20-26 March 2008
Amsterdam Weekly
Giorni e nuvole Anne Fletcher directed. (JR) 111 min. Pathé ArenA, Pathé De Munt, Pathé Tuschinski Aleksandra Russian master Aleksandr Sokurov (Father and Son, The Sun) places himself in the position of an old woman questioning the motives of men of war. Aleksandra, played by the opera singer Galina Vishnevskaya, goes to visit her grandson, who is stationed in Grozny with the army. For both the soldiers and the viewers she is a disarming presence at the base, with her dry, motherly comments about the macho habits and phallic-looking weapons she comes across. Aleksandra is based on a marvellous idea; its lack of story development makes it less poignant than it could have been, but it’s still a moving addition to the impressive Sokurov oeuvre. In Russian with Dutch subtitles. (MdR) 92 min. Filmmuseum
Auf der anderen Seite Two coffins pass through the Istanbul airport; for the people left behind, life takes unexpected turns. Fatih Akin’s new film tells the story of six people in Germany and Turkey whose lives are connected by two deaths: the widower Ali and his son Nejat; a woman named Yeter, her daughter Ayten, who meets a girl called Lotte; and Lotte’s mother (Hanna Schygulla). After a sad film about love, Gegen die Wand, Akin has made an optimistic film about mortality, families and forgiveness. The film seems heavily edited—it’s clear the director had a lot more material—but the episodic character of the film saves it from appearing pieced-together. Akin’s screenplay won top honours at Cannes. In German with Dutch subtitles. (SG) 122 min. Rialto The Band’s Visit In this year’s art-house hit, the Alexandria Ceremonial Police Band, a small combo specialising in traditional Arab repertoire, flies from Egypt to Israel to play at the opening of a cultural centre. When their guide fails to meet them at the airport, they take the wrong bus and end up in the wrong city. To their rescue comes beautiful Dina (Israeli superstar Ronit Elkabetz), the owner of the only café in town, who sees the band’s arrival as both a business opportunity and a chance to relieve the local boredom. Directed with a firm hand by Eran Kolirin, who also wrote the original screenplay, The Band’s Visit gently lets you inside its unique sense of humour. The moment when the band is finally allowed to play its repertoire is the cherry on top of an appealing cinematic dessert. (MB) 87 min. Kriterion, Rialto Control In this biopic on singer/songwriter Ian Cur-
tis, photographer and video director Anton Corbijn dares to be critical: Ian isn’t a tragic hero, but a bit of a wimp who uses his band as an escape from his own incompetence as a husband and father. The film is beautifully shot in black-and-white, though the stark contrasts and grey hues serve mainly to underline the desolation of the Manchester suburbs, and of Ian himself. (BS) 119 min. Melkweg Cinema
The
Darjeeling Limited Sometimes you travel through life with some extra baggage. In the case of the Whitman brothers, it’s a luxury Louis Vuitton set that looks colourful and flashy even in India. A year after their father’s funeral, Francis (Owen Wilson), Peter (Adrien Brody) and Jack (Jason Schwartzman) meet aboard a train for a journey of spiritual healing. The fact that they have not spoken to each other in a year doesn’t prevent them from getting straight into the family’s old dynamics, which involve manic tics, substance abuse and sexual escapades. But soon both the emotional and the physical baggage starts to fall away. Film-maker Wes Anderson (Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums), much like his characters, has found his grown-up voice. This delicious curry comedy is a rich plate for film-goers, entertaining and poignant, just as it should be. (MB) 108 min. Kriterion Earth This full-length documentary version of the British TV series Planet Earth follows a polar bear family, a herd of elephants and two humpback whales in their daily struggle for survival. Directed by Alastair Fothergill (Deep Blue) and Mark Linfield. 96 min. Pathé Tuschinski, De Uitkijk How to Get Rid of the Others Danish director Ronow Klarlund delivers an uncompromising and hilarious critique on right-wing populist conservatism in this
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Margot at the Wedding political satire in which Denmark is turned into a fascist state. Drug addicts, the disabled, the unemployed and other social rejects are executed for their failure to contribute to society. When a former government official (Louise Miertiz) blows the whistle, she too is imprisoned in a school gymnasium to await death, along with six other misfits. But if the prisoners can still prove to the charming but cruel army officer in charge that they have done something for the common good, he will have to let them go. (IS) Melkweg Cinema I’m Not There Todd Haynes’s ambitious and daring new film is a biopic in the sense that it depicts the main events in Bob Dylan’s life and career. But they are not told in chronological order, and Haynes uses six different actors to play the singer. The different performers (including Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale and the black actor Marcus Carl Franklin) and the constant moving back and forth in time don’t make it easy to identify with any of the Dylans. But simple identification is probably not what Haynes is after. His film is not about Dylan himself, but about the mythmaking around a pop star. I’m Not There has its moments, but in the end it’s more an interesting audiovisual lecture than an overwhelming cinematographic experience. (MM) 135 min. Kriterion, The Movies In the Valley of Elah Paul Haggis critiques the Iraq
