Cinema: IndieLisboa FilmFestival has started!

The fourth edition of IndieLisboa – Lisbon’s International Independent Film Festival - started yesterday, April 19, 2007. Until April 29, 226 films from all over the world will be screened. That includes 19 World premieres and 10 european premieres, but also film-concerts and talks. The opening ceremony will be followed by the screening of the movie-concert “LIFE IN LOOPS - A MEGACITIES REMIX”, by Timo Novotny/ by austrian group SOFA SURFERS.

INDIELISBOA aims to meet some of the most recent and interesting works of independent cinema from all over the world. The Festival intends to discover new films and new directors, in the universe of independent cinema. In only three years it was able to become the second most important Portuguese festival.

For the international competition, IndieLisboa will comprise short and feature films that have never been publicly screened in Portugal, and that have been concluded in 2006 or 2007. There is also a section for shorts and features and an Observatory as a radar on what’s being done in the independent film scene. There's also a laboratory section that explores the new territories of filmmaking. IThe festival will also organize the LISBON SCREENINGS: PORTUGUESE PREMIERES, a special event on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of April 2007.

The international competition section includes, among others, Mexico's DRAMA/MEX (by Gerardo Naranjo, 2006), Chile's RABIA (by Oscar Cárdenas, 2006), Argentina's EL AMARILLO (by Sergio Mazza, 2006), Israel's CLOSE TO HOME (by Vidi Bilu & Dalia Hager, 2006) and Germany's SUMMER '04 (by Stefan Krohmer, 2006). There are also some 31 films also in the short film section .

This year, IndieLisboa will pay tribute to japanese director Shinji Aoyama and to the New German Cinema. In 2004 the festival paid tribute to the Sundance Film Festival and in 2005 to the New Argentinean Cinema and chinese cineast Jia Zhangke. In 2007, ten years after "Henry Fool", Hal Hartley returns to the story of Fay Grim and Henry Fool, also to be seen in Lisbon.

The closing Film will be the much awaited DEATH OF A PRESIDENT (by Gabriel Range - United Kingdom, 2006) (in which President G. W. Bush is assassinated in Chicago…).

This is all very promising! Pitty I will not be in Lisbon to enjoy all this…

Cinema: Cannes 2007

La sélection officielle du 60e festival de Cannes mêle anciens lauréats et nouveaux venus
LEMONDE.FR | 19.04.07

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Cinema: Azuloscurocasinegro

Azuloscurocasinegro [darkbluealmostblack] es "un estado de ánimo, un futuro incierto, un color que, dependiendo bajo qué prisma se mire, cambia". Es una excelente primera pelicula del joven realizador Daniel Sánchez Arévalo. En 2006 ha ganado 3 Premios Goya: mejor director novel, mejor actor de reparto (Antonio de la Torre) y mejor actor revelación (Quim Gutiérrez). Habia tenido 6 nominaciones. También en 2006 ha ganado varios premios en el Festival de Málaga: el Premio Especial del Jurado, el Premio de la Crítica y el premio para el mejor guión.

Es una pelicula sobre el destino, los sueños y como estos son esenciales para mantenernos vivos y luchando. Rebelarse contra el 'destino' en el cual nos sentimos atrapados. Al contrario de "Requiem for a dream" en el cual los personajes se dejan vencer por sus adicciones, aqui luchan (aunque no siempre de la mejor forma) para alcanzar sus sueños, para romper su condicion de 'atrapados'. El resultado es una pelicula muy agradable de ver, muy entrañable, con algunos personajes también muy especiales. Claro, tiene sus imperfecciones o

contradicciones, pero me hace esperar ansiosamente a la seguiente pelicula de Arévalo.

En las palabras del director: “AzulOscuroCasiNegro es una historia sobre personajes que luchan contra el destino, contra lo que se supone está escrito “en las estrellas”. Personajes atrapados al otro lado del cristal, ese fino cristal apenas perceptible, casi invisible pero imposible de obviar, que les separa de sus sueños, contra el que se golpean constantemente y olvidan a diario con la facilidad de un pececillo de agua dulce. Personajes que no saben diferenciar entre lo que quieren y lo que necesitan, a los que les cuesta renunciar, que lo quieren todo. Y que, poco a poco, deberán a aprender a dejar de resistirse, a dejar de nadar contra corriente, no como una muestra de conformismo, sino todo lo contrario, asumir sus propias limitaciones, para así poder empezar a avanzar. Poco a poco. Para acabar en un sitio completamente distinto al que soñaban, pero igual o más acogedor y placentero.”

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Puedes leer más en el Blogdecine. O ver el trailer en Youtube.

