Uri saengae choego-ui sungan (Forever the Moment)

This so-called ‘sports’ movie is about a Korean female handball team that goes to the Athens Olympics and is inspired on a true story. I say ‘so-called’, as truly is an incredible good drama about women in sports in those countries where sportsmanship is not that appreciated after they reach an older age (for athletes) and where after so many efforts the woman have not really a life when they retire, except being a coach for another female team.

I was thinking that in about a week or so the China Olympics will start and this is a great movie to watch before this year’s Olympics as can give you a different perspective on women teams from not so big countries, as if some of those teams achieve glory, what will be expecting them at home might not be as bright as for those athletes that come from large countries.

Anyway the movie by Soonrye Yim is entertaining and the script is well developed around the four older members of the team that with very good character development will make you feel for them and all the different situations around their personal lives. Also actors’ performances are compelling with the comic and serious moments. Then as a movie has quite good tech specs that do not distract you from the main drama and keeps it flowing flawlessly.

Not very often I watch sports movies, as I do not particularly enjoy watching any sports, but this movie was more interesting than what I ever could imagine as not only deals with sports but also with the lives of the women involved in the sport. So, if I that do not like to watch sports enjoyed the movie, I imagine that those that like sports and good women drama will enjoy it as well.

Still, somehow I believe that this movie will appeal more to women than to men and I strongly suggest to all women to give a try to this incredible movie about women.

Enjoy!

61st Locarno International Film Festival Lineup - Update

Here is the official fest lineup as posted in their site. The fest has the following sections.

International Competition
Filmmakers of the Present Competition
Leopards of Tomorrow
Piazza Grande
Ici et ailleurs
Play Forward
Retrospective
Open Doors
Critic’s Week

Here are the films for two of the in competition sections.

International Competition
33 Szeny Zzycia (22 Scenes from Life), Malgorzata Szumowska, Germany and Poland, 2008
Daytime Drinking, Noh Young-seok, South Korea, 2008
Dioses, Josué Méndez, Peru, Argentina, Germany, France, 2008
Elle Veut Le Chaos, Denis Côté, Canada, 2008
Het Zusje Van Katia (Katia’s Sister), Mijke de Jong, Netherlands, 2007
Kisses, Lance Daly, Ireland and Sweden, 2008
Liu Mang De Sheng Yan (Feast of Villians), Pan Jian Lin, China 2008
Mar Nero, Federico Bondi, Italy, Romania and France, 2008
März, Klaus Händl, Austria, 2008
Nulle Part Terre Promise, Emmanuel Finkiel, France, 2008
Parque Vía, Erique Rivero, Mexico, 2008
Pazar – Bir Ticaret Masali (The Market – A Tale of Trade), Ben Hopkins, Germany, UK, Turkey and Kazakhstan, 2007
Sleep Furiously, Gideon Koppel, UK, 2007
Sonbahar (Autumn), Özcan Alper, Turkey and Germany, 2008
Story of Jen, François Rotger, France and Canada, 2008
Um Amor de Perdição, Mario Barroso, Portugal and Brazil, 2008
Un Autre Homme, Lionel Baier, Switzerland, 2008
Yuriev Den (Yuri’s Day), Kirill Serebrennikov, Russia and Germany, 2008

Jury of the International Competition
Rachida Brakni , actress (France)
Masahiro Kobayashi, filmmaker (Japan)
Dani Levy, filmmaker (Switzerland)
Bertha Navarro, producer (Mexico)
Goran Paskaljevic, filmmaker (Serbia)
Liron Levo, actor (Israel)

Filmmakers of the Present Competition
Uprise (A Zona), Sandro Aguilar, Portugal, 2008
Alicia en el País, Esteban Larraín, Chile, 2008
Beket, Davide Manuli, Italy, 2008
El Brau Blau, Daniel Villamediana, Spain, 2008
El Sueño del Perro, Paulo Pécora, Argentina, 2008
Filmefobia, Kiko Goifman, Brazil and Germany, 2008
Je ne suis pas morte, Jean-Charles Fitoussi, France, 2008
Kinogamma Part1: East and Kinograma Part 2: Far East, Siegfried, France, 2008
La Forteresse, Fernand Melgar, Switzerland, 2008
La Orilla Que Se Abisma, Gustavo Fontán, Argentina, 2008
La Vie Ailleurs, David Teboul, France, 2008
Napoli Piazza Municipio, Bruno Oliviero, Italy, 2008
Par Dzimteniti (Three Men and a Fish Pond), Laila Pakalnina, Latvia, 2008
Prince of Broadway, Sean Baker, USA, 2008
Shorei X (Symptom X), Koki Yoshida, Japan, 2007
Welate Efsane (The Land of Legends), Rahim Zabihi, Germany and Iran, 2008

The Jury of the Filmmakers of the Present Competition
Bertrand Bonello, filmmaker (France)
Benedek Fliegauf, filmmaker (Hungary)
Cao Guimarães, filmmaker (Brazil)
Corso Salani , filmmaker (Italy)Franz Treichler, musician (Switzerland)

Special Awards
Leopard of Honour: Amos Gitai
Best Producer Award (Raimondo Rezzonico Prize): Christine Vachon
Excellence Award: Anjelica Huston

To check the films in all the sections go here. According to their press release there is always the possibility that more films can be confirmed before August 8th when the fest has his opening ceremony, so I’ll be checking the fest news and posting accordingly.

Update: two new films were added, one to each competition section. Also the fest will pay tribute to Egyptian director Youssef Chahine who died on July 27.

Sex and The City

Also went to see this movie that picks up exactly from the last episodes of the TV series but something like 4 years after and well I imagine that most of you know the story, Carrie finally marries Mr. Big, but since this is a movie and you need to fill more than thirty minutes, the marriage to Mr. Big became a big endless drama that absolutely does not suit the good-frivolous feeling that the TV show had.

I laugh a lot with the happy and silly moments, but the drama almost made fall asleep as perhaps as could happen to many that were fans of the TV show, I’m very familiar with the characters and somehow going into sad drama does not fit the image you have of each of the girls.

Still, most of the happy moments feel like a good extended TV episode with fashion and labels coming and going as if it was a big infomercial about high fashion. At least this time it was not all about shoes; here we have also handbags (my weakness) and clothes.

Think that hard core fans of the TV show will not enjoy that much the complete movie, but will just love what I have been calling ‘happy’ moments. So, my best suggestion is to wait until the DVD is out, as you can always fast forward the ‘sad’ drama moments.

Wanted

Finally I decided to go watch this movie and well, first Angelina Jolie has a secondary role; second she does not look that good (bony –literally you can see her face bones) and third, if what I read is right (producers asked her to gain weight) then yes, in some scenes she looks better, less ghost/cadaver alike and more her good looking self.

The movie is loosely based on the comic book miniseries of the same name that seems is even more violent than the movie, as they claim to have toned down the violence for the movie and I just imagine how the comics must be, because the movie is really full of fake violence with some scenes that really get to you and others that just made me laugh as they were truly silly.

I believe that is good to know that the movie is based on a comic as the story is total fantasy, but as you can imagine, I had no idea until I started to read about the movie, still during the movie you do get the feeling that is everything is high fantasy.

Tells about a common guy that suffers anxiety attacks and is totally bored with his life and wishes for something different. As some say you have to be careful with what you wish as his wish is granted when he discovers that he’s the son of a famous and almost invincible assassin. Obviously the training from accountant to assassin is truly, truly violent and almost unbelievable, but then you have to remember that none of the other comic book characters have ‘believable’ transformations into super men.

I like James McAvoy performances and I cannot complain that his role in this movie was bad acted, as it was not, as he really transforms into a more assertive man and the transformation I found it somehow similar to Tobey McGuire being Spiderman. Also, I believed that all the other characters are in supporting roles to his performance.

