Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--closing day/night

[Correction: In an earlier version of this post I stated that Berlin and Beyond was moving back to January, and the next festival would be in January 2014. I was incorrect, there will be a January 2013 Berlin and Beyond film festival. And that makes me happy. --Jason]

So I missed most of Berlin and Beyond, just catching opening night and the final day (and night.) So here we go with 4 movies last Thursday.

First up was LESSONS OF A DREAM, a schoolyard comedy/drama set in 1874 Brunswick. So normally I try to eschew comparisons describing a film as "[Insert film name] set in [time/place] with [this twist.]" I think it's lazy writing and it belittles the film in question. But this time it's just too perfect--it's DEAD POETS SOCIETY set in 1874 Germany with soccer (and without Robin Williams hamming it up.) Konrad Koch (Daniel Brühl) is brought to the school in Brunswick to teach English. He had spent 4 years on the island, so he's fluent not just in the language but in the culture. Of course, this is the Kaiser's Germany, who had just conquered France and most of those in charge care more about obedience and discipline, not comradeship and understanding foreign cultures. Who cares if you pronounce your "th" correctly if you're just there to kill as many Englishman as are necessary to conquer them? Well, after some struggle Koch breaks through with his students by introducing them to the strange English game of football. And then the real struggles start, as the kids love the game but the powers that be hate it as anarchic and don't like how Koch is encouraging his students to rebel. It's wonderful watching the kids come alive playing soccer, especially how the smallest kid--the proletariat whose mother works in the factory--becomes the star striker. And it's hilarious to watch the adults protesting against the moral degradation of soccer. And, of course, it all has to culminate in a big tournament, against an English team coached by Koch's friend. The German kids aren't just playing to win, they're playing to win the hearts of the entire town and the Kaiser's observers who are there to see whether there's anything worthwhile to this game and whether it should be added to the curriculum.

And the most remarkable thing about it all--it's based on a true story. Hard to believe it, but many German towns did ban football when it was first introduced. In fact (according to the epilogue in the movie) Bavaria didn't formally lift its ban on football until 1929.


The next show started with a short, OF DOGS AND HORSES. Rolf loves his dog, but his dog is getting old and has a limp. The vet recommends he simply give him painkillers and enjoy the last bit of his life. The only other option is a surgery that would cost thousands. So Rolf collects up his money and takes it to the racetrack. He just needs one lucky bet on a longshot to save his dog. Very well done, and nicely tense. The kind of movie where you root for the improbable outcome even when expecting tragedy at every corner. It's a movie about hope.

And then the feature documentary, BATTLE OF THE QUEENS. This was actually one of my favorites at Cinequest. Let's see what I said then (down at the bottom):

And then the feature length documentary, BATTLE OF THE QUEENS. I have no idea how to convince you to see it, it's the sort of unsellable concept that no one thinks could possibly be this great. In a town in Switzerland they have a contest known as the Battle of the Queens. Cows battling each other (not bulls, mind you. The bulls are too dangerous to ever let out of the stable. These are cows of a specific giant, aggressive breed fighting each other for dominance.) And it's beautiful, it's funny, the music is great. It's a cacophony and poetry all at once. Nicolas [Steiner, the director] made liberal use of beautiful widescreen black and white cinematography, lots of slow motion shots (particularly in the fight scenes), wrote his own music, and made a freakin' masterpiece.

Again, I just don't know how to sell this film, and judging by the meager audience last night nobody does. But those who saw it last night (or its previous screening on Sunday) [or at Berlin and Beyond] witnessed something amazing. So I'm sorry for the fact that I don't have the right words to convince you to see it. 

Hmmm...while that's all true and I loved it a second time yesterday, I'm still at a loss of how to explain how great it is. The closest I can come to doing it justice is to say that when you're in the lobby afterwards raving about how cinematic that snot flying from that cow's nose was...well, you're in the hands of someone who knows how wield a fuckin' camera.


Next up we had a Holocaust drama from a kids point of view, WUNDERKINDER. Larissa (on the piano) and Abrascha (on violin) are two of the greatest child prodigies in the entire Soviet Union. They live in the Ukraine, and they are Jewish (like their teacher.) But who cares, they're magnificent, they've played for comrade Stalin, and they've even been invited to play Carnegie Hall. Meanwhile, Hannah also lives in their town. She loves music, too, but isn't as good as them. But she wants to be friends, even though she's German (her father is there to run a German-style brewery.) Well, that doesn't matter, Hitler and Stalin have a non-aggression pact. So they become friends as easily as children do. And then war breaks out. At first, well behind the Soviet lines, it's actually Hannah and her family that are in danger, and their Russian Jewish friends protecting them. That was easily the most interesting part. I've seen dozens of films about the plight of  Jews in WWII and the brave Germans who protected them. I'd never seen (or even thought about) the story of a German family trapped in Soviet territory and relying on the help of Jews to protect them. But it happened, all quite naturally in the movie. Soon enough the Germans take over the town and the dynamic is what we're used to in these kinds of movies. Luckily the local officer is a fan of culture and the wunderkinder are good enough to get some consideration from him. But culture alone can't overcome racial purity laws.

It's not the first 'Holocaust-through-the-eyes-of-a-child' movie I've seen. In many ways, it seems like there's a natural connection between the loss of childhood innocence and the time when the whole human race lost its innocence. And this movie is very well done and still manages to find a different angle on a familiar story. My favorite line, when the brewery assistant is trying to smuggle the Jewish families away to safety, he says (I paraphrase,) "Fascism, socialism, all political ideologies are worthless. There is only individual struggle."


And finally we ended with an exciting and nostalgic look at skateboarding in the GDR (East Germany) with THIS AIN'T CALIFORNIA. It centers around the life story of Denis aka "Panik," one of the skaters and apparently just all around craziest guy they'd ever met. In fact, the film is dedicated to him as he passed away last year at the age of 41 while serving in the military in Afghanistan. That's probably the biggest mystery--and one that's never really solved--how did someone who rebelled against authority so much end up in the military. They'd all pretty much lost touch with each other after the Berlin Wall fell, but now I'm getting ahead of the story. The story is really about before the wall fell and how kids learned about skateboarding, made their own boards, learned their own tricks (instead of ollie-ing, they used the bicycle tire inner-tube technique) and just kind of goofed around. Then how they moved to Berlin and took over the concrete jungle of Alexanderplatz. And how the Stasi followed them. How the GDR tried to institutionalize it with formal skating schools (many became instructors, including Panik for a time, but he rebelled against that as well.) And it's about how they were allowed to travel to international competitions, to see the world, and learn that there's really a great fraternity of skaters out there and being a skater was more important than what country they were from. And, more than anything, it's about youthful exuberance, captured in glorious 8 mm faded colors. Tons and tons of footage with just enough modern interviews looking back at the time. Oh, and sex--it's about sex. Particularly the one guy  who always seemed to be surrounded by naked women (I think his name was Patrick, but I'm not sure if I'm remembering that right. I must have been distracted by all the naked lady footage when they mentioned his name.) Sweet!

And that's Berlin and Beyond for 2012. Important news from the closing of the festival--it's moving back to January, where it used to be. So no festival for 2013 (although I'm sure they'll have one-off and year-round programs,) and look for it to come back in January of 2014. Wrong! Look for it in January 2013!

Total Running Time: 403 minutes
My Total Minutes: 299,228

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Opening Night

I'm finally getting into the swing of the Bay Area fall film festival schedule. Berlin and Beyond, a week-long all German language film festival (typically films from Germany, Austria, and German-speaking regions of Switzerland, but this year they're branching out to Russia, Kazakhstan, etc.) After the compulsory thank yous to the sponsors, staff, and audience (yeah, me!) we finally got to the movie.

