Hey folks, Harry here with a wonderful contributor chiming in from this year's VENICE FILM FESTIVAL. If you can read his reviews and not be shaking with the anticipation to see THE RETURN, 21 GRAMS, THE DREAMERS, INTOLERABLE CRUELTY and THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD... then you might not quite be the film lover you thought you were. In particular, I'm celebrating Markus' review of Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS... when I read the disappointed/negative reviews of it in the trades... I was very suspicious. You see, there's a couple of things I never trust "INDUSTRY" critics on... Films with Gore and films with a high degree of sexuality. Those two things tend to polarize certain types of critics... especially the ones that are supposed to watch movies with an eye for "potential domestic box office performance." Also, the news of Fox Searchlight possibly editing Bertolucci's THE DREAMERS down... well, frankly I don't get the decision. Sure, Bertolucci contracturally was obligated to deliver an R-rated foriegn film. BUT - frankly speaking... Bertolucci's DREAMERS was never going to be crossing into mainstream malls and such... It was an Art House film from the get go. As such, I frankly don't see that there would be much difference in marketing this as an NC-17 film from "the filmmaker that brought us THE LAST TANGO IN PARIS" Call me crazy, but that's more marketable than, the "Chaste R-rated version" playing in Arthouse theaters. Call me crazy I suppose...
Hi Harry,
I am a 19 year old film student from Austria. I am a big fan of your site since 98 but this is the first time I feel motivated enough to write something.
I have spent the last 11 days in Venice attending the film festival and would like to present a rundown of some of the most interesting (in one way or another) films. I’ll concentrate on the films that didn’t already get so much attention by the people attending the Toronto film festival...
WINNER OF THE GOLDEN LION and BEST FILM OF THE FESTIVAL:
THE RETURN (Vozvrasenie) (by Andrey Zvyagintsev) **** (out of ****)
This is a bad title for a brilliant movie. It’s from Russia. It’s one of the great first movies.
THE RETURN is about two brothers at the age of 13/ 15 whose father returns home after he’s been away for 12 years. They meet him with suspicion and curiosity. The father seems to be trying to make up for the lost time and takes them on a road trip. Along the way he teaches them hard lessons on simple things in life - Get a stuck car out of mud, built a tent, take care of your money, respect an agreement, be on time,... These lessons are taught in a harsh way and the kids can’t understand why they are treated like this. The younger boy gradually builds up a hatred against his father, whom he only knows from a photograph. After a few days they end up on a deserted island, where they camp while the father is in search of a small box.
The director describes his movie as a "mythological look on human life". It is a film about growing up, about learning lessons you don’t want to learn. Everybody who has ever been a stubborn and angry child (and everybody has been from time to time) will recognize himself in the behavior of the children. And because most of us have grown up into wiser and more educated beings since, we will also understand what the father is trying to do. This understanding makes the end even more painful.
The vision of this film is so clear and truthful. It’s completely free of melodrama but full of mystery. Can the kids trust this man who is supposed to be their father? What is in the box the father searches for? Where has he been all those years? Many of those questions are not answered but brought up again at the end. I only had problems with this at my first viewing. To judge this unusual movie on these terms would be wrong.
One of the two extraordinary kids died shortly after the film was finished. This is even more sad because they set new standards for child actors. You won’t find one kid with as much expression in American cinema. The story takes turns that are as dark and harsh as the lake where much of the story plays. That the kids can come up with such emotion is unbelievable.
THE RETURN is full of rich images and the use of music is brilliant. Former actor Zvyagintsev emerges as a huge talent. I won’t even start to compare it to another film, it’s completely unique.
I can image this film being nominated for a Foreign Language Academy Award. But for now it is not even listed on the IMDB. Look forward to it, it’ll be on everyone’s Top Ten List.
21 GRAMS (by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu) ****
Between 21 GRAMS and THE RETURN I had troubles deciding which is the better film. The critics in Venice weren’t very much impressed by 21 GRAMS. They found it to be an improbable melodrama which loses sight of it puzzle-like structure. They liked the actors but accused the movie of bathing in pessimism.
Well, I loved it. It was pretty hard for me to hold back my tears in several scenes. Complete emotional destruction. And I think it will divide audiences the way MAGNOLIA did. At least it deals with similar themes. MAGNOLIA is a better and more complete movie, but 21 GRAMS comes close. Inarritu has matured as a director since his debut AMORES PERROS, which was also very very good.
The structure he applies to 21 GRAMS is complicated. He jumps back and forth in the timeline. For the first 30 minutes it seems random, but an emotional logic exists and is gradually building. Once you catch up on how the characters are related, the movie never loses its grip on you. 21 GRAMS is first and foremost a movie about death and about how one’s life doesn’t just continue. I am always fascinated when a film deals with this theme in an honest way. And this one does, in the darkest way you can imagine.