War; Tommy Lee Jones delivers. 120 min. Studio K
Juno Juno (Ellen Page) is 16. Juno is full of life and sarcasm. Juno is pregnant. Oops. She gives up the thought of abortion after hearing that her baby has already developed fingernails and instead starts looking for adoptive parents. She finds the perfect couple in Mark and Vanessa. They’re wealthy, nice and Mark might even qualify as cool, since he shares Juno’s taste in music and splatter movies. Ellen Page is beyond perfect as the wisecracking but friendly Juno, who’s bright, yet young and naïve enough to think that there is no harm in spending time with the adoptive father of her unborn child. Add a solid script and a great soundtrack and there you have it: this year’s independent American masterpiece. Directed by Jason Reitman. (MP) 92 min. Cinecenter, Kriterion, The Movies, Pathé De Munt, Studio K The Kite Runner After his poignant Monster’s Ball, his pensive Finding Neverland and the daringly different Stranger than Fiction—unreleased here—director Marc Foster offers us a solid and visually arresting but emotionally drained adaptation of Khaled Hosseini’s novel. The main character, Afghan-born Amir (played by Scottish-Egyptian actor Khalid Abdalla), doesn’t evoke much sympathy—or any other emotion. When he was young, he shared a close friendship with servant boy Hassan, the kite runner of the title, but later
fell out with him. Still heavily conflicted about his misconduct as a youth, he returns to Afghanistan to ‘be good again’. In English/Dari/Pashtu/Urdu/Russian with Dutch subtitles. (BS) 128 min. The Movies, Pathé Tuschinski, Studio K
Mio fratello è figlio unico Accio Benassi (Elio Ger-
mano) feels like the least valued member of his family. Perhaps correctly: Accio isn’t his real name, but a nickname meaning ‘pain in the ass’. So Accio does everything possible to live up to his name, including leaving the seminary and joining the Fascist party. Luckily the viewer realises—even if Accio himself does not—that his actions are driven not by idealism but provocation. He is no more a serious fascist than his socialist brother Manrico (Riccardo Scamarcio) is a saint. A lighter, less portentous version of La Meglio gioventù—also focusing on two brothers in turbulent Italy. Daniele Luchetti directed. In Italian with Dutch subtitles. (BS) 118 min. Het Ketelhuis, Rialto
The Mist Forget the two Stephen King adaptations that gave Frank Darabont his Oscar nominations: the humanitarian touch displayed in The Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile has become a sucker punch in the gut in the gloriously misanthropic The Mist. When a supermarket in a small rural town becomes enveloped by a mysterious fog, the bargain hunters soon fall prey to mysterious tentacled critters
Special screenings Der Amerikanische Freund Dennis Hopper is an international art smuggler, Bruno Ganz is a Hamburg craftsman. Together they commit a murder and briefly become friends in Wim Wenders’ gripping 1977 thriller, based on Patricia Highsmith’s novel Ripley’s Game. The film, one of Wenders’s edgiest, has a fine grasp of tenuous emotional connections in the midst of a crumbling moral universe. In English/German with Dutch subtitles. (DK) 127 min. Rialto
film composer Miles (Jack Black) and Amanda hooks up with Graham (Jude Law), Iris’ brother. Director Nancy Meyers has Bridget Jones (Iris) meeting Posh Spice (Amanda) in a bittersweet Christmas fairy tale that works mainly thanks to its incredibly charismatic cast. Winslet once again shows her excellent range, Diaz outdoes herself and, for once, Jack Black truly seems a nice guy. Check your cynical self at the door and enjoy Hollywood at its cutest. (MP) 135 min. Pathé Tuschinski
The Big Lebowski Probably the Coen brothers’
Iraq
most enjoyable movie, glittering with imagination, cleverness and film-making skill. The story has something to do with Jeff Bridges being mistaken for a Pasadena millionaire, which ultimately involves him as an amateur sleuth in a kidnapping plot. A nice portrait of low-rent LA emerges from this unstable brew, as does a riotous dream sequence about bowling. (JR) 117 min. The Movies Blind While actress-turned-director Tamar van den Dop may have based her feature debut on a cheesy expression—‘love is blind’—the execution is dead serious. The physically and psychologically damaged Marie (Halina Reijn) finally finds love with a vision-impaired young man (Joren Seldeslachts). But when he regains his sight, will his love still be blind? Van den Dop takes full advantage of the serene snow-clad landscapes of Bulgaria (posing for Belgium) and Reijn’s perfectly restrained body language, but is more concerned with the dichotomy between seeing and being seen than with a bona fide storyline. In Dutch. (BS) 98 min. Pathé ArenA Burnt by the Sun An interminable piece of Russian nostalgia by Nikita Mikhalkov (director, co-writer and star) that won the Oscar for best foreign film of 1994 and the grand jury prize at Cannes. Set over one long summer day in the country in 1936, it provides (1) a wake-up call about the dangerously underhanded doings of Joseph Stalin; and (2) an opportunity for a long, peaceful snooze. In Russian with Dutch subtitles. 134 min. Kriterion
