59th BERLIN FILM FESTIVAL 2009
Published in the journal Sequences
This time, it was Peru (despite appearances )
In each edition, we hear the same speech critical of the Berlin competition: where are the (real) stars, where are the great writers? Faced with disgruntled art director Dieter Kosslick will watch impassively and reply by the steadily increasing ridership its occurrence. Whether you agree or disagree with this philosophy, the fact remains that many would envy Berlin, if only by his ability to curl one year with a first class event in spite of constraints beyond his control.
Berlin must contend with a thankless time slot (sandwiched between the American Film Market and Cannes), a wintry red carpet, stars Frosty Gap and programming alternatives. Its main assets are his unwavering however, as the film market, a must to prepare for Cannes and the rest of the year, his loyal audience, his movie theater chain perfectly adapted to the magnitude of the event, his organization and his impeccable attendance affordable for Germans and foreigners.
The Achilles heel of the festival still remains the difficulty of attaining its editorial focus on social and political values, and proposals for original movies. This year again, the programmers have put so much emphasis on American-popping The International of the prodigal son Tom Twyker, the pamphlet schematic London River Rachid Bouchared.
Festivalgoers were surprised to notice some recreations of interest among the various contenders for the Golden Bear, like the fanciful Ricky François Ozon, a regular at the festival, or the eloquent Cheri Stephen Frears, a period drama Belle Epoque which confirms the brilliant Michelle Pfeiffer back in a production worthy of that name, alongside the young Rupert Friend, amazing in his role as early Dandy pulled straight from Oscar Wilde.
Berlin again tried to impose on us Annette K. Olesen ( Little Soldiers ) or Lukas Moodysson ( Mammoth ) as the voice most representative of the penultimate generation of world-class filmmakers, although it would be more than tempted to blame their insistence. Moodysson overestimated the club offered a parable of the effects of globalization on families post-nuclear operator unimaginative the international potential of its headliners Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams. Otherwise, some ancient glories ran dry as Costa Gravas, Bertrand Tavernier, Theo Angelopoulos, Andrzej Wajda, Chen Kaige, or Sally Potter did try to inject a bit of luster to the competition, but by repeating formulas bordering on self -parody.
It took a little new blood coming shake the fleas of a selection dangerously pulling down to revive the hope that Berlin can still dig up some nuggets of cinema. Since Whisky Acne and we had learned not to ignore the traditional production reaching out to Uruguay. Gigante, the first feature film by Adrian Biniez, is made of the same wood as his fellow comedians and maximizes the effects from a simple frame and catchy, the attraction that develops a keeper for a supermarket colleague in charge of maintenance, it observes and learns without his knowledge by surveillance cameras. Dismissing the sordid of Alexandra's Project and disposal of films by Atom Egoyan, Gigante spreading some laughs with a clear scenario thinness more clever than it appears.
The jury chaired by Tilda Swinton with foresight awarded the Golden Bear at The Milk of Sorrow (La teta asustada) Claudia Llosa , the first selection of Peruvian history of the festival, also the most satisfying surprise competition. Already out of the shadows with his first test Madeinusa , Llosa, the daughter of writer Mario Vargas Llosa of says with a ubiquitous symbol of the fight Fausta, a young Peruvian struggling with symptoms of 'milk scared' psychosomatic illness afflicting women abused or misused terrorism during the 1980s in Peru. Living in slums on the outskirts of Lima, Fausta facing the modern world and become a maid of a wealthy pianist of the city in order to pay the funeral of his mother, whose body begins to rot from his cousins.
will be discussed potato inserted into the vagina to discourage potential rapists, songs with evocative lyrics and simultaneous marriages in this film evokes a real step female (not feminist), an eye for the yuppie and a talented storyteller. The festival would have found a better ambassador of his aims with The Milk of Sorrow already financed by the World Film Fund of the Berlinale in a previous edition.
© 2009 Charles-Stéphane Roy
0 comments:
Post a Comment