The Dress

The Dress(1996)
Dir:alex van Warmerdam
Country:Netherlands

The Dress is a tale filled with sex, violence, comedy and drama as it follows the life of a dress. Conceived under a cloud of frustration and despair, the dress serves as the hub in a great wheel of misfortune in an extraordinary sequence of events that envelopes both the dress and those fatefully drawn into its universe. An aloof artist, a virginal school girl, an unfulfilled maid, a lowly train conductor and a broken business executive, all become involuntary players in a macabre game of tag. No one who comes in contact with the dress can escape its dramatic, shocking and hilarious consequences.

The Northeners

The Northeners(1992)
Dir;Alex van Warmerdam
Country:Netherlands

A surreal black comedy set in a decrepit 1960's housing development. When his mother is drawn into sainthood and the resulting frustrations of his father become too difficult to manage, Thomas, a young boy, becomes obsessed with events on the broadcast news. The liberation of the Belgian Congo is taking place and Thomas becomes Lumumba, one of the contenders as the Congo's new leader. He is encouraged in this escapism by Plagge, the postman who reads all the mail and knows all of the bizzarre and intimate secrets of the eccentric inhabitants of the estate.

Abel

Abel(1986)
Dir;Alex van Warmerdam
Country:Netherlands

With lots of insider Dutch jokes, this eccentric and uneven comedy from the Netherlands won't be to everyone's tastes. The Abel of the title is a 31-year-old weirdo who has never left the house he shares with his overly doting mother and his fractious father. The mother becomes increasingly strange in her behaviour and the fighting between the father and son intensify. When Abel gets thrown out of the family home, he finds solace in the arms of loose-living woman Zus, who, coincidentally, has been offering her ample breast as a comfort to Abel's father in times of trial. The visual gags are constant and the characters quirky, but it gets wearing after a time, which is a pity, because writer-director van Warmerdam, who also takes the lead role, shows he's got some good ideas bubbling around in here somewhere.

Poetry

Poetry(2010)
Dir:Chang-dong Lee
Country: Korea

Three years after Secret Sunshine, acclaimed director Lee Chang Dong made a splash at the Cannes Festival again in 2010 with his Poetry winning Best Screenplay. Lee wrote the bittersweet story with veteran actress Yoon Jeong Hee in mind for the gentle role of an inquisitive grandmother who seeks solace through writing. One of Korea's most famous and prolific actresses during the late sixties and seventies, Yoon Jeong Hee came out of retirement to star in Poetry, her first film in 15 years. Also co-starring Ahn Nae Sang (Fate), seventies action star Kim Hee Ra, and poet Kim Yong Taek, Poetry quietly writes the hope, tragedy, vulnerability, and tenacity of life on screen. Grandmother Mi Ja (Yoon Jeong Hee) works part-time as a caretaker, and struggles to raise a teen grandson (David Lee, Paradise Murdered) by herself. Despite her tough situation, she speaks softly, dresses fashionably, and approaches the world with child-like curiosity. Enrolling in a poetry class, she endeavors to capture life in verse form, but her simple dream of completing a poem is stalled by the early signs of Alzheimer's disease and the heavy financial and emotional burden of her grandson's shocking wrongdoing.

Nothing Personal

Nothing Personal (2009)
Director:Urszula Antoniak
Country: Ireland | Netherlands
11 wins & 6 nominations See more awards »


Alone in her empty flat, from her window Anne observes the people passing by who nervously snatch up the personal belongings and pieces of furniture she has put out on the pavement. Her final gesture of taking a ring off her finger signals she is leaving her previous life in Holland behind. She goes to Ireland, where she chooses to lead a solitary, wandering existence, striding through the austere landscapes of Connemara. During her travels, she discovers a house that is home to a hermit, Martin.

Darshan:The Embrace

Darshan:The Embrace(2005)
Dir;Jan Kounen
Country:France

Malayalam-speaking Mata Amritanandamayi was born near Kochi, Kerala, India and is one of the most well-known saintly persons of this millennium. She makes it a point to greet and hug everyone who comes for her Darshan, sometimes hugging as many as 45000 people in a 21 hour period. She also heads a Ashram that feeds the hungry and looks after the homeless, apart from being involved in several housing projects in India, and has displayed a special empathy for both humans and animals alike. She has also traveled to France and North America, and has preached about peace and goodwill especially in these troubled times. She has also traveled extensively in India, especially to Kolkata and Varanasi, where she was greeted with millions of devotees. She cautions everyone that during Ramrajya, Lord Ram had to travel across the seas to fight evil; then during the time of Lord Kishan evil was fought...imdb

