AWCH Film Reviews -- 2005 Hamburg Film Festival

(Mary W) by Dominique Abel/Fiona Gordon/Bruno Romy, Belgium

Fiona manages a fast-food restaurant. Closing up late, she inadvertently locks herself in the freezer. Turning blue in her high heels and red scarf, she wraps herself in plastic bags and climbs into a cardboard box until found by employees the next morning. Meanwhile, her husband sleepwalks around the house getting ready for work. Their two children sullenly eat breakfast. No one notices Fiona is not there. When Fiona arrives home, she sees her family drive away, oblivious to her yelling. After a hot bath, Fiona returns to work but finds herself obsessed with seeing a real iceberg. She creates icebergs out of whatever she sees, including her own self covered in a sheet. Leaving her family behind, she happens upon a man with a boat, whom she convinces to take her to an iceberg. Her husband finally wakes up to her disappearance and pursues her through treacherous waters. A quirky comedy with a subzero plot.

(Alyssa C) by Lucile Hadzihalilovic, France/Great Britain/Belgium

In this creepy fairy tale which has won several prizes at various film festivals, thirty girls, ages five to twelve, live in a completely isolated boarding school. They arrive in this new world (ceremoniously in a coffin), don their white school uniforms (very short, pleated skirts and ribbons for their hair), and are forbidden to think of the outside world (no parents, no pasts, and no questioning of what lies beyond the foreboding walls). The girls carry on through the days, the older girls looking after the younger ones. With the beautiful cinematography, one gets the feeling of watching nymphs frolicking in a wood. The school mistresses (Marion Cotillard and Hélène de Fougerolles) keep strict order in ballet class. The eldest girl disappears without explanation each evening at dusk… where does she go? For what purpose is the school director inspecting the purple-ribbon girls? There is a sinister and mysterious metaphor to something unknown throughout the movie, and it is very unsettling. Additionally, in spite of the lack of overt sexuality, why do I as an audience member feel like a pervert? (Is it perhaps director Lucile Hadzihalilovic’s fetish for legs?) We are left to wonder if the end of “innocence” is merely the natural step into adulthood or if these girls were being groomed for something truly awful, like prostitution.

(Mary W) by Mohammad Rasoulof, Iran

Captain Nemat presides over the inhabitants of an oil tanker sinking off the coast of Iran in the Persian Gulf. This “iron island” is home for poverty-stricken locals. The economy relies on the barter system, managed by Captain Nemat. Children attend school. Scrap metal and oil are collected to be sold. A young man falls in love but to his dismay the lovely young girl is already betrothed. Sent to a cell to be punished for his desires, the girl lowers a trinket on a string down to him. A woman dies in childbirth as a group of young men watch Titanic on a forbidden television. A child rescues fish caught deep in the bowels of the tanker and sets them free in the open ocean. An old man stares into the sun.

Captain Nemat is pressured to evacuate the ship which has been sold for scrap. He negotiates with the owner for more time to find a new place for his community to relocate. In the interim, they continue to sell what they can to earn money to buy land for their new home.

The location of this story is so unique that it turns what is just ordinary life into a very extraordinary existence. The contrast of the rusting vessel dying on the azure ocean with a clear serene sky creates a stunning picture of life and death.

(Mary W) by Haim Bouzaglo, Israel/France

Aldi, a 40-year-old high school teacher, returns home after military service in Jenin. He is severely traumatized by the death of a friend who dies in his arms from sniper fire. Aldi’s wife is a psychologist and, recognizing his suffering, she suggests that Aldi take some time away. About to board a flight for Paris, Aldi changes his mind, slips through security and re-enters Israel as a kind of fugitive in his own land.

Aldi falls in with a group of Turkish immigrant workers and becomes a construction laborer in Tel Aviv. When the site is raided by immigration authorities, he reveals his Israeli passport while hiding his true citizenship from his co-workers. He lives among the immigrants and falls for a married woman who has run away from her husband. The laborers bond with each other and join together to assure that one of them is not kicked off the job, each giving up a portion of their wages so he can send for his wife. In the meantime, Aldi’s wife learns from a government official that Aldi never boarded the plane to Paris. She is confused since Aldi called her saying he had arrived in Paris. The official begins spending a lot of time at her house, even bringing his daughter by for her to baby sit.

