JvH48's Reviews

The Hypnosis (2023)

6/10

Story confused me half the time. Went not in a direction I expected. It seems some are stayed confused, still mistaken about filmmaker's intentions. It may include me, too

6 May 2024

At least half the running time of Hypnosen / The Hypnosis, I thought seeing a movie made by Seidl or Haneke, the famous Austrian film makers who make you feel uncomfortable while watching, yet make you stay until the very end and endure the proceedings. Later in the story, the intentions became clearer, to turn into social commentary. And still later, it changed its purpose again (I think), telling us to drop our social harness.

For lots of reasons we can consider this movie as social commentary indeed, though more or less in disguise. Firstly, it went farther than only exposing the nonsensical culture of sales pitches before an assembly of investors who are eagerly looking for the next niche product that makes them rich and look successful. That alone could have been the subject of a feature length movie. It is the way startups are born, or grow too fast due to greedy investors and meet a stop block. Secondly, another nice topic exposed here is that attending a seminar to practice and iteratively bring the sales pitch to perfection, under the guidance of a renowned guru (or self-acclaimed expert?), is a useless industry and a waste of time and effort too.

Storytelling wise, I was glad to see several plot elements proficiently used. One example was the same Internet/WiFi router appearing twice in two different but important scenes. A second example was the "appearance" of imaginary dogs (mind the quotes, the "dogs" were imaginary), coming about in two also different but even more important scenes.

Apart from the social commentary, there is more interesting stuff. I deduce that the crucial takeaway from the hypnosis session was not getting rid of a smoking habit, but rather loosening the harness we find ourselves in when in company, and especially in situations we are used to call "social" interactions. Not until 3/4 of the running time before the pieces fell in their proper place. It perfectly fits the story with both imaginary dogs that we see before and after this explanation, at least that is as I experienced it in hindsight.

Yet, the final score for me is a 6/10, mainly because I needed some time to grasp what it was all about. It took relatively long to get where the film makers wanted us to be. And I suspect that this happened to others as well. Maybe that is why the movie seems to be misunderstood, a feeling that I got when asking around after leaving the venue. Similarly, the user reviews on IMDB are also mostly beyond the point as I see it. However, maybe I got the message or the morale of this movie wrong as well.

All in all, ample humor and unexpected plot twists kept me awake, eagerly waiting for the next surprise. I was not disappointed, despite being a fan of the SciFi and Horror genre in general, that this time the hypnosis did not plant something evil or dangerous. The plot drove us in a totally different direction, much better suiting the ingredients.

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Concrete Utopia (2023)

9/10

Perfect dystopian situation to test our own thoughts how we would behave there, and many other existential questions

9 April 2024

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. The story keeps focus on a small subset of protagonists, a good thing for viewer involvement, but not realistic and possibly counter-productive for our interest. Given the diverse inhabitants of the apartment block, there would have been enough potential human material to zoom in on others, and still being able to maintain our interest for even more than the current two hours runtime.

I found the flashbacks around #902 (The Delegate) confusing, yet logical in hindsight while his membership of the community is challenged much later in the story, and with reason. I'm still wondering about placing these flashbacks somewhere else in the script to make more sense and provide for solid context, contrary to the fact that we now are forced to connect the dots in retrospect. It may be so that a 2nd viewing would confirm that the approach chosen by the film makers is the best (speculating now).

During the screening my thoughts centered around a similar plot in Phase 7/Fase 7 (Nicolás Goldbart 2010) I saw in 2011, also about a quarantined apartment block. However, reading back the notes that I made at the time, I realize that the similarities are superficial, and that the differences prevail.

It seems odd that the apartment building enjoys electricity all the time, though standing in the middle of a world that seems dystopian and devoid of all structured civilization. On the other hand, keeping electricity up and running is better storytelling wise. It emphasizes the extras this story has to offer, rather than letting utter darkness distract us as well as the inhabitants. Think of collective decision making and building up defenses against the outer world, which is the real core of the plot. It is interesting to see how the community works here, and what existential arguments we can think of to applaud their approach, or not. They act basically rational but not humanistic and certainly not sustainable over a longer time Still, they achieve more than I could ever have assumed, despite the unavoidable setbacks they have to deal with.

All in all, food for thought, wondering how I would have behaved myself in such a situation. Dystopian worlds are very suitable to ask those existential questions, never expecting a solid answer, but anyway. The filmmakers could have opted for following more protagonists, thereby possible losing focus and confusing us with an overload of habitants, each having their own history and personalities. We'll never know how that would have worked out. I scored 5/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue.

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Mami Wata (2023)

8/10

Interesting view on African folklore. Good storytelling and no time to be bored. Modern trends take over some of the time, yet not always for the better

9 April 2024

Warning: Spoilers

Saw this at the Imagine filmfestival 2023 in Amsterdam. For starters, I want to overlook the black&white photography and the obligatory non-standard format, which I always connect with: Watch Me Being Different or telling us: This Means Something. Such outward appearances yield minus points with me. So, despite several reasons to score a 5/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue, I gave a 4/5 (good, but not excellent).

Luckily, there is ample compensation. Many good things lie in the storytelling. Out of a seemingly predictable plot, something very useful is made. Take a warlord misleading a village, by promising hospitals and schools to let them give him all their possessions, after which he buys weapons instead. The story is told in a way that is compelling and constantly moving forward. I'm not sure how the film makers did it, but it worked on me, despite being a certified nerd and mostly ignorant for atmosphere.

The full film title "Mami Wata: A West African Folklore" emphasizes the central role of folklore, call it superstition if you like. It makes the movie much more interesting. Do not forget that superstition is in the eye of the beholder, so the word is not used in a demeaning way. Our western religions can also be considered a superstition variant, albeit we never think of it that way. For example, the average inhabitant of the African continent, who learns about the Christian faith, is inevitably surprised about a son of God letting himself be killed on the cross, obviously something no real God can ever allow to happen. The latter is not a topic in the movie at hand. I only wrote about it alongside this movie, when it triggered associated thoughts that certainly contributed to my appreciation.

