Film Reviews -- October 2003 Reviews by members of the AWC Film Group of films slated to open
in Hamburg in October 2003
 Jet
Lag 
(Pat R) Opening October 2, 2003 Jet Lag is a light-hearted French romantic comedy, pairing lovely Juliette Binoche (English Patient, Chocolat) as Rose with Jean Reno (Nikita, French Kiss) as Felix. Rose is a beautician fleeing from an abusive boyfriend to a new job in Mexico, while Felix is a celebrity chef and CEO of a frozen food company, on his way to Munich to fix his own troubled relationship. Due to a strike by Air France (as Felix says, “nothing works here except sleeping pills and a vacation”) the unlikely couple is stranded in the Paris Charles DeGaulle airport, sharing a cell phone (she lost hers down the loo) and eventually dinner and an airport hotel room. The film is written and directed by Danielle Thompson, one of France's best screenwriters. Originally intended for Hollywood with a French-American couple, the script was rewritten with her son and after ten years finally produced. Perhaps that is why the film never quite takes off, lagging behind after a fast and fun start with a stop and go romance. Jet Lag is as pleasantly entertaining as is a paperback romance that you would pick up if you were stranded in an airport. Although the two never leave the airport environs and the story is expectable and contrived, the two actors are strong enough to hold you in your seat. One of the best scenes was an impromptu dinner in the hotel kitchen, and fortunately the recipe for the veal mignonettes is included in the end credits. Viva La France!!
Return of the Tudelband
(Becky T) Opening October 2, 2003 The four stars are for viewers interested in Hamburg’s cultural history. Director Jens Huckeriede has researched the impact the Wolf brothers made on Hamburg’s cultural scene, 1895-1930. They were excellent singers, comedians, and variety show entertainers. Huckeriede visits the old Flora Theater, the Jewish synagogue, the St. Pauli and the Kammer Theaters and a war bunker. He tells the story to a great grand son of the family, Dan Wolf, a rap singer visiting from California. You will hear their signature Plattdeutsch song “An de Eck steiht’n Jung mit’n Tüdelband” (On the corner is a boy with a hoop) many times in all variations. This is also the title of a comprehensive book in English and German for only EUR 18,50. The documentary film premiered at the end of September during the Hamburg film festival and the lobby of Abaton was full of people crowding for a ticket.
The Wild Guys (Die Wilde Kerle)
(Shelly S; rating given by Adrian, age 5) Opening October 2, 2003 This film opened the first Children’s Film Festival in Hamburg. It was an exciting event especially for small children who had the opportunity to meet these children actors in person and hear what they had to say about making a film. This gave the audience a special view into the film making process. For my son, who is not really into soccer yet, it gave him the idea that maybe he could be an actor in such a movie. The film opens on a rainy day at the beginning of summer holidays where each kid in the village is dying to play soccer, decides to play inside the house, and ends up being grounded for the first ten days. When the wild guys gang finally arrived to play at their favorite spot, they find that it has been taken over by an older, tougher gang. This naturally did not discourage them. They decided to challenge them to a soccer match and of course they will need some extra help. A coach, a girl and a lot of discipline are the right ingredients to make this film fun, campy and good hearted while teaching the young audience to take on challenges in life, how to prepare for them and finally to how to succeed even if a situation seems hopeless. This is a film that kids can see over and over again and really enjoy it!!!
 Bad
Boys II 
(Mary W) Opening October 9, 2003 At over two hours long, this extravaganza of car chases, shoot outs and vulgar comedy is bad boys at their worst, even though I really like Will Smith, who is all cute and muscle-ly as Mike the Miami police detective. And several times I have found Martin Lawrence actually funny, except here as Marcus, Mike's partner, where he just seems constipated. Together, they want to catch the head of a deadly drug ring, a stereotyped Cuban (Jordi Molla), who they later learn is the object of Marcus' sister's (Gabrielle Union as Syd) undercover operation. Meanwhile, Mike just wants to get Syd under the covers. In hot pursuit through the Miami heat, these bad boys do the usual cop and drug dealer stuff like speeding car chases where lots of expensive cars have spectacular wrecks; getting into deep doodoo with their boss man; managing to kill dozens of innocent bystanders either with cars and/or guns while destroying numerous buildings and street vendors; and showing heart for their family and friends. Add to that mix totally gratuitous, graphic, grotesque violence (such as running over corpses and decapitating one, slow motion brains being blown out, and a large tortilla container with chopped body parts sticking out) and the worst gallows humor possible, and you have a very bad film, boys.
