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American Women's Club of Hamburg  Film Reviews -- June 2006Reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films slated to open in Hamburg in June 2006.
(Mary W) Opening June 1, 2006 What happened to the passengers and crew aboard United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001 before the Boeing 757 slammed into earth outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania? Based on extensive research, British filmmaker Paul Greengrass presents a compassionate, riveting dramatization of the events. Following the last ninety minutes of those who boarded Flight 93, actors and ordinary people doing their regular jobs, such as civilian and military air traffic controllers, recreate the horror. Ben Sliney, who was in charge of the FAA's command center in Herndon, Viriginia consulted on the film and then was chosen to play himself. The passengers remain anonymous although some of their actions will be familiar, enhancing reality. The result is a film that does not seek to evoke strong emotions, but through presentation of facts combined with suppositions provides insights into what was happening at airport control towers, military headquarters, on the news and within the plane. Tragedy tastefully told.
(Becky T) Opening June 8, 2006 Artist Matthew Barney is probably the most successful and acclaimed multimedia artist of today, known for his Cremaster Cycle films, three of which showed in Hamburg. Either you understood them or pretended to; either you loved them or you gave intellectual reasons why you hated them. One thing is sure: you don’t leave Barney without an impression and without an opinion. I haven’t seen Drawing Restraint 9, but I did see the documentary of the making of that film, called Matthew Barney: No Restraint, at the 2006 Berlinale. Therefore, I know that Drawing Restraint 9 was filmed on the Nisshin Maru Japanese whaling ship in Nagasaki Bay and required a huge crew of sailors, cameramen, etc. Matthew “marries” his partner, the Finnish pop singer Bjork, in a Shinto wedding ceremony. She composed the music for the first time in their cooperative works. The music is important, because it, and the beautiful colors, stand in for text which is rare in the film. This is for lovers of contemporary art, to discuss, reject, hate, etc. It’s also for frequent visitors to high-society cocktail parties who want to be able, with one raised eyebrow, to drop a comment about Bjork swimming in sperm (Vaseline) or the correct rigging for capturing whales. In my opinion, the documentary of the “Making of…” might be more interesting to art idiots like myself, since here we are told what we are looking at and in the end actually come to appreciate it. This film promises videos, sculptures, drawings and photographs – it’s just a small part of the whole Barney Drawing Restraint oeuvre (a word I always wanted to drop – see my raised eyebrow?). (Osanna V) Opening June 15, 2006 Written, produced and directed by Paul Weitz (About a Boy), American Dreamz is a darkly humorous satire starring Hugh Grant, Dennis Quaid, Willem Dafoe and Marica Gay Harden, as well as a number of newcomers to the film scene. Martin Tweed (Grant) is the host of “American Dreamz”, an enormously successful, TV talent show. Wanting to keep the ratings high, Tweed opts to begin the new season with as disparate and dysfunctional a group of contestants as possible, including Sally, a conniving southern belle, Omer, a bumbling would-be terrorist and Broadway show tune fan, who has been sent to his family in America to await activation, and Sholem, an orthodox cantor who performs goofy raps. At the same time, to boost the popularity of the reclusive, though newly re-elected, President Joe Stanton (Quaid), his Chief of Staff (Dafoe) negotiates with Tweed to have the president on the jury for the grand finale. Acknowledging the extra pizazz this would give the show, Tweed agrees. As soon as the president's attendance becomes known, Omer (Sam Golzari) is contacted by the local terrorist cell, who see this as the perfect opportunity to strike a fatal blow. They promise to pull whatever strings are necessary for Omer to make it to the final round, though, as it turns out, his natural and bumbling charm captures the imagination of the viewers and he makes it there on his own credit. His opponent in the last round is the self-centred Sally, who has no qualms in exploiting the public's delight in her dewy-eyed, Iraq veteran boyfriend (Chris Klein), whilst having sex with Tweed in her dressing room... I found American Dreamz unexpectedly entertaining and funny, though at times I must admit I felt a bit guilty at what was actually making me laugh! It's really an ensemble piece with very good performances all round, including newcomers Sam Golzari and Tony Yalda, who plays Omer's effeminate, cousin-come-manager, Iqbal. Willem Dafoe, in an obvious and excellent impersonation of Dick Cheney, plays opposite Dennis Quaid, as the confused, uninformed president, who just happens to be from Texas and have a father who had also been been president, producing between them some of the most humorous moments.