Life of Never End Co.Ltd

Life of Never End Co.Ltd (2009)
Dir:Looloo Lu
Country;Taiwan

An audience's favorite at the 2009 Kaohsiung Film Festival, Taiwanese director Looloo Lu's (assistant director for idol drama Honey and Clover) directorial debut Life of Never End Co. Ltd. tugs at heartstrings, making the audience laugh and weep, often at the same time. The touching drama tells the simple story of a seven-year-old girl (Sandy Lin) and her granny (acclaimed actress Lu Yi Ching). Taipei girl Chi Ting is forced to stay with her granny in Kaohsiung when her parents leave her there one day. In Chi Ting's eyes, granny is a weirdo, what with her Taoist medium profession and her claim that she's the director of the so-called "Life of Never End Co. Ltd." Chi Ting wishes to go back to Taipei to find her parents, so she begins to sneak away, only to be caught by the pesky granny every single time. It is 20 years later when Chi Ting finally finds out the secret to granny's "immortality"...

Animal Kingdom

Animal Kingdom(2010)
Dir:David Michôd
Country:Australia

Following the death of his mother, 17-year-old Joshua 'J' Cody (newcomer James Frecheville) moves in with his doting grandmother, Smurf (Jacki Weaver), and her three criminal sons—the Cody boys. The eldest, “Pope” (Ben Mendelsohn) is an armed robber, in hiding from a cadre of renegade detectives. Then there’s Craig (Sullivan Stapleton), a successful but volatile drug dealer, and the youngest, Darren (Luke Ford), who naïvely follows his brothers' lead.

Just as Pope's business partner and best mate, Barry Brown (Joel Edgerton), decides that he wants out, tensions between the Codys and the police explode. J finds himself at the centre of a cold-blooded revenge plot that turns his family upside down and throws him directly into the path of senior homicide detective, Nathan Leckie (Guy Pearce).

Animal Kingdom is a powerful crime drama that tells the story of a tense battle between a criminal family and the police and of the ordinary lives caught in the middle.

Winner Sundance Festival 2010

Lola

Lola aka grandmother(2009)
Dir:Brilliante Mendoza
Country:Philippines


Two elderly matriarchs bear the consequences of a crime involving their grandsons: one is murdered, the other is the suspect. Frail, poor, but resolute, they individually traipse around to the prisons, funeral homes, and courtrooms of a stormy Manila in hopes of raising the funds necessary for the victim’s burial, and the suspect’s bail bond. Brillante Mendoza, named best director at Cannes for Kinatay (2009), is one of the strongest cinematic voices from the Philippines.

One of the gems I screened at the Tribeca Film Festival this year was Brilliante Mendoza’s Lola. This is the latest film from the Filipino filmmaker who, for me, came out of nowhere. His breakout film, from 2008 was Kinatay was in competition in the 62nd Cannes Film Festival. Mendoza won Prix de la Mise en Scene (Best Director) for Kinatay during the festival. Moreover Kinatay was the first Filipino film accepted for competition for Cannes since 1984. Going into this film, I had huge expectations for the success of it. And my word, it does deliver.

Lola (Grandmother) is the story of a random act of violence and how it’s affected by the grandmother’s of those involved. The film starts with Lola Sepa who is traveling through the mean streets of Manlia with her grandson. They are on their way to make an appointment. When the picture starts, you’re not quite sure what these two are up to. It’s not until they meet up with Lola Sepa’s daughter at a funeral home. They are shopping for coffins. This opening scene is done in a very interesting way. The point of the scene is the purchasing of coffins but before then are smaller scenes of prayers at a church, a memorial, and a mugging on the streets. When we get to the funeral home we think Lola Sepa is buying a coffin for herself but then we find out she’s buying a coffin for her grandson, who was murdered days before.

Lola Carpin is the grandmother of the suspected killer, Mateo. We first meet Lola Carpin visiting her grandson in prison. We are brought to this rather scary and rough Filipino prison filled with equally scary and rough prisoners. On first meeting with her grandson, Lola Carpin is more concerned with general well being of Mateo. She asks him whether or not he has eaten dinner today. This is an organic response of a grandmother visiting her grandson. In this way, her view of Mateo is genuine. Her feelings towards his alleged crime is non-existent rather she ignores the suspicions and the backdrop of the scene.

