"The only truth is love beyond reason" goes the quote from French poet Alfred de Musset that opens Xavier Dolan's moody dreamy French Canadian film Heartbeats. That sounds beautiful in theory, sure, but living it is messier. Immediately the film cuts to a funny frank series of talking head interviews from people who have been unlucky in love. One woman compares herself to Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction and describes panicking at her computer, waiting for emails that never come.
If somebody died every time I hit refresh, there'd be nobody left alive.
Poetic idealized notions of love clashing with humiliating darkly comic reality? It's a pretty apt way to introduce and describe this arguably slight but beautiful film...
Heartbeats is currently available in select theaters from IFC and On Demand. I'll have an interview with one of the actors shortly after Oscar weekend wraps up. 2011 Index of Movies. This will undoubtedly pick up soon.
We haven't mentioned the Berlinale at all in the heat of Oscar week. So let's do that, shall we? Better late than never. The festival closes tomorrow but the awards were handed out over the past two days.
"Nader and Simin: A Separation" GOLDEN BEAR
Asghar Fahradi, who got a lot of Oscar buzz a couple years back (though no nomination) for ABOUT ELLY, won this year's Golden Bear for Nader & Simin: A Separation (2011). The Hollywood Reporter explains the film like so.
Farhadi's drama traces the breakup of a Iranian family set against the political tensions in Tehran. While not overtly political, Nader and Simin is starkly critical of conditions in Iran, notably the country's huge class divide. It was widely tipped to win Berlin's top prize, not least because of the current upheaval in the Middle East.
Fahradi dedicated his prize to jailed filmmaker Jafar Panihi who was also supposed to be serving on this very jury. Isabella Rossellini's jury was one short as a result. Rather than replacing him they held a symbolic open seat for him. Some articles are already suggesting that Nader & Simin could be submitted for next year's Foreign Language Film Oscar. But given the open criticisms and the dedication to a jailed filmmaker I wouldn't place your bets just yet; it can be tough to read Oscar submission politics when filmmakers and governments clash.
Competition Jury Golden Bear: Jodaeiye Nader Az Simin (Nader and Simin, A Separation) by Asghar Farhadi Silver Bear The Jury Grand Prize: A Torinoi Lo (The Turin Horse) by Bela Tarr Silver Bear Best Director: Ulrich Kohler for Schlafkrankheit (Sleeping Sickness) Silver Bear Best Actress: the female ensemble in Nader & Simin Silver Bear Best Actor: the male ensemble in Nader & Simin Silver Bear Best Screenplay:The Forgiveness of Blood written by Joshua Marston and Andamion Murataj.
Isabella and her jury liked Nader & Simin so much they gave it ALL the acting prizes, too. This wasn't good news for Coriolanus, the Shakespearean adaptation from Ralph Fiennes that won Vanessa Redgrave in particular Oscar friendly reviews. Regarding the Screenplay prize: If Marston's name looks familiar think Maria Full of Grace. We were wondering when he was going to be back to the cinema.
Silver Bear Artistic Contribution: Wojciech Staron, Cinematography, and Barbara Enriquez, Production Design, for El Premio Alfred Bauer Prize: If Not Us Who (Wer Wenn Nicht Wir) by Andres Velel First Feature Award: On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean Special Mention: The Guard by John Michael McDonagh Special Mention: Die Vaterlosen by Marie Kreutzer
Crystal Bear These prizes are for family films. Separate jury.
Best Kplus Feature Film: Keeper’n til Liverpool (The Liverpool Goalie) by Arild Andresen [Norway] Special Mention: Mabul by Guy Nattiv [Israel/Canada/Germany/France] Short Film: Lily by Kasimir Burgess [Australia] Special Mention: Minnie Loves Junior by Andy Mullins and Matthew Mullins [Australia] Best 14plus Feature Film: On the Ice by Andrew Okpeaha MacLean [U.S.] Special Mention: Apflickorna by Lisa Aschan [Sweden] Best 14plus Short Film: Manurewa by Sam Peacocke [New Zealand] Special Mention: Get Real! by Evert de Beijer [Netherlands]
Scandinavia is always winning prizes for family and kids films. It's a niche. Here's the trailer to the winning film. You can tell the "family friendly" categories aren't judged by US prudes. This won the Kplus award, and within seconds of the trailer starting there's jokes about people being well hung and there's shower nudity. Different worlds!
