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Monthly Review :BUG (2006)

The Independent Newspaper,UK
Saturday, 12 January 2008
Report by :Shenai Raif and John-Paul Ford Rojas

A millionaire London business executive killed his daughter after suffering a mental breakdown within days of watching the film BUG directed by William Friedkin.Alberto Izaga, aged 36, smashed two-year-old Yanire on the floor of his apartment on 3 January. She died two days later in hospital from brain damage.He was found not guilty of murder due to insanity and sent to a mental hospital without limit of time.During a visit to New York, he and his wife Ligia had watched the film BUG .In his court testimony he claimed he violently killed his young daughter after becoming obsessed with the film, BUG.Izaga added that he shouted "Die, die, die" and "I have to kill her"moments after repeatedly smashing his daughter Yanire's head against a wooden floor in his £1 million flat overlooking the Houses of Parliament.


Plot Overview :

In a rented motel room in the desolate desert,a lonely and depressed woman named Agnes spends most of her time drinking, grieving the loss of her son and fearing her abusive ex-con husband.One night her friend shows up with a strange, quirky man named Peter Evans .Peter is a strange, withdrawn man, but Agnes finds compassion from the stranger and the two bond immediately.Soon, Agnes and Peter begin a romance .The lonely Agnes is really hopeful about a new life beginning.But when Peter finds a bug in the bed, a tiny aphid which Agnes can't see, things start to get strange.


Review :

Adapted by Tracy Letts from his own 1996 stage play, "Bug" is an effective piece of unease, using the compact space of a filthy hotel room to incubate delirium and nightmarish displays of loyalty and insanity.The movie starts off as more of a character drama than anything resembling a horror film. We learn about Agnes' past, her issues with her ex-husband, the details surrounding the mystery of their child and about her lifestyle in general. From there, we learn through Agnes' conversations with Peter about his background and about some of his more unusual character traits. Peter's engaging and respectful manner strikes a chord with Agnes and he stays on. Agnes, naturally, is happy to have Peter around and, when he moves up to being a new lover and helpmate, she's even more so.

That is, until he starts to feel and see bugs everywhere, in the bed, on the floor, in his hair, the food, the drink – so much so, that Peter begins to convince Aggy that she is also afflicted with the same problem. And, pretty soon, they've bought every kind of bug spray, they have sticky fly/bug catchers hanging everywhere, he buys a microscope to examine the bugs and even his blood, searching for traces of bugs planted in his body by secret government forces.They hole themselves up in their hotel room, convinced that the government has used them as hosts for an experiment involving mind-controlling bugs, and the more delusional they get, the more they feed off of one another's paranoia until they've constructed a conspiracy theory to end all conspiracy theories.

Eventhough Agnes and Peter are pathetic loonies who lose their grip on reality, they're not all that different from the rest of society. Many of us are cut off from a real sense of social belonging, and almost all of us rely on tainted sources of information to draw our judgments about the world around us. There are documented cases of the military engaging in horrendous experiments on soldiers during World War 2.We're also bombarded with conflicting messages about dangers in the food we eat and the air we breathe, so the idea that some unforeseen contagion could bring us down is not all that farfetched.This film makes us believe that finding the line between rational explanations and paranoid hysteria is not easy.


To say this movie is weird would be an understatement. Bug makes the audience members extremely uncomfortable as the situation progresses, and I enjoyed every minute of it. The setting is so closed in that sitting in the seat makes one feel as if the room is closing in around them. The experiences of the characters become the experiences of the viewer, and by the end you are left wondering where you are and what just happened. On a subconscious level I think this movie represents the conspiracy theory living inside all of us. We may tend to think there was more to 9/11, or or any other disaster, but very few of us would be willing to go on record saying so, or risk looking like a loon.


