Daisy Diamond

A very hard, I mean HARD, to watch disturbing film on so many levels that absolutely don't recommend it to the weak of heart and/or those that don't like to watch all kinds of graphic scenes (including -but not only- sex scenes). Still, absolutely one film not to miss if you enjoyed Noomi Rapace in the three Millennium movies with the most incredible performance as Lisbeth Salander.

This film is all about Noomi Rapace performance as Anna and she's almost in every scene, if not all. There are many scenes where she's looking at the camera in very-close close-ups, so close that you can see her face skin pores. Her performance is absolutely impressive, so real that makes the movie so believable and completely makes more disturbing the already disturbing story.

Is a film that I know will confuse many, but to me everything that happens in Anna's auditions is what happened to her for real which only adds irony to her not getting the roles she's audition for. The layered story is about a young woman that wants to be an actress so leaves Sweden for Copenhagen only to get pregnant and have a child that will complicate her desire to be an actress enormously. While story unravels, you will start to go crazy with the child crying and don't doubt that very soon you'll know what will happen as probably you thought about it first. After the unthinkable happens everything is a downfall as she loses total control of her actions and her life in general.

This film has so many references to one of my favorite films, Ingmar Bergman's Persona, that I tend to think that Simon Staho, director and co writer, with this movie did his own homage to Bergman's classic. This is another reason why you should watch this film if you haven't watch it by now. Can't help but to mention that while this is a Danish production with a Danish director, the film looks and feels like excellent Swedish cinema.

For this magnificent role and performance Noomi Rapace won the Best Actress Award at the 2008 Bodil Awards and the 2008 Robert Awards, plus the film got 7 nominations in both awards.

Do I recommend the film? Yes I do, but be prepared for VERY HARD to watch visuals and story. Absolutely not a film to enjoy, but to keep the ratings here goes the closing line.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @Movie On Companion

Festivals News

Some of you probably noticed that posting at the blog has been erratic and it’s not because I do not want to post or because I have no free time. It’s been because the blog is the object of a massive and very disgusting spam attack that finally I hope I learned how to control it, as for the past two days spam has stopped. Let’s hope that spam stays away from the blog from now on.

Unfortunately for the next two weeks I’ll be traveling and won’t be able to continue posting more regularly, so I decided to call your attention to two festivals that will be running soon. One is Sundance and the other is more interesting if you enjoy good International cinema, the 39th Rotterdam International Film Festival.

I will be posting the winners in each festival as soon as possible, but if you wish to check the list of films at the Rotterdam fest please go here and to check the Sundance lineup go here.

From Sundance there is one film that I’m sure many that read the blog will be excited to finally learn that has been released: The Runaways! The bad news is that there will be no Queer Lounge this year at Sundance, so it’s not easy to learn the LGBT films that will be screened.

From the Rotterdam fest here is a copy and paste of the nominees for the VPRO Tiger Awards Competition

Autumn Adagio by Inoue Tsuki (Japan, 2009)
Inoue Tsuki’s début feature film, after her prize winning short fiction The Woman Who Is Beating The Earth, is called Autumn Adagio. Japanese musician and actress Rei Shibakusa plays a middle-aged nun in a drama that deals with salvation, sexuality and identity in the different stages of a woman’s life.

C’est déja l'été by Martijn Maria Smits (The Netherlands/Belgium, 2010)
Talentend young filmmaker Martijn Smits literally makes his way into Dardenne Brothers territory with his début feature C’est déja l'été, a realistic and engaging portrayal of a dysfunctional, lower class family living in Seraing, Belgium.

Agua fría de mar (Cold water of the Sea) by Paz Fábrega (Costa Rica/France/Spain/Netherlands/Mexico, 2010)
Paz Fábrega’s first feature film Agua fría de mar (Cold Water of the Sea) is set on the Pacific coast of Costa Rica during the Christmas holiday season. It is the sensitive and atmospheric story of a young couple and a seven-year old girl with very different social backgrounds.

Let Each One Go Where He May by Ben Russell (USA/Suriname, 2009)
Let Each One Go Where He May is the feature début of Chicago-based filmmaker Ben Russell. The film, portraying contemporary Saramaccan life, traces the journey of two brothers who venture from the outskirts of Paramaribo, Suriname, on land and through rapids, past a Maroon village on the Upper Suriname River. Their journey reflects the voyage undertaken by their ancestors, who escaped from slavery at the hands of the Dutch 300 years earlier.

