28 May 2007

Berlin Stories (Stadt als Beute) Germany, 2005 ☆☆

Director Miriam Dehne explores life in the big cities by presenting three different stories about three persons living in the German capital. They are all actors in a new independent play for a local theater. The first story involves a missing kid and a visit to a retro rock bar. The next is an intimate conversation in an almost empty strippers club and the third is about "Ohboy", a quite excentric character who is afraid of showing up at the play rehearsal and instead wanders around the city, playing inside the fountain of the Sony Centre. There is a strong implicit critique of the big cities and how they affect everyone in a negative way. Is this entirely true? This psychodelic trip to Berlin is original in its presentation, but at times repetitive and tiresome. It's up to you to decide.

23 May 2007

INLAND EMPIRE (USA, Poland, 2006) ☆☆☆☆☆

David Lynch's latest movie took more than three years to complete. Shot partly in USA and Poland, the story involves actress Nikki Lake, who lands a part in a new Hollywood movie. Little does she know that the movie is actually a remake. The original movie was never completed, apparently someone put a gypsy spell on the production and crew. From this point on, David Lynch takes us to different places. Nikki Lake starts to fall in love with one of the actors and her husband begins to suspect. Sometimes you do not know if you are watching part of the movie they are shooting, or we are inside Nikki's mind, or perhaps we are watching the gypsy fairytale that becomes the basis for the movie's curse.

Even more dificult to understand than his previous movies, David Lynch takes a huge step in releasing the movie in an almost three hours long version. Some scenes are in Polish, played by real local Polish actors. This surreal experiment is worth every minute. Forget about understanding the movie, just let yourself go.

13 May 2007


Happy As One (Komm Näher), Germany, 2006 ☆☆☆☆

Director Vanessa Jopp brings us a story about different people living in Berlin whose lives suddenly change because of love. Actress Meret Becker plays the role of an urban hippy who has trouble establishing serious relatioinships. She quits her jobs in a matter of days, and her spontaneous and unpredictable character does not help her get along with people. This changes when she falls in love with a police offer, the same who showed up at her place to tell her to lower the volume of her stereo system. In another story, a 40 year-old taxi driver meets a woman thru an ad. Soon enough, the man meets the woman´s daughter, who also starts to fall in love with him. All the stories are both funny and sad. The movie is about solitude in modern-day Germany, and how people try to cope up with it.

04 May 2007


the movie event of 2007, at least for me. Coming soon...

03 May 2007

Zeppelin! (Germany, 2006) ☆☆☆

In Gordian Maugg's newest movie we learn about the Hindenburg's tragic incident back in the 20's. The director combines real footage with a love story involving one of the many constructors who helped build this gigantic zeppelin. This is perhaps the best part of this movie, the ability to combine a story withing the storyframe of the incident. We see the Zeppelin burn a couple of times, but the dialogues of the different characters and the musical score make up for an interesing movie overall.