2 February: A Portugesa/The Portugese Woman (dir. Rita Azevedo Gomes) is a perfect film for no one to see. Visually impressive, technically very sound, aloof, void of any emotion, too long. This film is over 2 hours when it has no reason not to be only 90 minutes... I think a skilled editor could have a field day with this, because it was exhausting to watch as is. European premiere, stacked, I might've just been the youngest person there. We left early and missed the Q&A so we could cue for Flatland. Alicia described it to Chris as "Medieval Boredom: the film" when we went out for burgers later that day (I had the organic jalapenos burger with "funky" fries, which I've been told is a Berlin euphemism for "a bucketload of garlic sauce.") I like the idea of film being a living Renaissance painting, with people just walking in and out of frame. Like it when you can go, "No cuts!" when the camera just pans along with the scene for a long time. But, you know, I don't think anything can and should go; I don't think that everyone can pull of this style AS substance thing. I'm glad I saw this here, so I never have to watch it again.
2 February: Flatland (dir. Jenna Bass) can and should be picked up by Netflix. It's exactly the sort of "hidden gem" art house film that would thrive on there. It's funny and a bit raw and, more importantly, it absolutely owns. When the credits rolled I was pleasantly surprised by the number of women listed as crew (writer/director Jenna Bass and cinematographer Sarah Cunningham, among others). Of all the movies I saw I would be the most disappointed if this one doesn't get picked up.
9 february: Το Θαύμα της Θάλασσας των Σαργασσών/The Miracle of the Sargasso Sea (dir. Syllas Tzoumerkas) exists. Like, it's definitely out there. I was also definitely there when it premiered. From where I was sitting I thought that the director looked like a younger Patrick Oswalt... It's kind of telling that I have so little to say about a film that does so much. Because of some inane inside-joke (prompted by a tweet exclaiming "Eels! Eels! Eels!" that crossed my timeline the day I left for Berlin and a movie description that sold this as a movie about eels) this will forever be affectionaly known as "the eels movie," even if, I'm sad to report, it actually doesn't have a whole lot to do with eels.
February 3: Olanda (dir. Bernd Schoch) is a masterpiece. It's also never gonna get picked up. It's very long, but I think something cool happens when a film is this light on plot, actually just atmospheric, and that long. Olanda drops its title card about two hours into the film, and I can't stop thinking about it. Bravo to the cameramen and the cinematographer, they're onto something.
February 3: Celle Que Vous Croyez/Who You Think I Am (dir. Safy Nebbou) premiere with Juliette Binoche present. I was planning on taking her seat name card with me after it was finished, but someone beat me to it. Alicia didn't like this film. I did. Binoche is a literature professor teaching "Les liaisons dangereuses" throughout the film to contrast with the rest of the plot, so yeah, sure, it's on the nose and not very deep. But isn't it enough for a film to just be satisfying to watch sometime? [Note from future Laurel: journal entry goes off the rails after this...]
February 4: Vice (dir. Adam Mckay) is a film designed to piss you off. I didn't like it! I think it's a very strange way to go about making movies! But I do enjoy seeing Jesse Plemons in things. There's a moment about 1/4th in where the film fakes rolling the credits (to signify an alternate course of history in which there would be no story left to tell, it's clearly played as a joke) and everyone around me - film critics, legit journalists - start clapping. Pretty surreal moment, if you ask me. I can't imagine being paid to professionally write about film, and really think a film with a stacked cast like this one would be about 30 minutes long and allowed to enter the competition. I know this is going to be nominated for a bunch of stuff, but there's only one prize it really deserves to win: that of trailer of the year. Phenomal use of 'The Man' by The Killers.
