Berlin Dispatch. 3.

Before turning to today's batch of films, a few news items first. "After years of stagnancy, German film has staged a comeback, with Oscar-winning films and domestic box office blockbusters," writes Daryl Lindsey for Spiegel Online. The German papers have been full of this sort of thing for days and weeks now, and there's more going on besides mere self-congratulatory celebration. As Lindsey points out, this resurgence is happening in the midst of a major restructuring of the financing system.

It's been fun getting daily editions from both Variety and Screen International this year. Two items in particular, both from Variety, have leapt out at me, and I've found them online.

Today, Katja Hofmann reports that producer Bernd Eichinger (more on him in a moment) will be working with Spiegel editor Stefan Aust on an adaptation of his Der Baader-Meinhof Komplex. This is big, big news and, as Hofmann writes, "the subject matter is likely to ruffle even more feathers than Downfall," which Eichinger produced as well. Discussion in the feuilletons as to whether Eichinger is really the right man for the job, whether Aust's version of those crucial years ought to be seen as definitive and so on is bound to begin shortly, dribble on over the next few years and explode when the film finally comes out.

Second item. Patrick Frater reports that Park Chan-wook will be heading Korean filmmakers' protests here at the festival against the South Korean government's decision to cut the quotas (cinemas in the country have been required to show Korean films 146 days a year) which many feel are considerably responsible for giving the recent Korean wave room to rise and crest.

And then it needs to be mentioned again that indieWIRE is all over the Berlinale, doing their usual bang-up job in terms of news, views and pix.

Q'Orianka Kilcher talking; escort

Now then, to today's trio. For those who've seen it, it'll be obvious that The New World is not the sort of film you want to walk out of and straight into two more films afterwards. Words like "stunning" and "astonishing" and "astounding" are peppered onto film posters all too often, but yes, yes and yes. I'll have to see this another day when I've got an evening afterwards to relish the experience, but there was no way I was going to miss my very first shot at seeing it. I don't have much to add at this point to all the other material I've been pointing to over the past several weeks other than a few very minor points.

I may have missed it, but I haven't seen much mention of the two credit sequences, the way the map is filled in like bleeding veins in the opening sequence and the horrifying images of the slave trade that would follow the events depicted in the film in the closing sequence. Well done. Then, second time around, I'll have to think about the music. I saw one critic snicker that Wagner and Mozart wouldn't even be born until centuries after 1607, which is ridiculously beside the point; what concerns me is whether or not they're overused (a concern probably amplified by the fact that most films are screened too loud in the Berlinale Palast). I do recognize that the score helps lift the immediacy of the images into realm of memory, but there were times when those Wagnerian horns would roll around and I'd think, Heavens, here we go again.

At any rate, from the reviews, I didn't realize how much time we'd be spending in England and I simply loved that entire segment and the turn of the princess when she finally sees Smith again. I also didn't realize how very much this film rests on the shoulders of Q'Orianka Kilcher. At the press conference (and no, of course, Terrence Malick wasn't there; he's supposedly hard at work on his next screenplay), producer Sarah Green mentioned that the casting team spent 80 days looking for and eventually finding her. She's perfect for the role, so it was all the more jolting to see and hear her rattling away just like any other American kid afterwards. Professionally, of course, and courteously, but still.

Christian Ulmen, Franka Potente, Martina Gedeck, Nina Hoss and Moritz Bleibtreu

Well, what a tremendous disappointment The Elementary Particles turns out to be. Here we have this powerhouse cast, a usually lively and exciting director, Oskar Roehler and material that would seem to fit him like a third glove, the international bestseller from Michel Houellebecq. The first scene falls flat, then the next, then the next, and you keep thinking, Surely this'll kick in. Any moment now. It never does.

The problem is, there's no Roehler here! This is a Bernd Eichinger picture - big production, slick, everything in its place and instantly forgettable. It makes you realize and appreciate how much Oliver Hirschbiegel and Bruno Ganz did for Downfall - just as it makes you hope that Tom Tykwer will be able to push through the Eichinger filter as he wraps up his production of Perfume.

The third film was ultimately a disappointment as well, but not as painful. Michel Gondry really should have set out to tell a story far and away from Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Who can possibly watch The Science of Sleep and not make the comparison? And come to the immediate conclusion that the new one falls way, way short? It's not just that Gael García Bernal seems miscast whereas Jim Carrey was so perfect it was almost inevitable that his performance would go under-appreciated. Nor is it just that the animated dream sequences wear thin after the first half hour or so. (Someone somewhere mentioned Pee-Wee's Playhouse; spot on.)

The real problem is the story. It takes a while before you realize Bernal's character's confusion of dream and reality is an actual disability and not some figurative mental state. And, again, reminiscent of Sunshine, the essential question is, Will the He and the She (Charlotte Gainsbourg, quite nice but not more) overcome their recent history and the resulting distrust in each other to open up and let themselves love each other? Since we can guess the answer pretty early on, it's a fatal flaw that it takes seemingly forever to get there. That said, there are moments of fresh humor here and there and Alain Chabat's performance as Bernal's co-worker is a joy. Too bad the film isn't about him.

Posted by dwhudson at February 11, 2006 1:44 PM