in Fragments Documentary film-maker James Longley (Gaza Strip) has a flair for cinematography and editing and a poetic sensibility. But the most significant credits for this examination of Iraqi Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds may be the dozen translators listed. (‘The future of Iraq will be in three parts,’ says one Kurd. ‘How can you cut a country into three parts?’ asks another.) This film allows the people of Iraq to speak, and what they say is fascinating throughout. Showing in a programme marking the fifth anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. Also screening are two Dutch documentaries, De verkoop van een oorlog (Marije Meerman, 2008) and Dream City (Tomas Kaan, 2007), a series of interviews with visitors to a fun park in Kurdistan. In Kurdish/Arabic with Dutch subtitles. (JR) 94 min. De Balie Maîtresse A double bill of two dirty French films from the 1970s, both starring Gérard Depardieu. In Barbet Schroeder’s Maîtresse, Depardieu plays a burglar who breaks into an apartment and falls under the spell of its inhabitant, the dominatrix Ariane (Bulle Ogier). In Bertrand Blier’s Les Valseuses (Going Places), he and Patrick Dewaere are thugs who express their anti-bourgeois inclinations by harassing women, including Miou-Miou, Isabelle Houppert and Jeanne Moreau. In French with English subtitles. OT301
Future Shorts In this month’s edition, short films and clips about love and sex. OT301
Paris Is Burning Jennie Livingston’s exuberant and loving 1990 documentary about ‘voguing’ and the drag balls of Harlem is both a celebration and a canny commentary. Delving into the dance poses and acrobatic moves of black and Latino gay men, she enters this highly ritualised subculture with a genuine sense of curiosity and discovery, and is wise enough to let the participants themselves do most of the explaining. (JR) 71 min. De Nieuwe Anita
The Holiday Iris (Kate Winslet) lives in London and faces the same problem as Amanda (Cameron Diaz) in Los Angeles: men. In order to get away from it all they switch houses for two weeks, only to find out that love can’t be avoided. Iris runs into local
Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen’s 1813 novel of five sisters negotiating social marriages gets an agreeably kicky new hairdo in the 2005 version, from the producers who brought you Love, Actually. Keira Knightley makes a feisty Elizabeth Bennet, and Bond girl
Rosamund Pike shows respectable range as Elizabeth’s doubtful, compromised older sister Jane. Matthew Macfadyen is a bland and sulky Darcy, but the movie flames to life whenever Donald Sutherland moves into frame as the relaxed, humourous and magnificently rueful father. Joe Wright directed; with Brenda Blethyn, Simon Woods, Rupert Friend, Tom Hollander and Judi Dench. (JJ) 125 min. Rialto Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus Made for the BBC, this travelogue of America’s southern backwoods is both blessed and cursed by its fascination with the colourful, featuring lively alt-country sounds and fancy word spinners like novelist Harry Crews. The camera makes awed touristic pans of the various locales, and guides offer an uncredited swipe from Faulkner’s The Wild Palms and charge $100 a day to rent a 1970 Chevy. Directed by Andrew Douglas. (JR) 86 min. Rialto Secretary This wicked little black comedy (2002) chronicles the perverse attraction between a young typist (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her uptight boss (James Spader), a sadomasochistic tango that strikes unexpected chords in each character. Director Steven Shainberg twists the story into a sly and stylised study of two lonely souls who come to realise they’re made for each other. (TS) 104 min. Cavia Songs from the Second Floor Working with no script and mostly non-professional actors, Swedish director Roy Andersson tells the story of a middleaged businessman so worn down by caring for his mentally ill son that he decides to burn down his factory. The lugubrious, impressionistic music is by Benny Andersson of Abba. In Swedish with Dutch subtitles. (TS) 98 min. Studio K
A Swedish Love Story Roy Andersson’s 1969
debut focuses on the blossoming romance of two teenagers as the adult world around them crumbles into chaos and confusion. While the mix between teenybopper canoodling and midlife crises is at times slightly uneven, the naturalistic acting is nothing less than captivating. The recognisability of the awkward pubescent courtship rituals might vary according to your own childhood experiences, but they’re portrayed so convincingly that you expect Michael Apted to chime in with a portentous voiceover at any moment. Highly recommended. In Swedish with Dutch subtitles. (LvH) 115 min. Filmmuseum