Mama by Yelena Renard & Nikolay Renard (Russia, 2010)
Yelena and Nikolay Renard, new and promising voices in Russian cinema, made fiction out of the real life story of a complex relationship between an overbearing mother and her obese, forty-year-old son who still lives at home. The filmmakers use a very realistic style in which shots are sometimes turned into tableaux vivants.

Miyoko by Tsubota Yoshifumi (Japan, 2009)
Tsubota Yoshifumi’s Miyoko is a lavishly styled biopic about a Japanese manga-artist, his regularly nude posing muse Miyoko and the bohemian Tokyo neighborhood where they live in the seventies. The young artist obsessively sticks to his girlfriend and the bottle.

Mundane History by Anocha Suwichakornpong (Thailand, 2009)
Scriptwriter and director Anocha Suwichakornpong’s short film Graceland (2006) became the first Thai short film to be included in the Official Selection at Cannes Film Festival. Her feature film début Mundane History is a family drama about a paralyzed son, an elusive father and the male nurse hired to take care of the wheelchair-bound patient. Suwichakornpong’s second feature project By the Time It Gets Dark is selected for CineMart 2010.

My Daughter by Charlotte Lay Kuen Lim (Malaysia, 2009)
Charlotte Lay Kuen Lim worked for numerous TV commercials after completing her studies in broadcasting and was an assistant director for various films. She directed several short films, such as Escape (2008), screened at IFFR 2009. Her feature film début My Daughter is an intimate study of the mutual dependence between a slovenly hairdresser and her insecure teenage daughter.

R by Michael Noer & Tobias Lindholm (Denmark, 2010)
R is Lindholm & Noer’s first feature film about young Rune who tries to survive in a Danish prison. A gripping, hard hitting film that portrays the prison world with its strict hierarchy, codes of honor and mysterious contracts.

Les signes vitaux (Vital Signs) by Sophie Deraspe (Canada, 2009)
A young Canadian woman wants to know what people really need in the last moments of their lives. In a restrained way, without any false sentimentality, Sophie Deraspe’s film evokes grand questions about the things that are important in life and the strange intimacy between caregivers and the dying.

Street Days by Levan Koguashvili (Georgia, 2010)
Sober Georgian drama about Checkie, a jobless and penniless junkie, is a reflection of a generation who were around the age of twenty when the Soviet Union fell, brought up in the soviet style, and incapable of adapting to all the socio-political and economical changes. They are now in their late thirties and early forties and referred to as the lost generation.

Sun Spots by Yang Heng (Hong Kong/China, 2009)
Three years after his award winning début feature Betelnut, Yang Heng presents Sun Spots, minimalistic Chinese cinema that combines beautiful HD imagery with the story of a tragic relationship between a young gangster and a girl disappointed in love.

The Temptation of St. Tony by Veiko Õunpuu (Estonia/Sweden/Finland, 2009)
After winning the Horizon Award 2007 at the Venice Film Festival for his début feature Autumn Ball, Estonian filmmaker Veiko Õunpuu now returns with his second feature The Temptation of St. Tony, a parable on the new, wolf like capitalism in Eastern Europe with its compassionless capitalist rules and rulers. Shot in beautiful black and white, Õunpuu’s vision is provocative and dark, but also very diverting with his use of black comedy.

Alamar (To the Sea) by Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio (Mexico, 2009), European premiere
Alamar delicately portrays the relationship between a father and son spending a summer on Chinchorro reef on the Mexican-Caribbean coast, where the father is a fisherman. The second feature film by Pedro Gonzalez-Rubio was produced by Jaime Romandia for Mantarraya Producciones that previously produced films by Carlos Reygadas and Amat Escalante.

La vie au Ranch by Sophie Letourneur (France, 2009)
In her début feature La vie au ranch, Sophie Letourneur portrays with great insight the seemingly quite happy daily life of a small group of twenty-year-old female students living together in what they call their ‘Ranch’. Their lives are about to be confronted with the sharper edges of reality and relationships.

There are some very interesting films in the competition lineup that I had to post them.

Hope you will browse both fests sites and one fest that definitively I HAVE to do the usual coverage is the 2010 Berlinale that will start on February 11th, 2010 and this year will celebrate its 60th Anniversary.