Anyway I found it entertaining and with extremely good editing and special/visual effects. But I know that those that get involved in the story and have the feeling that everything is true wont enjoy it as much, as the fake bloody scenes and the fake violence at times is hard to watch. So, if the last paragraph describes you, I suggest you stay away from this movie.

5th Giornate Degli Autori – Venice Days

This parallel section to the Venice International Film Festival is organized by the Italian Association of Film-makers (ANAC - Associazione Nazionale Autori Cinematografici) and by the Association of Independent Directors and Producers (API - Associazione Autori e Produttori Indipendenti) is modeled after the spirit of the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight and will run from August 28th to September 6th and here is the line-up.

Broken Lines, Sallie Aprahamian, UK, 2008
Che Saccio, Camille d’Arcimoles, Italy, 2008 (documentary)
Il Passato e’ Il Mio Bastone (The Past is my Stick), Flavia Mastrella and Antonio Rezza, Italy, 2008 (this b/w doc looks VERY art cinema interesting)
Machan, Uberto Pasolini, Italy, Germany and Sri Lanka, 2008
Muukalainen (The Visitor), Jukka-Pekka Valkeapää, Finland, UK, Germany and Estonia, 2008
Nowhere Man, Patrice Toye, Belgium, Netherlands, Norway and Luxemburg, 2008 (seems very art cinema interesting)
Pescuit Sportiv (Hooked), Adrian Sitaru, Romania and France, 2008 (must be seen for me)
Pokrajina Št.2 (Landscape No.2), Vinko Möderndorfer, Slovenia and Serbia, 2008
Rysa (Scratch), Michal Rosa, Poland, 2008
Stella, Sylvie Verheyde, France, 2008 (young girl’s childhood in working-class Paris in the 1970s… seems interesting!)
Un altro pianeta (One Love, One Life), Stefano Tummolini, Italy, 2008 (another no-budget film… must be seen for me!)
Una Semana Solos (A Week Alone), Celina Murga, Argentina, 2008 (director is going to be tutored by Martin Scorsese for one year… hmm)
Venkovský učitel (A Country Teacher), Bohdan Sláma, Czech Republic, Germany and France, 2008 (Gay interest)

Matteo Garrone and Paolo Sorrentino will receive the 2008 Creativity Award.

To check detailed information about each movie go here.

65th Venice Film Festival Line-Up

Today the festival released the official list of films that will be screened in the festival and here we have the movies in competition for the Golden Lion.

Venezia 65
The Wrestler, Darren Aronofsky, USA
The Burning Plain, Guillermo Arriaga, USA,
Il papà di Giovanna, Pupi Avati, Italy
Birdwatchers, Marco Bechis, Italy, 108’
L’Autre, Patrick Mario Bernard and Pierre Trividic, France
Hurt Locker, Kathryn Bigelow, USA
Il seme della discordia, Pappi Corsicato, Italy
Rachel Getting Married, Jonathan Demme, USA
Teza, Haile Gerima, Ethiopia, Germany and France
Bumažnyj soldat (Paper Soldier), Aleksey German Jr., Russia
Süt, Semih Kaplanoglu, Turkey, France and Germany
Akires to kame (Achilles and the Tortoise), Takeshi Kitano, Japan
Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on Cliff by the Sea), Hayao Miyazaki, Japan
Vegas: Based on a True Story, Amir Naderi, USA
The Sky Crawlers, Mamoru Oshii, Japan,
Un giorno perfetto, Ferzan Özpetek, Italy
Jerichow, Christian Petzold, Germany
Inju, la Bête dans l’ombre, Barbet Schroeder, France
Nuit de chien, Werner Schroeter, France, Germany and Portugal
Gabbla (Inland), Tariq Teguia, Algeria and France
Dangkou (Plastic City), YU Lik-wai, Brazil, China, China, Japan

Films in the Out-of-Competition Section
Opening Film: Burn After Reading, Joel and Ethan Cohen, USA and UK
Puccini e la fanciulla, Paolo Benvenuti, Italy
Yuppi Du, Adriano Celentano. Italy
35 Rhums, Claire Denis. France and Spain
Heshang aiqing (Cry me a river), JIA Zhang-ke, China, Spain and France (short film)
Shirin, Abbas Kiarostami, Iran (Juliette Binoche is here)
Vinyan, Fabrice Du Welz, France, UK and Belgium (with Emmanuelle Béart)
Encarnação do demonio, José Mojica Marins, Brazil
La rabbia, Pier Paolo Pasolini, Italy, 1963 (documentary -previously unreleased version)

In collaboration with the Far East Film Festival, Udine
Girara no gyakushu/Samitto kiki ippatsu! (Monster X Strikes Back: Attack the G8 Summit!), Minoru Kawasaki, Japan
Puen yai jom sa lad (Queens of Langkasuka), Nonzee Nimibutr, Thailand

Films in the Orizzonti Section
Goodbye Solo, Ramin Bahrani,USA
A Erva do Rato, Julio Bressane and Rosa Dias, Brazil
Parc, Arnaud des Pallières, France
Melancholia, Lav Diaz, Philippines (a movie with 450 minutes???)
Un lac, Philippe Grandrieux, France
Dikoe Pole (Wild Field), Mikhail Kalatozishvili, Russia
Il primo giorno d’inverno, Mirko Locatelli, Italy (gay interest)
Voy a explotar, Gerardo Naranjo, Mexico
Jay, Francis Xavier Pasion, Philippines
Pa-ra-da, Marco Pontecorvo, Italy, France and Romania
Zero Bridge, Tariq Tapa, India and USA

To check the films, shorts and documentaries in all sections, as well as the new series of retrospective screenings and restorations called These Phantoms: Italian Cinema Rediscovered (1946-1975) go here.

14th Sarajevo Film Festival

From August 15 to 23 this fest will be held in Sarajevo and here are the feature films in the competition program.

Buick Riviera, Goran Rušinović, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2008
Četvrti Čovek (The Fourth Man), Dejan Zečević, Serbia, 2007
Delta, Kornél Mundruczó, Hungary and Germany, 2008
Gitmek (My Marlon and Brando), Hüseyin Karabey, Turkey, 2008
Kino Lika, Dalibor Matanić, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2008
Lányok (Girls), Anna Faur, Hungary, 2007
März (March), Händl Klaus, Austria, 2008
Nikoli Nisva Šla V Benetke (We’ve Never Been to Venice), Blaž Kutin, Slovenia, 2008
Nokta (Dot), Derviş Zaim, Turkey, 2008
SonBahar (Autumn), Özcan Alper, Turkey, 2008

I suggest you check the In Focus program with some interesting films, especially Boogie by Radu Muntean from Romania. The program is here.

In the Panorama program there is one movie that really called my attention: Japan Japan by Lior Shamriz, Israel and Germany, as is an experimental film that the shooting expenses totaled 200 euros!!! And is a gay interest movie. Have to see this to learn how to do what the fest calls: No-Budget filmmaking. To check the films in the Panorama section go here.

The opening film in the Panorama program is none other than 24 City by Jia Zhang-ke and I just want to record here an excerpt from the press release where he’s announced as a special guest of the fest, I just love what it says.

“Jia Zhang-ke is recognized as one of the leading Chinese directors who through his work wishes to speak about authentic life in China. In all of his films, he has been consistently going back to the topics of alienation and disorientation of Chinese society.

Jia Zhang-ke throws his films into the face of older generation of directors, who have idealized Chinese society in their films, and who had more understanding for problems that have been bothering Jia Zhang-ke. Jia Zhang-ke speaks up about all problems of contemporary China, about its rich tradition, but also about politics, about the future.”

Jury Members
President: Nuri Bilge Ceylan, director/writer, Turkey
Jury members: Hugh Hudson, director, UK; Marija Škaričić, actress, Croatia; Michael Weber, founder and Director of Match Factory, Germany; and Deborah Young, artistic director of the Taormina filmfest, Usa/Italy.

