dandan's blog

natural born star

2009-11-14T09:46:00.002Z

"tough apples", as the english say...

the story of fred robsahm who, as a young man, left noway to visit italy for a couple of months, was spotted by a movie producer, had a bit part in 'barbarella' and then went on to star in numerous spaghetti westerns, costume dramas and other movies, falling in love with and marrying italian starlet, agostina belli, travelling the oceans on a ship, having their relationship crumble and contracting aids whilst in a prison for a year, after being falsely accused of smuggling hash...

that was about twenty years ago and now fred lives by himself in his home town of lillestrom. the film's director, baltasar kormakur, visits fred and talks to him, now an old man, crippled with pain as a side-effect of hiv medication, about his highs and lows...

this is a fascinating film about someone who stumbled into fame, rode along the crest of the wave of celebrity, before being crushed by it. an interesting and tragic tale.

good stuff.

not sure it'll ever get a dvd release.

white night wedding

2009-11-14T09:02:00.002Z

it's a white night, for a white wedding

set on the tiny, icelandic island of flatey, 'white night wedding tells the story of jon's (hilmir gudnason) two marriages. as we build up towards his wedding with thora (laufey eliasdottir); one of his former students, a resident of the island and eighteen years his junior, we see him take a career break, move to the island with anna (margret vilhjalmsdottir) and witness the continuing collapse of their marriage.

a nice mixture of drama and comedy; surprisingly the sad demise of one marriage depicted next to the almost farcical preparations of another actually gel together in a much more satisfying way than you'd imagine. thinking back to it, i'm even more impressed that this worked so well, myself...

the island and the cast of characters do a great job of pulling you into both narrative strands. although gudnason, eliasdottir and vilhjalmsdottir, do some good work, it's the supporting cast who flesh out the film that deserve a lot of credit too; olafia jonsdottir, johann siguroarson, throstur gunnarsson, ilmur kristjansdottir, olafur egilsson and olafur olafsson.

very good...

the dvd is $17.95 from dvdpacific.com

slovenian girl

2009-11-14T08:49:00.002Z

i have a lot of time...

aleksandra (nina ivanisin) or sascha, is a student from a small town, who is living and studying in ljubljana. she is also 'slovenka' (slovenian girl); a call girl. when one of her clients has a viagra induced heart attack, the press and police begin to search for her, but she seems to be avoiding any nasty entanglements, until she has a run in with a couple of men who want her to "work" for them. with the threat to her now becoming more immediate, life and keeping up payments on her new apartment become a struggle. luckily, she still has a father (peter musevski), who is always pleased to see her...

now, this was better than i expected. it could've just been one of those films where lots and lots and lots of bad things happen to someone; their life spiralling out of control in a over-blown and melodramatic fashion. now, there's a couple of moments like this, which make one feel rather anxious, but the pudding is never really over-egged. and, the depiction of the relationship between sascha and her father, is so strong that it really raises the whole film.

pretty good.

there may be a dvd and a limited cinematic release in the future.

tales from the golden age

2009-11-13T22:25:00.001Z

well, almost...

'tales from the golden age' is a a collection of urban legends from the latter days of communism in romania. five directors tackle a legend each. unfortunately, due to an error at the screening, the end of 'the legend of the chicken driver' and all of 'the legend of the party activist' were missed out... a shame...

any hoo... 'legend of the official visit' was a fun, little romp, about the lengths a village goes to in order to prepare for said visit. 'legend of the air sellers' was, again, fun; telling of a scam developed by a bloke and his student protege. 'legend of the party photographer' was a nice little farce about making sure ceausescu looked ideologically sound in newspaper photographs. and, finally, 'the legend of the greedy policeman' was the amusing tale of a family getting a black market pig to eat, which just happens to still be alive.

this was a very nice little collection of tales, poking fun at life in the, so called, "golden age", which was made with a healthy dose of fun and retrospective affection. it's a shame i didn't get to see all of it, although i imagine it'll end up on dvd before too long.

good stuff...