Legendary director William Friedkin (The Exorcist ) seems an apt choice for this material who is well versed in dramatizing unfathomable despair and damage.He directs the movie with great skill, focusing our attentions on the characters without heavy stylistic effects, and emphasizing the way that one person's mania reinforces another's.Aside from the pacing, the character development, the twists and the cinematography, the film also really benefits from two fantastic performances. Ashley Judd as Agnes has never been better than she is here ; vulnerable and frightened but maintaining a strong core of self-reliance

Stage play actor Michael Shannon reprises his role on the silver screen as Peter Evans.He steals the entire show. Not only is he convincing enough to be a paranoid schizophrenic, but also he scares you when he has these outbursts, his conspiracy theories and when he goes to extreme lengths to prove that there are bugs. What is even scarier is that he acts, in the beginning, like an average guy, a guy that you might walk by on the street and in the coarse of a few days he plummets downward.Solid supporting work from Harry Connick Jr. as Agnes' ex- husband. Lynn Collins likewise impresses as Agnes' sassy and concerned lesbian best friend R.C.And stage actor
Brian F. O'Byrne appears for one brief but memorable scene.

Parting Thoughts :

For those who enjoy a taste of the weird, paranoid delusions and are looking for something new and original ,Bug will crawl right up your alley.Its honest, gritty, and a wonderful example of gutsy filmaking.



Disclaimer : The blogger shall have no responsibility for any psychological breakdown or nightmares experienced by the viewer on watching the film following the review .


Title :Bug

Dir:William Friedkin

Cast : Michael Shannon,Ashley Judd,Lynn Collins,Harry Connick Jr.

Rated R for violence ,nudity, sex ,language

Language :English

Country :USA

DVD Features :Audio commentary with director Friedkin
Making of featurette
Interview with Director Friedkin

Trailer Link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EU1ac6B_5c

Torrent File Name :BUG [2006][ENG][AC3 5.1][DVDRip]-FLAWL3SS

Monthly Review ; UP IN THE AIR (2009)

While films can often act as an escape from reality, two hours for the viewer to check their minds at the door and lose themselves in an over-the-top action piece or in a "dreams come true" rom-com, Once in a while, a movie comes along though, that reminds us what real life is all about; sometimes it's happy, mundane, funny, or downright sad; occasionally it's all those things at once. "Up in the Air" is a reminder of the reality the movies sometimes like to gloss over. This film does a tremendous job of entertaining you, but on the same page, reminding you how complicated and painful life can be.



Plot Overview :

Ryan Bingham is a professional job terminator. When a CEO doesn't have the cajones to get rid of employees himself, Ryan flies in to break the news to each employee personally. Companies hire him to come and lay off their employees in a time of downsizing. Bingham spends a vast majority of his year flying from city to city, staying in a new hotel each night. In between firings, Ryan also gives motivational seminars called "What's in Your Backpack?"While flying across the country Bingham meets Alex , another middle aged travel hog and they begin to have no strings attached relationship whenever their travel plans overlap.Matters are complicated when Natalie, a recent college graduate, comes to Bingham's company and introduces the practice of firing people over the web.

Review :

"Up in the Air" introduces Ryan Bingham as a man who lives what can be described as a life of complete freedom: he calls no place home except the skies; he finds such purely joyous pleasure in the details of hotel rooms, car rental services, airport security procedures, efficient packing and travel, membership cards and loyal customer clubs . We glimpse his closet at one point and see that he has at most three or four shirts. His apartment, whre he lives less than a few days in a year, is completely bare. Most importantly though, Ryan has no major human connection in his life: not with a romantic partner, not with his co-workers, and not even with his own family. But while most of us would look at such a life as quite miserable, Ryan couldn't be happier or more content with his choice.

Also Ryan is very good at his job. He has learned of the unpredictability of human emotion in times of stress, and he's able to roll with it. Ryan can traverse just about any travel obstacle.His most valued human connection is with Alex , a fellow traveler with whom he can hook up whenever their flight paths cross. For all of his solitude and the harsh reality of his career, Ryan is actually a pretty good guy who is compassionate to the human condition. He knows what he does is personal.