Most interesting is the Cinelink industry section of the Sarajevo fest that includes project development workshops, co-production market, awards, industry screenings, conferences, and more. The have 12 projects competing for the awards; but the most interesting news come from Cinelink+ Selection that has 3 projects and take a look.

The Bank Of, Onur Unlu, Turkey
Girls, Andrea Štaka, Switzerland and Croatia
Outskirts, by Christian Mungiu and Ioana Uricaru, director Anatoli Reghintovschi, Romania

To check this section go here.

There are more films in other festival programs that have to be announced, so I’ll be checking the site and post accordingly. The fest will present films from sixteen countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Malta, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Turkey. The fest homepage is here and definitively I will closely follow this fest that has so many interesting news.

5th Skip City International D-Cinema Festival Award Winners

Today I ‘discovered’ this festival held from July 19 to 27 at Skip City, Saitama prefecture, Japan that has the following description.

The SKIP CITY INTERNATIONAL D-Cinema FESTIVAL is an international competitive festival, which is being held annually with its theme being Digital Cinema (D-Cinema). The Festival aims to discover the talent of the next generation, as well as contributing to the propagation and development of new film industry.

This Festival is a unique combination of movie entertainment and creations from the cutting edge of digital technologies from around the world, brought together in an exciting competition. In the Competition sections (International Feature and Domestic Short Length), cash reward totaling in 17,000,000 Japanese yen will be given to the winners at the awarding ceremony.

Besides the competition sections, Gala screening, Special program and D-Content Market will be held during the festival. All the movies will be presented using the latest 4K digital cinema projector, projected on a huge screen. Join us to hear the messages from directors around the world in the best viewing environment with the latest screening facilities available.

I believe the concept is interesting even when relates to tech specs, but tech specs are so important in a movie that I’m listing here the recently announced award winners just in case some of you are interesting in finding about the best digital cinema.

Grand Prize: Arranged, Stephan Schaefer and Diane Crespo, USA, 2007
Special Jury Prize:
Ekko (Echo), Anders Morgenthaler, Denmark, 2007 and
Lino, Jean Louis Milesi, France, 2008
Best Director: Jose Enrique March for Escuchando a Gabriel (Listening to Gabriel), Spain, 2007
Best Screenplay: Ilmar Raag for Klass (The Class), Ilmar Raag, Estonia, 2007

The Jury
Jury President: Danny Krausz (Producer/Austria)
Juries: Hong Sang-soo (Director/Korea), Ricardo de Angelis (Cinematographer/Argentina), Morio Amagi(Producer/Japan), Masako Imai (Screenwriter/ Japan)

To check all the films in competition as well as the other films and shorts in the program go here and to check the short film awards go here.

55th Pula Film Festival Award Winners

Recently the fest announced the award winners and here they are.

National Competition
Grand Golden Arena for Best Film: Ničiji sin (No One’s Son), Arsen Anton Ostojić, Croatia, 2008
Audience Award Golden Gate of Pula: Nije kraj (Will Not End Here), Vinko Brešan, Croatia, 2008
Critics' Award Oktavijan: Ničiji sin (No One’s Son), Arsen Anton Ostojić, Croatia, 2008
Foreign Critics and Selectors Award: Buick Rivera, Goran Rušinović, Croatia, 2008
Young Cinephiles Award: Iza stakla (Behind The Glass), Zrinko Ogresta, Croatia, 2008

Golden Arena for Directing: Arsen Anton Ostojić for Ničiji sin (No One’s Son), Croatia, 2008
Breza Award for Actor Best Debut: Areta Ćurković for Kino Lika, Dalibor Matanić, Croatia, 2008

International Competition:
Golden Arena for Best Film: La Fille coupée en doux (The Girl Cut in Two), Claude Chabrol, France, 2007
Golden Arena for Best Director: Mike Leigh for Happy Go Lucky, UK, 2008
Golden Arena for Best Acting Role: Liu Weiwei for Zuo You (In Love We Trust), Xiaoshuai Wang, China, 2007

Young Cinephiles Award: La Sconosciuta (The Unknown), Giuseppe Tornatore, Italy, 2006

To check awards in other categories go here.

Отец и сын -Otets i syn (Father and Son)

I’m going to be honest with you all and tell that I had no clear idea what this movie was about until I started to read about it. I believe that the amazing opening scenes totally confused me as those scenes are so strong that you cannot see any father and son love, but two men in love and from then on you still see the same. Obviously that is not Aleksandr Sokurov intention, but it is truly hard not to see exactly what you’re seeing in the screen.

So with the help of what I read here is an outline of the story that basically is about the time when a father and his son have to part to go their own ways and since they have been living together for so many years after the mother died, the separation is a true drama told in the most poetic way, with very little but important dialogue, outstandingly beautiful camera close-ups that totally expose actors expressions of what they are feeling and with astonishing visuals that totally play with light and a brownish-sepia color that just looks outstandingly superb. Even when I was having a hard time grasping the story, the imagines hypnotize me and I could get my eyes one second from the screen.

But to be clearer I’m going to reproduce here Sukorov's preface to this movie that speaks about the story. I know that this unusual, but if you want to see this movie, I believe that you better read about the story before watching the movie.

The story of the family

A small family — a father and a son — lives on the top floor of an old house.

The father retired from the military, leaving his beloved air regiment. He ended his military career not of his own wishes — circumstances forced him to. A former participant in military actions, now he has been transferred to the reserve as he begins middle age. When he was a student in flight school, he experienced the first and the only love of his life. This girl became his wife and she gave birth to his son. Both of them were twenty years old then. The wife died when she was young. This love remained his secret unique happiness.

The son grew up, and he will probably be a military man like his father. The son's features constantly remind the father of his wife. He doesn't separate his son from his still persisting love: this is his unity with his beloved woman. The father cannot imagine his life without his son. The son loves his father devotedly and deeply, a filial feeling intensified by an instinctive moral responsibility that is being tested by life. Their love is almost of mythological virtue and scale. It cannot happen in real life. This is a fairy-tale collision.

Actors’ performances are more than superb and I felt they have an air of acting for the stage but it flows like a movie, so it does not bother at all, it makes it even more interesting. Both performers are non-actors and honestly you cannot tell at all as especially the father is not only a fantastic performer, but also the takes and the lighting that Sokurov uses in his scenes makes him look extremely handsome and attractive.

Cinematography is breathtaking and not for landscapes but for the aura and mood that gives to the whole movie, but what I found absolute amazing is the lighting, Sukorov really plays with light in this movie and produces amazing visual poetry. Outstanding! Then what really blew my mind was to discover that the outdoor takes were done in Lisbon, as knowing that he’s a Saint Petersburg filmmaker I imagined that was somewhere in that city, besides the takes are flawlessly integrated that unless you have been in that specific street in Lisbon, I imagine you cannot guess the actual location. Still, you’re so engrossed into watching everything (and me guessing what was going on) that it is truly non-important where the location was. This is a movie where you follow the actors with their amazing performance.

The movie was in competition for the Palm D’or at the 2003 Cannes where won the FIPRESCI Prize with a jury statement that says: For brilliant images and the director's original way of depicting the powerful bond that unites a father and a son.

This 2003 movie is the second of a family trilogy that starts with 1996 Mother and Son and will end with Two Brothers and a Sister that Sokurov has not filmed yet.

Absolutely not for all audiences, this masterpiece is truly art cinema with amazing visual poetry in almost all the movie scenes. So you really have to like art cinema to enjoy this movie that I strongly recommend to all serious cinema lovers.

I feel sorry that I didn’t watch first Mother and Son, but soon I’ll be watching the first Sokurov oeuvre of the family trilogy that has to be as amazing as this movie that I absolutely loved.

Big Enjoy!!!