****/5

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Cinema: Brussels Film Festival for Fantasy

The 25th edition of Brussels Intl. Film Festival for Fantasy

For its 25th anniversary (April 5th to 17th, 2007), the BIFFF undergoes a complete facelift. Moving to Tour & Taxis, the hottest cultural venue in town, the festival will spread on over 9000 m², and will multiply its activities, with films,music, exhibitions, markets, conventions, etc.The 1200-seats theatre will host such premieres as Danny Boyle's ‘Sunshine’, Timur Beckmambetov's ‘DayWatch’, Edgar Wright's ‘Hot Fuzz’, DJ Caruso's ‘Disturbia’, Jonathan King's ‘Black Sheep’ and some episodes from the second season of the Masters of Horror series. There are films from many countries among others the USA, Spain, France, South Korea, Japan, Denmark, Turkey, Russia, Sweden, Brasil. This year’s Méliès d’Argent Competition includes contenders from Russia (The Swordbearer and Ugly Swans), Spain (The Kovak Box, The Dark Hour), Finland (Jade Warrior), Austria (Dead in 3 Days), France (Nos Amis les Terriens) or Great-Britain (Broken).

Cinema & videos: Youtube awards

The famous online video site (which was bought by Google last October) launched its own 'Oscars' last Monday 19, the first "YouTube Awards". Internet surfers are invited to vote, until Friday 23, to elect the best of 7 categories (10 videos for each): most creative, most inspirational, best serial entertainment, best comedy video, best music-video (homemade), best commentary and finally most adorable video ('so cute it hurts').

The results will be made public on March 26. Youtube recognises that 2006 was a pioneering year for online video, user-created content and the YouTube community. According to Jamie Byrne, YouTube's director of marketing, now it's time to reflect on what a tremendous year it was and recognize the best of the best during the first YouTube Video Awards, by letting the public decide! This could be repeated each year. Pitty one is limited to those videos nominated and there isn't a category like 'others', because in that case I know for which video I would vote… :-) So vote (and vote often). Apparently one can vote every hour until they freeze voting on March 23, 2007, at 3pm PT. "The No.1 videos on each list will get bragging rights and a fancy trophy to feature prominently in a future video."

At the end of February, we had the Oscar-Torrents following 133 378 votes - initiative of the site The Pirate Bay (see previous post in February). The result wasn't as alternative as the organisers might have expected, though. Mexico's 'Pan's Labyrinth' got the OscarTorrent for best Foreign Language film along with 5 other OscarTorrents (among which for best Original Screenplay), Forest Whitaker repeated his Oscar for best Actor in a Leading Role, Penélope Cruz got her OscarTorrent for best Actress in a Leading Role (want more mainstream than that?), Alfonso Cuarón got an OscarTorrent for best Adapted Screenplay for 'Children of men', 'The Departed' got the Best Picture OscarTorrent as well as the best director one, to Martin Scorsese

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Cinema: Requiem for a dream

Requiem: "mass for repose of the soul of the dead", "a hymn, composition, or service for the dead", from the latin 'requiem', accusative singular of 'requies' which means 'rest', 'repose'; It is the first word of the Mass for the Dead in the roman catholic liturgy in latin: "Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine..."

So I finally have seen "Requiem for a dream"... Excellent film directed by Darren Aronovsky based on a book by Hubert Selby Jr (who wrote the screenplay together with Aronofsky). Requiem.. is a drama focusing on four people and their dreams, but trapped by their addictions. A 'composition' for their dying dreams, dreams that will never come true. A sad story about drug addictions and their devastating effects. But the story is not new, the most interesting thing in the film is the way it is filmed, not classical at all, with some hallucinating scenes, effects and unique rythm which visually emulate the effect of drugs… Requiem is a visual drug, but quite a rewarding one, without side or post effects. Except maybe that this great film, its story and characters risk lingering for a while in our minds…
[Strange, in the TV show presented "Juice", they say there are three things we shouldn't have, one is sugar, the other is red meat... but I guess we never get to know the third one, or do we?]

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*****/5

Cinema: Australian cinema in Brussels

Australian cinema was not only "Priscilla Queen of the Desert" (1994), "Muriel's wedding" (1994) or even Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" (1995). To prove it the Australian embassy in Brussels is organising the third Australian Film Festival 2007 in Brussels between 19 and 23 March, at the Espace Senghor (Ch. de Wavre, 366 (off Place Jourdan).

The festival takes off on Monday 19 March with 'Radiance' (19.30), followed by 'Japanese Story' (Tuesday 20, 18.30); 'The Wog Boy' (Tuesday 20, 21.30); 'The Man Who Sued God' (Wednesday 21, 18.30); 'Ned Kelly' (Wednesday 21, 21.30); Radiance again (Thursday 22, 18.30); 'Australian Rules' (Thursday 22, 21.30); 'Three Dollars' (Friday 23, 18.30) and finally again 'Japanese Story' (Friday 23, 21.30). Most films are preceded by a short film. However I must say I have no clue about these films...