my girlfriend is an agent

2009-11-12T07:43:00.003Z

captain, spacebar, asshole...

jae-jun (kang ji-hwan) is sick of the lies and the secrecy and he's leaving korea and his girlfriend soo-ji (kim ha-neul), who just happens to be a special agent. she is upset by this, but gets on with her life. then, three years later, whilst investigating a professor who has stolen a deadly bio-weapon, she bumps into jae-jun. they fight, but there's still a spark between them. and, now that jae-jun is also (again secretly) a special agent, investigating the russians who are on the other side deal to buy the bio-weapon, they seem to be bumping into each other more and more...

this should very much be considered a rom-com, with the backdrop of an action thriller and, it that respect, it is a great success. the action thriller elements are a touch weak, at times, but the characterisation and the humour of the film is what makes it a winner and very enjoyable to watch. there are plenty of laughs, which keep up throughout the film, even if a lot of the humour is based up on the fact that neither jae-jun or soo-ji are aware of each others' secret lives.

still, a lot of fun and lots of giggles.

the dvd is $24.99 from k2dvd.com

pomegranates and myrrh

2009-11-12T07:23:00.002Z

in every pomegranate there is one seed that comes from heaven...

kamar (yasmine elmasri) and zaid (ashraf farah) have just gotten married. they live in palestine; kamar is a dancer and zaid owns and runs a small farm which produces olives and olive oil. when, during an evening of celebration the harvest, israeli troops wander on to their land, claiming they have a confiscation order, a small scuffle ensues. zaid is arrested and taken away, to "administrative detention".

now, kamar must struggle with trying to keep the farm and gain freedom for zaid, but also with the distraction of a new choreographer from beiruit, kais (ali suliman), who takes a shine to her.

well, this is an interesting enough story, but it ultimately left me a touch cold. i just felt my usual level of annoyance and displeasure directed towards the israeli administration and their nazi-esque behaviour. and, i also felt for kamar; having a husband who seems to ignore her feelings from the minute they are wed, to having to cope with the childish behaviour that kais exhibits as he makes his advances.

watchable, but not a great film.

not sure of plans for future releases.

west of pluto

2009-11-12T07:10:00.002Z

celestial body 134340

a patch-work quilt, day in the life tale of a dozen teenagers in quebec. in school, at home, partying and walking the streets. there's fun, fighting, friendship, poutain, love, sex and arguments.

however, in the end, it's just a bit dull, as it treads well worn ground. that's not to say that it isn't, at times well observed and well acted, it's just a pretty fruitless exercise with nothing really interesting to say.

okay... ish...

i suppose there will probably be a dvd sometime.

disco and atomic war

2009-11-11T22:53:00.002Z

it's should've been 'punk', but 'disco' sounded sexier...

jaak kilmi and kiur aarma wrote, with the former directing and the latter producing, this film; which, according to jaak was quite tricky as, in essence, they were making a documentary based on memories, rather than facts...

so, playing with history and the truth (a little), they sifted through thousands of hours of archive footage to tell the story of their childhood and finnish tv's influence on the people of tallinn, estonia. the story starts with the tale of finnish radio barely permeating the iron curtain, followed by the soft propaganda of finnish tv making a bigger dent...

this was really good fun. a charming production which crafts it's tale with wit and intelligence. very, very enjoyable.

good stuff...

i hope for a dvd in the future.

dogtooth

2009-11-11T07:29:00.002Z

level five...

mother (michelle valley) and father (christos stergioglou) have three children: son (hristos passalis), older daughter (aggeliki papoulia) and younger daughter (mary tsoni). father works during the day, returning to the isolated, country house, where the rest of his family live and never leave. mother and father are raising their three children away from the world, controlling every aspect of their lives and their minds, as much is possible. every now and again, father pays christina (anna kalaitzidou) - a security guard from his work - to come home with him and have sex with son.

the best film of the festival so far and will, without a doubt, be in my list of my ten favourite films of the year. 'dogtooth' is such an interesting film to watch. it plays out in such a fashion as one can sit and laugh heartily throughout, but it is so incredibly sinister, that sometimes you just can't bring yourself to chuckle.

