DEAR WENDY

Denmark / France / Germany / UK. Directed by Thomas Vinterberg, 2005.

Date: Sep 28th, 2005. Format: Film. Surrounding: Niagara, Tampere.

My friend was on a visit to my place before I biked to Niagara at 11 pm screening. We had drunk a couple of beers and a few shots of Jameson, so my concentration skills were not on top while watching this von Trier (scriptwriter) & Vinterberg collaboration. So, I'm not so sure to decide whether von Trier succeeds this time in his familiarly icecold approach to American way of living. This is of course an original look at how easily the gun culture will blind some young uncertain people, who may have also had to face some traumatizing experiences. So, that's already the reason, why this is more intelligent tale of the modern day America than the easygoing Bowling for Columbine. What I particularly liked was the battle scene in the end. It's shot in the good old western way, but because the characters, both the youngsters and the polices, seem so real, live and flesh, in their heroism, it looks that they are living in some myth more than reality, which we instead - should - represent in our seats. I definitely would like to see this with more sober head. There was a lot of black in the picture, but it looked like a laptop screen - was the problem in the film or at the screen of Niagara? Actually, this has bothered me sometimes before in that theatre, which is very dear to me. ***

KATAKURI-KE NO KÔFUKU

Japan. Directed by Takashi Miike, 2001.

Date: Sep 25th, 2005. Format: Dvd. Surrounding: Liisankatu, Tampere.

The Sound of Music must be one of the dumbest musicals ever made, but to be unpredictably yours - Edelweiss was the first song I ever sang in karaoke. That happened last April at the middle of the day in Ale Pub located in Tampere railway station building. It's relieving to see there's also a Japanese shock homage made to that 1960's semi-innocent family film. This is the definitive far out version of the happy nazi musical, a future cult classic perhaps. The eversweet Katakuris family is running a mountain hotel. The first customer commits suicide. The next one is a sumowrestler who's got a room date with an underaged girlfriend. The forest behind the hotel is soon full of diggins.. The film becomes a psychedelic ode to life with all its joys and troubles. We never know what happens next, and it's obvious that's just how Miike sees life as whole. If you weren't shocked by Audition, you might have a great chance with this. ****

PALINDROMES

USA. Directed by Todd Solondz, 2004.

Date: Sep 24th, 2005. Format: Film. Surrounding: Niagara, Tampere.

I happened to see this a few hours after I was visiting an opening of the art exhibition of my friend in Taidekeskus Mältinranta. It was sort of triple bill in the museum; there were works of two other artists too. Earlier this year, on Jan 7th, I paid a visit to an opening of the exhibition of this same artist as well. It was in a gallery ran by my other friend, but it doesn't exist anymore. A lot of other things have changed after that as well. That night in the beginning of the year led to a good thing for me, because after we had drunk in bars with the gallery owner, I ended up in a magical follow-up party. After that event began a both confusing and beautiful springtime, but that's another story. This was quite an exceptional night too; before, after and in the exhibition I met many of the girls whom I sometimes, years ago, had some little thing going on with. I was quite surprised about this and thinking, does this have some kind of meaning? Why do they all pop up to me now? So, Palindromes, as a teenage flick for adults, was a kind of exact film to watch in a day like this. I adore Solondz's way to deal with banal people and their weaknesses so peacefully and without irony. Of course it seems like irony but when we look deeper into his characters, it isn't. He cares of them. This is not a masterpiece, though. There are too many poor scenes. But the weird idea to use 12 different-aged actresses in the main role, a 13-year old girl who wants to get pregnant, works surprisingly - or should I say brechtingly - well. When Jennifer Jason Leigh watches almost straight to camera, and she has a line: "Pedophiles love children", it seems she might be thinking, that oh my god, what am I saying! ****

SEPARATE TABLES

USA. Directed by Delbert Mann, 1958.

Date: Sep 23rd, 2005. Format: Dvd. Surrounding: Home, Tampere.

