2004 German Film Festival
German treats this weekend
German Cinema is usually associated with the black-and-white silent classics, but much has evolved since films such as Metropolis were first shown.
A German Film Festival will be held at Greenbelt 1 on October 23 and 24. Only four movies will be featured, a small number compared to what the other foreign filmfests offer, but all are of above average quality. Here are short takes of three of those films:
Run Lola Run (1998) by Tom Tykwer
Tykwer is renowned for eye-catching visuals and frequent tackling of the theme of fate. Run Lola Run and its lead star, Franka Potente, international stardom.
A guy gets into money trouble and lays the blame on his girlfriend (Potente). What happens next are three different versions of how the gal - since she loves her angry boyfriend so much - tries her best to come up with a solution to save his skin.
Run is basically shallow and won't be taken seriously by critics, but watching the fast-paced film is like riding a roller coaster - it's so exciting and lots of fun. Potente, who was last seen in The Bourne Supremacy, is as hot as the flaming-red color of her character's hair.
Trains'n'Roses (1998) by Peter Lichtefeld
Hannes is a beer-truck driver who dreams of winning at the international competition for readers of train timetables, to be held in the Finnish town of Inari. However, his special leave is canceled, which upsets him and causes him to his his boss who is knocked unconscious.
A police inspector discovers his boss dead and Hannes becomes a prime suspect. With cops on his tail and meeting the women he fancies in unexpected moments, winning at the contest may not be the only thing that Hannes would eventually end up with.
Once you get used to the stoic expressions of the Scandinavians, the reward is an amusing, quirky picture that will captivate dreamers and romantics.
Trains occasionally features a track shot of the Finnish tundra, which reminds us that dreams and true love can happen.
Mostly Martha (2001) by Sandra Nettelbeck
Chef Martha Kleen lords it over a restaurant's kitchen until an Italian chef is hired and her sister dies in an accident, leaving in her care an 8-year-old daughter. Slowly but surely, these two persons warm up Martha and change her life.
Modify the plotline a bit and you'll get something like the classic comedy, Woman of the Year (starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy). It may not be the most outstanding German film of 2001 (a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar was given to another German feature, Nowhere in Africa), but Martha is something most of us will relish.
(First published in Inquirer Libre on October 22, 2004)
German Cinema is usually associated with the black-and-white silent classics, but much has evolved since films such as Metropolis were first shown.
A German Film Festival will be held at Greenbelt 1 on October 23 and 24. Only four movies will be featured, a small number compared to what the other foreign filmfests offer, but all are of above average quality. Here are short takes of three of those films:
Run Lola Run (1998) by Tom Tykwer
Tykwer is renowned for eye-catching visuals and frequent tackling of the theme of fate. Run Lola Run and its lead star, Franka Potente, international stardom.
A guy gets into money trouble and lays the blame on his girlfriend (Potente). What happens next are three different versions of how the gal - since she loves her angry boyfriend so much - tries her best to come up with a solution to save his skin.
Run is basically shallow and won't be taken seriously by critics, but watching the fast-paced film is like riding a roller coaster - it's so exciting and lots of fun. Potente, who was last seen in The Bourne Supremacy, is as hot as the flaming-red color of her character's hair.
Trains'n'Roses (1998) by Peter Lichtefeld
Hannes is a beer-truck driver who dreams of winning at the international competition for readers of train timetables, to be held in the Finnish town of Inari. However, his special leave is canceled, which upsets him and causes him to his his boss who is knocked unconscious.
A police inspector discovers his boss dead and Hannes becomes a prime suspect. With cops on his tail and meeting the women he fancies in unexpected moments, winning at the contest may not be the only thing that Hannes would eventually end up with.
Once you get used to the stoic expressions of the Scandinavians, the reward is an amusing, quirky picture that will captivate dreamers and romantics.
Trains occasionally features a track shot of the Finnish tundra, which reminds us that dreams and true love can happen.
Mostly Martha (2001) by Sandra Nettelbeck
Chef Martha Kleen lords it over a restaurant's kitchen until an Italian chef is hired and her sister dies in an accident, leaving in her care an 8-year-old daughter. Slowly but surely, these two persons warm up Martha and change her life.
Modify the plotline a bit and you'll get something like the classic comedy, Woman of the Year (starring Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy). It may not be the most outstanding German film of 2001 (a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar was given to another German feature, Nowhere in Africa), but Martha is something most of us will relish.
(First published in Inquirer Libre on October 22, 2004)
posted by Francis Rex Alger @ 8:09 PM
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