A chronicle of the difficult early  relationship of Ingmar Bergman’s parents – Henrik and Anna – in Sweden a century ago.

Anna’s mother intensely dislikes Henrik and wants to prevent then seeing one another: “You have deep and early wounds, beyond healing or consolation” she slams him with. Henrik’s mother loathes Anna: “Lord forgive me that i camnot love that girl”. They don’t only have matriachal opposition to their “association”; they appear to have a fundamental temperamental antipathy with one another: she’s a flighty, vivacious, capricious, Sanguine; he’s a dour, miserable, Melancholic. But they seemingly love one another (opposites attract and all that) and become fated to be sharing destiny come-what-may.

I don’t know about Henrik (Bergmans dad) There’s much to not like about him. A man riddled with flaws and inconsistencies. A pious man of the cloth who sleeps with both Anna and Frida (first fiancee). Has no sense of humour or fun, lacks spontaneity; Anna tries to get him to dance – he storms off, “I’m a great spoiler of games. That can’t be helped”. He’s a Misery Fetishist: “I’m best living on the extreme edge of the world” he laments after Anna has left him to go back to her moms.

You aren’t suprised that she leaves that Frozen North he has such a grim masochistic affinity with. You wonder why she loves him, or even needs him really. He needs her though: “He needs someone to like, so that he doesn’t have to hate himself so much” says first fiancee Frida.

“Henry, you must forgive me” she saying, but considering he’s a Christian priest he doesn’t seem too keen on forgiveness: “I’ll never forgive you for this” he says… then he’s calling her “despicable” and  “spoilt” shouting at her to leave….”I never want to see you again“….. or he invokes God to get what he wants… or he’s slapping her. She seems more capable than he is of expressing her heartfeltest feelings: “I’m crying because you trample on me and it hurts! You’re trampling on your most faithful friend, amd i’m crying because it makes me angry” she sobs. You don’t get that he’s the “good person” (his mother and ex) say he is. You get that he’s painfully flawed, emotionally dsyfunctional, a bit of a loser-loner saddo really (its all those early and deep wounds he’s got).

And yet. I didn’t despise him. Or dislike him. Maybe that’s to the credit of the actor (Samuel Froler) ; or maybe because of the psychological authenticity of Bergmans screenplay. You  aren’t allowed to take easy polarised sides: Henrik bad, Anna good. Everybody has got a bit of crap in them somewhere.

The film really got to me when i first saw it. The stonking rows they have with one another are seeringly shatteringly real. “I’m beginning to recognise my life. It’s coming back at last. I was dreaming. Now I’m awake” he says to himself after they’ve torn the romantic pretence off one anothers shiny pre-wedding masks.

I suppose by the end of the film, Henrik has had to get off his pious high horse of stagnant self-righteousness and get over himself: be forgiving. As Anna will be willing to forgive him also. To bear the disappintments they’ve hurt one another with, they have to dare to forgive. And grow – hopefully – into a maturer, kinder, kind of love.

Dir: Bille August, Sweden

8/10

Woensdag, voetbaldag.  Vanavond de finale van de UEFA-cup.  Een iets minder inspirerende finale misschien.  Sjachtor Donjetsk tegen Werder Bremen, rechtstreeks op Canvas.  Maar dat kan toch mooi worden.

Ook mooi is de film Pelle De Veroveraar of op Canvas+.  Een epische film van Bille August uit 1989, waarmee hij in Cannes de Gouden Palm won.  De film is gebaseerd op de gelijknamige roman van Martin Andersen Nexø.  Bille August verfilmde na Pelle De Veroveraar nog boeken.  The House of Spirits bijvoorbeeld, naar de roman van Isabel Allende.  Vrij recent verfilmde hij het boek Goodbye Bafana, het relaas van de persoonlijke bewaker van Nelson Mandela op Robbeneiland. 

Dus, stem vanavond gewoon af op de finale van de UEFA cup of doe gezellig een terrasje om het lange weekend in te zetten.  En kom achteraf Pelle De Veroveraar en de andere films van Bille August gewoon uitlenen in de bib….

Les Misérables

This massive novel of suffering, redepmtion, revenge, and many other themes will be hard to write a review on. It has so many layers, themes, and is quite complex as a novel. On the other hand, It will be easy to critisize the movie(s). I have a very good review on the 1998 movie starring Liam Neeson, but… I lost the site address and it’s about 5 pages long. I’m very tempted to take the long haul and type it up, it’s that good. But I don’t have an unlimited supply of time laying around. Five minutes later.. Ok. I just did one last futile search for that article and still can’t find it. So… I am going to type it up. I hope I’m not breaking any copyrights.. Here it goes, my own little comments and editing are in italics. (I’ve done some editing on this reviewer’s terrible sentence structure and grammar.) I have just noticed that this is a massive review. I wonder if anyone is as lesmisiffied as I am to actually read it?