(Cynthia E) Opening October 9, 2003 Drugs, Sex and Rock ‘n Roll. And a good robbery. Is that what makes “the good thief”? Well, you decide. If you can remain in your theatre seat through the hills and valleys of the first half of this film . . . (the first hill is climbed when you finally realize, “no, the film is not dubbed. They really are speaking English!” The first valley is crossed when you unclench your teeth and succumb to just a few too many clichés and enjoy the great music) . . . then you are in for a film which picks up toward the middle and is handled with true professional Hollywood style with all of its finesse to the end. Set in the south of France, we are drawn into the seedy side of life along the coast with Bob (Nick Nolte). We immediately meet Bob’s drug dealer, Said (Ouassini Embarek), a young Algerian; Paulo (Said Taghamaoui) his young friend, confidant and accomplice; Remi (Marc LaVoine) the club owner (complete with illegal gambling room) and local pimp; Anne (Nutsa Kukhianidze), the newest attraction for this group of men; and Roger (Tcheky Karyo), the handsome cop with whom he shares a special bond stretching back years. Bob is a current addict, current gambler and one-time professional thief. After taking the balance of his fortune and placing a very bad bet, Bob is quickly persuaded to plan one last potentially impossible but legendary theft to take place in Monte Carlo the night before the Grand Prix. The intrigue lies in what will be stolen and how, the characters who are assembled and the twists and turns events take. All of this takes place under the watchful eye of Roger. And who knew a young Eastern European girl “pre-ordained” to a life of prostitution could be so glib, bright and even “eyes-wide-open” to the plight of Bob’s heroin withdrawal yet would indeed, herself, still be enticed into the game of drugs? This combination could eventually cause the demise of the heist, even with complexities of deception and duplicity in place. But perhaps not. The Good Thief has a wonderful cast of international actors who are definitely worth seeing on screen. This is a good movie for a rainy afternoon. (Oh, and watch for the fabulous Ralph Fiennes!)
The Mother (Die Mutter)
(Becky T) Opening October 9, 2003 How realistic is this British film? May is a widow at wit’s end since her husband died. She leaves home to alternate between her son Bobby and his wife and her daughter Paula at their London homes. She has an affair with carpenter/gigolo Darren, who is also sleeping with Paula. She allows her daughter to blame her for a miserable childhood and to sock her in the face. She leaves erotic sketches for the children to find. Perhaps there are such people in real life. I can’t imagine it. Anne Ried excels as May, the over-60 housewife, who, in the end flees her own home once again to embark on a trip, alone. Director Roger Michell (Notting Hill and Changing Lanes) filmed The Mother in London, according to a script by Hanif Kureishi with whom he had long collaborated on The Buddha of Suburbia. Winter/spring romances are rarely older woman/younger man and May lets it all hang out in an unusual bedroom scene.
 Kill
Bill: Volume 1
(Alana L) Opening October 16, 2003 “Revenge is a dish best served cold.” – Old Klingon saying. So starts Quentin Tarantino’s fourth film. After being in a coma for four years, a woman known only as “The Bride” (Uma Thurman) wakes up with one purpose: revenge. She searches for the five people responsible for killing her entire wedding party (including the groom and her unborn child). Once a member of “The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad”, The Bride searches out her former partners O’Ren-Ishii (Lucy Liu), Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox), Budd (Michael Madsen), and Bill (David Carradine), their leader. In this first part of a two volume story, she finds O’Ren-Ishii and Vernita Green. The movie mostly takes place in Japan; much of the dialogue is in Japanese. This is probably Tarantino’s most brutal movie and not for weak stomachs. It is full action; the 30-minute sword fight towards the end will leave you exhausted. The press packet describes this film as a mixture of spaghetti westerns, Chinese martial arts films, and Japanese samurai movies. The choreography for the sword fights is stunning but be prepared for lots of rolling heads, lost limbs and gushing blood. Good things include the great music and Tarantino’s usual hipness, but the brutality is hard to take. If you are a Tarantino fan you’ll love it; if not, it is probably not for you.