Himalaya - l'enfance d'un chef (Himalaya)

This 1999 Eric Valli epic film is one breathtaking voyage into the high Nepalese Himalayas with extraordinary cinematography that shows unbelievable beautiful landscapes of the region at different altitudes, weather and time of the day. This is one film that if you want to have your own little trip to that remote part of the world you cannot miss it.

There is a story in the film and comes from a legend according to the DVD special features as is related to the moment a future tribe chief that is only a little kid becomes a man. As the kid father dies, the grandfather, Tinle, decides that the kid is now the chief as the only suitable man, Karma, lost Tinle’s trust when he suspects that killed his son only to become chief. With the winter approaching they need to go to the valley where they will exchange salt for grain, Tinle decides that he will lead the caravan with his grandson and the rest is the most impressive story of endurance and survival against natural elements that you can imagine in those very high altitudes of the world.

The story is simple but very powerful and even at times thrilling and tense, like when they decide to take the devils route. So, it is a feature film that definitively does not look like a documentary even when is documenting the life of villages in those remote parts of the world. As a matter of fact I strongly recommend to watch the making of this movie that comes with the DVD as it is really fascinating to learn how the filmmakers overcome all kind of troubles and situations with a mostly non-actors cast and unpredictable weather.

Then actually the story is an excellent excuse to allow viewers to see not only the life style of the Dolpo people on the Nepalese Plateau but also their traditional customs, for example the celestial burial. There is one professional actor exotic Lhakpa Tsamchoe that totally blends with the real chiefs, monks and real Dolpo people, you may remember her from her role in Seven Years in Tibet.

The movie was the first Nepalese movie nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 2000 Academy Awards and is the winner of seven awards in European awards and festivals including 2 César for Best Cinematography and Best Music written for a film.

The film is not suited for all audiences as has a slow pace, very little dialogue and is totally art house; but I strongly recommend it to all that enjoy art house or art cinema.

Enjoy!!!

Bella

Finally today I decided to check this movie that has generated a good amount of buzz since winning the 2006 People’s Choice Award at 2006 Toronto International Film festival and in 2007 the Crystal Heart Award at the Heartland Film Festival becoming a very Moving Picture.

Yeah, can say that the story in the movie could be moving as is a tale about one man redemption and one pregnant woman that does not want to have the baby, but unfortunately it did not move me as the not so good director, who also wrote the story and co wrote the script, plus the below average performances by the two leads and a quite bad movie quality with average production values made me feel that I was watching a Latin America telenovela or in American terms a Hallmark made for TV movie that finally found airing time at the Lifetime channel.

But I believe that this movie has a natural target related to Latinos living in USA that want to be able to see a movie that portraits them in a positive way when most movies do not and also, women that have had non-desired pregnancies perhaps could also enjoy the story and not pay much attention to the movie production values. So, if you do not belong to any of these groups I suggest you skip this movie.

23rd International Film Critics' Week Selection

The International Film Critics' Week is promoted, organized and managed by the National Union of Film Critics' "Sindacato Nazionale Critici Cinematografici Italiani" (SNCCI), with the cooperation of La Biennale di Venezia and the Venice Film Festival. All titles presented in the 23rd International Film Critics'Week must be first time director's full-length film, in 35mm print, and must not have been publicly shown in their country of origin before August 2007, nor have been presented either in or out of competition in any official or non-official section of any international film festival.
A maximum of 7 full-length films will be selected by the General Delegate for the International Film Critics' Week, Francesco Di Pace assisted by the film critics Massimo Causo, Adriano De Grandis, Marco Lombardi, Silvana Silvestri, all appointed by the SNCCI.

And here is the selection:

L’Apprenti (The Apprentice), Samuel Collardey, France, 2008
Čuvari Noçi (Night Watchmen), Namik Kabil, Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2008
Huanggua (Cucumber), Zhou Yaowu, China, 2008
İki Çizgi (Two Lines),Selim Evci, Turkey, 2008
Kabuli Kid, Barmak Akram, France and Afghanistan, 2008
Pranzo Di Ferragosto, Gianni Di Gregorio, Italy, 2008
$E11.OU7! (Sell Out!), Yeo Joonhan, Malaysia, 2008

Out of Competition
Opening Film: Lønsj (Cold Lunch), Eva Sørhaug, Norway, 2008
Closing Film: Pinuccio Lovero – Sogno di una morte di mezza estate (Pinuccio Lovero – Mid-summer Death Dream), Pippo Mezzapesa, Italy, 2008

The International Film Critics' Week runs from August 27th to September 5th. To check the press release go here, available only in Italian.

65th Venice Film Festival News

The parallel event that awards the Queer Lions will take place from August 30th to September 6th and today the jury of the 2nd Queer Lion Award was announced and here are the jurors.

President: Italian director Tinto Brass
Massimo Benevegnù, Italian journalist and critic from Il Riformista and Amsterdam Weekly
Boyd van Hoeij, Dutch journalist and critic, director of European-films.net and Variety collaborator (he's one of my favorite European critics, congratulations!!!)

The coordinator of the parallel section is Daniel N. Casagrande, president of CinemArte. To read the complete news with some gay interest films that will be in the Venice Market go here, available only in Italian.

Gion Bayashi (A Geisha aka Gion Festival Music)

I needed to watch a Japanese movie as all I have seen, no matter how intense they are, bring me interior peace and I was not disappointed at all with this 1953 Kenji Mizoguchi film even when it has the somber aura of a postwar film has a quite interesting story about what women can do to and feel for other women.

The basic story is about a geisha, Miyoharu, that accepts a young girl, Eiko, as her apprentice when the girl asks for Miyoharu’s help to avoid having to sleep with her uncle that paid for her grandmother’s expensive funeral and is requesting payment. After about a year Eiko is ready to make her debut and Miyoharu incur in debt to be able to pay for the expenses of Eiko’s costume. At Eiko’s debut both meet Kusuda, a scheming entrepreneur that will manipulate them for the sake of winning a vital business contract with Kanzaki a head of a department slanted for promotion to the position of company director. Kanzaki develops an intense attraction to Miyoharu. All is happening at the teahouse of powerful Okimi where Kusuda is a regular and valuable customer. What happens next is the development of a web knitted by all the characters that will trap both older and younger geishas, until Miyoharu is forced to the maximum Geisha sacrifice (go to the dark side) to save Eiko and herself.

But actually the story is about how women in power positions (Okimi) can destroy the life of other women to save her business and how a family-less woman (Miyoharu) is willing to do the ultimate sacrifice for the love of a girl (Eiko) that she loves as if she was her own daughter. So you have that the main characters are strong women that will do anything to save what they care for. Still, there is another story layer and is related to how younger geisha generations started to change after the war because women started to question what they were doing and to have rights in Japanese society; and another story layer, how after the war many geishas had to become prostitutes. So it is a movie with a story that has many layers parallel running in front of you as smooth as most typical Japanese movies do, as in this movie that has an excellent women drama, there are not many dramatic scenes (but there are a few excellent ones), everything is done with the smoother and polite tone and manner that is peculiar to their culture.

When reading about this movie I got all confused as seems this movie is regarded by some as ‘not a good’ Mizoguchi movie and they dismiss it with the most unusual comments that I absolutely cannot relate to the movie I saw. In my opinion this is a very good Mizoguchi movie that masterfully deals with a complex and layered story and presents it in the easiest way for viewers pleasure, as absolutely is the reflection of what I want to call the Japanese quotidian post war life.

I loved the movie and find it different to the other Mizoguchi movies I have seen but not for a moment I considered that this was not an excellent Mizoguchi movie that I’m certain he impregnated his style and vision to the novel by Matsutarô Kawaguchi, who also wrote the screenplay. I say that the movie is different because looks and feels like studio movies with no outdoors scenes and still straight angle camera takes, and also like a western stage play.