Cinema: Darren Aronofsky's "The fountain"

What do "Apocalypto" and "The fountain" have in common? Both use the Mayan mythology and history as a source of inspiration, but whereas in the first ‘blood’ is part of the show, in the second case it means life and also 'the prision bars that keep our souls imprisoned in our body'. But similarities end there.

Critics and public are split about their judgment of "The fountain". As Niels Ruëll wrote in the magazine “Cinema: out and about in Brussels”, some film critics think the film is pretentious, pseudo-profound and pseudo-metaphysical, a cheap copy of "2001: A space odyssey" maybe. But I think it’s a brilliant and beautiful parable, a story about life, love, and death. Yet it remains self-contained and intimate in the way it is filmed. As Aronofsky says, “science and medicine keep on making progress in extending our lives”. Indeed life expectancy is nowadays more than double that of 500 years ago and keeps increasing, in parallel with quality of life. Yet, he continues, “does that make death one whit less terrifying for us?” But the film is also about life, and the power of love. Aronofsky says “(The fountain) is about eternal love. We’re only around on this planet for a short period, what should we do with our time? Loving is, I reckon, the best thing we can do”.

In three interlinked ‘stories’ (or part of the same story), we see a spanish conquistador seeking a hidden Mayan temple searching for the secret of eternal life, a biologist/researcher desperatly trying to find the cure for his wife’s terminal illness instead of spending time with her and a shaven-head Buddha-like man travelling towards a dying star-system (called Xilalba, what the Mayan called the 'spiritual world') in a transparent bubble-spaceship containing a dying tree, of which he eats pieces.

This is not a road trip but a space and time travel, a psychedelic and spiritual discovery trip. Not everybody will enjoy it and be ready to travel along with Aronofsky, that’s for sure, but if you get into it, it’s a special experience, one that you won’t forget that easily and that might inhabit your dreams and make you question many issues for a while to come maybe – and hopefully won’t drag you into any existential crisis… It is in any case not a mainstream film for large audiences, those who like action, blood, explosions. in any case I must say the film is quite entertaining and never boring. The photography is excellent and images are aesthetically beautiful, based on nearly monochromatic tones, around golden/fire coulours.

It was not easy for Aronofsky to bring "The Fountain" to life… it took him six years, after his previous film "Requiem for a dream" (which I have not seen yet but which I am eagerly looking forward to discovering now). Brad Pitt abandoned the project(and also production) which reduced the budget from 75 to 30 million US dollars (according to the magazine “Cinema: out and about in Brussels”). So Hugh Jackman replaced Brad Pitt (fortunately) and Rachel Weisz (Aronofsky’s wife) replaced Cate Blanchett. They’re both quite good in their roles and I think they achieve the right measure to the emotional dimension aimed at by Aronofsky. This is the type of cinema I would like to see more and that makes a difference. Cinema needs more films like "The fountain", films that make us dream and think, that question our beliefs and ‘truths’, yet are also capable of making us feel. And Aronosfky seems not to be afraid to make such romantic and passionate films.

Highly recommended!

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****/5

Cinema: Apocalypto

After the controversial film "The Passion of the Christ" (2004), Mel Gibson comes up with "Apocalypto". As we know he is a religious conservative character (a sedisvacantist, a roman catholic current which does not accept the Second Vatican council) and his intentions are never innocent and not to be trusted. His recent films show a nearly insane addiction to blood, violence, cruelty and punishment. One should not expect much content, particular profoundness or message here, and certainly not any particular historical veracity! Yet Gibson knows how to make an action film and how to build quite impressive scenarios and decors, although the film is a bit too long, I felt. But it is effective and breathtaking at moments.

The reconstruction of urban Mayan cities is impressive, yet remains quite superficial and short, leaving most of the action to take place in the jungle (and most of it is the chase of the main character through the jungle and his struggle for survival). Gibson films how the urban-Mayas abduct other people who live in the jungle and countryside to bring them to the city and used them in human sacrifices to please the Gods, bring rain, etc, showing urban Mayan life as exuberant and decadent (reminding us of ancient Rome) as opposed to the more simple family-based and ‘pure’ jungle life. It seems most of the actors were beginners and they had to speak a Mayan language (yucatec) which works quite well in the movie, I must say. But the film finds its limits in its cheap violence and cruelty scenes and unfortunately transmits an inaccurate account of historic facts and Mayan culture (and the arrival of Spanish conquistadors, who actually arrived when most Mayan cities had already declined – the classical period ended in the 9th century AD even though certain cities continued into the XVth century, but most cities had been abandoned).

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**/5

Cinema: Carlos Reygadas' "Japón"

"Japón" was Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas' astonishing debut film which has nothing to do directly with Japan as the title might suggest, but which comes from the rising-sun symbol associated with Japan rising again every day and renewing itself, and other references from Japan maybe (the elegant harakiri, the respect for the elderly). Although this link is not easily made at first glance...