Les Misérables
1998
Directed by Bille August
With
Liam Neeson as Jean Valjean
Geoffrey Rush as Javert
Uma Thurman as Fantine
Claire Danes as Cosette
Hans Matheson as Marius (Can’t forget about him )

Jean Valjean, a convict just released from forced labor, finds himself at nightfall in the town of Digne. A maked man, he is refused food and lodging by everyone until a woman points out a door to him and says, “Knock there.” He does, and an old priest greets him courteouly, invites him to dinner, and offers him a bed for the night. In the middle of the night, Jean Valjean steals the priest’s silverware, hitting him when he inturppts, and makes off into the darkness.

In the morning, Jean Valjean is brought back by a group of policemen. The old priest turns out to be M. Bienvenu Myriel, the Bishop of Digne. At first the conversation proceeds the way one expects, but when the policemen says that the criminal had even insisted the his host had given him the silver, M Bienvenu surprisingly corroborates this. The Bishop turns to Jean Valjean and asks him why he didn’t take the candlesticks that had also been given him. He tells the policemen to release him. Valjean is stunned. 

“My friend,” resumed the Bishop, “before you go, here are your candlesticks. Take them.”
He stepped to the chimney-piece, took the two silver candlesticks, and brought them to Jean Valjean. The two women looked on without uttering a word, without a gesture, without a look which could disconcert the Bishop.
Jean Valjean was trembling in every limb. He took the two candlesticks mechanically, and with a bewildered air.
“Now,” said the Bishop, “go in peace. By the way, when you return, my friend, it is not necessary to pass through the garden. You can always enter and depart through the street door. It is never fastened with anything but a latch, either by day or by night.”
Then, turning to the gendarmes:–
“You may retire, gentlemen.”
The gendarmes retired.
Jean Valjean was like a man on the point of fainting.
The Bishop drew near to him, and said in a low voice:–
“Do not forget, never forget, that you have promised to use this money in becoming an honest man.”
Jean Valjean, who had no recollection of ever having promised anything, remained speechless. The Bishop had emphasized the words when he uttered them. He resumed with solemnity:–
“Jean Valjean, my brother, you no longer belong to evil, but to good. It is your soul that I buy from you; I withdraw it from black thoughts and the spirit of perdition, and I give it to God.”

-From Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

We next see Valjean several years later, under a new name. He has found employment in another town, Vigau, and has risen to become the owner of teh factory and even the mayor  of the town. He lives simply, works to help the town prosper, and uses his wealth to help the poor. 

One day, a new police inspector arrives in Vigau. THis is Javert, who…had been a guard where Valjean was a prisoner… At first, Valjean’s appearance and position prevent Javert from recognizing him.

Marius

Novels are too long to convert into movies without significant abridgment. Even if a minute of readingtime translated into a minute of screen time, this would result in a movie that was far to long. Les Miserables is exceptionally long, some 1260 pages in one english translation. Therefore, we must expect painful cuts. The Offical Sony Pictures Les Miserables Web site discusses what the makers of the film were aiming for. It started when Mandlay Entertainment asked Rafael Yglesias to write the screenplay. They then hired Bille August to direct. Yglesias writes of the lengh of the novel and ofwhat he feels are the structural flaws in its plot. He concludes, “I relized that the central theme of Hugo’s novel is redemtion. I couldn’t possibly tell the whole story, so I decided to focus on Valjean’s struggle toward goodness and the relationship between him and Javert, which [drives] the plot forward. ” I would like to point out that- as the following quotaion, Victor Hugo’s Praface to the novel indicates a theme that is perhaps even more central is society’s part in creating human misery. It is often remarked that Marius, the young, idealistic revolutionary in the book is a portrait of Hugo himself. The titile of Les Miserables indicates the imporatnce Victor Hugo attached to this theme. 

“So long as there shall exist, by reason of law and custom, a social condemnation, which, in the face of civilisation, artificially creates hells on earth, and complicates a destiny that is divine, with human fatality; so long as the three problems of the age — the degradation of man by poverty, the ruin of woman by starvation, and the dwarfing of childhood by physical and spiritual night — are not solved; so long as, in certain regions, social asphyxia shall be possible; in other words, and from a yet more extended point of view, so long as ignorance and misery remain on earth, books like this cannot be useless.”

-Les Miserables Preface

I wrote above that I expected “painful cuts,” [but] I have to concede Yglesias his authorial liberty… I would start grumbling agian when I realized…[this] book [that] was intended as a call to recognise human suffering [was] to be turned into a movie that is graphically sumptous entertaintment for the comfortable…I should discuss some specific scenes and say what I feel about them. 