Mendoza plays this film in an interesting way, dealing with grief and loss through the strength of two elderly matriarchs. One deals with it buy accepting and moving on, the other ignores and manufactures her perfect family. Both are caretakers of their respective families so who are we to judge whether one way is better than the other. Mendoza puts these ideas in the context of the grief. His camera is objective, shot as a documentary, Mendoza follows the action rather than creates it.

Lola is a highly engaging and absolutely riveting piece of true cinema. It plays as an interesting character study of two women dealing with the changing face of their families. Rather than explore whether Mateo is guilty or innocent, Mendoza choses to show the affect of violence on its victims. He also subverts the tropes of the procedural courtroom genre. Placing the fates of the families in the Filipino justice system but never shows the outcome or the stakes. They seem unimportant to the film as if they are unimportant to seeking justice. Brillante Mendoza has created a masterpiece. A gem of a film from a relatively unknown filmmaker from a country not known for its films. Highly recommended!

Various - CANNES 2009

Various - CANNES 2009 - 48e Selection de la Semaine de la Critique (2009)

Metropolis Cinema Association is pleased to welcome again the Critics' Week in its 48th edition.

Co-organized with the French Cultural Mission and in partnership with Beirut DC, this event will offer the Lebanese public, and for the 5th consecutive year, the pleasure to discover, avant-première in Beirut, 6 feature films, 8 shorts and a medium-length film, all selected at the latest Cannes Film Festival 2009.

Films of different natures and equally different genres, filmmakers that are asserting, each in his singular approach, their way to observe a world in constant ebullition.A gentle French film with a Western touch (Farewell Gary), a day in the life of a family in the Southern Chilean countryside (Huacho), a strong and humanitarian gaze in a Lost Persons Area, a story worthy of the Cohen Brothers transposed into a South American Village (Bad Day to Go Fishing), a magnificent visual poem that emerges from the Iraqi Kurdistan (Whisper with the Wind), a fiction scattered on several continents, in a quest a re-enchantment of the world (Altiplano) and a reflection on the paradoxical state of violence carried by Vincent Gallo and dominated by the music of Anthony and the Johnsons (1989).
7 screenings, each preceded by a short film, to discover new young talents, because that's where the true mission of the Critics' Week lies.

- Together de Eicke Bettinga (14min30)
Allemagne, Royaume-Uni / Germany, United Kingdom – 2009 – 14’ – Couleur / Color – 35 mmRob is driving back home. It’s been a year since the death of his older brother. Upon Rob’s arrival it is clear that the family is still learning how to cope with their loss. The relationship between Rob and his father is awkward. There is a sense that the father blames Rob for moving on too fast, while Rob’s understanding of the reality, even a year later, is still distorted. Rob decides that in order to get through to his father he’ll have to “force” hisaffection onto him.
- Noche Adentro de Pablo Lamar (17min30)
Paraguay, Argentine / Paraguay, Argentina - 2009 – 17’ – Couleur / Color – 35mm
The newlyweds have already left the party where the guests are still dancing. The bride has bled to death and the groom carries the body. He drags her down the stairs and along a long corridor until they fall down. At the shore the groom gives her away to the river, floating in a boat.
- C'est gratuit pour les filles de Marie Amachoukeli et Claire Burger (22min)
France – 2009 – 23’ – Couleur / Color – 35 mm
In only a few days, Laetitia will have her hairdressing diploma. She and her best friend Yeliz will be able to realize their dream: open a hair salon together. But before taking her exam, Laetitia decides to go to a party.
- Tulum (La virée) de Dalibor Matanic (15min)
Croatie / Croatia – 2009 – 15’ – Couleur / Color – 35 mm
A girl is enjoying with her friends a careless summer day on the sunlit streets of Vukovar and quiet river-banks of Danube, where light-heartedness and leisure make everything seem nice and simple. They are not aware that the youthful idyll might be easily broken.
- Slitage (Seeds of the Fall) de Patrick Eklund (18min30)
Suède / Sweden – 2009 – 17’30’’ – Couleur / Color – 35 mm
Middle-aged couple Rolf and Eva live in a passionless relationship. They wear and tear at each other and Eva begins to feel sexually frustrated. One night she tries to seduce Rolf. He dismisses her but then something happens that will change their relationship forever.

Bonuses :- Ahendu nde sapukai (Argentine - Paraguay - 11min - 110 Mb)
- 5 Directors Interviews (27min30 - 268 Mb)