Unfortunately, I haven't been able to see them all, and I must say that I believe PINA by Wim Wenders - about the deceased incredible and unique choreographer Pina Bausch - was probably the most touching one - the theme, and also the use of 3D. But never mind, I'll write here about the ones I did see and ENJOY!
When we first arrived in Berlin and went to the EFM building, near Potsdamer Platz, I noticed a poster, really light, full of movement and joy. Two people, a guy and a girl, where holding each other and laughing. I immediately knew I wanted to see this one, for no particular reason - I didn't know the story and didn't want to. The film is Wer wenn nicht wir (If not us, who). It's Andres Veiel's first feature - he did some other works before, but no long feature of fiction. And let me tell you, it's a success, a discovery, a shock, a very very very good film. The story is set in West Germany in the early 1960s. Bernward Vesper (August Diehl) studies in Tübingen and wants to be a writer. At the same time, he wants to publish and defend the work of his poet father, who was celebrated by the Nazis as a proponent of their ‘Blood and Soil’ ideology. One day Bernward meets Gudrun Ensslin (Lena Lauzemis). An extreme and passionate relationship starts, in between political fights, personal ones and an adoration for literature. They move to Berlin and decide to join the Extraparliamentary Op position movement. They fight for liberation movements, student protests and the Black Panther. But when another man, Andreas Baader (Alexander Fehling), appears in Gudrun's life, it changes everything...
The actors are profound, sound right every second, the rhythm is exciting and builds slowly but with solid roots the process of fall of the heroes. I've always been fond of historical drama, especially the ones about these times - Italian film The Best Of Youth (2003) is probably one of my favorite films - and this one is great. It's not all about politics, it is about human beings who met each other, grew together, destroyed themselves or each other. Un bonheur absolu.
Another first feature, that was not as brilliant and perfect, but that somehow caught my attention too. I'm guessing the director is young - Andres Veiel isn't a teenager anymore - and made mistakes of youth with this film. SWANS (the film), directed by Hugo Vieira Da Silva, was presented at the Forum in Berlin. It's a pretty weird film in between Portugal and Germany, Berlin to be more specific. A father and his son living in Portugal arrive in Berlin to see the cancer-dying mother of the boy, a woman he doesn't know. She is in the hospital, in a coma. They stay at her apartment, where she lives with a friend of hers, an Asian stewardess. The boy remains distant at first, go skateboarding, whereas the father seems really affected by the situation. But slowly, the boy builds a relationship with his sick mother, and learns to know her despite the situation...
It is a dark, weird, slow moving feature with a very specific mood, that leaves you uncomfortable and disturbed. But the characters are interesting and the rhythm is clever and appreciable. However, for no reason, the director puts some sexual contents - of course unusual - at the end : the boy masturbates, the Asian friend is actually a man as the audience can notice while he is taking a bath, the boy touches the entire body of his mother to discover her. It is useless and pretty silly to have given this dimension to the film, but it's a first feature mistake. Still, it's an original and well made film, and I'm looking forward to his next one.
MJ