Aldi seems to have completely forgotten his previous life and settles contentedly into his adopted family. As they are all in a bar celebrating the arrival of their coworker’s wife, a female suicide bomber walks in, shattering the new life. Director Haim Bouzaglo presents an interesting look at a parallel society of illegal immigrants working in Tel Aviv.

(Mary W) by Hiner Saleem, France/Kurdistan

Set in 1988 during the Iraq-Iran war, this film looks at treatment of the Kurds under Saddam Hussein. Ako, a married Kurd with a son, is forced to join the army and is sent to the front line where, not only does he experience the realities of war, but he suffers abuse because he is a Kurd. One of his Kurdish friends finally dies from the abuses. Ako just wants to go home to his wife and son. Ako is ordered to transport a soldier’s body back to his family. He is paired with an anti-Kurd Arab as a driver. Crossing miles of desert, hiding the car and corpse during daylight from ordinary people so they won’t see the loss of so many men, the two have little to say. While waiting for nightfall, they decide to talk about their religious differences, but then neither one is willing to start the conversation. For much of the film, however, much was lost in translation.

(Becky T) by James Marsh, USA/Great Britain

This is a tight family drama which makes the dys-functional family and single suicide in Imaginary Heroes seem like fun and games. Elvis (rising star Gael Garcia Bernal, Motorcycle Diaries) comes to town to confront his father David (William Hurt) whom he has never met. David is a born-again Christian who keeps a firm hold over his wife and teenage son and daughter. A grown-up, unrecognized, illegitimate son from a very old relationship is a blemish he would like to hide from his congregation. Very un-Christian-like, he basically tells Elvis to hit the road or vamos, as they might say there in Corpus Christi. Instead, Elvis takes a room in a motel, hires out as a pizza delivery boy and digs in for revenge, which he begins by dating the clueless, but independent-minded, daughter, i.e., his half sister, Twyla. The conflict builds up when both half-brother Paul and father David try to prevent the relationship. Paul disappears to the bottom of the local lake and Elvis replaces him in the family home. Some scenes stretch your imagination, e.g., would you love someone you knew had killed your brother, even if you were a forgiving person? Scenes of the bigotry and helplessness of conservative religion are exaggerated, I hope, but interestingly made. All the acting is well-done; the film is worth seeing, although it may never show again, especially not in Bible-belt USA.

(Vicki F-M) by Thilo Graf Rothkirch/Piet De Rycker, Germany

You cannot go wrong with any of the Little Polar Bear movies, books or T.V. shows. He is adorable, always means well and has funny friends. Mostly harmless (why DO films always have to have the anxious part? Think Bambi or The Lion King or any popular film in past 50 years) and teaching kids a good lesson, this is a film for little ones as well as the whole family. The film is adapted from the books by Dutchman Hans De Beer, who has won various awards for his books which have been translated into 27 languages. Two experienced directors in animation bring the book to life on the screen, Thilo Graf Rothkirch and Piet De Rycker. I asked my three-and-a-half-year old twins what they thought about it:

Journalist Mama: How would you rate this film: bad, good or very good?
Timmy: Very good!
Toby: Very, very good!
Journalist Mama: Very, very good was not an option.
Toby: I know, but I really liked it.
J.M.: OK, what did you like about it?
Toby: I liked the “Robby”; he was friends with Lars (the little Polar Bear).
Timmy: I liked the penguin the best; he danced and he was funny.
J.M.: Did you not like any parts?
Timmy: Yes, when Lars went away on the train to a far away island. It made me scared.
Toby: Yes, I only got one bag of popcorn.
J.M.: Timmy and Toby, do you have any recommendations for audiences?
Timmy: Yes, go see it, it is good and funny.
Toby: You need to see it. And get a bigger bag of popcorn.
J.M.: Thank you gentle-boys for your time.

