Originality that upset the audience
#2 The Chinese movie “Tuya’s Marriage” of Wang Quan’an in a special way pays tribute to Mongolia, a way of living, tradition, and roots that lose their meaning more and more. Wang Quan’an who gives a fantastic image of these steppes, among other things, tries to keep the land that is about to disappear, preserve it in his own memory and in our memories as long as he can. Mongolia painted by Quan’an brings life in harmony with the nature; a life which is essentially simple, completely dedicated and sacrificed, honest and pure, but also cruel and ruthless – if you want to survive, you have to follow the laws of nature. Tuya is a beautiful young woman who wants to break this vicious circle, and it will have its consequences. What is most interesting in this beautiful love and life story is that Quan’an made it according to real people. “Tuya’s Marriage” was one of critic’s favorites, and took this year’s Golden Bear for the best film. This was not the case with the other awarded films, which was an additional disappointment. Some of them were Argentinean “The Other” by Ariel Rotter, German “Yella” of Christian Petzold and Israeli “Beaufort” of Joseph Cedar.
#3 It is interesting that the film that was not received well and very highly valued by the critics, the Korean “I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK” by Park Chan-wook, was actually the most original expression that could be seen at this year’s festival. This film deservingly won the award “Alfred Bauer” for a work of particular innovation, because everything that Chan-wook managed to put together in this film is not only exceptional and new, but his vision is one of a genius. However, the story that takes place in a psychiatric hospital where the kinky stories of his character are told with a fantastic probability, reality and convincing tone, while his ideas reach unbelievable limits, was difficult to digest for many people. It is a fact, nevertheless, that he managed to talk about the complete philosophy of living in un unbelievable way, and offered it in a fiction that basically disturbs precisely because of its fantastic touch with reality.
Mackenzie and Ruzowitzky more interesting than De Niro and Soderbergh
#4 “Hallam Foe” is the British film of David Mackenzie that won the music award. This was a bit unusual, or maybe a compensation, because this film indeed deserves a lot more. “Hallam Foe” is actually a film about an misfit teenager that seemingly does not promise anything, and that is why its original approach was a lovely surprise. Mackenzie leads this film in a very dynamic, fierce and unusual way, and all pathetic solutions in such a constellation remain on the side. Mackenzie dares to examine the dark boundaries of the upset mind and he manages to shock us with seemingly very usual things. The brilliant acting of Jamie Bell as the teenager certainly contributes to it. One of the better films this year was the Austrian “The Counterfeiters” of Stefan Ruzowitzky, who took us back to concentration camps again, in a quite different way. Ruzowitzky tells the real story of Salomon Sorovich and the well-known “Bernard Operation” when the Germans wanted to destroy British economy; he shows quite a different world in the camp, a different logic and battle that has the same intensity, but different psychology.
#5 War is the topic of the films of Steven Sodrebergh “The Good German” and Robert De Niro’s “The Good Shepherd”, films that were big favorites, but nevertheless failed to meet the expectations. Sodrebergh made his film in the destroyed post-war Berlin during the Potsdam peace conference, in black and white and in the film noir style, but except the pretentious secrecy and the tributes to stars like Marlene Dietrich and Humphrey Bogart, he did not manage to give his film the necessary intriguing power. It seems that, wanting to make this thriller more intricate and more challenging, and to authentically present the film time of events, he loses himself in his own labyrinth and he does not mange to complete his characters and event, leaving them pale and unconvincing. Robert De Niro, on the other hand, in his story about the birth of CIA #6, where the focus is on the fact that sooner or later it eats its children, has a very personal, boring and monotonous approach. Nothing from the expected conspiracy, excitement or revealing, it is a film seem through the eyes of the agent played by Mat Damon, and a film completely turned to his inner psychological state. Robeet De Niro, with his gradual and systematic approach seems to want to give this film epic dimensions; however, it is far from what it aspires to as a script and as a director’s work, and even in terms of acting, although it won the outstanding artistic contribution award in Berlin (besides Damon, other actors are Angelina Jolie, Timothy Hutton and the German Martina Gedeck).