And it just so happens the opening night film is Germany's entry into the 2013 Academy Awards--BARBARA. It's directed by famous German director Christian Petzold. I haven't seen much of his work, but I did see JERICHOW when it played at Berlin and Beyond a few years back. BARBARA is a story set in the former East Germany, in the 1980's. The title character of Barbara is a doctor sent to work in a small country town. And it's pretty clear very quickly that this station is partly about punishment and partly about putting her somewhere where it's easy to keep an eye on her. She did do some time in jail, and it's pretty easy to guess that it had something to do with an attempt to escape to the west. It's also made explicitly clear that she's still trying to escape. The Stasi are keeping an eye on her and subject her to humiliating house searches and more humiliating body searches. Her boss, Andre, seems nice enough and appears to be trying to start a friendship (if not more) with her. Of course, she doesn't trust him, and probably rightly so. She believes (and the audience is made to believe, even if it's never explicitly shown) that he is filling out daily reports on her activities to the authorities. But while it has the plot of a political escape thriller, it more often has the tone of a slice-of-life drama. While plans for escape are always in motion, the film focuses just as much on the day-to-day aspects of living (bathing, dealing with faulty wiring, getting the piano tuned, making friends--such as it is) and doctoring. In fact, I would judge that the doctoring scenes--where it's clear how much she cares about her patients--carry as much weight or more than the scenes of intrigue and plotting escapes. Director Petzold could not make it to the screening, but in his stead we had an introduction by Professor Jaimey Fisher who is about to publish (through U of Illinios Press) a book on Petzold called The Cinema of Christian Petzold: A Ghostly Archeology. He pointed out how much of the depiction of East Germany was a colorful response to the muted color palette in such movies as THE LIVES OF OTHERS (BTW, a fantastic film if you haven't seen it.) And it's true, while East Germany isn't exactly depicted as a wonderful place, it is a place with color and life, and people getting by.

Running Time: 105 minutes
My Total Minutes: 298,497

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Saturday, October 23rd

First, as a fan let me express some frustration with the festival's move from January (where it was unchallenged on the calendar) to October (where it's up against practically everything). I've preciously gone every day, this year I'll only make this one day and only two movies.

Since I'm not really in the know, I won't discuss the rumors I've heard about the move being connected to the circumstances of Ingrid Eggers departure. I will just say that for years Ms. Eggers ran a great festival, as a fan I will miss her and hope for nothing but the best for her.

Also, I like the fact that they have added a San Jose day (Saturday Oct 30, at the Camera 12) in the festival, although I won't be able to attend.

Okay, with that out of the way on to the movies:

First up, THE WOMAN WITH 5 ELEPHANTS, a charming documentary about Swetlana Geier. Considered one of the greatest Russian-to-German translators, her "5 elephants" are the translations of Dostoyevsky's 5 great novels. But this is not just a movie about translations, it's a movie about a deeply fascinating old woman. She's well in her 80's now, and walks painfully hunched over, but is meticulous and careful in everything she does. There is a sort of care she takes with everything in her life, like she's in the moment observing, appreciating, and reacting to it. That's true whether she's discussing translations with a colleague, baking a pie, or ironing. And she manages to drop subtle and humorous bits of wisdom. Particularly good was her "translate with your nose in the air" story (which doesn't mean be stuck up, it means read a passage, internalize, and look up and speak/write it in the translated language without going through word by word).

I had a bit of an epiphany while watching it--this is why I love movies. My mind tends to wander all over the place and I think of many things at once. When I'm in a meeting, I'm likely to be thinking about what I did just before or (more likely) what I'll do after the meeting. But while watching movies (and not during all movies) I can focus on just the movie. Being in a darkened room with a lighted screen, in a social atmosphere where having a conversation or checking my cell phone is taboo...calms me. That's also why I don't watch many movies on DVD at home--there's not the same forced attention. I readily admit that I couldn't keep my mind from wandering at times. I would catch myself thinking about something else (usually how much time there would be between films and if I had time to get a bite to eat), and then I'd be brought back to the film by a particularly beautiful or intelligent scene. As I felt that increased focus, I thought this must be how Swetlana Geier feels all the time, and it's pretty cool.

For the record, I had time enough that I could've gotten some food, but chose to stay in the theater and chat with friends before the crowd-pleasing MEN IN THE CITY. It's a story of five men and their romantic tribulations/adventures. There's a shy weakling who falls for the checkout girl at the pet store. There's her extremely violent ex, who wants her back but has also caught the eye of his father's nurse. There's a music producer/party animal with tons of women, none of whom he loves (and the flamingly flamboyant pop star whose music he produces). And there's the (seeming) loser with the pregnant girlfriend and no job, but a grand plan for a chain of healthy, organic fast-food restaurants. And finally, there's the normal guy with a plan for his whole life and a beautiful fiancé. But he's got a complication when a hot young model throws herself at him, forcing him to make a choice. Oh, and although they are strangers (at least at the start), they all go to the same gym, making it a sort of comic intersection for all their problems. As I said, it's a crowd-pleaser, and it's pretty darn good at that (they're filming the sequel right now).

Total Running Time: 200 minutes
My Total Minutes: 121,371

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--closing night

B&B 2009 is over. But mark your calendars for January 14, 2010, when it all starts again (with stereotypical German organization and efficiency, they've already scheduled the days for next year).

I saw just one movie, the closing night special of Melodies of Spring (Märzmelodie). This is very unusual for a German film--it's a musical. At least sort of. People break into song for a few lines, but quickly return to regular life, since I guess impromptu singing is not a very German thing to do. It's a romantic comedy--emotionally damaged people get their hearts broken, find love with someone else, etc. It's funny, and sometimes weird (even if true, has "I sometimes have blackouts and just forgot you were there" ever worked as an excuse for leaving your date at the restaurant and running off with your friends?) It was fun, and probably a good decision to end a festival with something easy to digest.

Which reminds me, once again for the closing night party Berlin and Beyond has the best food. Too bad it disappeared so quickly. At least there were still plenty of drinks.

And with that, Berlin and Beyond 2009 is in the books.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Day 6

After celebrating inauguration day by...going to work as usual but checking in every so often on the CNN.com feed of the festivities (which froze up during Obama's speech), I went back up to the Castro to celebrate Wim Wenders night at Berlin and Beyond.

First up was the U. S. premiere of Wenders' new film, Palermo Shooting. Now I have to confess that Wenders is a director I've always known of, but I'm not really familiar with his work. I think I saw Wings of Desire on video a long time ago, but that's about it (other than Kings of the Road last Sunday night). Well, after seeing Palermo Shooting, I went and added everything he's made to my Netflix queue. It's the story of Finn, a famous and very successful photographer. He takes digital photographs and manipulates them (say, by putting one city's sunset on another city's skyline, and adding a few buildings, etc.) His life is fast and chaotic. One of his techniques is using a 360 degree rotating camera to photograph the scenery as he's driving. However, he's haunted by nightmare images of death and a world literally turned upside-down (the opening credit scene alone blew me away and had me hooked through the whole film). As his life is spiralling beyond his control, he leaves town and ends up in Palermo (Italy). He doesn't speak the language, but meets a beautiful artist whom he can speak to in English, and they become close. Sleep deprived, he has a habit of falling asleep on public benches and waking up to what he thinks are arrows being shot at him. In fact, they're very vivid images--a ghostly white figure in a grey cloak, shooting arrows that quickly disappear. The movie becomes a sort of metaphysical, religious thriller. That cloaked figure is the image of death in a painting his artist friend is restoring. So he's actually being hunted by death. The end scene with death is a bit over the top (kind of has to be, since it's a Dennis Hopper cameo), but the mystery and the strong visuals had me transfixed the whole time.

So after the movie we had a conversation with Wim Wenders. He's a very funny man, and spoke about his criticisms of digital photography. He's a big fan of film for still pictures, although he quickly adopted digital effects for his movies. That was an interesting distinction. He argued that still photography captures truth, and digital photography is a) too easy to manipulate, and b) too easy to toss out the pictures that don't come out the way you want. However, movies were from the beginning about make-believe anyway, so digital is not a problem--you want to be able to manipulate the image to be not quite real. He also spoke very eloquently about the message of Palermo Shooting, which he said was about an affliction he sees in nearly everyone, himself included. And that affliction is not living in the moment, but always thinking ahead to what's next. That's so true, and I feel it in myself (right now I'm thinking I better finish writing this so I can hop on the BART to go to the Noir City Film Festival). I...don't know how to cure that. But at least I can now definitely see that I have a problem.