It was an ambitious and promising first film, an enigmatic parable, a meditation on life, death, faith and redemption. Actually it is somehow 'religious', one could say... A (supposedly) painter from the big city who is tired of life (and disabled) goes to a remote canyon in the north of Mexico to end his life. To reach some quietness he stays at the house of Ascensión, an old religious woman, outside a village, nestled in the canyon. His journey takes an unexpected turn when he gets to know Ascensión and gets in touch with the powerful nature. He slowly rediscovers, through mixed unexpected emotions, the lust for life. Particularly strong is the sex/love scene, as the means for emotional redemption…

Beautifully shot, "Japón" is not a narrative film, it’s a film of long silences and slow rhythm (sometimes a bit too long…) yet measured, a film of few words, strong landscapes and panoramic images, strong rough moments, carefully chosen sounds and music. Nature and the landscapes are like characters, part of the story. The characters themselves are vague and their actions do not always make sense. The film is full of surprises and definitely has a strong lyrical and poetic power that make it a beautiful feast to the senses. It is performed by many non professional actors, by actor Alejandro Ferretis as the main character and Magdalena Flores, the villager who plays the old woman. Unfortunately, Ferretis and his companion Francisco Javier Vega, would be murdered in April 2004 in the residence of the actor in San Miguel de Allende, some 200 km north of Mexico City. According to one of the close relations of Ferretis, "the two men were atrociously massacred, with a hammer or a bar of iron. A true butchery. Unthinkable".

Carlos Reygadas's film caused a considerable stir at the Cannes film festival and has received many awards, namely a special Camera d’Or at the Cannes Film, best film at the Bratislava film festival, New director’s award at Edinburgh festival, audience choice award at Stockholm, etc…

Japón may be frustrating or boring for many people and is certainly not an easy film, with its slow pace and long silences, yet it is uncomfortably difficult to forget it and I believe that hardly anyone can remain indifferent to the film’s beauty, its amazing landscapes and their strength...

As the newspaper Le Monde wrote, "the most beautiful film of the new century".

And don’t forget

Reygada’s follow up, “Batalla en el cielo”, which he directed only three years after, in 2005, also very strong yet less special. And i am already eagerly awaiting the follow up...

Cinema: Martin Scorsese gets it all at the Oscars...

Martin Scorsese was the big winner of the 79th Oscars' awards! Scorsese, who had missed out on five previous occasions (!) said he was "overwhelmed" and asked to double-check…"Could you double-check the envelope?". 27 years after his first nomination (in 1980 with 'Raging Bull'), he finally made it and it is of course a very well deserved award, even though this years' film 'The departed' is quite a classic mainstream picture.

In 1981 (with 'Raging Bull') he was beaten by Robert Redford's 'Ordinary People'. And he had been nominated four other times, in 1988 for 'The Last Temptation of Christ', in 1990 for 'Good Fellas', in 2002 for 'Gangs of New York' and in 2004 for 'The Aviator'. And he has also received two nominations for best screenplay, with 'Good Fellas' in 1990 and in 1993 with 'The Age of Innocence'. Yet for me his best films are

'After Hours' from 1985) and 'Taxi Driver' from 1976 (and let's not forget 'New York, New York', 1977). Yet 'Taxi driver' won 4 Oscars, for best picture, for best actor (Robert De Niro), best actress in a supporting role (Jodie Foster) and also best original music.

But this year the mob drama 'The Departed' won a total of four Oscars, including that for best film (instead of 'Babel' as I had predicted…).

Forest Whitaker got the statue for best actor in a leading role ('The last king of Scotland'), Helen Mirren got yet another award for her performance in the overrated 'The Queen', Alan Arkin won best supporting actor for 'Little Miss Sunshine'! :-) Jennifer Hudson earned best supporting actress for 'Dreamgirls'. Surprisingly 'Pan's Labyrinth' got three Oscars (well, for best makeup, best cinematography…) and even 'Little Miss Sunshine' got two Oscars, as well as 'An Inconvenient Truth' and 'Dreamgirls'. And german film 'Das leben der anderen' (The lives of others) got a deserved Oscar for best foreign film! Finally, a lifetime achievement Oscar was given to Italian composer Ennio Morricone for his "magnificent and multi-faceted contributions to the art of film music". And let's not forget Marie Antoinette's prize for costume design…

And well, no, Kate Winslet in 'Little Children' and Abigail Breslin in 'Little Miss sunshine' did not make it this year… but they'll come back… maybe.

