TGI Filmfetish Friday: In A Better World, Black Swan, Alle tijd

Apr 22, 2011 | by Anouk | Art

About the author

As a freelance journalist, Anouk (26) usually writes about what other people do or like. In her precious spare time she watches arthouse films. Not a few. A lot, thanks to her trusted Cineville pass. Here she can finally share her film-fetish with the world.

To watch or not to watch? Anouk will tour around Amsterdam’s cinemas and answer this crucial question every Friday. Without mercy, of course. Sucky movies will be slaughtered, cinematographic pearls will be appreciated as such. Or the other way around. After all, good taste is in the eye of the beholder.

In A Better World

Let’s start off with a movie rewarded with an Oscar for best foreign language movie. The Danish title Hævnen makes you think that the English translation is quite accurate. It’s not, because Hævnen means vengeance. For the first time I saw a movie that works out this theme in such a small and interesting way. In A Better World is about two young boys, who become each others only friend. The intelligent Christian just lost his mother and lives with his father and grandmother. His father works parttime as a doctor in an African war zone, which delivers pretty heavy scenes. Besides, Christian has the most captivating look I’ve ever seen. Elias is a different story: teased at school, wearing braces, having plaintive eyes and on top of that, his parents are getting divorced.

During the second day at his new school, Christian beats Elias’ biggest bully with a bicycle pump and puts a knife to his throat. The bully is scared as hell and Elias is glad with his new mate. Together they set up a plan to repay the man that slapped Elias’ father in the face.
But the repay of the two boys is getting out of control. Will Christian loose his only friend?

Watch this movie in:
Rialto, Tuschinski

Black Swan

I know, I know, I know! It’s already far too late to mention Black Swan. The great expectations, the Oscar rumours, the zealous waiting for the movie premiere.. . it’s all long, long ago. In the meantime Jim Carrey even made his own version of the black swan. Clearly, you cannot have missed this movie. And that’s exactly why I come up with this. If you haven’t seen it yet, GO SEE IT ASAP!
Really, don’t let the tutu’s fool you. Natalie Portman is amazing as the insecure ballerina dancer Nina. With the premiere of the ballet show approaching, things get more and more out of her control. Black Swan isn’t about ballet, it is one big, bad trip.

Watch this movie in:
Studio K, Kriterion, Pathe de Munt

Alle Tijd

O dear, Paul de Leeuw playing a fat gay man. Is that even acting? Yes, it is. In Alle Tijd the fat gay man is Maarten, a music teacher for children. He’s the older brother of Molly. He raised her since she was a little girl, because their parents died. In fact, Maarten gave up his own life for Molly’s. He has no real career, no love life, just his sister. No wonder that he freaks out when she’s telling him that she’s going to live together with her boyfriend Teun. Maarten freaks out even more when Molly tells him she’s pregnant. Worse, she doesn’t know who the father is: Teun or Melvin?
Up till so far writer, director and producer Job Gosschalk (famous for casting), tells a light story full of jokes and funny details. But the genre turns 180 degrees, because Molly is diagnosed with cancer. The whole main-character-is-dying-plot didn’t work out as well as it did in Simon, but Gosschalk makes at least 50 percent of the audience cry. Not me, I was too distracted by the fact that my old school mate Judith van den Berg had a small part as Molly’s friend.

Watch this movie in:
Tuschinski, Pathe City, Pathe Arena, Het Ketelhuis