But when hotshot college grad Natalie , develops a plan to do Ryan's job by video conferencing, he is against it. It won't work, the terminated need to see their terminator face to face. Also, it would take Ryan off the road, and so to show Natalie how wrong she is, he takes her out in the field with him.The heart and soul of the film, is not a wise pro teaching the rookie the ropes, but the gradual glimpses at the real Ryan Bingham, the man likely only comes out at night, when alone in one of numerous hotel rooms.

As Ryan develops his relationships with these two women, he begins to change. A man who has been isolated by his job, and thinks that an ordinary life of love, marriage, and kids is boring , attends his sister's wedding and begins to see that he desires companionship. He wants love. Now I won't give away the ending for it is both surprising and emotional. The screenwriters make it good without getting all syrupy, nor melodramatic. This plot may seem simple enough, but the controversial topic of companies firing their employees is a big part to this film and the collection of shots used of actual employees reactions when they hear the news that they are "let go" is priceless and scary.


Director Jason Reitman belongs to a very exclusive group of young filmmakers who are getting better with each film they make. With 'Thank You for Smoking', 'Juno', and now 'Up in the Air', he has demonstrated an unparallelled consistency . Even though this is his third major film , he simply works like he is already a master filmmaker.With this movie Reitman proves that a truly great movie can be made with nothing more than great performances and good writing. The design and look of the movie are all pretty standard, rooted in reality and not flashy. I applaud Reitman's decision to film the corporate world with a slick expertise and then when the characters are out mingling in the real world, such as when Ryan goes to his sister's wedding, he films everything hand-held, almost as if it is a documentary.The editing is clear-cut and sharp, and there are some great camera angles, specifically with the aerial shots of the cities and the sky.

The film is dominated by its star, George Clooney who plays Ryan Bingham.Clooney's range of emotions and depth is something yet seen in his illustrious career. Make no mistake about it, this is the highlight of his career thus far. His eyes tell the story of a lost man who has no clue how lost he really is. In the end it is his journey we don't want to see end. He is the reason we keep watching and hoping for a running time that never ceases.Vera Farmiga shows through her character, Alex Goran, what a true talent she is as well. She shines in her scenes and has chemistry to die for with Clooney. She is perhaps the most mysterious character of all leaving everything about her to the imagination, and leaving the viewer always wanting more of her.


.For me, the standout performance belongs to Anna Kendrick. Anna plays Natalie Keener with the elegance of a veteran actress. It is nothing less than a star making performance which steps her out from her Twilight shadow, and shows that she can in fact play the game.Her stern, hard nosed and focused portrayal of Natalie is highlight of the supporting cast.The film also features small, yet effective performances from Jason Bateman ,J.K. Simmons , Danny McBride , and Zach Galifianakis,Melanie Lynskey,Sam Eliott.


Parting Thoughts :



This film is highly relevant in these times of traumatic corporate downsizing and economic stress--people losing not just their livelihoods, but their homes and even their their lives.An important, meaningful & highly relevant work of art for our time and place.










Title : Up In The Air (2009)

Dir : Jason Reitman

Cast : George Clooney,Anna Kendrick,Vera Farmiga

Rated R for nudity

Country : USA

Language :English

DVD Features : Commentary with director Jason Reitman Making of Video

Trailer Link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m-Da8Tz4_E

Torrent File Name : Up in the air 2009 DVDSCR xvid -camelot

Festival Coverage : TOKYO FILM FESTIVAL 2010

The Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF), founded in 1985, is an A-category film festival that runs in the month of October .For the past few years, TIFF has replaced the traditional red carpet rolled for celeb arrivals with a green one, and programmed films that highlight the relationship between us human movie-goers and nature.This year's fest ran from Oct 23-31.Irish director Neil Jordon ("The Crying Game," "Interview with a Vampire", "Ondine" ) was the head of the festival jury this year . "The Social Network," by David Fincher was the opening film .


