International Film Festival Rotterdam 1998

1998

Project A, IFFR 1998

Afterglow

Director: Alan Rudolph Cast: Jonny Lee Miller, Julie Christie, Lara Flynn Boyle, Nick Nolte. I started to worry, so many good films in a row, that is not possible. Luckily 'Afterglow' is a real stinker. Unbelievable Jonny Lee Miller acted quite well in Trainspotting as Sick Boy in this one he joins the rest of the cast in acting hell. Every single person seems miscast, Nick Nolte most of all, who is supposed to be an attractive plummer who fixes other womens plumming. And Julie Christie can add this movie to her list of B-movies she lists somewhere along the story. Cinematographly it's about one cliche after the other. And plotwise it's as fake as fake goes. An absolutely plastic movie. Avoid it like the plague! 02-02-98

Assasin(s)

Director: Mathieu Kassovitz Cast: Michel Serrault, Mathieu Kassovitz, Mehdi Benoufa. Thanks to 'La Haine' Kassovitz made a great name for himself, but thanks to this he has ruined that again. While 'La Haine' gave a good but controversial view on youth in the suburbs of Paris 'Assasin(s)' does nothing other than insult the intelligence of the viewer. A highly unlikely story of an older, rather clumsy contract killer starting to teach a dumb kid how to kill. If told faster, without too much gore and with better dialog, better cast, better storyline, it may have resulted in something good. Well, it didn't. 03-02-98

Ayneh / The Mirror

Director: Jafa Panahi Cast: Mina Mohammed Khani, Kadem Mojdehi. A film with a simple but great story. A little girl of about five, six tries to find her way home in the city of Teheran, because her mother doesn't show up at her school. Before the eye of the camera she acts it out perfectly. Mina is just being herself and the camera is following her everywhere. Until halfway through the movie she looks in the camera and says she quits. From that point on the film becomes a documentary, the crew at first panics, but than realises this is a great opportunity to do exactly the same. By leaving the mike on Mina they are able to hear her while the camera tries to keep up with her. This film gives an amazing view of the Iran culture and daily activities of the people in Theheran. A great film, although maybe just by accident. 03-02-98

The Blackout

Director: Abel Ferrara Cast: Béatrice Dalle, Claudia Schiffer, Dennis Hopper, Matthew Modine, Sarah Lassez. Ferrara's work is never comforting and right from the start this is a worrying telling of the shady backstage world of actors, musicians, models and their producers and how murderous it can be. The film uses many style figures as well as in cinematography as in storytelling. The forgetful and chaotic mind of the junky get disected and the viewer stays uneasy and unknowing of what has happened, what will happen and how it ends. And, oh, it ends, bad. The way it's shot and cut and mixed it's hard to tell how this movie was made and when. If the acting is by accident or on purpose. Dennis Hopper is himself, as is Claudia Schiffer and Beatrice Dalle. Matthew Modine plays his junky role well, but the storyline seems to make it a bit farfetched sometimes. I dunno, for a Ferrara fan it's alright, but not nearly as good as last years 'The Funeral'. 02-02-98

Chasing Amy

Director: Kevin Smith Cast: Ben Affleck, Joey Lauren Adams, Jason Lee, Dwight Ewell. Kevin Smith's second movie after his memorable debut 'Clerks', made with a lot more money than his debut. But his way of working and the subject hasn't changed. Kevin is fascinated about love and the inner-workings of relationships and ofcourse: sex. While 'Clerks' was downright funny and quite absurd, Chasing Amy, although starting quite happy and bouncing gets more serious and serious to the end, discussing homofobia, homosexual relationships, heterosexual relationships, peoples relational histories. A fine second movie for a director that maybe got of on to fast a start with his debut film. The actors are alright, although sometimes they tend to overact a bit. Nice one. 02-02-98

