A small update today, due to time restraints. Traditionally the festival has a closing film that was announced just recently, knowing The Band’s Visit from Israel. Then there is also the surprise film scheduled for tonight. I know what it is, but let’s keep things fun and not tell. The hint the Festival gave was that it features an American actor last seen in one of the films of the Festival six years ago. You do the math. Tuesday evening ended with one of the creepiest films I have ever seen, the Spanish fake horror shock-doc [●REC]. I sat in a room full of professionals and reporters that were unabashedly screaming their lungs out. It is part of the Rotterdämmerung program of the festival. Next is the gastronomical Estômago, reminiscent of Perfume.

[●REC] (2007)

[●REC] follows the trend of using a real life cam, as was the case with The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield and George A. Romero’s Diary of the Dead (also shown on this year’s edition of the IFFR). To name but a few recent peers. The cameraman and reporter of a Spanish television program called ‘While You Are Asleep’ are covering the work of a Barcelona fire department when the firemen are called to check on an apartment building downtown where an old woman was screaming. When the crew enters the apartment the woman is covered in blood and starts to attack a police officer by biting his neck. This sets a series of events in motion involving the other residents and the Spanish army deciding to seal the building so no one can leave the premises.

Word got around in its first screening of [●REC] at the festival a lot of people left the movie theater. Was it really that bad or was it really that scary? The latter seemed to be the case. I cannot remember seeing a horror flick that had a lot of professionals and fellow reporters screaming their lungs out. And to be honest, [●REC] is one the scariest things I have seen in a while. And still, a few days later, I wonder what it is that makes it so scary? The shock effects are extremely effective and very well executed, but nothing new. The use of a handheld and thus creating a claustrophobic effect is also a pretty common narrative style these days.

Maybe it is the combination of these elements. And as icing on the cake the final scenes are even scarier and shocking. Usually once you know it’s been the traumatized dead girl haunting the house, the finale only serves as an excuse to wrap things up nicely (this being a general metaphor, I am not giving away any plot elements here). With [●REC] I anxiously looked for a way out, but eventually my curiosity won. An American remake is in the works (duh!), called Quarantine. The biggest surprise so far of this year’s IFFR.

Directed by: Jaume Balagueró, Paco Plaza
Starring: Javier Botet, Manuel Bronchud, Martha Carbonell
Runtime: 85’
Also screened on: Saturday February 2, 7 pm
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ESTÔMAGO – A GASTRONOMIC STORY (2007)

Brazilian drama/comedy/thriller about a man with a cooking talent who starts working at the local cafeteria and eventually becoming haute cuisine. The man, Nonato, starts dating a prostitute who seems to be more interested in food than in his love. Besides Nanato’s career as a professional cook we also get to see his time in jail in which is talent for pots and pans manages to keep him out of trouble and gain the respect of his fellow inmates.

This charming film, reminiscent of Perfume, does not only make your mouth water from all of the food that is present, but is also extremely charming and moving. The acting is top notch and there is also a lot of wit and even some seriousness. It is also impressive how director Marcos Jorge manages to play with his viewers by making them wonder what events happened first.

Directed by: Marcos Jorge
Starring: João Miguel, Fabiula Nascimento, Babu Santana
Runtime: 113’
Also screened on: Saturday February 2, 1:15 pm
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