International Film Festival Rotterdam 2014


Capsule reviews by 
LAURENCE WEAVER / LW
CHRISTOPHER TUBB / CT

Including: Anatomy of a Paperclip, Au revoir l'ete/Hotori no sakuko, Blue Ruin, Fish and Cat, The Great Passage, Heli, Helium, Liar's Dice, Real, Rags and Tatters, Stella Cadente, To Kill a Man, Whispers Behind the Wall… 

Anatomy of a Paperclip
Akira Ikeda / Japan / 2013

Imagine Wes Anderson, David Lynch and Hayao Miyazaki had a baby and it then decided to make an incredibly low budget "neo-folk" Japanese film. You have just imagined something close to Ikeda Akira’s peculiarly brilliant first feature film. Anatomy of a Paperclip tells story of Kogure, a paperclip bender in a paperclip factory, who never stands up for himself and lets life wash over him without question. One day he lets a butterfly into his apartment, which then turns into a woman who he has trouble communicating with. He can not understand her when she talks. What ensues is beyond deadpan; actors playing cardboard cut-outs and theatre-like staging. The lack of emotion from our hero whenever he is on the receiving end of abuse, such as being mugged or beaten up (which is often), makes you root for him to stand up for himself. This film is an unusual watch and an experience definitely worth having / LW

---

Au revoir L’ete (Hotori no sakuko)
Koji Fukada / Japan / 2013

Au revoir l’ete is a simple romance told in the style of a visual diary. Sakuko (Fumi Nikaido) goes to visit her aunt in a small coastal town for a week during the summer. Although she is meant to be studying, she finds an array of things to take up her time and occupy her mind. The story shows the burgeoning romance between Sakuko and the shy Takashi (Taiga Nakano), a refugee from Fukushi, and the complex relationships between the inhabitants of this time. This film is somewhat reminiscent of Before Sunrise (1995) with its focus on dialogue-driven scenes while characters walk around a picturesque town. Au revoir l’ete is a heartfelt romance spiced with moments of comedy. It is a visual delight with beautiful mis-en-scene that is brought to life by the precise cinematography and warming performances / CT 

---

Blue Ruin
Jeremy Saulnier / USA / 2013

The classic revenge thriller gets an refreshing re-evaluation. Writer-director Jeremy Saulnier takes you on a journey into the psyche of a homeless man Dwight (Macon Blair) who hears that a murderer he shares a past with is soon to be released from prison. Dwight gives up his peaceful life on the fringes of society to enact revenge and set off a chain of events that are both darkly comic and gritty in their depiction of violence. Gone are the unflappable heroes of Hollywood blockbusters and the clear cut lines between good and bad. They are replaced with a lead character haunted by his decisions and antagonists that we are forced to see as regular human beings. All of this is accomplished with art house realism and a surprising level of polish. You will be talking about some moments from this film for days / LW

---

Fish and Cat
Shahram Mokri / USA / 2013

Sold as a horror, Fish and Cat offers an experiment to tell a non-linear story in one long two-hour shot. The film opens with two shady looking men carrying a bag dripping with what looks like blood and talking about characters we do not meet for another hour and a half. Some of these walking scenes (due to the lack of cuts) seem very drawn out, verging on banal. When they are repeated later on in the film at a slightly different angle it makes it even worse. As we are drawn into the story of a kite festival, the film moves away from horror and into a dialogue-driven story with some relatively interesting social commentary. Russian Ark (2002) this is not, but it is still very admirable filmmaking to come out of Iran / LW 

---

The Great Passage 
Yûya Ishii / Japan / 2013

Japanese drama about the creation of a modern dictionary. This could at first glance seem like an incredibly mundane film, however The Great Passage has an outstanding cast, script, and a lot of heart. Mitsuya Majime (Ryuhei Matsuda) is a shy individual and finds it hard to talk to anyone other than his elderly landlady. At work he is transferred to the dictionary department for his degree in Linguistics. When the landlady’s daughter Kaguya Hayashi (Aoi Miyazaki) arrives, Mitsuya becomes intrigued by her. His character development is a highlight of the film as we watch him become more outgoing and driven as he finds himself trying to define "love" for the dictionary. This film offers a charming romance story and it makes the seemingly simple, but surprisingly complex, act of defining words and creating a dictionary fascinating / CT

---

Heli
Amat Escalante / Mexico / 2013

Winner of the Best Director accolade at Cannes Film Festival, this relentlessly depressing exploration into Mexican drug-fuelled violence hits you with a one-two punch that leaves you reeling. You have no time to recover as the titular Heli gets (Armando Espitia) dragged into a fight he did not want any part of. This is definitely not a film for the lighthearted. Sections of it become uncomfortable to watch, for good or for bad. The film goes out of its way to have commentary on the anarchy of Mexican violence and the response from the police, portraying a very miserable existence. Despite that, the film offers some uplifting moments, even as it misses the mark towards the end / LW

