Anonyma – A Woman in Berlin (Eine Frau in Berlin)

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The director Max Färberböck has taken the real diary of Anonyma – Eine Frau in Berlin and made it into a quite impressive film.

It deals with the last days of the Second World War in 1945. The Red Army has invaded Berlin and is now waiting for the end of the war. Most men of the city have gone away to fight for Germany, so who’s left are the women.

The film is about their horrible fate: being raped (over and over again) by the Russian soldiers. Anonyma is one of these women. Before this time she was a journalist, living with her husband in Berlin. Now she is staying with a few others in an apartment house where the women are regularly being raped. She decides to take charge of her life and goes to the highest Russian commander she can find to beg for help. Even though he is reluctant at first, he starts coming to the flat that Anonyma is sharing with others and becomes her lover – therefore giving her security and bringing food for the people in the flat.

A lot of German films deal with World War II but this one has a completely new perspective. The women who got raped during that time have not often shared their experiences with  others and therefore there are not many recorded stories. When I went to see the movie, the director Max Färberböck was present and talked about how hard it was to get information about the women at the time. Even today very few were willing to talk about it.

What I liked about the film was that neither the Germans nor the Russians are the ‘bad guys’. The film is a documentation of what happened, it is not judging either side. Nina Hoss (Anonyma) and the other women are great in the film but the ones who really impressed me most were the Russian actors. Especially the main Russian commander was absolutely believable.

It is a very well made film. I absolutely recommend it. The story is well told, the actors are great, the costumes and sets are very realistic. But I have to say, although it has a different topic to most of the others, I am getting really tired of World War II films. It is definitely one of the better ones though!

(photo:http://www.anonyma.film.de/)

BBC ShakespeaRe-Told

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The BBC has revisited four Shakespeare plays and set them in modern times.

Much Ado About Nothing is set in a TV studio. Beatrice (Sarah Parish) and Benedick (Damian Lewis) are hosting a local news show. The two of them are fighting, hating and teasing each other non-stop. Meanwhile the pretty weather girl Hero (Billie Piper) is preparing for her wedding to Claude. It all goes wrong at first, only to turn out just right in the end.

The setting works really well in this story. Beatrice and Benedick are great leading characters, the story of Hero and Claude doesn’t really work though.

Macbeth doesn’t translate well into this setting. Joe Macbeth (James McAvoy) is the head chef of a kitchen and is working hard to make Duncan Docherty’s restaurant a success. Ella Macbeth (Keeley Hawes) is persuading Joe to kill Duncan to take over the restaurant.  Although James McAvoy is absolutely great, this episode did not impress me. I didn’t like the performance of the actress who played Ella Macbeth and lost interest somewhere in the middle of the episode even though the original Macbeth is one of my favourite Shakespeare plays. What I really liked about it was that the three witches were three garbage men. Great idea!

The Taming of the Shrew is absolutely wonderful. The extremely bad-tempered politician Katherine Minola (Shirley Henderson) marries the quirky Petruchio (Rufus Sewell) for his title a very short time after meeting him. At their wedding he turns up dressed in woman’s clothes. Minola fears that her reputation will be ruined. On the honeymoon Petruchio has set out to tame the overly aggressive Minola and treats her like dirt. When his best friend comes to join them, he manages to bring peace to the couple and make them realize that they are both in love.

This is by far my favourite episode. The actors are great. Especially the tiny Shirley Henderson is marvellous.

The setting of A Midsummer Night’s Dream is great. It is at a holiday resort (similar to Center Parks) where Hermia’s engagement to James is celebrated with her parents and close friends. On the first evening Hermia’s true love Zander shows up to take her away. I am not a big fan of the original play, as it is somehow too much like a soap opera for my taste. But they do it here fairly well. Puck is a fun character, the King and Queen of the Fairies are great, but the lead actors are quite boring.

Update

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Unfortunately I have been too busy to write on this blog in the past few weeks, so here are a few films I have seen during that time:

Enchanted

To my surprise, I greatly enjoyed watching this rather silly film. A Disney cartoon Wanna-Be-Princess gets pushed into a fountain by the evil stepmother of her Prince, bringing her into the Real World. Here the Princess meets a grumpy lawyer and turns his world upside down. When her Prince (her true love) comes to take her back home she starts to doubt where her home really is.

