Translated material
Anton Dolin. What and where to watch
Anton Dolin
Date of publication: September 19, 2000
This column does not talk about all new or box-office films, but exclusively about those that, in the opinion of the column’s author, should be seen. In other words, only good or at least interesting films are annotated here.
WEEK 18.09-24.09
FESTIVAL "TRIERISM" AT THE AMERICAN HOUSE OF CINEMA
"Outbreak" is von Trier's second feature film and the second part of a trilogy dedicated to Europe. Pure provocation. A spare black-and-white picture, the director and his screenwriting partner starring themselves. The plot is similar to Eco's "Foucault's Pendulum": a fictitious dystopian catastrophe, about a terrible epidemic sweeping the whole world, turns into reality. Sometimes dense, sometimes downright frightening, but nevertheless a beautiful and witty film - a typical von Trier. What is the value of one “Epidemic ╘” in the corner of the screen!
23.09-24.09 - 18:00.
"Idiots" (1998). Trier's most scandalous film, due to its deliberate awkwardness (he himself especially emphasized it by releasing a “degraded” author's version a year after the film was released), as well as because of the miniature - a few seconds - porn scene. In general, the film is about something completely different. The spectacle is not for the faint of heart.
23.09-24.09 - 20:00.
"Breaking the Waves" (1996). Grand Prix in Cannes. It was in vain that they didn’t give the “Golden Bough”, although, on the other hand, they would have given it then - they wouldn’t have given it now for “Dancing”... Melodrama with a capital M, stunning camera and soundtrack, brilliant acting by Emily Watson. And the story is simple - that’s how it was intended.
23.09-24.09 - 22:00.
NEW FILMS
"Lie" . A scandalous and at the same time not at all vulgar Korean “soft porn” drama, mixed with sadomasochism and precocious nymphets. However, there is practically no “strawberry” in the European-American sense. The paradoxical lack of plot and meditative immersion in the main theme - love as violence - turn the film into an original eastern treatise: either erotic or philosophical.
"MDM-cinema" :
24.09 - 00:15.
"Five Senses" Canadian-produced lyrical drama. Partly for all fans of Atom Egoyan ("Glorious Future", "Exotica"), because the producer is the same, but only partly. A fairly standard movie for the 90s (considering that the 2000s have already arrived) - intersecting stories about lonely people, each of whom is trying to find at least someone for dialogue. Decent acting, very traditional directorial decision. A film for those over 40 - which, however, is not bad at all.
"35 mm" :
18.09-21.09 - 09:00, 11:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00;
09.22-24.09 - 09:00, 11:00, 13:00, 15:00, 17:00, 19:00, 21:00, 23:00.
"Romeo Must Die" An action film built on the mixed aesthetics of Hong Kong action and hip-hop culture. It has virtually nothing to do with Shakespeare. Good music. Fashionable cinema.
"Pushkinsky" :
18.09-20.09 - 13:00, 17:00, 21:00;
21.09 - 13:00, 17:00.
"Roland" :
18.09-20.09 - 13:15, 17:45, 22:15;
21.09 - 13:15, 17:45.
"Drummer" :
18.09-21.09 - 14:00, 16:30, 21:30.
"Karo-film" :
18.09-20.09 - 11:00, 13:15, 15:30, 17:45, 20:00, 22:20;
21.09-24.09 - 11:00, 15:00, 19:00, 22:50.
"Gambling" . A good and professional film; ironic thriller. Ben Affleck tries very hard, plays well, but - alas - is completely unsuitable for the role, written for an ordinary guy, and not at all for a handsome star. The scene with the five corpses of Santa Clauses is incredibly satisfying. And also - a very unexpected and bright ending, for which it is worth watching the whole film.
"Pioneer" :
18.09-24.09 - 15:15, 17:00, 18:45, 20:30.
"The Virgin Suicides" . Debut of Sofia Coppola, daughter of F.F. Coppola. A nostalgic and enchantingly beautiful, gentle film in a retro spirit about teenagers of the 70s, for whom suicide was the only way to gain unattainable freedom.
"35 mm" :
18.09, 20.09, 21.09 - 13:00, 23:00.
"Patriot" . The most successful film to date by Roland Emmerich, the author of the disastrous "Godzilla" and "Independence Day". An epic on the theme of war - again, for independence (America from England, not Earth from aliens). Mel Gibson reminds me of himself in Braveheart. Nothing unexpected. Good spreading cranberries.
"Zaryadye" :
22.09-24.09 - 10:30, 15:20, 18:10.
"Star" :
18.09-21.09 - 13:00, 20:00.
"Karo-film" :
18.09-20.09 - 17:00, 20:30.