Although roughly resembling the film in its plot, the novel’s version of the scenes with the Bishop [are] different in seeminly subtle details that make for large differences in meaning. For Victor Hugo, M. Bienvenu is not kind because he is simple minded or guillible. The Bishop is perfectly realistic about facts and about people’s motavations and intentions. However, he has a permantent, indwelling quality of goodness that activley informs everything he does. This goodness is what the Catholic Church would call a ”virtue,” a word that in Latin denotes a power or ability, what a man has that enables him to stand up. Jean Valjean is a man who’s striving fitfully towards his goal, sometimes succeding and more often failing. He’s suffered tremendously, and his despair makes him think that his better impulses are a delusion. When Jean Valjean grasps that M. Bienvenu is an actual human being who embodies goodness, showing that it is possible and what it means, this knowledge hits Jean Valjean, and us, like a thunderbolt. Victor Hugo is willing to devote over one hundered pages t explaining M. Bienvenu and Jean Valjean to us in order to prepare us for the scene with the candlesticks, one of the most sublime in all literature. Rafael Yglesias and Bille August don’t see what it is that the Bishop has… So no preparation is required. For them, he is just a kindly old man, tough enough to trade challenges with [Valjean] at dinner or to torture him for a moment before telling the police to release him. These possiblites would be inconcevible to [Hugo]. The exert below is the opening of the scene quoted eariler. It shows [the Bishop's] decicivness and his single-minded interest in Jean Valjean…

“In the meantime, Monseigneur Bienvenu had advanced as quickly as his great age permitted.

“Ah! here you are!” he exclaimed, looking at Jean Valjean. “I am glad to see you. Well, but how is this? I gave you the candlesticks too, which are of silver like the rest, and for which you can certainly get two hundred francs. Why did you not carry them away with your forks and spoons?”

Jean Valjean opened his eyes wide, and stared at the venerable Bishop with an expression which no human tongue can render any account of.”

-Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

For Victor Hugo, these scenes result from complex, long-term psychological processes in both [the Bishop] and Jean Valjean, and Hugo uses these processes as an underlying substructure that knits many passages in the book together, and enlarges the impact of any one of these passages beyond what it could have been alone. Yglesias and August have dismantled all the insight, so these scenes stand alone, and the only way they can be given any semblance of punch is by hype. This is why Yglesias and August have to resort to having Jean Valjean strike the Bishop and to having the Bishop tantalize Jean Valjean before releasing him. 

I removed this (would-be) example to save space and time

As a final example, look at the last encounter of Jean Valjean with Javert. In the movie, it’s tremendously overblown. The two stand by the side of the River Seine. Javert frees Jean Valjean. Like the Bishop, he first plays a little game of delaying… He then makes his point by handcuffing himself, positioning himself exactly on the brink, and then elegantly falling in. As a capstone to all the luscious photography we have seen in the movie, we are now treated to the tragic beauty of the blackness of the water as it folds back over him. Jean Valjean is free. He walks away, smiling. The music swells. The film ends. 

The novel is quite different. Javert goes off by himself. His suicide is a matter of personal conviction. He doesn’t need a beautifully shot scene encased in a grand music score. Jean Valjean is saddened. He doesn’t walk away smiling, thinking, “I’m free.” That’s not Hugo’s Valjean. Bille August doesn’t seem to understand Hugo’s writing at all. 

The exerpt below is from the book. This is the scene where Javert goes off alone to end his life. 

“Jean Valjean fancied that it was Javert’s intention to conduct him on foot to the post of the Blancs-Manteaux or to the post of the Archives, both of which are close at hand.
They entered the street. It was deserted as usual. Javert followed Jean Valjean. They reached No. 7. Jean Valjean knocked. The door opened.

“It is well,” said Javert. “Go up stairs.” 
He added with a strange expression, and as though he were exerting an effort in speaking in this manner:
“I will wait for you here.”
Jean Valjean looked at Javert. This mode of procedure was but little in accord with Javert’s habits. However, he could not be greatly surprised that Javert should now have a sort of haughty confidence in him, the confidence of the cat which grants the mouse liberty to the length of its claws, seeing that Jean Valjean had made up his mind to surrender himself and to make an end of it. He pushed open the door, entered the house, called to the porter who was in bed and who had pulled the cord from his couch: “It is I!” and ascended the stairs.

On arriving at the first floor, he paused. All sorrowful roads have their stations. The window on the landing-place, which was a sash-window, was open. As in many ancient houses, the staircase got its light from without and had a view on the street. The street-lantern, situated directly opposite, cast some light on the stairs, and thus effected some economy in illumination.
Jean Valjean, either for the sake of getting the air, or mechanically, thrust his head out of this window. He leaned out over the street. It is short, and the lantern lighted it from end to end. Jean Valjean was overwhelmed with amazement; there was no longer any one there.
Javert had taken his departure.”

-Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

The worst thing about the ending of the movie is the fact that it ends at this particular point. Once Jean Valjean has fulfilled his promise to Fantine and is free of Javert’s persecution, the plot is over and the movie can end. In the novel, after Javert and Jean Valjean part there are well over 100 pages remaining. The difference is that the novel is structured by [the Bishop's] gift the [Valjean.] For Yglesias and August, this event is a one-time thing: The Bishop gives Jean Valjean the candlesticks and thereby flips a switch the completley changes him. For Victor Hugo, this event is the decisie one in a complex process that started 20 years earlier when Jean Valjean stole the loaf of bread and will only end years later when [he] completes his inner transformation and is redeemed. 