Cure

director: Kiyoshi Kurosawa cast: Yakusho Koji, Hagiwara Masato, Ujiki Tsuyoshi. When speaking to other people about this film many said things like: 'Compared to this Seven is like a warm summer's day'. Well I do not agree, don't get me wrong Cure is a very disturbing picture with many horrifying deaths, but you couldn't compare it to Seven because the story is totally different. It is however a psychological thriller of the best kind, thought through in every detail and keeping the viewer on the edge of his seat, especially during the scenes where the hero (played by Yakusho Kiyoshi, who also stars in Unagi) of the story seems to go completely lose his mind. 06-02-98

Dancehall Queen

Director: Don Letts & Rick Elgood Cast: Audrey Reid, Paul Campbell, Carl Davis, Cherine Anderson. This film was a big hit on Jamaica and rightly so. A good simple story about a woman who tries to make money by becoming the dancehall queen and in the process shake of two of her worst enemies. Shot in digital and giving a good view on Jamaican culture in the nineties. Lots of bubbling (a very sexy dance), lots of reggae and even some drum'n'bass. A music film. The Jamaican English is a bit hard to follow, but it is always clear what they are talking about, so that doesn't really matter. 03-02-98

Fibra Optica

director: Francisco Athié cast: Roberto Sosa, Lumi Cavazos, Alberto Estrella, Angelica Aragon. World-premiere made with money from the filmfestival. Very complicated story about a union-leader getting killed and a young journalist finding out why and by whom. Maybe the Mexicans will understand it, I didn't. The only good thing about this film was the very bad sex-scene: The daughter of the killed union-leader has sex with the young journalist in the presentationroom of her fathers house. She rides the boy to extacy while images of her father are projected on her bossom. Not sexy at all, but what a laugh! 06-02-98

In the company of men

director: Neil Labute cast: Aaron Eckhart, Stacy Edwards, Matt Malloy, Michael Martin. Highly unlikely story of two men setting up their revenge on women in general by both starting a relation with an innocent deaf woman and then dumping her. The two jerks are very unnatractive salespersons, no-one in their right mind would even fall for, especially not the deaf woman in the film. During the film it started to dawn on me that this is actually made by women, trying to revenge men. They didn't do a good job, shallow characters, bad plot, bad acting and horribly unfunny. 06-02-98

Junk Mail

Director: Pal Sletaune Cast: Robert Skjaerstad, Andrine Saether, Per Egil Aske. Just like in Postman Blues a postman who reads other peoples mail and breaks into peoples houses. By breaking into the house of a deaf girl he started to love from afar, he's able to save her from killing herself and he gets himself all sorts of trouble after that. Great dark satire all played in a dirty, seedy setting. 03-02-98

RIGET II / The Kingdom II

Director: Lars von Trier, Morten Arnfred Cast: Baard Owe, Birgitte Raaberg, Birthe Neumann, Ernst-Hugo. 'The Kingdom I' ended spectacular, butting very nervewrecking for the viewer. All the ghosts got out, a woman gave birth to a baby with the head of a grownup, the neurosurgeon went to Haiti to get some horrible poison. It couldn't get any worse and sure this couldn't be the end? No, it wasn't an ending it all. It continues! The weirdest hospital-soap evermade continues to become weirder and weirder. The Kingdom is really Lars von Trier twisted way of commenting on the world trusting on science as much as non-science. Everyone and everything gets a piece of his mind in this flick. Five hours of black humour, full of running gags, a strange twisting plot, a cast thoroughly enjoying themselves and all shot in that grainy orange glow and off the shoulder camera work. And again, it does not end. Lars and Morten start to work on episode nine to twelve this year: 'The Kingdom III', the evil is lurking in all hospitals. 02-02-98

Labyrinth of dreams

director: Ishii Sogo cast: Komine Rena, Asano Tadanobu, Kyono Kotomi, Mano Kirika, Kurotani Tomoka. As quiet as 'Sleeping Man'. A busdriver ends his relationship with female busconductors by killing them in supposed accidents. A friend of a girl that gets killed discovers it and joins up to become a busconductor. She also gets involved with the busdriver and tries to find a way to survive. Slow-paced minimal black-and-white with a dreamlike way of telling the story from the girl's point-of-view, nothing much is said but the images suggest everything. Together with 'Sleeping man' my very favorite. 06-02-98