"MDM-cinema" :
18.09-21.09 - 13:00, 19:00, 00:15;
22.09-23.09 - 11:15, 19:00, 00:15;
24.09 - 11:15, 19:00.
"Taboo" . The latest, received with delight at Cannes, is the film of the patriarch of Japanese cinema, the elderly brawler Nagisa Oshima. Homosexual "cruel romance" from the life of samurai in the middle of the last century. The film is made sparingly, but extremely beautifully: many frames are worthy of being printed on a high-quality printer and framed as Japanese prints. The plot (as it turns out in the middle - a detective story) is very confusing, the dialogues are specific; in general, this is more of a Japanese film for the Japanese than an export product. Excellent music by Sakamoto and a great main character - the young sex symbol Ryuhei Matsuda, the son of the actress who played the same Oshima in "Empire of the Senses". Also a common favorite is Takeshi Kitano as a samurai investigator.
"Cinema Center" :
18.09 - 17:15;
19.09 - 15:10;
20.09 - 15:25;
21.09 - 21:30;
22.09 - 17:20;
23.09 - 16:20.
"The Perfect Storm" . Wolfgang Petersen is a very smart and talented Hollywood professional. The cinema is powerful and, most importantly, beautiful: computer waves are reminiscent of Aivazovsky and Moby Dick. Manly George Clooney is as wooden as ever, but still handsome. Dialogues are straightforward to the point of horror. What do you want - the genre is this: a production drama about the harsh life of ordinary fishermen.
"Cinema Center" :18.09 - 11:00, 21:20;
19.09, 21.09, 22.09, 24.09 - 19:00;
20.09 - 21:20;
23.09 - 21:40.
NOT VERY NEW MOVIES
"Fight club" . Anarchist in ideology and aesthetics of cinema, the latest film by David Fincher ("Seven", "The Game") is strong, a little scary, full of childish drive. Great Brad Pitt and even better Edward Norton. The plot is based on "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" - there is no need to retell it. The thesis that every man sometimes needs to have his face punched (or someone else's face punched) needs serious consideration.
"Cinema Center" :
18.09 - 10:30.
"The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover" . The purest genre (although no one can say what genre it is - maybe melodrama?!) and plot-specific film by Peter Greenaway about love, death and cooking. Awesome music by Michael Nyman, terribly beautiful interiors... Also pleasing is Tim Roth in the role of a minor villain. Continuous “Meal is served.”
"Cinema Center" :
22.09 - 21:30.
"Run, Lola, run." A film by one of the most prominent directors of the new wave of German cinema, Tom Tykwer. Cool video editing and music, a quick plot, played out three times in front of the viewer, about how a poor couple is trying to save their life and love by making huge money in a few minutes. Everything ends well.
"Illusion" :
19.09 - 17:00;
23.09 - 15:00, 17:00;
24.09 - 13:00, 15:00, 17:00.
"Destination" . A new American youth horror film, of which there has been a proliferation in recent years. The only significant difference is that it is truly scary at times, since death is threatened by inanimate objects. The pathos is primitive, as in most such horror films: you cannot escape from fate.
"Ural" :
18.09-24.09 - 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00.
"Green Mile" . After "The Shawshank Redemption" is Frank Darabaunt's second saga based on Stephen King. Again about prison, again sentimental, poignant and moralizing, again three hours. The only difference is the mystical note. A huge black man in a prison for those sentenced to death is either an angel or an alien who cures a fatal illness with a light whiff. Tom Hanks as a very kind and honest warden. For the faint of heart - preparation before watching "Dancer in the Dark".
"Havana" :
18.09-24.09 - 14:00, 17:00, 20:00.
"Freedom" :
18.09-24.09 - 13:00, 16:00, 19:00.
"The Rat House" by Francois Ozon. Fashionable French cinema. The debut of a young funny guy and dude, famous for his brilliant (they say) short films. Nothing particularly mysterious: the normal destruction of a bourgeois family with the help of a strange catalyst - a white laboratory rat. Young and old members of the middle class are turning into homosexuals, sadomasochists, necrophiles... A witty and clearly structured satirical essay. For fans of "The Phantom of Freedom" and "The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie."
"Cinema Museum" :
20.09 - 21:00;
21.09 - 20:30.
"Criminal Lovers" by Francois Ozon. A very good movie. They say immoral. In my opinion, no less than "Wild at Heart" or "Lost Highway". After all, we have all already seen unmotivated murders, forced homosexuality and the eating of corpses on screen. But never such a mysterious and magical remake of the Brothers Grimm. A fairy tale about a scary forester and two children lost in a dark forest. There is no happy ending.
"Cinema Museum" :
22.09 - 20:30;
23.09 - 18:30.
"Raindrops on hot rocks" .
