Lots of things happened since I posted last on German Gems. I saw a a couple of outstanding films at SFFS theatre on Post St. Bela Tarr’s supposedly last film THE TURIN HORSE which has nothing or very little to do with Nietzsche hugging a horse before he collapsed into madness. Shot in black & white and several hours long with not much happening, like most of Tarr’s films that I got sucked into, it does not quite make it to the top of my list, like SATANTANGO or WERCKMEISTER HARMONIES, but it is worth watching. The other film I saw at the same theatre ONCE UPON A TIME IN ANATOLIA was mesmerizing. Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan won the Palm D’Or at Cannes 2011 for this masterpiece that for the first hour and a half is a road movie shot at night. Searching for a corpse, a handful of people – murderer, prosecutor, doctor, drivers, – drive around the country side to find the place where on a country road next to a tree the dead putatively was buried. All roads look alike especially at night. The intense search not just for the corpse but for the stories of the men involved in the investigation, goes on into day light when things finally clear up.
Last week I went to LA to attend an award ceremony for UCLA’s students where my daughter Milena was center piece with 2 awards for 2 of her films. A good start for a very competitive career in a city that otherwise should be avoided. Too many cars, insane… And here in SF don’t miss Frameline’s film festival going on for another week with a number of German entries. Check them out. http://ticketing.frameline.