Lagrimas Negras

director: Sonia Herman Dolz Dutch-made documentary about a Cuban music ensemble of which the age averages around 85. A friendly view on these people and how they became the musicians and why they still enjoy touring the world around. Very, very, very good music. Samba! 06-02-98

Lawn Dogs

director: John Duigan cast: Sam Rockwell, Kathleen Quinlan, Christopher McDonalds, Bruce McGill. In the United States there are more and more communities seperated from the rest from the world by big fences and gates with their own way of living and some even with their own laws. This is the setting in which a guy mowing lawns and a ten year old girl start a friendship. This film made by English gives a wide eyed view of a little girl onto such a world. Memorable acting by all involved especially the little girl. 06-02-98

Love and death on long island

Director: Richard Kwietniowski Cast: Jason Priestly, John Hurt, Elizabeth Quinn, Fiona Loewi, Maury Chaykin, Sheila Hancock. Could there ever be something so unlikely? John Hurt and Jason Priestly in one and the same movie, about the love of an older English writer for a B-movie heartthrob? This main idea is so thoroughly thought through and researched that everything works out perfect and is the basis of a very funny movie. It gives an outside view of two cultures so different from each other: the 'stuffy' otherworldy world of the old writer and the just as weird world of the shallow sitcom/B-movie actor. John Hurt is an absolute marvel and Jason Priestly does his part so well, you might think he doesn't act at all. Well even if he doesn't, it's quite alright for this movie. A heartwarmingly funny movie alround. 02-02-98

Made in Hong Kong

Director: Fruit Chan Cast: Sam Lee, Wenbers Li, Amy Tam. A political comment on the life of young people in Hong Kong, struggling to survive. A bit too moralistic and a bit too long, but for a low budget film quite nice although the sound could have been better. 03-02-98

Martha's Garten

director: Peter Liechti cast: Stefan Kurt, Susanne Lüning, Laszlo I Kish, Nina Hoger, Karl-Ulrich Meves. Suisse take on film noir, with all the elements it's supposed to have. 1 confusing plot. 2 Femme fatale. 3 black-and-white. 4 a music theme coming back and back on the viewer. 5 still shots. Making a film using these elements doesn't make it a good film. Enjoyable only if you're interested in Suisse film noir. 06-02-98

My son the fanatic

director: Udayan Prasad cast: Om Puri, Rachel Griffiths, Stellan Skarsgard, Akbar kurtha. London taxi-driver of Pakistan origin sees he's son acting strange, thinks it's because of drugs, but then realises he's becoming more fanatic about the Islam. The taxi-driver is part of a life his son now mostly hates and tries to stop with fundamentalist acts, especially since his father has become involved with a hooker. A very heavy plot about rising fundamentalism and the seedy side of life, beautifully played by everyone. Absolutely one of the best things to see in Rotterdam. 06-02-98

Office Killer

Director: Cindy Sherman Cast: Carol Kane, Molly Ringwald, Jeanne Tripplehorn. Mousy little woman starts to kill off colleagues and takes them home so they can keep her company. Sounds like a good storyline for a lot of laughs. I thought so to. But by casting an American version of 'Absolutely Fabulous', demented dialog and a plainly unlikely storyline, this movie has become horribly unfunny. 03-02-98

ONIBI: The fire within

Director: Mochizuki Rokuro Cast: Harada Yoshio, Kataoka Reiko, Aikawa Sho. For someone who started his carreer making blue-movies Mochizuki has become a fine craftsman of making a classic drama look absolutely beautiful on the big screen. No wonder the filmfestival does a whole retrospective on his work. This film is about an Yakuza-veteran just leaving 27 years of prison behind, sick of killing people and just wanting to leave this live behind. Through his former employers he meets a girl that in the end will turn him back to his old profession again and at the very end back to jail. A simple story, but Rokuro has a very intense and slow way of telling it. Excellent performances alround even by the puppy which luckily doesn't get shot. All beautifully shot. I should check out his blue movies, because if these images were anything to go by, his erotic movies should really be a turn on. 02-02-98