I must say that I never expect 'miracles' at the Oscars…it is not meant to discover new talents or trends, it's objective is not to award films that take risks and break the rules, that shock, that challenge one's imagination and brains. It targets after all those films that work quite well at multi-cinemas and win at the box-office, in the worst case scenario, after being awarded an Oscar…

Cinema: 'Little Miss sunshine' wins at the Césars

'Little Miss Sunshine', low budget first film by Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, won another award, this time for best foreign film, at the French Césars ceremony. Ignored by the Goldens Globes, the film had obtained by surprise, end of January, the award for best picture of the American producers (PGA), also after having received the prize for best 'Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture' from the actors syndicate (SAG). I wonder how it will be treated by the Oscars later today, but it would be expecting too much, I guess, that it gets the best film award…

In France, the César for best actor went to François Cluzet in 'Ne le dis à personne', for best actress to Marina Hands in 'Lady Chatterley' (which got 4 Césars!) – and which is coming out soon in Belgium. Guillaume Canet won the award for best director with 'Ne le dis à personne' and 'Lady Chatterley' was crowned as best film (directed by Pascale Ferran). 'Indigènes' won the best original screenplay prize (by Olivier Lorelle and Rachid Bouchareb) and 'Lady Chatterley' won again for best adaptation.

Now it’s just waiting for the Oscars…

Cinema awards for every taste...

This weekend will be rich in statues & prizes for the 7th art. After the spanish Goyas (boring this year), the british BAFTA, and finaly the Berlinale awards a couple of days ago, this friday evening will see the french "Césars" awards evening in Paris (Théâtre du Châtelet). Sunday will see the curtains open up at the stage of the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, for the 79th Oscar awards.

Off Hollywood, on a different approach, there will be the Razzie Awards, parody of the Oscars, which will annouce the worst actors and films of the year... Expected as favourite, 'Basic Instinct 2' gets the big share in the categories worst film, actrice, director and screenplay... (I've seen the film, believe it or not - long story - and it's not as bad as it may seem...). But France doesn't stay behind, with the Gérard du cinéma, awarded yesterday, and the Bidets d'or to be awarded also this friday, where 'Les Bronzés 3' & 'Incontrôlables' will probably 'shine'...

Yet the palme d'or for radicalism goes straight to the scandinavian site oscartorrent.com. That site, pirating Hollywood, proposes to vote for the nominated films, and, above all, to download them! They believe that each one should have the right to see the nominated films, before making their own mind, and the site explains how to download them in all legality, despite the threats of the swedish authorities. So go running before they close the site... And if you want to try a bet/vote, you can do it in the spanish site 'blog de cine"...

As for me I will try to stay awake for the Oscars... just for the fun...

And I bet the outcome of the Oscars will be as follows:

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'Babel' for best film,
Martin Scorsese with 'The Departed' for best director,
Forest Whitaker in 'The last king of Scotland' for best actor in a leading role,
Alan Arkin in 'Little Miss Sunshine' for best actor in a supporting role,
Kate Winslet in 'Little Children', for best actress in a leading role,
Abigail Breslin in 'Little Miss sunshine' for best actress in a supporting role,
'Babel' for best original screenpaly,
'Little Children' for best adapted screenpaly (can you believe it, 'Borat' was nominated?...),

and finally, ‘El Laberinto del Fauno’ for best foreign language film...

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Cinema: Cinema catalan à Bruxelles en mars '07

El març de 2007, i per primera vegada a Brussel.les, el Casal Català organitza una Mostra de Cinema Català al cinema Vendôme.

La programació és la següent/ programmation:

01/3- 19.30 h -Tu vida en 65 minutos, de Maria Ripoll (V.O. catalana - subtítols anglès)
08/3 - 19.30 h - Dies d'agost, de Marc Recha (V.O. catalana - subtítols anglès)
11/3 - 11.00 h - El zoo d'en Pitus, de Mireia Ros (infantil) (V.O. catalana - sense subtítols)
15/3 - 19.30 h - El Triunfo, de Mireia Ros (V.O. castellana - subtítols anglès)
22/3 -19.30 h - Salvador, de Manuel Huerga (V.O. catalana - subtítols francès i neerlandès)

El drink d'obertura tindrà lloc el dia 1 de març al mateix cinema Vendôme, després de la projecció de la primera pel·lícula, amb vi i cava catalans. La festeta de clausura tindrà lloc a "Imagin'air - Art café" (Pl. Fernand Cocq, 6, 1050 Brussel·les) després del passi de Salvador, el dia 22 de març (a partir de les 22h). L'entrada és lliure i podrem degustar els productes Bio i artesanals que tenen a disposició. Tindrem una sala per nosaltres per discutir sobre la pel·lícula... amb un/a convidat/da sorpresa... Apunteu-vos-hi encara que ja hagueu vist la pel·lícula abans!

Cinema: David Lynch is back...

