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Thread: Cannes Film Festival 2005

  1. #31
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    Dargis on Khoo's film

    "Meanwhile, I went to my first screening at the Directors Fortnight, one of the two unofficial programs here. Despite the near-lack of air conditioning, the ringing cell phones and the two biddies in front of me who pawed through their plastic bags throughout the screening (I kicked one of their chairs a couple of times, but apparently not hard enough), I fell for the Fortnight's opening film, "Be With Me." It's from a Singaporean, Eric Khoo, and interweaves the true story of a deaf-mute woman with tales of thwarted love. I didn't have any idea what was going on for the first half hour, but was in tears by the end, which is fairly rare (big surprise)."

    NY Times.

  2. #32
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    Re: Eric Khoo / Singapore

    Originally posted by arsaib4

    (2) Mee Pok Man (1995)
    ... Some good reviews as you can tell by the ...

    (3) 12 Storeys (1997)
    ... Sounds good. Is this available anywhere with subs?

    *BTW, Eric Khoo is the producer of the recently released 15.

    ... p.s. see, I also know a thing or two about the Singaporean film industry. ;)

    hee hee ...
    I am glad that you have interest in watching movies from Singapore ...
    ;)

    well, I do not guarantee that Mee Pok Man or 12 Storeys will suit your taste ... but no harm trying ... hee hee
    ;PPP

    noteworthy, the hints at socio political issues may or may not be very obvious ...

    Anway, 12 storeys used to be on DVD
    ... but is now OUT OF STOCK ...
    http://www.dvdasian.com/cgi-bin/dvda...ml?id=RvdeB8sT

    But do NOT worry, with the hype at Cannes, distributors might start distributing these old films again (something like the case for Kim Ki Duk).

    With regards to the movie 15, see my next post ...
    Last edited by hengcs; 05-13-2005 at 07:17 PM.

  3. #33
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    The movie ... 15

    Originally posted by arsaib4
    *BTW, Eric Khoo is the producer of the recently released 15. This Singaporean film is directed by Royston Tan who is a good friend of Khoo. It opened in the U.S. to mixed reviews but has gotten some decent mentions from international critics.

    (edited)

    No word yet regarding its U.S. DVD release, but the film is now available in the U.K.

    I have watched the ORIGINAL short film version of 15 (I think it was about 25 minutes). Some people actually call it the "Ah Beng movie".

    I have also watched the full length feature of 15 (i.e., 94 minutes).
    -- in Singapore, and
    -- in San Francisco International Film Festival 2004.

    I am not sure how much credit should go to the producer, Eric instead of the director, Royston .... I would prefer to suggest the latter ... why?

    Mentioned earlier, this movie actually began as a short film and had garnered several awards (e.g., the Special Achievement Award at the Singapore International Film Festival 2002). Because of that, Eric urged Royston to make a full length feature.

    Instead of rewriting the script with more details in between, he simply added two more stories, with two additional cast (because two of the original cast were missing/ or had been captured by the authority).

    In other words, the original shorter version was actually the first story in the full length feature PLUS the ending song on the MRT (i.e., the subway) ...

    ** It is interesting to note that I (and probably most of my Singaporean friends) like the first story better, and feel that the movie should have remained as a short film. The two additonal stories kind of make the movie slightly draggy and less compact.

    ** However, it seems like most foreigners prefer the second story and third story better. Why?

    I believe most Singaporeans would prefer the first story or original short film because it has a good mix of humor and sadness that many can relate to. However, due to localization, most foreigners will fail to grasp the jokes ...
    e.g., the distortion of the national anthem
    e.g., the education system and society we are in
    e.g., the landmarks the protagonists visit when they are scouting for a building to jump
    e.g., the lingo they used (a lot is really lost in translation!!!)
    e.g., the last song on the train (which is rather meaningful in the original short film, but I recall it not being very well translated).
    etc

    I believe most foreigners tend to like the second and third stories better because they can relate to
    e.g., drugs
    e.g., tattoos
    e.g., antagonism between two rival groups (in this case, the gangs who spoke either chinese/dialects or english)
    etc

    Noteworthy, the movie has caused quite some stir and controversy because
    -- the original sountrack depict actual secret societies' chants (their mottos, locations, etc)
    -- a frontal scene
    -- ** Also, the movie has sparked some debate because some mutilation scenes were real and NOT enacted. Basically, the director passed the camera to these kids and requested they filmed their daily life or he simply asked them to speak and live as they normally would (i.e., without scripting) ... consequently, some scenes were indeed disturbing ...


    In summary,
    ... I think the original short film version is worth watching because it is more compact and more powerful
    ... in order to better understand the humor, you may like to watch it with some Singaporeans ...
    ;)



    PS: I "think" in United States, PictureThis! is the distributor.

  4. #34
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    BATTLE IN HEAVEN

    Tartan U.S.A has won the rights to the Reygadas film. They also released Japón (Carlos Reygadas' debut feature) late last year on DVD in the U.S.

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    Ebert on Van Sant's film

    "Last Days, an official festival entry here at Cannes, is a film I admire enormously while wondering if anyone will want to see it. The more you know about filmmaking the more you will appreciate it; the more you know about Kurt Cobain, the less. Van Sant refuses to romanticize the material or analyze the personality or motivation of his subject, named Blake (Michael Pitt). He doesn’t even show him using drugs. Sometimes he doesn’t even show him at all." More here.