(Kirsten G) by Ilan Duran Cohen, France

A simple story about two people at the opposite ends of life going through a similar experience, Les petits fils tells the story of 84-year-old Régine (Reine Ferrato) and her 24-year-old grandson Guillaume (Guillaume Quatravaux). Both are still trying to come to terms with a great loss – the death of Guillaume’s mother some years before. Guillaume lives with his grandmother in Paris on the weekends, and though they spend most of their time together bickering, eventually they each find their own way to say goodbye.

Director Ilan Duran Cohen tried to keep his film intimate by using amateur actors and hand-held cameras. He also allowed his actors to improvise some of their dialogue. And while he does succeed in bringing the characters’ emotions to vivid life, most of the film feels so intimate that it is almost claustrophobic. Plus, true to French cinema, the film moves very slowly and deliberately – too slowly for me, even at a length of only 87 minutes. By the end, I was happy to join the characters in moving on.

(Karen P) by Marilyn Agrelo, USA

“Anyone can make it, if they learn how to shake it” was the slogan given to an experimental project to teach children from the Bronx to dance – ballroom style. The goal of the project was to see if these kids could learn to do something that was incredibly foreign to them and succeed. The school district was interested to find an attractive venue that would teach children the value of learning, to encourage them to stay in school and to stress that a good education is valuable for their future.

In 1994, three elementary schools were chosen from the New York public school district to participate in this pilot project. Among these three schools, only the fifth graders were allowed to participate. This was not an easy experience for most of the children, but those who entered the program and finished the task of learning how to ballroom dance were stricken with a passion to make a difference in their world.

Due to the success of this project, today, in the city of New York, over 6,000 elementary school children, among 60 schools, now take ballroom dancing lessons. Many of these kids go on to perform in the yearly city dance competition. Most are just grateful to have experienced this program. Whatever the outcome, the moves of ballroom dance such as the foxtrot, meringue, swing, rumba and tango put a step into these kids’ lives forever that will be a precursor to challenging their passions. These teachers who go the extra mile to bring a glimmer of hope to their children also silently encourage them to step outside their nationality ghetto box in order to see a different side of the world.

This brilliant documentary stirred my emotional tank from A to Z. As the audience was led through the process of teaching these kids the various dancing steps, I found myself wanting to head to the nearest theater aisle to practice too. Oh, this is a must-see film and so funny! Ballroom is in my blood now…. A-one, two, three, four……

(Kirsten G) by Laurice Guillen, Philippines

A tale of learning to believe, Magdalena tells the story of Malen (the name is a shortened form of Magdalena), the spirited teenage daughter of Chayong, a Manila “prayer warrior” – someone who makes a living offering auxiliary prayers for clients. Malen’s mother wants her to be as devout as she is, but Malen is more interested in Mike, a handsome limo driver with some secrets of his own. But when Malen’s mother dies suddenly, nothing Malen thought she knew is certain. Director Laurice Guillen’s film is heavy on Catholic symbolism but reachable to all audiences with its exploration of faith, devotion to one’s family and friends, and the difficulties of figuring out one’s purpose in this life. Angelica Panganiban is excellent as Malen in her ability to make believable Malen’s transformation from rebellious teenager to confident adult.

(Jenny M) by Lars von Trier, Denmark/Germany/France/Great Britain/Sweden

The Danish production company responsible for this movie, Zentropa, has won this year’s Hamburg Douglas Sirk Award, but I don’t know why. Manderlay is the second instalment of a trilogy which began with Dogville and which apparently “took the world by storm.” The Danish director Lars Von Trier now has the largest production company in Scandinavia and has an international outlook and cast for his movie. The story concerns racism in the USA and is set in the town of Manderlay in Alabama in the 1930s. The movie has a theatrical feel and the town is depicted by a few stage props which the actors keep moving about. Why? I ask myself. It begins with a whipping and ends with a whipping and asks many questions in between, none of which are answered though most are thought provoking. The movie is packed with famous stars, such as Danny Glover, William Dafoe and Lauren Bacall, who presumably were lured by the avant garde style of the director. They had to make up for the lack of a musical sound-track by non-stop talking and a monotonous narrative by Mr. Glover. There are scenes of such appalling brutality in this movie that you leave the cinema feeling depressed and upset, which is probably what the director intended.