(Rita PS) Opening June 15, 2006 Some might find this pastoral tale about a successful, middle-aged ménage a quatre just the thing to crank up a stale marriage facing golf and gardening, but not me. Madelein (Sabine Azema) is married to William (Daniel Auteuil) and she likes to paint on a nearby field after work. Madelein meets Adam (Sergi Lopez), the local mayor, and he recommends that she and her husband buy the place. William discovers he loves gardening and the joys of remodelling. Soon after, our recently retired couple moves in and starts spending a lot of time with Adam and his love wife Eva (Amira Casar). One night they swap wives at Adam’s instigation. While directors Arnaud and Jean Marie Larrieu may have thought free love is the antidote to retirement boredom, even for empty nesters it just doesn’t work on the screen. First of all, for an American audience, 54 seems very young to retire to the country; not many of us buy run-down farms on a whim just because we had sex there; and I do not know any man who would not bat an eyelid if a male neighbor, albeit a blind one, offered to tuck his wife in. Second, the basic parameters are a cop-out: one couple consists of empty nesters and the other have no children and the man is blind. Both couples are therefore free to indulge without taking a reasoned decision as to the potential consequences of such liaisons. And the non-blind husband need not feel the full impact of his wife shagging someone else because after all, he did not see her. Therefore, the worst than can happen is that either couple gets divorced due to irreconcilable differences. It is well known that in every ménage there is a passive partner who goes along out of love but not due to their own desire or openness. Third, having a blind man leading the empty nesters across a darkened forest and eventually into an orgy is trite. Thankfully the Larrieus left the actual sex scenes to our own imaginations. Next time they should either make a film about consenting adults indulging their whims who actually have to make a moral choice and live with the consequences or think again.
(Osanna V) Opening June 15, 2006 Directed by Clark Johnson with a screenplay by George Nolfi, based on a novel by Gerald Petievich, this conspiracy-to-kill-the-president movie stars Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland, Eve Longoria and Kim Bassinger. Pete Garrison (Douglas) is the legendary secret service agent whose timely leap stopped the bullet aimed at killing President Reagen. Twenty years later, he's still on the job protecting the current president and his wife Sarah Ballentine (Bassenger). When intelligence of a new attempt on the president's life is received, the informant also claims that there in a mole inside the secret service, though he's not revealing the name. Though first dismissed as ridiculous, the coincidental murder of an agent seems to indicate that there may be some truth in the matter. This leads to all the operatives to being subjected to a polygraph test. Garrison's former protégé, David Breckinridge (Sutherland), with whom Pete has had a complete falling out, is put on the case; he quickly comes to the conclusion that all clues – including a failed polygraph test – point at Garrison being the main suspect. Garrison knows that he's being framed because he is also being blackmailed; and the material being used against him is not something he can reveal to his colleagues – namely, that he's having an affair with Sarah Ballentine. Garrison goes into hiding, while at the same time trying to discover who the real mole is and how to stop the assassination attempt. The Sentinel is full of the kind of mystery you don't want in a movie: like, why does a bullet in Garrison's back and later on another bullet in his liver have no lasting effect beyond two frames? Even less mysterious are the revealing looks and camera angles that let us know who the mole is from early on. Though it has a certain degree of tension and the acting is alright, there is nothing particularly commendable about this film.