Enjoy!

October 2009 LGBT Festivals

We know that in October not only the Awards Season starts but also with Autumn in most parts of the world film festivals happen more often. For example there are 8 festivals that are opening just today. The LGBT interest festivals are no exception and during the month the following fests will take place.

Atlanta Gay and Lesbian Film Festival – Out on Film

Clip! Tampa International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival

Southwest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival (in Albuquerque and Santa Fe)

Reel Affirmations: International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival (in Washington D.C.)

Seattle Lesbian & Gay Film Festival

Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Film Festival

Pittsburg Lesbian and Gay Film Festival

Hamburg International Lesbian and Gay Film festival

Mezipatra – Czech GLBT Film Festival

LESGAICINEMAD: Madrid Lesbian and Gay Film Festival . To watch some trailers from this year fest go here.

Each fest name is a link to their official site and I’m sure there has to be more genre festivals opening this month, but those are enough for today.

As you can imagine the above festivals screen almost the same movies and perhaps the one that could have new movies is the Madrid fest but they do not have their full program published; the lesbian interest films are known to the blog with one exception that you will find in the trailers blog. Still there are a lot of “new” shorts that if you visit the fest sites will find them.

So enjoy reading about movies in the fest sites and no surprise… there are a lot of new gay interest films, sigh!

Frygtelig Lykkelig (Terribly Happy)

I watched this movie some time ago, and I’ve been postponing writing this review. Why? Well…

"Terribly Happy" was chosen by the Danish Oscar-committee as Denmark's entry for the Academy Award nominations 2010. The film is sold to over 40 countries including the USA, and it appears that an American remake of "Terribly Happy" is in preproduction.

This is director Henrik Ruben Genz' third feature film. The screenplay, based on a novel by Erling Jepsen, is also by Henrik Ruben Genz and Dunja Gry Jensen.

The movie has received several International awards: Crystal Globe at Karlovy Vary International Film Festival 2008, Special Police Award at Beaune International Thriller Film Festival 2009, Best Film at Bilbao FANT 2009, Best Director at Chicago International Film Festival 2008, Best Script at Festroia - Troia International Film Festival…and a few more.

And yet, I don’t like it at all. And I had such high hopes about this movie.

The story begins with a policeman – Robert – being transferred to a remote small town. There’s a reason to it, as we will find out. Right from the beginning we realize it’s a strange place, with strange habits. As it seems to happen a lot in small, remote locations, the villagers live by their own laws and solve matters in their own way. Contrary to what we might expect, Robert adjusts well, in fact too well and too fast.

The problem is that I found the plot predictable and uninteresting. I think I even spaced out watching this movie that I was so eager to watch. And it seemed familiar…but worst than whatever movie it was reminding me of.

I couldn’t relate to the main character, empathize, sympathize, or even hate him. Any feelings would have been a good thing, but it didn’t happen. After that, of course, the movie lost interest. I couldn’t care less about what was going to happen with Robert. I also found the other characters obnoxious or, in most cases, too one-dimensional.

About the cinematography, lately I’ve started to suspect that any movie with a camera lingering over desolated landscapes in the middle of nowhere will have an “outstanding” cinematography. As much as I love desolated landscapes, I beg to differ. It has a good cinematography, but let´s not go wild about it, please.

The acting is good, but not memorable. I hope to see good acting in most movies I watch, and I think that’s what actors are supposed to do. When I mention someone’s acting, that means it’s good enough for me to be on the look for any other movies with that actor or actress. It won’t happen with any of this casting. Actually I have to rephrase, there is a very good performance, since I enjoyed a lot the stellar, self-contained performance of the cat.

Apart from that, the song at the end of the movie, by singer Kira, is very good. That’s what I liked more about the movie. And the fact it ended, actually.

I’m sorry, but this is not "Babette's Feast" or "Pelle the Conqueror", both two amazingly good movies.

By the way, since this movie’s plot was somehow familiar to me, I started going through my mind film files (yes, I have those) and I found out why. If anyone wants to watch a good movie, I recommend U Turn, directed by Oliver Stone.

Yellow light.

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (Män som hatar kvinnor)

The Millennium Trilogy is a series of three bestselling novels written by the late Swedish writer Stieg Larsson and it’s named after the magazine where the character Mikael Blomqvist works. The novels in the series are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.