  6. #36
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    A.O. Scott apparently has lukewarm feelings for Last Days, while Dargas's response is more positive. Scott says his reaction to this film is similar to what he felt about Elephant, a film I really admired, so I'm still really looking forward to seeing Van Sant's latest.

    Here's a new link for Wenders' Don't Come Knocking.
    http://www.dontcomeknocking.com/
    Another writing collaboration with Sam Shepard...will it be similar in tone and subject matter to Paris, Texas?

    Most of all, I'm looking foward to seeing Bill Murray in Jarmusch's Broken Flowers. His scene in Coffee and Cigarettes stole the show; these two guys both have unique tongue-in-cheek senses of humor that should mesh well in this film. At the least it'll be entertaining...I expect it to be much more...

  7. #37
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    Yeah, I read their entries on the film. However, Scott slyly left the door open for future analysis.

    If there's anyone who needs a hit, it's Wim Wenders. I haven't seen the film he released last year, Land of Plenty, but it's been quite a while for this talented filmmaker.

    I'm also looking forward to Broken Flowers. I believe the release date is August 5th for the states. I didn't mind Coffee and Cigarettes, but it was a stop-gap for him and for many of his fans. Storywise, I'm worried about one thing: Bill Murray discovering that he has a son sounds awfully familiar.

  8. #38
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    Originally posted by arsaib4
    Storywise, I'm worried about one thing: Bill Murray discovering that he has a son sounds awfully familiar.
    Funny, I didn't think of that. As long as his name's not "Ned" I think we'll be OK...

  9. #39
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    sorry I missed all of this

    Hopefully some more of these films will make their way to the US. Cronenberg and Von Trier's new films seem to be the most intriguing to me, but then again Cronenberg's last film was somewhat disappointing.

  10. #40
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    Originally posted by wpqx
    sorry I missed all of this

    Hopefully some more of these films will make their way to the US. Cronenberg and Von Trier's new films seem to be the most intriguing to me, but then again Cronenberg's last film was somewhat disappointing.
    Hold on a minute...you're not talking about Spider, are you?

  11. #41
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    Brett Hamer / Norway

    It's unfortunate that Cannes' official website doesn't cover films that are part of the sidebar competitions, namely "Directors' Fornight" and "Critics' Week." Norwegian filmmaker Brett Hamer (Kitchen Stories) has a film playing in the "Directors' Fortnight." It's called Factotum, based on Charles Bukowski's work. The film stars Matt Dillon, Lili Taylor, and Marisa Tomei. Not much info is available at this point, but apparently the film came out in Norway last month. Here's the trailer.

  12. #42
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    Scott on Hamer's film

    "...Norwegian director named Bent Hamer, whose wry, eccentric comedy "Kitchen Stories" was in the Directors' Fortnight here a few years back, has gotten Bukowski right with "Factotum," which is playing in the Fornight this year. Matt Dillon, who seems to be getting better with every film, plays Bukowski's alter ego Henry Chinaski, rambling from job to job and woman to woman, writing his stories out longhand and consuming impressive quantities of liquor and tobacco. Lili Taylor and Marisa Tomei, both excellent, are the hard-luck women who share Henry's life for a spell."

    NY Times.

  13. #43
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    Dargis on Haneke's film

    "The 58th Cannes International Film Festival started on Wednesday, but for some of its attendees the event began in earnest three days later with the premiere of Michael Haneke's "Caché" (Hidden), the first important film to show in competition. One of the most vital filmmakers working today, the German-born Mr. Haneke has been at the festival seven times before, including with his most recent films, "Code Unknown," "The Piano Teacher" and "The Time of the Wolf." All are meaty, complex works and all but "The Piano Teacher," which features deviant sex and an unplugged Isabelle Huppert, received negligible attention in the United States.

    It's too early to tell when and if "Caché" will make it to American art houses, partly because its willfully unglamorous subject is violence as it plays out in the field of memory and the culture of fear."

    On Distribution:

    "Yesterday, I ran into a very smart Industry Bigwig and asked if he had seen anything he liked. Well, he "loves" the Michael Haneke film "Caché," but he also thinks it would be a tough sell to the older art-house audience, you know, those folks who support banal French movies about singing orphans and the like [Sounds familiar!]. Well, I think it's time to kill off that audience — and grow a new audience — if the only films we are going to get from abroad are nice, nauseatingly polite works about characters who simply hold up a mirror to that audience, who wear nice clothes, live in nice houses and have discreet but finally resolvable crises. If someone doesn't buy "Caché," and give it a seriously funded push, then the state of film distribution in the United States is far worse than I thought."

    Bravo.

    NY Times.

  14. #44
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    Originally posted by arsaib4


    Hold on a minute...you're not talking about Spider, are you?
    Yes I was. Sorry but that film was a thirty minute movie stretched out to 90 minutes. He's done much better, and I'm hoping that this film at Cannes will prove that he still has some great work left in him. But hey more power to you if you loved Spider.

  15. #45
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    Originally posted by wpqx
    Yes I was. Sorry but that film was a thirty minute movie stretched out to 90 minutes. He's done much better, and I'm hoping that this film at Cannes will prove that he still has some great work left in him. But hey more power to you if you loved Spider.
    I certainly found Spider to be one of the most psychologically assured and brazenly complex of Cronenberg's films. Looking forward to his latest. Maybe we can go further into this upon its release.

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