Tage 3: In the Electric Mist

planuiam sa ajung la Sturm, dar din nou m-am sculat tirziu (o oara jumate delay), aseara am facut mult de la Potsadmer la ora unu cu schimbatul metrourilor, poti sa astepti sa vina cite peste 10 minute. mai citesc trade-urile, am luat tot ce am fost fost bombardat la casuta postala de presa, caiete de filme care se anunta mai interesante sau mult mai putin decit titlul. M-am intilnit cu Michael Fitzgerarld, productaorul lui In the Electric Mist, pe linga Gendarmermarkt (unde s-a filmat pentru Londra Ocolul pamintului lui Corafaci !!!). L-am cunoscut si pe dop-ul filmului, Bruno de Keyser, care e creditat ca BSC , desi e francez. Am umblat pe jos pina la Branderburger Tor si iar, n-am avut timp sa casc ochii mai mult prin cenusiul si platul Berlin. Am fost la proiectia de presa la In the Electric Mist, apoi la conferinta de presa. Prezenti Bernard Tavernier, regizorul, John Goodman si DOPul Bruno dK . Tommy Lee Jones n-a venit la Berlin, e in plin sezon de polo. Filmul e un policier atipic, dramatic si existential, de atmosfera, bazat pe romanul lui James Lee Burke, "In the Electric Mist with the Confederate Dead".

Lee Jones e Dave Robicheaux, un detectiv in Louisiana, care investigheaza niste crime in bayou. (Robicheaux e un personaj faimos, fost alcolic, desi nu stiu cum poate fi cineva fost alcolic daca se duce la AA si zice, my name is..and i am an alcoholic ! A mai fost personificat in 1996 de Alec Baldwin in Heaven's Prisoners, bad movie de Phil Joanaou). John Goodman e un mafiot italian, Julie "Baby Feet" Balboni, care investeste in productia unui film care se face acolo. Povestea in sine e complicata,complexa, de atmosfera, aminteste putin The Pledge (alt film produs de MF) si Tommy lee Jones e din nou diferit, desi joaca in principiu cam acelasi rol, de politist, detectiv sudist,a ici cu multa carne pe el. filmul e destul de varza (prea lung, muzica odioasa de Marco Beltrami, de thriller by the numbers hollywoodian, un voiceover incomprehensibil si absolut nenencesar al lui TLJ, dar la cite defecte are (probleme la actiunea finala,-nu vreau sa dau spoliere- , personajul agentei FBI mexicane), e si plin de calitati printre care atmosfera cu totul speciala, acest electric mist,


secventele halucinogene, prezenta lui Levon Helm si Buddy Guy, chiar si John Sayles !) conotatiile legate de New Orleans post Katrina, nunantele scociale (cazul din 1965), un gimmick tip Shining la final, etc ! Asteptam de mult filmul (care exista pe torrenti !, nu stiu in care forma insa), si ma bucur ca l-am vazut intr-o sala excelenta, in conditii bune dar cu un subtitraj idiot in engleza care era o adaptare a textului, deci nu se sincroniza deloc cu dialogul pe care il auzeai ! Am pus scharful pe imagine si m-am chinuit sa nu vad subtitrarea pacatoasa! In SUA filmul iese in martie pe dvd in cu totul alt formta, schimbat, un fel de producers cut, scurtat si cu schimbari de structura ! abia astept sa vad si acest cut pe care stiu ca Tavernier il ignora (in lumea intreaga drepturile sunt TF 1) dar poate da filmului mai multa coerenta si slefuire !
acum la 10, George C. Scott va fi larger than life in Patton, pe trompeta lui Jerry Goldsmith (dvdul meu de acasa, copie scosa de 20th Century Fox inainte de restaurarea de la Berlinala, facuta in 2003) !!!

RIP Michel Ciment

communique du Festival de Cannes:

The great critic and writer Michel Ciment passed away yesterday at the age of 85, leaving cinema bereft of his words.