What I see in this movie is a betrayal of Victor Hugo’s social commitment to the oppressed. A betrayal that, even worse, supplants Hugo’s intention with a glossy, escapist diversion for the privileged. Despite thier promise at leat to fufuill the theme of Jean Valjean’s redemption, I see that they have dumbed down the novel to do what they think is my level. They have systematically eviscerated the novel of the human profundities that Victor Hugo used to structure it’s scenes into a whole and give them meaning. The scenes Yglesias and August show are thereby left isolated and have to be made punchy in order to entertain me. I see them trying to tug at my heartstrings, but they leave me without the reality, without the opportunity that Victor Hugo gives for experiencing Jean Valjean’s redemption instead of just being told about it. I am not flattered by Rafael Yglesias and Bille August’s adaptation of this beautiful novel. 

William P. Coleman (May 6, 1998 )
Edited by Alivia Duran 

Isabel Allende , sûrement avez-vous déjà lu son nom quelque part , au début du rayon livre de votre FN*C , au fin fond de la bibliothèque de vos parents , ou alors sur une photocopie que votre prof d’espagnol vous a gentillement distribuée pour le Bac ? Peu importe . Ce qui compte c’est ce qu’elle raconte , les histoires dans lesquelles elle nous plonge et dans lesquelles nous nous noyons avec joie et envie .

Isabel est né au Pérou en 1942  ; elle a beaucoup voyagé et a vécu dans de nombreux pays ( Chili, France, Belgique, Bolivie, Liban ); elle a d’abord commencé en écrivant des contes pour enfants, puis une pièce de théâtre. Son premier gros succès littéraire arrive avec La Maison aux Esprits. Ce magnifique livre était au départ une lettre destinée à son grand-père mourant, elle en fit un livre qui lui apporta la gloire et la reconnaissance mondiale de son talent d’écrivain. Depuis, Isabel ne cesse d’écrire des livres plus enchanteurs les uns que les autres .

Résumé :

La Maison aux Esprits est une saga familiale qui pourrait bien se passer au Chili, mais l’auteur ne nous situe jamais un endroit exact, comme pour donner une universalité à la chose. Sur trois générations, nous suivront les tribulations du vieux patriarche Esteban Trueba, le seul personnage à traverser entièrement le roman. Cet homme, partit de sa seule volonté de réussir, arrive à se construire un empire. Sa vie, il la passera comme son pays tout d’abord, avec lenteur puis avec vitesse avec l’arrivée du totalitarisme et de la tyrannie du nouveau régime. Mais plus important que lui, il y a les femmes qui entourent sa vie, qui la rythment. Sa femme tout d’abord, Clara, bonne bourgeoise ayant des dons pour le spiritisme et l’ésotérisme et qui ne se soucie pas des choses bassement matérielles, puis sa fille Blanca, sa petite fille Alba et toutes celles d’à coté encore, sa sœur, la paysanne culbutée dans les champs, les deux voisines, cette prostituée.

Tout résumé est impossible tant le roman est riche. Il faut ajouter qu’il s’agit d’une saga familial s’étalant sur 3 générations, donc la condenser serait la faire perdre en intensité .

Avis :

J’aime ce livre. Le style “Saga” n’est pas forcément accessible tout de suite, il faut savoir faire des allers et retours entre un passé omniprésent et un futur émacié par les actes présents mais avec La Maison aux Esprits vous ne pourrez qu’être ravis de votre balade temporelle; les personnages sont d’une grande richesse, les descriptions autant psychologiques que physiques ne manquent pas, on pourra d’ailleurs reprocher (mais c’est vraiment pour chercher la petite bête) à Isabel Allende de trop s’acharner a décrire certains comportements de ses personnages .

L’ambiance du roman est absolument magique. En fait, le titre simplement vous plonge dans un univers particulier, dans la maison que tout le monde rêve d’habiter étant enfant : une maison remplie de fantômes, avec des voyageurs extraordinaire, des êtres hors du commun autant par leur beauté que par leur courage. La présence et l’aura féminine des personnages , l’atmosphère qu’elles font naitre est presque palpable, Clara volant à travers les pièces, rédigeant ses “carnets de vie”, discutant volontiers avec les spectres et les esprits qu’avec des artistes ésotériques. Blanca et son amour fou pour cet homme rebelle qui l’entrainera à faire la révolution, pour qui elle courra milles dangers, cet homme qui la fera devenir une femme accomplie avec un destin, Alba héritant d’un passé lourd de non-dits et de violence.

De toute cette ambiance se dégage un parfum de vie, épicé et doux à la fois, un parfum de violette et de sang, de bleu et de rouge; une maison close et feutrée tout en étant ouverte sur le monde, un affrontement entre hommes et femmes, passion et soumission, perversité et vertu [désolée si vous ne comprenez pas la dernière phrase mais c'est les impressions que dégage ce livre]. Un roman dans toute sa splendeur .

A lire (et surtout vivre) absolument .

P.S :

Ce livre a été adapté sur grand écran, une grande adaptation, très réussie d’ailleurs. Le casting est incroyable , le jeu parfait, bien que certains éléments manquent, le principal reste. Je laisse un lien : fiche Allociné.

