It’s only been 4 days since the Berlinale is over, but it feels like the world has changed a whole lot. O being sick, Chinese New Year, losing my phone (and retrieving it) and the sudden realization that I have put my life on hold for 2 weeks and now have to recover and return to normal. It’s strangely difficult to me to put myself into the mindset of myself of just 9 days ago, when 6451 was still there and most of my worries revolved around the Berlinale. It’s like that was a completely different life, and now I find it quite joyful to relive it through these blog posts.
In fact, my biggest worry of the day was that we might not get into “Yolanda and the Thief” and then we would have to find something to do during that time slot. It all worked out well and we got our tickets, but in retrospect the alternative (a nice dinner) wouldn’t have been so bad. In the end, it was one of the best days of the Berlinale because the three of us were able to watch films together (by that definition, day 3 and 4 were the only actual mini-PIFF portion of the Berlinale!) and I was not yet sick that day. In case you are wondering, of course I am still sick but thankfully less so than O.
Yolanda and the Thief
USA 1945, Vincente Minnelli, 108′
Fred Astaire is a crook and runs from the police to a country with no extradition treaty with the US. There, he tries to scam Yolanda, the richest heiress of the country, by pretending to her guardian angel and by the way also over her heart. A bunch of silly situations and some great dance scenes ensue.
To be honest, I have never actually seen a Vincente Minnelli movie but have wanted to do so ever since last year’s Berlinale when John Michael McDonagh commented that the Zoo Palast has lavish “Vincente Minnelli curtains”. Now that I have seen “Yolanda and the Thief”, I totally agree with that assessment. The film had a somewhat strange look due to the fake exoticism of the decor but oh everything is wonderfully lavish and so suited for a musical. Even the dream sequences were imaginative and awesome.
Before almost every film, there is some idiot introducing it and this time, we had some guy who kept harping over and over on how “Yolanda and the Thief” is a bad but good-looking film, how Lucille Bremer lacks Judy Garland’s warmth (whatever that is) and the charisma to become a star, and how we should not have high expectations for the film. Nonsense. OK, the movie doesn’t really make sense at times and the story may not be the most, but that is just how musicals are. Also, Lucille Bremer is an absolute beauty in my book, and she did a reall good job in her role except for the fact that, well, Fred Astaire outdances her any second. It’s a little tough when the guy dances so much better than the girl (and it makes me wonder how Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers look together), but that is OK – their dance scenes were still awesome and the very last one was the highlight of the film and singlehandedly made it worthwhile our time. I overheard a conversation by the staff, where one woman said how she didn’t see the film but was able to catch that dance scene and she loved it. So yeah, Gorp, I am officially cured of my dislike against musical films; I now totally love the genre, especially when Fred Astaire and dance scenes are involved.