Performances by the lead and supporting actors are impeccable and the actors’ that played Okimi, Chieko Naniwa, and Eiko’s father, Eitarô Shindô, won the 1954 Blue Ribbon awards for Best Supporting Actress and Actor respectively.

This is one Mizoguchi movie that I highly recommend to all that like his movies, that like to watch the women stories in his films as well as in Naruse and Ozu films and to those that have to see the movies of that long go era of excellent Japanese cinema.

Big Enjoy!!!

P.S. The picture is the original poster of the movie.

26th Los Angeles Gay & Lesbian Film Festival – Outfest 2008 Awards Winners

Yesterday the fest announced the award winners and here they are.

Outstanding US Dramatic Feature: Were The World Mine, Thomas Gustafson, USA, 2008
Outstanding International Dramatic Feature: XXY, Lucia Puenzo, Argentina, France and Spain, 2007
Outstanding Documentary Feature: Sex Positive, Daryl Wein, USA, 2008
Outstanding Actor: Tye Olson for Watercolors, David Oliveras, USA, 2008
Outstanding Actress: Nicole Bilderback for The New Twenty, Chris Mason Johnson, USA, 2008
Outstanding Screenwriting: James Bolton for Dream Boy, James Bolton, USA, 2008 (seems interesting beyond the gay interest label)
Outstanding Dramatic Short: Countertransference, Madeleine Olnek, USA, 2008 (this short is part of a feature-length film)
Outstanding Documentary Short: La Corona (The Crown), Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega, USA, 2008 (A Must Be Seen for me)

Outfest Freedom Award: Football Under Cover, David Assmann and Ayat Najafi, Germany and Iran, 2008 (female soccer teams in Iran… seems interesting)
Outstanding Emerging Talent: Dave O’Brien for Equality U, USA, 2008
Outstanding Artistic Achievement: Matt Wolf for Wild Combination: A Portrait of Arthur Russell, USA, 2008

Audience Awards
Outstanding Dramatic Feature: Hamlet 2, Andrew Fleming, USA, 2008
Outstanding First Dramatic Feature: Watercolors, David Oliveras, USA, 2008
Outstanding Documentary: A Place To Live, Carolyn Coal, USA, 2008
Outstanding Dramatic Short: I’m Jin-Young, Lee Sung-eun, Korea, 2006 (seems interesting)
Outstanding Documentary Short: La Corona (The Crown), Amanda Micheli and Isabel Vega, USA, 2008

To check the press release go here.

15th Melbourne International Film Festival

From July 25th to August 10th the festival will run in Melbourne, Australia and there are many interesting sections in this fest. One of them is the so-called Ozploitation period considered as the most prolific and successful periods of Australian filmmaking. As a matter of fact the Opening film is a documentary Not Quite Hollywood by Mark Hartley’s celebrates the genre and its dubious artistic qualities.

The fest has the following sections

Africa! Africa! – Films from African countries
Altered States – A diverse selection of independent contemporary USA cinema (lucky the ones that are going to be able to watch The Guitar, Amy Redford, USA, 2008)
Animation Gallery – Thirty animation shorts and features
Backbeat – Music documentaries and concert footage
Border Patrol – Four films that explore the Israel-Palestian question (Waltz with Bashir is screened here)
Cannes Directors' Fortnight Tribute – Celebrating this famous parallel program of Cannes (I’m really envious of those that live in Melbourne – the special film for the 40th anniversary will be screened 40x15 and other great films!)
Documentaries
Edward Yang Tribute
Focus on Ozploitation (these are really crazy movies!)
Forbidden Pleasures – A selection of films that stroke the border between the erotic and the forbidden (most films belong to gay interest genre)
Free Radicals - Films that question, twist or simply deride accepted narrative and stylistic conventions (Obviously it has some VERY interesting films that I suggest you check here)
Homegrown- Australian fims
International Panorama (Obviously has many movies that I’m dying to see like Argentinean Lion’s Den!)
MIFF Premiere Film Fund – Australian films
Neighbourhood Watch – Asian films (will screen Ashes of Time Reduz! And other good movies.)
Next Gen – A selection of smart kids movies, not just for kids audiences… well, they have Persepolis here.)
Nightshift – cult classics
Retrospective on George Romero
Romanian Wave – well you know, my weakness! (Radu Muntean's Boogie with Anamaria Marinca and Christian Mungiu's Occident)
Shorts
Special Events

To check the films in all the sections go here. One of my favorite movie sites, Senses of Cinema, will be running daily reviews throughout the festival, so I’ll be checking.

10th Osian's Cinefan Festival of Asian and Arab Cinema Award Winners

Recently the fest run from July 10 to 20th in New Delhi announced the award winners and here they are.

Asian Arab Competition
Best Film: Tokyo Sonata, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Japan, Netherlands and China, 2008
Special Jury Prize: Salt of This Sea, Annemarie Jacir, Palestine, Belgium and France, 2008
Best Director: Nuri Bilge Ceylan for Uç Maymun (Three Monkeys), Turkey, France and Italy, 2008
Best Actor: Amor Hakkar for La Maison Jaune (The Yellow House), Algeria and France, 2007
Best Actress: Hiam Abbas and Rona Lipaz-Michael for The Lemon Tree, Israel, Germany and France, 2008

Indian Competition
Best film: Gulabi Talkies, Girish Kasaravalli, India, 2008
Best Director: Remo Dsouza for Lal Paharer Golpo (The Story of Red Hill), India, 2007
Best Actor: Rajat Kapoor for The Prisoner, Pyras Gupta, India, 2008 and Govind Namdeo for Kabootar, Maqbool Khan, India, 2008
Best Actress: Umashree for Gulabi Talkies, Girish Kasaravalli, India, 2008

First Feature Award: Confessional, Jerrold Viacrucis Tarog and Ruel Dahis Antipuesto, Philippines, 2007
In-Tolerance Award: Sakli Yuzler (Hidden Faces), Hadan Ipekci, Turkey, 2007
Audience Award: Bikur Ha-tizmoret (The Band’s Visit), Eran Kolirin, Israel and France, 2007
FIPRESCI Award: Ramchand Pakistani, Mehreen Jabbar, USA and Pakistan, 2008 and Salt of This Sea, Annemarie Jacir, Palestine, Belgium and France, 2008

Jury
Christine Hakim, actress and producer from Indonesia
Chantal Akerman, scriptwriter-cinematographer-actress-producer, Belgium
Wu Nien-je, screenwriter, Taiwan
Kais Al-Zubaidi, director, Palestine
Ketan Mehta, director, scripwriter and producer, India

There are many interesting movies in this festival, especially in the Indian section with what seems like arty Indian movies; if you feel like checking them go here.

55th Pula Film Festival

From July 19 to 26 this fest will be running and here are some of the films in competition.

National Programe
Buick Rivera, Goran Rušinović, Croatia, 2008
Kino Lika, Dalibor Matanić, Croatia, 2008
Nije kraj (Will Not End Here), Vinko Brešan, Croatia, 2008
Iza stakla (Behind The Glass), Zrinko Ogresta, Croatia, 2008
Tri priče o nespavanju (Three Stories about Sleplessness), Tomislav Radić, Croatia, 2008
Zapamtite Vukovar (Remember), Fadil Hadžić, Croatia, 2008
Ničiji sin (No One’s Son), Arsen Anton Ostojić, Croatia, 2008

To check all the films in and out of competition in several programs go here. I suggest you check the international competition program and especially the following movies that I record here.

Gledaj me (Look at Me), Marija Perović, Montenegro, Croatia and Slovenia, 2008
Zuo You (In Love We Trust), Wang Xiaoshuai, China, 2007

25th Jerusalem Film Festival Awards Winners

Recently this fest had the awards ceremony and here are the winners.