Audience Prizes Audience Award, Fiction Film: También la lluvia (Even The Rain) by Icíar Bollaín [Spain/France/Mexico] This was one of the finalists for BEST FOREIGN FILM but did not make it to the nomination shortlist. It's currently open in select US theaters. Second Place: Medianeras by Gustavo Taretto [Argentina/Germany/Spain] Third Place: Life in a Day by Kevin Macdonald [Great Britain] Audience Award, Documentary Film: In Heaven Underground - The Weissensee Jewish Cemetery (Im Himmel, Unter der Erde. Der Jüdische Friedhof Weißensee) by Britta Wauer Second Place: Mama Africa by Mika Kaurismäki Third Place: We Were Here by David Weissman (USA)
Teddy Awards Berlinale's Teddy Award, which is separate from the main fest and judged by LGBT film festival programmers, is one of the oldest annually bestowed Queer Cinema awards. It was first handed out in 1987 to Pedro Almodóvar's Law of Desire. What a kick off, eh? Perusing the list of past Teddy Award winners is actually a great way to catch up on LGBT films you may have missed. Gay cinema is increasingly not what it used to be. With assimilation into mainstream culture, queer cinema definitely lost its edge and brain-power if not its sex drive. These days we don't seem to get new Gregg Arakis, Gus Van Sants or Todd Haynes and their like but people whose names we never learn directing straight to DVD sex comedies. (sigh)
Last year's Teddy prizes were unusually Hollywood friendly with James Franco's first short film The Feast of Stephen [clip. NSFW] winning Best Short Film and Lisa Cholodenko's eventual Best Picture nomineeThe Kids Are All Right winning the top prize.
Jake Yuzna's "Open" (2010). Marie Losier's "Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye" (2011)
Jake Yuzma's far more experimental pansexual drama Open won the Jury Prize. I had the pleasure of attending the premiere here in NYC. Artist Genesis Breyer P-Orridge spoke to the audience afterwards. She and her late partner, Lady Jaye, who famously had repeated operations and plastic surgery procedures to look more and more like one another, were the inspiration for the fictional film. So I was surprised to hear that Berlin honored the very same topic again this year. Their Best Documentary prize went to The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye by Marie Losier.
The Teddy, the main prize went to Argentina's Ausente, Marco Berger's follow up to Plan Bwhich did the festival circuit last year and is now available on DVD.
Ausente is about teenager who falls in love with his swimming teacher, finding all sorts of excuses to spend time with him.
The Teddys in full Best Feature Film: Ausente by Marco Berger Best Documentary: The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye by Marie Losier Best Short Film: (two winners) Generations by Barbara Hammer and Gina Carducci and Maya Deren’s Sink by Barbara Hammer Jury Prize: Tomboy by Celine Sciamma Special Teddy Awards: HIV/AIDS activist Pieter-Dirk Uys from South Africa and New German Cinema director Werner Schroeter (RIP).
Here's the trailer to Ausente which means "absent"
TV @ The Movies is a series that came to life because we always perk up when movies or movie actors are name-checked on the small screen. Who and what fillters into pop culture? And in what form?
Are any of you watching RuPaul's Drag RaceSeason 3? In the latest episode The Supermodel of The World gave her competing "gurls" scripts to film a movie trailer "Drag Queens in Outer Space: Return to Uranus". The acting in the final trailers was so hideous I didn't even remotely wish the fake movie was real and given that it was called "Drag Queens in Outer Space: Return to Uranus," that's a fail.
Shangela & Mimi discuss their upcoming performances
Shangela and Mimi Imfurst already hate each other and have become immediate rivals. This is because they're both crafty disingenuous camera hogs and nothing drives people crazier than seeing their unflattering traits reflected in other people. They're both continually making trouble (Shangela) or breaking down (Mimi) so as to log more camera time. Essentially, this is a fail safe ploy in the reality TV format: I already know their names and faces and the other queens are still bleeding together after two regular episodes. Mimi brags about her acting experience and on the read-through of the script, they have this exchange:
Shangela: You better get that Oscar, bitch. Mimi Imfurst: I'm bringing Meryl Streep Realness. You gotta get ugly to win the gold.
As quotes go it's no "I was giving Michelle Pfeiffer bitch" uttered magnificently in season 2 by Raven (It's all downhill from Raven. Sigh). Meryl Streep Realness and the tried and trued De-Glam Oscar trick both make sense on their own but putting them together is like talking in gibberish. Streep has never had to downplay her beauty for Oscar's attention. In fact, her Best Actress Oscar went to arguably one of her most glamorous performances in Sophie's Choice. Yes, yes, she also deglams within the same film in flashbacks. But that's Meryl; she does it all. Except for maybe camp.