Pumuckl and his Circus Adventure (und sein Zirkusabendteuer)
(Becky T) Opening October 16, 2003 Pumuckl is a pixie (or kobold) with red hair, green trousers and a yellow shirt. He was created 41 years ago by Ellis Kaut and is a favourite of children in books, on the radio, and on television. This is his third feature film. Pumuckl has been hand drawn into the scenes to interact with a cast of real people. Here Pumuckl returns to find his old friend Meister Eder gone (the original actor Gustl Bayrhammer died in 1993) and replaced by a look-alike cousin named Ferdinand (Hans Clarin), who restores antiques in his work shop. The Spindler-Barelli Circus comes to Munich and the wife of the magician (Sunnyi Melles) predicts great success with a new act, if she can only get her hands on this imp who is able to become invisible. All the typical Pumuckl-isms are there: his swing and his bed, his little fits of anger and self-pity, and his way with words and rhyme. The Bavarian accent is sometimes hard to follow and the story seemed more effective in short episodes, e.g., for television, but Pumuckl ist wieder da (is back again) and definitely a deserves a place in the hearts of young and old.
Das Wunder von Bern (The Miracle of Bern) (Becky T) Opening October 16, 2003 Christa Lubanski (Johanna Gastdorf) and her older son operate a pub in a post-war German mining town. Her younger son Matthias plays street soccer with a homemade ball and idolizes a local player (Sascha Göpel). The father, Richard Lubanski (Peter Lohmeyer and in real-life, the father of Louis Klamroth who plays Matthias), returns from Russian prison camp and finds it difficult to adjust to the independence of his little family, which has carried on without him. Parallel to this fictional story is a story based on fact which describes the rise of the German soccer team, led by coach Sepp Herberger and his star player Helmut Rahn. Director Sönke Wortmann is most successful at reflecting German life in the 1950s: the cramped living quarters, the piles of rubble, the hairdos, the children wearing Lederhosen and the scarcity of vehicles and food. Everyone is skinny in this film. Along comes the first TV set, and everyone in the pub watches the soccer championship games in Bern, Switzerland. Germany wins with a last minute goal by Rahn, 3-2, and the commentator’s cry, “Over, over, over, the game is over, and Germany is world champion (Aus, aus, aus. Das Spiel ist aus. Deutschland ist Weltmeister.)” has been replayed thousands of times since then. My reviewer friend, Osanna V, wrote about the film Seabiscuit, “It captures a time . . . when Americans heroically pulled themselves up after a devastating period in their history, once again showing us what people can achieve when they set their mind to it.” This describes exactly the same effect the soccer championship had on Germans in 1954. Some see it as a miraculous catalyst of their Wirtschaftswunder and self-confidence. One German critic bemoaned bits of unnecessary kitsch such as the power of a small boy to inspire a player, but the film was voted favorite by the audiences at the Locarno film festival and my audience of critics applauded. I would agree with them and predict that this will be as successful as another German film, Good Bye Lenin, and not only among soccer enthusiasts. Sadly, the real Helmut Rahn died the day the film premiered in Locarno.
 Dogville
 
(Mary W) Opening October 23, 2003 Director Lars von Trier tries to depict small town life during the Depression in the Rocky Mountains through the use of a studio set with minimum props and lots of famous actors. Nicole Kidman plays Grace, who appears bedraggled on the only street through town shortly after gunshots were heard. Grace is allowed refuge but only after agreeing to a two-week trial period. At first, all goes well and Grace has wheedled her way into the town’s good graces by offering her services as a cleaning lady, conversation partner, fruit picker and whatnot. But before long, the townspeople begin to take advantage, and their own twisted version of charity turns to outright cruelty. The townspeople’s road to perdition is excruciatingly slow and full of potholes. There is enough preaching for a southern Baptist revival. The mob mentality of the townspeople is full of more holes than a mobster’s Cadillac. There is no Rocky Mountain high from breathtaking shots of the mountains since there is no landscape, only a simple black stage. With such a boring, nonsensical script and dull set, not even the star power of Kidman, Lauren Bacall and Stellan Skarsgård can make this dog hunt.
