Waiting for the Bears

A week and two days ago I engaged on a journey that would bring me for my first time to the Berlinale. I didn’t really know what to expect from the festival and its selection, since all movies sound amazing in their press release, but I was nonetheless excited to see that there was a link established between art-house and mainstream cinema through the presence of True Grit and Unknown. After seeing 15 of the 22 films from the official program (my greatest omission being the above mentioned True Grit which I knew was waiting for me in cinemas back home) I can safely say that I still have no clue what got some movies selected at Berlinale and others not. I would however venture to say that unlike other film festivals I’ve attended, there seems to have been here a vision of the overall program, a wish to let the films relate to each-other, a desire to make the audience think not only of each piece in particular but in the context of the other movies as well.

Most of the films belonged to the fiction category, but documentaries and animation features were not forgotten either. Coincidently or not, both the documentary Pina –a visual experience in the dance universe of the famous choreographer Pina Bausch – and the animation Tales of the Night – a collection of folklore stories coming from different ages and countries, were done in 3D as if to show this technique can do more than sell tickets and generate Hollywood block-busters. Some of the stories, such as JC Chandor’s Margin Call and Lee Yoon-ki Come Rain, Come Shine discussed actions occurring in a couple of hours, while others like If Not Us, Who (d. Andres Veiel) and Coriolanus (d. Ralph Fiennes) covered durations of several months and even years. Three of the movies dealt with traditions and the specificity of the spaces we live in, but while Nader and Simin: A Separation and The Forgiveness of Blood shared a dramatic approach upon events, Almanya – Willkommen in Detschland used humor for a tragi-comical vision of cultures and nationalities. However, probably the most important ideas to depict out of this year’s line-up deal with politics and money matters. The 61st Berlinale shows that high-budget ambitious projects as Unknown and If Not Us, Who can still share the same spotlight with lower profile productions like The Future and El Premio. At the same time, the festival acknowledges that while war and violence are still part of our daily existence even if only as news items, we can never have enough movies dealing with the politics behind the WWII (My Best Enemy), Roman Empire civil fights (Coriolanus) or the early German terrorism of the 60s (If Not Us, Who).

The question still remains:”Who will take home the Golden and Silver Bears?” or should we better ask ourselves who actually deserves these important distinctions. Certainly not, in my opinion, Lipstick or Come Rain, Come Shine two movies that tell too little in too much time. Coriolanus, Sleeping Sickness and Innocent Saturday all started with great and interesting ideas, but for some reason didn’t manage to keep the high standard all the way to the end. I both admired and enjoyed If Not Us, Who which made interesting attempts to bring closer the commercial and artistic cinema, however I would be surprised if it would actually win. Also The Future and Tales of The Night don’t seem like having strong chances of getting the Bears despite their particular and unique style. As much as I hate to admit it I also doubt my favorite Berlinale discovery Margin Call has a strong enough story and message to get the votes of the jury, although JC Chandor’s performance of gathering and directing such a strong cast is worthy of at least the award for first feature. So out of the things I’ve seen, my mind says the winners should come from the El Premio, Nader and Simin: A Separation and The Forgiveness of Blood group, but my gut feeling thinks it might just be Victoria Mahoney’s Yelling to The Sky lucky night!