International Film Festival Rotterdam 2007

As always for the last many years I made my way to the film festival in Rotterdam for 5 days and 16 movies.
Thursday January 25th
My first was The Journals of Knud Rassmusen, by Canadian Director Zacharias Kunuk, Norman Cohn of The Fast Runner. It was a story of Inuit’s at the turn of the century facing change in their lives from the first Europeans making contact and bringing change to their lives in the form of Christianity as well as changes in their own families.
I liked the movie for the anthropology aspect as well as the wonderful costumes and language.
The second that night was céu de suely: Suely in the Sky which was a Brazilian movie about a young woman and her small child who move back to her small town to try and get her life together while she waits for her husband to join her from San Paulo. When this does not materialize she looks for ways to make money to leave any way she can. The cast was great and the slow shot scenes gave you the idea about how bored she was waiting for things to change.

Friday January 26th
Anche libero va bene: Along the Ridge was the story about a family who’s mother left without saying goodbye leaving the father to deal with the children and his own misery. The main character was a young boy who while trying to please his father by swimming dreams of playing football like the other boys his age and hangs out on the roof to escape his fathers moods and his own life. His sister and father and sister seem to have a close relationship and he seems the outsider. Meanwhile the mother returns promising to have changed and the family takes a vote to take her back or not. The acting was great especially from the boy and his father and I found it to be a wonderful and simple story told in a great way.
The second was Friss levegö: Fresh Air a Hungarian movie about a mother and daughter who are not on speaking terms and who only communicate through notes. The daughter dreams of becoming a fashion designer, and the mother is stuck working in the public toilets in the train station in Budapest. The movie made me laugh out loud but was too long in my opinion; however as a debut director I thought she did a wonderful job.

Saturday January 27th
Jacco and I hooked up to see a few movies on the weekend as usual.
Our first was Izobrajaya zhertvu: Playing the Victim a Russian movie about a guy who makes his living acting out crime scenes for the police, however strange things start happening to him and we are not sure if he is going mad or was already there. I liked the acting from the main character Valja but did not quite understand the main dectective or some of the other charachters. I imagine the main actor will be very successful in Russia in the coming years.
A fost sau n-a fost?: 12:08 East of Bucharest won the golden camera in cannes for best debut. A movie about the revolution 16 years ago and a talk show host trying to find people willing to talk about it. It was quite funny and you end up watching a television show with some pretty strange charachters trying to either escape or relive their past.
Die Unerzogenen: Unpolished. A German movie about a teenage girl who has to live with her hippy parent’s lifestyle which she does not like one bit. After uprooting her from her life in Portugal back to Germany to her granfathers house which has been left in his will to her mother she tries to make the best of her new lifestyle. Several hangers-on also appear from their old life as well as her father who has just got out of jail after many years. She is not happy but thinks there is a way she can have a normal life, if only she can keep her parents secret from the new group of kids she has befriended. Of course things start to go wrong and she is finding that she has choices to make about her life. A good movie and beautifully shot. Another debut film maker on the rise.
Immer nie am Meer: Forever Never Anywhere. Another great German film about 3 men who get in a car after an accident and cannot get out of the car. Each have their own problems and are faced with their own pathetic lives in the process of trying to find a way out. Meanwhile, along comes a very troubled young man who is supposed to be their saviour but things are not always what they seem. A really really great movie, 5/5 on my vote.

Sunday January 28th
The day began very early with a Tunisian film Ors el dhib: Tender is the Wolf about a loser of a man who in his 30’s lives in his parents garage. He has no job or prospects and hangs around with a few low life losers. One night his friends rape a girl and during the event he tries to stop them with no luck. The rest of the film he is paying for his friends and his own mistakes. Somewhere along the film I lost the plot. He was quite stiff and not really convincing with his anger and pain. The lead actress was quite good,and the albino charachter did his part perfectly. Not really a wonderful movie but it did have some elements worth watching.
Shaere Zobale-Ha: Scream of the Ants. An Iranian couple go to India on their honeymoon to find spirituality in their own way. Personally I thought the woman was on the right path and her husband was a real arse and did not deserve her. But interesting that the husband felt so lost to God and the wife was so connected to god. I liked the harsh images of India and the delicate images of the wife.
D.O.A.P.- Death of an American President. A mocumentary about the killing of President Bush. Quite interesting how they protrayed the apparent staff of Bush to speak of him in a way that made him seem like the smartest guy in the world but you know it is done in a way that was taking the piss. I quite liked the movie but am always a little disturbed about the just how paranoid and gullable some Americans seem to be.
Awesome I Fucking Shot That. This was a great Rockumentary about a Beastie Boys concert in 2004 where they gave out 80 digital 8’s to some avid fans to shot the concert. I only stayed for half the movie but it was good fun and I liked the idea. Unfortunatly having done some of my own filming in my days, I could not take the blurry and often very unstable images, sadly the best shots were from the camera on the stage on the runner. I can see though how the B-boys have such a solid fan base.

Thursday Febuary 1st
Drama/Mex a story about people who have to make choices in their lives. The way it was shot was remiicent of Memento but without making sense in the end. It was a unnecessary thing. I liked the different story lines but not how they cross paths. I gave it a 3/5.
Z odzysku: Retrieval a Polish movie about a young guy trying to do the right thing by everyone in his life and still get ahead. After landing what seems the perfect job his concience does not allow him to continue if he wants to keep the other important things in his life. Beautifully acted by the lead Antoni Pawlicki.
Last Winter an American film about a team of oil company exploration and environmentalists sent to the Arctic to map out the site for a major drilling project that should sustain the US for many years to come. However when strange things start to happen to the staff the question is asked is the earth fed up with humans raping her natural resources? The movie had promise to tell a good story about why we should be careful with what is taken and not put back; however the movie fell apart when they tried to make it a thriller. It would have been much more interesting to leave out the animations at the end which ruined it for me, but knowing test audiences they probably did originally and nobody got it so a “bad guy” had to be introduced. A story worth thinking about; a movie worth renting on DVD.
Eagle vs Shark: New Zealand’s answer to Napoleon Dynamite, a story about to outcasts, once if which is obsessed with the other. When fate has brought them together they both learn a little more about life, love and acceptance. A cute movie with some very funny and butt clenching scenarios and a cute sound track not at all bad for debut director/writer Taika Waititi, all in all a very nice way to end my IFFR 2007.