(Rita PS) Opening June 15, 2006 Stephen Woolley’s Stoned got some things right but one thing very wrong and that omission proved fatal. Hindsight is 20/20 and all that, but if Brian’s last four months alive really consisted of massive drug binges until the night of his death under mysterious circumstances, then Woolley gets the perspective right. We experience 1962-1967 through Brian’s eyes via a flashback much like an LSD trip could be. But how can you make a film about the Stones, without playing “Symphony for the Devil” and “Satisfaction”? Or without any of the other Stones’ standards recorded while Brian Jones was still in the band? Most other film elements were very convincing. The delicious decadence and serial self indulgence were everywhere. Raging hormones were everywhere. The rug and sex paraphernalia were spot-on, as well as the innocent eyes and lascivious personalities of Anita Pallenberg and Anna Wohlin. The clothes, feathers, skinny pants and all-around chaos of the times’ sensory smorgasbord created a fantastic ambiance for those sorry not to partake of the coming of the “anti-Christ.” Kudos to Brian (Leo Gregoy), Anita (Monet Mazur), Tom Keylock (David Morrissey) and Frank Thorogood (Paddy Considine) for terrific acting. But in the end, we get bored, even if we feel sorry at Brian’s wasted genius. When Anita and Keith leave Brian in Marrakech, I wish I had left with them. Why didn’t we get to see how central Brian’s role was to creating the Stones other than that one scene in the phone booth? Why was there so little screen time for Mick and Keith? While the psychodrama of Brian’s master-servant relationship wit Frank certainly merited examining, ti went on too long. By the end I just couldn’t wait for Brian to die. What is it with these rock stars and “better to burn out than to fade away”? (Becky T) Opening June 22, 2006 English Lady Henderson (Judi Dench) becomes a widow in 1937. She is alone, because, alas, her son has fallen in WW I and is buried in France. She is bored in cultivated society and, fearing that life is over for her, too, moans, “I am a widow.” Her best friend, Lady Conway, replies, “You’re also very rich and one thing cancels out the other.” That little encouragement goes a long way, and Lady Henderson buys the defunct Windmill Theater, hires Vivian van Damm (Bob Hoskin) as theater manager and together they start a non-stop revue with five to six performances a day, “based on something French, but not so coarse, after all, we must have British nipples,” according to van Damm. Public nudity in England was in short supply and their theater is a success, even if the scenes are tableaux because legal restrictions forbid anyone to jiggle on stage. The film initially moves along on light and, sometimes serious, bantering between Henderson and van Damm, who have a love-hate relationship. I assume that they are actually in love, but can’t show it. There is also a power struggle between the purse strings and the creative genius. Lady Henderson is rather hindered in her disputes by her dog, which she carries constantly, reminiscent of the deceased Rudolf Moshammer and his dog Daisy. Judi Dench is excellent and the fashions of pre-war London are wonderful, however, there is really only one theme and that goes on much too long, so that in the end, we wish that they would get on with it and either grow up or separate. Not even the bombing of England or a dramatic afterthought ( Henderson plays cupid and a chorus girl becomes pregnant and dies) can wake up the audience in the end. This film is supposedly based on a true story and directed by Stephen Frears. (Alyssa C) Opening June 29, 2006 Perhaps if you have the sense of humor or the raging hormones of a 14 year old boy, you might enjoy this movie. The potty jokes start during the opening credits and continue for a revolting 85 minutes. The plot is completely unoriginal: Cooper (Chris Klein of American Pie), a womanizing commercial model, wants to get his dorky younger brother Ed laid to help him forget his ex-girlfriend. Ed (Brendan Fehr) would rather spend the weekend saving his advertising career which has suffered during his depressive state. The two brothers set out on a predictable adventure into the wilds of strip clubs, playgrounds (for the hot single moms), laundromats, and even a church looking for loose women. Unfortunately, there is not a lot of clever dialogue to carry the film in between all the farting and the screaming/panting coming from Cooper’s bedroom. These types of stunts might have been amusing in American Pie, but now that these guys are in well into their 20s, it’s just too pathetic to be funny. If the moviemakers think that these characters are in any way true to life, I feel sorry for their girlfriends and wives. So even if your 14 year old son or brother might crack up at all the toilet references and the obnoxious antics of these two idiots, please don’t let him see this movie. It would be a shame for anyone to get the idea that acting like Cooper or Ed will get you the gorgeous girl-next-door Ed lands in the end.