Best Full-Length Feature Film: Shiv’a (7 Days), Ronit Elbabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, Israel, 2008. Jury statement: “For an intense and dramatic portrayal of a complex inter-relationship within a family during the traditional Shiva.”
Best Actress: Hana Azulay Hasfary for Shiv’a (7 Days), Ronit Elbabetz and Shlomi Elkabetz, Israel, 2008
Best Actor: Alon Aboutboul and Moshe Ivgy for Etsba Elohim (Out of the Blue), Burstyn Igal, Israel, 2008

Best Single Drama: And Thou Shalt Love, Chaim Elbaum, Israel, 2008 (Gay Interest, movie site is here … seems interesting beyond the genre)
Special Jury Mention: Anthem, Elad Keidan, Israel, 2008

In the Spirit of Freedom Awards
Hunger, Steve McQueen, UK, 2008
Xue Chan (Little Moth), Peng Tao, China, 2007
Special Mention: Sous Les Bombes (Under the Bombs), Philippe Aractingi, France, UK and Lebanon, 2007

FIPRESCI Award: My Marlon and Brandon, Hüseyin Karabey, UK, Netherlands and Turkey, 2008

Jewish Experience Awards
Uden for Kærligheden (Outside Love), Daniel Espinosa, Denmark, 2007
Hata’aluma Bamehola Hayeruka (The Green Dumpster Mystery), Tal Haim Yoffe, Israel, 2008

To check winners in all categories go here.

Hwal (The Bow)

This 2005 film by Korean Kim Ki-duk, a director some of us remember from the amazingly beautiful film Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter... and Spring, is truly beautiful to watch even when has a hard to digest story about an older man in love with a young teenager girl, but Kim Ki-duk that also wrote the screenplay, does a splendid job that while dealing with the difficult story essence he presents it more as a story of dedication than a story of sexual desire.

Tells about a sixty something man that has been raising a girl since she was very young and their agreement that they will marry on her 17th birthday. They live a quiet and secluded life on a fishing boat in the middle of a nowhere sea, accessible only by a smaller boat that brings fishermen to do deep sea fishing, which is the only mean of their subsistence. Their everyday life is musically harmonious and peaceful only disturbed by the unsuccessful advances that some fishermen do to the girl. But everything changes when a fisherman teenage son arrives.

This is truly art cinema as has almost no dialogue and the two main characters do not utter a word in the entire film; also, it has the most magic abstract realism with a very magic, non-melodramatic and unexpected ending that is truly the most perfect way to end such a mundane story presented so beautifully. Cinematography and production values are of the highest quality with amazing views of a solitary ship in a vast, tranquil and endless sea.

Seems that Kim Ki-duk fans or purists do not particularly appreciate this work, but the movie has truly high artistic values no matter what Ki-duk has done before and after this movie. Still, this is not a movie that will make you feel a lot of emotions even when the two main roles are performed with exquisite expression and total silence, as the movie looks and feels like serene contemplation from afar and does not intent to engage you into feeling whatever the characters are feeling.

The movie has some wins and accolades from awards and fests from around the globe and is absolutely not for all audiences, you have to really enjoy art or art house cinema. I enjoyed the movie a lot mainly because the beautiful visual poetry, the most incredibly music extracted from a bow with a little drum alike added, and a common story told so different and magically.

Enjoy!!!

Madeinusa

Very seldom I’m so lucky as to find a movie from Peru and much less lucky to find an outstandingly good film from a Latin American country that has not yet acquire the film standards of the traditional cinema prolific countries like Mexico, Argentina or Brazil. This first movie by Claudia Llosa was a most welcomed surprise that as has been said by some critic’s it is truly remarkable that the director has never directed before and was able to make a film so accomplished, as this movie truly looks and feels like the work of a mature and accomplished director.

Tells a not so simple story set in an isolated village in the Cordillera Blanca Mountain range of Peru and a young geologist, Salvador, arriving just before the Holy Week celebrations. The village is so remote that never gets foreigners visits, so Salvador is not welcomed and is locked in the village mayor house as no foreigner is allowed to see their celebrations. What follows is the most surrealist tale that combines the village mayor family drama with some –at least for me- unusual Holy Week traditions that I have ever seen, all done with incredibly good cinematography, slow and thrilling pace, great framing, amazing use of music and the most exquisite mise en scene that you can imagine.

But actually the story is about the coming of age of a teenage girl with an unusual name: Madeinusa (just in case you do not get it, the name is the composition of three English words: Made in USA) that some claim is a common name in Peru, and it is a truly provocative and very different coming of age story, as different as her unusual name suggests.

The movie has only two professional actors, Carlos J. de la Torre that plays Salvador and well-known comic in Peru, Juan Ubaldo Huamán that plays Cayo the village mayor. But the most impressive performance comes from non-actor Magaly Solier that plays Madeinusa with such powerful screen presence that totally steals the movie. Besides Solier has the most beautiful and exotic face features that the director successfully exposed in some fantastic takes. It is truly a great viewers pleasure to be able to see her in almost all the movie takes.

Claudia Llosa wrote, directed and produced this outstandingly amazing film and I give her a BIG chapeau for this remarkably good debut oeuvre that truly deserves to be seen by a wider and international audience as has the quality that not many movies from allover the world have.

I believe I have to elaborate a little more on the story so you will get a better idea of how unusual the story is; but first I have to mention that some Peruvian viewers have been offended with many movie viewers comments that believe this story reflects reality. I have no idea if what you’re able to see in this movie is reality, if is an interpretation of reality or if is fiction. No matter what really is, the Holy Week traditions portrayed in this movie are really fascinating, amazingly logical and truly provocative for stern Catholic religion followers.

The essence of the traditions portrayed relay in the fact that on Good Friday Christ dies and does not resurrect until Sunday. During the time Christ is dead he cannot see a thing and consequently nothing is sin, so people are free to act on their basest of impulses without guilt or consequence. Isn’t this unbelievable simple and basic logic?

Then the story and consequently the movie have so many layers that the director was able to successfully move story and movie in many dimensions. This was exceptionally good work that to exemplify what I mean I give you an example that I see like a parallel movement between two main layers one that seems like a documental, as documents (real or fictional) traditions and another that is the drama. The movie zigzags both layers bringing to the front the documentation and leaving in second front (still running) the drama and vice versa. This storytelling technique absolutely blew my mind! Truly awesome!

As you can imagine I could go on and on writing about this amazing movie, but I know I have to stop and finish by telling you that this multiple award winning and honored 2006 movie is a must be seen dark fable that all serious cinema lovers have to see, as obviously it is not for all audiences for the story it tells and the surprisingly good and provocative way the director chose to tell the story.

I more than loved the movie and I strongly recommend it to all that dares to watch an excellent movie that will definitively blow your mind with the story and the ultra high productions values.

BIG ENJOY!!!

Le Fils de l'épicier (The Grocer’s Son)

The second film by Eric Guirardo is a light and touching drama that will make you feel good during and after watching this amazing little gem of a movie as not only allows you to travel to the most peaceful and beautiful French countryside, but also has a story full of characters that have to fight the small battles of everyday life.

Has a very simple story of a thirty something man that left his homeland to go to Paris where is a silent and lonely bum; as his father gets sick and has to come to Paris, his mother ‘motivates’ him to take over –at least for the summer- his father job running their general store van that brings groceries and things to isolated villages inhabitants. But actually the story is about how a family with family members that have been living an unhappy life and regretting almost everything they have done finally comes to terms.

The traveling van gives permission to meet the shoppers played by non-actors that were instructed to recreate what they usually do and this allows to have some very comic moments and other very touching situations that will definitively move you. This director definitively has an extremely good eye for characters and for excellent storytelling with great cinematography, a not too slow pace, some good framing and the end product is a combination of so many little details that make a very entertaining, smooth lovely film.