"Cinema Museum" :
24.09 - 20:30.
"The Ninth Gate" Roman Polanski's last film and, no matter what the critics say, excellent. A witty plot - borrowed from the book, but greatly distorted, and in general, the theme of infernal bibliophilism is pleasant to everyone. The manuscript, written by Satan, is sought by the cunning and unscrupulous Johnny Depp. Not yet...
"Warsaw" :
18.09-24.09 - 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00.
"All About My Mother" by Pedro Almodóvar. The best of melodramas. Funny, but not parody; touching, but not sentimental. A film for those who are not shy about their emotions. In addition, the masterly performance of the favorite actresses of the best Spanish director (Penelope Cruz, Marisa Paredes, Cecilia Roth) and the extremely strong visual side - color and light. The music is great too.
"Cinema Center" :
19.09 - 13:20;
21.09 - 17:00;
22.09 - 11:20;
23.09 - 12:50.
"Magnolia" "Golden Berlin Bear" Deserved. Abnormal avant-garde tempo and rhythm, virtuosic editing and the best soundtrack of the year (song, not instrumental). The idea is simple and has been used in dozens of films before and since: several intertwined stories from the lives of very unhappy people (see the film "Happiness", the main character of which plays a very good role in "Magnolia"). The best role in the acting biography of Tom Cruise. Very good translation - subtitles. The plot is about life around television (not outside, but inside - many of the film's characters lead the life of TV stars) and show business in general. The only negative (maybe a plus?) is more than three hours of running time. Sometimes it loads too much.
"Cinema Center" :
20.09 - 12:10;
23.09 - 20:50.
"American Beauty" . The most unexpected Oscar in recent years. That is, expected, since this is the best of all the nominated films, but the appearance on the official Hollywood stage of typologically European cinema, created taking into account theatrical production techniques, is both surprising and pleasing. A film about freedom, internal and external. Starring the amazing and unforgettable Kevin Spacey; Best role since The Usual Suspects.
"Cinema Center" :
18.09 - 21:30;
19.09 - 11:10, 17:00;
20.09 - 10:00, 21:30;
21.09 - 14:50;
22.09 - 13:10;
23.09 - 10:40.
"Boys do not Cry" . One of the events of last year's Venice Film Festival. The odious story of a transvestite girl: a domestic tragedy in the American, but not Hollywood, way. Social film drama. It is also based on real events. The actress managed to snatch the Oscar for Best Actress.
"Youth" :
18.09-24.09 - 14:00, 16:00, 18:00, 20:00.
"Matrix" . Cool movie. Dull, like all American box office blockbusters, but bright and fashionable. Deliberately, although not forced. Keanu Reeves doesn't play anything special, moves his beautiful skull and flies through the air. When the mochilovo begins (in the finale), you immediately forget about the intellectual background. It's for the better.
"Cinema Center" :
23.09 - 10:50.
"Volgograd" :
18.09-24.09 - 14:00, 16:30, 19:00.
NOSTALGIA
"Fanny and Alexander" . The last full-length, most ambitious and mature film by Ingmar Bergman. About childhood and old age, about nationality and tolerance, about theater and religion. The family idea degenerates into a pure fairy tale. Everything ends well, as it begins - at the Christmas tree.
"Cinema Museum" :
18.09 - 18:20.
"The Little Humpbacked Horse" . One of the best Soviet film fairy tales. Avant-garde special effects - monsters and flying through the air; as well as distortion of the original poetic text, but without introducing social motives. The Whale Fish is especially noteworthy.
"Illusion" :
23.09 - 13:00.
"Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs" . One of the most brilliant full-length cartoons in the history of world cinema. Walt Disney's still unsurpassed masterpiece. Some accuse him of being too sweet, but one must make allowances for the production time! However, the music, the humor of the visual images, and the perfection of the script have so far not even been surpassed by Disney’s own studio. Go yourself and lead all the children of any age.
"Cinema Center" :
24.09 - 12:15.
"Star Wars Episode One: The Phantom Menace" . The relatively new film solemnly moves into the nostalgic category. A film a priori made for those who yearn for their chivalrous-cosmic childhood (youth). Today's youth are mostly indifferent. Thirty- and forty-year-old spectators are dying of delight. Overall, a beautiful and dynamic tale with very high-quality visual effects. Teaches reasonable, kind, eternal.
"Cinema Center" :
24.09 - 14:10.
"Weekend" . Perhaps the most surprising film of the early Godard is the apotheosis and harbinger of the crisis of the “new wave”. Almost complete lack of plot, complete postmodernism, quotes from Lautreamont and innocent cannibalism. An absolute classic.
"Cinema Museum" :
24.09 - 18:30.