The would-be warlord, mentioned above, devises a scheme to get rid of our main protagonist. He thereby tries to avoid an uprisal of the village, inevitable when directly killing her. He creates a challenge, something she cannot possibly survive. Luckily, she gets help and thus overcomes his dangerous scheme. Later, when he is confronted with the rightful question where the promised schools and hospitals are, her sudden live appearance undermines his once powerful position. He winds up having all the weapons he dreamt of, but suddenly facing a phenomenon beyond the reach of his guns and bullets.

All in all, it is always interesting to delve into the beliefs and traditions of other continents. What we call folklore or superstition, has other roots than our traditions we have here. Still, none are to be deemed merely primitive, and thus ripe for modernization or even dismissal. A movie like this enlarges the differences, not to dismiss other cultures, but only to let us look in the mirror and get a better insight in what we harbor here as integral part of our civilization.

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The Successor (2023)

6/10

Illogical behavior by main protagonist confuses me. Storytelling wise I'm left disappointed, but I cannot be certain that I didn't miss something important

8 April 2024

Warning: Spoilers

I'm a bit disappointed, not about the story itself but because of high praises in several reviews, talking about unexpected developments and surprising plot twists. Maybe I'm becoming a bit blasé about scary findings in cellars, having seen too many Horror and Thriller movies. In other words, I was simply expecting too much. My score 6/10 is due to several unclarities, for example in suggested links between father and son, e.g. Common heart problems. This seemed completely unnecessary for the plot, but many reviews talk about it, so I'm left wondering what I missed.

Storytelling wise, I'm at a loss about a suggested connection between Ellias' heart problems, something he seemed to share with his father, and what he discovered in the cellar of his father's house that he inherited without asking for it. He himself showed obvious physical problems dealing with the (indeed) unexpected, in itself more than enough to digest by anyone healthy. (SPOILER ALERT: He found a woman in a concealed part of the cellar, held there in captivity.) After the initial shock, his first reaction was very correct and a very sensible thing to do: calling 911. He disconnected at once when a voice responded. As a service, 911 called back to ask what was going on and why he prematurely disconnected (maybe he could not speak freely??). Alas, he denied having a problem and hung up. After that, he started a series of actions, with the best intentions but mostly ill-advised and potentially risky (in spite of the helmet he did put on his head before entering). It all went nowhere, making things more than worse. And eventually the situation became irreparable.

What I'm still not certain of was whether the woman in the cellar was the missing daughter of his father's friend. If that really was the case, this is indeed an unexpected (and very tragic) plot twist. It may explain the continuous sobbing by Ellias during the funeral service, which could not have been caused by grief, as he did not see this father in 20 years, so no real family bonding to speak of. The friend of his father held a speech about how thankful he was for our Ellias' father support after his daughter went missing, and I assume Ellias realized that his former actions in the cellar, prevented a nice solution for the problems his father's friend had, knowing the woman was now buried and was never to be returned alive. However, all this is a reconstruction after the fact, on the lookout for what I think I missed in the story (did I not pay enough attention?? Or was the story telling too obscure??).

Many of the problematic actions by Ellias, no matter how illogical, were a direct consequence of the very confined time frame he had: flying to Canada, reading the will, preparing the funeral, and clearing out the house he inherited. He gave all inventory to a charity who picked It up the same day, in order to put the house on the market and allowing him to return home and to his company. It all caused still more pressure on him, because he did not want them to discover the secrets he found in the cellar. While dealing with all that, he had to also pay attention to the publications around his recent fashion show. In short, no time to breathe and no time to contemplate about doing the right thing. The probably well-meant contact attempts of the woman living next door as well as his father's friend, were effectively only a nuisance and a distraction, creating extra pressure on his timelines.

All in all, I'm not certain I missed something important, hence the 6/10 score. The story contained several illogical and unexplained events. Still, I'm left confused due to the various high praises from reviewers.

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No Other Land (2024)

8/10

Impressive and unique footage showing how Israel evicts villagers in the West Bank, turning the law around to ignore the rightful ownership of the people living there

3 April 2024

Saw this at the Movies That Matter 2024 filmfestival in The Hague. Impressive and unique footage about what happens on the West Bank, particularly urgent nowadays when our newspapers and talk shows are focused on Gaza. As a logical consequence, the West Bank does not really exist for us, despite many similarities. In both areas, Israelian politics are steadily turning the law against the people living there. And we, at a safe distance, let it be and easily ignore the suffering and the constant humiliation of the Palestinians.

What happens in the West Bank is rarely shown on TV or written about in newspapers. The footage in the movie at hand is unique and exposes how Israel turns the law around. They completely disregard the villagers and their rightful ownership, forcing complete households to move to caves, short of better options, while their houses are bulldozered one by one. Each time the army and bulldozers arrive, it is uncertain until the last moment which houses are to be destroyed.

The soldiers who accompany the bulldozers are briefed that the people live there in illegally built houses. It is thus useless to yell at the soldiers and to call on their conscience, as they are spineless tools. The soldiers repeatedly say to people resisting that they only had to ask for an army permit, and all would be solved (but villagers know, and we know, that such a permit will never be issued).

The politics behind the forced evacuation is appalling. We learn from secret documents that annexing that piece of land was not really intended to create a training area for the army, as repeatedly told by the invaders. Instead, its only purpose was to prevent the village from expanding.

An issue that came about in the Q&A was if and how this footage can serve in a judicial investigation to establish war crimes against the Palestinians. New to me was that a considerable part of the soldiers involved are international and not native Israelian. Based on this material, they can be identified. Their acts can be prosecuted as it is generally deemed unlawful how Israel comes to these eviction orders.

During the Q&A a very different important question was asked: how do you explain all this to the kids?? Denial is impossible, as they see it happen before their eyes. Anyway, it all leaves us speechless when we leave the venue after the screening. It happened for many years already, and still happens as shown here. It is even reinforced since the Gaza war, when nearby living settlers are even more than happy to help with the evictions, feeling entitled to revenge after 7th of October.

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Mediha (2023)

8/10

Complications around getting women home after being stolen by ISIS and lived in slavery. Their return with children born during their ISIS time, knows no easy solutions

2 April 2024

Saw this at the Movies That Matter 2024 filmfestival in The Hague. Lots of issues pass by in this story. Women who return after having lived years under ISIS are not always accepted by their original society, for two reasons. (1) They are generally converted (forcefully, but still) to Islam, something in their (Yazidi) beliefs you cannot simply shake off. (2) Children who came forth from their life within ISIS, are separated from their natural mother and she cannot keep them with her. Such obstacles result in alienating these women from their hometown and their own people, depriving them from a useful future. What are these women to do??

