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HOW ARNOLD WON THE WEST (2004)

This ‘mockumentary’ deals with the battle by ‘the Governator’, Arnold Schwarzenegger, to what probably is the highest position an immigrant can reach in American politics. In it we follow Arnie toward his victory to become the governor of one of the biggest world economies (California). The circumstances and backgrounds on their own provide enough material to make you fall off your seat laughing in utter amazement, and although this documentary is rather messy (and lacks some chronology), it is rather enjoyable. It is additional proof that the American electoral system (both on a state and federal level) is primarily based on who has the most money and that practically anyone can sign up as candidate.

The documentary also focuses on some of the outcasts in the Californian election (there were at least 70 people who signed up as candidates), including porn and tv stars. Although quite unbalanced, How Arnold Won the West is quite worth seeing, especially if you like the documentaries by Michael Moore, even though Moore is a bit more cynical. It sidetracks too much (although Moore can be accused of the same), focusing on candidates that may be preposterous, yet are irrelevant to the elections, contending in game shows and searching for their singular brain cell.

Directed by: Alex Cooke
Runtime: 80’

The Green Hat deals with the interesting subject of marital adultery and ‘a green hat’ is a Chinese metaphor and slang expression for a woman who cheats on her husband. The main story (that begins to unfold about halfway) is about a man who is deceived by his wife, when she has found a lover who is better at satisfying her sexual needs.

This Chinese production starts off somewhat awkwardly, as it seems its director, Liu Fendou, shifts to and fro between genres, before finally getting to the core issue: the ancient question of infidelity and disloyalty. But before Liu tackles the main issue he starts off with a heist/crime setting with characters that later appear irrelevant to the story. But when the main issue has arrived, there are several breathtaking scenes that give an intimate insight into how people can get alienated within a relationship. There is, for instance, the scene in which the main character confronts his wife’s lover with their affair, which keeps you at the edge of your seat. Very interesting film, that unfortunately could be a lot shorter if kept to what it really should be about.

Directed by: Liu Fendou
Starring: Xi Zi, Liao Fan, Li Haibin
Runtime: 110’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

What would happen to the world if all people that passed away in the last ten years came back to life and started to re-inhabit the planet? Well, if you were George A. Romero, you’d probably end up with a lot of gore and blood, depicting the relived as zombies. In the case of Les Revenants, the focus is more on the personal/relationship problems of a loved one (a husband, a wife, a child) returned and the pressure of continuing the relationship where it left off. Besides the emotional problems, Les Revenants also deals with more practical issues, like where are all these people have to stay and what to do when most of them want to be reinstated in their jobs.

There is hardly much sci-fi when it comes to the visual aspects of Les Revenants. The film proves it is possible to construct an interesting, emotional, social drama, even when its main theme seems to be focused on a rather sci-fi-like subject. It cleverly dodges some of the clichés seen in almost every zombie film, except for the fact that the relived look like ordinary people. The story focuses on several individual stories, including a mayor who sees his wife return, a woman who sees her fiancé back from the hereafter and a family that gets reunited with their son, thereby increasing the personal commitment of the viewer.

All is accompanied by a very suspenseful, minimal yet attractive soundtrack and amazingly effective photography (most of the scenes takes place at night). Unfortunately near the end things get a bit over-Hollywoodish, although it is conceivable that the subject of this film may easily be translated to a slick Hollywood production or American TV series.

Directed by: Robin Campillo
Starring: Géraldine Pailhas, Jonathan Zaccaï, Frédéric Pierrot
Runtime: 110’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Japan’s Survive Style 5+, directed by Sekiguchi Gen, is a bizarre and unusual mixture of four storylines. The first one (definitely the craziest one) is about a man and a woman who hate eachother‘s guts so much, that the man kills the woman, buries her in the woods and upon returning home, finds her back again, alive, after which the story starts all over again. The second storyline deals with three bored teenagers who decide to sneak in a house. The last story is about a family that visit a hypnotist show. The father, who is very sceptical about hypnosis, is made to believe he is a bird, but the spell cannot be reversed as the hypnotist is killed during his performance. Then there is the side-plot of an assassin (a really funny supporting role by Vinnie Jones) hired to kill the hypnotist as well as the woman who can’t be killed.