Anyway, just to prove that not everyone throws out their digital photographs just because they look lousy, here's a shot of Wim Wenders in conversation at the Castro, taken of course on my cellphone:

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Day 5

Okay, 2 more movies last Monday. Here we go.

First up was the classic old film that introduced Marlene Dietrich to the world, The Blue Angel. However, this was the rarely shown English version (not sure if that's a good thing, but it's a different thing. There was an interesting introduction to the film where I learned a few things. First, early sound film did not capture the higher pitched voice of women very well, and Marlene Dietrich was cast in part because her voice was lower and was captured well on film. Second, the film was shot in German and in English with the same cast. The idea was that the German version would have exclusive play in Germany (and not have to compete with Hollywood films) and the English version would play in America to try to break into the American market. It was a success in its time, but the quick advent of subtitles doomed it to obscurity. However, because so many prints were made of the German version, the original negatives wore out and now every print is a copy of a copy, while the English version languished in a vault and is more or less pristine to make more prints from the original negative.

Now on to the film. I'm ashamed to admit I've never seen the German version. I can guess what's different. In particular, Emil Jannings' character (Professor Immanuel Rath) is a professor of English in this version, and forces his students to speak English. Second, Marlene Dietrich's showgirl character Lola Lola is an English speaker and forces people to speak English to her. I assume these are both adaptations for the English version. Other than that, I assume the story is the same. Rath's students sneak out to the club "Blue Angel" to see Lola perform. Trying to catch them in the act, Rath goes to the club, only to be embarrassed and smitten by Lola. Over several visits (and several drinks), he falls for her and proposes. She laughs hysterically (not the desired response), since she's pretty much a...well, they couldn't actually show true sluttiness back then, but she is by profession a woman of loose morals. Rath spends so much time at the Blue Angel his life falls apart and he loses his job. But he doesn't care, he marries Lola and starts life as a performer in their travelling show. A few years later, they return to his hometown to do the triumphant return show in the Blue Angel. Everyone's excited--except for Rath, who's mortified.

It's a good story, with a good moral (if a girl laughs at your marriage proposal, just walk away!), and somewhat shocking considering the era. But there are problems with the English version. Primarily, the German accents are so thick sometimes I wished it was just in German and subtitled. Second Dietrich has a thick enough accent that it's not so believable that she's a native English speaker who doesn't understand German. Worst, Kurt Gerron is almost unintelligible. For that matter, ever since seeing Prisoner of Paradise, I find it hard to watch Kurt Gerron without thinking about his tragic end in Theresienstadt, but that shouldn't be a criticism of the film. I'm just saying, is all.

Next up was a well done and exciting if somewhat standard bank robber thriller 12 Winters. It's based on a true story (but admittedly jazzed up for entertainment) of Klaus (Axel Prahl) and Mike (the always awesome Jürgen Vogel). They're two criminals who meet in prison. After they get released, they happen to run into each other (through a common friend) and start talking about what they've been up to. Turns out one (I think it was Klaus, but I might be wrong) has been up to robbing banks. They start plotting how to rob banks better, more efficiently, with no risk of getting caught. And, most importantly, without killing anyone (which is true of the real story, and one reason they're more sympathetic than the typical bank robber). For 12 years, working only in the winter (hence the title) they went on one of the most infamous bank robbing sprees in German history. They wore masks and although they were both middle aged jumped over counters like young men (one element that confused the cops and kept them off their trail). Klaus is very low key (in fact, he's in hiding), and rarely spends any money. Mike, on the other hand spends freely, and enjoys his wealth with the company of several women (another true element that was allegedly toned down for the film because his real lifestyle would be too over the top). A fun thriller. As I said, a little standard (there's hardly anything new about bank robbers on film), but fun nonetheless.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Day 4

Der erste Film, den ich sah, war am Sonntag Silly's Sweet Summer (der deutsche Titel war Blöde Mütze). Allerdings, durch Fehler der Printmedien keine englischen Untertiteln, so dass ich mir die ganze Sache darn in deutscher Sprache. Ich glaube, ich weiß, was passiert ist, aber nur, um diese interessanter ich meine Übersetzung ins Deutsche Überprüfung der Verwendung von Google Translate. Here we go:

Martin ist das neue Kind in der Schule, aber auch zeigt, bevor er sich für den ersten Tag der Klasse, er fängt Oliver stehlen Zigaretten und Ratten auf ihn. So hat er einen Feind erst einmal, und er ihm Spitznamen wie "Stupid Hat" (Ich weiß, dass dies nur wegen der Einführung in den Film). Dies geschieht, obwohl Oliver Martin kauft eine Packung Zigaretten (die sagen, dass sie sich für seine Mutter) - er kann einfach nicht finden Oliver und geben Sie sie ihn in der Zeit.

Martin ist auch der Umgang mit neuen Gefühlen, die durch ogling eines Sonnenschutzmittels Anzeige mit einer Frau "oben ohne" (die nur von der Rückseite, dies ist ein Kinder-Film). Allerdings, wenn er sieht, classmate Silke, sie beginnt an die Stelle der namenlosen topless Küken in seinen Phantasien. Problem ist, dass sie Oliver's Freundin. Aber sie werden Freunde und ein bisschen Liebe Dreieck entwickelt.

Mal sehen, was sonst noch passiert? Martin liebt seine Fische, aber Angst vor dem Wasser (er kann nicht schwimmen). Also, wenn sie zu den geheimen Versteck von einem See, er gehe auf die Reihe, aber nicht schwimmen. Schließlich Oliver und Martin machen sich Freunde, aber ich kann mich nicht erinnern, wie. Oliver's Mutter ist mit einer Affäre, ich kann mich nicht erinnern, was mit seinem Vater. An einer Stelle Silke und Martin haben ein Kampf, aber das ist der Punkt, den ich nicht wirklich herausfinden, aus dem Maßnahmen-und Körpersprache. Aber sie sich wieder zusammen, und sie sind alle Freunde in die Ende. Martin selbst überwindet seine Angst vor Wasser und lernt schwimmen. Dann Ende.

Interessante, vielleicht habe ich einige Fähigkeiten entwickelt, indem sie so viele Stummfilme (danke Niles Film Museum), aber gerade das wirklich zeigt, wie die meisten Fremdinteressen Dialog in einem Film. Obwohl die Beurteilung durch das Gelächter im Publikum, wenn ich die Sprache, hätte ich bekommen viel mehr aus ihm heraus.


Okay, back to English. Next up was the Short Film Program, which broke down as follows:
Bende Sira – Ich Bin Dran--Actually, this one didn't have subtitles, either. But it was still pretty easy to follow the story of a bunch of boys (and one sister) who pool their money so one can watch a movie and describe it to the rest.
Sommersonntag--A heartbreaking story of a drawbridge operator and his adorable deaf son who wanders under the bridge mechanism just before it has to be lowered for the passing train.
The Girl With the Yellow Stockings--The perfect love story. Girl tortures guy by forcing him to propose over and over again just so she can say, "No!"
Die Begegnung--A visual poem in (mostly) black and white, about a couple who meet, lose each other, meet themselves (possibly a time travel interpretation?). Very weird, but beautiful.
Felix--The best of the shorts, the story of a young boy who starts an online relationship with a deaf girl. He even learns sign language for her. He also pretends to be deaf, but has trouble keeping that secret.
Big Plans--A charming animated film about a young genius trying to build a machine to dispense apples.
Dog Food--Two youths, one kind of a thug and one more of a wannabe. The thug convinces the wannabe to break into an old woman's house and steal something. He chooses her...dentures? Oh yeah, and watches her die (sort of).
Illusion--You know what's better than having a job you love as a train ticket taker? Getting fired for roughing up a passenger, and then returning to work anyways on your own. Hey, they can pay the fine to you, or to the transit agency.
Samsa – Hommage An Kafka--Ah, Kafka. An animated interpretation of "Metamorphasis" as a Gregor Samsa writes out his story on a typewriter/cockroach that eats him alive.
On the Line--A security guard falls for a woman who works in one of the stores he watches. They take the same train home every night, and not by accident. But when he sees her board the train with another man, he makes a decision with tragic unintended consequences.

