Cine Europa 4
A downward trend
There's an old saying that states, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." Perhaps that should be the attitude of those who have devotedly attended the European Union Film Festival (a.k.a. Cine Europa) for the last four years. I mean, it's not everyday you get to watch European flicks for free. However, this year's line-up is not only disappointing, but also gave this viewer a headache at the end. I thought I burned out from watching too many films, but it turned out to be a case of being fed up with seeing a bunch of so-so pictures.
If you look at it closely, Cine Europa is like a critically-acclaimed, commercially popular picture that spawns sequels that fail to match the original. The initial edition featured a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner, a troika of Oscar nominees (for Best Foreign Film) and a movie by Pedro Almodovar and Lars von Trier. The next two editions had a few bad ones - does anyone still remember The Pink House (Italy) in 1999 and An Almost Perfect Wedding (Austria) and Quando Troveja (Portugal) last year?
If low quality is the motif of the recent Cine Europa, then the organizers are brilliant in choosing the opening film, Gaston's War, from Belgium. Based from a novel by Allan Mayer, the movie chronicles an underground resistance movement during the German occupation of Belgium. This group, which is headed by a daring hunk named Gaston Vendermerssche, risk their lives for the liberation of their homeland from the Nazis, but are unaware of the fact that they're being used as pawns for an ensured victory of the Allied Forces over Hitler.
The ad proclaims that the movie is about courage and betrayal. That should make those who haven't seen it to presume that the film is sweeping and touching. However, don't most war movies deal with courage and betrayal? In the case of Gaston's War, am I being too jaded or is this Flemish war flick dull and forgettable? This is one rare case where most of the old Holly war pictures can gloat, as director Robbe De Hart neither puts a lot of vigor nor feeling to make his film poignant and watchable (at least).
As for Werner De Smedt, the dashing, blonde actor who plays Gaston, he looks more like a GQ model than a tragic hero. One of the minor appeals of this film, though, is its international cast. It isn't difficult to recognize Olivia Williams (star of The Sixth Sense) and Sylvia Kristel (Lady Chatterley's Lover), who remained ageless despite gaining weight.
French Cinema can usually be relied on when it comes to cinematic entertainment, but the French Embassy presented a below-par pictured called My Little Business (Ma petite entrepise) by Pierre Jolivet. For those who attended the 1997 French Film Festival, Fred, another Jolivet feature, was screened and it's about a jobless man's search for employment. Fate isn't kind to him, as not only he fails, but also ends up involved in a scam.
That film is filled with bitter humor, which is missing in Business, which is about a man's loss of his small carpentry firm due to fire, and the frantic encounters that follow when he learns that he isn't insured at all.
Flowers from Another World (Spain) is about three women who are looking for love and financial security in a Castilian town, and their struggles to overcome problems like getting used to the idyllic life and racial discrimination. It sounds pleasant, but which is more enticing: a two-hour languid drama by Iciar Bollain or a half-hour, sassy episode of Sex and the City?
As for the German entry, Night Shapes, which is about a tale about different people on the night of the Pope's visit to Berlin, it looks promising and ripe for philosophical discussion. It has also the traits of an old Ingmar Bergman picture, where the protagonists are struggling to find God around them and within themselves. Unfortunately, the famous Swedish director should have guided director Andreas Dresen during production.
Bye Bye Bluebird (Denmark) and Wonderland (United Kingdom) are not so bad, while Suzie Washington (Austria) and Classic (Finland) are OK, but no one stood out like Character (shown four years ago) or Run Lola Run (screen three years ago). Ironically, another Belgian entry titled Wild Games wouldn't have been shown if Queen of Chess (the Italian entry) had made it.
I don't know if unavailability of better films or cost cutting is the main reason for the not-so-impressive line-up, but the organizers still succeed if the aim is to familiarize local viewers with European culture.
If Cine Europa isn't free of charge, then would this year's edition be as well attended as the previous ones?
