"Der Baader Meinhof Komplex" 2008

Directed by Uli Edel





"I'd like to do a song of great social and..." Janis Joplin's words at the beginning of "Mercedes Benz." With the first words "Oh lord, won't you buy me" the credits roll and our picture begins. It's quite a signifier of the images and information about to be presented to us.

Here we have the story about the Red Army Faction, essentially Germany's Weathermen. While stylization is key within the picture, it never really takes over. Instead, it simply makes things a bit easier with such a brutal subject. Now, whether our filmmaker is conscious or not of this, we are never really brought into the personal lives of our radicals and if we are, it's brief and stagnant. The picture doesn't really give us a moment too build any sort of relationship with anybody, only the Red Army Faction as a whole. With that, much of the violence and anti-establishment agendas seem to come off as selfish and incoherent. This makes it extremely hard to justify and for the most part, sympathize with our rebel group. But should we? I believe the point is, have an agenda, be strong with it, but have some thought and tact before executing. Is it possible for terrorists to have clear thoughts?

Many may argue it's accuracy, and quite frankly you would probably need a 30 hour documentary to cover this topic to give it any form of true depth. Still, the picture is extremely well done, informative, and for the most part, cuts away from a lot of the bullshit that I'm sure some filmmakers would have included.

"The Hunger" (1983)

Directed by Tony Scott



Tony Scott is known for quite an array of work. Some good, some bad, but this is the life as a movie maker. No? In any case, "The Hunger" is an early eighties vampire picture. And it is definitely quite an eighties movie. Still, it's also quite a gem. It contains quite an appeal besides the vampire theme. While I have to commend Scott for landing Bowie, Deneuve, and Sarandon, every thing (for the most part) seems to work here. It's a story about lost love, new love, deceit and growth, or lack there of. Typical, right. Yes, but where it gets a bit more intricate is with it's somewhat blatant social commentary. It's commentary on same sex relationships, it's voice on AIDS and the sexual rage of the eighties. The only issue is it's not really subtle with it's subject matter, but was anything in the eighties really that subtle.

The direction here is tight. The editing and design takes us back to a German expressionist type of picture. The story works, and yes has some small holes, but still this is definitely something that is worth a watch, especially knowing where our director Tony Scott has headed.

"The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford".  A picture by Andrew Dominik made in 2007.

Off the top of my head, Fritz Lang, Samuel Fuller and Nicolas Ray have approached this subject.  I really can't remember if it was approached in the order I listed the directors in, and I know that the material presented was all somewhat different but definitely somewhat forgettable.  

Here we have something, unforgettable.  It is the story of Jesse James and his assassination.  Who would have thought, right?  But, it serves as a beautiful engaging piece of work.  Coming in at almost two and a half hours, the picture, although slowly paced, doesn't compromise or exploit a single frame.  With quite a well known cast, which can sometimes be scary, the picture's performances were all properly casted, thought out and performed.

The camera work here is also something that needs to be noted for.  I'm not sure where Roger Deakin's influence has come from but Leonce-Henry Burel immediately came to mind.  In 1950 Burel shot for Robert Bresson on "Diary of A Country Priest".  Apparently Bresson wanted to use the 50 mm lens because it's function related closest to the perspective of the human eye.  While testing for this, Burel used optical diffusion in the form of cylindrical lenses which was put over the key lens.  One of the assistants working positioned the lenses incorrectly, resulting in slightly blurred contours.  Bresson liked the mistake and they stuck with it.  Now, what is intriguing is I doubt Deakin's or his assistants made any mistakes.  If not in it for the story, the photography is worth a look.       

"Vivre Sa Vie".  A picture by Jean-Luc Godard, made in 1962.  

Truffaut noted.

"I shall never try to communicate in writing to those who do not feel the physical joy and the physical pain which certain moments of "A Bout Souffle" and "Vivre Sa Vie" caused me.    

This "experience" is surreal, poetic, and yet so natural, as stated by many of the "greats" that have criticized Godard's work.  It's literally a story of a woman living out her life from one point to the other and that's that.  But, where it's unique, and where it's captivating is how the simple story is told.  From the control and pacing of the camera, to the performances of the actors, nothing is compromised.  

Earlier in the picture, we see what some may consider a bit of foreshadowing.  Dreyer's "Passion of the Joan of Arc" is screening and Nana (Karina) is in the theater.  On the screen, Joan of Arc is about to be burned at the stake.  Title cards roll, "We are to prepare for your death."  "So soon?".  As we come to realize that the woman on the screen in our screen is very similar to that of our wonderful lead sitting in the cinema.  After the characters fate is presented, Godard cuts to a close up of Nana, with a few tears coming from her eyes.  Is she sad about the picture or the fact that her life is so similar to the character on the screen?  That's for every individual to decide for themselves, but what everyone can relate to, is without sound, only silence, Godard shuts us the fuck up for those few moments, and we, whether we want to come to terms with it or not, we are stuck.  

"I hardly love you, but I still think you're someone special."  

In agreement or disagreement, love, or hate.  We must come to the realization that this, truly, is something special.      

This past weekend I had the opportunity of attending the Landlocked Film Festival in Iowa City.  Among meeting an array of amazing people, and coming across a surprisingly happenin town, I unfortunately was only able to see two pictures in the actual festival.  "Route 30" a narrative comedy piece directed by John Putch and a documentary titled "Hand Made Nation" directed by Faythe Levine.

While "Route 30" seemed to be quite a crowd pleaser, I seemed to be out of the loop.  After being approached by a fellow audience member, she asked if I found it even funnier because I grew up close to the picture's location.  I simply stated, I really couldn't connect too it in anyway.  Now, whether it's because I am from the area or not, this picture lacked for the most part, any redeeming qualities.  It's story, not only being defunct, dropped it's most interesting characters right as we were starting to build a relationship with them, only to introduce new, even more unkempt people, that quite frankly, I couldn't have cared a cent about.  Indulgent, possibly.  Worth it, not really.

I found "Hand Made Nation" extremely intriguing and interesting.  It brought me into a world I knew nothing about and simply informed and entertained.  I believe it could have been cut down a bit, but for the most part, this was a very interesting piece of work.  

Overall, the festival was great, and I would recommend anybody in going to visit this town, and or festival.