And that was the short film program, and it was a very good program.

Next up was the Berlin and Beyond tradition of playing the audience award winner from Kinofest Lünen. And by coincidence, Evet, I Do! also won the audience award here (not really a coincidence, it's a wonderful, adorable movie). A simple, romantic premise--various couples hoping/planning to get married. The twist--at least one of each couple is Muslim, and they're either Kurds or Turks ("Evet" is the Turkish word for "yes"). Turks and Kurds are large ethnic minorities in Germany, and people that have not historically been friends. But that all changes in the liberal, free world. Turks can marry Kurds, Muslims can marry atheists, etc....except their parents tend to have problems with it. There's the Kurdish man and the Turkish woman who are madly in love, if only they can get their parents to stop fighting. There's the liberal German man who's willing to give up his parent's anti-marriage values to marry his his girlfriend. He's even willing to convert to Islam (at least in name). But when her father requires that he's circumcised--that's a different question. There's the man coming from Turkey to marry anyone just to get a green card. Problem is, he wants a pretty wife. And finally there's Emrah. His parent's have arranged a very nice wife for him. Trouble is, he loves his friend Tim. All the intersecting storylines are handled with humor and a deft steady hand that's all the more impressive if you know it's director Sinan Akkus' first feature film. So far he's shown at Lünen and here, and he's two for two in audience awards.

Next we transition from light romantic comedy to a much darker drama, Jerichow. In a slightly violent opening, Thomas is in his childhood home (in the tiny town of Jerichow, hence the title) talking with his brothers. Their mother has just died and left them some money. He wants to keep it, move into the house, and fix it up. But he owes them money, so they beat him up and take it. He's broke, but gets a menial job picking cucumbers, making just enough to get by. He has a bit of a sketchy past--he is an Afghanistan veteran, dishonorably discharged. So he can't get better work. But a lucky break strikes him when he helps Ali. Ali was driving drunk and crashed, Thomas talks to him and takes the wrap--claiming he was driving. Turns out Ali runs a bunch of local fast food stands, and when he's again caught driving drunk, he loses his license. So he hires Thomas to drive his van for him. That's great, Thomas is making better money, has a good friend in Ali, is learning the ropes, and is getting along great with Ali's hot wife. In fact, maybe a little too great...make that, way too great...they're having an affair. Thing is, when Ali gets drunk he gets violent. He can be sweet at times, but overall Laura only stays with him because she's deeply in debt (and due to their pre-nup, she will be again if they divorce). Well, their affair gets more serious, and they start hatching some dangerous plans. A pretty good drama with some elements of a thriller.

And finally, Berlin and Beyond started their Wim Wenders tribute with an early road epic, Kings of the Road. A three-hour, more or less plotless work of beauty, if you can endure the length. Bruno repairs movie projectors, and travels along the border with East and West Germany (oh yeah, this movie's from 1976). At one stop by the lake, he witnesses reckless, crazy, suicidal Robert drive directly into the lake. So of course first he busts up laughing, but then he helps him to shore and lets him borrow clothes while his dry. And now they're best friends travelling along the border and having weird adventures and weirder conversations. I'm honestly not sure if I can say I "got" this movie, but there are parts that amazed and amused me (the shadow theater particularly is a little piece of brilliance). I'm not sure if it was worth the 3 hour running time for most people. But hell, I started the day watching a feature film in a language I don't understand, so I might as well end it this way.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--day 3

Okay, I'm several days and 10 films behind. Works been busy, but I've still been going to Berlin and Beyond every day. Saturday I just saw two movies, and here we go.

First up was the documentary La Paloma about the song of the same name. "La Paloma" is an incredibly popular song by the Spaniard Sebastián de Iradier, and this movie is about its history and its fans. It's unclear whether Iradier wrote it in Spain or in Cuba, but it was inspired by his visit to Cuba and its popularity definitely took off there. From there, it swept the world, first becoming a political anthem in Mexico after Emperor Maximilian let it be known that it was his favorite song (and it was then adopted and modified by his enemies). With the lyrics modified, the tune is still used politically today in Mexico. It travelled to Hawaii (along with the guitar) with the Mexican ranch hands brought in from California by King Kamehameha III to handle their wild herds of cattle (originally a gift to Kamehameha I from Captain Vancouver). But back to the song--it's been recorded possibly thousands of times (arguably a record), including by Elvis. And of course it was translated to German (otherwise it wouldn't make much sense that it's in Berlin and Beyond--other than it was produced in Germany and director Sigrid Faltin is German). It's very popular in Germany, and one of the most famous recordings is by Hans Alber in Große Freiheit Nr. 7. Honestly, I had heard the song before but didn't know it was such a big deal before seeing this movie. But beyond the specific song, it's an interesting story about how a small cultural icon travels the world (at least, before the Internet. Now memes travel worldwide overnight, and there's no epic story behind them).

So next up was a romantic drama of wartime Germany, The Invention of Curried Sausage. It's near the end of the war, the Allies are approaching Berlin, or at least bombing it on a regular basis. A few citizens are still very gung-ho to promote the party line, but the heroes in this movie just want it to end. Particularly Lena Bruecker, manager of a local commissary, and for all intents and purposes a widow. Her husband and her son are off in the war, and she never expects to see either. To pass the time, she goes to the cinema. No sooner than the newsreel starts than the bombs fall, and she finds herself huddling in a shelter with Petty Officer Bremer, who's off on leave. But after she takes him home, that leave quickly becomes AWOL, as she hides him in her apartment while they carry on a love affair. They survive the war, and they survive the nosy neighbors (and the gung-ho Nazi landlord). But really, it's the peace, and return to reality that threatens their love, which is a pretty interesting (and in retrospect, kind of obvious) turnabout on the expected "love in wartime" dynamic. It's a well made, well told story with tension and humor--I have to give big praise to the cook (I believe the character's name was Holzinger), who provided the best subversive humor in the movie.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--day 2

Aka, First Feature Friday. Both the movies I saw were debut features from their directors, starting with the festival's award winner for best first feature, Micha Lewinsky's The Friend. Incidentally, this is the first time a Swiss German film has won this award, and this is also Switzerland's entry for best foreign language film at the Oscars. So good luck to them. It's the story of Emil, an awkward, shy student in Zurich. He has a crush on Larissa, a singer at a club he frequents. He's never had the courage to say anything more than "hi" to her, and she's never acknowledged his existence. So it's strange and thrilling when she approaches him and asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend. Seems she told her parents she had a boyfriend and that they were very happy, so just go along with it. But when he first calls her home, he gets her sister who delivers some bad news--Larissa's dead. He shows up anyway and plays the role he's been dreaming of forever. He's quickly accepted by the family and finds a new sense of confidence, becoming less of a wallflower and more of a man. Man enough to catch the eye of Larissa's sister Nora, who was always jealous of being in her shadow. As more information comes out--like that her death was a suicide, not an accident--it becomes an awkward, dysfunctional comedy-drama. It's a story of losing something you never really had and finding something in yourself that you had all along.

Next up was Brigitte Maria Bertele's A Hero's Welcome. Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD) is talked about quite a lot in America, but to hear Bertele, it's not talked of much in Germany. So she made a drama about David, an Afghan war vet returning home. He's learned the swagger and easy camaraderie of a soldier, and so he can fake his way through his return and the congratulations he gets for his medal. But it's clear that there are problems, starting with how he can't look his little brother (who idolizes him) in the eye. Then he can't make love to his girlfriend, he wets the bed, his temper blows up at the slightest provocation. Clearly he's troubled, but he refuses to see the army psychiatrist (a common element of PTSD is denying you have a problem). Eventually he warms up to his brother Benni, but only to semi-torture him--playing far too rough in soccer practice, making him kill his sick pet bunny, even giving him a gun and telling him (Benni) to shoot him (David). It's all on the pretense of teaching him to not be afraid, but it clearly shows the cycle of passing the trauma on--and passing it on to the weakest person around you. It's a powerful story with some fearless acting and no easy answers.