It is a cute story with fun characters. Nice Disney entertainment.

Liberty Heights

A group of young Jews are struggling against prejudices in Baltimore, 1954. Against their parents’ will, high school senior Ben strikes up a friendship with a black girl from his class. She introduces him to James Brown and other black artists from the time. Ben’s older brother falls in love with a blonde débutante at a party. This, of course, gets him into all sorts of trouble. Rock’n’Roll, nice cars and growing up in the 50’s (oh, and my favourite: the gorgeous Adrien Brody). Liberty Heights is a wonderful movie and absolutely worth watching.

Hellboy

We watched the first Hellboy on DVD in preparation of the upcoming Hellboy II. It has great characters and a good setting, but I have to say: It’s absolute rubbish. The story is just plain boring.

The Other Boleyn Girl

This is the story of Mary and Anne, the two Boleyn sisters who are presented to King Henry to become his mistresses (one after the other). Obviously, they start fighting over the king. Anne finally succeeds in seducing him to marry her. In order to do this he first needs to break with the Pope, set up the Church of England and then divorce his wife.

This is a fascinating story (although I’ve read that it is very inaccurate) with two beautiful lead actresses (Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson) and gorgeous costumes, but something’s lacking in the film. The characters are not very complex, Anne is very headstrong, Mary weak and Henry easily manipulated. It seems like the king had nothing to do other than entertain his mistresses, the affairs of politics are only mentioned on the side. It was still entertaining to watch.

What’s New Pussycat?

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This film is absolutely hilarious. A very young and potent Peter O’Toole is having trouble with the ladies. Every girl he meets wants him. Poor fellow. He goes to see Dr. Fritz Fassbender (Peter Sellers) to help him, for he believes himself to be in love with his neighbour Carole (Romy Schneider).

Carole wants the two of them to get married, but O’Toole’s character Michael James wants to have some more fun before he settles down. He goes out every night to meet women (such as Bond girl Ursula Andress and the gorgeous Capucine), which is making Carole rather angry. She turns to Michael’s friend Victor (Woody Allen) because she knows that he loves her.

What’s New Pussycat is crazy and confusing, but a lot of fun. The characters are wildly overdrawn (for example, Peter Sellers speaks with a sort of Austrian accent and is wearing what is obviously a wig) and the dialogues are mad (Michael: “Pussycat from the sky. I can’t resist you!” Girl: “Don’t resist. Capitulate!”). It is Woody Allen’s feature film début (writing and acting in it) – a really impressive start to his long career!

The film inspired me to draw this little cartoon. 😉

A Good Woman

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This film is a sweet adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s “Lady Windermere’s Fan”.

Scarlett Johansson is the naive Meg, newly married to Robert Windermere (Mark Umbers). They are spending the summer season at the Amalfi Coast in Italy and having a swell time until Mrs. Erlynne (Helen Hunt) shows up.

Driven away from New York City by jealous wives, she is now mingling with the upper class in Amalfi and forms a close relationship with Robert.

The whole town is talking about the alleged affair but sweet Meg doesn’t notice until her admirer, Lord Darlington, points it out to her. Of course it all turns out well in the end.It is a lovely film for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Beautiful pictures of Italy and a fun plot. The background characters (mostly elderly men) are especially enjoyable to watch.

2 Days in Paris

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This is a sweet little comedy about two lovers in Paris. It is quite different from the normal love stories. Very straightforward, a lot of dialogue and two main characters who are absolutely believable. Not too cheesy or overly romantic. Genuine people in a real setting.The American Jack (Adam Goldberg) and the originally Parisian Marion (Julie Delpy) have been together for two years. After a lovely trip to Venice they stay at her parents’ house in Paris for two days. Sounds romantic?! Well, Marion has a lot of ex-lovers, and to Jack’s annoyance, they all seem to be in Paris.

The dialogue is absolutely hilarious. Marion is constantly talking, while Jack is moaning non-stop. Although very annoying, Adam Goldberg is truly wonderful and awkwardly funny.