(Becky T) Opening October 23, 2003 Larry Gigli, pronounced “gee-ly,” (Ben Affleck), is a softy macho gangster caught in a 60s time-warp (see his 1967 Impala convertible); and when the time comes to cut off his hostage’s thumb, he can’t do it. His hostage is autistic Brian (Justin Bartha), the brother of the district attorney. Gigli kidnapped him right out of the handicapped workshop, and nobody raised an eyebrow. Ricki (Jennifer Lopez) elbows into his Los Angeles apartment in order to report his kidnapping skills to their underworld boss. She is quite decorative and slinky doing yoga exercises on a mat. Never at a loss for words, Lopez talking is sexier than any actual sex portrayed on screen lately. Here, for the first time, I heard the word “penis” uttered 12 times in a film. Gigli, in spite of sharing a bed with her, has nary a chance to get to first base because Ricki is a lesbian. That must be one original idea. Others are: Gigli reads Tabasco sauce bottle labels for good night stories; a fully dressed young man is invisible among 50 bikini-clad dancers on a Baywatch film set, and you can pretend to telephone on a flashlight. There are short appearances by Christopher Walken as a rubber-mouthed policeman, Al Pacino as a New York mafia boss, and – my favorite – Lainie Kazan as Gigli’s mother (“Finally you bring home a beautiful girl, not a pig like the ones before.”). Otherwise, John Travolta has already played similar roles in the black leather jacket and was better. We have already had Rain Man and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. There is nothing earth shaking here, so let’s concentrate on the main problem for Germany: How will the translators deal with the final line which must be uttered in a recognizable Australian accent? Second Opinion by Kirsten G The worst parts of the film are its painfully slow pace and its lack of subtlety; when we are meant to find something heart-warming, the music swells predictably. There is also no depth to the character of Gigli – due in equal parts to poor screenwriting and not-so-great acting. The saddest thing about the film is that it does show some occasional glimmers of potential, sporting a few clever lines of dialogue by writer-director Martin Brest (Beverly Hills Cop, Scent of a Woman). But overall, while Gigli isn’t the worst film I’ve seen this year, I really think those involved should put it low on their resumes.
 Intolerable
Cruelty (Ein Unmöglicher Härtefall)
(Osanna V) Opening October 23, 2003 The Coen Brothers (Fargo, O Brother Where Art Thou?) bring together two Hollywood superstars – George Clooney (Ocean’s Eleven, The Perfect Storm) and Catherine Zeta-Jones (Chicago, Traffic) – supported by the likes of Geoffrey Rush (Pirates of the Caribbean) and Billy Bob Thornton (Monster’s Ball), in a convoluted and very entertaining comedy that confirms them as great film makers. Miles Massey (Clooney) is a very successful divorce lawyer in LA, celebrated by his peers for his ironclad “Massey pre-nup” contract. However, boredom has set in and Massey sees no spice left in his life. All this changes when he meets the soon to be ex-wife of his latest client Rex Rexroth (Edward Herrmann), a wealthy real-estate developer. Marylin Rexroth (Zeta-Jones) is stunning, clever and appears to have a water-tight case against her philandering husband – no less than his being caught “in flagrante delecto” on video. Still Massey does manage to find a leak, producing a witness who declares that Marylin had employed him to introduce her to wealthy, “silly” men. It is clear that she had carefully and strategically planned the future divorce and enormous settlement in her favour. However, as I said, Marylin is clever, and the revenge she sets into motion following her defeat is quite brilliant…! One might at first wonder about the Coen Bros.’ choice of movie theme and its Hollywood appearance, but it soon becomes clear that they have managed to pull off a great comedy, clearly stamped with their own dark and, in some scenes, quite obscure sense of humour.
L’homme sans L’occident (Vom Westen Unberührt)
(Becky T) Opening October 30, 2003 Based on the book Sahara, un homme san l’occident, French director/photographer Raymond Depardon tells the story of Alifa, a man truly untouched by the West. He is adopted by hunters, becomes a nomad, marries, leads warriors into battle and returns home, older and injured. The book appeared in 1922 and the film describes the early twenty-first century. Nobody in this film is interested in car payments or pension plans or spring fashions. Their needs and expectations are basic; their lives are entwined with nature and its permanent struggle for survival. We saw the film in German and although we had a language problem, we did understand that untouched communities are endangered by greed in the name of progress. These people are doing just fine without foreign intervention, thank you. The strength of the film lies in the amazing and most beautiful black and white shots of the desert of Chad, where Depardon stayed for seven months. As he said, the viewer “needs time to take in the film.” This is not for the impatient.
 Die
Klasse von ’99 (The Class of’99)
(Becky T) Opening October 30, 2003 Felix left his small town for university. We guess that life in the real world was daunting, because he returns to live with his mother and attend police academy. He expects to take up with his old high school buddies after three years of separation since graduation. Naturally, any expat can tell you that people grow in different ways and nothing is the same once you’ve left. Besides this universal theme, a good reason to see the film is to rediscover all those ex GZSZ (Gute Zeiten Schlechten Zeiten) actors who disappeared from the series, such as Matthias Schweighöfer, Thomas Schmieder, Tim Sander, Anna Bertheau, Axel Stein and director Marco Petry who are from not so small towns such as Chemnitz, Wuppertal, Aachen, etc.