This is the list of major category winners from the Festival:

1.Tokyo Sakura Grand Prix

Film :Intimate Grammar

Dir :Nir Bergman

Country :Israel

Overview :
Intimate Grammar pivots on a Peter Pan-ish adolescent boy in 1965 Jerusalem caught between an adult world he detests and a childhood he refuses to grow out of — physically and mentally. In the early 1960s, the state of Israel is coming into its own as it simultaneously heads toward armed conflict with Syria and Egypt. It’s at this time that smart, sensitive adolescent Aharon (Roee Elsberg), 13 years old and small for his age, finds himself drowning in his own life. His vulgar, anti-intellectual father is a pathetic parental role model and shrewish mother Hinda is putting the fear of god into him . His neighbor, Miss Blum , is the catalyst that causes his fragile family to implode, and he’s losing his first love to his more adult best friend Gidon .


2.Special Jury Prize

Film :POST CARD

Dir :Kaneto Shindo

Country :Japan



3.Award for Best Director

Film : Sarah's Key

Dir :Gilles Paquet-Brenner

Country :France

Overview :

"Sarah's Key" relates a highly emotional yet unsentimental story about a Paris-based journalist digging into a Holocaust story that she discovers has a connection to her own family.The movie is based on a best-selling novel by journalist Tatiana de Rosney.

The story gets told in two time frames. In present day, Kristin Scott Thomas playsAmerican-born journalist Julia Jarmond, who is working on a magazine story about the 1942 Paris roundups and deportations of thousands of Jewish families.Julia's husband, Bertrand Tezac is renovating his family's Marais-district flat as a new home for himself, his wife and their 11-year-old daughter. In her research, Julia discovers that Bertrand's family first took over the apartment when its Jewish occupants were dispossessed in that roundup.

The parallel story is that of a 10-year-old Sarah, whose family was among those deported to the camps.Little Sarah hides her 4-year-old brother Thomas in a bedroom closet when the French police arrive. She promises to return but instead finds herself first with her parents in the atrocious Velodrome d'Hiver detention facility in Paris, then transported to a countryside camp. Desperate to rescue her brother, she manages to escape.

Back and forth the movie swings between the two time periods. Julia searches with increasing determination for scrap of information that will tell her what happened to Sarah and her family.Her surprising discoveries throw a new light on her current situation as a wife and mother forcedto make crucial decisions about her future.



4 .Award for Best Actress

Fan Bingbing

Film :Buddha Mountain

Dir :Li Yu

Country :China

Overview : Ding Bo and his friends Nan Feng (Fan Bingbing) and Fei are a trio of 20-something outsider-types that have no intention of sitting exams and getting into universities. When they need a new home for assorted reasons, they answer an ad placed by lonely, retired Chinese opera singer ,who is mourning the death of her son, and move into her sprawling apartment. Right off the bat, the foursome clash over lifestyle and values, with the bratty trio seeing fit to steal from her and invade her privacy. However, slowly but surely a bond among them develops and everyone eventually learns something from the next.



5.Award for Best Actor

Wang Qian yuan

Film :The Piano in a Factory

Dir :Zhang Meng

Country :China

Overview :A laid-off steelworker named Chen (Wang Quin-yuan), has two passions in life -- his young daughter and music. When not minding his daughter and mentally deteriorating father, he plays accordion in a band composed of close friends and his girlfriend.Then his estranged wife suddenly materializes after a prolonged absence to demand a divorce and custody of their daughter . The little girl proposes that she will go with whichever parent provides her with a piano. So first, Chen tries to borrow money from his generally hapless friends and relations, then to steal a piano with those same hapless souls as his partners in crime.
What is left to do but to construct his own piano, enlisting the help of his loyal friends and girlfriend? The group salvages material from the remains of the now-shuttered steel factory and other remnants of defunct state-run industries.