And one final note, for my longtime readers. Both filmmakers were there and had very interesting question and answer sessions afterwards. Longtime readers will know I've always tried to get a photo of the filmmakers with my low-quality camera phone, and I've posted them on this blog. Well, I've finally decided that they always look so bad I'm not even going to try anymore. I did it the first few times as an experiment, then kept it up for 2 years because I thought it'd be unfair to the filmmakers if I showed some but not all. Well, after 2 years I'm callign the experiment a failure. It's a year of minor changes to this blog.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--opening night

Berlin and Beyond traditionally opens the Bay Area start of the year film festival glut. It's followed immediately by Noir City, then Indiefest, Cinequest, SFIAAFF, and...then maybe I get to rest. Oh yeah, and I'll fit the Niles Film Museum's Mid-Winter Comedy Festival in there, too (sadly, I'll miss their Pre-Code Follies).

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Berlin and Beyond 2009 started last night. First with a little party in the Castro mezzanine. Berlin and Beyond's opening party always features two things--the best food, and the least room. It's crowded, but worth it, and I drank just enough that I had to struggle to stay awake through the film, but was successful in that struggle (with thanks to Foosh caffeinated mints).

And then the film, Cherry Blossoms, by Doris Dörrie (whose The Fisherman and his Wife played at Berlin and Beyond a couple years ago). Again, she focuses on love and marriage, with a German/Japanese twist. Trudi and Rudi are an old married couple. Trudi is sort of a free soul, into Japanese modern dance (called Butoh). Or rather, she was free soul. Rudi is more conservative, and would prefer that nothing ever changes. So when Trudi learns that Rudi has a serious disease, she knows he won't take the news well. She doesn't tell him, but instead convinces her to take a vacation and visit their children in Berlin. They have a son and (lesbian) daughter there, but they don't really get along. So after an awkward visit (where we learn that they have another son in Tokyo, but Rudi never wants to visit there), they head off to the Baltic Sea for a vacation by themselves. But Trudi suddenly dies there. Rudi is left alone and heartbroken, more so when he learns about the secret life Trudi wanted for herself in Tokyo, and how much she sacrificed to be with him and raise their family. So Rudi screws up his courage and goes to Tokyo to see their other son, and as he goes to another world this becomes another movie and he becomes another person. He starts wandering around Tokyo, although he can't read a word. He wanders into strip clubs (awkward), and meets a Butoh dancer and begins a friendship with her. He in a way becomes the adventurous soul that Trudi was, and in her passing her character actually becomes more important and more fully realized and Rudi becomes more like her. There's a powerful sense of loss and loneliness, but it's interesting how in opening up and moving on, Rudi becomes a celebration of Trudi's spirit. A sad movie to be sure, but one with a sense of hope, beauty, and sweetness and one that exhorts the audience to appreciate what they have right now.

And that's how Berlin and Beyond 2009 started.

Jason corrects some errors about "The Red Elvis"

Or at least about my post where I wrote about the movie "The Red Elvis". I got this comment from Dale Reed, Dean Reed's older brother. I'll let it speak for itself:

A couple comments about your comments about my younger brother Dean.

1) Dean's first wife "Patricia" was American living in California where they first met.

2) It is unfortunate if the latest movie about Dean said he was a member of the Communist Party. I have no evidence that he was and knowing Dean I remember that he was not a joiner.

Unless he was trying to change it from within. We Reeds are known for fighting our battles from inside rather than throwing rocks from the outside.

As a result shortly after Dean died the East German wall fell and shortly after that the USSR dissolved. Dale

Now I have to explain something. First, I apologize for getting the facts wrong. Second, I'm not by profession a film journalist, I'm not even involved in the industry in any way (other than as a consumer). I'm a physicist for a company building gamma ray cameras for medical imaging. I watch movies for fun, and starting writing about them a few years ago in part just so I could look back and remember what I saw. Enough friends, filmmakers, and film festival programmers were interested in my opinions that I started this blog rather than trying to keep track of who I should e-mail about what movie.

So, to make a long story short, I don't have the training, resources, or time to fact-check everything I write. I'm usually doing this from memory (and help from the film festival guide and/or IMDb), often a few days and several movies after the fact (when, for example, I see a movie early in a weekend series and I don't write about it until Monday, I might see 10 or more other movies before I go back and write about it).

I can't say for sure now that "The Red Elvis" by Leopold Grün actually said Dean Reed was a communist or if I'm misremembering it (perhaps the nickname "Red Elvis" put the wrong idea in my head). I also can't say whether it actually misidentified his first wife. I'm assuming I'm mistaken, not the movie, based on the fact that I've seen 90 minutes of material on him and I assume Leopold Grün did quite a bit more research.

The Internet, obviously, is a great source of misinformation. I hope I'm not doing too much damage. I further hope that by making it easier for people to try to correct the misinformation, eventually the correct facts will rise to the surface. I know this doesn't happen all the time, as the original misinformation is remembered and the corrections are forgotten (But how many newspapers do you know that would write this much for a correction?)

As a scientist, I pride myself in reporting my observations correctly. So it obviously bothers me when I get something like this wrong, even if it's not in my professional setting.

I think the key to gleaning the information from the misinformation is a matter of knowing who you can trust as an authority. Well, let me help you here--I'm not an authority on much of anything. When you read a review here, you can be sure I actually saw the movie in question and I'm giving you my honest opinion based on what I can remember. I can't vouch for the accuracy of my memory, because I don't take notes during the movie. And when I see 6 movies a day and try to write about them all, it's inevitable I will not remember everything correctly. I'm sorry for any errors, and if you notice any of them please feel free to comment or e-mail me with the correct information.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--closing night

I didn't make it up for the matinees, but I did go to the closing night film and party. Before hand they announced the audience award winners. And since I've been told (although I can't verify this) that I was the first online source to report that "Paula's Secret" won, let me go further and tell you that they also announced the top three runners up. They were all very close, with scores between something like 4.62 and 4.66 (out of 5) and I might have some in the wrong order. But to my recollection they were:

3rd runner-up: "Late Bloomers"
2nd runner-up: "Jacob's Brother" (this might have been 1st runner-up, I'm not sure)
1st runner-up: "To The Limit" (which I missed, it was a weekday noon screening and I have a regular job).
And, of course, the winner is "Paula's Secret".

But for my money, the best could have been the closing night comedy, "Grave Decisions" (the original title, "Wer Früher Stirbt, Ist Länger Tot", I'm told translates to "The earlier you die, the longer you're dead". Unwieldy in English, but I like it better.) It takes place in a small Bavarian town. Sebastian is an 11 year old boy who lives with his father, works in their inn, gets into trouble, is beaten by his older brother, and deeply misses his dead mother. At first he does some experiments to see if he can bring her back. His Frankenstein experiment on a rabbit ends with an explosion (and completes the festival's dead bunny trifecta), and then he moves on to trying to become immortal himself. The inn's drunk regulars explain how procreation is the secret to immortality, intending to explain how his mother lives on through him. Instead it leads to an awkward encounter with his teacher. Later to local radio DJ (and the teacher's husband) explains how rock-and-roll fame makes you immortal, so he gets a guitar and practices like crazy. He's certainly got the rock-and-roll wild streak down (though he's too young for sex and drugs). It's a sweet, crowd-pleasing, coming-of-age story with a touch of surrealism and absurdity that strikes me just right. An excellent way to end a find festival.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Day 6

This night started with the silent film program of a Karl Valentin short and feature, courtesy of the Film Museum Munich.

Karl Valentin didn't have much success in his life (he was successful on stage, but not in film), but was discovered later and now his movies are fairly popular (for old black and white silents). He was also very tall and had a gigantic nose, both of which he played up in his comedy.

Anyway, first we saw a short film, "The New Desk". Karl plays a clerk who receives a new desk. It's too tall, so he cuts down the legs (he was a carpenter before making movies). Now the desk is too short, so he cuts the legs down. Repeat, until he falls through the floor. Cool.