 Luther
(Osanna V) Opening October 30, 2003 Eric Till (Bonhoeffer – Die letzte Stufe) directs Joseph Fiennes (Shakespeare in Love), Sir Peter Ustinov (Death on the Nile, Lorenzo’s Oil), Alfred Molina (Chocolat) and many more, in a classic filming of the life of religious reformer Martin Luther. In 1505, the young Martin Luther (Fiennes) is caught in a storm so terrible that, fearing for his life, he promises God that he will become a monk if he survives. Fulfilling his promise, he breaks off his study of law and joins the Augustine order in Erfurt. It is not long before he begins to discover a pattern of dubious behaviour within the higher echelons of the Catholic Church which disturbs him deeply: the selling of indulgences promising a place in heaven to finance the building of St. Peter’s in Rome is but one example. This leads to the writing of his 95 Theses which, in turn, leads to his excommunication. For Luther’s protection, Frederick the Wise (Ustinov) stages an ambush and he disappears from public view for a while. During this time, hidden on a farm and basically alone, Luther takes on the mammoth task of translating the New Testament from Greek into German so that it can be read by the common person. In the meantime, his theses have stirred up many intellectuals and peasants. Churches and religious institutions are attacked and destroyed and, in response, a hundred thousand people are massacred. Luther, returning to the public eye, is distraught by the unintended results of his teachings and falls into despair. It is at this time that he meets Katharina von Bora, who later becomes his wife and great support. Finally, under pressure from Rome, Emperor Karl V calls the noble landowners together at Augsburg to take a firm position for Rome and against Luther’s ideas for reform. Despite the obvious danger, Luther decides to attend the meeting and make an appeal for his cause. It is only some time later that he finds out that his efforts have had the desired result and that the major obstacles to the Reformation have been removed. This movie appears to be a very straight forward, virtually black and white, telling of the principle moments of Luther’s life. There is no doubt about who the “good” guys are and who the “bad”; no doubts are cast as to motivation of anything that Luther or his supporters do; no controversial questions are asked. The directing is very predictable, making use of many well-worn scenarios, but Joseph Fiennes – with his great performance and the excellent support of Sir Peter Ustinov – manages to save the film from falling into what might otherwise be quick oblivion. It will be interesting to see the reaction of the German public. Second
Opinion by Patricia R Luther is the inspiring historical biography of Martin Luther, the German monk whose criticism of Catholicism launched the Reformation and led to the beginning of Protestantism in the early 16th century. Young Martin had studied law but decided to join the Augustinian monastery in Erfurt, which enraged his father. He said later that several close brushes with death had made him aware of the fleeting character of life. After being selected to the priesthood, he was asked to lecture at the University of Wittenburg on moral philosophy. He traveled to Rome where he was angered by the Papal excesses and corruption, as well as the sale of indulgences to help finance the building of St. Peter's Basilica. He wrote the 95 theses which were dramatically nailed to the front door of the church. It was the beginning of his battle with princes, cardinals, bishops, emperors and popes, in an historical time when the country was to defy the alliance between church and state. Martin, the tortured soul struggling also against evil spirits and the devil, was played by Joseph Fiennes, although perhaps less expressively than his older brother Ralph might have. Sympathetic to Martin was Frederick the Wise, played with his usual wit and charm by Peter Ustinov. He felt that Martin was unjustly persecuted and helped him politically prior to the heresy trial before the Imperial Diet of Worms. After Martin's excommunication, he began to translate the scriptures from Greek to German, translating the New Testament in just 11 weeks. With the use of the Gutenberg press the new Bible was spread thoughout Europe. As all biographical films must be condensed, it often lacked in clarity and context. Martin's writings had encouraged the peasant uprisings and fearing their revolt would lead to anarchy, Martin had urged the princes to supress it, resulting in the deaths of as many as 100,000 people. The film hardly touched on that and on his marriage to a former nun and his fathering of six children. Luther is lush with beautiful costumes, castle and church interiors and a musical score rich with cathedral pagaentry and pipes. This underscores the contrast of Roman Catholic excess with Martin's simple monastic life and his wish to simply spread the word of God. Ustinov produced “Inside the Vatican“ for Canadian TV that examined the politics of the Vatican. As the UNICEF ambassador-at-large, he is spearheading a fight against intolerance and prejudice and has written the book Achtung! Vorurteile (Beware! Prejudices) in German.
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The Good Thief 
Gigli (Liebe mit Risiko)