---

Helium
Eché  Janga  / Netherlands / 2014

This gangster film shows the existential crisis of mob boss Frans Weeling (Hans Dagelet) while he is hiding out at a quiet Dutch island holiday park, with his inevitable return to the city looming over him. Helium's major attraction is Hans Dagelet’s stoical portrayal of a crime lord out of his comfort zone, affected by circumstances out of his control. However, the story has little real goal and this means it can be easy to lose interest. A fairly interesting crime drama with outstanding acting from all the cast / CT

---

Liar's Dice
Geethu Mohandas / India / 2014

Liar's Dice is an Indian road movie that follows Kamala (Geetanjali Thapa) travelling with her young daughter Manya (Manya Gupta), while she looks for her missing husband. She travels from her small village to the vast city of Delhi hopelessly trying to find any crucial information she can follow. On the way she meets the mysterious Nawazuddin (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) who she takes an instant disliking to but, in desperation, allows him to escort her. Although he tries to show some tenderness toward her, he can barely stand her either. The relationship between these two is the real highlight of the film. The juxtaposing of personalities creates great chemistry on screen, especially the explosive clashes between them. However, the inconsistent camera quality and the meandering story make some parts of the film difficult to watch. Overall the film manages to represent challenging real life situations in India whilst keeping the audience engaged, wondering what Kamala will find out next / CT

---

Real 
Kurosawa Kiyoshi / Japan / 2013

Real has been described as a mix between The Matrix (1999) and Inception (2010) and has the originality of neither. The film presents us with an unusual story where the protagonists enter the mind of a comatose character who has attempted suicide. The protagonists seek to find out their patient's motives for trying to kill themselves some months previously. This film encounters many of the problems faced by modern Hollywood blockbusters with obvious twists, pointless pseudoscience and plenty of special effects. Real just about manages to keep you from drifting in to a coma / CT

---

Rags and Tatters
Ahmad Abdalla / Egypt / 2013

Rags and Tatters shows an almost dystopian view of modern Egypt where the very act of survival is a daily challenge. The film is based during the 2011 Egyptian revolution around the nameless protagonist (Asser Yassin) who wanders around Cairo not as a typical hero but as a man who just wishes to keep his family safe. This task is difficult in such a deadly landscape with danger around every corner. During the revolution, the director of the film was a volunteer in a media camp, collecting footage taken on mobile phones by real citizens. He edited them and sent them to broadcasters around the world. This experience is clearly shown in this film in both style and content, with one of the main messages being to raise awareness if you see such atrocities. Rags and Tatters is an absorbing trip to a bleak, broken Egypt not often portrayed on screen / CT

---

Stella Cadente
Luis Miñarro / Catalan / Spain / 2014

Stella Cadente is an unconventional historical film about the short and ill-fated reign of Amadeo I King of Spain (Alex Bredemühl). When the king attempts to rule, he is challenged by corrupt politicians; he wants to help the nation but cannot. The historical film's unusual nature comes from its constant surprises. The beautiful, tranquil mise-en-scene is suddenly juxtaposed with modern music when the king starts dancing joyously, and to shock the audience further we later find out this was after he heard some tragic news. While this playfulness might not be to everyone’s taste and some may prefer to see a more serious historical drama with less distracting divergences. Stella Cadente is an enjoyable highly stylised and individual historical film / CT   

---

To Kill a Man
Alejandro Fernández Alemendras / France/Chile / 2014

What would it be like to kill another human? To Kill a Man asks this question by showing the motives, the murder and the moral and emotional repercussions of this. Jorge (Daniel Candia) is a quiet, unassuming family man whose life is ruined by street thugs who have invaded his neighborhood. Kalule (Daniel Antivilo), the gang leader of these thugs, begins a reign of terror on Jorge and his family. Kalule almost kills Jorge’s son and the attacks culminate in the sexual assault of Jorge’s daughter. The authorities fail to deliver justice so Jorge feels he must take matters in to his own hands. The film is based loosely on true events and unlike many Hollywood films, in which murder is quick and action-based, this film shows the feelings and implications involved in the act of killing another human / CT   

---

Whispers Behind the Wall
Grzegorz Muskala / Germany / 2013

Whispers Behind the Wall takes us into a claustrophobic apartment in Berlin where Martin (Vincent Redetzki), a student who is desperate for a cheap place to stay, finds himself crossing paths with his incredibly dangerous landlady Simone (Katharina Heyer). As Martin falls madly in love with Simone he is plunged into a web of lies. The film borrows from many thriller classics such as Rear Window (1954) and The Shining (1980) in both theme and composition and these references would be distracting if they were not handled so well. The tension builds gradually to an ultimately disappointing crescendo but the ride there is full of red herrings and surprisingly funny moments / LW 

---