Berlinale review

The hype is over, the stars have gone home, and its back to "normal" movies for us here in Berlin- the Berlinale ended on Sunday with a "remise des prix". The Golden Bear was awarded to the Brazilian movie Tropa de elite, which tells the story of an elite police squad's battle against the drug barons in the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. I didn't see that movie, but I suppose if it won the first prize, it can only be good! I wanted, in this post, to review the movies I saw during the Berlinale, but to be honest, I suck at reviewing things! Unlike many of my friends who can give you concrete and detailed arguments about whether or not they thought a movie/cd/play/etc was good (or bad), I can only tell you if I liked it or not. Don't ask me to tell you why- I can't put it into words! It is thus a good thing that there are "professional" movie/cd/play/etc critics, although if you ask me, everyone should make their own opinion about whether one likes or doesn’t like something. So, because I am not a good critic, I will instead summarize each movie I saw (don't worry, there are only three!) and tell you whether I liked it or not.

1. Cela s'appelle l'aurore, Luis Bunuel, France, Italy, 1955/56, 102 min
Presented in the Retrospektive category
The movie takes place in Corsica, where a sympathetic company doctor hides a sacked worker, who has murdered their boss in revenge for the death of his sick wife.

It was OK, but nothing special.

2. Le premier venu, Jacques Doillon, France, Belgium, 2008, 121 min
Presented in the Forum category
French film auteur Jacques Doillon follows his young protagonist in provincial northwestern France. In her love affair with the very first man to come, she seeks an intensity that her bourgeois home withheld from her.

This movie was strange, very strange. Plus, the male lead was sketchy!

3. Full Battle Rattle, Tony Gerber, Jesse Moss, USA, 2008, 92 min
Presented in the Panorama category
The directors of this movie take us to California's Mojave Desert, where the Americans have installed a mini-Iraq for military exercises. In this way, hundreds of people with Arab roots find jobs as extras.

By far the best of the three movies I saw. It is not yet being distributed, but if it comes to a movie theatre near you, you should go and see it.

That's it folks!

Side note: Because there were so many movies being presented one after the other, and because time was an issue, no popcorn was sold at all during the Berlinale festival, to ensure that the cleaning of each room did not take too much time. What?!?! Germans are CRAZY!