Father Geek with Ozymandias, Robert, and the Venice Crew with a nice group of reviews for you to look over for the weekend. Check them out...
Ozymandias Here...
Ah well... Another day another report from Venice. I could tell you again what a wonderful job Robert and his crew are doing over there and how they're working their asses off so we can read this stuff every day but..... well, they do get to be in Venice for crying out loud!!!! ;-) Here we go for Saturday - they even have video footage for us today!
Ah well... Another day another report from Venice. I could tell you again what a wonderful job Robert and his crew are doing over there and how they're working their asses off so we can read this stuff every day but..... well, they do get to be in Venice for crying out loud!!!! ;-) Here we go for Saturday - they even have video footage for us today!
First. We have the video interview of Robert Zemeckis available also in english. Go to Our Site by Clicking Here
As many of you, i go to cinema to be surprised. Even if it's very diffucult to find something fresh and original, when it happens, you forget every stupid movie you saw. And it happened to me with.
Otesánek, by Jan Ŝvankmajer, in Cinema del presente (review by Robert Bernocchi)
Yesterday morning i had to choice which film to see between The Cell by Tarsem (that was announced as visionary and oniric, as later Francesco confirmed me) and a strange movie realised by a director of the Czech Republic. I choiced the second and i was very lucky, because Otesánek is the best film i've seen at the festival. A couple can't have childrens. One day, the woman finds a piece of wood very similar to a baby. The love of the couple gives life to the wood. But the creature can't contain his hunger and devours things, animals and people. Ŝvankmajer uses the same techniques of movies as Nightmare Before Christmas and Chicken Run and merge them with live action. The result is incredible. Try to imagine a modern version of Eraserhead directed by Spike Jonze and Henry Selick and you'll have a vague idea of Otesánek. Thriller, surrealistic comedy, drama, horror are mixed to create a masterwork. I can't understand why this movie is not in competion, where you can find some garbage as Seom and Platform. It's a shame.
The Cell, by Tarsem, in Sogni e Visioni (review by Francesco Alò)
Vincent D'Onofrio is a serial killer who loves to torturate and kill women. Jennifer Lopez is a psychologist. She has to come into the mind (literally) of the serial killer to save a possible new victim. But, of course, it won't be easy. The first movie by Tarsem is a visual delirium. He has an incredible imagination and he knows well as to shock the audience. But the movie lacks of a good screenplay. The screenwriter knows well the rules of the genres, but the chemistry between Manhunter stuff and the visual fantasy of a Lsd himalayan man, for me, doesn't work. The talented Tarsem will, probably, work at the Dino Ferrari movie-bio, as he said to me in a interview (available in our site as soon as possible). And Cronenberg?
My Generation, by Barbara Kopple, in Cinema del presente (review by Francesco Alò)
The three editions of Woodstock (1969-1994-1999) analysed by the words of organizers, musicians and people. So, we see often Michael Lang, the legendary mind behind the operation. What's Woodstock? A myth. Two days of peace, love and harmony. It was 1969 and the festival represented a generation who wanted to change the world. Michael Lang, the organizer of many musical events and promoter of stars as Joe Cocker, decided to repeat the experience in 1994 and 1999. He said that he wanted to build a bridge between two generations, but someone else maintains that the only reason to do it is money. The director Barbara Kopple is interested to understand what represented the two last Woodstock for our generation. So we don't see much music (and the songs from the exhibitions of Metallica and Nine Inch Nails are not the best of their performance), but many opinions. The idea expressed by Barbara Kopple is simple: Woodstock 1969 - Harmony; Woodstock 1994 - Confusion; Woodstock 1999 - Violence. The end is optimistic. Maybe too much.
The Circle, by Jafar Panahi, in competition (review by Robert Bernocchi)
A woman has given birth to a baby girl, but the parents of his husband wanted a boy. Three women exit from prison, everyone with a different goal. Pari, after she was menaced by their brothers, escapes and seeks an abortion. Nargess is a innocent girl who becomes lost in reality as she observes the world around her. This movie is dedicated to the women of Iran. Women that have trouble to affirm their rights even because they have no rights at all. They can't smoke and they can't drink in public, they can't take a train without a man, they can't abort without the consense of their fathers or their husbands. The Circle is a great movie about eight women, with their different problems and dreams. Do you know the french film La Ronde by Max Ophuls (or the novel by Schnitzler)? The Circle has the same structure (a woman meets another woman, and so on). A great movie for the lovers of iranian cinema.
Robert Bernocchi - La Finestra sul Cortile