Apart from that, when trying to get these women back, it proves very difficult to find them. They usually receive new names, thereby destroying all traces back to their original life. Also, they are often sold more than once, so following their tracks is far from trivial. So-called rescuers are needed as an intermediary. We see part of this demonstrated when searching for Mediha's lost brother. Eventually they find him in Turkey, where his current "parents" are willing to give him away when granted amnesty for their ISIS misdeeds. His return is not easy for him, however, as he seriously misses his "mother". He weeps all day long while suffering homesickness. For him, this homecoming, albeit happy for the family wanting him back, works out as a stressful event. Understandably, he cannot see the big picture and cannot realize this new family is his actual natural family. Moreover, he must unlearn Turkish too, an extra complication in communicating with him.

Another angle is prosecuting the ISIS-men who stole these women from their home in the first place, forcing them into slavery, and even selling them to other men within ISIS. Some numbers were reported about cases where it was possible to identify the men in question. Alas, it was a disappointingly low number (say a handful in total). In other words, another avenue without success.

Finally, the women in question usually don't talk freely about their experiences, mostly due to commonly untreated and ignored PTSS. The main protagonist in this movie was relatively unique, being able to speak about what happened, in fact a rare example. She was able to pinpoint her captor within a long series of photos shown to her, a tedious session but it had to be done as starting point for the search. Not all women can endure this, without getting overwhelmed by emotions or PTSS.

All in all, a solid and multi-facetted overview to demonstrate the difficulties in this field. Undoing the wrongs involved, is met with very many obstacles, not alone for practical reasons but also because of cultural and religious principles. The movie's urgent message shows clearly that solutions are far away.

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Guardians of the Formula (2023)

8/10

Insightful story about dilemma's faced by scientists, wanting to forward not only science but also their own careers, at the expense of everyone and everything

2 April 2024

Saw this at the Movies That Matter 2024 filmfestival in The Hague. Insightful story about dilemma's faced by scientists, who want to forward not only science but also (and maybe foremost) their own careers, sometimes at the expense of everyone and everything. We see their interactions with politicians they need for their budget and to obtain material that is difficult to come by. Similarly, we see encounters with the secret service wanting to know all about their progress and what purpose it can serve, not always for the best of mankind, but they have leverage to get what they want to know, or to steer the project in the direction they prefer.

We see relevant issues in this context from two scientists, one behind the iron curtain and one on our side whose lives become entangled by (literally) accident. They both conclude that their encounter has a purpose. They delve deep in their motives and their conscience, equally relevant in both their respective research fields. In one of the final scenes we see a butterfly appear, not having a specific role, but carrying a hint towards us viewers that a minor flapping of a butterfly's wing can cause an avalanche or a tornado elsewhere in the world (butterfly and avalanche, both famous from chaos theory).

Neglecting family relationships is a particularly nasty habit of scientists. Our main protagonist even misses the birth of his first child. Later, when he is congratulated with the happy event, he does not even know whether it was a boy or a girl.

Even worse are their interactions with staff and others around. In contemporary terms: an unsafe work environment. With our 21st century eyes we consider their manners dubious, to say the least. We know that such norms have shifted considerably since 1958 but are also aware it still does not apply everywhere. An example from this film: firing someone in the middle of a crucial experiment when she did not address the project leader with his proper title, is not only counterproductive but is fatal in destroying a sound and safe work environment where every opinion and every employee counts.

All in all, an enlightening story in many aspects. The ancient environment anno 1958 seems to be rebuilt very well (I was 10 at the time, so my memory may fail on details). Strong and believable protagonists, each giving insight in what they want to achieve, though their ways of getting things done are not always the finest examples of pure science for the benefit of humanity. I scored a 5 out of 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue.

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Samsara (I) (2023)

6/10

Unsatisfied feelings after screening, despite or maybe due to the high praises read beforehand. Middle chapter left me nowhere, assumedly merely strange just to be strange

20 March 2024

Despite, or maybe due to, many high praises, I left the venue unsatisfied after the screening. I assume this movie is not suited for me. I could have known beforehand, with all the ominous words (meditative, moody, let yourself be carried away by image and sound, and so on) prominently present in synopsis and reviews, terms I usually avoid when booking tickets.

I appreciate the logic flow and division in three parts. The first part is enlightening and colorful, for more reasons than the orange cloths worn generally. I found the middle part the least convincing and rather a bit far-fetched. In my opinion showing something different just to be different, merely to let reviewers write about it. The third part is very down-to-earth, needing a better finale, anyway something else than a goat stranded in the middle of nowhere, with a red cord still attached as a silent reminder that humanity failed in proper care for a dumb animal entrusted to them. So far for an overview of my findings. Now for some more detail.

The first chapter shows interesting things about Buddhism and reincarnation, things we already knew but still relevant to mention. That is especially true when said by youngsters who are not brainwashed nor paid to tell these things, but talk from the heart, based on an inner sort of belief. The boy, for instance, who daily reads from a book for an ailing lady with bad eyesight, does it with an express purpose, namely guiding her to enter the process where the spirit separates from the body. As per common belief, she will then enter an "in between" state for which one better can be prepared. Implicitly, we hear other testimonies along this line, things where these youngsters firmly believe in.

The actual "in between" phase is expressed by a multitude of colors and sounds, leaving me nowhere, wondering where this is coming from and what it means. I endured it, partly with eyes closed (as instructed) partly with eyes opened (in disbelief why this was meant to tell us something). As I said before, I probably am not the right person to watch this, failing to feel along with the filmmaker's intentions. I'm a certified nerd, which can offer all the reasons you need to explain my experience.

For the third part we moved to a totally different world, Islamic and in Zambia. The implicit suggestion is that aforementioned elderly lady reincarnated into a goat. Apart from that, we get some details about life there, none very enlightening but anyway. For instance, we hear women complain that harvesting seaweed is not profitable anymore, and that they expect this even to become worse. That is why this sort of work is done by women (they say), as men always choose more profitable means of earning a living.

