Saraband (Schweden, 2005)

Dies ist der neueste Film vom schwedischen Regisseur Bergman. Hier geht es um eine Frau, Marianne, die sich plötzlich entscheidet, ihr Ex-Mann zu besuchen. Er wohnt allein auf dem Land, und ist seit langem in den Ruhestand gegangen. Die Geshichte ist einfach; Hier gibt es keine parallele Geschichten. Später lernen wir Karin kennen. Sie ist das Enkelkind des Ex-Manns. Sie will Musikerin werden, und dafür übt sich viel den Bass. Ihr Professor ist ihr Grossvater, und zwischen beide entwicklet sich eine komische und erotische Beziehung. Berman gehört zu einem meiner Lieblingsregisseure. Seine Filme sehen wie Theaterstücke aus. Saraband, zum Beispiel, ist ganz in einem Studio gedreht worden. Der Zuschauer fühlt sich wie bei einem Theater. Das Wunderbare daran ist, das alles was Bergman erzählt, ist mit Emotion und Spielkunst bedeckt. Die Schauspieler sind hervorragend, und obwohl es fast keine spannende Szenen gibt, die zaubernde Erzählungskraft Bergmanns genüngt, um einen guten Film zu haben.

Kontrol (Hungary, 2003)

This is a darkly comic thriller set in the Budapest metro. The plot revolves around Bulcsú (Sándor Csanyi) a metro ticket inspector. He works with a team of quite crazy people. Together they inspect people and check if they have their metro ticket with them. They meet with many different types of crazy people. We get the impression the Budapest metro is world in itself, a world of psychos and weirdos. There is also a small love story between Bulcsú and the daughter of a metro train driver. Some dream scenes near the end make up for both an entertaining and original movie.

This is where I work, at Boulevard Cavendish, St-Laurent

Le Temps Qui Reste (The Remaining Time, France, 2005)

This is the story of a 31-year-old Parisian photographer who suddenly finds out he has a tumor and that his chances of surviving are low. He decides to leave aside his successful career and embarks on a road trip to visit his grandmother and other friends along the way. He has some family problems (especially with his sister) and he tries to solve them. He says goodbye, in a very subtle way, to his family and friends, and at the end he just lies on a beach in a French city somewhere on the Mediterranean coast.

Director Francois Ozon (Sous Le Sable, Swimming Pool) makes these somewhat slow-paced movies that always intrigue because we do not know if there will be a surprise ending or plot twist (as is the case in Swimming Pool, my favourite Ozon film up to now). This movie has little surprises, but the pace is calmed and relaxed, and it feels as though we are travelling along with the main character.

Three... Extremes (Japan, China, South Korea, 2004)

These are three completely different stories in one movie, each from different contemporary horror directors. The first short story comes from China, and it deals with "delicious" dumplings made out of human flesh. The second story from Korea is a revenge story where an actor playing an extra takes revenge on the film's director and his wife with horrible consequences. The last part (from Japanese Takachi Miike) is a more surreal story about two contorsionist twin sisters, one dying when the circus where they work catches fire and leaving the other sister traumatized for life. These are three very different tales about horror in our modern world worth watching for entertainment's sake.