The trilogy has been made into three films (Danish production) and "Män som hatar kvinnor" is the first. The second "Flickan som lekte med elden" [The Girl Who Played with Fire] is being released soon, and the third is supposed to also be out before the end of the year.

The correct translation for the title is “Man Who Hate Women” and who knows why it was changed since it was perfect.

Mikael Blomqvist is a journalist with an unusual assignment. He is contacted by the industrial leader Henrik Vanger, who wants him to find out what happened to his 16-year old niece Harriet Vanger, disappeared without a trace on September 29th 1966. Henrik is convinced she was murdered and needs some closure. Mikael has recently been indicted and convicted on counts of slander and also knew Harriet, so he accepts the job. He gets help from the enigmatic computer hacker Lisbeth Salander. They start to investigate the past of the Vanger family and find a troubling story.

Danish director Niels Arden Oplev only directed this movie, the other two are directed by Swedish director Daniel Alfredson and honestly I’m curious to see what changes with the new director, since I was not too convinced by Oplev’s work.

The acting is quite good and Noomi Rapace (Lisbeth) caught my attention to the point I’m looking for another movie she was in – Daisy Diamond - and that got her an acting award. Michael Nyqvist as Blomqvist also does a good job. Peter Andersson plays a small role on the movie, but it’s a very important one and he is amazing doing it.

I did find the plot a bit predictable and there is also something that happens halfway through the movie between Lisbeth and Mikael that I found totally out of character and particularly weird under the circumstances, but I haven’t read the book so I don’t know if it’s part of the book or just a stupid idea they had for the movie.

Apart from that I handled quite well the almost two-and-a-half hour long movie, and that says a lot to me. If a movie is that long, either it is good or it’s torture. The plot was absorbing and kept me interested. Lisbeth Salander is a very interesting character, though I felt there was a lot more about her than what is revealed. I think that probably to explain more about her, (or Michael, for that matter) would have forced the movie to be even longer and if that is the case, I’m glad they didn’t do it. The book is apparently around 500 pages long and most likely it would not have been easy to squeeze in more information. It’s just that for what I’ve read, there are some aspects of Lisbeth’s personality that you don’t get at all from this movie and that might be relevant to know about, if you really want to understand her. So I’m thinking that we will have more information in the next movie, and after watching all of them I might have to revisit this review. Now, the fact I want to watch the other two is revealing…

Green light!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Antichrist

I really dislike horror films and consequently haven’t seen many, so you can say that my genre knowledge is limited if not very basic. But today I’m asking what the horror genre really is as I cannot understand how a movie like the Antichrist is labeled as horror. But then I also cannot understand why is labeled as thriller. For me this is a drama. A sometimes shocking and violent drama, yes; but in my opinion there is nothing thrilling or horror related in this film.

The films tells a so common story about parents grief when their only child dies. But the mastery of Lars von Trier found a way to tell the story in the most unexpected, non-imaginable way while using the most outstanding visuals I have ever seen in any of his movies and in many other films by great cinema masters. The movie visually is stunning with compositions that absolutely take your breath away. Visuals come with extraordinary music and sounds that absolutely complement this unbelievable complete cinematic experience.

With all the controversy around the movie after the Cannes premiere it was impossible not to notice and become aware of the particular scenes with controversy. But me not wishing to be spoiled by any kind of clues heard and read headlines trying not to be contaminated. Still I knew about the “decapitation” of no head but of the sexual organ. The scene in the screen was not more than a few seconds and was nothing special, but the pain I felt was excruciating. Is this horror? Not for me. It was awfully painful like if it was done to me. But I wanted to see more, to continue watching the mesmerizing visuals and the quite brainy story of grief, pain, and despair as von Trier calls his first, second and third chapters.

When Lars von Trier got the idea and wrote the script he was suffering his first ever depression.

" Il y a deux ans j'ai fait une dépression. Ca a été une nouvelle expérience pour moi. Tout, absolument tout, me paraissait sans importance, futile. Je ne pouvais pas travailler. Six mois plus tard, juste pour m'entrainer, j'ai écrit un scénario. C'était une sorte de thérapie, mais aussi une recherche, un test pour voir si je pouvais encore faire un film. "

I do not know about you but I do believe that when you feel the worst is when you produce your best. Again, Trier found a way to tell an explored in many ways story in a totally different way and to me that’s outstanding.

