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To watch or not to watch? I 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.
Melancholia
Director Lars Von Trier is always good for some controversy. At Cannes the Dane said he understood Hitler and was then banned from the film festival. Luckily, his film Melancholia wasn’t and still had a chance to win the Palm d’Or (which Terrence Malick’s Tree of Life got). The winner could easily have been Melancholia, which I like better than Malick’s epic, philosophical story. Von Trier doesn’t tell a story about the origine of the earth, but of its destruction by the huge planet Melancholia. Sisters Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) both experience the end of the world in a very different way. It is interesting to see how the deeply depressed Justine becomes calmer and calmer, while she couldn’t handle being at her own fairytale wedding before, as shown in the first part of the film. Claire, who seemed emotionally stable, totally loses control. Weirdly enough, I understood them both, completely. That’s good filmmaking.
Watch this film in Cineville‘s Cinecenter, Kriterion and The Movies. Or Tuschinski.
Gianni e le Donne
Is it raining again and are you bored? Go see Gianni e le Donne, because you will be in sunny Rome for at least 90 minutes. The story doesn’t really matter, so let’s make it quick. Fifty-something Gianni has problems with the ladies. He has a demanding mother (what a character!) and no love- or sex-life, but that last fact isn’t logical. Gianni is married to a very nice looking woman. Why do they have separate bedrooms? Why is he desperately looking for female attention? Questions that will not be answered. A bit sloppy. Still, you’ll amuse yourself watching Gianni in sunny Rome!
Watch this film in Cineville‘s: Rialto, Studio K and the Movies.
The Future
I hate Miranda July. She not only wrote and directed this film, she also plays the leading role. And that’s why I hate her. July is super annoying as Sophie and as the voice of cat Paw-Paw. How she talks, how she moves, everything she does. Nonetheless, Sophie has a relationship with kind of cute guy Jason (Hamish Linklater), but my friend and I agreed that it is the most a-sexual couple we have ever seen. Let me be fair, The Future has some funny elements and interesting dimensions. For example, at some point Jason stops time. But I expected more from July, who also made You and Me and Everyone We Know.
Watch this film in Cineville‘s: Cinecenter, Rialto, The Movies and Kriterion.
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