Shrulke

Dieses Jahr finden in Lübeck die 50. Nordischen Filmtage statt. Insgesamt werden 140 Produktionen aus Skandinavien und anderen Ostsee-Ländern vom 29. Oktober bis zum 02. November 2008 gezeigt.

Search: Photo by Fotostream von Eyeline-Imagery
Bicycle Film Festival Marquee.

Die Nordischen Filmtage Lübeck (Abkürzung: NFL), 1956 vom Lübecker Filmclub zum ersten Mal veranstaltet, zählen zu den traditionsreichsten Filmfestivals weltweit. Sie sind das einzige Festival in Deutschland und neben dem später entstandenen Festival im französischen Rouen das einzige in Europa, das sich ganz auf die Präsentation von Filmen aus dem Norden und dem Nordosten des Kontinents spezialisiert hat.

Wikipedia

Qui a dit que les gens du Nord de l’ Europe n’ avait pas d’ humour?

Certes, les films des réalisateurs scandinaves comme Bille August, Lars Von Trier, ou encore Fridrik Thor Fridriksson ne font pas dans le cinéma comique…

Par contre les publicitaires, eux, ont toujours su nous faire sourire ou rire. La tonalité de leur concept est toujours dans le décalage.

SMFB fait partie de ces agences scandinaves talentueuses.

Ici, nous remarquons que les supermarchés KIWI proposent de nombreuses marques dont les prix permettent de se faire plaisir ailleurs!

Wie ein Film zum Zuschauermagneten aufgebaut wird, ist dank Constantin Film an mehreren Beispielen sichtbar geworden.

1. Man nehme ein auflagenstarkes Buch als Vorlage für einen Film. So geschah es mit “Der Untergang” (2004) basierend auf Joachim Fests historischer Untersuchung der letzten elf Tage Adolf Hitlers im Führerbunker. Auch Patrick Süskinds von Stanley Kubrick als unverfilmbar bezeichnetes Werk “Das Parfüm” (2006) wurde von der deutschen Filmproduktionsfirma für 10 Millionen Euro erworben. Als Macher im Hintergrund tauchte bei beiden Literaturverfilmungen der deutsche “Über”produzent Bernd Eichinger auf. Schon in den 1980er Jahren nahm sich der gebürtige Münchener den Jugendroman “Die unendliche Geschichte” von Michael Ende vor und schuf in den Bavaria Studios einen sehenswerten Unterhaltungsfilm. Dann schlich Sean Connery in “Der Name der Rose” (1986) durch die Klostergewölbe eines Franziskaner Ordens. Und 1993 erschien die englischsprachige Verfilmung von Isabel Allendes “Das Geisterhaus”. Dass sich Eichinger auch an die Verfilmung des nun in der dritten und überarbeiteten Auflage erschienenen Sachbuchs “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex” (2008) des ehemaligen “Spiegel”-”Über”chefredakteurs Stefan Aust wagte, verwundert deshalb umso weniger.
2. Natürlich versammeln sich nicht nur hinter der Kamera bedeutende Filmschaffende wie Wolfgang Petersen, Jean-Jaques Annaud, Bille August, Oliver Hirschbiegel, Tom Tykwer und aktuell Uli Edel. Auf der Leinwand waren international bekannte Schauspieler wie Christian Slater, Michael Lonsdale, F. Murray Abraham, Meryl Streep, Jeremy Irons, Winona Ryder, Armin-Müller Stahl, Bruno Ganz, Thomas Kretschmann, Alexandra Maria Lara, Dustin Hoffman oder Alan Rickman. In “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex” ist das who´s who der bekanntesten deutschen Akteure zu sehen, angefangen bei den Haupdarstellern Moritz Bleibtreu als Andreas Baader, Martina Gedeck als Gudrun Enslin, Johanna Wokalek als Ulrike Meinhof und diesmal den nur als Nebendarsteller eingesetzten Jan Josef Liefers, Alexandra Maria Lara, Hannah Herzsprung, Stipe Eceg, …..
3. Werbung muss natürlich ebenfalls sein. Viel besser als die bezahlten verkaufsfördernden Maßnahmen, sind natürlich Kooperationen mit Verlagen (die das zu Grunde liegende Werk in einer Filmversion auf den Buchmarkt bringen), Fernsehsendern (die sich an der Finanzierung beteiligen, damit die TV-Rechte erwerben und somit ein Interesse besitzen, ihr “eigenes” Produkt so gut und oft wie möglich auf dem eigenen Kanal zu bewerben, auch wenn es nach redaktionellem Inhalt aussieht) und natürlich den meinungsbildenden Printmedien (teilweise Exklusiv-Geschichten, die sich bemerkbar auf den Titelseiten wieder finden und Konkurrenzprodukte zwingen, ebenfalls über die neueste, beste, weil teuerste deutsche Filmproduktion zu berichten).

Mit “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex” war ein Erfolg vorprogrammiert. Constantin Film-Chef Fred Kogel sprach gegenüber dem Handelsblatt auch davon, dass

Der Film soll noch mehr Zuschauer in die Kinos locken als der Blockbuster “Die Welle”.