i suppose one should be seeing the film as an allegorical tale about domination and control; the isolation and coldly calculated psychological enslavement of people. and, in this respect, it is a resounding success. this really is quite a special film, which i don't think put a foot wrong in anything it attempted.

i cannot think of any element of the film which didn't work; the script, cast and all elements of the production just slot together perfectly and promote thought and laughter in equal measure. if this gets a repeat screening at the end of the film festival, i shall definitely see it again. totally deserving of cannes' 'un certain regard' and all the other awards it has picked up.

just brilliant.

this is set for a cinematic release in april.

stay the same never change

2009-11-10T07:38:00.002Z

shut the fuck up and eat your pie...

laurel nakadate's super-low budget film about teenage girls growing up in kansas. the film focuses on a handful of girls and a man, the kidnapper (dirk cowan), in situations that span the mundane and comic, the light and the dark, the exhibitionist and voyeuristic, with a soundtrack from 'casiotone for the painfully alone' permeating from time to time...

this was strange. i found myself grinning and chuckling throughout, charmed by the film, enjoying the lo-fi nature of the film, as well as the parts which worked really well. the performances are mixed, although the main characters are all rather good and amateurish nature of a couple of performances still manage to charm. very enjoyable...

if this hadn't been my third film of the evening, then i'd probably have made more of an effort to see what other people had made of it: i'm pretty sure i heard a couple of other people chuckle, but the sparse audience looked stony faced as i made my way from the screening and the only comment i heard was someone asking "was that meant to be funny?"

fun and funny...

i hope this gets a dvd release.

francesca

2009-11-10T07:15:00.002Z

you take that from your mother's wardrobe?

francesca (monica barladeanu), like 1.4 million other romanians, wants to move to italy. still, with tensions in italy running high as a result of this wave of immigration, it's not that simple and she needs to secure a job by making a payment to an employment agency, via the friend of a mother's friend. despite the slightly unconventional nature of this arrangement, francesca is not swayed and her mother (luminita gheorghiu) is in full support of the move. still, her boyfriend, mita (doru boguta), has gotten himself into debt with some characters who are not to be trifled with and this threatens more than francesca's decision to emigrate...

the second romanina film of this year's liff and the second film i've seen about tensions between italians and their romanian immigrant population, after last year's 'the rest of the night', although 'francesca' takes place in romania only. although, like the former, it does play out almost exactly as you would predict. still, it is a reasonably watchable film, mainly thanks to the performances of the cast and the reasonably believable characterisation. not a glowing recommendation though...

okay...

not sure this will gain a wider release.

el arbol

2009-11-09T23:30:00.003Z

i'm stumped...

"El Árbol is utterly engaging, and a brilliant film! Wandering through the hot streets of a Spanish town, the gorgeous (and impressively acted) Santiago is having an existential crisis. Day and night he walks the streets encountering different people, including randomly meeting a Jane Birkin-esque girl, a fair bit of time with a bottle, and some extremely intriguing singing nuns. Don’t miss this one." - liff

'el arbol' is a quite tedious exercise in nihilism and not a good film. santiago (bosco sodi) is a loser and he's having a bad run. i wouldn't go as far as saying he's gorgeous, but sodi does put in a good performance, even if he is housed with in the confines of this film. essentially he wanders around, meets a couple of people, has a couple of drinks, makes you think he's probably an asshole, all the while he is pursued by a cinematographer whose camera work would make michael bay feel seasick. being projected on to a big screen does not help one enjoy this film. i'd actually advise giving it a miss, unless a dvd with better subtitles, not ones which could kind graciously be described as minimal. it might be better than it makes out...

who knows?

schultze gets the blues

2009-11-09T22:43:00.004Z

nice... salty...

when schultze (horst krause), jurgen (harald warmbrunn) and manfred (karl-fred muller) take early retirement from the salt mine they end up with a lot of free time on their hands. they fish, drink, sit around and schultze practices his accordion, preparing to play his usual traditional polka at an upcoming anniversary of the music society.