Most striking is the art-direction and camerawork. The absurdity is enlarged by the colourful settings (a lot of primary colors), the wicked storylines, extensive sets and outfits (especially by the woman that can’t be killed). It makes it all very attractive to watch and within only a few minutes you are engrossed by the rather unlikely plots. The diverse storylines are joined near the end, although not very narrowly; resulting in the weakest spot of the film. Although Japanese, this is very appealing to a Western audience, also thanks to Vinnie Jones’ part which primarily consists of asking people: ‘what’s your function in life’?

This one received lots of kudos and even applause from the audience and is surrealistic and weird, but very very funny. Even if you are not that much into comedy, it’ll be hard to not get hooked.

Directed by: Sekiguchi Gen
Starring: Tadanobu Asano, Reika Hashimoto, Kyoku Koizumi, Vinnie Jones
Runtime: 120’
Official Website
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

The main star of Undertow, by American director David Gordon Green, is Jamie Bell. Yes, the boy from Billy Elliot now plays the role of Chris. He lives on a farm with his younger brother Tim (who has a serious eating disorder in which he tends to eat unusual stuff like soil and paint) and his widowed father John. When his uncle (Deel, played by Josh Lucas), an ex-convict, ends up living on the farm, things get out of hand. In a disagreement, John is killed by his brother Deel. Chris and Tim run away from home, chased by their uncle.

This is a Southern State, modern type of Western. Although primarily focusing on family life and endowed with some pretty decent performances (Bell adjusts perfectly to the all American cast and admiringly exchanges his British accent for a Southern American accent), Undertow never manages to exceed mediocrity. This is a seen-before, rather standard story, not even saved by a rather fundamental revelation that occurs about halfway. Some events are highly unlikely and rather predictable and the film suffers severely because of the highly implausible sentimentality and misfortune of its protagonists.

Directed by: David Gordon Green
Starring: Jamie Bell, Josh Lucas, Devon Alan, Dermot Mulroney
Runtime: 107’
Official Website
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

This French story of mystery deals with a strange boarding schools for girls. As the movie begins we see one of the new girls arriving in a coffin. She is accepted in her group (consisting of seven girls of different ages) right away and starts to bond with the eldest girl of her group, Bianca. Throughout the film you question yourself why the girls are part of the school, what kind of school we’re dealing with and why they are not allowed to have contact with their parents or friends.

Gradually, the story of the school and its ‘prisoners’ unfolds itself. The film is beautifully photographed and the eminently present mystery (and potential danger) is attractive, yet somewhat oppressing. By the end of Innocence you have some answers, but more questions have been raised leaving you somewhat numb and unsatisfied. Still, this is a poetic film about girls growing up and being deprived from what their peers, living in that mean the outside world, are exposed to. Intriguing and frustrating at the same time, you should see Innoncence yourself and judge.

Directed by: Lucile Hadzihalilovic
Starring: Zoé Auclair, Bérangère Haubruges, Lea Bridarolli
Runtime: 110‘
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

This documentary by Dutch director Frank Scheffer is deceiving in various ways. It appears to start off as an inside look at the cultivation and tradition of Chinese and Japanese tea, but eventually develops into a documentary about a modern Chinese opera by Tan Dun (known for his score for Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon), called Tea Opera. If you are not into modern (in my opinion atonal) opera this is not the documentary for you. You get to see snippets of the production, intersected with stylistic images about the ancient art of Chinese and Japanese tea making. Both subjects aren’t treated fully, which creates an enormous distance to the subjects. Very philosophical, but also a film that gives you a hard time keeping your eyes and ears open.