Okay, okay. That's not exactly true.
Mimi ended up going for full Leigh Bowery Artifice, Meryl Streep Realness never entering the picture.
But the queens weren't done paying homage/defaming the prestige screen divas. Later Stacy Lane Matthew's performance as "Lady Tata" in the sci-fi trailers prompted comparisons to none other than Dame Judi Dench.
Stacy: Honey, I don't know who in the hell I was. Shangela: Girl, you were some British bitch. Mimi: You were Judi Dench giving us Shakespeare. Shangela: Where in the hell did you get that accent Miss Back Swamp North Carolina? Next thing you turn around you're a British bitch. Stacy: Bitch, I was thinking Julia Child.
[Ahem]. Speaking of Streep Realness/Camp.
For reasons that are still unclear Lily Tomlin was a guest judge. (Sci-fi plus Lily? Why?) Strangely, she didn't say much and only made one funny.
If you were starring in "Drag Queens From Outer Space," which legendary actress would you be using for inspiration? Would you be okay with Lily Tomlin judging you?
Mostly I've been just motoring along, not too sad about having missed Sundance this year until it occurred to me what a jump start it gave me on this current Oscar race -- not too mention my own rooting interests at the film bitch awards. Whoa unto us who cannot afford a week in the snowy Utah mountains. I'm dying to see Vera Farmiga's directorial debut but otherwise I have poured over precious few Sundance articles. There was too much Oscar noise this week to give it much thought. But here's what Sundance went for with a passion.
Vera Farmiga, Dr. Nner and America Ferrara (photo from Zimbio)
The Sundance 2011 Awards broke down like so...
Juried Grand Prize Dramatic Like Crazy Grand Prize Documentary How To Die in Oregon World Cinema Dramatic Happy, Happy World Cinema Documentary Hell and Back Again
Like CrazyThe big breakout of the festival was Like Crazy, a cross-Atlantic romantic drama starring Actress winner Felicity Jones (the new Carey Mulligan they're saying... but isn't that just because Carey was a breakout at the same festival in a romantic drama?). It sold to Paramount for $4 million. If the past couple of festival years are any indication this does mean that Felicity Jones will be in the Oscar discussion a year from now. To be uncharitable and frank, I'm completely weirded out by this because a) she didn't register at all in Chéri despite a key role and b) I thought she was less than say "good" in The Tempest (2010) and all she had to do there was affectively portray falling in love as well as conveying being the sheltered child of a bossy mother. If Felicity Jones is a revelation here after that than Julie Taymor is an even worse director than I previously thought! Also weirding me out is the prospect of lil' Anton Yelchin as a romantic lead. Anton Yelchin. Isn't he that brainy little kid from Huff? Didn't he just look like a 12 year old playing at Chekov in Star Trek (2009)? My god they grow up so fast. ♪ sunrise sunset sunrise sunset ♫
Directing, Dramatic Sean Durkin for Martha Marcy May Marlene Directing, Documentary Jon Foy for Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of Toynbee Tiles Directing, World Cinema Paddy Considine for Tyrannosaur Directing, Documentary World Cinema James Marsh for Project Nim Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award Another Happy Day World Cinema Screenwriting Restoration Special Jury Prize (Acting) Felicity Jones for Like Crazy Special Jury Prize (Dramatic) Another Earth Special Jury Prize (Documentary) Being Elmo World Cinema Special Jury Prize (Documentary) Position Among the Stars World Cinema Special Jury Prize (Dramatic) The Acting in Tyrannosaur
Martha Marcy May MarleneOther than Vera Farmiga's film -- which I'm interested in mostly because I'm crazy for crazy-eyed Farmiga -- the one I'm most personally curious about is Martha Marcy May Marlene which won for Best Director. Fox Searchlight bought it and they do get behind their films. The film is about a young girl (Elizabeth Olsen. Yes, younger sister to the Olsen Twins) trying to adjust to life after fleeing a religious cult. She moves in with her sister (Sarah Paulson -yay) and her sister's fiance (Hugh Dancy - double yay!). John Hawke is the cult leader (triple yay... for Hawkes's involvement not dangerous cult leaders). Olsen won strong reviews and the film sounds like intriguing.
Paddy Considine and Olivia Colman on the set of "Tyrannosaur"Also looking forward to seeing Tyrannosaur. It's about the relationship between a rage filled man (Peter Mullan) and an abused woman (Olivia Colman) but one of our favorite character actors Paddy Considine is directing and if the world cinema jury felt the need to honor both its acting and its directing, maybe it's special and not just gritty miserabilism.
