Anna Does Rotterdam - International Film Festival Rotterdam film reviews!

I had a chance to be press at the IFFR. Here I am with my press badge, in my new dress, outside the festival headquarters. I saw 21 features, and 7 shorts. Here's what I honestly thought of them.















The score:
***** Excellent! GO OUT OF YOUR WAY TO SEE IT!
**** Very good
*** Alright
** Meh...
* Terrible, go out of your way to avoid it.


ANNA'S PICK: *****Clash of Egos - Tomas Villum Jensen (Denmark)
Through a series of crazy events, a working class father with anger management issues ends up co-directing an art film with an egocentric director. Intelligent response to pretentious art films and film snobs everywhere.

***** 12:08 East of Bucharest - Corneliu Porumboiu (Romania)
A small town talk-show host gets two unwilling guests to talk about the revolution on its 16th anniversary. Well acted, realistic, and very funny. Interesting perspective on individuals and how they interact with history.

***** Children - Ragnar Bragason (Iceland)
Drama about a dysfunctional family where a working mother tries to keep custody of her children while dealing with the return of her violent ex-husband. Difficult situations but enough humor to make the viewing enjoyable. The director also has an unique style which makes the film even more interesting.

***** Parents - Ragnar Bragason (Iceland)
Diptych with Children. Focuses on parents' quest for independence, and how it might turn out to be harmful to children. Interesting for the same reasons as Children.

***** D.O.A.P. - Gabriel Range (UK)
A fake documentary about the assassination of George W. Bush. Uses well-acted interviews with manipulated footage from archives. Offers a fascinating "what if"scenario, not just to the assassination but the aftermath as well (and it's some scary shit!). Contrary to what critics say about the film being made "in bad taste", it offers an interesting perspective on Bush's current policies, and if anything, would discourage radicals from acting.

***** AFR - Morten Hartz Kaplers (Denmark) WINNER OF VPRO TIGER AWARD
Another fake documentary about the political murder of the current Danish Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen. Archive material of political leaders from around the world is manipulated and organized out of context to create a story investigating the murder and murderer. The film successfully questions who holds more power: the media, the filmmaker, or the politicians. Also a warning to the audience about the authenticity of images presented by the media.

****.5 The Killing of John Lennon - Andrew Piddington (UK)
Biographical exploration of the mind of Mark David Chapman, the man who killed John Lennon in 1980. The film is both informative and artistic, offering a stylized representation of Chapman's sick mind, despite its low budget (a Planet Hollywood is visible through the cab window).

**** Rescue Dawn - Werner Herzog (USA)
Based on the true story of Dieter Dengler, a pilot shot down during the Vietnam war and his survival in prison and the jungle. The film offers more psychological and social realism then the typical gore presented in most Vietnam films.

***.5 A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - Dito Montiel (USA)
Autobiographical story about a rough childhood in Queens, New York. Disturbing at times in the same way as KIDS. It would be better if the director had a personal style to emphasize the interesting story.

***.5 Rock 'n' Roll Never Dies - Juha Koiranen (Finland)
A dry comedy about a die hard rock 'n' roller who doesn't allow himself to succumb to corporate sleaze. Funny and dry; great for music fans, but a bit long. Narrative presented in a new and interesting way that defies conventions.

***.5 Ex-Drummer - Koen Mortier (Belgium)
Three handicapped musicians search for a new drummer. Novelty in stylistic presentations and very original shots. Interesting characters but some of the elements are just too obscure and not integrated into the larger structure of the film.

***.5 Retrieval - Slawomir Fabicki (Poland)
A young man tries to look after his new girlfriend, but ends up getting sucked into a world of crime to save his financial situation. Well acted and uses a lot of hand held camera to reflect the troubled inner psychology, but the style doesn't do enough to make the slow narrative exciting.

*** .5 Real Online - John Hsu (Taiwan)
Shot in video, the visuals match the content. The film is about a virtual reality internet game, and the "real life" is eerily similar to the game.

*** Daft Punk's Electroma - Thomas Bangalter, Guy-Manuel De Homem-Christo (USA)
Musical science fiction about two robots who want to be human. You don't get music by Daft Punk, but the songs chosen are mixed by them. The images are at times too long and a surprising amount of silence dominates the scenes. No sound and long images = boring. Although some of the shots are rather haunting. Probably a good film for stoners.

*** A Funfare Behind the Dikes - Michiel van Erp (Netherlands)
A documentary about Dutch culture through the amusing representation of the Dutchies at various fares around the country. An interesting way to get to know the culture.

**.5 Awesome; I Fucking Shot That! - Adam Yauch (USA)
The Beastie Boys handed out 50 cameras to fans to record their concert in Madison Square Garden. It's an interesting concept, but the film doesn't actually use very much of the footage shot by the fans, and the "cool" bits almost come off as "try hard". Unless you're a fan of the Beasties, you probably won't enjoy it too much.

** Paprika - Kon Satoshi (Japan)
Animation film about the world of dreams, and what can go wrong when we attempt to navigate it. Interesting visuals but the story is too complicated, and borrows most of its interesting ideas from the Matrix.

** Love Conquers All - Tan Chui Mui (Malaysia) WINNER OF VPRO TIGER AWARD
It's impressive considering the film was shot using a Script Development Grant, but then again it shows. The story is predictable, the director has no unique style, and the images and content are rather dull.

**.5 Waiter - Alex van Warmerdam (Netherlands)
It's a boring story about a boring and miserable waiter. The most interesting element of the film has already been done; the concept of the character interacting directly with its creator is taken from Pirandello.

** M - Hiroki Ryuichi (Japan)
A psychological drama about a housewife with two lives, made by a master of Japanese pink pictures. The story tries to be intriguing and psychological, but fails because it is too melodramatic, and long.

*.5 Park - Kurt Voelker (USA)
Comedy about troubled Californians in a remote park in LA. Many of the scenes try very hard to be funny, but fail, making it painful to watch.

*.5 Bunny Chow - John Barker (South Africa)
Four young stand-up comedians on a road trip. Unfortunately the comedians think they are very funny, when in fact, they don't even have punch lines. It's difficult to even understand what's going on while watching the film, it all seems like a "you had to be there" joke.

* Ca Brule - Claire Simon (France/Switzerland)
A teenaged girl develops an obsessive crush on a local fireman. Boring, predictable story, the director has no personal style; it screams "I was made for TV!". I wish I walked out after the first half hour like I wanted to.

* Abandoned House - James Herbert (USA)
Kids in an abandoned house exchange sex stories. In the first two minutes I saw a few awkwardly framed shots, heard melodramatic sex tales, and saw people standing around in "artsy" poses. It was crap, and I walked out after 2 minutes, as did most of the people present.