Directed by: Frank Scheffer
Runtime: 90’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

I have seen movies with weird plots, but this one is just as insane as it is horrendously executed. A man buys a second hand washing machine. Once he has dragged the damn thing homeward, it refuses duty by stopping and starting at random. It turns out that the machine is inhabited by a woman (I assume either a spirit or an alien) who crawls out and starts doing household chores for the man. The man, highly entertained by watching his new slave do the hard work, decides to act as her ‘pimp’ by renting her out to other people, including an old man, who introduces the woman as his new love interest,

I hate prejudices, but after seeing Sanctuary, also from Malaysia, this one should have been gracefully passed. This film, however, starts as quite interesting, but becomes boring after fifteen minutes. The director, James Lee, uses long, slow shots and builds up a certain tension, hinting towards sexuality and even sado-masochism, but in the end we are simply left with a slow, surreal, boring story about a woman that crawled out of a washing machine. *Yawn*.

Directed by: James Lee
Starring: Loh Bok Pai, Patrick Teoh, Amy Len
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Being a sucker for Asian horror and thriller movies, I was eagerly looking forward to the latest instalment by the Thai/Hong Kong Pang brothers, who are most well-known for The Eye and, recently, The Eye 2 (both highly recommended, especially The Eye). This time only one of them, Oxide Pang, mounted the directing chair, although his brother, Danny, remained closely tied to the project as a producer.

Ab-Normal Beauty deals with the story of two girls (played by Race and Rosanne Wong, having gained star status in homeland Hong Kong as the music duo 2R). One of them, Jin, is a photography student and becomes fascinated with death after taking a picture of a car accident. As she begins to photograph more and more objects, she receives a mysterious videotape showing footage of a real execution. Soon after that, she finds out she is being watched by someone or something.

Normally, the Pang brothers come up with movies that take a while to get into. In the case of Ab-Normal Beauty it takes the entire film to even moderately get into the story. Ab-Normal Beauty seems to rely more on its attractive music-video type visual structure and overly loud soundtrack, than on developing and building up a suspenseful story. The plot changes that occur after Jin has received the mysterious tape are highly unlikely and have no links to events or elements introduced throughout the film. Unfortunately, this film lacks the creativity and ingenuity of, for instance, the final scene of The Eye, bringing Ab-Normal Beauty dangerously close to standard Hollywood horror flicks.

Directed by: Oxide Pang
Starring: Race Wong, Rosanne Wong, Anson Leung
Runtime: 97’
Official Website

Being a fan of the work of Miike Takashi (Audition, Ichi the Killer, Zebraman), this was a title I was eagerly looking forward to. It tells the story of Izo, murdered in the nineteenth century and returning as a ghost, possessing the body of a man in present day Japan. With his new body, Izo kills everything in his path (including his mother and even school kids) to seek his revenge.

Miike evidently has no other goal than to show gore and lots of blood and he refrains from pretences. Keeping this in mind, Izo is quite fun to watch… the first thirty minutes that is. The humor in the first half is black, but is basically what keeps the film going. Unfortunately as the film progresses this important element diminishes. The story really is a mess, which is okay if you can go along with the craziness of the humor of the extreme scenes. If such an important component falls away, there is little or nothing to keep you seated.

Directed by: Miike Takashi
Starring: Kazuya Nakayama, Kaori Momoi, Ryuhzi Matsuda
Runtime: 128’
Official Website
photo: International Filmfestival Rotterdam

This film by Argentine director Lucrecia Martel and co-produced by Pedro Almódovar, tells the story of a mother (Helena) and her daughter (Amalia). Helena is the owner of a big hotel that is nearly taken over by a congress of doctors. Helena comes into contact with a certain doctor named Jano. Jano turns out to be a pervert, secretly trying to force his sexual frustrations on Amalia, without her mother’s awareness. Amalia, a teenager in the midst of her sexual awakening, is both repulsed as well as intrigued by Jano’s advances.

It is hard to tell where Martel loses her grip on this film. It appears to be within the slow plot development. The film desperately tries to keep intentions and ambiguity of the characters shrouded in mystery, but as a member of the audience you want answers sooner or later, or at least an inkling. Martel hides too much, seeming almost afraid of showing the true nature (and perhaps weakness) of the people that inhabit La Niña Santa. It anxiously tries to cover up its nakedness, showing little or no exposure of true motivations, let alone what goes on in the minds of the mother and daughter. What a waste, since some essential building blocks are present, but the construction is too weak and falls apart after half an hour.

