Filmfetish Friday: Footnote, Shock Head Soul, Alps

Apr 27, 2012 | by Anouk | Art, Event

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? 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.

Footnote

You can say a lot about the Israeli, but you can’t say that they’re humourless. Footnote, which was nominated for an Oscar this year, is about Uriel (son) and Eliezer (father). They’re both professor in the Talmud at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Uriel is very successful, winning lots of prices and getting even more recognizing. The highlight of his father’s career is that his work is mentioned in a footnote of a standard work. The tide turns when the old Eliezer is nominated for the National Price of Israel. Finally people understand the meaning of his work! But then something weird, funny, original and unbelievable happens. I’m glad my parents and me don’t have the same job…

Watch this film in Cineville’s Het Ketelhuis and Cinecenter.

Shock Head Soul

Again, like with Kauwboy, the press is pretty positive about Shock Head Soul, while all I wanted to do was slide my wrists. How boring can a film be? And why cast Dutch actors for an English spoken film? The (true) story seemed so promising. The German judge Daniel Paul Schreber got psychotic and spent nine years of is life in an asylum. The film is about his legal case, in which he pleads to be free to leave. The animations are hypnotizing and craftily made, but that’s about it. The film explains too little about Schreber and his disease. Who and what are we watching? You just have to guess for yourself.

Watch this film in Cineville’s SMART and Kriterion.

Alps

The best ideas are simple. If someone dies, that person is missed. So why not rent a person that replaces your deceased loved one for a while? You know, just to get through the first period of mourning. In Alps, a new film by Yorgos Lanthimos (Dogtooth), that is exactly what a small group of people do. There are strict rules to follow, of course. For instance, don’t get emotionally attached to the person that hired you. Bound to go wrong.

Watch this film in Cineville’s Cinecenter and EYE.