Thursday, November 22, 2007

Liffe after 2nd week

So it's over. Finally. It has been exhausting 15 days of intense film consumption: some good, some bad and some you just want to forget before you leave the cinema. This year the number of bad films I saw was a bit higher than usual but for all that I know it could have all been just bad luck. I'll go again next year to check :) So here's what I saw:

This is England: Interesting insight through eyes of 12 year old boy about skinheads, racism, British politics and first love. Story was supposedly based on director's/writer's personal experience and I must admit it revealed some new aspects, at least to me. I'd give it an 8 but probably wouldn't go to see it again.

Jar city is an excellent story that connects crime to DNA and people's pasts. Characters and relations between them are well built plus the casting was excellent. The film is typical northern European drama and has taste of bizarreness yet specialness. I loved the gradual revealing of the story as it kept me in suspense almost until the very end. I'd give it 10 and definitely go to see it again. Yes, I have a thing for northern European films.

Even though Michael Clayton has all the typical mainstream movie elements, it delivers absolutely brilliant story. Excellent screenplay is upgraded by George Clooney's marvelous acting. The story is quite simple yet somehow complicated and therefore lovable. Great directing, great feeling after the film. I'd give it 9.5 and would see it again too.

The Journals of Knud Rasmussen was somewhat confusing. Maybe I was expecting much more from Danish/Canadian crew than foggy story about Inuits becoming Christians with maintaining the distance between the audience and the characters. Maybe I just didn't understand it or it was too arty for me. Haven't got a clue who is that Knud Rasmussen character is since it wasn't mentioned at all. I'd give it a 6 for nice photography and good idea.

Viva was horribly stereotypical. I found the main character extremely shallow and annoying, dialogs seemed like patchwork of lines taken out od 60's commercials and the story felt like it wanted to be a parody, only it wasn't. It could be just me but I didn't find any real message about sexual revolution/emancipation of women in that movie. What I understood was: Liberation makes prostitutes out of housewives and rape is OK as long as it's followed by a success in the show business. Lame. I'd give it 1.

Les Anges exterminateurs
has an interesting story and some really great erotic scenes. However I failed to see angels motives, their role and drive of the main character. The ending was expected but still a bit weird and somehow unfair. I'm a bit confused, I'd give it a 5 and ask the director for additional explanation.

Le Pressentiment was extremely refreshing. For most part of the movie I wasn't able to guess what is going to happen or wasn't trying to guess at all. Lovable main character, great antagonists and I loved the whole plot about lawyer who gives up his luxurious life to become a writer. The false climax was simply brilliant and I think I'd go an see it again just for that. I'd give it 8.5.

Now I think I'll take a short off cinema recovery to give my eyes a bit of R & R. Not too long though as the next film festival will begin really soon.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

The Danes and the Canucks are in a sort of 'Cold War' these days. It seems there is a god-forsaken group of frozen tundral islands off the coast of Greenland over which both countries claim sovereingty.
That and both countries claim to have the North Pole where Santa lives!
No collaborative effort between the two could ever come to meaningful fruition.
I once flew to Resolute Bay, Nunavut Territories, Canada on the Northern Summer Solstice to experience 24 hours of sunlight.
Nothing but snow and a frozen aggregate runway. Oh and piles of permafrosted droppings from Santa's reindeer. That Rudolph is the worst. I know not what Santa feeds him to keep his 'nose so bright', but it wreaks havoc with his gastrointestinal system.

Karmen said...

No way! I know for a fact that Santa is Slovenian and Rudolf is natural rednose (natural from whiskey that is) :P

Pina said...

Po branju tega posta me spet obliva navdušeno pričakovanje, moj torrent odjemalec pa zopet živahno zavija z očmi ob pogledu na delo, ki ga čaka v naslednjih dneh. ;)
Sporočim, če se strinjam s svojimi ocenami ...

Anonymous said...

Santa is Slovenian?
You know that makes so much sense!
Upon waking one Christmas morning, as a child, I could have sworn I smelled Hapsburg in the house. And I was sure it was not Vienna sausage.

Karmen said...

pina - le sporoči in veliko užitko pri Gledanju

Btw XXY in Povratne steklenice sta bila nagrajena.

Bilious - You were right about the sausage - it was not Vienna but Kranjska Sausage with freshly brewed beer.

Where do you think Santa gets his belly from ;)

Anonymous said...

"...Kranjska Sausage with freshly brewed beer...."

These are reason enough to begin the arduous journey to visit the fair Slovenia in the fall of 2008.
September is a good month in which to visit that part of the world I am told.

Karmen said...

Yes, September and August are told to be the best months to visit Slovenia.

But in the end it really doesn't matter when you visit cause eventually everybody moves here.

Anonymous said...

Zgleda da si spala med filmom. Rasmussen se je pojavil v več kadrih, res pa da ni veliko govoril.

Karmen said...

hehe, anonimous, med tem žal nisem zaspala, priznam, da mi je iz obilice eksotičnih imen Knud morda pobegnil. A je bil morda eden od tistih treh duhov, ki so spremljali vrača?

kar me je pravzaprav najbolj zmotilo je off glas, ki se p ojavi samo na začetku in gledalca zmotno navede, da gre za osebno zgodbo pripovedovalke. Po filmskih pravilih si na off obsojen, ko ga enkrat uporabiš. Morda je bilo to pravilo zavestno kršeno, vendar ne vem kakšen učinek naj bi doseglo. Mene je pač zmedlo, saj je od tam naprej zgodba tekla v nekakšni "objektivni" luči oz. so si jo podajali med sabo različni liki.

Saj pravim, not my kind of the movie, pač nisem ljubiteljica filmov, ki gledalca odrivajo stran.