Six years after Mulholland drive, David Lynch is back with "Inland Empire", an hallucinating film about cinema, acting, space and time and inner liberation, going further than ever before and filming longer (nearly three hours). And back with him is Laura Dern, as producer and with an extraordinary piece of acting. It is Lynch's first movie shot with a consumer digicam (the Sony PD-150).

David Lynch’s films are usually not transparent and it’s not easy to reach a conclusive explanation of any of his films. And each time we see a film we may get to different conclusions. I had to see Mulholland drive three times to get some clue... But this time, even by his usual standards, Lynch goes a bit (too?) far… He is supposed to film the remake of a polish film, one which was never released because the two main actors were killed (adultery?), but nearly from the outset we get lost and do not know which parts belong to the remake or to the original or which parts are dream or “reality”, nightmare or pure fantasy, which relate to the unconscious or the subconscious, and where it all takes places in space… and time. Lynch takes no account of the laws of space and time, of cause and effect, action and reaction, real and surreal… The best here is to abandon all logic and let yourself go and be surprised by the crazy intertwined line of action, but don’t even try to fix the puzzle. Anyway, why would we need to understand? We should just let Lynch drive our feeling through this ‘rollercoaster’ of emotions. In the end, Lynch is a painter (which he already was before he started filming, and he also practises transcendental meditation) and the screen is his canvas where he shapes emotions, fantasies, abstract ideas, painting here a claustrophobic, hallucinatory, tiring, obsessive, terrifying, spooky, weird but in the end liberating atmosphere.

In this film he revisits the bewitched Hollywood boulevard, as no other local film director has done recently, yet he is totally atypical there. I wouldn’t call Lynch an elitist, as Peter Travers wrote in the Rolling stone, “ See him for what he is: an artist following his own maverick instincts and inviting us to jump with him into the wild blue.”

Yet, this travel gets heavy after a while and one could get tired of trying to fit the puzzle and follow Laura Dern's pace… the story goes on for too long (nearly three hours) and it all gets a bit repetitive (I know it’s on purpose and part of the plot) but it proves burdensome after a while. A film must be able to surprise, to provoque but it also should be a pleasure to watch, it should be entertaining not boring, so when it gets to a certain stage it is not really achieving it. And one has to struggle to keep following the ‘plot’ and avoid disconnecting.

There are however great moments of cinema, like the ‘human rabbits’ scenes – anthological - (voiced by Naomi Watts, Laura Harring and Scott Coffey), the hookers who sing "The Loco-Motion" song and the changes of scenes from L.A. to Poland to somewhere we don’t know. I must say I had a bit difficulty following and it became too much and too long after a while. I still prefer Mulholland drive, Lost Highway or Blue Velvet. Yet I recognise this is another piece of Lynch’s art, maybe his most ambitious to date, so don’t miss it.

And one shouldn't forget the soundtrack, which works as a sound painting perfectly fitting the images. This time without Angelo Bardalamenti or Julee Cruise, but with songs written and composed by Lynch himself or with Christa Bell, interpreted by The Mantovani Orchestra, the National Polish Radio Symphony Orchestra, The Dave Brubeck Quartet and Lynch himself, among others.

As Manohla Dargis wrote in the New York Times, “In “Inland Empire,” the classic hero’s journey has been supplanted by a series of jarringly discordant scenes, situations and setups that reflect one another much like the repeating images in the splintered hall of mirrors at the end of Orson Welles’s “Lady From Shanghai.” The spaces in “Inland Empire” function as way stations, holding pens, states of minds (Nikki’s, Susan’s, Mr. Lynch’s), sites of revelation and negotiation, of violence and intimacy. They are cinematic spaces in which images flower and fester, and stories are born.”

Cinema: Fantasporto

The Fantasporto 2007 film festival will be hold between the 19th February and the 4th March in Oporto, Portugal, mostly at the Rivoli Theatre (check website). The Sá da Bandeira Theatre will be the perfect setting for the Vampires’s Ball, in the closing night…

Founded 27 years ago by a group of film fans and critics, Fantasporto is the best and best-known international film festival in Portugal. It started as a haven for sci-fi and fantasy films, genres which were not so well-seen then, but after a huge success in the first two years, the festival broadened its horizons with thrillers and seven years later with a New Directors competition. Nevertheless, fantasy is still its trade mark, especially with the Portuguese press. As is indicated in the site, “the basic idea behind the Oporto Film Festival is to promote films that seek new forms and methods of film making.”

The films on display come mostly from majors such as Warner, Columbia, UIP or Fox, producers as Miramax, New Line or Summit and from other companies all over the world. The festival is and has been a fertile ground for the discovery of new cinematographies, for "sneak previews" or for launching "difficult" films like "Bullworth" or "Scream 3" (European premières). Fantasporto ‘discovered’ David Cronenberg’s "Shivers" and Brian de Palma’s "Carrie" in 1981, David Lynch’s "Eraserhead" in 1982, Ridley Scott’s "Blade Runner" in 1983, Joel & Ethan Cohen’s "Blood Simple" in 1986, Quentin Tarantino’s "Reservoir Dogs" in 1993 and Alejandro. G. Iñaturri’s "Amores Perros" in 2001, among many others.