sources :imdb,hollywoodreporter,indiewire ,wikipedia

Festival Coverage :26th Warsaw Film Festival 2010

Sixteen feature films were screened in the international competition of the 26th Warsaw Film Festival , which runs 8-17 October in Warsaw ,Poland. The Warsaw festival received the A category Film Festival ranking in 2009, in time for its 25th anniversary.This year's jury was headed by English director Antonia Bird.The 3 major award categories & winners are :


1.Grand Prix Award






Film : Incendies

Director:Denis Villeneuve

Country:Canada





Plot :A Canadain-Lebanese woman dies in Canada and in her will she leaves two letters to her twin son & daughter. One is to be delivered to their brother (whom they did not know existed) and the other to their father (whom they had presumed dead). To find these people they have to travel to Lebanon to unravel the mysterious past of their deceased mother. As we follow their search, flash backs slowly reveal to us key moments in the life of their mother.



2. Best Director Award

Film :Illegal

Dir :Olivier Masset-Depasse

Country :Belgium/ France

Plot :The movie is focused on a story of Tania, a Russian woman who illegally lives in Belgium with her 14-year-old son, earning a living as a cleaning woman.


3.. Special Jury Award

Film :Periferic (" Outbound")

Director: Bogdan George Apetri

Country : Romania

Plot : Trapped in a five-year prison sentence for a crime she didn’t commit, Matilda’s already spent two years behind bars and has no intention of serving any more. Given a day pass for her mother’s funeral, she’s got a lot to make up for and very little time to do it in. Outbound, she hits her targets one by one; she visits her brother, buries her mother and collects on a debt from a casual lover. Final destination: a cargo ship and the open sea. But first she must contend with the responsibility closest to her heart.






Sources :hollywoodreporter,firstshowing, imdb

Monthly Review : LAST LIFE IN THE UNIVERSE (2003)

Opening Monologue :

My Name is Kenji

Why do I want to kill myself?

I don't know.I wouldn't kill myself for the same reasons as other suicidal people.

Money problems...

Broken heart...

Hopelessness...

No, not me.




Many books say "Death is relaxing."

Did you know that?

No need to follow the latest trends...

No need to keep pace with the rest of the world...

No more e-mail...

No more telephone...

It'll be like taking a nap...

Before waking up refreshed and ready to begin your next life.

That's what they say.This is BLISS....


Plot Overview :

Kenji is a mild-mannered and unassuming young man with an unconventional fixation: plotting his own suicide. After catching a glimpse of a girl in a school uniform at the library where he works, he feels himself drawn to this elusive figure. That night, as he ponders jumping off of a busy bridge, he catches sight of her—just in time to witness her tragic death. Through this horrific event he meets Noi , the girl's older sister. A tentative, uneasy relationship begins to develop as they try to console their silent grief and attempt to break the sense of despair and isolation gripping their respective lives.


Review :

'Last Life in the Universe' is a curious film that refuses to be pinned down to a particular style or genre, but is particularly Asian in its approach and outlook. The film is primarily a romantic comedy, the story of a lonely, self-absorbed Japanese man in Bangkok, unable to relate to the chaos that surrounds him,who eventually discovers himself in his attempt to communicate with a person he cannot understand and who can barely understand him – linguistically as well as behaviourally. However the film also unusually features a particularly violent yakuza sub-plot and elements of black humour in the depiction of Kenji’s imagined suicide attempts.

Human isolation is not a new subject in cinema (think of Michelangelo Antonioni's masterpieces L'Avventura and L'Eclisse), but it's an extremely difficult concept to translate into visual terms. Director Pen-ek Ratanaruang and master cinematographer Christopher Doyle certainly had their work cut out for them with this film, and they end up approaching the material the same way Antonioni once did: depicting the languishing internal states of the main characters through the environments they inhabit. Take, for example, the opening scenes of the film. Set in Kenji's immaculate apartment, its color scheme of sterile grays and whites, the neatly stacked books lined up on symmetrical shelving, and the methodically arranged refrigerator all indicate loneliness and despair.