Sean Penn won the award for Best Actor in Venice. But he is no better or worse than Benicio Del Toro and especially Naomi Watts, who has the toughest job of them all. 21 GRAMS contains a lot of crying, a lot of drama and many developments that might leave someone who can’t connect to the material cold. It is not a flashy movie and it doesn’t give you the thrills you would expect from someone whose first film was called "the Mexican answer to PULP FICTION".
It takes a very deep look into its characters and goes to places where the actors have no chance of hiding. From my point of view this is a great movie, but then again it might be too much for many.
THE DREAMERS (by Bernardo Bertolucci) *** ?
Every film geek will love this film. Every. One. The younger ones, like me, maybe even more. And that’s because it is a male teenager’s wet dream. - Come to Paris, meet a brother and a sister who love movies more than anything, fall in love with the girl, come to live with them in their upper class apartment, enjoy life. Michael Pitt (whom you may know from BULLY and MURDER BY NUMBERS) plays this fortunate guy from San Diego.
It’s the year 68 and students all over the world start revolts. Within this political climate Bertolucci demonstrates that he still knows how to shoot naked people – and how to provoke, judging by the reactions coming from the USA. But even though the sex in this movie is not ordinary, it is also not explicit or disgusting. It fits together perfectly with the state of mind of the three protagonists, who look on the world from the outside. Especially Theo and Isabelle, who are twins, avoid any connection with real life. With their newfound friend they play trivia games and recreate their favorite scenes from old movies. They reference Godard, Nicholas Ray, THE JAZZ SINGER,... have discussions of Keaton vs. Chaplin or Hendrix vs. Clapton. And it’s a joy to watch them, even when the games get uglier.
Michael Pitt, Eva Green and Louis Garrel are fascinating and fearless. There is a magic in this movie that can only be created by an experienced filmmaker. The music rocks and the conversations are endlessly interesting.
After having seen the movie only once I can not say if it adds up to much in the end, but I know that it is one of those things I always wanted to see.
INTOLERABLE CRUELTY (by Joel & Ethan Coen) ***
Though it was not labeled as such, the print shown in Venice seemed pretty complete. INTOLERABLE CRUELTY is the Coen brothers first "Mainstream movie" with Brian Grazer producing. It could be a huge success. But it is one of the lesser Coen Brothers movie, even though the words "bad" and "Coen brothers" don’t match. It feels like a minor work of the two; like a project that has been floating around a long time until they were assigned.
The screenplay contains a lot of their usual wit and playfulness, but little else. You will laugh a lot and will hail the brilliance of George Clooney, but after all is said and done, only few scenes will remain in mind. Geoffrey Rush and Cedric the Entertainer are completely wasted in underwritten roles. But damn, it’s funny. It knows comedic timing and Slapstick and how important music and casting is. The actors are fully committed to make us laugh and they succeed. Billy Bob Thornton is hilarious. The little details are hilarious. The joke that closes the main story is more than hilarious. You will have a damn good time.
THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD (by Guy Maddin) *** ?
This is the first work I’ve seen by Guy Maddin (whose DRACULA I missed last year) and it is the most creative and most original piece of work I’ve seen in a long time. It’s set in Winnipeg in the era of Depression when a international contest is held to determine which country can create the world's saddest music. What follows is on the one hand utter insanity, but also a satire on how people have a constant desire for sympathy and compassion. Who suffers the most, whose life is the most miserable, who is the king of sorrow?
The contest works as follows: Take two competing states like Canada vs. Africa (I forgot which country). The Canadian plays a sad song on a torn piano - a shrill horn blows – it’s Africa’s turn – a tribe starts playing their drums and cutting up their faces with knifes, so that their pain is truly felt – the horn blows again – both contestants play together. Then Isabella Rossellini, who as judge Lady Port-Huntly chooses the winner. The winner then has the privilege to slide into a tub full of beer and bathe in it while the crowd cheers him.
The film looks as if it was shot in the 20s. It switches from hysterical melodrama into musical numbers into a love story into a satire. In Venice it ran as part of "New Territories" and with risk of repeating myself and putting on stupid phrases: You have never seen anything like it.
That’s it for now. If you’re interested I’ll write in on other movies soon. I’ll close with my personal Top Ten of Venezia 60.
1. THE RETURN
2. 21 GRAMS
3. THE DREAMERS
4. THE SADDEST MUSIC IN THE WORLD
5. TWIST
6. GOOD BYE, DRAGON INN (BU SAN)
7. TRAVELLERS & MAGICIANS
8. COFFEE & CIGARETTES
9. THE HUMAN STAIN
10. LOST IN TRANSLATION
Thanks for reading,
Markus R