Michel Ciment was the Chief Editor of Positif magazine, the producer and host of the program Projection privée on France Culture until 2016, a critic for over fifty years on Le Masque et la Plume on France Inter and a lecturer at the University of Paris-VII. Additionally, he authored many reference books on cinema, notably on Stanley Kubrick, Elia Kazan, Joseph Losey, Francesco Rosi and Jane Campion. Michel Ciment had dedicated his life to passing on his knowledge and passion for the seventh art. A free spirit with an insatiable curiosity, he was the embodiment of cinephilia, embracing all types cinemas and never leaving any film aside.

He continued to explore world cinema right up to the end, particularly at the Festival de Cannes, where he never missed an edition, tirelessly going from press screenings to gala screenings, pacing the Bazin, Debussy, Buñuel and Lumière theaters... His opinions, both enlightened and strong, clear-cut and inflexible, meant a great deal and his voice resounded in the corridors of the Palais des Festivals at the end of each screening, amongst his attentive colleagues. Michel set the tone, in France and abroad. His death should remind us all of the importance of his legacy, and the need for ardent and resistant film review.

The Festival de Cannes without Michel Ciment will never be quite the same. We will miss him. And so will cinema.

I read Ciment's book on John Boorman (out in 1986) when I was in Denmark's EFC -1995/96,  (Boorman's tribute here), I met him in Berlin during Tavernier's In the Electric Mist and saw him moderate in Cannes the Quentin Tarantino Lecon du cinema and many other lectures. 

RIP. 

His historic interview/essay book on Stanley Kubrick (1980), was one that opened the doors of the SK myth to the public eye. 

RIP Levon Helm

another bad one this week: Levon Helm, bateristul de la The Band si artist solo in his own right, a murit joi 19 de cancer, avea 71 de ani. In the annals rock and roll, Helm was a rarity, a drummer who could keep time while singing lead vocals. A jucat si in filme, debut in Coal Miner's Daughter in 1980, The Right Stuff (si narator), Fire Down Below ! si in doua filme produse de Michael Fitzgerald, The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada si In The Electric Mist. In 2011 Helm a scos albumul sau final, Ramble at the Ryman, un live in Nashville. Autobiografie: “This Wheel’s On Fire”. In 1994, pe cind The Band au fost inclusi in Rock n Roll Hall of Fame, Helm a refuzat sa participe la ceremonie. "Take a load off" (The Weight) o piesa de pe albumul sau din 2009, Electric Dirt, scrisa pentru aceasta ocazie: When I Go Away “Levon Helm is the only drummer who can make you cry.”

(Jon Carroll in Rolling Stone via wall street blog

)

Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans (2009)

am vazut Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans !!! (press screening, the light)si ma asteptam sa fie de megakk dar nu e deloc ci dimpotriva, e excelent ! Nu ca nu aveam incredere ca Werner Herzog a sellout dar nu aveam incredere in Nic Cage care n-a mai avut un rol bun de enshpe filme incoace ! Well, ar trebui sa ia un Oscar ! si mai mult decit pentru Leaving LAs Vegas ! Rolul e o combinatie a celui din Snake Eyes al lui Brian De Palama cu Face/Off al lui John Woo, a lot of meat and potatoes, un fel de Richard al IIIlea, complet cu cocoasa, si viziune de dopefiend. Training Day e Disney pe linga (ceea ce si e pt ca e Touchstone), si spiritul anarhic si dement al lui Herzog e prezent in film, dindu-i o nota specifica. In plus filmul nu e un remake al celui lui Abel Ferrara din 1992, desi are acelasi producator (Edward Pressman) si tone de elemente comune, gone catholic guilt, enter German sarcasm, relocat in New Orleans-ul post Katrina are un alt look de infern, mai apropiat de In the Electric Mist si de The Wrestler (somewhow, White trash all over) si de cartile si personajele lui James Ellroy. Take-ul lui Herzog asupra genului politist american (dupa cel asupra celui de razboi/Vietnam in Rescue Dawn), e unul fresh si dark. De mult nu am vazut un film de tipul asta in cinema, cu factura de film noir si cop drama (stilul Cop cu anti-erou, anii 70/80), totodata o comedie neagra dementa cu elemente total suprarealiste (si animaliere herzog-iene, de la pesti la reptile-serpi de apa-first shot-, iguane si crocodili), si un shootout inventiv. Partituri secunde excelente, de la Eva Mendes (surprise), la Val Kilmer (cameolike si ...fat), Tom Bower (great), Brad Dourif (brillinat), Michael Shannon (creey as usual), Shawn Hatosy (juvenile), Fairuza Balk (hot and kinky), Xzibit (bad rap). Plus muzica excelenta a lui Mark Isahm (Black Dahlia), de care m-am prins dupa trompeta. Finally un produs Millenium Films onorabil (ca si Black Dahlia) si cam atit de la ei. Si bineinteles ca pe asta nu l-au luat Media Pro ci prorom. Tradus la noi "Pacatele unui politist".
4 1/2 din 5, 9 din 10