This year’s fantasy official and competitive section includes, EL LABERINTO DEL FAUNO by Guillermo del Toro (Mex – Spain – USA), HISTORIAS DEL DESENCANTO by Alejandro Valle (Mex), ISOLATION by Billy O’Brien (UK – Ire), JADE WARRIOR by Antti-Jussi Annila (Fin – Neth – Est – Chi), LA HORA FRIA by Elio Quiroga (Spain), PAPRIKA by Satoshi Kon (Jap), RE-CYCLE by Danny & Oxide Pang (Thai – Hong Kong – Chi), SEVERANCE by Christopher Smith (UK), SILENT HILL by Christophe Gans (Can – Jap – USA – Fra), SLITHER by James Gunn (Can – USA), TAXIDERMIA by Gyorgy Pálfi (Hun – Aus – Fra) (technically brilliant!), THE BEAUTIFUL BEAST by Karim Hussain (Can), THE HORROR BUS by Pieter Kuipjers (Neth), THE HOST by Bong Joon-Ho (South Kor), THE LIVING AND THE DEAD by Simon Rumley (UK), THE PROMISE by Chen Kaigé (Chi – HK – Jap – South Kor) and THE WOODS by Lucky McKee (USA).

Cinema: Sarah Polley and Sundance

The Sundance film festival has just closed its 2007 edition and the jury has delivered its prize list. This year the jury included, among others, Catherine Hardwicke (revealed in this festival four years ago for her film ‘Thirteen’) and actress Sarah Polley ('My life without me' and 'The secret life of words').

The Grand Jury Prize for dramatic film went to "Padre Nuestro" by writer and director Christopher Zalla. Zalla's debut film is a dark thriller, the story of a Mexican youth (Jorge Adrian Espindola) who sneaks into the United States in search of his father (Jesus Ochoa) who he had never met, to have his identity ‘stolen’ by another illegal immigrant (Armando Hernandez), who he meets along the way. "Padre Nuestro" follows last year's "Quinceanera" as the second-straight Mexican-immigrant film to win the dramatic prize at Sundance.

The Audience Award for dramatic film however, went to "Grace Is Gone” directed by James C. Strouse, with actor John Cusack. It is a story of a man (disguised Cusack) who drives his daughters to a Florida theme park instead of telling them their mother has been killed serving in Iraq. Promising… The Documentary prize was given to Manda Bala (send a bullet), directed by Jason Kohn, about corruption in Brazil, known as one of the world's most corrupt and violent countries. The World Cinema Jury Prize (Dramatic) was awarded to Sweet Mud from Israel’s director Dror Shaul. The Directing Award (Dramatic) was presented to Jeffrey Blitz, director of Rocket Science.

The Sundance Film Festival is the most important showcase for U.S. and independent films (and international, to a certain extent). It is held each January in Park City, Sundance Resort, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, state of Utah. This film festival has introduced north-american audiences to some of the most innovative films of the past two decades.

Cinema: Bobby

Emilio Estevez comes back with an interesting film - Bobby - where he proves he has some directing skills. This half-documentary, half-fiction film shows the events up to and during the moment when democrat Senator Robert Kennedy was murdered on 5 June, 1968, at the Hotel Ambassador in California. The film is not a masterpiece but it's quite interesting. Estevez aimed to paint those years - the sixties - showing many different situations around different characters who directly or indirectly took part in the tragedy, some fictional others more real. In the beginning all the little different stories and the many characters seem a bit too complicated but Estevez is able to paint the atmosphere that might have been felt back then. The cast is a luxury one, with many well-known actors like Sharon Stone, Demi Moore (and beloved Ashton Kutcher), Martin Sheen, Anthony Hopkins, Harry Belafonte, Helen Hunt, William Macy and Estevez himself, among others, who contribute to the success of the film.

The film's importance lies more in its political aim, in showing a parallel between the situation in the USA today and the situation back in '68, of which it is nostalgic. Basically it shows how a political dream died when Bobby was killed, a dream of peace and a will to change the political situation in the USA. The difference with present day America is that there is no Kennedy to keep that dream alive today, and there is no idealism left these days anymore in the world. Some may find it too simplistic and too sugary but we need this type of films to remind us that things have been different and things can be different and that there's hope, despite all...