On a first viewing, the film is indeed a confusing and unsettling experience, lulling the viewer into a easy-flowing romance with soothing music .Kenji &Noi make attempts to get to know each other but, because of the language barriers, there are long pauses between questions and answers. What little conversation there is takes place with a background drone of a Japanese language tape along with the softly beautiful music creates a soothing dreamlike state. As the relationship between Kenji and Noi becomes warmer, Doyle deepens the colors in the house and Pen-Ek stimulates our senses by showing the house cleaning itself as books fly onto shelves and papers flutter through the air to their resting place.

Two things contribute to the increased attractiveness of the film. The first is the presence of Japanese superstar Tadanobu Asano. He simply does more with less. He is able to be in the film and yet be in his own world at the same time; furthering Pen-Ek’s plot and yet projecting his own story of lost alienation as well. He brings a sort of childish innocence mixed with intellectual mayhem to the screen.In addition to Tadanobu’s great acting, this film has the cinematography of Christopher Doyle. After collaborating with Won Kar wai on 8 films ,Zhang Yimou on 'Hero' ,Doyle seems able to identify inherently with the subtlety and patience of Asian directors. Doyle eases off the over-emotive lighting and works with Pen-ek Ratanaruang to create economical images that are suffused with history and feeling. The film includes a tight knit supporting cast that includes Takashi Miike (director of Audition ,Ichi the Killer,Gozu )as a tough crime boss.


Parting Thoughts :

Although it was Thailand's submission for the 2003 Academy Awards, it's easy to see why Last Life in the Universe ultimately failed to garner a nomination. Competing against loud and attention-grabbing films like Hero and The Crime of Padre Amaro, Pen-Ek Ratanaruang's quiet and unassuming meditation on isolation and human connection simply got lost in the crowd.Thank goodness for DVDs and torrents , which allow discriminating movie watchers to discover small treasures that would otherwise be lost in the shuffle. This isn't a film that will appeal to a large group of movie viewers, but those willing to submit to the hypnotic power of this film will find a sublime and haunting viewing experience like few others.

Title : Last Life in the universe (2003)

Dir :Pen-ek Ratanaruang

Cast :Tadanobu Asano ,Sinitta Boonyasak

Country :Thailand

Language : Thai, Japanese , English

Rated R for Violence ,sexual content

DVD Features :

• Commentary Track with Cinematographer Christopher Doyle
• Interview with Director Pen-ek Ratanaruang
• Collection of Original Artwork by Christopher Doyle
• Theatrical Trailer

Trailer Link :http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qObuMyu3NHQ

Torrent File Name : Last.Life.In.The.Universe.2003.PROPER.DVDRip.XviD-iLS

Festival Coverage : San Sebastian Film Festival 2010

The 58th edition of the San Sebastian Film Festival was held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián from Sep 18-25.One of the oldest and biggest festivals of Europe,it has been acknowledged by the FIAPF as an A category festival since 1957.This year's festival jury was headed by director Goran Paskaljevic.The major award categories along with this year's winners are listed :






1.GOLDEN SHELL FOR BEST FILM


Film :“Neds"(Non-Educated Delinquents)

Dir :Peter Mullan

Country : UK


Coming eight years after his “The Magdalene Sisters,” which topped the Venice Fest, this is another socio-realist slap in the face from the actor(Trainspotting, Boy A, Session 9 ) and occasional director,Peter Mullan's "Neds" is a bold, persuasive period portrait of a juvenile delinquent in the making. Plot :The film is Set in working-class Glasgow during the early 1970s.Despite his troubled home life at the hands of his menacing, drunken father and the presumed negative influence of his card-carrying Ned big brother; the intelligent, sensitive young man John initially manages to rise above his new school's low expectations.But he ultimately and systematically succumbs to the inevitable as deeply seated resentment and rage are allowed to fester unheeded by those bleak surroundings.