For a change this great little movie has a clear ending and rare in French movies, the end is happy. Amazingly it does make sense to have a happy ending, as is the only way to end this fantastic voyage that made me feel like if I was spending my vacations in such an idyllic setting. I was extremely peaceful and happy during and after watching this movie.

Nicolas Cazalé (Antoine) gives a compelling and engaging performance, so it is truly deserved his nomination as Most Promising Actor at the 2008 César Awards. Also Clotilde Hesme as the bubbly and pretty Claire has a very good performance and is worth mentioning that the way the writers developed Antoine’s and Claire romance is not the usual girl-boy relationship, which obviously is a plus that increases viewers pleasure with this little movie.

I wish I could say that this movie is for all audiences, but I know that is not as I believe that you have to like light French cinema to really enjoy this movie as much as I did. Still, there are quite a few American critics and viewers that have positive comments regarding this movie, so perhaps the charming story and the lightness of the movie makes this French movie more accessible to non-French audiences. So, perhaps some of you that do not particularly like French movies could give it a try.

Enjoy!!!

Smart People

I was really looking forward to be able to see Ellen Page post-Juno movie and well, this is a smart written serious comedy that unfortunately tries to be a romantic comedy without success and there is one important thing missing for me: more Ellen Page in the screen as with the little screen time she has, she really steals the movie as well as Thomas Harden Church in some scenes. For me Dennis Quaid and Sarah Jessica Parker had no chemistry and were totally miscast as lovers.

Basically the movie is about the social deficiencies that smart people have and is told via a family where the father is a pompous college professor (Quaid) that cares about nothing else but his miserable and unhappy self, his lonely and high achieving daughter (Page) that is his vivid image, his son that actually does not do much in the movie as he hardly sees his father and the sudden visit of his adopted and happy brother (Harden Church) that becomes the catalyst for all family interactions that includes the father falling for his doctor (Parker).

I could have enjoyed more the movie without the non-credible romance between the two adult lead characters or perhaps if two actors that could transmit chemistry to viewers played those roles. But in general the rest of the situations where the father is involved with his brother and daughter are engaging with smart written dialogue and interesting to watch.

Not a masterpiece but a must be seen only if you like Ellen Page performances (as I do) and if you like to hear and see some smart written dialogues. In the end the movie as a whole can be summarized as uneven, with some good and other not so good moments.

Enjoy.

A Via Láctea (The Milky Way)

This movie by Lina Chamie is a little bit annoying that’s it if you guessed the end almost at the beginning, like I did. But has quite a good cinematography especially with the outside of Sao Paulo beautiful field landscapes.

Tells about Heitor and Julia that over the phone have a quarrel and Heitor leaving his house taking his car to go across Sao Paulo to get to her house and make up. While driving in traffic packed Sao Paulo he recalls when he met Julia and her life, but does it from his point-of-view and again from her point-of-view.

It is supposed to be a story of love, jealousy, insecurities and similar in a chaotic urban setting; but actually is about… oops! I cannot tell you because I’ll spoil the movie for you all! But if you are a true movie lover unfortunately you will also guess the end too soon (the director gave too many clues too early) and you will know what this movie is really all about since the very beginning.

Perhaps by now you know that guessing the story early spoiled the movie for me, a movie that perhaps if the story was not so important I could have enjoyed a lot more. Nevertheless I found this movie somehow pretentious and the handheld camera takes average and annoying.

The movie was screened at the 46th International Critics’ Week at 2007 Cannes and has some award in international festivals. There is something that is worth mentioning the movie had a very low budget, about US$200,000 and the movie production values for such a low budget are truly excellent. Still, I felt like I was watching production values used in advertising, which by the way in Brazil they are the best of the region.

Obviously is not a movie for all audiences as tells the story out of sequence, almost all the movie ‘moves’ as has many handheld camera takes, tries hard to be very arty and dialogues are very intellectual (which is not bad, au contraire, is good) as Heitor was a writer.

Some viewers find the film belonging to the experimental genre, I do not particularly agree, but I mention as a reference because if you enjoy experimental cinema perhaps you should give this movie a try.

No, I did not enjoy this movie and I cannot recommend it.

4th Moveast International Film Festival

From October 7th to 14th this fest will run in Pécs, Hungary. Their site is still not updated as has only information about the 2007 festival, but Variety has published the in competition films and here they are.

Pusinky (Dolls), Karin Babinska, Czech Republic
Pjevajte nesto ljubavno (Play Me a Love Song), Goran Kulenovic, Croatia
Zivi i mrtvi (The Living and the Dead), Kristian Milic, Croatia
Prevrteno (Upside Down), Igor Ivanov Izy, Macedonia
Lanyok (Girls), Anna Faur, Hungary
A nyomozo (The Investigator), Attila Gigor, Hungary
Sroda, czwartek rano (Wednesday, Thursday Morning), Grzegorz Pacek, Poland
Rezerwat (Reserve), Lukasz Palkowski, Poland
Pescuit sportive (Angling), Adrian Sitaru, Romania
Haddersfild (Huddersfield), Ivan Zivkovic, Serbia
Polcas rozpadu (Half Breakdown), Vlado Fischer, Slovakia
Petelinji zajtrk (Rooster's Breakfast), Marko Nabersnik, Slovenia
U reki (At the River), Eva Neymann, Ukraine

I will be updating the information as soon as is available in their official site that is here. If you have not guessed yet, yes I have a fascination for Eastern Europe movies, especially those from Romania and I found a few that were screened in the 2007 fest that I just want to record here.

Dupa Ea (Following Her), Cristina Ionescu, Romania
Happy End, Radu Potcoava, Romania
Un Acoperis Deasupra Capului (A Roof Overhead), Adrian Popovici, Romania
Ticalosii (Scoundrels), Serban Marinescu, Romania

61st Locarno International Film Festival News

This year the Open Doors section will focus on Latin America and there will be screenings of 29 films.

ANDARILHO by Cao Guimarães – Brazil – 2007 – 80’
BAIXIO DAS BESTAS by Cláudio Assis – Brazil – 2006 – 82’
BLANCA by Alejo Crisóstomo – Guatemala – 2006 – 11’
COCHOCHI by Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán – Mexico – 2007 – 87’
CUANDO ME TOQUE A MI by Víctor Arregui – Ecuador – 2008 – 90’
DESDE LEJOS by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras – Chile – 2006 – 18’
ELLAS SE AMAN by Laura Astorga – Costa Rica – 2008 – 17’ (World Premiere)
EL AMARILLO by Sergio Martín Mazza – Argentina – 2006 – 87’
EL ÁRBOL by Gustavo Fontán – Argentina – 2007 – 65’
EL CAMINO by Ishtar Yasin – Costa Rica – 2008 – 91’
EL CIELO, LA TIERRA Y LA LLUVIA by José Luis Torres Leiva – Chile – 2008 – 110’
EL CUARTO DEL FONDO by Leticia Jorge and Ana Guevara – Uruguay – 2007 – 12’
EN LA CAMA by Matías Bize – Chile – 2005 – 85’
FAMILIA TORTUGA by Rubén Imaz Castro – Mexico – 2006 – 139’
GASOLINA by Julio Hernández Cordón – Guatemala – 2008 – 80’ (world première)
I LOVE PINOCHET by Marcela Said Cares – Spain – 2001 – 53’
INTERIOR BAJO IZQUIERDA by Daniel and Diego Vega Vidal – Peru – 2008 – 10’
JOGO DE CENA by Eduardo Coutinho – Brazil – 2008 – 104’
LA SOMBRA DEL CAMINANTE by Ciro Guerra – Colombia – 2005 – 90’
LO QUE TRAE LA LLUVIA by Alejandro Fernandez Almendras – Chile – 2007 – 13’
LO MÁS BONITO Y MIS MEJORES AÑOS by Martín Boulocq – Bolivia – 2005 – 97’
MADEINUSA by Claudia Llosa – Peru – 2006 – 104’
POSTALES DE LENINGRADO by Mariana Rondón – Venezuela – 2007 – 90’
QAK’ASLEMAL by Alejo Crisóstomo – Guatemala – 2007 – 26’
SANTIAGO by João Salles – Brazil – 2006 – 80’
STRANDED. VENGO DE UN AVIÓN QUE CAYÓ EN LAS MONTAÑAS… by Gonzalo Arijón – France – 2007 – 127’
TEMPORAL by Paz Fábrega – Costa Rica – 2006 – 22’
WADLEY by Matías Meyer – Mexico – 2008 – 60’

Directors and producers from Latin America have been invited to the Open Doors Factory, the co-production workshop, from 10 – 12 August 2008, to enable them to find co-production partners to complete their projects. 12 projects out of 332 submissions have been selected for this year’s Open Doors Factory.