Compared with the first chapter, where we got some good insights in Buddhism, this third chapter is relatively superficial and outright trivial in existential issues. The child and "her" goat, connected via a long red cord, may be considered a cute couple, but it brings us nowhere. Even worse, she loses the goat eventually, resulting in a sad, wandering animal, stranded in the middle of nowhere, with little hope of being rescued. The still attached red cord works as a dangling reminder of an earlier attachment to humanity, who failed in taking proper care for an animal entrusted to them.

All in all, an original concept but that is all I can say about it. I know I'm contradicting the overall positive judgments I've read everywhere about this movie, but I don't care.

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Daaaaaali! (2023)

10/10

Precisely what I expect from this filmmaker: chronology in a story is boring. Better replace it with ample humor and confusion. Does it show the real Salvador Dahli??

14 March 2024

Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival (IFFR) 2024. I was glad to watch the newest movie of this filmmaker and find it deserving the maximum 10/10 score. Following him since Rubber (2010) which I admired greatly, I found subsequent movies suiting me less and less. That is... until today. So very happy to find him again back on track.

Dahli's basic attitude seems very well visualized (I hear from others; I know nothing of Dali). Ditto his obsession with age and his looks. We see a small painting from someone else, signed by him and being sold for 10M on an auction, demonstrating how much his signature is worth, and that its perceived value has nothing to do with the quality of the painting itself.

Nice running gag with the young journalist chasing him repeatedly for an interview, failing each time but getting a fresh chance again and again. The time paradoxes around the dream told by the priest, are a nice find too, also serving as sort of a running gag with many variations, surprising and confusing us repeatedly during the story, until and within the final credits.

All in all, chronology in filmmaking is boring; humor and confusion come instead. I scored a maximum 5 out of 5 for the audience award after the screening. And finally, a friendly advice: stay put and don't run away when the credits start rolling.

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13 Bombs (2023)

6/10

Under the hood an average action movie, adding crypto currency, terrorism and whizz kids in an attempt to attract audience relating to such contemporary elements

14 March 2024

Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival (IFFR) 2024. After the screening I scored 4 out of 5 for the audience award. In hindsight, should have been 3 because of the generous running time of nearly two and a half hours, unnecessary to get the story lines across and overly stressing our patience.

Other minus points are (a) over-reliance on crypto currency as a novel plot element, a frivolous attempt to attract new audience, plus (b) introducing whizz kids who seem to be able to do the impossible whatever device or system is put in front of them. As an ex-IT-er, I consider the latter next to impossible, especially in the finale where cables from network switches and routers are pulled in a particular order, to prevent a virus from spreading, for the layman (m/f) possibly spectacular but very unrealistic.

Peeling this off, we get a standard action movie under the hood: ample car chases, heavy weaponry, explosives, many innocent bystanders and even some less innocent victims. Bringing in crypto currency and terrorism do not save the story from being traditional. Yet, some new elements make this movie stand out:

1. Firstly, the cause the terrorist group is fighting for, is defendable and just. A pity that their means are despicable. Their back stories are sad but not sufficient to justify all the bloodshed. In hindsight, their benevolent motives are foreshadowed by the fact (later on we understand them better) that the armored car that is attacked in one of the first scenes, is left open for anyone passing by to pick from. A nice "Robin Hood" touch.

2. Secondly, the two whizz kids who are pulled in, add extra plot material and act as a third group besides the anti-terrorist agency and the terrorists. Does it make the plot convoluted enough to fill nearly 150 minutes running time?? The traditional distinction between good and bad guys is not as clear cut as usual, which is not a complaint but rather a positive element.

3. Thirdly, the effectiveness of the chain of command in the agency leaves much to desire. Even worse, it works counter productively in the long run. Relieving someone of duty due to a defendable mistake, may seem to demonstrate a firm grip on the operation, but it is a waste of human potential and can only create disgruntled employees who eventually may work against the agency's mission.

All in all, the action parts make it watchable for people "in" for this kind of movie, while others (like me) can only endure the explosions, the gun fire, the car chases, the bloodshed, and so on. Still, this movie has some other nice parts that make it better than the average shootout.

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Holly (2023)

8/10

Opens several original and interesting avenues, all going nowhere in the end, still keeping our attention. Unsolvable gap adults-adolescents, never understanding each other

14 March 2024

Warning: Spoilers

Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival (IFFR) 2024. Opens several original and interesting avenues, all going nowhere in the end but still keeping our attention. I've read in other reviews that this filmmaker is in the habit of offering no solutions, so leaving open ends seems to be her trademark.

This is a story that can potentially go in a multitude of directions, something made very clear from the start. Our main protagonist Holly is nicknamed "the witch" by her fellow students. She is treated like an outsider, something observed by teacher Anna who wants to address that, but (as usual) is unable to solve it. Further, Holy calls herself sick at the very day her school burns down, thereby mentioning ominous feelings, no "real" sickness. At school her phone call is remembered as very peculiar. These facts combined foreshadow a SF/Horror genre plot, suggesting clairvoyance or other mystical crafts. We got no real proof, however, she has any such powers. And no one cares to explain how Holly got her nickname (we see her already called thus in an early scene, so before the school fire), possibly due to earlier predictions or other unexplained things.

Teacher Anna runs a team of volunteers for all sorts of extra-curricular activities. She convinces Holly to join the team (not welcomed by present team members, but it happens anyway), maybe as an attempt to get Holly out of her isolation. On a bus trip with parents of students who fell victim to the school fire, some discover that talking with Holly, or merely holding hands, has a remedial effect. Others hear that, meet with her, and even want to offer her money after meeting her. The money is used for buying shoes and a coat, more expensive stuff than what an average student can buy, as correctly observed by teacher Anna.

Holly's only friend Bart is also an outsider, but in a different way. Their common extraneous position binds them together. We see them appear frequently together in many scenes.

The school principal is shown in two weird scenes, not becoming a professional educator. Firstly, when Anna imposed a collective punishment on a class, forcing them to reveal who wrote on the wall, the class persists in silence and stands in the hallway for hours, something the school principal does not like. After a discussion with Anna, while busy with answering the phone rather than hearing Anna's reasoning, he resolves the situation in a non- pedagogical way. Secondly, we see Bart barging in after a desperate look for Holly. Rather than hearing what the issue is, the principal insists that Bart washes his hands first.