Nach dem ersten Kinowochenende scheint dieser Wunsch auch in Erfüllung zu gehen. 414.814 Zuschauer sahen den 150 Minuten langen Film innerhalb der ersten vier Auswertungstage. Mit diesem Ergebnis musste sich der deutsche Film zwar der Disney-Pixar-Produktion “Wall-E” (2008) geschlagen gegeben (580.000 Kinozuschauer am Startwochenende). Doch kämpfen beide Streifen nicht um die gleiche Zielgruppe. “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex” wird in den nächsten Wochen nur merklich an Zuschauerinteresse verlieren. Genauso wie Eichingers “Der Untergang” ist der RAF-Film ein Must-See. Denn ganz egal wie der Film von Rezensenten und Publikum bewertet wird – und die Kritiken sind eher mäßig. Die Menschen möchten mitreden, wenn es um das Thema Terrorismus in Deutschland geht. Dazu muss aber der Film gesehen worden sein.

Mit seinen über 4,8 Millionen Zuschauern wird “Der Untergang” aber uneinholbar für den neuesten Constantin Film-Film sein. Zweifelhaft ist außerdem, ob “Der Baader Meinhof Komplex” nicht zu komplex und speziell deutsch ist, um bei der Oscar-Verleihung 2009 überhaupt Berücksichtigung zu finden und es unter die letzten fünf Filme in der Kategorie “Bester fremdsprachiger Film” zu schaffen.

Unterm Strich ist der Geschichtsfilm ein Erfolg. Nicht nur Austs Buch wird wieder in den Bestsellerlisten landen (ein Verweis auf den Zusammenhang zwischen Kinofilmproduktion und dessen verkaufsfördernde Wirkung auf dessen Originalquelle) und auch Constantin schlägt sein Schnäppchen. Nicht zu vergessen darf dabei auch die ARD sein. Regisseur Uli Edel filmte mehr Material, welches demnächst als Zweiteiler über die Fernsehschirme flimmern wird. Vielleicht ist die längere Fassung schlüssiger und spannender, als es die Kinoversion war.

Weil Constantin Film scheinbar ein Patent auf die Doppel-Kino-Fernseh-Adaption erfolgreicher Literatur besitzt, ist dann auch für den Herbst 2009 “Die Päpstin” angekündigt. Sönke Wortmann ersetzte aus unerklärlichen Gründen Volker Schlöndorff und inszeniert Johanna Wokalek in der Donna Cross-Verfilmung. Auf ein mediales Primborium erster Klasse darf sich schon heute gefreut werden und sicherlich wird wieder vom “Filmereignis des Jahres” gesprochen werden.