We get to know a bunch of uncertain people here; people who feel themselves unable to live like they would like. They are staying at hotel in Bournemouth. The most interesting inhabitants include the neurotic major (David Niven) who is protecting an embarrassing secret from others, the decent and tender girl (Deborah Kerr) who's heart beats for major but is put down by his moralistic mother (Gladys Cooper), the alcoholist (Burt Lancaster) who has a love affair with the hotel's sort-of-realistic owner (Wendy Hiller) and is visited by his former, very beautiful but sad wife (Rita Hayworth). A real dream cast! I've always loved these kind of films where depressed people spend their time in a closed space and really talk and talk talk until they have to open their hearts. And you don't always have to adapt Tennessee Williams for that! The ending is quite optimistic, and there's no reason why it shouldn't be. These characters belong to each other. ****½

ÖRÖKBEFOGADÁS

Hungary. Directed by Márta Mészáros, 1975.

Date: Sep 20th, 2005. Format: Television broadcast. Surrounding: Home, Tampere.

And here's another adoption story. It's settled in communistic society. Kata is over 40 years old and would like to have a child. The man she is seeing is already married and doesn't want to make anymore children. The life is very grey. Kata gets to know a young teenager girl Anna who is popular with boys. The two different-aged women sense some kind of connection in their relation to men and their wants. I don't think adoption here serves only an allegory of socialism; Mészáros's directing gives a very insight look into women's world. The disappointing conclusion of the eagerly waited dance night, where most of the women start to cry or become otherwise depressed, is unique. In contrast György Kovác's music is almost charming. I wonder is there a soundtrack existing? And what will be the future of Mészáros on dvd markets? I've sometimes used her as an example of the directors who might face the forgetting. Or has she faced it already? This film started a series of her films on Yle Teema. But what about sales? Even though art cinema has benefited more from the dvd age than the past video era, we can see the Iron Curtain still standing there so strongly. ****

NORDESTE

Directed by Juan Diego Solanas, 2005.

Date: Sep 19th, 2005. Format: Film. Surrounding: Niagara, Tampere.

Adopting a child is a useful theme to sort out ethic and existential differences of the western and, for example, the south american culture. Here we meet a French business woman who wants to have a baby. We don't get the exact reason why she particularly wants or has to adopt it. So, she flies to Buenos Aires with a serious aim to come back as a mother. I read that the director (son of Fernando Solanas) has lived both in Paris and Argentine. It's seemingly his advantage in portraiting believable characters. There is a satisfyingly calm parallel in Solana's discurse when he is depicting both Helene's ambition to become a good mother for a helpless baby and a poor single parent Juana's battle to sort out a better future for his soon pubertetic son in some place else. The two women become friends, and what Helen has to face in her helping hands, is her naivity and awakening to become responsible. Carole Bouquet played the lead part. I don't think I've seen her since she sat secretuflly in the boat in Buffet Froid's (1979) ending. She and Aymará Rovera as Juana played together well. There was a sensible dignity around them, and it seemed it wasn't only floating between the characters. I'm not sure about the end twist at the hospital's corridor, it lacks some emotional power in the tradition of storytelling. But this is a peaceful picture of how worlds collide, and how we are forced to learn and leave our selfish dreams if we want to be a part of the process. ***½

THE STING

Directed by George Roy Hill, 1973.

Date: Sep 19th, 2005. Format: Dvd. Surrounding: Tampere.

Among American directors of the 1970's, George Roy Hill must be the one who best goes under the term "quality entertainment". This is an extremely oldfashioned con men film, but still, it's stylish and enjoyable. There is a wonderful epic sense of innocent times, sort of grand illusion, which can only be created in film art. It doesn't even try to be realistic. I wasn't first very hooked on Scott Joplin's ragtime music used in the film, but in the end I started to like it. I can imagine how some left-wing radicals criticised this film in the 1970's because the tendence of criminality is so nostalgic and the film doesn't try to say anything abouts the facts of society. This is a bit like chaplinisque daydream of the past. It actually reminded me of one children's book of the Tammen kultaiset kirjat series. There was a little boy who was out in the streets and played with a ring. If someone knows the name of the book, i'd be delighted to know. ****