Directed by: Lucrecia Martel
Starring: Mercedes Morán, Cerlo Belloso, Alejandro Urdapilleta, Maria Alché, Julieta Zylberberg
Runtime: 106’
Release Dates: US: , UK: 4 February 2005, The Netherlands:
Official Website
photo: International Filmfestival Rotterdam

This documentary by Chinese director Tian Zhuangzhuang focuses on the ancient Tea Horse Route in the central Himalayan country of Tibet. This time it does not focus on the horrible human-rights violations of the Tibetan population (half of which lives in exile, predominantly in India) by China, nor on the Tibetan desire for self-determination. It shows us the people and their work in Tibet. It also gives insight in the upcoming modernism and looming extinction of ancient tradition and folklore.This is a documentary you ought to see on the big screen, sitting in the front of the movie theater. The beauty of Tibet will absorb you. It also has a strong National Geographic feel to it and the dubbed voices of the interviewees is a bit irritating. Delamu is also way too long and occasionally too s l o w…

Directed by: Tian Zhuangzhuang
Runtime: 110’
photo: International Filmfestival Rotterdam

A Time Far Past tells the life story of a young Vietnamese boy, Sai, who is burdened with an arranged marriage at the age of twelve with a much older girl, Tuyet. Too young to get married (even in the 1950s, when this film takes place), Sai shows little to no interest to the girl, which continues even after we see him as an adult later in the film. Sai is more interested in joining the communist youth movement and later on as he joins the southern army.

The sound of the name of Vietnam related to filmmaking isn’t exactly what makes you want to rush for the cinema. In the case of A Time Far Past, based on the famous Vietnamese novel A Distant Past, by author Le Lu (who also penned down the scenario for this film), you better take a shot, because this is a true gem. Not only are the Vietnamese landscapes breathtaking, the cinematography is just as jaw-dropping., the acting is decent. Truly an unexpected surprise and an epic, beautiful film.

What probably also may pop up in the minds of many people hearing the word Vietnam is the infamous war. This war is present in A Time Far Past, but stays on the background, allowing the director Ho Quang Minh to primarily focus more on character development, rather than the terror and atrocities of war. The relationship (or as a matter of fact: the lack of it) between Sai and Tuyet is truly tragic, especially after Sai begins to show interest for an other girl, even though he is still married to Tuyet. Unfortunately towards the end, Quang Ming takes a big leap and finishes off the story too quickly for a prologue.

Directed by: Ho Quang Minh
Starring: Ho Puong Dung, Ngô The Quân, Nguyen Van Minh
Runtime: 109’
photo: International Filmfestival Rotterdam

Primer deals with the intricate concept of time traveling and proves it doesn’t take expensive budgets in order to make an dashing movie. It was directed by newcomer Shane Carruth, who also show up as one of the two male leads. Two friends, Aaron (Carruth) and Abe (David Sullivan) have worked on a special device for many years, that allows them to travel through time. Their plan is to use it in order to predict the winning lottery ticket and stock exchange. Of course, things go awfully wrong when executing their ingenious plan.

This is an unusual film in many ways. Most of all it was made with an incredibly low budget, an acclaimed $7,000. But, what makes it even more extraordinary is that it never looks cheap, has an interesting captivating storyline and even though it deals with an interesting yet complicated concept such as time traveling, it doesn’t have any fancy special effects, yet remains interesting throughout. The film has a clinical cold feel over it, perfect for the concept. Besides the rather admirable directing, Primer does have too much dialogue (maybe to compensate the lack of visual effects) and the gibberish between Abe and Aaron (do they have to discuss anything?) started to get on my nerves for a while.

I must admit I fell asleep during this one for about twenty minutes, resulting in me waking up not understanding ANYTHING about it anymore. The reason why I fell asleep was not because it was utterly boring, but because I saw it at 10 am after a night with hardly any sleep. Have to see it again, but from what I could make of it, Primer is pretty worth seeing.