Estrenos

• 13 segundos (película), dirigida por Freddy Fadel.
• 300 (película), dirigida por Zack Snyder.
• Adiós Bafana, dirigida por Bille August.
• An American Crime, dirigida por Tommy O’Haver.
• Arritmia (película), dirigida por Vicente Peñarrocha.
• Atasco en la nacional, dirigida por Josetxo San Mateo.
• Bajo las estrellas, dirigida por Félix Viscarret.
• Barricada (película).
• Born Without a Face, dirigida por Andrew Adamson.
• Casual Day, dirigida por Max Lemcke.
• Caótica Ana, dirigida por Julio Médem.
• Chuecatown, dirigida por Juan Flahn.
• Concursante, dirigida por Rodrigo Cortés.
• Cuatro meses, tres semanas y dos días, dirigida por Cristian Mungiu.
• Dialga VS Palkia VS Darkrai, dirigida por Kunihiko Yuyama.
• Diamante de Sangre, dirigida por Edward Zwick.
• Dios o Demonio, dirigida por Alejandro Gonzalez Padilla.
• Días de cine, dirigida por David Serrano de la Peña.
• El Violín, dirigida por Francisco Vargas Quevedo.
• El amor en los tiempos del cólera (película), dirigida por Mike Newell.
• El camino de Ana.
• El club de los suicidas (película), dirigida por Roberto Santiago.
• El corazón de la tierra, dirigida por Antonio Cuadri.
• El creador, dirigida por Martín Pizarro.
• El hombre de arena, dirigida por José Manuel González.
• El sueño de Casandra, dirigida por Woody Allen.
• El último rey de Escocia, dirigida por Kevin Macdonald.
• En busca de la felicidad, dirigida por Gabriele Muccino.
• En busca de la tumba de Cristo, dirigida por Giulio Base.
• Entre mujeres, dirigida por Jon Kasdan.
• Epic Movie, dirigida por Jason Friedberg.
• Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer, dirigida por Tim Story.
• Fuerte Apache (película), dirigida por Mateu Adrover.
• Ghost Rider (película), dirigida por Mark Steven Johnson.
• Grind House, dirigida por Robert Rodriguez.
• Harry Potter y la Orden del Fénix (película), dirigida por David Yates.
• High School Musical 2, dirigida por Kenny Ortega.
• Hostal 2, dirigida por Eli Roth.
• Hotel Tívoli.
• In the Pink, dirigida por Bette Midler.
• Interview, dirigida por Steve Buscemi.
• Ju-on: The Grudge 3, dirigida por Takashi Shimizu.
• Jump In!.
• La caja kovak, dirigida por Daniel Monzón.
• La torre de Suso, dirigida por Tomás Fernández.
• La vida abismal, dirigida por Ventura Pons.
• La vida en rosa, dirigida por Olivier Dahan.
• Ladrones, dirigida por Jaime Marqués.
• Las trece rosas, dirigida por Emilio Martínez Lázaro.
• Las vidas de Celia, dirigida por Antonio Chavarrías.
• Lo que tiene el otro, dirigida por Miguel Perelló.
• Lola (2007), dirigida por Miguel Hermoso.
• Los Simpson: La película, dirigida por David Silverman.
• Los muertos van deprisa.
• MADRES (la película), dirigida por Eduardo Félix Walger.
• Manolete (película), dirigida por Menno Meyjes.
• Manuale d’amore 2, dirigida por Giovanni Veronesi.
• Mariposa negra, dirigida por Francisco José Lombardi.
• Miguel y William, dirigida por Inés París.
• Motherless Brooklyn, dirigida por Edward Norton.
• Niñas mal, dirigida por Fernando Sariñana
• Ocean’s thirteen, dirigida por Steven Soderbergh.
• Papelucho y el Marciano (película), dirigida por Alejandro Rojas.
• Piratas del Caribe: En el fin del mundo, dirigida por Gore Verbinski.
• Pride and Glory, dirigida por Gavin O’Connor.
• Pudor, dirigida por Tristán Ulloa.
• Ratatouille, dirigida por Brad Bird.
• Rojo intenso, dirigida por Javier Elorrieta.
• Seduciendo a un extraño, dirigida por James Foley.
• Shrek III, dirigida por Chris Miller.
• Sicko, dirigida por Michael Moore.
• Spiderman 3, dirigida por Sam Raimi.
• Súper Niño Bully, dirigida por Nicolás López.
• Teresa: el cuerpo de Cristo, dirigida por Ray Loriga.
• The Oxford Murders (2007).
• Transformers, dirigida por Michael Bay.
• Tú la letra y yo la música, dirigida por Marc Lawrence.
• Una historia criminal, dirigida por Josep Duran.
• Una mujer invisible, dirigida por Gerardo Herrero.
• War, Inc., dirigida por Joshua Seftel.
• Wild Hogs, dirigida por Walt Becker.
• Zodiac, dirigida por David Fincher.
• ¡Goool! 2: Viviendo el sueño, dirigida por Jaume Collet-Serra.
• ¡Goool! 3: El Juego Final, dirigida por Jaume Collet-Serra.
• Ángeles y Demonios.

Fallecimientos

• Alfredo Ripstein (n. 1916), director.
• Anna Nicole Smith (n. 1967), actriz.
• Antonio Aguilar (n. 1926), actor.
• Barbara McNair (n. 1934), cantante.
• Barry Nelson (n. 1917), actor.
• Bruno Mattei (n. 1931), director.
• Carlo Ponti (n. 1912), productor.
• Carlos Mayolo (n. 1945), actor y director.
• Conchita Montenegro (n. 1911), actriz.
• Deborah Kerr (n. 1921), actriz.
• Delbert Mann (n. 1920), director.
• Denny Doherty (n. 1940), músico.
• Fernando Fernán Gómez (n. 1921), actor y director.
• Gordon Scott (n. 1926), actor.
• Ingmar Bergman (n. 1918), director.
• Iwao Takamoto (n. 1925), animador.
• Jane Wyman (n. 1917), actriz.
• Jean-Pierre Cassel (n. 1932), actor.
• Joey Bishop (n. 1918), actor.
• Kei Kumai (n. 1930), director.
• Lois Maxwell (n. 1927), actriz.
• Luigi Comencini (n. 1916), director.
• Marcheline Bertrand (n. 1950), actriz.
• Michel Serrault (n. 1928), actor.
• Michelangelo Antonioni (n. 1912), director.
• Ousmane Sembène (n. 1923), director.
• Robert Goulet (n. 1926), actor y cantante.
• Solveig Dommartin (n. 1958), actriz.
• Tom Poston (n. 1921), actor.
• Yvonne De Carlo (n. 1922), actriz.

Véase también

• David di Donatello 2007
• Globos de Oro 2007
• Oscar 2007
• Premios BAFTA 2007
• Premios Goya 2007

OS MISERÁVEIS 

“Les Misérables” (1998 – 129 m)

SINOPSE: O apaixonante romance de redenção e revolução de Victor Hugo ganha vida, pelo engenho do realizador Bille August e do seu brilhante elenco.

Liam Neeson é o protagonista, no papel de Jean Valjean, um prisioneiro sem coração que se transforma por um simples acto de compaixão. Uma Thurman é Fantine, a vulnerável prostituta que roga a Valjean que lhe crie a única filha, Cosete (Claire Danes).E o vencedor de um Oscar®, Geoffrey Rush (Melhor Actor, Shine – Simplesmente Genial, 1996) é um ambicioso oficial da polícia, determinado a mandar Valjean de volta para a prisão. Um verdadeiro épico, Os Miseráveis “é magnífico! Um drama humano comovente e poderoso, com brilhantes interpretações de Liam Neeson e Geoffrey Rush *****” (Bill Diehl, ABC Radio).