one night, when schultze is flicking through radio stations he happens across a blues station. he's not sure at first, but he soon finds himself drawn to the music of the american south...

well, this was another treat; a fantastically executed, understated gem of a film. a simple tale, with great characters and relationships, observed with warmth and affection. there's laughs, chuckles and you should have a smile on your face throughout. a debut feature from michael schorr, i think i shall endeavour to pick up his second film, 'schroeder's wonderful world'...

good stuff...

you can pick up a dvd for between €5-10 from amazon.de

comrade couture

2009-11-09T22:35:00.002Z

shower curtains and marker pens...

marco wilms tracks down the members of a couture fashion movement that was blossoming in the late-eighties in east berlin. although they did work for the ddr's institute of fashion, a group on the fringes held their own catwalk parties, finding ways to improvise and express...

now, from the footage that exists and the collections of rather amazing photographs, it would appear as if you could have had a very interesting exhibition or a pretty good documentary. this, on the other hand, was just a bit silly and a massive wasted opportunity, with the director getting in the way of what could have been something really interesting.

balls.

maybe a future dvd release, but i wouldn't expect it.

millennium : the girl with the dragon tattoo

2009-11-09T07:42:00.004Z

men who hate women

mikael blomkvist (michael nyqvist) is an investigative reporter who has just lost a libel case, bought against him by a wealthy industrialist with links to the illegal arms trade. he now has six months before he has to serve a three month jail sentence. out of the blue he is contacted by henrik vanger (sven-bertil taube); the head of the vanger corporation and one of several members of the vanger family who live in close proximity on a small island. vanger tells blomkvist of the disappearance of his niece, which took place forty years ago, asking him to investigate...

intrigued by a couple of aspects of the case, blomkvist agrees, unaware that he has already been investigated by vanger, to make sure he is someone who can be trusted. in fact, the girl who was hired to do this, lisbeth (noomi rapace), is still watching him and finds herself getting drawn into his new investigation. when she cracks a clue, which has proved a stumbling block for blomkvist, she decides to reveal herself and join in with the investigation...

this is the first film based on a trilogy of books, which has been adapted for the screen. the other two will follow next year. it is, in essence, a nicely packaged murder mystery. still, the actual case is probably the least interesting element of the film and, for me, was secondary to the characters of blomkvist and lisbeth. when they were on their own, they were good enough, but the film was really made by the interaction between the two characters and nyqvist / rapace's performances. i didn't expect much from this, but it was a pleasant (and, at times, not so pleasant) surprise, despite a couple of weak moments.

pretty good...

out early next year, i think.

hidden

2009-11-09T07:27:00.002Z

red ball...

kai koss (kristoffer joner) returns to the town he grew up in; his mother has died and he has returned for the funeral and to take care of the house she left him. by 'take care', i mean walk around it, looking at how it is filled junk, dolls and pipes wrapped in bandages, and then burn it down. however, sara (cecilie a mosli) - a childhood acquaintance who is now a cop prevents this. rumours have always surrounded the house and it seems that they are not without foundation, as strange events continue to happen...

you know, i look through the film festival listings, arrange what i can see into a calendar, pick up my tickets and then forget what i've decided to go and see; the films just become names on paper, most of which do little to jog my memory. needless to say, when the film started, at a couple of minutes past 1pm yesterday, i was in no way prepared to watch quite such a creepy and, one may say, terrifying film...

