A list of films we would have been interested in, but ended up not watching because of numerous reasons (the time spot was bad, the film wasn’t all that interesting or – we didn’t get tickets). There are quite a lot, heh. So, which ones of these would you have seen? Or which ones would you want me to see and review here?
Since I ended up watching so few films, more links you can dig into:
– The Daily at IFC.com which even has a posting on Ai no Mukidashi
– Daniel Kasman’s blog at The Auteurs
Oh my gosh, I just realized that the Berlinale obviously also has an English website >.< I am so stupid - expect an update of these blog posts in the next few days. Without further ado, here are the ones I have picked, in no particular order:
Films we were planning to see but did not
- My Suicide
An American movie about a guy who wants to kill himself and by announcing it, turns the whole high school upside down. Supposedly a movie that shows how hypocritical society is. Apparently he is not going to kill himself at the end, what the heck. On the other side, “My Suicide” got the prize for the 14plus movies. - Mammoth
Lukas Moodysson’s (Lilja 4-ever, Tilsammans) rst big budget movie. Although it stars Gael García Bernal, it was apparently hated by the critics. I actually only wanted to go because I was intrigued by the thought of seeing GGB in real, of course. - Goya
A super-old German movie about the painter (who incidentally is one of my favorite). It ran later than 10pm and ultimately we did not feel like watching it. - Playtime
A 70mm Jacques Tati film which looks gorgeous if I can believe the screenshots. - Singularidades de uma rapariga loura
I heard Oliveira has worked on this film instead of celebrating his 100th birthday. It’s quite a short film (about an hour runtime), but looks intriguing. - Forever Enthralled
Chen Kaige’s competition entry featuring Zhang Ziyi. Apparently critics liked the film and say it’s very similar to “Farewell my Concubine”. I am sure my parents will watch the film before me and will tell me how they liked it. - Kill Daddy Goodbye (Das Vaterspiel)
The story sounded intriguing, but now I am glad we did not go to see it. Will be watched and reviewed in the future if I ever get hold of a copy of this. - Tatarak
The Polish competition entry, and I have no idea what it is about. - Deutschland 09
Getting lots of attention but not as many prizes, this is a short story compilation by German directors on, well, the Germany of today.
Interesting competition entries
- The International
The opening film with Clive Owen that everybody seemed to love. With so much hate against investment banking nowadays, I am tempted to side with them, by the way. I am sure that the majority of people would do the investment banking job if they had the capability to. - Eden à l’ouest
Personally, I am intrigued by the title. It also features the actor of Step, the male protagonist of “Tre metri sopra il cielo”, hahaha. The descriptions of the film don’t make clear what it really is about anyways, so we’ll see. - Chéri
Stephen Frears’ newest film with Michelle Pfeiffer playing an old whore who had an affair with a young boy. I think she’s too old for the role *hrr* - Gigante
Guy stalks girl through surveillance cameras, and the rest is a potentially sweet love comedy. Another one of these movies everybody loves. It originally ran on the same day as “Mammoth”, and as much the critics praised the one, they hated the other. - The Dust of Time
A movie by Theo Angelopoulos. A self-reflective story, apparently, about an old director who makes a film about the love story of his parents. - Katalin Varga
Main protagonist goes back to the village where she was born and kills the men who raped her. It was not particularily liked by the critics, but I still think it sounds interesting. I just hope it doesn’t have too many “atmospheric mood shots”. - London River
Two people tied together by the terrorist acts in London, in the search of their missing children. Will definitely be watched and reviewed one day. - My One and Only
Renée Zellweger as mother of two boys in a comedic road movie (through the United States, of course). Based on the life of the actor George Hamilton, or so. I liked road movies a lot, so I am intrigued by that sole fact. - The Pink Panther 2
It has Emily Mortimer! Well, that surely is not the main reason why I would want to watch it, but I think a Pink Panther movie sounds like fun. - Ricky
Francois Ozon’s newest film, but apart from this, probably not as interesting as it might sound. - Lille Soldat
A female soldier comes back from a war and meets her chauffeur, who also is her father’s mistress. Doesn’t this combination of characters sound interesting? - About Elly
Left by his German wife, an Iranian goes back to Iran and joins a group of friends on a trip. There, the girl he is supposed to meet suddenly disappears. - Happy Tears
Demi Moore’s character has to take care of her old and senile father, but together with a sister she does not get along with at all. - The Reader (Der Vorleser)
Based on a novel by Bernhard Schlink. The Kate Winselt movie that garnered lots of media attention. I want to see the movie just to see how it really is.
Other films of interest
- John Rabe
“Der gute Mensch von Nanking”, or so – a German saves a bunch of Chinese people during the massacres of Nanking. - Ne me libérez pas, je m’en charge
A sort of biography about this french gangster who managed to escape prison multiple times and now has become quite a legend. - Tapage nocturne
Quite an old, very French movie about your typical woman who is bored with her husband and thus her sex life and then starts having a lot of lovers. Well, this movie doesn’t even a Wikipedia article, neither English nor French nor German. - An Education
I do not know what has made me get interested in this film, honestly. It’s about this 16 year old girl who wants to go to Paris and lead a glamorous life? - The Countess
Julie Delpy was there to promote her movie, for which she got Daniel Brühl yet again. Hmmm, somehow they are an intriguing couple together. - El Nino Pez
Two girls fall in love and then elope together while stealing everything they need and kill people if necessary. - Un chat un chat
Chiara Mastroianni in a French comedy. She plays a woman and a stalker who decide to switch roles in their lives. - Universalove
A film about love, or so, which received the Max Ophüls prize, too bad it’s only screened at a bad time. Perhaps this is actually an experimental film, I have no idea. - Bellamy
Claude Chabrol’s newest film, with Gérard Depardieu. I have never seen a Chabrol before, mind you. - Clara
I have always been somewhat fascinated by Clara Schumann’s life, but I don’t quite want to see Martina Gedeck playing her. But perhaps the movie itself is still going to be nice? Who knows. - Dr. Alemán
I don’t like August Diehl as much (although I actually think that he’s a good actor), but the concept of a young medecine student going to Latin America is somewhat intriguing.
i would have loved to see Playtime, simply because much of Tati’s comedy comes from observing what is happening and developing within a group of people – only the cinema screen can do full justice to the incredible choreography and the incomparably complex set design of Playtime.
i’d also be interested in the new Oliveira, after loving “I’m going home” so much and because the majority of his filmography is notoriously hard to track down.
London Rivers sounds interesting (La Blethyn!!)
I agree about Julie Delpy and Daniel Brühl’s compatibility.
I don’t think I’d have missed “2001” either :)
“2001” was sold out and it ran at 9.30 in the morning, hahaha. There was a second timeslot for it later in the evening, but I think it’s even less likely to get into that one. Oh well, such is life.
I definitely want to see “London River” one of these days, same for the Oliveira especially since the film is short, heh.
Among all the films we did not see, “Playtime” was actually the one that hurt the most. T_T I was really looking forward to it, and I suppose that the film is pretty popular despite its age.