REALIZADOR: Bille August

INTÉRPRETES: Liam Neeson, Geoffrey Rush, Uma Thurman, Claire Danes, Hans Matheson, Reine Brynolfsson, Peter Vaughan.

Im Affekt zufälligen Interesses habe ich mich Gestern dafür entschieden, den Film “Das Geisterhaus”, welcher gerade auf Arte lief, aufzunehmen und habe ihn mir jetzt gerade angeschaut.
Ein wunderbarer Film, der durch Mark und Bein geht.
… das wollt ich nur noch schnell loswerden. jetzt geh’ ich schlafen.
Hier gibt’s Infos…

Hat von euch jemand den Film auch gesehn? wie findet ihr ihn so?…
Ich hab irgendwie gar nicht gemerkt, dass der 2 Stunden andauerte

Greeez vom pfoff

The 60th Cannes film festival opened today. No Danish films in competition this year. But Danish film directors Lars von Trier and Bille August (who both have won the Palme d’Or) have each directed 3 minutes of film as a part of the festival’s 60th anniversary film To Each His Own Cinema. (via filmland)

Lars von Trier, who received a Palme d’Or in 2000 for the film Dancer in the Dark and was last represented in the competition in 2005 with Mandalay, will definitely not be attending this year’s festival. This week he issued a press release saying that he suffers from depression and will not be making film for a long time. So, it will probably be a long time before we will see a film by Lars von Trier in competition for the Palme d’Or again. In the meantime, I hope to see loads of other great films this year – and I wish Cannes film festival a happy anniversary!

A Film Review

Copyright Dragan Antulov 2005

Compared with the rest of Europe, Denmark looks like small country. But this perception changes if Danish self-governed territory of Greenland, which happens to be the world’s biggest island, is taken into account. Few people are, however, aware of that because Greenland – with 81% of its surface being covered by ice – is also one of the least hospitable and least populated places on Earth. And, like many of those utterly inhospitable places, Greenland is incredibly beautiful, which might be seen in the very opening of SMILLA’S SENSE OF SNOW, 1997 Danish suspense thriller directed by Bille August.

The film, based on the best-selling novel by Peter Hoeg, begins in 1859 when a huge meteorite suddenly hits Greenland. This catastrophic event, witnessed by its only victim – a lonely Inuit fishermen – remains out of history books until present day when the protagonist, tough-minded mathematician Smilla Jaspersen (played by Julia Ormond), would have to deal with some of its long-term consequences. Smilla, daughter of physician Moritz Jaspersen (played by Robert Loggia) and Inuit mother, was born in Greenland and spent first six years of life there. Despite being brought to Copenhagen after mother’s death, she never really adapted to urban way of life and now lives as a moody recluse, dedicated to mathematics and study of snow and ice. The only person with whom she connects is Isaiah Christensen (played by Clipper Miano), deaf Inuit child. When child dies falling from the roof of the building, Smilla sees some suspicious details and tries to warn authorities of a possible foul play. Her efforts are greeted by “friendly” suggestions that she should forget about whole affair. Smilla nevertheless continues with her investigation and discovers that boy’s father – who had been working for Greenland Mining Company – also died in mysterious circumstances. The only person willing to help Smilla in her quest of justice is a mysterious neighbour (played by Gabriel Byrne) who wants to have sex with her.

SMILLA’S SENSE OF SNOW is visually stunning film. Jörgen Persson’s cinematography has captured beauty of Greenland’s icy landscapes and made sharp contrast with dark, depressive and claustrophobic surroundings of Copenhagen. Beauty of landscapes is well-matched with the beauty of film’s heroine. Julia Ormond, British actress whose career choices weren’t always fortunate, probably never played such a strong and impressive character. Unfortunately, Danish director Bille August, who had been forced to use British cast and have English dialogues for commercial reasons, wasn’t that lucky with the rest of the cast. Gabriel Byrne is very bland in his role and has little chemistry with protagonist. However, that doesn’t prevent August from maintaining high level of suspense and convincing audience that they are watching something extraordinary.

Unfortunately, in last thirty minutes of the film it becomes evident that SMILLA’S SENSE OF SNOW is triumph of style over substance. What began as atmospheric and engrossing thriller with some political overtones thrown for good measure, suddenly begins to drown in cheap B-movie clichés, transforming into unconvincing combination of science fiction and action genre.

However, despite the disappointing ending, SMILLA’S SENSE OF SNOW is a satisfying movie experience. Good cinematography, very good acting, unusual settings and characters are reasons why should unoriginality of the plot should be forgiven. And, despite all of its shortcomings, this film was also very influential, at least judging by better known and vastly inferior movie version of THE X-FILES, inspired by its atmosphere and imagery. s triumph of style over substance. What began as moody, atmospheric undings of Copenhagen. Beauty of landscapes

RATING: 6/10 (++)