12:08 East of Bucharest, Day Night Day Night
12:08 East of Bucharest ****
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
89 Minutes
Not Rated-Language
Something is happening to international cinema and that is Romania. I have decided to see every single Romanian film that I am able to see on the big screen, as every one I see ends up being its own gem. With last years "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu," which ended up on my top ten list of last year, and now "12:08 East of Bucharest," I have seen two well crafted comedies-maybe not laugh out loud ones, but both little masterpieces that demand several viewings to catch everything. I am already making plans to see "12:08" once again, especially for the second act which is probably one of the most subtle scenes in cinema history that literally demands three eyes to see the three focal points of it. "12:08 East of Bucharest" is the story of three men living in a small Romanian town. First there is Emanoil Piscoci, an old man that is mostly known in the town as once playing Santa Clause for the kids. Then there is Tiberiu Manescu, a town history teacher that drinks a lot and is in debt to more people than he has fingers. Both of these men are invited onto a talk show hosted by Virgil Jderescu to discuss if their town has anything to do with the uprising in Bucharest sixteen years ago.
The first forty five minutes depicts a normal day for these men, and it is clear that none of them are anything special to have anything to do with a revolution. Even Virgil, who seems to have success because of his talk show gig, is really just a former textile worker than hates when his past is mentioned. He is a phony, using philosophy books to try and bring profound quotes to the start of every show. His day consists of trying to get laid by one of the camerawomen on his show. The second half then focuses on the actual talk show itself-told in a real forty five minute length of time. While it may seem like a grueling process, the scene is a masterpiece unto its own, with each character doing their own thing throughout. While Manescu is trying to tell a story while being disproved by at least four callers, the old man is folding paper into hats or ripping it into shreds, which needs to be blown away by one of the stagehands. Dialogue aside, which is constantly clever, the face work of all three needs to be studied, and I wish I had three sets of eyes to be able to watch all of them at once. And you ask yourself the question-how could this town have been part of a revolution when these are the types of people who are inside of it? It was such a joy to watch this film, and this is certainly going to be a film that does actually carry to the end of the year on the best of list. I look forward to "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days," which won top prizes at this years Cannes. Romania is turning into a powerhouse for film, and I await the next one.
Day Night Day Night ***
Directed by Julia Loktev
94 Minutes
Not Rated-Intense Themes
I finally got to see "Day Night Day Night," after weeks and weeks of putting it off. The driving force behind finally getting to it was the voice of the wisest man I know related to film who told me that he saw it months ago and that it was good. I kept this in my head every time IFC Center renewed it for another week. I must say that this is not a new story-and ever since 9/11 I have been exposed to three films on the subject-the other two being "The War Within" and "Paradise Now." But for the first time I actually found myself emotionally involved with the film, holding my breath through the last half, and not having any moral drilled down my throat. This is a quiet film of observation, and not one that has a sappy ending or not one with overly emotional supporting characters. Let me just say what the subject is-this is the story of a potential terrorist, who is planning on blowing up Times Square. Known only as "She," she goes to a hotel room awaiting instructions from a bunch of masked men. She does little things-clips her nails, takes a shower, eats pizza-until she is giving a bomb in a backpack and then told to go to Times Square where she has a CD player that is the trigger for the bomb on her back. It is during the second night where she is told to do this, and it is during the second night where she begins to reconsider.
Unlike "The War Within" and "Paradise Now," this film does not try to give you sympathy for the terrorist. Instead it just instructs you to watch her, with most of the emotion and her somewhat turn for the good depicted through her silence and through her facial expression. I admired that there was no music to try and sway your emotions, you just had to rely on the acting. Lusia Williams, who plays She, is acting in her first film, and by the looks of her it seems as if she's been in a hundred. I can see people criticizing it for "not having enough action." After all, the second half is basically her walking around Times Square. But there is actually strong character development going on through these scenes-there is a reason she walks into a candy shop and buys a candy apple, savouring every last bite. She is trying to recapture some kind of youth, as well as enjoying something she probably loved as a kid, right before her death. She is going back to an innocent time as she spends her money on ice cream and candy. It is a challenge for the audience to find sympathy for She because everything is done so subtly, but if you look hard enough you really know volumes about her. The finale is intense because you do not know how it will end-both "The War Within" and "Paradise Now" were obvious. And even though the ending is somewhat ambiguous, it was satisfying and made you think. But not drilling a moral down our throats, "Day Night Day Night" is a haunting success. And its actually a shame that the final show was today at IFC Center, because everybody will have to wait after my recommendation.
Directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
89 Minutes
Not Rated-Language
Something is happening to international cinema and that is Romania. I have decided to see every single Romanian film that I am able to see on the big screen, as every one I see ends up being its own gem. With last years "The Death of Mr. Lazarescu," which ended up on my top ten list of last year, and now "12:08 East of Bucharest," I have seen two well crafted comedies-maybe not laugh out loud ones, but both little masterpieces that demand several viewings to catch everything. I am already making plans to see "12:08" once again, especially for the second act which is probably one of the most subtle scenes in cinema history that literally demands three eyes to see the three focal points of it. "12:08 East of Bucharest" is the story of three men living in a small Romanian town. First there is Emanoil Piscoci, an old man that is mostly known in the town as once playing Santa Clause for the kids. Then there is Tiberiu Manescu, a town history teacher that drinks a lot and is in debt to more people than he has fingers. Both of these men are invited onto a talk show hosted by Virgil Jderescu to discuss if their town has anything to do with the uprising in Bucharest sixteen years ago.
The first forty five minutes depicts a normal day for these men, and it is clear that none of them are anything special to have anything to do with a revolution. Even Virgil, who seems to have success because of his talk show gig, is really just a former textile worker than hates when his past is mentioned. He is a phony, using philosophy books to try and bring profound quotes to the start of every show. His day consists of trying to get laid by one of the camerawomen on his show. The second half then focuses on the actual talk show itself-told in a real forty five minute length of time. While it may seem like a grueling process, the scene is a masterpiece unto its own, with each character doing their own thing throughout. While Manescu is trying to tell a story while being disproved by at least four callers, the old man is folding paper into hats or ripping it into shreds, which needs to be blown away by one of the stagehands. Dialogue aside, which is constantly clever, the face work of all three needs to be studied, and I wish I had three sets of eyes to be able to watch all of them at once. And you ask yourself the question-how could this town have been part of a revolution when these are the types of people who are inside of it? It was such a joy to watch this film, and this is certainly going to be a film that does actually carry to the end of the year on the best of list. I look forward to "4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days," which won top prizes at this years Cannes. Romania is turning into a powerhouse for film, and I await the next one.
Day Night Day Night ***
Directed by Julia Loktev
94 Minutes
Not Rated-Intense Themes
I finally got to see "Day Night Day Night," after weeks and weeks of putting it off. The driving force behind finally getting to it was the voice of the wisest man I know related to film who told me that he saw it months ago and that it was good. I kept this in my head every time IFC Center renewed it for another week. I must say that this is not a new story-and ever since 9/11 I have been exposed to three films on the subject-the other two being "The War Within" and "Paradise Now." But for the first time I actually found myself emotionally involved with the film, holding my breath through the last half, and not having any moral drilled down my throat. This is a quiet film of observation, and not one that has a sappy ending or not one with overly emotional supporting characters. Let me just say what the subject is-this is the story of a potential terrorist, who is planning on blowing up Times Square. Known only as "She," she goes to a hotel room awaiting instructions from a bunch of masked men. She does little things-clips her nails, takes a shower, eats pizza-until she is giving a bomb in a backpack and then told to go to Times Square where she has a CD player that is the trigger for the bomb on her back. It is during the second night where she is told to do this, and it is during the second night where she begins to reconsider.
Unlike "The War Within" and "Paradise Now," this film does not try to give you sympathy for the terrorist. Instead it just instructs you to watch her, with most of the emotion and her somewhat turn for the good depicted through her silence and through her facial expression. I admired that there was no music to try and sway your emotions, you just had to rely on the acting. Lusia Williams, who plays She, is acting in her first film, and by the looks of her it seems as if she's been in a hundred. I can see people criticizing it for "not having enough action." After all, the second half is basically her walking around Times Square. But there is actually strong character development going on through these scenes-there is a reason she walks into a candy shop and buys a candy apple, savouring every last bite. She is trying to recapture some kind of youth, as well as enjoying something she probably loved as a kid, right before her death. She is going back to an innocent time as she spends her money on ice cream and candy. It is a challenge for the audience to find sympathy for She because everything is done so subtly, but if you look hard enough you really know volumes about her. The finale is intense because you do not know how it will end-both "The War Within" and "Paradise Now" were obvious. And even though the ending is somewhat ambiguous, it was satisfying and made you think. But not drilling a moral down our throats, "Day Night Day Night" is a haunting success. And its actually a shame that the final show was today at IFC Center, because everybody will have to wait after my recommendation.
posted by Eric at
2:59 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home