Directed by: Shane Carruth
Starring: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan
Runtime: 80’
Official Website
photo: International Filmfestival Rotterdam

So Cute by South Korean director Kim Soo-Hun is a mixture of several genres including comedy, crime and social drama and focuses on a father Jang Su-Ro (the acting debut of Korean director Jang Sun-Woo) who is a former shaman and lady-killer and his three sons: Dog Nose, 963 and a gangster called So-So. The three sons all have different mothers and only recently got acquainted. When Dog Nose brings home a woman for his father, Soon-Yi, the lives of the four men get turned upside-down.

This is a very peculiar film in many ways. It does not only try to fuse all kinds of styles, but is also very whimsical in its storytelling and overall structure. This gives So Cute a rather fragmentary nature; there can be a complete change of atmosphere in the next scene. Although this implies a certain freshness and unpredictableness, it also makes the film as a whole rather messy.

Aside to these stylistic flaws, all the characters seem to be two-dimensional and inscrutable. Maybe that is because Soo-Hun wanted to put too much into So Cute. There’s a dash of Miike Takashi, some Tarantino (although the latter may probably be offended by this comparison). Soo-Hun tries to approach these masters, but never comes near. The film embodies an element of social drama though only to the surface, since Su-Ro and his sons live at an abandoned apartment building that is about to be pulled down and they all struggle with finding meaning and direction in life.

Directed by: Kim soo-Hun
Starring: Yea Ji-Won, Kim Seok-Hoon, Jung Jae-Young, Jang Sun_Woo
Runtime: 115’
Official Website
Photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Hotel marks the second feature film by Austrian director Jessica Hausner and is about a young woman, Irene, who gets hired as a receptionist at a mysterious hotel in the Alps. Her predecessor disappeared mysteriously and soon Irene feels she is being watched by someone or something. All rooms have energy-saving switches, leaving most of the hotel in the dark at night.

Hotel has all the basic elements of a thriller and definitely has the eerie atmosphere required for the genre. Hausner hardly uses any close-ups and shows the dark hotel and its large clinical rooms. These elements keep the viewer from getting connected to the main character and her new working environment, which is suitable for this type of movie. These are all very effective ingredients to build up suspense and mystery. Hausner, however, manages to blow up completely. There are signs she carefully watched some classic and modern thrillers (maybe even Twin Peaks), but forgets to occasionally pin-prick her audience to keep their attention and alertness.

I could not help but wonder how something that starts off so promising is allowed to be wasted, the way Hotel does. Eventually (and forgive me for the spoiler) nothing happens; there is hardly any character development (let alone sympathy for the main character), plunging this film into irreversible disaster. Hotel is 78 minutes too long and a total waste of time.

Directed by: Jessica Hausner
Starring: Franziska Weisz, Birgit Minichmayr, Marlene Streeruwitz
Runtime: 78’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

The Alien Invasion (2004)

This deliberately over-the-top Singaporean production, made with the cooperation of the entire Singapore Business University, is a direct response to and a parody on modern (Hollywood) sci-fi blockbusters as well as 3-D videogames. The plot is as simple as can be: aliens attack Singapore, both from the air and from underground. This fun parody is extreme in its bad visual effects (created with regular PCs), settings and acting, but has a nice tempo. Quite hilarious.

Directed by: Rich Ho Kok Tai
Runtime: 18’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

A Wicked Tale (2005)

A modern adaptation of the Grimm fairytale of Little Red Riding Hood, A Wicked Tale, the second film by young Singapore director Tzang Merwyn Tong, does not only borrow a European story, but also a partially European cast. Tong uses several styles and filming techniques, but is not really consistent with his palet of diversity. This short film incorporates gruesome elements such as murder and sexual misconduct into the original fairytale, bringing it to a rather bloody climax reminiscent of the torture scenes in Miike Takashi’s Audition. Although daring, as a whole A Wicked Tale feels a bit forced and incohesive

Directed by: Tzang Merwyn Tong
Starring: Evelyn Maria Ng, Johan Ydstrand, Wolf Danker
Runtime: 46’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

This documentary by famous French director Raymond Depardon, is a truly revealing insight in the French judicial system. We get to see many hilarious episodes in the work of a Paris judge handling (and in most ‘cases’ wasting her time) all kinds of small offenses and felonies, ranging from drunk driving and illegal weapon possession to rather serious crimes such as illegal immigration and stalking. Something rather unique about the concept (although it may not sound extremely pioneering), is French rules stating names and faces of the ones standing in trial can only be released after twenty years.