(First published in Daily Tribune on November 4, 2001)
There's an old saying that states, "Don't bite the hand that feeds you." Perhaps that should be the attitude of those who have devotedly attended the European Union Film Festival (a.k.a. Cine Europa) for the last four years. I mean, it's not everyday you get to watch European flicks for free. However, this year's line-up is not only disappointing, but also gave this viewer a headache at the end. I thought I burned out from watching too many films, but it turned out to be a case of being fed up with seeing a bunch of so-so pictures.
If you look at it closely, Cine Europa is like a critically-acclaimed, commercially popular picture that spawns sequels that fail to match the original. The initial edition featured a Best Foreign Language Film Oscar winner, a troika of Oscar nominees (for Best Foreign Film) and a movie by Pedro Almodovar and Lars von Trier. The next two editions had a few bad ones - does anyone still remember The Pink House (Italy) in 1999 and An Almost Perfect Wedding (Austria) and Quando Troveja (Portugal) last year?
If low quality is the motif of the recent Cine Europa, then the organizers are brilliant in choosing the opening film, Gaston's War, from Belgium. Based from a novel by Allan Mayer, the movie chronicles an underground resistance movement during the German occupation of Belgium. This group, which is headed by a daring hunk named Gaston Vendermerssche, risk their lives for the liberation of their homeland from the Nazis, but are unaware of the fact that they're being used as pawns for an ensured victory of the Allied Forces over Hitler.
The ad proclaims that the movie is about courage and betrayal. That should make those who haven't seen it to presume that the film is sweeping and touching. However, don't most war movies deal with courage and betrayal? In the case of Gaston's War, am I being too jaded or is this Flemish war flick dull and forgettable? This is one rare case where most of the old Holly war pictures can gloat, as director Robbe De Hart neither puts a lot of vigor nor feeling to make his film poignant and watchable (at least).
As for Werner De Smedt, the dashing, blonde actor who plays Gaston, he looks more like a GQ model than a tragic hero. One of the minor appeals of this film, though, is its international cast. It isn't difficult to recognize Olivia Williams (star of The Sixth Sense) and Sylvia Kristel (Lady Chatterley's Lover), who remained ageless despite gaining weight.
French Cinema can usually be relied on when it comes to cinematic entertainment, but the French Embassy presented a below-par pictured called My Little Business (Ma petite entrepise) by Pierre Jolivet. For those who attended the 1997 French Film Festival, Fred, another Jolivet feature, was screened and it's about a jobless man's search for employment. Fate isn't kind to him, as not only he fails, but also ends up involved in a scam.
That film is filled with bitter humor, which is missing in Business, which is about a man's loss of his small carpentry firm due to fire, and the frantic encounters that follow when he learns that he isn't insured at all.
Flowers from Another World (Spain) is about three women who are looking for love and financial security in a Castilian town, and their struggles to overcome problems like getting used to the idyllic life and racial discrimination. It sounds pleasant, but which is more enticing: a two-hour languid drama by Iciar Bollain or a half-hour, sassy episode of Sex and the City?
As for the German entry, Night Shapes, which is about a tale about different people on the night of the Pope's visit to Berlin, it looks promising and ripe for philosophical discussion. It has also the traits of an old Ingmar Bergman picture, where the protagonists are struggling to find God around them and within themselves. Unfortunately, the famous Swedish director should have guided director Andreas Dresen during production.
Bye Bye Bluebird (Denmark) and Wonderland (United Kingdom) are not so bad, while Suzie Washington (Austria) and Classic (Finland) are OK, but no one stood out like Character (shown four years ago) or Run Lola Run (screen three years ago). Ironically, another Belgian entry titled Wild Games wouldn't have been shown if Queen of Chess (the Italian entry) had made it.
I don't know if unavailability of better films or cost cutting is the main reason for the not-so-impressive line-up, but the organizers still succeed if the aim is to familiarize local viewers with European culture.
If Cine Europa isn't free of charge, then would this year's edition be as well attended as the previous ones?
(First published in Daily Tribune on November 4, 2001)
posted by Francis Rex Alger @ 6:13 PM
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