Written, directed, produced and acted by Julie Delpy. What an accomplishment! It is definitely a film worth watching. It is so refreshing to see a film about a couple who are already going out together. I am so tired of falling-in-love stories.

 

99 Francs (39,90)

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Very French, very hip, very snappy. This film is a cynical criticism of the world of advertising.

Octave Parango (Jean Dujardin) has it all: good looks, women, drugs and his dream job. He has a top position at an important advertising emporium in Paris.

Probably on purpose there is not much of a story. The plot and the characters are very superficial. There is never a deeper bond between the characters and the audience. Octave is flat, dislikable, and his character doesn’t develop much during the course of the film. I think it must be intentional to demonstrate the shallowness of this industry. I like the idea behind it, but I would rather watch a film with a bit more depth.

The film is unbelievably well-made (directed by Jan Kounen). I am sure the filmmakers must have worked in advertising before making this film.The transitions between the scenes are exciting and different. Every shot is perfect and well planned. Basically it is like watching one long advert.

99 Francs is entertaining and fun but I believe that it is mostly of interest to people who are interested in film. On the whole I think it is a film that every film student should watch. There are a lot of great ideas to steal from it ;).

Happy Go Lucky

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Poppy (Sally Hawkins) is a crazy primary school teacher, living in London. She and her housemate Zoe (Alexis Zegerman) are always out for a drink, whistling after some guys, and are definitely, at all times, up for a laugh.

The film doesn’t really have a story; it’s more a random period in Poppy’s life. She takes driving lessons with a very grumpy and possibly mentally unbalanced driving instructor (Eddie Marsan) who ends up falling in love (or lust?) with her. She goes on a little road trip with one of her sisters and Zoe to visit her other sister in Brighton. This sister is expecting a baby and living a life completely different from Poppy’s – with a nice husband in an ordinary house with a garden. Another little episode is about a social worker who comes to talk to a violent little boy at Poppy’s school.

It is a beautiful film even though there is not a whole lot going on. Poppy, though rather exhausting to watch, is charming and entertaining. It is definitely a feel-good film.

Mamma Mia!

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To my surprise, this film is a very enjoyable adaptation of the musical with ABBA songs. It doesn’t really matter that none of the actors are actually singers: it makes it even more fun to sing along with them.

The story is sweet but secondary. It is merely a framework to present the music. 20-year-old Sophie (Amanda Seyfried) is living on a Greek island with her mom Donna (Meryl Streep). They are running a shabby hotel together. Sophie wants to get married to her boyfriend but there’s one thing missing in her life: a father. She discovers from her mom’s old diary that there are three possible candidates (Pierce Brosnan, Colin Firth and Stellan Skarsgård), so she invites all of them to her wedding to find out which one it is to be. The unexpected arrival of her ex-lovers stresses Donna greatly.

Also part of the wedding party are Donna’s old girlfriends (played by Julie Walters and Christine Baranski); the three of them used to be a girl band in their younger days. They are absolutely hilarious.

Of course there is a happy end, even with a bit of a twist.

Meryl Streep, more beautiful then ever, brings a sort of dignity to this rather silly film. It is astounding how she manages to light up the screen.

The filmmakers (as well as the actors, I suppose) must have had a lot of fun with the costumes, the beautiful scenery and dance choreographies.

All in all it is a purely entertaining film for a fun evening!

The Forsyte Saga (Series Two)

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The story continues (See: The Forsyte Saga (Series One), May 26). Irene is now married to Jolyon Forsyte and they have a son, Jon. Soames Forsyte married a French woman with whom he has a daughter, Fleur.

After a brief meeting as children, Fleur and Jon meet again, by chance, as young adults. It is love at first sight (well, second, really). The gorgeous Fleur turns out to be very much like her father, head-strong and possessive. She decides they should keep their relationship a secret and that they should elope to Scotland.

When Irene and Soames find out about the love between their children, they do everything to prevent a relationship. Jolyon dies and everything changes. Jon sides with his mother, whereas Fleur wants to stick to the original plan.

It is really great to watch the second series, because you already know the characters and the story of their lives so well. Four heartbreaking episodes. If it is possible, the second series is even more beautiful than the first.