imdb user (de la TIFF toronto)

Herzog was fun as always at the introductory remarks and the Q&A with TIFF programmer Colin Geddes. Telling anecdotes such as Cage asking him on the 2nd day of shooting what is his motivation and Herzog telling him not to worry about that, just go with "Evil is bliss" and sometimes "let the pig out!" (from the Bavarian colloquialism "Die Sau rauslassen!").

Festival du Film Francais: noaptea horror/fantastic

azi incepe Festivalul filmului francez, esitaia a XIII-a, cu Cendre et Sang pe care
l-a filmat in Romania Fanny Ardant. Si se incheie cu emotionantul-cald Concert al lui Radu Mihaileanu (despre care am scris aici). Ambele sunt coproductii romnao-franceze, fapt cu totul nouveau pentru le festival !
Intre Tavernier inedit (sa va duceti sa vedeti In the Electric Mist daca l-ati miss'd), Charlotte Gainsbourg si Charles Berling, simbata noaptea (28 noimebrie)este LA NUIT DE FANTASTIQUE. Un fel de Halloween, cu o luna intirziere si francofon. Alloween. Sans H. ;-), Adele H.
Program: ora 19; Black Moon de Luis Malle, din 1975. O tzacaneala pe care am vazut-o tot la Elvira Popescu acum eshpemiide ani(unde se tine La Nuit...), un fel de Alice in tara Minunilor meets Giger. Reverie fantastica ! E bine ca e primul film, ca mai la noapte era mai greu !
o cronica utila aici:

ora 21: Eden Log de Franck Vestiel (2007)
un SF intunecat a la Jenunet/Caro dar mai aproape de Pandorum,
cronique de moi ici, ALD did not like...
in fine ora 23, LA HORDE de Yannick Dahan si Benjamin Rocher (2009)
asta vroiam sa-l vad, sau vreau sa-l vad...zombi, apocalypse, pac pac, ceva hommage Carpenter ?

la 1 noaptea LES REVENNANTS de Robin Campillo (2004)
un alt zombi muvie, mai timpuriu pt valul de horror francais-epouvante, facut de monteurul lui Entre les murs (liasons ?, or fi elevii de acolo in viitor, futur futil)

nu inteleg de ce se incheie seara cu Nota zero la purtare al lu Jean Vigo din 1933, care e si mediu metraj, si comedie, si deloc pe genul fantastic.
dar lasa ca dau eu la the LIGHT cel mai horror camembert francais, nah, Bordeaux,
MARTYRS, pe 14 decembrie la ALDMOVIELIGHT.

RIP Bertrand Tavernier

Bertrand Tavernier, one of the most ditinguished French filmmakers from the 70's is gone at 79 on March 25th 2021. He shot a film in Romania, Captaine Conan won best director at Cannes for Une dimanche a la campagne and his last work was an exhaustive a documentary about French cinema, Voyage au travers du cinema francais, expandes as a whole series. Filmography highlights: Coup de torchon, 'Round Midnight, La mort en direct, Le juge et l'assasin, L.627, In the Electric Mist. 