There is a second plot line with Anna and her husband desperately wanting to become pregnant. Anna is jealous at other parents who succeed without any effort. We see meetings in hospital. We see them busy in bed on unusual moments when Anna thinks she is most fertile. All to no avail. Near the end of the movie, however, after a hefty confrontation with Holly about abusing her powers and getting money for it, she suddenly feels something after Holly touches her. And lo and behold, she proves suddenly pregnant. There is no proof whatsoever that her contact with Holly had anything to do with her unexpected pregnancy. That is left for us to decide and connect the dots.

All in all, compelling story lines without offering a happy ending nor a solution to the issues involved. Also unsolved is the gap between adults and adolescents, two species who will never understand each other. The resulting movie was a pleasant surprise for me, as the synopsis that I've read beforehand did not promise so much interesting stuff.

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Photophobia (2023)

7/10

In itself not revealing much news yet still very interesting to watch. It shows grossly ignored aspects of the Ukrainian war, like children living underground for months

12 March 2024

Saw this as part of the Movies That Matter documentary festival 2024. In itself not revealing much breaking news. Still very interesting to watch, by drawing attention to grossly ignored aspects of the war, like dangers when staying outside as shelling can be imminent any moment, and people living more of less permanently under the ground for many months.

The opening scene is enlightening in the sense that working in the open is unsafe but still must be done, like the infrastructure workers we see repairing something on the street. What they do there is unclear but the effects on them when explosions are heard nearby is very revealing. Some drop everything and run away, other stay put at first, but hide later when shelling continues. Most of them reluctantly return when the shelling clears. Their foreman seems angry about them running away. We see nothing of the actual destruction as a result. The bombs seem falling somewhere else out of our sight.

Remarkable is that we see cars driving from A to B all the time, regardless of the falling bombs. (In the after-talk, a representative of the ZOA foundation confirms this phenomenon that people keep driving, disregarding the risks. I cannot imagine that the insides of a car really feel safe when bombs are falling.) I appreciate that hiding continuously defies all operations outside, so some must take risks to keep infrastructure and hospitals working as best as possible. Similarly, grocery must be bought to feed the population underground.

The remainder of the movie is within the confines of a metro subway station. We see people living there for two months already (footage is from the first two months of the war). The adults pass the days with simple housekeeping tasks. They seem to do not much else (maybe they are going to work outside, but that part of their lives remains invisible). Apart from that, we see much boredom yet still several people who make the most of it, like the guitar player who we hear and see several times in action.

A completely different world is shown watching how the children pass their time. They explore the tracks and the empty wagons, for instance. They also have Viewmaster-like devices showing the world outside as they remember, but we also see (imaginary?? Their phantasy??) movements in the pictures that seem impossible with these simplistic devices. One of our main protagonists gets the advice from a doctor to keep a diary about what he sees and hears. He also gets Vitamine D prescribed, not having seen the sun for many months already. The children press their parents about going outside, but it is denied as the risks are too high. We hear several stories from others who lost an arm or a leg due to a hidden mine or shelling.

All in all, several grossly ignored aspects of a war are shown. I understand that this part of Ukrainian life is not sexy to show on TV or to write about in newspapers. Instead, public media rather show destroyed buildings and tell stories of wounded people, of course apart from the really necessary pictures of battle fields and what happens there.

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Terrestrial Verses (2023)

9/10

A series of unrelated shorts, showing authority abuse as common theme. Lots of humor included. Genders evenly mixed, so not the usual man against a woman assumed in Iran

29 February 2024

Saw this at the Rotterdam film festival 2024 (IFFR). A series of shorts, with a common theme: authority against the common man and woman. Luckily, contrary to what we could expect in Iran, not all scenes were an authoritarian man against a powerless woman. On the contrary, genders were evenly mixed, so the suppression of women in Iran was not the main theme.

Lots of humor involved, despite the seriousness of the respective situations. What happens is very recognizable, also outside Iran, and could overcome us tomorrow.

The shorts are completely unrelated plotwise, just the "authority" gaps were common. Nevertheless, a single counter example was the case of the student against the school director, where the tables seemed turned all of a sudden and the student could leave the room unpunished.

All in all, very satisfied to have seen this, devoid of the well-known Iranian issues. I scored a 5 out of 5 for the audience award after the screening.

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Let the River Flow (2023)

8/10

Interesting showcase how interests of minorities are pushed aside "for the greater good"

28 February 2024

Saw this at the Leeuwarden (NL) film festival 2023. Of course, we miss lots of background information on the issues that are at stake here, and what already had happened to arrive at the situation portrayed in the story at hand. However, I had no issue understanding it and connecting the dots. The main ingredients can be inferred on-the-fly, drawing analogies from similar controverses in other countries where minorities are ignored or pestered. Well-known discriminating factors are race and religion, but any other criterium to label people can do. Plenty of analogies will help understanding what is going on here, including what people do to hide their identity to help their career.

At center stage in this movie we meet Ester, her immediate family and several relatives farther away in line, most of them being a mixture of Norwegian and Sami in several grades. Ester does not really want to know she has Sami blood and tries to hide it were possible. Others emphasize in their clothes which side they are on, especially now when a crucial decision is to be made (or rather, already has been made) in parliament about a big dam development that is bound to wipe original Sami grounds clean, in favor of electricity for the general population who does not care about historical grounds.

Still, many things are left unexplained. The most important one is the derelict shed that we see in the opening scene, obviously something dramatic happening there but details are dearly missed. The same shed returns several times later, without getting a clue on what it is all about and why it seems so important.

Nevertheless, in spite of minor unclarities, the movie presents a clear overview of how opinions can be formed and changed. Most people don't care about minorities, wanting them to be kept out of sight, or at best find them a nuisance, or a stumbling block preventing progress for everyone else. It makes you think how we ourselves would act in similar circumstances, how we would balance our own interests against a minority who stand for their interests. Think NIMBY and variations thereof.