2.SPECIAL JURY PRIZE



Film : “Elisa K.”

Dir :Judith Colell

Country :Spain


Overview :The traumatic consequences of childhood sexual abuse are examined in excessively stylish fashion by writer-director Judith Colell.The film relates how bright 10-year-old schoolgirl Elisa was raped by a friend of her father's, and how she dealt with this incident by burying it deep within her subconscious.But at the age of 25 her long-dormant memories all comes suddenly flooding back in resulting in chaos.



3.SILVER SHELL FOR BEST DIRECTOR

Film : “Mysteries of Lisbon”

Dir :Raoul Ruiz

Country:Portugal

Overview :A set of spiral stories set in 19th-century Lisbon. A teenage boy raised by priests learns the secret of his aristocratic lineage; a French heiress seeks revenge against the man who sullied her honor; and a kindly padre changes identities as it suits the occasion.


4.JURY PRIZE FOR BEST SCREENPLAY


Film : "Home for Christmas"

Dir :Bent Hamer

Country:Norway

Overview :Set in a small Norwegian town on Christmas Eve, the film interweaves tales of love and longing, new life, fresh hope and sad farewellDoctor Knut ventures outdoors and winds up delivering a baby. His friend Paul is embittered by the collapse of his marriage and determined to see his children for the first time in seven weeks.Schoolboy Thomas lies about his family never celebrating Christmas so he can spend time with his Muslin schoolmate Bintu .Karin prepares for a night of passion with her married lover safe in the knowledge that he has vowed to leave his wife after Christmas.

5. JURY PRIZE FOR BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY :


Film : “Father”

DoP :Jimmy Gimferrer

Dir :Jose Maria de Orbe

Country :Spain

Overview :Shot using DV in Catalonia, the main location is a large, crumbling mansion surrounded by trees.An elderly gent , presumably some kind of caretaker, is shown puttering about working on various small restoration jobs, and occasionally conversing on philosophical issues with a younger man who appears to be a local clergyman.There are other visitors from time to time, but for long stretches very little "happens" as such: Entire sequences consist of observing the play of light in the various rooms.


6.SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTRESS


Actress :Nora Navas

Film: "Black Bread"

Country :Spain


7.SILVER SHELL FOR BEST ACTOR :

Actor: Connor McCarron

Film :"Neds"

Country :UK

Plot :The film is Set in working-class Glasgow during the early 1970s.Despite his troubled home life at the hands of his menacing, drunken father and the presumed negative influence of his card-carrying Ned big brother; the intelligent, sensitive young man John (potrayed byConnor McCarron )initially manages to rise above his new school's low expectations.But he ultimately and systematically succumbs to the inevitable as deeply seated resentment and rage are allowed to fester unheeded by those bleak surroundings.

sources :imdb, hollywoodreporter,obssessedwithfilm,wiki, etc.

Festival Coverage :Venice Film Festival 2010

The 67th Venice Film Festival held in Venice, Italy, took place from September 1 to September 11,2010.Twenty-four films competed in the Mostra, which screened 79 full-length world premieres from 34 countries all together over 11 days starting from Sep 1st.The jury at the world's oldest film festival headed by Quentin Tarantino also included fellow directors Arnaud Desplechin of France, Guillermo Arriaga of Mexico and Italian Gabriele Salvatores.The major award categories along with winners are listed below:


1. Leone d'oro (Golden Lion) Award

Film : Somewhere

Dir : Sofia Coppola

Country : USA








"From that first enchanted screening this film grew and grew in our hearts, in our minds, in our affections," jury president Quentin Tarantino .