'hidden' is a scary film. it is very good at creating atmosphere, uses a few classic devices and a couple of new ones and, by using tricks of the mind in its arsenal, is very effective at what it does. the cast are good, the location suitably creepy and i did feel mildly terrorised by it. i'm okay now though...

god stuff...

expect cinematic and dvd releases next year.

the misfortunates

2009-11-07T22:30:00.002Z

the shittiness of things...

gunther (kenneth vanbaeden) is a strobbe. he lives in his grandmother's (gilda de bal) house, with the rest of the strobbes; his father, celle (koen de graeve), and his three brothers - petrol (wouter hendrickx), beefcake (johan heldenbergh) and koen (bert haelvoet). the four brothers are hard drinking men who, still living with their mother, seem to never have shown any signs of growing up. times are often hard and it seems like a struggle to get by, but they also seem to have a lot of fun, in-between the squabbles...

alongside the telling of this story, is a look at the life of the adult gunther (valentijn dhaenens); a struggling writer, with a girlfriend he hates, who is expecting an unwanted child. after failing with a book of poetry, gunther begins to write about his life as a strobbe...

well, this was quite a treat. whilst never shying away from showing the troubles that gunther has to cope with whilst growing up, the film revels in the bawdy nature of the family and draws a lot of comedy from both of these seemingly opposing elements. great performances all round, some very nicely observed musings and lots of laughs.

great stuff.

belgium's 2010 oscar entry; hopefully a dvd will emerge soon...

the two in tracksuits

2009-11-07T22:17:00.002Z

you bought that?

a father (makoto ayukawa) takes time out from his job as a pin-up photographer to travel to the summer house he inherited from his mother with his out of work son (masato sakai). escaping the heat of the city, the wo actually find themselves being a little chilly, so don a couple of the many tracksuits, collected by the now deceased mother/grandmother. wiling away their day, the two enjoy the gentle pace of life, away from their lives at home.

well, as an antidote to the bleakness of 'exhausted', this was indeed a success. gentle comedic pacing and a warm, light hearted quality made this a very enjoyable watch indeed. nothing much happens, but what doesn't happen, happens in a very pleasant way.

rather super...

there isn't an english subtitled dvd yet, but i would imagine that hong kong or korea will supply one soon enough.

exhausted

2009-11-07T21:48:00.002Z

blow your whistle!

when i saw 'exhausted' listed in the liff calendar, i let out a little cheer (on the inside), thinking that i was finally going to get to see the john holmes documentary. no such luck. although, a korean indie-flick, shot on 16mm, with a promising write up made me give it a go...

a man and a woman live in a motel room. during the day they wander around, stick up posters and fight playfully... although, sometimes not so playfully. at night he sells her body to willing customers who don a gimp mask, while he sits in the room next door, watching animal porn.

this is, in essence, a film which embraces the dogme aesthetic, along with a von trier-esque central female character who is simply tormented to various degrees for the film's duration. is it a good film? is it a powerful film? who can say...

i enjoyed watching it. well, enjoy probably isn't the right word. the woman is intriguing, despite the fact that she doesn't speak at all; her persistent displeasure, her protestations and her running away, all seem to end up with her returning to him.

the look of the film is rather beautiful and the absence of score, apart from the crackling opera that is piped from the radio when she is with paying guests, makes for a great watch and listen, whilst the narrative did just make me think of a couple of dogme films and didn't particularly inspire.

interesting to watch, but not great or powerful...

there may be a dvd some day, but i wouldn't hold out much hope for it.

art & copy

2009-11-07T12:12:00.002Z

just do it...

doug pray takes a look at post war advertising in the usa; mainly focussing on the effect that the pairing of copy-writer and artistic director had on the industry. whilst talking to some major players, a guy whose family has been posting billboards for around seventy years and looking at major campaigns, the film also throws in some stats about the money spent on advertising and the reach of it.

now, if like me, you're someone who quite likes a good ad campaign, but still thinks that advertising / marketing types are kind of c***s, then this film may not sit too well with you. sure, doug pray has a talent of putting together a very, very watchable 90 minutes of film but, in reality, this is an extended advert for adverts, with very little dissension involved.

watchable, but i wanted more...

the film should hit dvd next year.

the fantastic planet

2009-11-07T12:00:00.002Z

as she grew up, she gave up her playthings...

the oms are human like people, living on a planet inhabited by the draags; giant humanoid creatures who treat the oms as pets or pests, depending on whether they are "domesticated" or "wild". when terr, an om who was taken as a pet by tiwa, a young draag, begins to share the education that his mistress is receiving, he escapes and joins the ranks of the wild oms, striving for recognition and freedom from the oppression of the draags...