All in all, the main purpose of how politics should work in our form of government, is to protect minorities from harmful intentions of the majority. Not always is survival of the fittest the best strategy to arrive at a livable society. A balancing of interest is needed instead. We see it work and not work in this movie. I scored a 4 out of 5 for the audience award when leaving the theater.

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Unruly (2022)

8/10

Dramatized showcase about psychiatry in 1930. Deviating women were "treated" in order to send them "cured" back to society, attempts doomed to fail

28 February 2024

Saw this at the Leeuwarden (NL) film festival 2023. Dramatized showcase about the state of the art in psychiatry as of 1930, set in Denmark but probably not much better in the rest of Europe. The focus here is on how hereditary it is when mentally disorder is diagnosed. There was a strong belief that children will become psychiatric patients too if one or both parents are, hence harsh sterilization laws were passed and enforced.

For starters, it is questionable whether patients locked up in a psychiatric hospital at the time were justifiably diagnosed as such. The film title emphasizes this phenomenon, and we see it confirmed in the way Maren is treated. And once you get labelled as such, everything you do only adds to confirm the label.

Secondly, one can foresee different proper roles for a woman who does not aspire to become a "properly married" wife and all the obligations that brings. Easy for us to say nowadays, but the ideas were different around 1930.

I saw a subplot that I assumed to get more attention at 3/4 of the story. The relationship between head nurse Nielsen and a colleague may look innocent in our eyes and at our time, yet it is even so unruly as what Moren did. I expected this to be picked up by Sorine as a vehicle to blackmail the head nurse. Sorine was promised repeatedly that she could meet the child that was taken away from her, but that promise was routinely broken, and the encounter was endlessly postponed. It could have been used as leverage to finally get what she wanted. That direction was not taken, maybe justifiably given the over two hours running time the film already takes.

All in all, the story holds our attention from start to finish. We cannot avoid a condescending attitude while watching, easy for us almost a whole century later. Too easy, as the time that e.g. Homosexuality was deemed something that could be cured and treated, is not that long past, and variants of conversion therapy are still practiced nowadays in some "bible belt" areas. Considering this, this movie succeeds very well in translating analogous misconceptions about our mind from 1930 to the current day. I scored a 4 out of 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue.

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Exodus (2023)

8/10

Attractive story about immigration issues. Showing different sides and suitable for family viewing. Will keep the attention of most audience categories

28 February 2024

Saw this at the Noordelijk film festival 2023 in Leeuwarden (NL). I'm glad that movies about immigration become more and more different from what we got force-fed in 2017, when the so-called immigration crisis peaked, and when many filmmakers tried to piggyback on the issues showcased in the news. At the time, I swore to avoid all movies about this topic for good and for all. I broke my oath recently, when I saw one that I marked as different (Io Capitano/The Captain 2023, by Matteo Garrone). And again, I broke the same oath for the second time for the movie at hand. So, there is still hope for the future that immigration issues will get a better and nuanced coverage than in 2017.

This movie shows an attractive story, though "attractive" may not be the best choice of words in this context. Still, I don't know a better term. What happens will keep the attention of several viewer categories. Despite some statistical impossibilities that I can ignore given the quality of the rest of the story, it amplifies plenty of difficulties that immigrants must face. Every obstacle can be resolved with money, making this the favorite playing field of greedy people. Emotions are involved too, given family members winding up spread over different countries. A cute 12-year-old girl being our lead protagonist Amal will appeal most viewers equally. Even professional smuggler Sam, though seemingly cold and only focused on money, proves not completely devoid of emotions, and he does not drop Amal despite the stumbling block she obviously is.

All in all, an interesting take on immigration, very suitable for family viewing. What we see happening on screen, and what we pick up from various dialogs, illustrates small-scale hence different views on immigration, clearly deviating from the large-scale human masses we usually associate with these issues. In the news media we see an emphasis on a "tsunami" of people, threatening to overflow our civilization. It is refreshing to watch the other side. I scored a 4 out of 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue.

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Halfway Home (2022)

8/10

Surprising romance in usually unwelcoming location, populated with friendly people after midnight, tasking our main protagonist with unusual assignments

25 December 2023

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam, at the final "best of..." day, denoting that it was well received by most festival goers. Interesting romance in very unusual (that is: for a Romance) location. For a Horror, a location like this is not uncommon, yet there is a considerable difference with a "normal" morgue. In short: this movie is different in duplicate, and a pleasant surprise as well, notwithstanding the morbid location where most actions will take place.

This usually unwelcoming location is absolutely not scary, especially after midnight, and populated with very friendly people. Yet, it is not completely devoid of fear, however, as there is one scary person, dressed in dark red and wearing welding glasses, becoming more important and fiercer as the story progresses.

The story develops along very unexpected lines, bringing original turns of events, keeping our attention from start to finish. Movie is not labelled as Horror, remarkable given the morgue as main location, instead correctly marked as Fantasy and Romance. An unusual combination of love, death and humor.

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The Knocking (2022)

8/10

Took some time before tension kicked in. Family secrets and a derelict isolated house, the usual Horror suspects, prove not to be where the real scares are

12 December 2023

Saw this at the Leeuwarden (NL) film festival 2023. It took a lot of time before tension kicked in, growing slowly, adding plot elements one at a time. The underlying building blocks cover ten years at least, involving two generations, thus requiring flashbacks to explain the circumstances. Those flashbacks are sometimes confusing, particularly at first, while not immediately making clear that we are watching a flashback. It took some time to recognize the faces, thus allowing us indirectly to date the scene at hand.

A nice touch is the ecological component and the unusual year ring patterns in the trees around the house. It is all much more important than it appears upfront. A more common plot element is the unwanted (according to the parents) baby being aborted some 10 years ago. All three main protagonists carry similar past issues along with them. The threesome has a harmonic relationship at the surface, but every now and then there boils up something unspoken, for example "why didn't you tell me you are divorced?", leading to a hefty explanation that did not clear the situation but rather drove them apart.

There were only a few jump scares, luckily not the main course on the menu and not really important for the tense atmosphere either. Of course, an isolated house takes care of plenty atmosphere by itself. There were no neighbors, it was located in the middle of vast forest area, and it was even more isolated while needing a ferry to get there. It is amazing that there was electricity in working order, although the first light that was switched on, died very soon after for no obvious reason.