Then his feature film, "The Oddball". Karl is a tailor by training, but there's no work for him. He's also an avid stamp collector, and a bit of a klutz. He first takes odd jobs to pay the rent, and eventually is hired on as an assistant to a tailor, where the tailor's wife takes a liking to him. Wacky hijinx, of course, ensue. Leading up to the funniest thing of all--attempted suicide! It was pretty funny, but I got the sense that a lot of his jokes that worked on stage were more verbal, and he could have done better in talkies, if he were only given the chance.

Next up was a movie that Ingrid introduced as not a comedy, so I feel kinda bad about laughing at "Import Export". A story (or two stories) that takes place in and between the Ukraine and Austria. In the first story, Olga is a nurse in the Ukraine who moves west and gets work in a geriatric ward in Austria. In the second (concurrent, and interweaving) story, Paul is an unemployed security guard who moves to the Ukraine with his stepfather, looking for a new life. It's not ha ha funny, but it is oh-my-god-that's-kinda-extreme funny. Or at least, it was to me. Yeah, their lives are pretty bleak, but there's sex, death (and the elderly near death), debasement, etc. And it's all played very matter-of-fact, almost casually. Especially the graphic, casual, commercial sexuality. That made me laugh the most.

And we're almost done. Just the closing night remains.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Day 5

Okay, I'm trying to finish this in reasonable time. I've still got 5 more B&B screenings to write up, and another movie since then. So let's just jump right in.

Last Monday night I saw two movies. First up was "Hounds", another dysfunctional family film. This one takes place in the stark beauty of the dead of winter in Uckermark region (a rural area just outside of Berlin). Lars has just moved there with his recently divorced dad. The locals don't take kindly to outsiders, and his dad's idea to rent out his barn to newlyweds seems kinda stupid. Lars' only friend is Marie, a mute girl. But of course her father is dead set against their friendship. Meanwhile Lars' mother comes over for Christmas, insisting despite the divorce she won't miss Christmas with her son. And she brings her lover with her--awkward! It's actually a very sweet, beautiful, and touching film. I also have to mention that it contains one of the festivals mini-themes--dead bunnies. That's sad. Bunnies are cute, and dead bunnies aren't. That's actually been a theme of movies I've seen for the past year, at least since "Your Mommy Kills Animals". Has cinema been killing more rabbits in the past year, or have I just gotten more sensitive to it?

Anyway, here's a pic of Constantin von Jascheroff (Lars) at the Q&A:


And the second film of the night was also about a dysfunctional family relationship. "Twisted Sister". Anne is a successful music producer, but her personal life with her loser boyfriend Philipp is a mess. She goes on holiday to Spain with her 18 year old sister Marie. They have wacky adventures together, fight some, do some drugs, have a little love triangle (or at least sex triangle...but sorry, no threesome). There's also a lost cell phone, pressures from mom and work, and a traffic accident. And in the end, I'm asking 'which sister was supposed to be twisted?' I guess that's pretty much the point. Here's a picture of the co-star (and daughter of Ulrich Mühe) Anna Maria Mühe (Marie, the younger sister):


And that was Monday.

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Day 4

Sorry, I've been way too busy to write. I'm 5 days and a dozen movies behind schedule. The festival's already over, and I haven't written up last Sunday yet.

However, the advantage to that is I know how the festival ended, so I can tell you that the first film Sunday, "Paula's Secret", won the audience award. It's a crowd-pleasing (obviously) comedy about a little rich girl, Paula. She has a secret (I hope I'm not going too fast for you). Her secret is that she keeps a diary where she pretends to correspond with a dashing fairy-tale prince. She's robbed on the train, and among other items her diary is stolen. Her lower-class slob classmate, Tobi (who secretly has a crush on her) offers to help her find it. And wacky hijinx ensue, including but not limited to sneaking away from her holiday summer camp, tracking down the kids who stole her diary, finding and foiling a Romanian child slave labor ring, saving the day, and falling in love. Super sweet!

Next up was the improvised movie, "So Long My Heart". Interestingly, co-direction/screenwriter Oliver Paulus admitted that it wasn't intended to be to totally improvised. His previous movie had been improvised and editing was a nightmare. So this time, he had a story arc written, with room to improvise dialog. Then another movie came out just before they started shooting that used many of the same details. So they scrapped it and went with a completely improvised film (and he had to deal with the nightmare editing process again). Anyway, the result is the melancholy bittersweet comedy/drama about a lonely man who moves to Mannheim. He takes a job as a caretaker in a nursing home (and it was actually shot in the nursing home using residents as characters), where he's the only male employee and therefore quite popular. But he's popular in one of the loneliest and most depressing places/times in life. It reminds me of the line from Donnie Darko--"Every living creature on this earth dies alone". But here he finds a ray of beauty in compassion in the last stages of life. Great acting all around, and a great look, although the improvisation does let it kind of meander. Here's Co-director and screenwriter Oliver Paulus:


Next up was a Berlin and Beyond tradition, showing the audience award winners from Kinofest Lünen. First the short "15 Minuten Wahrheit", an eco-political thriller-comedy about the loyal employees sticking it to the evil boss who's planning to fire them. It was excellent.

And then the feature film--also excellent--"Jacob's Brother". A dysfunctional family road trip comedy. Jacob (or Jakob) is the responsible older brother, who now owns and operates a fish restaurant. Lorenz is the kinda crazy wild younger brother. They haven't spoken in a long time (because Jacob got fed up and left), but now their mother is sick and Lorenz goes to find him and bring him home (so that he can be the responsible one again). Car trouble, a 16 year-old girl hitchhiker, and complete psychotic breakdowns ensue. It was hilarious.

Next up was a more serious movie. "And Along Come Tourists" takes place in the Polish town of Oœwiêcim, better known by the name of the concentration camp just outside of town--Auschwitz. It's the semi-autobiographical story of Sven, a German youth who moves there to work at the camp's youth hostel to fulfill his German civil service obligation (writer/director Robert Thalheim worked there for the same reason). There he meets and looks after Krzemiñski, a former camp inmate who started a department preserving historical artifacts--particularly restoring old suitcases. They specifically never say if Krzemiñski is Jewish or if he was in the camp for other reasons. Nor do they get into why he didn't leave. He's really a very mysterious and of course tragic character. The treatment of Krzemiñski (lately his restoration work is destroying more suitcases than it saves, but they're afraid to fire him for fear of offending him) is emblematic of the whole town. It's a town that's afraid at any moment to say or do anything that might disrespect its tragic history, but on the other hand it's a down that's desperate to get beyond its history and finally think of the future again. The disparity is shocking, but understandable, and is handled with great respect. Ultimately Sven finds his place there, but it's an uncomfortable place.

Next up was the relationship comedy "Runaway Horse", but first the short "Forest Cleaner" ("Waldmeister"). The short was not originally scheduled with this, but since co-director and star Markus Mischkowski had to catch his flight, they played it early. It's a hilarious slapstick black and white flick about two guys whose job is to pick up trash in the forest. When there's not enough trash, they have to find a way to survive. A comedy of employment and make-work programs. Hilarious. Here's a picture of Markus Mischkowski:

As I said, "Runaway Horse" is a relationship comedy. Based on a best-selling novel, it's a simple 4-person story. A middle aged married couple (Helmut and Sabine) go to a quiet lakeside resort for a holiday. There Helmut runs into an old school buddy, Klaus, a wild playboy with a much, much younger girlfriend (Hel). This disrupts Helmut's quiet holiday of bird watching, as Klaus manages to barge in on just about everything, making his holiday kinda hellish (no pun intended). To make matters worse, Sabine enjoys Klaus' company, and he seems to be just the man she wishes Helmut was. And Hel flirts openly with Helmut. And hijinx ensue. It's funny, well acted, and a crowd-pleaser. And, of course, it has the German cynicism about relationships, but with a surprisingly romantic ending.

Then I saw "Forest Cleaner" again, in the time slot where it was actually programmed. It's good enough to watch twice and enjoy both times.