the second film in my rene laloux double-bill, this time from 1973 and made in czechoslovakia, as an allegory of the countries occupation by the russians. surprisingly, this is a much more powerful film than 'gandahar' and is imbued with much more style and a better soundtrack that the later production.

good stuff...

the dvd is £14.99 from play.com

gandahar

2009-11-07T11:41:00.002Z

in a thousand years, ganhadar will be destroyed. a thousand years ago, ganhadar will be saved and what can't be avoided will be...

when an evil force attacks the idyllic and peaceful nation of gandahar, their greatest warrior syl is dispatched to investigate the source of the threat and find a way to save these peace loving people. along his way, syl discovers that the threat is coming from the almost forgotten, less than wholesome past of gandahar...

the first of a rene laloux double-bill, the film is a sci-fi adventure, with heavy musings on genetic experimentation, organic farming and industrialisation. an interesting watch, but one that pales slightly when you realise that it came four years after miyazaki's 'nausicaa', not a decade or so before, which is what it looks and feels like...

pretty good.

the dvd is £13.99 from hmv.com

turn it loose

2009-11-07T11:30:00.002Z

break... break... break... freeze!

in 2007, sixteen of the words best b-boys assemble in the heart of an abandoned power station and battle it out for the title of the best in the world. amongst the competitors are ronnie (usa), hong10 (korea), lilou (algeria), roxrite (usa) and taisuke (japan).

like 2007's, excellent, 'planet b-boy', 'turn it loose' features a break dancing battle, showing the paths the finalists took to the final and their lives in their home countries. unlike 'planet b-boy', which focussed on crews, 'turn it loose' focusses on individuals. i think i prefer 'planet b-boy', overall, as it provides more of a rounded overview, but this is still a bloody good watch and lots of fun.

good stuff...

a dvd will probably emerge some time next year.

first squad

2009-11-07T11:06:00.002Z

moment of truth...

it is 1943. the war on the eastern front is raging. as the nazis attempt to press forwards, the ahnenbre (a group dedicated to researching the occult and employing such forces to assist them in the war) begin to implement 'sword of vengeance'; the resurrection of baron von wolff, the long dead leader of a group of blood thirsty catholic crusaders.

meanwhile, the russians manage to track down nadya; a 14 year old girl and the most gifted student in the mysterious 6th division, who had been missing since the start of the war. now nadya must get help from the other members of the first squad - a group of teenage fighters with psychic powers - to help neutralise the threat of von wolff...

for me, a new studio 4°c film is always going to be something that catches my eye. and, when it's in russian, based on a russian manga, with a soundtrack by dj krush, i'm sold...

this is a very interesting piece indeed. the animation, which is never less than great, is interspersed with talking heads (mock); russian and german soldiers, psychologists and historians, who add context and detail to proceedings. oh, and krush doesn't let you down...

great stuff...

this was the uk premiere, hopefully a dvd will hit soon.

rumble fish

2009-11-06T07:44:00.002Z

like watching a black and white tv with the sound turned down...

rusty james (matt dillon) is a street punk, living in the shadow of his older brother, the motorcycle boy (mickey rourke). rusty james hangs around with his friends, getting into scrapes, longing for the days of gangs, which he sees as a golden era. when, after having been absent for a couple of months, the motorcycle boy returns and trouble is in the air...

it'd been ages since i last watched this. it is a strange film. the design of the film, from the black and white cinematography, the touches of time lapse, the production design, the score and the sound design make it an absolute treat to watch, with large swathes of the film looking and sounding like some kind of strange dream.

the narrative itself, and huge chunks of the dialogue are, in retrospect, a touch emo. rusty james is a bit hopeless, thinking that one day he will measure up to the enigma like status which the motorcycle boy has, despite being constantly told that this will not be the case.

a better film to watch than it is a film...

the dvd is £4.49 from hmv.com