All in all, though no groundbreaking masterpiece, it works on me after the time I needed to let the plot grow on me. The ecological elements offer a novel approach to the Horror genre, the importance of which escaped me in the beginning, letting me think that the old derelict house and its buried family secrets were the main course on the menu.

It needs some adjustment to realize that there are more dangers outside, in any case other than mad neighbors or wild animals. Here it is something more sinister even (no details, no spoilers). I was immediately aware when seeing that trees can count. Far from a traditional jump scare, but it nevertheless worked on me that way. And it fully explains the film title. I scored 4 out of 5 for the audience award when leaving the venue.

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Soviet Bus Stops (2022)

8/10

Fascinating documentary on bus stops, showing creativity where least expected. Deemed "minor architecture" by Sovjet administration, thus built free from central guidelines

27 November 2023

Saw this in Leeuwarden (NL), at the Noordelijk film festival 2023. Fascinating documentary on bus stops, deemed "minor architecture" by Soviet administration, hence free from regulations and built without central interference. More often than not, the neighborhood participated in creating and decorating it. We met several architects who had designed some of these bus stops. We also heard from people living nearby with a mixture of opinions. Not everyone welcomed outsiders with interest in the bus stops, clearly ashamed about their street art, often referring the photographer to the city center where there was much more to see.

The area to cover was huge, counting tens of thousands of kilometers/miles to cross. A map was shown, emphasizing the size of the original Soviet Union, much larger than I ever had imagined. A large variety of countries was visited, some are now part of the EU, or leaning towards the EU, contrary to others with more connections to Russia, like Belarus. Cattle made good use of some of the bus stops to stay out of the sun or the rain. Another one was proficiently used to house a fruit market (there he was sent away "this is not a gallery"). Anyway, their past role as a bus stop was mostly forgotten.

The photographer in question did his for some 20 years already. He was in a bit of a hurry because he often found a bus stop demolished before he could see and photograph it. Many locations were not easily accessible either, where he had to plough through unwelcoming landscapes with mud and snow. Due to the "minor architecture" status of the bus stops, there was no centralized documentation he could use as a guide. He had to fall back on asking around (alas, his language skills were not always adequate to explain what he was looking for).

All in all, despite the modest running time, there was much to see and admire.

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Driving Mum (2022)

6/10

Dark comedy with Jon, his dead mother, dog Brezhnev, Icelandic landscapes and an assortment of people underway. Albeit lacking very interesting people, still easy to watch

27 November 2023

Saw this in Leeuwarden (NL), at the Noordelijk film festival 2023. Sadness all over, given the near-empty and confined lives that both main protagonists have in our eyes, plus their uncertain future if one of them dies or gets seriously sick.

The journey starts with the death of Jon's mother as per her explicit last wishes, the beginning of a road movie, bringing a variety of situations, landscapes and people we see and meet in the course of the ride. Some scenes are uneasy to watch, thinking for a moment we see a Haneke/Seidl product. Others are heartwarming. Still, most scenes leave a depressed feeling, when zooming in on their past lives and missed opportunities.

A rather unexpected phenomenon is that the mother, albeit dead, still interferes in the route they take, and utters harsh comments on people they meet. She especially drags on about Jon's lost love Bergdis he had eyes on a very long time ago. Of course, we can consider her talking as Jon's imagination outguessing what his mother would have said if still alive, thus keeping her in the process as participating protagonist. Whatever the intentions, "she" is a logical vehicle introduced by the filmmakers, for a silent dead body on the back seat would have been in no way interesting for us.

An unexpected protagonist is the dog Brezhnev (spelled and spoken in variations), who is reluctant at first to go along with the trip, but still decides to jump in. Contrary to Jon's mom, he does not speak, even not in Jon's imagination. Nevertheless, he still has his moments, hence has a useful role as a third participant.

Despite the meager ingredients, the nearly two hours are easy to sit out. That said, I had expected much more of it, maybe more social commentary, maybe more Icelandic landscapes, maybe a varied assortment of Icelanders, whatever. Neither Jon nor his mother are interesting people, which may be my main problem overall with this movie.

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Subtraction (2022)

7/10

Interesting setup. Relational developments rather than SciFi/Mystery. Stretching the imagination too far beyond believability by introducing two duplicate couples

27 November 2023

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. An interesting setup, where relational issues are intended to be more important than the SciFi/Mystery elements, coming about by two identical men and two identical women, all four living in Tehran within a few miles of each other. In such a large, crowded city their resemblance can and will remain hidden for a long time. Until a chance encounter, changing everything.

So far so good. However, the story at hand extends this idea a giant step further by introducing two equally looking married couples. It stretches my imagination far beyond believability. Apart from that, there could have been given more attention to their respective differences.

I think that the filmmakers also wanted to tell us something about the patrimonial society that Iran is. This mission has limited success. We observe differences between the two households when looking at the hierarchical distance between husband and wife, but it is something that we must read between the lines. It easily gets hidden under the hood, as the other plot elements attract much more attention than political and social aspects.

Earlier this year I saw Superposition (Karoline Lyngbye 2023), also presenting two identical couples who meet each other and interact, yet for the remainder both stories differ on all counts, bringing totally different complications and developments. Both film plots are surreal and are difficult to get your head around when thinking about it. In the case of Superposition, I had the idea that the setup was therapeutical for one of the couples who needed that, otherwise their relationship threatened to get stranded.

In the case of Subtraction, however, I was at a loss about purpose, morale and message, if any. I scored 4/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue. In other words, well-made but missing a few chances to exploit the plot better.

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You're Not Me (2023)

8/10

Tense and surprising due to many unexpected turns of events it offers. And finally presenting a totally different outcome than anticipated

25 November 2023

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. Very tense and very surprising due to many unexpected turns of events it offers. From the start, the story could go in many directions, none of which seem actually pursued while the story develops, so surprise after surprise can be expected.

Ample plot elements are available. Take the lesbian couple bringing a "surprise" visit to the family of one of them, after losing contact three years ago. They carry an adopted black baby with them. The former room of the daughter proves occupied by a woman who is treated as a replacement, who also wears her clothes. Many things happen before and during the Christmas meal. Remarkably, an aunt and uncle who attended each and every foregoing year, were not invited. Instead, non-family members are welcomed as VIP guests.