(Becky T) Opening June 29, 2006 A young girl disguised as a boy is on a bus full of all-male soccer fans on their way to an important game, Iran against Bahrain, in Azadi Stadium. This is her first attempt to watch a soccer game live and she is nervous. In the end, she fails and lands in a small fenced-in, guarded area behind the stadium, where other girls with the same foiled plans are collected to be turned over to the vice squad. From this point the film takes off in a wicked comedy with hidden, and sometimes obvious, digs at macho Iranian society. United girl power made me feel sorry for the young men who were just following orders and trying to subdue a handful of single-minded females. The girls discuss their various disguises for passing as male, correct the guards on their pitiful lack of soccer savvy, and listen to the roar of the crowds behind them as Iran completes a successful pass. What to do when a girl has to go to the toilette and these are only for men? And they are full of embarrassing graffiti, as well as men? This little scene alone is worth the price of a ticket. The film ends with guards, girls, and one boy on a bus on the road to the authorities. They listen to the game’s final moments on the bus radio and celebrate in the ensuing party pandemonium on the streets when Iran wins. This is a highly recommended film for many reasons besides being funny and well-made. The director Jafar Panahi had already won prizes in Cannes, Venice, and Locarno for past films, and now Offside has won the Silver Bear (second place for best film) at the 2006 Berlinale. Product placement is important and showing Offside here during the World Championship fits perfectly into the spirit of the moment and, if you are hiding from the soccer freaks, then Offside is an alternative option. The topic of allowing women into Iranian soccer stadiums is very current. The film girls ask why are Japanese women are allowed into the stadium, while they aren’t. The guards tell them they should be content to watch at home on TV. This has political weight. Just recently the president of Iran, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, decreed that women would be allowed access to soccer stadiums. Immediately, Iran’s religious leaders negated the new ruling on exactly the same grounds as those mentioned in the film. Omid Nouripour, German-Iranian politician in Berlin, wrote in the Suddeutsche Zeitung that for Iranians soccer and the internet are the two windows to the world, and after successful games, strangers of both sexes celebrate in the streets in true equality, thumbing collective noses at religious rules. See Offside and celebrate with them. Viewing this film is a privilege that Iranians will not have in their own country.
(Osanna V) Opening June 29, 2006 Barry Sonnenfeld directs Robin Williams and Jeff Daniels as leads in this comedy caper, well supported by Cheryl Hines, Kristin Chenoweth, Josh Hutcherson and Tony Award winner/singer Joanna “Jojo” Levesque. Screenplay by Geoff Rodkey. The rather dysfunctional Munro family have planned a trip to Hawaii in the hope that a joint vacation might bring them closer together again; however, all of a sudden, father Bob's (Williams) job is on the line and he has to change the plan. When the rest of the family discover they're not off to beaches, surf and sun but to Colorado in a camper, they are far from happy. Disaster strikes from the instant they pull out of the driveway, and matters are further aggravated as they continuously cross paths with the picture perfect, country singing, happy camper family, the Gornickes. Travis (Daniels) and his enthusiastic wife Mary Jo (Chenoweth), along with their three children, are delighted to meet the Munros and to be of assistance in their times of woe, which are not few. The Munros consider the Gornickes a bunch of freaks and use every means and ruse to avoid them; unexpectedly, the cat and mouse game starts pulling the dysfunctional family together again. To my surprise, R.V. did not topple over into the irritatingly stupid category. The storyline is predictable enough, yet I actually found it entertaining and quite charming. The performances were confident all round with a convincing energy happening between the various players.
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United 93 
Drawing Restraint 9 
American Dreamz (American Dreamz - Alles nur Show) 
Malen oder Lieben (Peindre ou faire l'amour) 
The Sentinel (The Sentinel - Wem kannst Du trauen?) 
Stoned 
Mrs. Henderson Presents (Lady Henderson präsentiert) 
The Long Weekend (Mein verschärftes Wochenende) 
Offside 
RV (Die Chaoscamper) 
Questions?