This year, I was extremely careful with my film choices. With very few exceptions, I saw every single film I really wanted to see, and there are other reasons why I have not seen any of these at the Berlinale. It is remarkable, however, that this Berlinale not only had a lot of great films I ended up seeing, but also a fairly large number of interesting films I decided not to see (largely due to a great Retrospektive selection). All of you who didn’t come, you missed out!
First of all, we have the competition and Berlinale special films that I did not want to see at the Berlinale because it’s not really worth it to me:
- Acht Stunden sind kein Tag – Well it’s very long because it’s essentially a TV show, but I like the title and the premise.
- Django – On the first day I queued up for tickets, some people were talking about “Django” and how they really wanted to see it. I had never heard of the guy before, but now I’m intrigued.
- El bar – The old man said the film was good, and now that I look at it, the premise sounds interesting.
- Have a nice day – Danish dude saw this film and really liked it. He told me it was very entertaining and funny. As for me, I avoided it because it ran in the competition and because I was totally not into its animation style.
- Le jeune Karl Marx – The film is already in theaters, so there is really no reason to see it at the Berlinale. With that said, I am amused imagining August Diehl als Karl Marx.
- The Party – The old man didn’t like it, but the critics loved the film. It sounds exactly like the kind of thing I like, and it features Patricia Clarkson, Emily Mortimer and Kristin Scott Thomas. What’s not to love?
- Pokot – I have never seen a film by Agnieszka Holland before, so why would I start at the Berlinale? I am intrigued by this film nevertheless.
- La Reina de Espana – Danish dude saw the film, but I failed to ask him how he liked it. I think Penelope Cruz looks pretty awesome in this.
- Una mujer fantastica – The premise sounds interesting, but it could have been a terrible film. Apparently people like it.
- Sage femme – I have seen more Catherine Deneuve films from when she was older than when she was younger, but usually I don’t dislike her. This film has a particularly nice premise (I like that she is a mid-wife here).
- Wilde Maus – I don’t know anything by Josef Hader, but I’m intrigued when Shii told me about him
There also were more Retrospektive and Homage films of interest this year, because science-fiction is awesome and I could have watched them all. But I didn’t want to spend my entire Berlinale at the Retrospektive, so these were kicked out:
- 1984 – I was actually planning to see this one, but then I decided to attend all those family outings after all (as pissed as I was that they were all during the Berlinale)
- Chariots of Fire – Danish dude said he had this film on his bucket list, and it’s definitely a worthy classic that I also have not yet seen
- Dark City – This one sounds interesting (Jennifer Connelly and Kiefer Sutherland!) but I tend to not watch films that are somewhere between 2 and 20 years old when it comes to the Berlinale – old but not old enough.
- Invasion of the Body Snatchers – Another classic I have not seen!
- On the Silver Globe – I think I was a little taken aback by the strangeness of the film’s aesthetics, and that the description didn’t really make any sense to me.
- On the Beach – This film has quite an interesting star-studded cast considering its somewhat wacky premise.
- Strange Days – Similarly to “Dark City”, it’s old but not old enough, and even though I like the premise of this one a lot
- THX 1138 – Another classic that has been on my Netflix queue forever.
- Le tunnel – I like Jean Gabin, but the film didn’t sound particularly sci-fi to me and it wasn’t a silent film.
Finally, there are plenty of random films I find somewhat interesting, yet not interesting enough to spend the time and money at the Berlinale. If I had more time though, I would have wanted to see these too:
- 1945 – I have to admit that the title is off-putting instantly. A Holocaust film at the Berlinale? That’s almost as bad as a gay film at the Berlinale. On second thought, though, Loris was probably right that this film’s premise is quite great.
- At Elske Pia – The film caught my eye, because I like films about old people, but I never seriously considered until Danish dude told me he thought it was good.
- Ceux qui font les révolutions à moitié n’ont fait que se creuser un tombeau – I simply thought the title is cool, but perhaps the film is terrible
- The Last Witness – Loris said the film was so absurd that it was unintentionally comical, yet I am still intrigued by the film.
- Como Nossos Pais – A serious potentially feminist film with Captain Nascimento’s wife as protagonist
- Droles d’oiseaux – I wanted to see the film but didn’t get tickets, but then again, it was OK
- From the Balcony – This film wins best premise of the Berlinale, but it could have ended up as bad as the “Geldkomplex” two years ago
- Insyriated – The old man said the film was really good, and it probably won the Panorama audience prize for a reason
- Three Lights – There were no good screening times for this film, but other than that I liked the premise and found the characters instantly likable from their description
- Richard the Stork – I would not watch this film by myself, but when I went to see “Up in the sky”, I started chatting with a school teacher about children’s films and she told me this one was lovely
- Selbstkritik eines bürgerlichen Hundes – It’s such a great title, and this screenshot from a museum is pure brilliance, but the film could be very wacky