Concordia, Celina Murga, Argentina
Corazón de Piedra, Miguel Barreda Delgado, Peru
El Verano de los Peces Voladores, Marcela Said, Chile
El Vuelco del Cangrejo, Oscar Ruiz Navia, Colombia
Fe, Alejo Crisóstomo, Guatemala
Grietas 1 – El Chico que Miente, Marite Ugas, Venezuela
Jean Gentil, Israel Cárdenas and Laura Amelia Guzmán, Dominican Republic and Mexico
La Vida de los Peces, Matías Bize, Chile
Los Ultimos Cristeros, Matías Meyer, Mexico
O Homen Das Multidöes, Marcelo Gomes and Cao Guimarães, Brazil
Sentados Frente al Fuego, Alejandro Fernández, Chile
Tanta Agua, Ana Guevara and Leticia Jorge, Uruguay

Also the Locarno International Film Festival invites every year the five directors selected by Cinéfondation for the Residence in Paris where they develop during 4 months and a half their first or second feature film. Here are the films in this section.

El Lugar del Hijo, Manuel Nieto Zas, Uruguay
Din Dragoste Cu Cele Mai Bune Intentii (For Love With Best Intentions), Adrian Sitaru, Romania
Aquí No Pasa Nada (Nothing’s Happening Here), Francisco Vargas Quevedo, Mexico
Stellvertreterkrieg, Nikias Chryssos, Germany
The Other Side of Sleep, Rebecca Daly, Ireland

To check the fest site go here.

2008 Semaine de la Critique Festival de Locarno

Locarno’s Critic’s Week is a parallel section of the Locarno fest organized by Switzerland’s national association of film journalists. Here are the documentaries in competition.

Kili Radio – No More Smoke Signals, Fanny Bräuning, Switzerland, 2008
Nobody Is Perfect, Niko von Glasow, Germany, 2008
Bill – Das Absolute Augenmass (Max Bill The Master’s Vision), Erich Schmid, Switzerland, 2008
Estrada Real Da Cachaça (The Royal Road of Cachaca), Pedro Urano, Brazil, 2008
Apology of An Economic Hitman, Stelious Koul, Grece, 2008
Kites, Beata Zdanowicz, Poland, 2008
Four Wives – One Man, Nahid Persson, Iran and Sweden, 2008

To check their site go here.

The Life Before Her Eyes (aka In Bloom)

I decided to check this movie because two reasons Uma Thurman and Evan Rachel Wood and as you can imagine I knew nothing about the plot or anything else. Wow! The movie was a HUGE surprise as is one of the few American movies than can truly be called art cinema, as is a visually breathtaking voyage into a succession of amazing images and great performances mainly with expression by the two actresses that play the same role at different ages.

Honestly I couldn’t believe that I was watching an American movie as it does not look or feel anything (Hollywood or Independent) American. This could be a good European art cinema that makes you feel everything the characters are feeling and the amazing moody cinematography is more than breathtaking, is stunning!

I also cannot believe that this movie is by the same director of House of Fog and Sand, Ukranian born Vadim Perelman, as well they are very different, but then this one is so good that I will watch again the House of Fog and Sand to see if I find clues that confirm is the same director. That’s how much this director impressed me.

Performances by the two main actresses are compelling and both characters are well developed to get key insights about what is happening in their minds. Can’t help but to add that both look gorgeous in the screen.

If you check the net you will find that most critics trash the movie, but you will also notice that most talk about the story and the way the story is told. Then you will find those critics that talk about the movie and some even include it as one of their top ten. I’m one viewer that agrees with the later.

So by know you may be wondering why I haven’t say something about the story if I always mention it at the beginning. There is one reason: the story is too American as deals with a situation similar to the Columbine incident where a kid shoots his schoolmates. This is not new in cinema and I can rapidly think about Gus Van Sant’s Elephant. But what is truly outstanding here is that the story is told totally out of sequence and totally out of reality!

If the story will be told sequentially it will be about two school best friends Diana (Evan Rachel Wood) and Maureen (Eva Amuri) that are opposites but have a close friendship; then moves in time to an older Diana (Uma Thurman) that has troubled memories during the week of the celebration of the 15 years of the school killing. Of course is totally out of sequence so one incident that happens to older Diana gives permission to tell something that happens to younger Diana and vice versa. This storytelling totally blew my mind as one of the most fantastic ways to tell a troubled, touchy and painful story.

Then actually the story is about how a single moment in time can define and change an entire life. The screenplay is an adaptation of a novel by Laura Kasischke of the same name and if you haven’t read the book you will be able to enjoy a lot more the way the director did the storytelling and the somehow unexpected end, even when you have some clues that help to predict the end.

The movie was screened at the 2007 Toronto International Film Festival and well is absolutely not for all audiences; you have to like breathtaking art cinema that tells stories out of sequence.

I liked the movie a lot, but I know that perhaps most of you will not as definitively is not your usual American movie. Still, I suggest to some of my known readers to give it a try as not often we have an opportunity to see a two girl friendship portrayed like this movie does.

Big Enjoy!!!

Mariya (Maria)

This documentary has two chapters that are very different even when they tell the same story. The first chapter was shot in 1978 when Aleksandr Sokurov was an employee of Gorki City Television, but it became his VGIK film school graduation work once the Soviet authorities suppressed his intended graduation work, the feature film “A Lonely Voice of a Man” as it was deemed ‘unfit’. The second chapter was shot nine years later when he returned to the Gorki suburbs and completed the portrait of a tragedy that had been anticipated in the first pastoral section.

The first chapter is shot in color with some scenes in black/white that totally relate to sorrow; it tells about a few summer months in the life of a peasant woman, Maria; but actually tells about how men stopped working the fields (“they’re unhappy”) and women doing all the field hard chores. It is a beautiful shot film with excellent cinematography and some outstanding takes. According to what I read the filmmaker purpose is to communicate his impressions to the audience and to plunge the spectators into a pastoral atmosphere and believe me, he not only outstandingly succeeds but also does it in a beautiful art full manner.

The second chapter is in black and white with a sad mood and elegiac narration (that’s why this documentary is also know as ‘Peasant Elegy’) and Sokurov’s intention was to communicate the fate of a particular person in a particular set of circumstances. But as a spectator you totally get the message of how a way of life disappeared in almost a decade and I am not really sure if it was for the better or for the worst. I believe is open to all interpretations, as he only gives facts.

So with the first chapter he mesmerizes you with a beautiful pastoral tale that at the same time puzzles you with all the women doing all the hard work; then with the somber second chapter he takes you into a dark or grayish voyage into sorrow, obviously done with outstanding cinematography and some very long takes.

For creating two so different chapters and for so successful integrating them into one film with a very interesting story I believe that to me it confirms that Sokurov is a great filmmaker and storyteller; then we have to remember that he was Tarkovsky protégée and he helped him during his early career because Tarkovsky was impressed with his work.

This is a documentary that I strongly recommend to all serious cinema lovers and as a must be seen to all that are interesting to learn the body of work of an outstanding master filmmaker.

Enjoy!!!