Day 4 - 2013 Berlinale

Today is a very busy day as soon we have BAFTA's ceremony, that is why I'm writing this post very early.

Competition

La Religieuse (The Nun)
There is nothing more "dangerous" than a remake and more when 1966 original is a classic by Jacques Rivette with outstanding performance by Anna Karina. But this new Denis Diderot novel interpretation has something that could make the remake as good as the original: Isabelle Huppert! On the not so positive side, I am not familiar with director Guillaume Nicloux work; still seems that he went "experimental" and took many risks which could make his movie very different to original. One remarkable info is that in many scenes he literally followed Diderot's words and actresses wear NO make-up. Movie is also competing for a Teddy, but due to story imagine has no chances of winning; besides, film has some lesbian interest but my imagination tells me that whatever is shown will not please genre viewers. Still, film is absolutely must be seen for me, as are all films with Isabelle Huppert. Somehow imagine in this film Huppert has a role where we will see what she is highly acclaimed for, strong dramatic disturbing performances.

Gloria
Have seen all, except one, Chilean Sebastián Lelio's movies and of course I'm looking forward to see his latest movie with a woman-centered story. But after checking today's Twitter, my desire to see film has risen as in several languages, viewers are commenting about the huge positive reaction screening had and some are saying that Paulina García deserves to win Best Actress. Don't know about the last comment as unfortunately great actresses have movies in fest but there is always room for newcomers. Of course, news dispatches from Chile are starting to pour with the great news.

Vic+Flo ont vu un ours (Vic+Flo Saw a Bear)
From Canada the latest Denis Côté film that calls my attention for the story, director's regular use of isolation, and my weakness for Romane Bohringer performances (we will see her again in Renoir, great!). Film is also competing for a Teddy and has a lesbian interest story, but surely film will not be what genre viewers like. This film has been described as a collection of eccentric characters, has bizarre directing ideas, has a mysterious atmosphere and all create an artificial world with its own completely unpredictable reality. All sounds exactly like the kind of movie I do enjoy. First reactions to movie tell me that some will like it while others will not and that's not surprising for me.

Berlinale Special

The Look of Love
One of the few UK productions in fest has a tale of a latter day King Midas, based on the real life Paul Raymond, who entered Britain's history of sleaze as the "King of Soho". Directed by Michael Winterbottom this drama is said to carefully balance comedy and tragedy and from film stills this 60's/70's drama seems to have great period recreations.

Top of the Lake
A six-part television series directed by Jane Campion and Garth Davis, an Australia/New Zealand production starring none other than Elisabeth Moss but just with Jane Campion involved becomes must be seen for me. Great discovery that had skipped my radar until now.

Panorama

Again another day with many movies but for me the most interesting are: From USA, a dizzyingly fast-paced zombie-horror-thriller (yes, horror!) Upstream Color by Shane Carruth; From Germany, for impressive performance by all female leads, Meine Schwestern (My Sisters) by Lars Kraume; and of course, Isabel Coixet's latest movie, Ayer No Termina Nunca (Yesterday Never Ends) starring Javier Cámara and Candela Peña.

Also in this section a movie with a cast I do not like, except for David Straithairn and Alan Cumming, but surely will be interesting for story and because is directed by Carter. From USA, Maladies.

Forum

There are many films screened today but Grzeli nateli dgeebi (In Bloom) surely will be the more not-easy to watch drama about two girls growing in Tbilisi, Georgia, 1992, after the Soviet era is over. Georgia/German/France production directed by Nana Ekvtimishvili and Simon Groß. Also interesting, from Argentina Viola by Matías Piñeiro and from Austria what surely could be visually stunning, Shirley - Visions of Reality by Gustav Deutsch with a series of snapshots from the life of a fictional actress named Shirley which serves to weave together thirteen paintings by Edward Hopper into a fascinating synthesis of painting and film, personal and political history.

There are many more films in the other sections but honestly none calls my attention. Stopping to watch live La Religieuse press conference. Maybe will not see too much as there is an awful English voice over translation, grrr. Festivals PLEASE have 2 streams, one with spoken language and another with translation, so we can chose what we want to hear!!! Great Isabelle is speaking in English! "Goethe did the first translation of Diderot's book, so it's natural to open film in Germany". Stopped watching because really cannot stand translation. Sigh.

News

Yesterday, Isabella Rossellini was honored with the Berlinale Camera.



Last night was the screening of Les Misérables and if you wish to see photos of the movie events you will find them in the net. But suggest to check the Star Portraits that sometimes have extraordinary photos and yes, Anne Hathaway looks great in her photo. Found following Anne photo that is very unusual and quite nice as a photography, so I'm sharing.



Of course Getty as of this moment has lots of great photos from La Religieuse photo call, but none is free, so will share free ones tomorrow.

If you like photography suggest to watch the Berlinale official site gallery Close Up! a project by C/O Berlin and the Berlinale where 14 young photographers aged 20 to 25 are invited to show what they can do and what they see. Up to today there are some outstanding photos.

Tomorrow is the Award Ceremony for European Film Promotion (EFP) Shooting Stars and here is a photo with the nominees. If you wish to learn info about nominees go to official site.



Photos

Late yesterday was watching some photos of highly unrecognizable Charlize Theron arriving to Berlin but photos are absolutely great. She is in Berlin to attend last night Cinema for Peace event and of course photos below are from the event where she is a lot more recognizable.