(Alyssa C) by Giovanni Veronesi, Italy

Finally something fun and entertaining! Four stories over-lap and intertwine to make up this delightful romantic comedy about the everyday pitfalls of love. Young, carefree and still on the dole from his parents, Tommaso (Silvio Muccino) meets Giulia (Jasmine Trinca) while cruising around on his roommate’s moped. She uses every trick she knows to blow him off. Will he ever get the hint? Barbara (Margherita Buy) has dragged Marco (Sergio Rubini) on a tropical vacation to put some spark back into their on-the-rocks relationship. The fire-eating Polynesian dancers didn’t help – maybe a baby will fix things? Traffic cop Ornella (Luciana Littizzetto) discovers her husband is having an affair, and, tempted by the fun of revenge, must decide if the price of forgiveness is too high to save her marriage. Goffredo (Carlo Verdone) is a pediatrician longing for children of his own but abandoned by his wife. A failed attempt at a one-night-stand with his nurse leaves him spending the night half-naked outside on the ledge to contemplate things. Is there someone out there for him?

The book within the movie, The Manual of Love, may not have any practical advice for any of these situations, but it nevertheless manages to bring these characters together in a witty and charming way. Laugh-out-loud funny and tender, this is a great date movie!

(Jenny M) by Emmanuel Carrère, France

Catchy title, huh? Only the French would think of making a movie about a man who decides to shave off his moustache. Marc (Vincent Lindon) does just that in the first five minutes of the movie, and you find yourself wondering what the director will do for the next hour and a half. At first Marc is shy about his new look but he soon becomes bewildered at the reaction of his wife, the friends they meet that evening and then his colleagues at the office. After a few sulks and a tantrum or two he challenges his wife’s response and is unbalanced by what he hears. It’s at this point that you wish Alfred Hitchcock instead of Emmanuel Carrère had made the movie. Just as suspense is building at Marc’s reaction to his wife’s behaviour the movie takes a wrong turn. Marc removes himself from her and Paris and the tension is gone.

Nobody expects a French movie to be straightforward or to have much of a point, but what could have been a great movie is intriguing and enjoyable but finally a disappointment.

(Karen P) by Dana Adam Shapiro/Jeffrey Mandel/Henry Alex Rubin, USA

This inspiring documentary is the story of the US-Rugby-Paralympics team and their journey to Athens in 2004. Have you ever observed a rugby game? It is incredibly dangerous. The wheelchair rugby called “murderball” takes that danger one step further. The Paralympics players use a monster of a wheelchair to stake their positional power on the court, and the fight to win is their passion. Off the court, their daily struggle to live encourages others to strive for excellence, no matter what the adversity. Each player has a different story to tell, and the fact that they are alive to talk about it is pretty incredible. Their stories play a big part of who they are as people and what they bring to the game as team players. Their value of life and what they have accomplished is not something they take for granted. However, their passion is to play ball. Only a select few are capable of playing this extreme sport. And, play for blood, they do!

(Becky T) by Jannik Johansen, Denmark

In this mystery-thriller, Julie, tied to a wheelchair after an accident, marries fat, nerdy Anker. Her family is initially reserved, but then happy for her. The new husband, in a moving wedding speech, promises to care for Julie. He need not worry, because Julie slits her wrists in the hotel after the reception. Her brother Jakob, naturally curious as a journalist, discovers in Julie’s effects that Anker had previously lost a handicapped wife under similar circumstances. Jakob drives to the small village of Murk to find that people there love Anker and are happy for him because he is planning to marry, once again, a handicapped woman. The atmosphere is sinister as your imagination runs away parallel to small clues coming to light. Actually, light is rare in this spooky farmhouse, sinister barn, and dark hotel room, worthy of Hitchcock (I know that’s a cliché, but Hitchcock did set certain standards). Nervously shaking in my seat, I thought, “Get into the car, Jakob; forget this place and drive back to your wife.” Naturally, he does no such thing, but instead sticks around to serve as best man in the new wedding. My jaded colleagues said, “That wasn’t so scary.” Don’t believe them. If the U.S. really does a remake as announced, it can’t possibly reach the standard of this little Danish film, especially the fine acting of Nikolaj Lie Kaas, whom you might know from The Green Butchers or Old Men in New Cars which we have reviewed here in the past.