It is amazing to see what people make up to avoid conviction, especially in those case in which their offense is obvious and evident. There is the case of a woman, arrested driving after boozing, that ensures the court she hardly ever drinks, and if she does so, she only consumes exceptionally good wine. Or the sociologist who studied the French criminal law and taking up his own defense, telling the judge how to interpret the Code Penal. Embarrassing is the man caught for illegally carrying a weapon, showing up in court after the use of tranquillizers.

Depardon simply shows us the cases, completely abstaining from commentary. This is the weak spot of his documentary. It becomes an unarbitral (no pun intended) look at the French judicial system, picking out the fun or heavy cases. This gets rather boring after five convictions and in the most striking cases, Depardon refuses to wrap things up by leaving his audience with no information about the outcome. Another weak spot is that the documentary is rather unbalanced. It starts and ends with rather entertaining cases, but becomes way too serious in the middle, with cases about an ex-lover stalking his former girlfriend and illegal immigration cases. You may be of the opinion that this gives depth to 10e Chambre, because it may give the impression of a good reflection of the cases brought to the court. Depardon, however, cannot expect the viewer to process such serious matters after the witty verbal (unintentionally) humorous cases the documentary starts off with.

Directed by: Raymond Depardon
Runtime: 105’
Release dates: The Netherlands: 17 March
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

A brother and sister spend their lives filled with routine jobs and boredom. The girl (See) has a monotonous job at a copy shop and her brother, Lai, works at the local market selling toys. They frequently visit their grandfather. Throughout the entire film the true relations and motivations of the main characters remain a mystery. The director tries to force the viewer to think and wonder about the interrelatedness of the characters, and apparently feels that not everything need be spun out fully in order to make a satisfying film. Call me a spoilt movie-goer, but it takes far more than what Sanctuary embodies to keep my attention for eighty minutes. Even rather radical events, such as (what later on turns out to be) an abortion are hardly treated with depth.

Sanctuary is a rather uninspired amateurish Malaysian film by Ho Yu-hang. Now, there is nothing wrong with an amateurism minimalist look (caused by the use of a handheld camera), just as long as there is good acting and story development to make up for the lack of technical quality. Unfortunately, the acting is also rather poor (even if you don’t understand a single word Malaysian, it shows rather obviously). One thing Yu-hang manages to achieve is successfully depicting the emptiness of the existence of the characters, although it remains questionable whether this lies within his intentions or the lack of directing and scripting skills, since the film is just as boring as the characters’ lives seem to be.

Directed by: Ho Yu-wang
Starring: Loh Bok Kai, Chua Thian See and Chin Leong Fatt
Runtime: 83’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Lim Poh Huat (2003)

Lim Poh Huat is a short documentary portrait about, well, Lim Poh Huat, a Singapore security employee who spends his free time as an extra in TV shows and movies. He is a rather peculiar man, doesn’t have a relationship (although he does have a crush), never cooks anything except instant noodles and has a rather eccentric physical appearance. What makes this documentary truly hilarious is the way it is built up and Poh Huat himself confirms almost every prejudice you may start to develop as the documentary unfolds. Director Lee Wong guides the viewer from one extreme to another and leads us to believe that Poh Huat is capable of doing nearly everything to get his fifteen minutes of fame, including posing as a nude model.

Directed by: Lee Wong
Runtime: 22’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Zombie Dog (2004)

Our dear friend Lim Poh Huat (see the previous review) in his acting debut (and we are not talking a part as some extra here, but a lead role!). The best way to watch Zombie Dogs is by not knowing anything about it, like I did. It has all qualities of a documentary about a sleazy Singapore C-film director making a snuff movie called Zombie Dogs that incorporates porn with murder and cannibalism. Director Toh Hai Leong stars as the director of Zombie Dog and Lim Poh Huat as the lead.