Is the storytelling sexually graphic? Yes it is; but I’m no prude and remember that I do not like pornography at all; still I can take everything sexually graphic that I saw in this movie.

Is the storytelling violent? Yes it is; but I have seen more violent movies and seen those movies where violence is gratuitous. Here violence has a sense and is crucial to the story.

Today I’m still thinking about some issues in the movie and wish I could find only one explanation to many things that happen in the story. But I know that I will find as many explanations as I’m willing to find. That is why I call the story brainy and consequently, I know that viewers will find in the story whatever they wish to see. Still for von Trier the film is about “nature”.

"Une fois encore, le sujet était " la nature " mais d'une façon différente, plus directe qu'auparavant. Une façon plus personnelle. Le film ne contient aucun code moral particulier et possède seulement ce que d'aucuns appelleraient " le strict minimum " en termes d'intrigue. "

By the way I totally avoided reading non-European reviews and viewers comments as I’m aware that due to moral codes and likes/dislikes in films the tone and manner was going to be not positive. If you want to read about this film I strongly suggest you do the same.

I’m not a huge fan of the Danish “enfant terrible” and I admit that I didn’t enjoyed much some of his films (like Dogville); but Antichrist is absolutely outstanding from the storytelling pov, the production values and mostly because of the most amazing visuals even when telling hard to watch scenes. There are many visually stunning moments but the opening, the Prologue, really blows your mind and takes your breath away; it does it so much that you hardly pay much attention to what happens and now I realize that the storytelling really starts when She and He are having intense sex and She is looking to the camera.

Never before have I seen Willem Dafoe performing like this and yes I have seen Charlotte Gainsbourg in many excellent performances but this 2009 Cannes honored with the Best Actress award is one of her best. The entire film is a pas de deux between the two actors and is an amazing to watch display of acting excellence.

I strongly recommend this film that I know I will watch again and absolutely is a Must Be Part of my Collection when the DVD becomes available. Next time I will try not to get lost in the visuals and pay more attention to the story that still today puzzles me in a few points. Will I close my eyes to avoid feeling the excruciating pain in the infamous scene? Yes I will.

BIG ENJOY!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Max Manus (Max Manus: Man of War)

Some of you perhaps recall that I do not like war movies and you may also noticed that lately I have seen a few about WWII some better than others. But in my opinion there is a big difference between European war movies and let’s say, Hollywood war movies. The later are more action driven, while the Europeans are more drama driven. Max Manus not only is a biopic with not too many artistic licenses, but also has a great tale about a real-life man with a colorful life full of not so usual “adventures” that was able to hurt the Germans in occupied Norway. It is an entertaining mainstream movie that does not look much like your usual Hollywood fare.

I find the story and production values similar to the Danish Flammen & Citronen or the Dutch Zwartboek (Black Book) as this movie tells about a Norway resistance hero that from improvisation went to training in Scotland, to end up blowing famous German war ships and to become one of the most wanted by the local Gestapo, who never was able to kill him, even when he was captured once.

Directed by Joachim Rønning and Espen Sandberg the film has good production values that make an easy to watch and very entertaining film. By the way, I’m sure that most of the blog readers know the work of these directors, as surely many have seen the Penelope Cruz and Salma Hayek film Bandidas that was directed by this duo. The film has nice cinematography and some puzzling scenes with hand-held camera that intensify the drama on the screen.

The movie was honored with many awards at the 2009 Amanda Awards including Best Film, Best Cinematography, Best Screenplay, Best Actor to Aksel Hennie that plays a very credible Max Manus, andBest Supporting Actress to Agnes Kitelsen that plays Tikken Lindebrække, his contact in Sweden and eventually his wife (that you do not see it in the film, but the film motivated me to read about the real life Max Manus and I enriched my world History knowledge with this interesting hero real bio).

I enjoyed the movie as an interesting piece of Norway History in an entertaining drama about an unusual war hero and as such I do recommend it.

Enjoy!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Kærlighed på film (Just Another Love Story)

Changing your life, even if it happens by accident, can have consequences that you didn't predict at all.