(Karen P) by Matti Geschonneck, Germany

The television anchorman Jan Landers (Jan Joself Liefers) is the Hamburg networks’ new golden boy. This network has been instrumental in hiring quality newspeople from the former DDR where Landers grew up. Landers has finally landed his dream job. Since the unification, however, the manhunt for Stasi (East German Secret Police) participants has become extreme. The strange discovery of Landers’ DDR past has fallen into the hands of some powerfully vicious people who want to use Landers as a scapegoat. The network gets wind of the scrutiny over their new talent and immediately pulls him off the air. Landers testifies that he has had no dealings; but official documents have surfaced stating otherwise. A hard core journalist from Spiegel magazine, Theyssen (Dagmar Manzell), wants this breaking story for her portfolio, but so does a well-known journalist from the countryside, Raschke (Uwe Kockisch). Landers is taken on a long journey that requires him to choose: either keep his dream alive or let it die. German film made for TV.

(Becky T) by Fanta Régina Nacro, France/Burkina Faso

Edna, the wife of the president of an unnamed African country, kneels before the grave of her young son, a victim of a civil war in her country. From this point we slowly learn more about deaths and atrocities committed by both sides of the conflict between soldiers and the revolutionaries. Women and maimed children gather to discuss how they lost their family members and their limbs. However, a cease-fire has been called, and the president meets with the rebel leader to discuss laying down all arms. This meeting takes place at the rebel camp in the evening in the form of a celebratory party. Women, both wives of leaders and refugees, come across as extremely strong and influential in the men’s decision making. The village idiot clowns for comic relief, but underneath he is evil, a troublemaker. Slowly, we realize that the “wall” in the heads of the people can never be erased. Too much has happened and, “as long as blood is not revenged, the dead stay on earth.”

This is a first film for Fanta Régina Nacro. She lost her uncle to natives who, after accusing him of trying to overthrow the government, cooked him alive. Although well-made and cast with beautiful actors, the film says nothing that we haven’t seen in such recent films as Hotel Rwanda and Sometimes in April. This repetition diminishes the power of this newest film, but who can say when enough has been told of war and cruelty among humans?

(Jenny M) by Montxo Armendáriz, Spain/Germany

A young Spanish student is told by her college professor to make a film over the weekend. So Maestra (Pilar Lopez de Ayala) decides to drive into the Basque country to see what she can find. As evening descends she rounds a corner in the road and sees an old man standing there. Maestra asks him the distance to the village, and as she listens to his reply she notices that he has a lizard in his hand. At this moment your heart sinks, and you think that you’re in for a second-rate horror movie. Maestra finds her way to the hotel Lizard Man directed her to, and her attention is immediately taken by an old photograph on the wall. The story moves from the present to the time of the children in the photograph and to the present again.

Director Montxo Armendariz has made a gentle and interesting movie about the inhabitants of this fictional Basque town called Obaba. As Maestra films these people and listens to their stories of the past, the audience, like her, is drawn into their lives and the way that they have been shaped by past events. Oh yes, there’s a point to the lizard too; he and fellow lizards weave a superstitious thread through the movie.