And finally, the marathon weekend ended with the documentary, "Heavy Metal in the Country". Swabia (southern region of Germany) has the reputation for small quiet towns. But nestled in the Swabian town of Dunzdorf is the worldwide headquarters of Nuclear Blast records. Markus Staiger founded it, after growing up as a metal fan and selling records to his friends. It's now one of the world's most successful independent heavy metal labels. The disparity is striking, and the movie's editing plays that disparity to the maximum. And the effect is fascinating, funny, and weird. And that's all I have to say. That's the way the weekend ended, and that's the way this post will end. More to come...

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--Day 3

Yeah, I skipped day 2. I was busy. Anyway, big Saturday full of movies, here we go:

First up was the short film program, titled in the efficient German manner, "Short Film Program":

"Security"--A comedy about supermarket security, theft, and desperation.


"Apple on a Tree"--A musical comedy about an apple who dreams of being a man. God grants his wish, then he finds out that being a man sucks, and wishes he were an apple again. Shot in Soylent Green-imation--where everything is made of people! This movie is awesome! I'm still humming, 'All I wanna be, is an apple on a tree!'


"Fair Trade"--Specifically, trade between Africa and Europe across the Straits of Gibraltar. More specifically, about the trade in African babies to childless Europeans. Ummm..."fair" is meant ironically.


"My Father is Sleeping"--A coming-of-age day in the life of a little boy living on a farm with his sick father and carefree sister. A story of growing up, responsibility, death, and bunnies (and dead bunnies...that was sad. I've seen too many dead bunnies in films this past year). Here's a pic of producer Sol Bondy at the Q&A afterwards:


"Diary of a Perfect Love"--An animated comedy about a loser who gets a dream job designing a realistic robotic toy hamster. He also meets and falls in love with his beautiful colleague. I just have to say, I'm a big fan of German cynicism about romance. Which probably explains why I'm so alone. Moving on...


"Video 3000"--This fancy new remote controls the whole freakin' world! I wonder what happens if I press the power button?


"Mammal"--Mother and son, in a tense but symbiotic relationship. Scale changes everything.


"Women Talk About Themselves"--Specifically, Iranian women. And they talk about their hardships and their hopes.



Next up was the documentary "The Red Elvis", about Dean Reed. If you're like me, you hadn't heard of Dean Reed before. Think of him as a little like an Elvis knock-off from Denver. But he never really caught on in America. He was, however, immensely popular in South America, particularly Chile. With his fame, he felt it was his responsibility to try to make the world a better place. And to him that meant getting involved both in pacifist causes and in the Communist revolution in Chile. He became an active member of the Communist party, and played in Moscow and East Germany. There he met his first wife, and stayed. Although he always claimed to love America, he also spoke out against it quite a lot. Eventually he even abandoned his pacifism and advocated outright struggle. Through it all, he was a matinee idol, playing to sold-out shows and making 20 movies in East Germany. He was also a notorious womanizer and went through his share of wives. It all ended in 1986 under mysterious circumstances--officially ruled a suicide in a lake in East Berlin. A fascinating person and a very well made movie that makes great use of archival footage and contemporary interviews. Look for a biopic of his life coming out soon from Tom Hanks, of all people?! Here's a pic of Director Leopold Grün:


Next up was the Swiss crowd-pleaser, "Late Bloomers". Martha has lived for 80 years, the last 9 months as a widow. She's lost her zest for life, and is mostly just waiting to die while keeping her husband's old shop open. Her son, the local pastor, wants the shop for his bible study group (and to cavort with a female parishioner--oooh la la!). An opportunity to be useful presents itself when the town choir's banner needs to be mended. She used to sew before she met her husband. But as her friends help her with the banner, a more startling revelation comes to light. She didn't just sew--she used to sew sexy lingerie, and dreamt of opening a boutique in Paris. So her friends convince her to do just that, but in their tiny Swiss village instead of Paris. This causes quite a stir for the simple, conservative village. It's a generational struggle, with the twist being that the octogenarians are the ones with the hip, cool, new ideas, and the young people are the stick-in-the-mud hypocrites. It's old age having a go at youth, and although it plays out in rather predictable ways, as I said it's quite a crowd pleaser. In fact, the festival write-up claims it's the most successful Swiss film in 25 years. Neato!

Next up was the bad-skin drama "Neandertal". Guido is 17 years old and has suffered all his life from neuro-dermatitis, a skin condition sometimes called German eczema. It's most prevalent in Germans, and particularly suburban Germans. From what I gathered, it's sort of a psychosomatic disease, in that the extent of the rash can be affected by the stress in the life of the sufferer. While most denizens of Neandertal (the small German town after which the caveman species gets its name) want to leave, Guido just wants to be normal. Not much of a chance of that, though. He discovers that his parents perfect marriage is nothing but, and he runs away, moves in with his older brother, and meets the charismatic but dangerous rogue Rudi. He idolizes Rudi, and with his help begins a quest for independence that actually causes his skin to clear up. But not all is right with Rudi, either. It's a very tense, exciting movie about the struggle between our caveman instincts and our civilized upbringing. Here's a pic of composer Jakob Ilja (I should mention that the soundtrack was excellent) and Director Ingo Haeb at the Q&A afterwards:


Next up was "Yella", which was introduced as a metaphysical thriller. I kinda wish it hadn't been introduced that way, because it kind of ruined the "surprise" ending for me. Umm...so forget I described it. In fact, forget I mentioned there's a surprise ending. Crap! Anyway, Yella is a talented accountant from East Germany who's just been offered her dream job in the west. Her borderline psycho ex-husband Ben doesn't want her to leave. He insists on at least driving her to the train station, but instead drives off a bridge into a river, nearly killing them both (in a very exciting scene). She runs to make the train just in time, and gets on well in her new job, assisting in business negotiations by discovering business secrets by studying balance sheets (she's darn good at her job). Unfortunately, Ben continues stalking her, and she fears for her life. Especially when she starts having an affair with her colleague, that just pisses Ben off more. Meanwhile any sounds of water sets off flashbacks reminding her of her near death experience. As I mentioned, there's a surprise ending which unfortunately I guessed pretty early on. It still didn't keep me from appreciating the acting and how well the whole thing was put together, it just all felt inevitable from very early on. Oddly, most of the audience seemed perplexed by it, either questioning what happened or accusing it of ripping off "Carnival of Souls" (oops...bigger spoiler, if you've seen that). It must have been a frustrating Q&A for actor Hinnerk Schönemann (Ben), pictured below:


And the final film of the night was "The Lives of Others", part of the tribute to Ulrich Mühe, the great actor who sadly passed away last summer. This was the best foreign film Oscar winner last year, and it's been reviewed pretty much everywhere. So I'll just echo that it's still a great, great movie and I don't know what I was thinking when I predicted "After the Wedding" to win instead of it (I know, I was thinking Mads Mikkelsen is awesome, but that's another story). I take it back, "The Lives of Others" is excellent.

Here's a pic of Anna Maria Mühe accepting the lifetime achievement award on behalf of her father. She's also an actress, and I'll see her tonight (Monday, Jan 14th) in "Twisted Sister":

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond--opening night

Kicking off the bay area film festival year, and no one has a more delicious (or more crowded) opening night spread than the Germans. Not just the food, but the beer...and the wine...and the martinis...oh yeah, it was a little tough to stay awake during the movie. Thank god for caffeinated mints.

The film was "The Edge of Heaven", a German-Turkish film about family, hopes, coincidences, fate, and missed fate. It's also Germany's nomination for the Best Foreign Picture Oscar (last year's winner, "The Lives of Others", plays at the festival Saturday night as part of a tribute to Ulrich Mühe).

The (nearly) interweaving stories are told in three parts. The first is ominously titled "Yeter's Death". Yeter (Nursel Köse, pictured below) is a Turkish woman in Bremen working as a prostitute. And old man, after enjoying her services, falls in love with her, brings her to his home, and makes him his live-in girlfriend. She lives there a while with the man and his son, a professor at the local university. But Yeter yearns to bring her daughter Ayten to Germany (she's back in Istanbul). And the title is indeed prophetic (umm...spoiler alert!). Anyway, the son ends up going to Istanbul, looks for Ayten, but doesn't find her. Then the second part of the movie starts, where we learn than Ayten is a communist and a criminal (she fired a gun at a rally). She hides, takes on a different identity, and travels to Bremen to find her mother. This is where coincidence and missed fate plays a role. She goes to the university (not as a student, just getting some cheap food) and takes a nap in the professor/son's class. She's within 100 meters of her mother on multiple occasions, but they never actually meet. The story travels back and forth from Bremen to Istanbul more times, and I won't give any more of the plot away. I will say it's well acted, the story is engaging and told in an innovative way. Despite the obvious foreshadowing in the section titles, the results are still surprising. And it ends on an oddly contemplative note. It's a very good movie.

