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Venice: Angry Filmmakers, Smoking Lights, Disappointing Films

[Editor's Note: Manolis, our correspondent from Greece, is wrapping up his time in Venice. But hopefully he'll go out on a higher note that this day, which disappointed him.  -Nathaniel R]

The last two days were bad days for me at the festival. Films I had high hopes for proved to be less that satisfying and smaller films that I hoped would surprise me didn't.

People Mountain, People Sea
This was the ‘surprise film’ of the Competition section of the festival announced just a few minutes before its first press screening. But this was not the only surprise for the press attending. Halfway through the film smoke started coming out of a headlight in the screening room and many journalists started running towards the exits panicked. The screening was interrupted, the firemen came and fixed the problem that could have resulted in a fire. After 25 minutes the screening resumed and the remaining critics watched the rest of the story. The movie is about a man Lao Tie in a small province of China who realizes that the local police force are unable to catch his younger brother’s killer, so he decides to do it himself. He embarks a journey that not only brings him face to face with the killer but also brings out all the fears and anger hiding inside him for many years. Unfortunately the fire incident was far more interesting than the film. I would say that this was the worst film I saw in the festival thus far, if it wasn’t for...

4:44 Last Day on Earth
In a large New York penthouse a couple of lovers (William Dafoe & Shanyn Leigh) are spending their last night talking and making love. Tomorrow at 4:44 pm the world will come to an end. Director Abel Ferarra's (Bad Lieutenant, Dangerous Game, Mary) new film, which describes the way this couple faces the impending collapse of the world it thematically interesting (Don McKellar made a fine film on the topic with “Last Night” in 1998) but the potential is never fulfilled. What Ferrara has to offer is ideological deliriums and a cheap morality lessons. 

[SPOILERS] The movie goes like this: the couple make love, they watch an Al Gore interview about global warming, they make love, they meditate, they make love, they watch a Dalai Lama speech about human nature, they quarrel, the clock shows 4:44 and they die. The audience should only hope that the world ends at 3:20 so that they won't have to endure the 84 minutes of this movie. A few of the reporters left during the screening and some of those who chose to remain till the end, did not hesitate to boo.

And More...
Both Dark Horse by Todd Solondz and Himizu from Sono Sion were also nothing to write home about.  The former started off promising but soon fell into the same category as nearly all of Todd Solondz's films: not exactly a failure but nowhere near the quality of his masterful Happiness (1998). The latter film, from Japan, was advertised here in Venice as one of the first films to deal with the Fukushima catastrophy but its use of the shots of the tsunami's aftermath played more like a marketing device than an essential or important part of the story. The average acting didn’t help either. 

Wuthering Heights
The biggest disappointment for me was Andrea Arnold's newest film. I've been a fan since Red Road and especially loved Fish Tank so I expected that her new film would be absolute festival highlight, rather than just a good film with intriguing elements. She gambled on unknown and teenage actors in the leading roles which was gutsy but doesn't always pay off. The story is told from Heathcliff’s point of view, but unfortunately we never understand his very complicated relationship with Catherine. Worse Catherine comes off as a very unlikable and it's hard to understand how two men both become so obsessed with her. The cinematography is the standout element in the film, with Robbie Ryan (who lensed both Red Road and Fish Tank) delivering truly exceptional work. Arnold reveals a strange obsession with mud and with hanged puppies and though her angry filmmaking is fascinating it doesn’t suit this kind of film. It’s not that her black teenage ex-slave Heathcliff is the problem but it feels rather strange when he says, in the true Bronte fashion, “F*ck you, you c*nt”. It’s an original approach for sure but, for me, an experiment that could lead to future greatness but doesn't do so here.

Chloe Moretz's "Dark Shadows" Cheekbones & Tom Hardy Aversion

I'm not at all sure why I'm sharing this as I have definitely not boarded the Chloe Moretz train with the rest of the world. But I listened to this entire interview with the 14 year old starlet this morning. If you can get past the chaotic bratty noisiness of the interview (yes, I felt old... "Get off my lawn!") in which Chloe grosses out about 14 year old's dating 13 year olds -- but 16 year olds dating 17 year olds is totes different! -- you get to the Dark Shadows bits and a unusually revealing (though probably not intentionally-so) moment when she seems completely repulsed at the mention of Tom Hardy ---maybe it's the trapezius?

I've excerpted the two fun bits which you can play at the end of this post about working with the superstars in the Dark Shadows cast (and their cheekbones) and the moment when the interviewer compares Chloe's boyfriend (?) to Tom Hardy. There's a lot more if you go to the actual interview.

When asked to describe Dark Shadows Chloe Moretz says...

It's a mixture of Beetlejuice and Sweeney mixed with Sleepy Hollow."

Good to see Tim Burton branching out!!!

Chloe Moretz Interview Excert

Oscar Submissions: Serbia, The Netherlands, Angelina Jolie & the Austrians

The Oscar Submissions continue to trickle in.

THE NETHERLANDS (7 nominations, 3 wins)
For about a decade from the mid 80s to the mid 90s Dutch-language films were the rage with Oscar voters with 3 nominations which all went on to win the big prize. The country last nomination was for 2003's Twin Sisters but given their track record (at least one nominee a decade since their first) they'll be golden again soon. This year they've selected Maria Peter's Sonny Boy which is a true scandalous story based on a best selling book about a 40 something married woman and her affair with a 19 year old black student. The couple get pregnant. Trivia note: Their child --  "Sonny Boy" being the Al Jolson inspired nickname they gave him -- is supposedly still alive and an octogenarian now!

Oscar does like a true story. And they like epics involving World Wars. Here's the dialogue free teaser and you can decide for yourself how Oscar might respond.

SERBIA
They've never been nominated but there's got to be a first time. Dragan Bjelogrlic's Montevideo God Bless You which seems, from descriptions, to be a nostalgia soaked period piece about 1930s Belgrade just as much as it's a sweeping inspirational story of young men with big (sports) dreams, in this case football (soccer). To be specific their dreams take them to the  First World Football Championship in Montevideo, Uruguay.

If IMDb can be trusted on Serbian film industry goings on (they sometimes get foreign film info wrong) they're already filming a sequel  which is this movie. Can anyone translate that title for us?

This is quite a bit different than the type of film Serbia usually submits. They've never submitted a film by this director before and the films don't usually skew this young either. The film stars two relative newbies Milos Bikovic (previously on Serbian TV series) and Peter Stager (film debut).

Milos Bikovic and Peter Stager

Will Oscar take a longer look this time?

The closest Serbia has come to a nomination was The Trap in 2007 which made the finals but not the shortlist.

AUSTRIA (3 noms, 1 win)
Austria's entry this year also trains its lens on a young man, the 19 year old Roman (Thomas Schubert). Roman, though, doesn't have big dreams but is just trying to build a new life after prison.  Guilt haunts him for his teenage crimes. The film is directed by the actor Karl Markovics (most recently seen in the international hit Unknown).

It's worth noting that the movie is already an award winner. Schubert won Best Actor at the Sarajevo Film Festival and who handed him the prize but global icon Angelina Jolie, who was honored herself (and accepted tearfully) at the very same event. So should Breathing (Atmen) be Oscar nominated, Schubert might have another chance to share oxgyen with her. He's already experienced one embodiment of Hollywood glamour, just not the gold plated kind. 

Angelina Jolie at the Sarajevo Film FestivalPREVIOUS SUBMISSIONS AND SPECULATIONS

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