The film follows a big, Hollywood mega-star, Johnny Marco (Stephen Dorff), over the course of a few days in his life. We witness his excessive partying, his inability to look after himself and his lack of any real connections to the world. That is except for his 11 year-old daughter Cleo (Elle Fanning), who turns up at her father’s hotel one day whilst her mum is going through some unspecified crisis. Initially Johnny is bored, his eye always straying to the nearest beautiful woman. But he slowly begins to take notice and comes to examine what he is missing his own shell of an existence.



2. Leone d'Argento(Silver Lion) Award

Film : Balada Triste de Trompeta (A Sad Trumpet Ballad)

Dir: Alex de la Iglesia

Country :Spain

A Sad Trumpet Ballad – starts off set in Madrid in 1937, during the civil war. A troupe of clowns are entertaining some children, with the sound of aerial bombardment in the background, when suddenly a group of republican soldiers burst in and arm the clowns – desperate to turn the tide of a losing battle.Imprisoned after the battle is lost, the clown’s son is left without a family… and with revenge in his heart.Then we are taken forward in time to 1973 and the dying days of General Franco regime in Spain. The son has grown up and become a “sad clown” unable to laugh or make jokes owing to the tragedy of his childhood years. He falls in love with a female acrobat who is in fact the girlfriend of an abusive “happy clown”, who beats her . Soon the two clowns are engaged in an on-going and self-destructive feud, over a woman who can’t decide whether she wants somebody violent, but exciting, or somebody who wants to look after her, but lacks fire.

"It’s not too much of a stretch to say that the indecisive women is Spain and her two lovers are the two sides from the Spanish civil war. She flirts briefly with communism of the republic, but is seduced by the strength of fascist dictatorship"- director Alex de la Iglesia



3. Special Jury Prize

Film : Essential Killing

Dir : Jerzy Skolimowski

Country : Poland

The film focusses on Mohammed ,an Afghan who is detained after an encounter, and taken to a Guantanamo-style prison camp. After facing torture and interrogation in the prison, Mohammed is transported to an unspecified part of Eastern Europe , where he is able to make a daring escape after his transport rolls off the icy road and down a hill.What follows is a cross-country chase, as Mohammed must evade capture at any cost. Essential Killing is about survival and if Mohammed must take a few lives on the way, then so be it. There is nothing noble or heroic about our protagonist, as he does some very disturbing things, though the film doesn’t judge him either.


4. Coppa Volpi for Best Actor

Vincent Gallo

Film :Essential Killing

Country : Poland


Vincent Gallo stars as Mohammed ,an Afghan who is detained after an encounter, and taken to a Guantanamo-style prison camp. After facing torture and interrogation in the prison, Mohammed is transported to an unspecified part of Eastern Europe , where he is able to make a daring escape after his transport rolls off the icy road and down a hill.What follows is a cross-country chase, as Mohammed must evade capture at any cost. Essential Killing is about survival and if Mohammed must take a few lives on the way, then so be it. There is nothing noble or heroic about our protagonist, as he does some very disturbing things, though the film doesn’t judge him either.



5.Coppa Volpi for Best Actress

Ariane Labed

Film :Attenberg

Dir : Athina Rachel Tsangari

Country : Greece

The experimental film is about the adventures of two slightly weird young women (who act more like adolescent girls) who hang out and do weird dances and talk about boys. One of them has a boyfriend, the other has a terminally ill father, with whom she is discussing burial arrangements.




6. Osella for Best Cinematography

Mikhail Krichman

Film : Silent Souls

Dir :Aleksei Fedorchenko
Country : Russia

Plot Overview :After a man’s young wife dies suddenly he enlists the help of a colleague in disposing of the body in accordance with the local custom. The characters here are Meryar, descendants of a 400-year-old Finnish tribe once native to that part of western Russia, but now all but forgotten. They have different and non-traditional names for places and people, but most strikingly different are their rituals to do with marriage and death and the expression of grief.

sources :obssessedwithfilm, hollywoodreporter, dailytelegraph, imdb.