Jonas has a “normal” life – married, kids, and the usual routine – and a not so normal job. Suddenly a set of events he did not initiate will completely transform everything. Jonas can't resist the thrill of what seems to be a new start, a new chance in life that comes along with a new name. The problem is that the new life brings a past of it's own. Jonas doesn't want to live in mediocrity, but there is a price to pay. “Just Another Love Story” is everything but just another love story, and yet it is just another love story. Confused? Go on, watch the movie!

Swedish actress Rebecka Hemse and Danish actress Charlotte Fish are absolutely perfect and so is Anders Berthelsen, playing the conflicted Jonas. Hemse's performance as a woman going through a very difficult situation both physically and psychologically is brilliant and manages to avoid the traps of overacting. I almost forgot to mention Nikolaj Lie Kaas since he only plays a small (but important) part in this movie, but how unfair that would have been. This actor has won several awards both as best actor or best supporting actor and I think that says it all.

The danish production from director Ole Bornedal won some awards and was even nominated for the Sundance Festival Grand Jury Prize. I can not praise too much the cinematography and the editing. The ability to play with light and technique produces some beautiful frames. At times we are transported to a world that is not real, but that happens at the right moment. The soundtrack also fits in perfectly, adding to the movie without becoming the protagonist.

There are several layers to this movie that at times seems to explore the anguishes of life, and then it is a thriller with characters with mysterious pasts. Because of the way the story unfolds, I was mesmerized until the last second. The movie is very well balanced and can be ironic, dark, dramatic, surprising, intense. Anyway, it was a pleasure.

Green light!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Mammoth (Mammut)

This Swedish/Danish/German co-production is Lukas Moodysson most recent movie, and I was looking forward to it. I already knew his work from movies like Show Me Love and A Hole In My Heart, and I thought highly of him.

The cast also seemed promising; I’ve had great experiences with movies featuring Gael Garcia Bernal or Michelle Williams, and with them on board and Moodysson directing, this movie could be something really special. I was anxious to watch it.

Ellen and Leo are an American couple, with successful careers. Leo is the creator of a gaming website, and a businessman travelling the world. Ellen is a surgeon. Their daughter Jackie is spending most of her time with her nanny Gloria. Gloria is from the Philippines and we get to see how her family lives, and how much her two young sons miss her. Meanwhile, Leo goes to Thailand in a business trip with an associate.

As the movie progresses, by thirty minutes into it, I was already feeling like pushing the fast forward button. I ended up watching the rest of the movie later on (one day later), and that is not a good sign. The movie drags itself and in my opinion could be a good half an hour shorter. The story doesn’t bring anything new, unless you have never travelled outside your country and also do not watch any documentaries or the news.

By now I’m quite aware how people with successful careers have great apartments and status but do not seem to find a way to balance their professional lives with their personal ones, and end up sacrificing their kids and family life and ultimately, their happiness. And I’ve seen how tough life can be in under developed countries, where money and education are not available to all. But, as I said, unless you are living under a rock or have been in a long, deep coma, we all know that. Personally, this movie didn’t bring me anything new. The story is painfully predictable and so are the characters.

You have good acting, as expected. But that is not enough to hold a movie and I know that I will soon forget about this one, except for the fact that it disappointed me so much. I expect a movie to be entertaining or thought-provoking and, either way, to arise some kind of emotions in me. This one failed completely.

Most reviews about this movie are very positive, and comments about it from viewers go from “really boring” to “the best movie ever”. So I give this one a Yellow Light, meaning, you are on your own deciding if you want to take a chance on it or not.

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Ekko (Echo)

This Danish movie from director Anders Morgenthaler begins with a father taking his son on a weeks’ vacation to a lovely cottage in a remote place. We know right away that there is something more to it, but it’s only after the story advances for a while that we realize that Simon (the father) has a secret. The secret will explain his actions and ultimately lead to a dramatic outcome.

Though the plot could be explained in just a few lines, I never felt bored or uninterested as Morgenthaler seems to know very well how to keep you waiting for more information. And though you have to keep collecting those little pieces of information as they show up, they are all relevant and they are also all you really need to know. There is nothing superfluous on the movie.

Through a good part of the movie we only have two actors, Simon (Kim Bodnia) and his son Louie (Villads Fritsche). Later on, they are joined by the unconventional but lovely Angelique (Stine Fischer Christensen), and the three of them present us with great acting. In the all, there are about a dozen actors on this production and it’s always great to see how you don’t need lots of resources to tell a story in an effective way.