Criterion Collection: Tavernier was a man who “embodied the spirit of cinema as robustly as anyone ever has.”

competitia la Berlin 59 finalizata !

Cheri UK
By Stephen Frears (The Queen, Dangerous Liaisons)
With Michelle Pfeiffer, Kathy Bates, Rupert Friend, Felicity Jones
World premiere

Darbareye Elly (About Elly) Iran
By Asghar Farhadi (Fireworks Wednesday)
With Golshifteh Farahani, Taraneh Alidousti, Mani Haghighi
World premiere

Deutschland 09 Germany - Out of Competition
Compilation film by Fatih Akin, Tom Tykwer, Wolfgang Becker, Sylke Enders, Dominik Graf, Romuald Karmakar, Nicolette Krebitz, Isabelle Stever, Hans Steinbichler, Hans Weingartner, Christoph Hochhäusler, Dani Levy and Angela Schanelec
World premiere

Eden à l'ouest (Eden is West) France/Greece/Italy - Out of Competition
By Costa-Gavras (Missing, Amen)
With Riccardo Scamarcio, Juliane Köhler, Ulrich Tukur
International premiere

Gigante Uruguay/Germany/Argentina
By Adrián Biniez (Total Disponibilidad)
With Horacio Camandulle, Leonor Svarcas
World premiere

Happy Tears USA
By Mitchell Lichtenstein (Teeth)
With Demi Moore, Parker Posey, Rip Torn, Ellen Barkin
World premiere

In the Electric Mist France/USA
By Bertrand Tavernier (Laissez-Passer, La Guerre Sans Nom)
With Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard
World premiere

Katalin Varga Romania/UK/Hungary - debut film
By Peter Strickland
With Hilda Péter, Norbert Tankó, Tibor Pálfy, Sebastian Marina
World premiere

La Teta Asustada (The Milk of Sorrow) Spain/Peru
By Claudia Llosa (Madeinusa)
With Magaly Solier, Susi Sánchez, Efraín Solis
World premiere

Lille Soldat (Little Soldier) Denmark
By Annette K. Olesen (Minor Mishaps)
With Trine Dyrholm, Finn Nielsen, Lorna Brown
International premiere

Notorious USA - Out of Competition
By George Tillman Jr. (Men of Honor)
With Angela Bassett, Jamal Woolard, Derek Luke, Anthony Mackie
International premiere

Ricky France/Italy
By François Ozon (8 Femmes, Swimming Pool)
With Alexandra Lamy, Sergi Lopez, Mélusine Mayance, Arthur Peyret
World premiere

Storm (Sturm) Germany/Denmark
By Hans-Christian Schmid (Requiem, Distant Lights)
With Kerry Fox, Anamaria Marinca, Stephen Dillane, Rolf Lassgård
World premiere

Tatarak (Sweet Rush) Poland
By Andrzej Wajda (Popiól i diament, Katyn)
With Krystyna Janda, Pawel Szajda, Jan Englert
World premiere

Bellamy (2009)

dupa Tavernier, a urmat Chabrol, al carui Dr. M l-am vazut inainte de Cannes si acest Bellamy pe care l-am ratat anul trecut la Berlin, cind am vazut un alt Tavernier noir, In the Electric Mist...
Bellamy este dedicat celor 2 Georges, Simenon si Brassesns, e un film foarte special, foarte lent si care reprezinta prima colaborare a lui Chabrol (la 78 de ani) cu Gerard Depardieu. Al 57-lea film de Chabrol, scris de el cu Odile Barski. Se petrece la Nimes, unde comisarul parizian Bellamy (un soi de Maigret jucat foarte lejer si understudied de Depardieu), are un caz de analizat, dar si relatia cu sotia sa (Marie Bunel) si fratele sau alcoolic (Clovis Cornillac). ca o mentiune amuzanta, Cornillac si Depardieu au fost Asterix si Obelix in Astérix aux jeux olympiques (2008)! Mici detalii si amanunte al vietii burgheze, intr-un joc de cuvinte incrucisate existential tipic pentru Chabrol.

3 din 5, 6 din 10