The Road to Berlin (or: Filmbrain & The Bear)

Filmbrain is in the process of preparing for his inaugural trip to the Berlin Film Festival. He's packed both his Weltanschauung and his Schadenfreude, for one never knows how the weather will be. It's difficult not to feel a certain sense of angst over the festival, given its seemingly endless selection of films. Besides the hundreds of new films being offered, there are some wonderful retrospectives, including seven Im Kwon-taek films and screenings of every Kubrick film, with the exception of Fear and Desire (but yes, even the early shorts are being shown!) Then there's the rare English language version of Tati's Mon Oncle that he made simultaneously with the original, as well as screenings of Heaven's Gate (when was the last time you saw that on the big screen?), Vertigo, The Lady From Shanghai, and a new restoration of Battleship Potemkin. As for the new films, the smaller Panorama festival, with its edgier fare, looks more interesting than the main Competition. Though Filmbrain is excited about catching Tsai Ming-liang's The Wayward Cloud and Yoji Yamada's The Hidden Blade, there's a bit too much Hollywood in this year's lineup. (With Roland "blow-stuff-up" Emmerich as the President of the jury, that's hardly surprising.) Hotel Rwanda, The Life Aquatic, and In Good Company are all fine films, but are they Bear-worthy? Let's hope Roland & Co. don't think so. The entire schedule (all thirty-eight pages!) can be found HERE (PDF file). Filmbrain hopes to file daily reports from the festival, though after six to eight hours of watching films each day his brain might be little more than a hunk of Leberkase. The final two weeks of the Screen Capture Quiz will appear as usual on Wednesday mornings, and winners will be announced shortly after (unless tiebreaker rounds are required). Filmbrain is looking forward to meeting up with Greencine's own David Hudson as well as some Berlin-based film bloggers. If anybody else attending the festival is interested in meeting for einen Kaffe oder ein Bier, please feel free to drop an email to this address. Tschuss!

Comments

[Matt]

You should get in contact with David Lowery who'll be over there for the Berlin Talent Campus as well.

Meanwhile, I envy you all.

[la depressionada]

I saw Heaven's Gate in a theater. I thought it was great. At least as good as McCabe and Mrs. Miller which was one of my favorites, and way better than anything Speilburg did after Jaws. I just didn't get the backlash.