The Golden Bear at this year’s Berlinale goes to “On Body And Soul” by Hungarian director Ildikó Enyedi. Finally, a winner movie that I’ve actually seen during the last 10 days and one which would have been lost in other editions of the festival. But does this really mean that the 67th Berlinale was weaker…
So far, there are three movies that to me were clearly far above average and worth to see several times: “Final Portrait” by Stanley Tucci, “The Party” by Sally Potter, and “God’s Own Country” by Francis Lee. In “Final Portrait”, Geoffrey Rush plays Swiss artist Alberto Giacometti who wants to portray American art writer James…
Strong documentaries have always been the forte at Berlinale’s Panorama section and Jochen Hick is back with a look on 40+ years of queer culture in what was formerly known as West Berlin (“My Wonderful West Berlin“). And it’s great to see so many of the legendary or nearly-legendary venues and clubs (I moved to…
It is a difficult decision the two pairs have to make since their children committed a brutal crime years ago. What is the best way to deal with that? Live on with the guilt on your back or turn them in? It is the reason why the four meet for dinner in this hilariously posh…
Chavela Vargas had this rare ability to move her audiences to tears. Why? Because to her, solitude was her only friend. The only thing that gave her comfort. Well, maybe at least for a longer stretch in her life, it was the tequila as well. Born in Costa Rica, abandoned by her parents, she ran…
“Let’s go to the movies and dream a little”, says Django Reinhardt (Reda Kateb) to his old girlfriend Louise de Clerk (Cécile de France), maybe trying to shy away from taking decisions. Even though he already had decided not to go on tour in Nazi Germany, but instead stay in France and then, as the political…
At the end of “Miles Ahead”, writer, producer and actor Don Cheadle has various artists, both ex-accompanists and the new generation, celebrate a sort of comeback for the trumpet meister: musical director of the movie Robert Glasper, Antonio Sanchez, Esperanza Spalding, Kendrick Scott, Herbie Hancock, and Wayne Shorter all play a short part in this…
It’s really funny and interesting: all the scenes where a lot of blood was involved in all of the movies I saw at this year’s Berlin Film Festival so far had the same problem: they were not authentic. Whereas other viewers had awkward feelings because of what was going on on screen, I either had to…
The more interesting and fulfilling movies on day 5 of this year’s Berlinale were once again programmed in the Panorama section. Rebecca Miller‘s “Maggie’s Plan” is about 30-something single woman Maggie (Greta Gerwig) from Brooklyn (craft bier and Bavarian pickles say hello) who wants to have her first child but after a series of bad…
And finally there is a really strong German movie in the competition of this year’s Berlin Film Festival. And it is the only German movie participating. And it deserves at least a prize for best actress. Julia Jentsch is going through hell and back with playing Astrid, a young mother who finds out that her…