2046 - Reaction

[China / Hong Kong]

Bad. While visually well done (like In the Mood for Love), it's confusing, more like an incomplete sketchbook than a film. It seems thematically deep, but it's hard to determine the theme or the message when the plot really is a series of (nonlinear) vignettes that is unclear how they relate, temporally or otherwise (other than the man in the center of everything). Music is good and haunting. Whole effect was to nearly put me to sleep multiple times. Di Yin describes it as a mood movie.

Underground Game - Reaction

[Brazil]

A perplexing film about a man who plays a game on the subway: he chooses a route, and if a woman travels his selected route, she must be "the one." He does meet people while playing this game, but never when playing according to the rules. I found the movie plodding and didn't really get into it. Everything was too mysterious, both the people, their backgrounds, and where they were going (physically and emotionally). Themes include fate and love and whether by changing the rules of the game (or life) one can get around fate / achieve love. Music well integrated. I had briefly thought it would a commentary on the urban lifestyle (as the sky isn't visible for the first third of the movie), but nothing changes qualitatively when people go into the countryside and no themes seemed to have come from this idea of mine.

Seeds of Doubt - Reaction

[Germany]

Mesmerizing personal drama in which an Algerian married to a German (both living in Germany) is suspected of terrorism. Explores the question, "can you ever truly know someone?" Amazingly, one can identify with and understand each character's reactions -- it feels like a first-person perspective from each person. Themes about whom to believe in a post-9/11 world and how do current politics (fear, suspicion, etc.) disrupt relationships.

Cock Byte: Masters of Machinima - Reaction

Not really a movie. Two of the Red vs Blue (Blood Gulch Chronicles) creators were there and showed most of the first season DVD, a tad from the upcoming fourth season DVD, and some selections from a series of promotional shorts they're making using The Sims for the Independent Movie Channel. All are quite funny. Demonstrates how their art and cinematography has changed over time. Small crowd at this showing in Berkeley. Mostly, Q&A with the two guys. And the guys were great: funny and it's really easy to how they put aspects of their personalities into the characters.

Adam's Apples - Reaction

[Denmark]

A weird and enjoyable combination of religious parable and black comedy that ponders what it means to be religious, have faith, and turn the other cheek and whether these are good or bad traits. Religious content is over the top, intentionally -- effective for bringing out the theme and for comic value. Recurring references to the Book of Job and being tested, but being tested by whom (God or the Devil)? Whoever is doing the testing works in mysterious ways.

The Gronholm Method - Reaction

[Spain/Argentina]

"And Then There Were None" (Agatha Christie's tale made into multiple movies) done with a set of applicants competing for a high-level corporate position. Well done drama. A bit of the feel of "Twelve Angry Men," with individuals arguing in a cramped space. Set against the background of WTO/IMF riots, shows just how far people will go for corporate greed. Opening scene involves tri-split screen and follows the same action from multiple (usually two) angles, merging and replacing shots smoothly. Very neat; conveys a great god's eye view and sense of constant motion.

A Perfect Couple - Reaction

[French with Japanese director]

Filled with uncomfortable silences and inane/arbitrary arguments, this slow moving movie explores the end of a marriage. While it feels true, it's not a movie that is pleasant to watch. Little conversation, extremely long takes (dozens of minutes), and practically no camera movement all contribute to the lack of forward momentum. Also, I thought they were doing something meaningful by having only the women be in the center of the frame, but that ceased after the first half an hour; I guess I was wrong. (Note: the director of photography was there and very eloquent in translation, e.g., in one hand-held up-close camera scene, she said she wanted "the camera to get onto/into the character like an animal.")

Di Yin, who saw the movie separately, says she agrees. "A perfect couple is more a movie about waiting - for your partner to come home, for the reply to come for your questions, for the minutes of a trip to pass by, as much as it is about the progression of a relationship. The characters hesitate, watch, and long for each other - this very stagnation both speaks true to the nature of their relationship, and frustrates the audience."