Here's Nursel Köse in the Q&A afterwards, talking to festival co-founder/organizer Ingrid Eggers.

Jason Finishes up Berlin and Beyond

Ending the festival with the delightful, colorful romantic-but-acerbic comedy, "The Fisherman and His Wife" by Doris Dörrie, based on the Grimm fairy tale. It starts with a couple of fish, who were once human husband and wife. They were cursed and turned to fish for bickering so much, and the only way they can turn back to their human form is if they're taken in by a couple who are still in love with each other after 3 years of marriage. They are currently in a commercial fish pond in Japan, but are adopted as "maybe fish" (because they're worthless now, but if their coloring changes they could be worth many hundred thousand dollars) by a German couple. The woman is so impulsive and driven she convinces him to get married right there in Japan, before they return home (even though they just met there in Japan). He's very happy being an independent fish doctor/appraiser specializing in parasitic diseases. She wants to be a fashion designer, and has an idea for koi-inspired fashion. Even when they have a new baby, her drive and his lack of drive (or as he tries to justify it, being content with the moment) strains their marriage. But in the end, like the few German romantic comedies I've seen, love sorta-kinda conquers not-quite-all-but-most-things. Or to put it another way: love is super, but relationships suck!

And then there was the after party, an incredibly crowded affair in the upstairs mezzanine of the Castro, which is meant for maybe 100 people while the theater holds a couple thousand (as I pointed out, we just saw a movie about fish, and now were crammed in like sardines! I want a bigger aquarium!) But once enough people gave up and left it was cool to hang out, have a few beers, and talk to other film fans. I got to thank and compliment the festival director Ingrid Eggers on a wonderful program, and I'm looking forward to coming back next year.

One final thought on Berlin and Beyond. Many movies were very dark and violent at this festival (although my personal favorite, "A Friend of Mine", wasn't). And it wasn't just me, many people commented on it, and said that it's different from years past. So is it something specific to Germany that's making movies darker, or is it more global, or is it just a coincidence? I'll keep an eye on the violent content of films this year, and comment further.

And so, Berlin and Beyond is in the books! Now maybe I'll finally have time to see "Pan's Labyrinth".

Jason goes to Berlin and Beyond for the penultimate night

I like the word "penultimate".

Anyway, first up last night was "Nathan the Wise", a 1922 German silent film based on the 1779 play by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing, and a fantastic parable about religious tolerance. The making, destruction, and recent recovery of this film is an amazing story in itself. It was made (as I said earlier) in 1922. It was made in Munich by the Jewish filmmaker Manfred Noa. Only one picture of him exists (check it out on the B&B website here), and that's from a book published in the 30's by the Nazis describing the Jewish control of the film industry. Munich in the 20's was actually the Nazis' stronghold--Hitler gained control there before he caught on elsewhere. So the movie was banned by the Munish authorities, but approved by the national authorities in Berlin. It was fairly popular over all of Germany except for Munich. It played once in Munich, and the theater owner was threatened byt the Nazis that if he played it again they'd burn down his theater. Hitler was invited to the screening, but declined, sending a deputy instead who denounced it as Jewish propoganda. It was ultimately banned and all prints supposedly destroyed (although for a while it secretly showed in neighboring countries under the false title "The Storming of Jerusalem"). Then recently a print showed up in a vault in Moscow. Presumably one copy was saved in the Berlin film archives, and the Soviets took it when they stormed Berlin at the end of the war. The print was finally returned to Munich where it was restored and has played to enthusiastic audiences. And now it's played here in America, again.

So as for the story: Nathan is a respected Jewish merchant living in Jerusalem in the late 12 century. This is the time of the crusades, and in fact he loses his entire family to crusaders. All alone, he is given an orphaned baby girl by the assistant to a dead Knight Templar (the baby's father). He raises her as his own daughter--his only remaining family. Meanwhile, the muslim sultan Saladin conquers Jerusalem and a period of relative peace ensues. But the peace is tenuous at best, and always on the verge of exploding. It's a wonderful story of religious tolerance, and the parable Nathan uses to answer Saladin's question of which is the one true faith is worth repeating (more than the intricate details of the drama do). So here, in my own clumsy language, is my attempt:

(Saladin has just asked Nathan to determine which--out of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity--is the one true faith. Nathan's response follows).

There once was a king who had a ring with a magical power. It had the power to make him love and by loved by God and all people. With this ring, the king was guaranteed to always be a kind and beloved ruler, which was a win-win situation for everyone. So as he grew old, he decided he would pass on his ring to his most congenial son, who would then become king (and would be kind and loved). So it was for many generations that the ring was passed down and the kings of this land were always kind and always loved, until one day the ring came into possession of a king who had three sons whom he loved equally. He couldn't decide which was the most congenial, and he couldn't bear the thought of disappointing two of them. So instead, he secretly had 2 more identical counterfeit rings made, and gave each of them a ring. When the king passed on, each was surprised to find that they all had a ring. Each one insisted that they had the true ring, and the other two were counterfeit, but try as they might no one could ever find a distinguishing feature that would determine which was the true ring. So eventually the three sons went before a judge to ask him to determine which was the true ring and hence who would be king of the land. The judge considered the case for some time, then declared, "The ring has the
magical power to make the wearer love and be loved by God and all the people". Therefore whoever shows the most human kindness--and receives the most kindness in return--is wearing the true ring. It is the same way with the true faith--the true faith should not be judged by it's label, but by the amount of human kindness it's follower's exhibit and elicit from others.

I like this parable. In fact, I like it so much that I hereby declare a worldwide contest of human kindness. Whichever faith exhibits and elicits the most total human kindness wins, and shall be declared the one true faith. I'm the judge (as an agnostic/borderline atheist, I'm pretty impartial), the contest ends at the end of this year.

By the way, by pure coincidence a new translation of the original play "Nathan the Wise" is being put on in Oakland. Check it out here.

And the second movie of the night was a grafitti artist subculture story, "Wholetrain". You know the drill, here's another crappy camera phone picture of a director, this time it's Florian Gaag:

I should point out that Florian is actually the director/writer/composer/co-producer--pretty much everything but star. Yet another debut feature, this is a fast paced story of graffiti crews who target trains. Specifically about rival crews--the heros and current dominant crew, KSB (David, Tino, Elyas, and new guy Achim) vs. the new, hotter ATL crew. The fight for artistic dominance and run from the police, with David the most at risk (he's one probation violation away from real jail time). As ATL's art gets bolder--doing "whole cars" and real "burns" (great art), KSB is becoming desperate, and decide that the only way they can reclaim dominance is to do a "whole train". It's funny and serious (Tino going into a fight with his baby on his back is a priceless scene), and the art is really, really cool. A pretty effective plea for graffiti--some graffiti at least--as a true art form. I got to thinking about the culture and covering first a blank wall with spray paint. Then about crossing out other's art and doing your own over it, or someone doing it to yours, or someone just washing your paint off--the whole temporary nature of the art. Basically, I've got no problems with graffiti if it actually improves the look of the surface. If you can improve on a clean, blank wall, go for it (problem is, too much graffiti doesn't even meet this condition). Then if there's already some graffiti on the wall, if you can do better go ahead. Just don't be upset if someone thinks that they can do better than you (either by putting another layer of graffiti on it, or returning it to blank wall status). It's just a shame that the passion that drives the art also fuels violence associated with it. Although interestingly, between the rival gangs it never elevated to more than trash-talking and competitive painting. The real danger was between the gangs and the police.

All right, now I've got just one more movie tonight and then Berlin and Beyond will officially be over.