

All this happened to me. I told myself to stay and find out, at the very least, who the titular agitator was, but after 80 minutes I found I could not be bothered. It was simply too dull, too repetitive to be of interest.

And you know what the worst thing about it is? I get the impression that Miike actually cared about this film. That he took his time to make it and made an effort to infuse it with some realism. Too bad he couldn't infuse it with some heart, too. Or an interesting plot, for that matter.

UP NEXT:

- Song Ilgon's "Flower Island"

- Oxide Pang's "One Take Only"

- He Jianjun's "Butterfly Smile"

- Hur Jinho's "One Fine Spring Day"

Elaine