Postman Blues

Director: Sabu Cast: Shinichi Tsutsumi, Kyoko Toyama, Ren Osugi, Keisuki Horibe. Humorous critique on Japanese society and especially the Yakuza, the police and the media. A simple Postman becomes seen as an horrible criminal by the police, because he meets an old friend, who just joined the Yakuza, and by opening the mail he was supposed to deliver he meets the woman of his dreams. And some hilarious scenes, like the 'Killer of Killers' contest halfway through the film. A captivating story told with wit by the truly genious director Sabu (he said so himself during the film introduction) of which I hope to see a lot more films in the future. 03-02-98

Nemuru Otoko / Sleeping Man

Director: Oguri Kohei Cast: Ahn Sung-ki, Christine Hakim, Yakusho Koji. The main character of this film is a man vast asleep at his parents home. Something mysterious happened to him while he was away in the mountains in South-America. Around him are many people loosely connected to him and the state he is in now. All of the other characters have another way of finding out what the sleeping man is about and what it means to be asleep forever. Not dead, nor alive, but experiencing. The same state as being far away from people, experiencing things people don't know about or ever get to know about. The way the story gets told, the film itself happens to the viewer like a dream. Nothing gets explained, the viewer has to find out for himself. Most memorable moment is when the beautiful Tia, charismatic Indonesian actress Chirstine Hakim, sits in a forest at night, just staring in silence and all of a sudden a tree falls down. This is as loud as it gets. The rest of the film is quiet. Beautifully and peacefully still. 02-02-98

Le Sujet [short

Director: Christian Rouaud Cast: Liliane Rovere, Eric Elmosnino. Prizewinning short about a documentary-filmer making a documentary about an older woman. During the preperations the relation of the filmer and the subject starts to change. Filmed like a documentary, but the many cuts and changing camera standpoints give away the fact this movie is acted. 03-02-98

Topless women talking about their lives

Director: Harry Sinclair Cast: Danielle Cormack, Ian Hughes, Joel Tobeck, Shimpal Lelisi, Willa O'Neill. If it's from New-Zealand or Australia, it usually means a funny film with great music. And this is. The title is no where near what the movie is about, although it does refer to a film being made in this movie, based on a script by one of the characters. An hilariously funny German take on the script with topless women ofcourse. The real story is mainly about a woman who gets a baby and her 'friends' around her who get themselves in all kinds of trouble. No big messages, just a loose storyline, a few young actors, funny dialog, the beautiful New-Zealand countryside and a perfect soundtrack (submitted to the film by the Flying Nun label) to boot. Fun. 02-02-98

Ulee's Gold

director: Victor Nieto Nunez cast: Peter Fonda, patricia Richardson, Jessica Biel, J. Kenneth Campbell. The description in the filmfestival catalogue put many people off, that's probably the reason why so few people went to see it. A pity, because it's probably one of the best films release by a major filmcompany like Orion. Peter Fonda, who once was the blue-eyed hippie in Easy Rider, now plays a beekeeper looking after two young girls which are the kids of his son and his daughter-in-law who once formed a duo robbing banks. Some money was never found and the son was the only one who knew about it. Some other people find out and start to threaten Ulee. Nervewrecking until the very end. 06-02-98

Unagi / The Eel

Director: Imamura Shohei Cast: Yakusho Koji, Shimizu Misa, Tsuneta Fujio, Baisho Mitsuko, Emoto Akira. Winning a golden palm at Cannes immediately sets a certain expectation for a movie, maybe a bit too high for this movie. It's completely fair Unagi won one, because it's a funny story told well, with lots of philosophical questions. A man kills his wife, turns himself in, stays ten years in prison and tries to rebuild his life again and compares himself with an eel. Strange, funny and many things to think about. 03-02-98