Father Geek with another report from the International Rotterdam Film Festival, and like the others we have received this one contains short thumbnail reviews of several motion pictures that will only make it to American Art House Cinemas. That's sad but true. Hopefully if you read these you will be prepared to recognize these films when they showup for one week at your local campus or art theater. Make notes these are some good ones...
This is going to be a review of some of the films I saw in the International Rotterdam Film Festival and hope that some of the gems I saw will come your way some time. It will not be in depth analysis, but more a description of the movie and why I liked it or not, since otherwise it would take too much time. If the question for more in depth info should arise I am willing to go more into it. As Japan was one of the main themes of the festival, my list includes more of them than might be expected.
Kitano: Kikujiro
Brilliant and surprising movie from the great director who already gave us gems like Hana-Bi. It's a surprisingly warm and gentle film about a boy's search for his mother, accompanied by the man the title refers to, played by the master himself of course, who is a selfish opportunistic misantrope but very endearingly so. It's basically a road movie with a lot of hilarious encounters and events, supposedly a hommage of Kitano to his father and further proof, that Kitano has more in him than a gangster movie, even though they were always more than that. Even though it is quite different from his previous movies, I don't think his fans will be disappointed. I won't give away more of the plot, since this one will probably find its way to you in the immediate future. Sufiice to say I loved this movie as I love all of Kitano's works. Definitely one not to miss.
Zeze Takahisa: Hysteric
Disappointing movie of two youngsters caught in a gradual descent into crime, hopelessness and self-destruction. The movie left me cold, the topic I'd seen more times and better covered than I care to remember. Obnoxious superfluous chronology structure. Crucual scenes were literally repeated with a scene added to them or from a different camera angle, both not adding a single thing to the story or any kind of understanding of it. The main protagonists are a frustrated young man who seems to only want to get some kicks out of life and go out with a bang, both of which never happen and his very silent partner, a woman who willingly lets herself be used as a doormat, which irritated the hell out of me, but that probably was the point.
Marion Vernoux: Rien a faire
Typical French movie which makes you feel that the Fench are basically making the same movie for the past 60 years or so. So of course it's about a relationship: Lonely bored housewife gets involved with an unemployed business man that realy doesn't care about her but just uses here to fill the empty hours. Lots of meetings in a supermarket and an appropriate sad ending. Though well acted and executed the movie didn't really work for me. Also the passivity of yet aother female lead bugged me and the old cliche "all men are bastards", or to put it more correctly the old juxtapositioning of women being about emotion and men being about cool blooded calculating logic. A bit simplistic in my book, though as I said the acting performances were very good.
Atom Egoyan: Felicia's journey
Well, it's already been in the US quite a while ago I believe, so I won't explain the plot. Suffice to say the movie deeply moved me and I thought that Bob Hoskins did a brilliant job, maybe the best of his career. I'm a big fan of Egoyan and after "Exotica" consider this to be his best movie.
Zhang Yimou: Not one less
Like Kitano a surprisingly warm and gently movie, at times even on the edge of being a tear jerker. 12 year old girl takes over school of a teacher in the Chinese country side and one day a pupil goes missing. He went to the city to bring in money for his empoverished family. That's basically it. Beautiful camera shots of China and great performances of the kids. A lot of humour and a few tearful moments. I enjoyed it though.
Abbas Kiarostami: The wind shall take us
I expected much of this winner of the 1997 Cannes filmfestival and was not disappointed. It's about three men going to a village in Iran in the hills of Kurdistan to... well to do what? It's a bit unclear, but they seem to wait for the death of one of its oldest inhabitants, possibly to make a documentary about the funeral ritual of the villagers. It's a slow movie and asks questions about life and death. I loved it, the slow pace in which it takes you into the landscape and the simple lives of the people in the village. Beautiful photography completes the picture.
Takashi Miike: Dead or Alive
Very violent movie in the old yakuza movie tradition of gangs hitting on other gangs with the cops in between. If it were not for the surprising ending the movie would be quite forgettable, but in the end it's the old cops and robbers flick.
Chang Tso-Chi: Darkness and Light
Beautiful Taiwanese picture about family life in Tai-Pei and the subsequent downfall of the family due to a feud, mostly seen through the eyes of a young girl, who accidently does a great job performing. Beautiful photohgraphy again and a very moving story.
Sebastian Cordero: Ratas, Ratones, Rateros (Engl title "Rodents")
Equadorian gangster movie, quite well done, makes you feel like all bigger cities in the world have become identical. A bunch of youths get into trouble with the law and basically never really get out of it but deeper in it while trying to correct the previous mistake. Good performances and some typically Latin-American bizar touches added to it, which made the film above the average genre movie.
Shyam Benegal: Samar
Brilliant Indian movie about the problem of cast-society in India in the past and present through the movie in a movie handle. Very well done, critical and funny at times. The director makes a good tongue in cheek remark in the movie by saying that the movie they are making will probably not be shown in their own country but will just be toured on various festivals, getting critical acclaim and henceforth will be rotting on one shelf or other.
Ildiko Enyedi: Simon Magus
Very interesting Ungarian film about a magician who comes to Paris, invited by the local police to solve a crime and subsequently meets another magician who challenges hime to a weird duel of being buried alive for three days, even though his pretty weary of magic and tricks. Ah yes, there also is a love interest with a pretty girl. I quite liked this movie though I regretted they didn't make more of the topic which was interesting in itself. By the way the magician is based on a real mystic living in, I think, the 12th century who was the founder of a gnostic movement.
Until next time...
VoxMillennium