***/5

Cinema: Little Children

‘Little Children’ is Todd Field’s follow-up to his debut film ‘In The Bedroom’, a literary adaptation of a best-selling 2004 novel by Tom Perrotta, who also collaborated on the screenplay. It features great performances by Kate Winslet, the photogenic Patrick Wilson (from Hardcandy) Jackie Earle Haley, Phyllis Somerville, Jennifer Connelly and others.

Perrotta and Field were apparently able to preserve the novel’s tone, which seems to fluctuate between slightly satirical, ironical and generous sympathy (would be interesting to read the book now after having seen the film). “Little Children” is a sharp, intelligent and somehow cynical view of American suburban life. Most of the characters are weak or flawed or screwed up, yet quite realistically portrayed. As David Denby has written in The NewYorker, “Field has grown in ambition, but he still works on an intimate scale. He surrounds his characters with an intense stillness, and then slowly introduces the ungovernable into their lives.” Maybe that's why the portuguese title is... "Pecados íntimos" (intimate sins).

But is 'Little Children', “at its heart, a story about the way we judge others, the way others judge us, and the way we judge ourselves”, as Kim Voynar wrote in her review, or is it “more than a moral fable about the traps we set for ourselves by not growing up. Field performs a high-wire act that balances hard truth and hard-won tenderness” as Peter Travers wrote in The Rolling stone? Or does the movie take itself too seriously, and as Jeff Vyce claims “Filmmaker Todd Field seems to have completely missed the point of his source material, Tom Perrotta's tale of suburban angst, longing and temptation, which is at least slightly a parody. Field's adaptation is dour to the point of being completely humorless.” ? Is this finally a film about being afraid and refusing to grow up and not being able to face our choices in life, not wanting to take decisions?

As Kate Winslet says in the film, "it is the hunger for an alternative and the refusal to accept a life of unhappiness".

'Little children' is probably all this yet much more… Perrotta and Field may even have created a metaphor of life under terrorism, where Ronnie (the excellent Jackie Earle Haley, nominated for best supporting role in the Oscars), a convicted sex offender freshly out of prison, has the 'role' of the “terrorist”.

All in all this is a challenging, unsettling film, which is likely to remain in our heads for a while. There is a bit of everything, from perversion to pedophilia to ordinary unhappiness, sexual indifference, boredom, adultery, nearly explicit sex and direct explicit language, internet porn obsession, semi-psychotic behaviour. Almost everyone has a flaw and some sort of secret, except the children maybe. But it’s the adults who behave like children instead...

The actors are magnificently directed by Field, the film sets off in a crescendo. It is probably more interesting to watch the beginning with tension rising, when the main characters contemplate adultery, rather than when they dive into it. And at the end the film loses some force and gets a bit lost, when it focuses more in the character of Ronald (the 'pervert') and his fate, in particular when his ‘enemy’ gets pitiful about his loss of his mother… yet the film always remains somehow unconventional, 'serious' and 'fresh', not a classical way of filming , detached enough from the story it is telling and its characters (helped by a narrator voice), and even music is not used to bring out the easy teardrops… certainly one of the most interesting films I've seen recently, even if it has its flaws.

It reminds a bit of ‘American Beauty’ (yet less witty), less malicious as Todd Solondz’s ‘Happiness’ nor as weird as Miranda July’s ‘Me and you and everyone we know’. And maybe Kate Winslet gets her (well deserved) Oscar.

****/5

Cinema: Berlinale

The Berlin film festival (Berlinale) features a juried international competition, a film market and a very large number of screenings arranged under various categories and is one of the most important film festivals in Europe and the world. The festival also hosts an annual competition of "shooting stars" - 18 filmmakers who have made their names in their respective countries - as well as the increasingly popular Forum of Young Cinema and the children's film festival. The festival was founded in 1951 on an American-led Cold War initiative and has become a leading film event. Well-known world-class filmmakers like Ingmar Bergman, Satyajit Ray, Michelangelo Antonioni, Roman Polanski and Jean-Luc Godard, François Truffaut and Claude Chabrol (the French Nouvelle Vague) all have enjoyed triumphs in Berlin.

The official programme at this year's festival includes the awaited "Angel" by French director François Ozon, "Bordertown," by Gregory Nava, "El Otro" ("The Other"), by Ariel Rotter, "Goodbye Bafana" by Bille August, "The Good German" by Stephen Soderbergh, "The Good Shepherd" by Robert De Niro and "Les Temoins" ("The Witnesses"), by Andre Techine. Out of competition will be "300" by Zack Snyder, "Letters From Iwo Jima" by Clint Eastwood and "The Walker" by Paul Schrader.

The Berlinale also organizes a Talent Campus. This year's campus will focus on issues such as filmmakers finding their own path through the globalised film industry, and it will discuss more intensive support for young talents, engagement for diversity in international film and the cinema as a place for political discourse, says Dorothee Wenner who is responsible for the Campus 2007. Not so far away... yet no time to go...