(Alyssa C) by Greg Zglinski, Switzerland

Cold, long, dark, grey, slow… and desperate for the rebirth which comes with spring – this is the imagery of winter beautifully depicted by director Greg Zglinski in this heartbreaking Swiss film. Jean (Aurélien Recoing) and Laure (Marie Matheron) have lost their five-year-old daughter and their dairy farm in a devastating fire. Suffering from many breakdowns, Laure is unable to cope with this loss and seeks help in a psychiatric clinic. Jean struggles to make life go on, accepting a job in a factory and reaching out for comfort from his co-workers, brother and sister refugees from Kosovo (Blerim Gjoci and Gabriela Muskala). They are also struggling with a recovery from the loss of their home and loved ones, and this unlikely friendship injects an unexpected dose of warmth into the icy and bleak landscape. The wintry symbolism and the excruciatingly deliberate tempo of this movie reminds us that time heals all wounds.

(Adele R) by Hany Abu-Assad, France/Germany/The Netherlands

The director, Hany Abu-Assad, knows the location of his film well. He was born in Nazareth and has made a number of documentary and feature films about the desperate situation in the Middle East. His most successful film, Rana’s Wedding (2002), dealt with the virtually insurmountable difficulties facing a young Palestinian pair preparing for their wedding. But this time, Abu-Assad has taken on an even more difficult subject: suicide bombers.

The film follows two young Palestinians, Said (Kais Nashef) and Khaled (Ali Suliman), who have volunteered to kill themselves and take as many Israelis as they can with them. As we meet the two young men, they haven’t yet learned that their last day on earth will be the next day. As they are told they remain cool and accepting. And we watch them spending their last night with their families, where, of course, they are not allowed to give any hint of the plans for the morrow (Said’s mother is played by the “grand dame” of Palestine films, Hiam Abbass [The Syrian Bride]).

The morning comes and the young men are bathed and shaved and dressed in black suits with white shirts covering the vest of bombs strapped to their bodies. They make a video declaring their love of Allah and belief in Paradise and the Cause. And then they go off to meet the Israeli collaborator who is expected to drive them to the destination of the bombing. It doesn’t work out that way, and in the end, the two young men have an extra day to consider their decision.

There has been a good deal of debate about this film. Many have felt that the suicide killers are portrayed too sympathetically. But it is also clear that they are being used by their handlers for their own political ends and that the situation in both Tel Aviv and Nabulus is impossible. Incidentally, the filming in Nabulus had to be halted and moved elsewhere because the film crew was in so much danger from the Israeli rockets and gunfire. The film was awarded the Peace Prize by Amnesty International and won the Audience Choice Award at the 2005 Berlinale, as well as the AGICOA (International non-governmental organization) Blue Angel for the best European Film.

(Jenny M) by Mohamed Zran, Tunisia

Can a poor male florist capture the heart of a rich lady banker? Can director Mohamed Zran make a movie with such a theme which will capture our interest? The answer is yes, and he can make the suspense last throughout the movie. Abel (Abdelmonem Chouayet) is the young florist who falls for the banker (Sonia Chouayet). Every morning Abel and his fellow florists are stopped in their tracks by this vision of loveliness who passes their flower stall on her way to work. One day Abel is asked to deliver a bouquet to a local bank and discovers that the flowers are for her. How can a humble florist attract the attention of a powerful, educated woman? With the help of a sub-plot involving a friend and his friend’s uncle, who happens to be a famous and well-respected poet, albeit on the verge of bankruptcy. The city of Tunis is the backdrop for the movie, giving glimpses of the life which the wealthy can enjoy as well as showing the poverty which Abel and his family endure. This isn’t the city of Tunis seen through tourist eyes, but the one where its ordinary citizens act out their everyday lives.

(Alyssa C) by Diane Bertrand, France/Germany

After losing the tip of her ring finger in a work accident at a lemonade bottling factory, Iris (Olga Kurylenko) packs her suitcase and leaves town. She arrives in a port city (supposedly somewhere in France but actually filmed in Hamburg’s harbor), and checks into a small hotel. She must share a room with a sexy sailor (Stipe Erceg) whom, because he works nights, she meets only in passing. She finds work as the assistant to a mysterious scientist (Marc Barbé) who preserves his clients’ personal mementos into specimens of a sort. The relationship between the “preservationist” and Iris is utterly bizarre. There is almost no dialogue between them, nor is there any believable chemistry. (She is gorgeous and he looks like a vampire.) He presents her with a pair of red high-heels and asks her to wear them every day. They become lovers, with clandestine rendezvous in the basement of the laboratory. What does she see in him? What does she get from him? What does she need from him? And what does any of this have to do with her ring finger? There is simply too much mystery without clarity or resolution, and the actors are completely unable to communicate their motivation. Alain Duplantier’s direction of photography earned this film its only star.

