FILM FEST, CON’T.

I saw some more movies:

Maldeamores, i.e. Lovesickness



I didn’t have high hopes for this movie because it’s Puerto Rican, and I admittedly have a somewhat skewed view of people from PR. As far as I know, there is no film industry in PR. But maybe there should be! This followed a pretty traditional storytelling scheme, where several different stories are told with a loose connecting theme (heartbreak). It was cute and funny without being too cloying or manipulative. Nothing groundbreaking, but the portrayal of some of the characters (especially an elderly lady enjoying the attention of two suitors) was quite enjoyable. If this gets any sort of release I’d recommend it.

Matsugane Potshot Affair
This was ostensibly a black comedy, but I was less than pleased with it. I actually thought about leaving several times, but figured that since I was paying for parking, I might as well suffer through the whole thing (don’t ask me, it made sense at the time). Once upon a time, I used to be a fan of Japanese cinema, and went out of my way to see Japanese films. There are still a few Japanese directors I will support, such as Miike. But I have to announce that my fascination with Japanese cinema is officially over. I suffered through two hours of a slow-paced story about a small town, and I swear there were no identifiable traces of humanity or emotion in the entire film. Plus, for some reason, there’s always a creepy sexually degrading plotline involving women in every Japanese film. Enough! I am officially kicking off my Mexican/Latin American film craze, and closing the door on the Japanese one.

Doubleteamed by Mathieu Amalric
I was planning on seeing The Diving Bell and the Butterfly last night, and my friend also wanted to see Heartbeat Detector. I thought I recognized Mathieu Amalric from a tiny, blurry still from Heartbeat Detector, but I looked him up on imdb and didn’t see the movie listed. I bought tickets anyway, and guess what, it was him after all! The original French name of the film was vastly different, and that’s why I didn’t realize it was the same movie. A entire night spent with Mathieu Amalric – it was really enjoyable. The second movie was not as good, but I still got to gaze into his lovely dark eyes for two hours. Is he the hardest-working man in French independent cinema?

THE DIVING BELL AND THE BUTTERFLY

This movie made me ill, because I wanted to bawl like a big fat baby through the entire thing, but held it in. There were two many people around to cry like I wanted to. Aside from the emotional sledgehammer aspect of it, it’s one of the most artful movies I’ve ever seen, and the way the director (Julian Schnabel) worked with point of view was really perfect. The sound design and music was perfect too… Everything about this movie was perfect, and I’d say it’s a serious contender for best picture of the year. If you don’t know the story, it’s about the French editor of Elle magazine, who suffered a massive stroke and was completely paralyzed, except for his right eye. Everyone I know must see this movie, no questions asked.

HEARTBEAT DETECTOR



This film’s premise was that fitting into the corporate world is another form of Nazism. It’s an interesting one, to be sure, but the movie was overlong and had too many tangential scenes. It suffered from the common French film mishap of being overly intellectual. Worse things have happened, and I still enjoyed the movie (mainly due to the presence of Mr. Amalric). I had terrible shoulder pain and a headache from the last movie though, which ruined my ability to concentrate. After the movie was over I looked Mathieu up on imdb again – he was in seven films in 2007! I have to say I appreciate the way he’s trying to make himself accessible to me.