In Zombie Dog (the documentary) we get to follow the process from screenplay writing, to casting, to directing. As the film progresses, you begin to ask yourself: ‘Is this man serious? Is he REALLY going to make this movie’? It was only after I left the movie theater that I read the description in the IFFR catalogue, saying this was all fake and considered to be a mockumentary (though it is probably better to call this a shockumentary). Realizing it is all a fake, gives Zombie Dog a new level. And in deceiving its audience it is rather convincing.

Directed by: Toh Hai Leong
Starring: Toh Hai Leong, Kim Loh Huat
Runtime: 61’
photo: International Film Festival Rotterdam

Report Sunday 30 January
The problem with seeing a lot of films on one day – in this case at least five titles (on most days six) – is it is hard to keep up concentration. I must admit, I am a person with a short attention span and an incredible need for sleep, but attending the IFFR also implies you’ll get to catch up lack of sleep at least once a day, as some titles made it hard for me to keep my eyes open.

The festival has been on its way for a mere five days. I actually feel horrible for having to skip at least two days, due to other (far less interesting) obligations.

My first impressions of the titles seen so far is, that the IFFR unfortunately collects a lot of bad world cinema, which makes any Hollywood title starring Leslie Nielsen to be a true state-of-the-art masterpiece with hidden layers and all kinds of subliminal philosophic messages. Since I was only partially responsible for the personal program for the four of us (which is very much okay, as it means I get to see films I normally wouldn’t dare to put on my list) some titles turned out to be atrocities, others true gems . One of my fellow festival-goers I haven’t caught with her eyes closed so far(when I get to see her again this Tuesday I must find out her secret, even though I already asked her about it).

For the past four days we spent our time between films hopping from one movie theater to another, hardly seeing daylight and leaving for the subway at around midnight as complete zombies (George A. Romero is now shooting his fourth installment of what was once his Trilogy of the Dead, I would hereby like to apply as an extra, Mr. Romero: I would do splendidly). Enough mumbo-jumbo (if ANYONE managed to read the whole report, without skipping to the reviews: please e-mail me): here are some reviews. More to come later today, tomorrow and next week.

Arjan

Monday, 31 January
Found the time to do some updates. It is really exhausting reviewing five, six titles at a time, but there is so much to see, I didn’t want to deprive you of it.

Anyway, tomorrow I will be off again to Rotterdam, seeing more films and I still owe you reviews of the truly funny American comedy Un Día Sin Méxicanos (A Day Without a Mexican), one of the funniest films I have seen so far, as well as a weird, mysterious French film called Innocence and the decently moving British drama Enduring Love, starring Samantha Morton and Daniel Craig.

Tomorrow’s program includes Tea, 2046 (I already saw this one a few weeks ago, so I will skip it), The Beautiful Washing Machine and Ab-normal Beauty.

Cheerio,
Arjan

Monday, 5 February
Got back yesterday, completely against my will. This has been a truly exhausting event and I have slept really badly for the entire eight days. Yesterday, while watching an old film called The Master Spearman by Tomu Uchida I fell asleep and when I woke up, I had a hard time following the story so I walked out. I have only walked away from a movie one other time in my life (for those interested: it was Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, I recall watching an interview with Johnny Depp promoting that film and he was also unable to explain what it was about).

Anyway, I have a lot of writing to do. Some bigger films you will find reviewed on Choking on Popcorn in the next few days, others will be regularly updated. Others (like 2046, The Edukators and Howl’s Moving Castle) were already reviewed by some of my colleagues (although I have to admit I saw 2046 and The Edukators somewhere else) and I will comment onSideways by Alexander Payne in the very near future, as I should see it next week.

Some ratings and short notes on the aforementioned films:
2046 A man’s love life in past, present and future in a rather abstract setting. Amazing soundtrack but not exactly my cup of tea.
The Edukators German’s current biggest talent, Daniel Brühl, as one of the three activists who kidnap a business man. Psychologically interesting and well-acted. And a surprising, satisfying ending.
Howl’s Moving Castle The latest Miyzaki is pure beauty. Amazing hand-drawn animation and well-dosed CGI, despite the rather weak messy story. Ever since Princess Mononoke Miyazaki announces his retirement. I hope he goes on forever.

Arjan