(Karen P) by Kyle Henry, USA

What American is not over-worked and under-paid these days? What type of society will the America become if they don’t get a handle on this rat race? One scenario could be what director Kyle Henry presents in his film Room. Julia Barker (Cindi Williams) is overwhelmed with the responsibilities that her lifestyle, as a wife, a mom and the family breadwinner, requires. Her physical exhaustion pushes her into a strange world where her recurring dream about a particular room woos her. To what extent she is wooed is a sad accounting of mental illness and the incredible power that the mind has over the body. The Twilight Zone? Yes, totally! The only thing missing in this film was the twilight zone music … do do do do … do do do do … do do do do …and the narration of its host, Rod Serling.

(Shelly S) by Christian Zübert, Germany

The opening and closing film for the festival was the German film Der Schatz Der Weissen Falken. It also won the Michel prize. Since the opening film is normally a German feature film, the director and actors are usually present to answer questions. In this case the director was very articulate and said that this film was inspired by his own childhood. The story begins with three friends – Jan (David Bode), Basti (Tamino-Turgay Zum Felde) and Stevie (Kevin Köppe) – trying to break into a farm that has been closed for years. They soon run into a gang led by a strong and courageous girl, Marie (Victoria Scherer), who explains that this is her territory. Jan refuses to back down and then takes a beating from this girl. His ego is a little bruised but he doesn’t give in and, realizing that he is moving in two weeks to a city, decides to break into the farm. Inside they find a map showing the location of the treasure of the White Falcon. Jan learns that the map belongs to Peter and that he disappeared ten years ago while hiking. Since this is their last time together, the boys decide to find the treasure, which proves to be a dangerous and deadly adventure.

This story is action-packed, suspenseful, and has some very serious lessons to be learned about risk-taking and friendship. The actors did a great job. There were two scenes in the film which had strong impacts on the audience: a kissing scene between Jan and Marie where many of the younger kids cried out “Yuckkk!!!” and a dramatic scene where diabetic Stevie nearly dies after becoming separated from his medicine, which Jan and Marie are desperately trying to find.

(Mary W) by Julian Fellowes, Great Britain

London lawyer James Manning (Tom Wilkinson) believes he has a happy marriage and an orderly life. That is until a man is killed while riding a bicycle near his country home by a hit-and-run driver. The killing occurred on the night of a cocktail party given at their country home. After James meets their neighbor Bill (Rupert Everett) and notices a dent in his car, James realizes that Bill may be the guilty driver. The dead man turns out to be the husband of James’ housekeeper. The housekeeper identifies the car as belonging to Bill, but it becomes clear that she may have an ulterior motive for accusing him. Bill had fired her for stealing from him while in his employ, and she was criminally charged. But was the driver really Bill, or may it have been James’ wife Anne (Emily Watson), who, it seems, was in the car with Bill?

This film presents a poignant story of betrayal and forgiveness, loss and understanding, but most of all the meaning of love.

(Mary W) by Doug Sadler, USA

Twelve year-old Emma loves to swim and competes at school. One day she passes out while swimming and learns she must quit due to illness. She needs an operation that her family cannot afford. Business is not good for her fisherman father. Then her father sinks his boat when he runs over a submerged post. Since he has a record of drunk driving, the insurance company is not willing to pay full value. Emma’s mother is not too sympathetic, particularly since her husband comes home drunk.

