Thursday, December 16, 2010

Film Festival Diary - IFFK 2010

20101216
Think I'm retiring from this year's edition.

20101215 Optical Illusions
Was supposed to be "a delightful comedy" according to the blurbs. Delivered in parts. Interestingly characters albeit without depth - a blind man who regains his sight and along with it pessimism, an employee being trained for unemployment...Lots of humor understated

20101215 Zephyr
Nobody reminded me..what I'd noted day before yesterday! Made-up Symbolism and Songs with Meaning tire and stress me out now. Cow lost (calf without mother), mother of protagonist comes home. Later mother leaves, cow returns. Not all without substance though.

20101215 Certified Copy
If you have a good enough copy one won't miss the original. Movie illustrates the point beautifully, starting with discussions about Art - paintings and their copies. Then the lead characters (a writer and a fan) role-play as husband-wife. The lines are quickly blurred. Intriguing.

20101215
Decided to go for 3 today!

20101214 The Light Thief
Movie about an adorable inventor in the middle of nowhere. Slow-moving but poignant.

20101214
Decided to take it slow. Going for only one movie today

20101213 Lola
Remind me to never watch movies about bringing up a kid alone, woman director. No substance, some good music.

20101213
Announcement in hall: "I kindly request you to switch off your mobile phones."

20101213 Silent Souls
Depressing Russian movie about belonging and death. Merjan rituals and vodka-washes...Perhaps a dream the director or the author dreamt, should have stayed a private fantasy... Must say the movie was made with genuine feeling though

20101213 The Grandmaster
Japanese movie (1960s) captivates whether you know anything about the game of Shogi or not. Powerful acting by daughter of the Grandmaster in the scene about the Silver-Bullet move stands out as a highlight.

20101212 Of Love And Other Demons
Boring boring. A prototype of the pretentious art-movie stereotype. Provided me with a most refreshing power-nap. Rabies, a priest's love affair with a teenager...shot mostly in darkness and dungeons...made me long for the lights to come on. Shots of faces half in darkness, half in light seem to be the director's favorite trick to provide symbolism...slipping into the dark side...

20101212 Apart Together
A nice Chinese movie about a man returning to his lover after 50 years and planning to take her back from her husband. The husband agrees! Enjoyed a song that reminded me of the drinking songs of Malluland.

20101211 The Daughter-In-Law
Nice to be touched by genius every once in a while, Silent movie from Kyrgyzstan with no dialogue. Powerful storyline. Symbolic interludes with shots of animals are a little bit cheesy but acceptable.

20101211
I'm delegate number 13309.