Documentary Editing If a Tree Falls World Cinema Documentary Editing The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 Excellence in Cinematography, Dramatic Pariah Excellence in Cinematography, Documentary The Redemption of General Butt Naked World Cinema Cinematography All Your Dead Ones World Cinema Cinematography, Documentary Hell and Back Again Alfred P Sloane Prize Another Earth directed by Mike Cahill Sundance NHK International Filmmakers Award Cherien Davis Jury Prize Short Filmmaking Brick novax Pt 1 & 2 Shorts Jury Honorable Mention: Choke by Michelle Latimer; Diarchy by Ferdinando Cito Filmomarioes; The External World by David O'Reilly; The Legend of Beaver Dam by Jerome Sable; Out of Reach by Jakub Stozek; Protoparticles by Chema García Ibarra
PariahFocus Features, who won The Kids Are All Right bidding war last year, also bought a lesbian film this year. Pariah, which won for cinematography, is about an African American teenager (played by Adepero Oduye) who is coming out of the closet in Brooklyn.
Audience Award Dramatic Circumstance Documentary Buck World Cinema Kinyarwanda World Documentary Senna The Best of "NEXT" Audience Award to.get.her
CircumstanceLast year at Sundance the Dramatic Audience Award, Dramatic went to HappyThankYouMorePlease which was the writer/director debut of sitcom star Josh Radnor and surprise: it felt not unlike a sitcom. But the year before they chose Precious so you never know. This year's winner Circumstanceis about an Iranian family struggling with rebellious teenagers.
Anything from Sundance 2011 interesting you from what you've read here or elsewhere?
We've been so caught up in Oscar nominations, we've been letting other things slide. So herewith the return of "Yes, No, Maybe So" in which we pre-judge movies we haven't even seen by their trailers. Today's topic is the new drama (dramedy?) Beginners about a man whose elderly father comes out to him. It opens in June, marking two consecutive cutesy gay-themed films for (We Love Him) 'Phillip Morris' (Ewan McGregor).
Yes. Beginners has a fine cast: enduring screen star Christopher Plummer is the gay dad; Melanie Laurent, hot off of Inglourious Basterds, is Ewan's girl; And then there's Ewan himself who, as I've shared before, has the face that makes me happiest at the movies. It's a personal thing that I can't define but to look at him is to experience joy. This is not to say "he's hot" or anything sullied by baser instincts. It's just joy. It's not unlike how I respond to Gene Kelly or Greer Garson in old movies. Wasn't Ewan just sweetness personified in ILYPM? This trailer also gives off a bit of a mid 80s Woody Allen vibe. You know, back when Woody made bittersweet and even warm films that weren't plagued with overt misanthropy. Plus it opens with a long conversation between Ewan and his dog and people who talk lovingly to animals are the kind of people that make us happy even when they don't have magic serotonin faces like Ewan's.
No. Eeek, this reaction is super personal too. (Damn you Hannah! for asking for this particular episode of Yes No Maybe So). Depictions of older gay men in film and television make me t-o-t-a-l-l-y nervous because I hate ageism (always have, even when I was much younger) and most depictions of elderly gay characters take on some form of tragedy or patheticness. Like, I had to stop watching Brothers & Sisters when the uncle came out because the stories just got so immediately I'm Pathetic With a Capital P and don't even get me started on Queer as Folk's completely vile ageism. Truth: Everyone gets older every minute including people who think they never will so let's all stop pretending like aging is a sin. It's not good. It's not evil. It's not triumphant (survival) or tragic (yikes, you're approaching death!). It just is. So anyway. I get nervous. I hope the situations and the relationships are handled sensitively in the movie and I hope they don't reinforce all those boring ol' stereotypes that nobody needs since one day we will all be Christopher Plummer's age (if we're lucky to live that long). Yes, even Hailee Steinfeld. ;)
Maybe So. Here is where we discuss the many ways in which this movie could go right or wrong. First you've got that a-dor-a-ble dog whose thoughts are subtitled. But the laugh line music is missing and the scene is lit and cut so pleasantly that it's not screaming BIG LAUGH. NYUCK NYUCK WINK WINK which is... comforting. Then you've got the hand drawings and the 'rollerskating where you're not supposed to bits' which is... is the latter a lift from Steve Martin's LA Story? There are worse films to steal from. So is Beginners filled with gaggy cuteness or is it just beautifully humanistic and completely adorable?
Friday, February 25, 2011 at 4:43PM 
