35th International Film Festival Rotterdam – Report #3

The general tendency of most films I saw so far is, directors don’t seem to be able to cut some of their features short. I saw some pretty interesting films, that just dragged on for thirty minutes too long. I just got back from seeing Tideland, Terry Gilliam’s second film in one year (after Brothers Grimm). I don’t know whether to hate or love his work. He was responsible for making the only single film I have ever left for which I paid (namely, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, which I definitely loathed). Anyway: an upcoming cold is not keeping me from seeing films. A bunch of short reviews today.

Dein Herz in Meinem Hirn (2005)

The latest by Rosa von Praunheim, based on the true story of too men who became friends and eventually one of them killed and ate parts of the other. Right. I am not sure how loosely von Praunheim constructed his story around news items. Shot in a documentary kind of style, this is an interesting approach. At times somewhat kitch, but still very much worth seeing. The development of the men’s friendship, bordering a gay relationship, is very well executed.

Klimt (Director’s Cut – 2006)

John Malkovich plays the lead in this biopic about the life of Austrian painter Gustav Klimt. Most annoying are the extremely chatty nonsense and pompuous dialogues. The film looks great, but is far too long and never truly gets to the core.

Tideland (2005)

Latest by Terry Gilliam about a girl who loses both her parents because of heroine overdoses. She starts to construct a fantasy world of her own, seeing her Barbie dolls (or in fact their heads) as her best friends. The girl who plays the leads is amazing. The story itself is messy and was described as a black/gothic version of Alice in Wonderland. No way.

It’s Only Talk (2005)

Japanese film about a manic-depressed woman. She gets acquainted with four men, of whom only one truly puts the effort in helping her. Great moody atmosphere and interesting story and acting. The film is gloomy and has some appealing storylines. But again: the length of this feature kills the strength of the story.

Batalla en el Cielo (2005)

Second film for Mexican director Carlos Reygadas, after his promising debut Japón. Marcos is a fat man who kidnapped his niece with his wife. The niece dies and Marcos confesses his crime to Ana, a young girl and daughter of the general Marcos works for. Infamous of the deliberately explicit sex scenes, Reygadas perfectly knows how to hit the tragedy of Marcos’ life. However, the film is too incoherent to truly powerful.

All pictures courtesy of International Film Festival Rotterdam

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