Silver screen grandeur
RAKESH MEHAR
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Sadly, very few realised that some of the best of world cinema was showcased in the International Film Week in Bangalore
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CINEMATIC EXCELLENCE The March of the Penguins creates an atmosphere of powerful emotion
There is a certain indescribable beauty that surrounds the frozen wastes of the Antarctic that works wonders for 70 mm film. And likewise, nothing but the silver screen can capture the majesty of the waste, uninterrupted landscape. Which is why, watching La Marche de L'Empereur at the International Film Week at Pallavi Theatre was easily one of the city's cinematic highlights of the year, although few people realised it.
Best documentary
Directed by Luc Jacquet, this year's Oscar winner for Best Documentary Feature takes wildlife filmmaking to a divine new level, capturing the yearly migration of Emperor penguins across the cold Antarctic. One expects the usual tugs at the heart strings — the young offspring that look fuzzier than anything Mattel can put out and the parents that would go to the ends of the earth for them. But what can one say in the face of parents that do go to the ends of the earth for their progeny? One could call it the instinct of propagation, but words can never describe the patient strut of a father that balances the egg between its feet for weeks on end because one touch of the cold ice can kill all life inside. While the spirit of martyrdom is stunningly captured, what makes it so special is Jacquet's unique ability to capture the grace and poise that accompanies it. Calling this mating ritual a love story might seem like hyperbole, but watching the courtship ritual one can't help but agree with the director. And all of it is laid against a backdrop of long sweeping shots and poignant, overflowing silences that create an atmosphere of powerful emotion.
Set against this, Jean Pierre and Luc Dardenne's L'Enfant might seem a savage morality tale sunk in the depths of squalor and new age lack of direction. But the second of their films to take the Palme D'or has a childlike acceptance that forces you to empathise with the protagonist, Bruno, a petty thief. Even when he sells his child for minor indulgences, he is a lost child in an unforgiving world, who only needs to be held by the hand and led towards the light. Perhaps the only fault of the film is that it lacks dramatic energy. Although the film begins with a strong force of will, that seems to wane along the way causing the film to taper away rather than finish with strength.
But cinema grows tiring if it takes everything too seriously. That's where Dominik Moll's Lemming and Pjer Zalica's Gori Vatra step in. The former, which opened last year's Cannes Film Festival, is a bizarrely gripping tale of Alain and Benedicte Getty and their encounter with Alain's boss and his apparently mentally disturbed wife. Lemming is at once absurdly comical and oddly frightening. This is a film that goes back to that age-old art of creating fear and suspense where relatively little exists. It might be a little too long and overly convoluted, but it gives one no chance to get away from the vice like grip it manages almost from the start. This is a film for those that concede that not everything must have a divinely ordained purpose. Gori Vatra, also known as Fuse is a subtly tongue-in-cheek look at what remains once the big men and their big guns have gone on to other things. The film revolves around a small Bosnian town preparing for a visit from U.S. president Bill Clinton. As the town attempts to clean itself up for its most distinguished guest, the currents that flow beneath its surreally quiet surface come to light. Perhaps the most telling scene is an exchange between a Muslim fighter and his Serb counterpart. After years of killing each other's kin, the two talk quietly about Pampers diapers, as the Serb explains that in the Serb entity, the only kind available is the chafing Russian kind. Then there's the town Mayor who imports Serb refugees in an attempt to please the U.S. inspectors. Also sharing the spotlight is the town's ex-police chief — old, eccentric and slightly insane, convinced that his dead son is trapped in a Serb mine somewhere. All come together to create an insightful and heart warming tale that picked up the Silver Leopard at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2003.
Kongekabale or King's Game is another must-see that featured in the festival. Directed by Nikolaj Arcei, it is a fascinating tale of spin doctoring and the confused web of political journalism. Backed by a script that rings true almost throughout, Nikolaj Arcei's able direction creates a story packed to the full with tension and cynicism.
The ending might seem slightly too well packaged, but the treatment of the rest of the film compensates well enough.
Empty theatre
Rounding off the film week were Les Invasions Barbares (The Barbarian Invasions) and De Battre Mon Coeur S'est Arrete (The Beat My Heart Skipped).
The Barbarian Invasions is a generational drama made special by its focussed and historically astute approach, while The Beat My Hear Skipped is a powerful French remake of James Toback's Fingers, a film noir about the struggle between the good and bad parts of a man.
Looking around the mostly-empty theatre, one wonders if perhaps the only misstep of this collection of films — presented by Forum Films in association with Suchitra Film Society and Alliance Francaise de Bangalore — is that it
went against 22 men running after a ball.
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