Another year has brought another film festival. This year I only bought a day pass, which is the best deal. That allowed me to book up to 25 films before 5.01 pm. There was a new glitch in that there were not many films before 11 am during the week, so the choice was cut down a but. However, I did manage to book 25 films easily. I forgot about a dinner engagement, so I gave one of the tickets away, and so eventually saw 25 movies.
As you may know the request books that we hand in are put in a numbered box, and then when they begin to assign tickets, a lottery is used to choose the number of the first box. There were over 40 boxes, number six was chosen to be the first. My requests were in box 7, so I did well, and got all my first choices. I had 2 or 3 films a day, and easy to do.
Recommendations
The Trip (UK)
with Steve Coogan and Rob Bryden. This was my favoutite. The two actors, using their real names, are on a culinary tour of the English Lake District. There is beautiful scenery, a look at some delicious meals, and some great conversations. Both are well known comics, and at dinner might have a duel of Michael Caine impressions. It seems simple in that it is a kind of road trip movie, but it is an interesting study of male friendship.
Mandoo (Iraq)
A grisly gray movie, but I found it moving. It concerns a family of Kurdish refugees in Iraq who attempt to travel back to Iran so the grandfather can die in his own land. It mostly takes place in the van, so it is very claustrophobic as they travel through war torn areas encountering roving bands of armed men.
Behind Blue Skies (Sweden)
Set in the 70's, a young man is working for the summer in a resort area in Sweden. He slowly gets drawn into the drug trade that is operating under the noses of the rich folk who summer in the resort.
The Edge ( Russia )
Set in the Gulag in the 60's. It has a lot of the usual Gulag stuff, but this is another of the great survival movies. Interesting characters, and one of the best train races you will ever see. Russian entry for Academny award for Foreign Language Film.
Easy Money ( Sweden )
A contemporary movie about the drug trade in Stockholm now. There is a control war going on among the various immigrant groups ( Serbs, Turks, African, etc) Dark but compelling.
Tamara Drewe ( UK)
directed by Stephen Frears...It is based on a graphic novel of the same name. It is a contemporary story based on Thomas Hardy's Far From the Madding Crowd, but lighter in tone.
Tracker ( New Zealand )
Set just after the Boer War. It concerns a defeated Boer fighter, who has moved to New Zealand, and gets co-opted to help track down a fugitive Maori, who is accused of murdering a white man. Great performances, and fantastic scenery.
The Debt ( UK )
directed by John Madden with Helen Mirren, Ciaran Hinds It concerns a team of Mosad ( Israeli secret service ) who kidnap a former Nazi in East Germany and attempt to get him to Israel to stand trial. The plan does not go well. Years later, one of them is getting an award, and the past comes back to haunt them. An intense political thriller.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams ( USA )
a documentary directed by Werner Herzog Done in 3D, about one of the caves in southern France that has extensive prehistoric cave paintings, created more than 30,000 years ago. Very beautiful and the 3D works great with this.
Anything You Want ( Spain )
A young lawyer and his wife have a 4 yr old daughter. The wife suddenly dies, and the husband tries to carry on with his job while looking after the child, so that his wife's parents don't take her. Intense and emotional.
Route Irish ( UK )
directed by Ken Loach. The title refers to the highway beween the airport and Baghdad. Set in Liverpool, it is about a former mercenary who attempts to unravel and expose a coverup of his friend's death in Baghdad. Intense.
Lope ( Spain )
About the famous 16th century playwright Lope de Vega, apparently one of the most prolific authors who ever lived. A good costume drama.
Sarah's Key ( France )
with Kristin Scott Thomas. Centring around the round up of Jews in Paris by the French in WW 2. The scenes of the persecution are terrible. The parallel plot is in the present day, and concerns a journalist who is writing a piece about the round up and finds a connection to her French husband's family. She tries to find out what happened to the young Jewish girl who lived in the apartment that her husband's family eventually took over.
Sensation ( Ireland )
a quirky movie...a young Irish farmer, whose father has died, decides to get laid and engages a prostitute. He eventually starts a business with her.
Submarine ( UK)
a teen age angst movie, with some comic details. It's like Adrian Mole put back in the 70's.
Qualified Recommendations
Three (Germany)
directed by Tom Tykwer Set in Berlin, it concerns a couple, who, unknown to each other, have an affair with the same man.
Zephyr ( Turkey )
a young girl is living with her grandparents in the mountains. Her mother returns but plans to leave again without her daughter.
Silent Souls ( Russia )
About a Finno-Ugric minority is Russia that lives on an island in the Volga. A friend helps a man whose wife has died.
Solitude of Prime Numbers ( Italy )
based on a best selling novel. Two young people, both odd in their own way, find a kind of friendship.
Oki's Movie ( South Korea )
Intersecting stories around a love triangle.
Half of Oscar ( Spain )
a slow moving piece about a brother and sister who have been separated, but who are reunited when their grandfather is hospitalized
The Piano in a Factory ( China )
A couple is splitting up, and their child says she will stay with the parent who provides her with a piano. The father engages friends to help him build a piano.
The Place in Between ( France, Burkino Faso)
A young French girl, brought up by her French father and his wife, travels to Burkino Faso to search out her African mother.
Norberto's Deadline ( Uruguay )
a slow moving film about a shy man who takes acting lessons to get out of his shell
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
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