The movie was nominated for several awards, and those nominations were well deserved. I enjoyed specially the cinematography, in a movie where choices about light and absence of light, sound and silence make all the difference and are as revealing as the acting itself. Camera movement plays a key role in the emotional language of this film and I was amused by one particular slow motion little scene that provides an insight into Simon’s state of mind. Some Vivaldi music also fits perfectly the story.

A well-balanced movie that made me want to rent a cottage in some Danish coastal area. Seriously.

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Lille Soldat (Little Soldier)

A very minimalist movie that allows you to see and hear just enough for you to get an idea of what soldiers coming back from war live, what life prostitutes could have and the consequences of a dysfunctional father-daughter relationship. It will be up to you what to do/think with/about the information, as the film and story will only tell but will not make easy to digest the information by giving an opinion or message.

This Annette K. Olesen film tells the story of Lotte and Lily. Lotte is the soldier and Lily is the prostitute. Lotte came back from war bruised, traumatized and numb. The real Lily is also bruised, traumatized and numb; but she has a different and more pleasant face (mask?) for the boss –that’s Lotte’s father- and for her clients. A face probably very alike to the face Lotte had while she was in Iraq. In the end the father/boss relationship is what really makes both feel and be really alone. Yes is a complex mirrored story of so opposite characters not so easy to get, but if you’re sensible for women stories I know you will easily get it.

I usually pay no or low attention to music in movies; this movie is the exception as has one of the most outstanding music scores I have hear lately, is so good that even I had to notice and is no surprise that the composer won a Special Award at the 2009 Bodil Awards. Really remarkable and outstanding!

Technical specs are impeccable with top performances by actors, especially by one of the most admired actresses in Denmark, Trine Dyrholm that plays Lotte. But what has been called “a great find” -as she's a British TV actress- is who really steals the movie; Lorna Brown’s performance as Lily is truly compelling and remarkable.

The movie won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the 2009 Berlinale and was in competition for the Golden Bear. Also was nominated for Best Film and Best Director at the 2009 Robert Awards and the 2009 Bodil Awards. Honors that truly deserve for a great emotional cinematic experience especially driven by the tough story, great performances that hardly express any emotion (but you will feel emotions), bare excellent cinematography and a great filmmaker and storyteller.

I said I was not going to watch serious cinema, but who can resist? Apparently, not me. I’m so glad that I changed my mind, as this was a movie that captured my total attention since the very dark first screen up to the magnificent finale with an extraordinary long take. In between I was totally mesmerized by actors performances, story development and the remarkable music score.

I highly recommend this film to those that enjoy serious cinema with compelling (and complex mirrored) stories about women.

Enjoy!!!

Watch trailer @ Movie On Companion

Rutger Hauer Filmfactory News

The more I learn about this program the more I get really interested as seems to be quite a great experience for filmmakers. The 2009 program videos are up and I suggest to all my filmmakers readers to check them. Here is the 2009 Making of video and if you feel like watching the new videos go here.

Rutger Hauer Filmfactory

Thanks to my crazy searching about the many films that are being screened in the current festivals, I discovered a site that I dedicate to my filmmakers readers (I know I have forgotten about you) that probably will excite you all as much as I’m excited about.

The site is a Youtube channel with the following description.

This channel is hosting clips & short films related to the Rutger Hauer Filmfactory masterclasses held in Rotterdam in 2007 & 2008. All were shot as an excersize in filmmaking. In the years to come RHFF wants to be a caleidoscopic "window" where filmmakers will trade knowhow for knowhow through a visual medium. For free! It is and always will be a work and a virtual dream in progress! After a visit to SUNDANCE(1989) the idea of a professional film stock exchange kept haunted me. This is a beginning.

The channel is here and there is a formal site under construction that will be here.

Up to today there are 369 videos, some with quite interesting to watch filmmaking materials and just as an example here is the 2008 Masterclass video that not only has excellent quality, but it’s very interesting to watch as a filmmaking process, even if you are not a filmmaker. Relax as is about half hour and enjoy!



Also there you will find 14 videos with shorts produced during the Masterclass and I strongly suggest you watch the short directed by Doris Yeung Wounds that is truly impressive. Definitively this is a channel that you can visit and watch videos for many days and lets hope that soon the 2009 Masterclass videos will be up.

Enjoy!!!