Emma meets the very eccentric twenty-something Merrill, who has returned to her former home. Merrill is still very disturbed after the death of her own mother, but the two girls manage to find friendship, each relying on the other for support not found within their own families. But Emma’s mother is enraged by Merrill’s behavior and the fact that Emma’s father is sleeping with Merrill’s aunt.

Emma has two brothers, both of whom are attracted to Merrill but for different reasons. One brother is a policeman who really wanted to fish with his dad. He is besotted with the exotic Merrill but cannot understand her bizarre behavior and sexual obsession. The other brother bought his own boat since he could no longer put up with fishing with his alcoholic father. He is happy just to have sex with Merrill.

The entire family comes together one evening where the family learns not everything is quite what it seemed. A bittersweet story of family and friendship told from the innocent perspective of Emma.

(Jenny M) by Julia Taylor-Stanley, Great Britain

The British media is often accused of being obsessed by the Second World War, and here is another movie to fuel that criticism. The time is pre-war London and the setting is every cliché you can think of. Bright Young Thing Diana (Zoe Tapper) decided as a child that she must follow in her mother’s footsteps and become a stage actress “against all odds.” All the odds against her are provided by her upper class twit of a cousin telling her that she has no talent. Diana must prove him wrong, mustn’t she? Just as Diana is rejected yet again at a rehearsal she bumps into an aspiring young playwright as she leaves the theatre and, well, you know the rest. The Twit invites his cousin to a trail of fancy parties in upper class homes, which make the movie pretty to look at but doesn’t add interest to the plot.

There’s a trail of famous actors too, presumably shipped in to add some glamour. How on earth did director Julia Taylor-Stanley manage to persuade the likes of Anjelica Huston and Terence Stamp to take part in such a jaded movie?

Although These Foolish Things never springs to life despite the director’s best efforts, I have to admit to a pang of sadness at the end and a fleeting thought that the backdrop of war-torn London can still be milked for movie script ideas.

(Mary W) by Ciro Guerra, Columbia

Elderly Mañe has only one leg and cannot find work. His landlady is understanding as she presses him for the rent, but her husband prefers to beat Mañe when offered only a few pesos. Mañe also faces numerous beatings when he ventures out to find work or sell his handmade paper birds. One afternoon, while lying beaten, a tall man wearing dark goggles and carrying a wooden chair on his back helps Mañe, and a mutually beneficial relationship tentatively begins. The silletero takes Mañe to his tent for tea made from leaves of a special forest plant. Mañe helps the silletero get a work permit to carry people around Bogotá. The silletero carries Mañe when the walk is too far.

Mañe wonders why the silletero is willing to help people in a city where no one lends a hand to the poor or disabled. Mañe begins to teach the silletero to read, but after a frightening episode where the silletero passes out, they both realize he can no longer remember what he learned. There is a hemorrhage in the silletero’s brain. They start lessons again. Although Mañe tells the silletero much about his life, the silletero is mostly silent. Flashbacks show the silletero in combat. After a fight between the two, Mañe learns the secrets of the silletero’s past and struggles with his own conscience about what he has done.

Black and white gives this extraordinary film about goodness and evil, forgiveness and the unforgivable, a gritty realism as Guerra touches on political and social issues in his country.

(Becky T) by Josef Fares, Sweden

Zozo, his two older siblings, and their parents are ready to leave war-torn Beirut to fly to the grandparents’ in Sweden. The optimistic beginning grinds to a halt as a bomb hits the family apartment, leaving Zozo the sole survivor. The film is divided evenly between life in Beirut and Sweden, which Zozo does reach with some help. (It’s unbelievable that a small girl can get a car to take both of them to the border.) In Sweden the grandparents are grief-stricken but happy to have one person to love. The struggle is now no longer to dodge bullets and stay alive, but to become accepted in a classroom of Swedish children. Stealing small gifts for them is not the answer.

This is similar to Fares’ film Jalla Jalla, e.g., adjusting to a new culture, but it is far from being funny like his film KOPS, which won the audience award at the 2004 Filmfest Hamburg. Expatriates especially can identify with adjusting to a new life abroad, even if they haven’t had to escape death and destruction to get there.