![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Berlinale Report 1: Gender Bender
Feb. 18th, 2010 02:20 pmThe Berlinale is upon us again and once more I am trying to catch some of the more offbeat films that are unlikely to ever go on general release in this country. I could, of course, also try to go to the competion films and see some stars but that would be considerably more expensive, stressful and anyway, there are very few people I'd actually be interested to see in the flesh and the only one I know will have been in town has probably left again already.
Day before yesterday I caught two films, romances of all things, which I found contrasted each other quite nicely, even though I never really planned on the evening having a common theme. It was just that both films were shown at the same screen and it saved me the bother of having to fret whether or not the Q&A would overrun.
The first one was "Open", the debut film of Jake Yuzna (Brian's nephew*), which once you think about it is the sort of film that might have been made in the early 90s, starring Winona Ryder. It's a poetic love story or a road movie without a road, two plot strands running parallel and only meeting briefly, even if they touch upon the same points. The special thing about "Open" is that with one exception (I think) all the main protagonists in the film are undergoing significant identity-changing surgery. Two of them are at different stages of gender-reassignment and one couple (modelled on Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye Breyer) is trying to reach a state of pandrogeny where they totally resemble each other. Yeah, I am not holding my breath for a Hollywood remake, either.
There is not that much of a plot to speak of. The characters go from stages of longing, remembering, considering, appreciating, loving and talking to each other to more artistic stages where the impact of the scene is more about mood and visuals than about narrative. And even though that may not sound like much, I found it captivating and moving. The actors are all non-professional and even though their inexperience shines through in some scenes, they mostly carry the film quite well.
A point which I particularly liked was that "Open" is not a "problem"-film. All the characters are the way they are and while they may ponder their lives, their past and future, there is never the sense of "You've got a problem and we will have to get you through this", which a Hollywood version would invariably take. The film is light but never vacuous. It may not be for everyone but I very much enjoyed it.
Incidentally and non-Berlinale-related, "Michel-Louise/Louise hires a contract killer" is another film which I saw recently and which I can only recommend to a more discerning audience (approving of pitch-black humour).
The evening continued with "Amphetamine" (http://www.amphetaminemovie.com/), a Hongkong film about the love affair between Daniel, a wealthy business-man and Kafka, a poor personal trainer (and frequent drug user, even if I think the film's title is actually wrong inasafar as it's not amphetamine but methamphetamine he is taking). In a way, it could be called a gay, chinese "Betty Blue", as the main gist of the story is them trying to live their love in the face of all the odds, their differences and Kafka going more and more insane due to his drug habit. The film starts off quite hopefully with their love being strong, sweet and unconditional but as soon as the more dramatic elements of the plot make their entrance, it becomes clear that their love is about as doomed as Kafka's name suggests. According to the director, the chinese letters that make up "Amphetamine" can also be read as "Is it not his fate?" and it would appear that it is. As soon as that became clear, I started to feel that the film dragged on a bit, even if the visuals remained gorgeous. There are also two instances of sexual violence in the film which imply that the narrative conventions of HongKong-films are quite different from those a westen audience is used to. I don't think you could get away with one of them in Hollywood after 1979.
On the whole, a harrowing, valiant but somewhat formulaic effort with great images.
* Watch "Open" and "Society" back to back and I am certain that you will find some similarities. Jake said that there might be a common weirdness running in his family. I did not argue with him about that.
Day before yesterday I caught two films, romances of all things, which I found contrasted each other quite nicely, even though I never really planned on the evening having a common theme. It was just that both films were shown at the same screen and it saved me the bother of having to fret whether or not the Q&A would overrun.
The first one was "Open", the debut film of Jake Yuzna (Brian's nephew*), which once you think about it is the sort of film that might have been made in the early 90s, starring Winona Ryder. It's a poetic love story or a road movie without a road, two plot strands running parallel and only meeting briefly, even if they touch upon the same points. The special thing about "Open" is that with one exception (I think) all the main protagonists in the film are undergoing significant identity-changing surgery. Two of them are at different stages of gender-reassignment and one couple (modelled on Genesis P-Orridge and Lady Jaye Breyer) is trying to reach a state of pandrogeny where they totally resemble each other. Yeah, I am not holding my breath for a Hollywood remake, either.
There is not that much of a plot to speak of. The characters go from stages of longing, remembering, considering, appreciating, loving and talking to each other to more artistic stages where the impact of the scene is more about mood and visuals than about narrative. And even though that may not sound like much, I found it captivating and moving. The actors are all non-professional and even though their inexperience shines through in some scenes, they mostly carry the film quite well.
A point which I particularly liked was that "Open" is not a "problem"-film. All the characters are the way they are and while they may ponder their lives, their past and future, there is never the sense of "You've got a problem and we will have to get you through this", which a Hollywood version would invariably take. The film is light but never vacuous. It may not be for everyone but I very much enjoyed it.
Incidentally and non-Berlinale-related, "Michel-Louise/Louise hires a contract killer" is another film which I saw recently and which I can only recommend to a more discerning audience (approving of pitch-black humour).
The evening continued with "Amphetamine" (http://www.amphetaminemovie.com/), a Hongkong film about the love affair between Daniel, a wealthy business-man and Kafka, a poor personal trainer (and frequent drug user, even if I think the film's title is actually wrong inasafar as it's not amphetamine but methamphetamine he is taking). In a way, it could be called a gay, chinese "Betty Blue", as the main gist of the story is them trying to live their love in the face of all the odds, their differences and Kafka going more and more insane due to his drug habit. The film starts off quite hopefully with their love being strong, sweet and unconditional but as soon as the more dramatic elements of the plot make their entrance, it becomes clear that their love is about as doomed as Kafka's name suggests. According to the director, the chinese letters that make up "Amphetamine" can also be read as "Is it not his fate?" and it would appear that it is. As soon as that became clear, I started to feel that the film dragged on a bit, even if the visuals remained gorgeous. There are also two instances of sexual violence in the film which imply that the narrative conventions of HongKong-films are quite different from those a westen audience is used to. I don't think you could get away with one of them in Hollywood after 1979.
On the whole, a harrowing, valiant but somewhat formulaic effort with great images.
* Watch "Open" and "Society" back to back and I am certain that you will find some similarities. Jake said that there might be a common weirdness running in his family. I did not argue with him about that.
