Berlinale #5: Four bizarre films
Thursday, February 22, 2024 at 9:30PM by Elisa Giudici
L'EMPIRE © Tessalit Productions
If I think about the typical film competing at Berlin, I imagine something quite dramatic, decidedly political, and sometimes rather heavy. This edition of the Berlinale has added the adjective "bizarre" to this profile of mine. Here are four films seen in these hours that deserve this adjective.
L’EMPIRE by Bruno Dumont
Let me preface this one: Dumont and I just don't see eye to eye. He might be the only French director whose work I can't seem to appreciate, despite my overall fondness for French cinema. Given this history and a rather late screening on a very heavy day, the recipe for disaster was served. However, one positive thing about L’Empire I can say: in hindsight, it made me reassess his previous film, France, which I saw at Cannes and detested...