Feeling alienated and unwelcome is the main observation. Near the finale I had reminiscences (incorrect, in hindsight) of Get Out (Jordan Peele 2017), possible misled by the black boy they brought along (casted a black baby here on purpose?). I was wrong, as developments went in a totally different direction. I cannot reveal anything further without giving away the ending.

When leaving the venue, I scored 5/5 for the audience award. All in all: tense, unexpected developments, ample ingredients to keep us guessing how the story would proceed, and finally surprising us with a totally different outcome. Sufficiently complex but not overly convoluted.

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UFO Sweden (2022)

6/10

Seems to address a young audience, who can identify themselves with the lead protagonist. Lots of cliches about nerds and other simplifications. Still a nice watch

25 November 2023

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. I assume this to be a movie for a much younger audience, letting viewers identify themselves with the lead actress Denise. Remember (in Dutch) the Bob Evers books, where young amateur detectives find the real truth where officials fail. Obviously, with my 75 years of age, I am way beyond the target group.

Lead protagonist Denise meets a collection of typical nerds in the form of UFO Sweden, a group so very anecdotical nerdy that it becomes too much to bear. Ditto with the 4-letter company owning a secret measurement station in the woods, not appearing on any maps. The company has an unwelcoming head office, seemingly very secure, but two of our nerds obtain access easily (too easy) via a backdoor. We meet their head of research a few times, The first time in the woods next to the officially non-existing station. She has all the appearances of a typical bureaucrat, very reluctant to cooperate. She did not admit that the station exists, even standing in front of it.

Very much later in the story, the same woman proves to be a true scientist under the skin. She changes heart once seeing the truth in the formulas shown to her, and happily works along with two intruders in a way that violates her job description on many counts.

I see little harm in the attempts made to simplify the laws of physics, calling names of famous scientists, mentioning well-known phenomena (relativity, wormholes etc), and using models for wormholes with sheets of paper.

I scored 3/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue. I must admit bias, knowing more about physics than an average viewer, and also not belonging to the target group of young people who are expected to identify themselves with lead-protagonist Denise.

PS: In the introductory address, one of the festival programmers said that the movie industry in Sweden succeeds for a fraction of the budget that Hollywood needs to still fail (said not exactly that; I paraphrase). This vintage movie feels genuine. It shows striking special effects, maybe made with better tools than exis-ted in the 80/90-ties it is situated in, but nevertheless looks neither over the top nor impossible for that era.

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180 Degree Rule (2020)

6/10

Two stories built around white lies, both exploding in everyone's face, both showcasing the lowly position of women in Iran. Alas, the second story falters, seems underwritten

25 November 2023

Warning: Spoilers

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. The main story is built around a convoluted web of lies, going far beyond white lies to protect someone's feelings. It is bound to explode in everyone's face. The sheer number of participants in the lie alone make the plot doomed for failure. Nevertheless, the positive aspect of the story is that it emphasizes the standard way women are treated in Iran as subject to their husbands, rather than autonomous beings in their own right. It is clear to me that the filmmakers wanted to precisely demonstrate that, using this story as a vehicle. And in that point of view, this movie has a purpose and a message.

I regret the underwritten story of the student confessing to teacher Sara that she was pregnant. It was a promising sub-plot, while she at the same time forbade Sara to inform the parents. Like the main plot, a white lie impossible to maintain for good. Sara promised to keep the secret, under the condition that the student would inform her family while underway for an abortion.

The story about the pregnant student disappears under the radar until very much later in the running time. Near the finale we learn about a heated argument under a bridge, leaving the student killed. We see Sara telling the student's mother that she knew about it (and had an idea who the father of the unborn child was), all this via the doorbell's intercom without really meeting the student's mother.

Halfway the running time, I was assuming that the earlier student's confession was intended as a cliff hanger, to be picked up and integrated in the story to arrive at an uplifting end of the movie. But alas, that did not happen, and the story faltered. Given the modest length of 83 minutes, this sub-plot could have been exploited much better, allowing us to leave the theater in a better mood than the current ending did, leaving everyone involved as a looser.

I scored only 3/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue for two reasons. Firstly, letting falter a promising sub-story with the student that could have provided a much better finale, both based on white lies, both defeating their purpose. And secondly, the too convoluted web of lies in the main story, unrealistic to uphold, by letting all family members conspire against Hamed.

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Home Sweet Home - Wo das Böse wohnt (2023)

8/10

Became more and more tense towards the surprising ending. At first, I had some doubts how this movie would end. But it all comes well-planned together near the finale

19 November 2023

Saw this at the Imagine film festival 2023 in Amsterdam. The start was not promising. The flickering light effects and the ghostly apparitions were far from original, looking like downtrodden cliches. Worse, in the first half one cannot help wondering whether these phenomena would ever lead to something substantial and original. And why bring in a heavily pregnant woman as main protagonist, knowing that every man will dismiss her sightings, saying these are due to hormones and hence not to be taken seriously.

On the other hand, the sound effects made serious attempts several times to emphasize that something very creepy was going on, or was about to happen very soon. Most of the times I missed the reason why, maybe being trained too much to ignore flickering lights and eerie sounds, deeming it weak techniques of the horror genre. In retrospect, I should have trusted the light and sound effects, and have allowed me to move along with the atmosphere that was building up.

Trust me, it all comes together in due course. Try to guess, if you want, who can really be trusted: the neighbor, or Maria's friend, or her father-in-law, or even her husband?? We won't know until the very end. Is there even a conspiracy going on, involving some or maybe all of them?? Demons out of the past find means to reach out and get their accomplices in the world of today.

All in all, the story could have started stronger, if only to avert my initial impression that flickering lights and sudden ghostly appearances were to become the main course. What Maria discovers in the cellar did not enough to steer me in the direction that she had just found something very significant there. Ultimately, her findings became the pillar of the unexpected plot twists ahead, with several even so unexpected turns of events. And that is where this movie is all about. Family history as of centuries ago reaches out into the current time, wanting its revenge. I scored 5/5 for the audience award when leaving the venue.

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