Das Leichte Leben (Simple life)

Christina Schiewe, Germany

Fiction, 2007, 36'

Nina, 23, is on the lookout for love. Throu her, a portrait of a generation, shown as the product of a liberal education that gave them no references, no values. Noboby near her seems to have any value, either. She dreams of an ordered world, easier to understand.

The crudity of nude scenes tells us something : there is no separation, the body is not a protected area. But the voice off tells us all the untold things, eveything that is better avoided. When she gets pregnant, the comment starts by « when I cas a child, even when I had made a wrong thing, there was never real consequences ». This young girl, disapointed by this liberal education voted only once « for right-wing. My parents were shocked ».

Showing on screen a meaningless and ordinary life is not easy. The actors are well chosen to give an identity to those weak characters.

Shake off

Hans Beenhakker, Germany

Fiction, 2007, 9'

A long 9' plan. Of course, the realisator cheated, but we feel as if we were watching a 9' plan. Impressive, indeed. The character is a danser, who is dansing in an appartement. We first watch him throu the window, and then follow him during his danse. We really follow him, as the danser seems transported from places to places, each movement of camera can reveal a place that was not here before.

The virtuosity of the camera, the skill of the danser and the ingenuosity of the cut that creates this feeling of false continuity, everything is very precisely set up and the result is close to perfection. There is no real pretext for this virtuosity, just the idea of showing us something impressive and it works. But the risk is high to bore the public with a skilled demonstration, « here's what I can do », and the high quality of the 3D doesn't remove the feeling of coldness of many pictures.

Ryba (The fish)

Alexander Kott, Russia

2008, 14'

An isolated house, somewhere in the ice and the snow, in front of an iced lake. A whild lives with his parents. One night, the father goes away... The mother get sick, and one day is taken by an ambulance, leaving the young 10 years old boy alone.

The relation between the boy and his mother is strange, she doesn't really take care of him. For the realisator « I wanted their relation to be null. They don't have bad relations, there is no problem between them. It would be another film. Their relation is a zero ». The boy seems to be a ghost, a spectator of his mother who never watch him, a witness of her pain and her disease.

The scenary of infinite ice is beatifull. Every texture of the wood house is having more and more importance, the shelter which is getting cold too, as all relationshis are disapearing. But the boy, who does not complain, who doesn't seem afraid or surprised, continue his life, without help. Surpisingly, the movie is very funny at some moments, by some childish games, and there is absolutely no pain, sadness in the film. The hero is the boy, and he doesn't really worry. He can take care of himself, maybe better than the adults that crossed his life.

The end really desserve to be seen... the lonely child grab the sthetoscope left by the doctor who took his mother, and start listening the iced lake... until he find a fish, stuck in the ice. After a long moment of digging in the ice, he brings back home a cube of ice with a fish, and stares at it, waiting it to melt... But the fish is awakening...

With a few pictures, this short gives us so many images, without any heavy demonstration of anything. Things are happening, and we are invited to witness it, and to dream about, not to judge.

Mompelaar

Win Reygaert, Marc Roels, Belgium

Fiction, 2007, 21'

Lubbert is a man, somewhat retarded, who lives with his overbearing mother (acted by a man). Unable to speak, he goes to a walk in the flamish countryside. He meets differnts situations, differents people, and get involved in absurds situations. Is he a serial killer, when he arranges some plastic bags in the forest, filled with worms and maybe human rests ? But maybe he is a christic firuge, as after killing a touristic guide (who explains to his group the difference between grass an trees), he is followed by the 12 tourists, until his house.

It is hard to talk about the script, as one of the realisator says himself « We wrote series of scene, without necessary link. If people sees links, it's ok, but there are many ways to understand the film, and many ways not to understand it, and all are good. Actually we didn't think our film would be liked by anyone except us... ». There are links, but where poetry strats and where is stops ?

Even if the production is rather amateur, the result is a very fun and strange film, uncommon and the orginal universe has a real strengh.

This film recieved the Prix Spécial du Jury International.

Llueve (it's raining)

Alex Mendez Giner, Venezuela

Experimental, 2007, 14'

In the montains, a man is running, wounded, and ends his escape uncounscious in front of a house... The three inhabitants, two men and a woman seems occupied by very strange, maybe illegal business, but we're not able to tell exactly of what kind. They take care of the wounded man. Words are rares, and the situation is not clear. Is the woman with one of the two, or with both ? What is this key, held by one of the two, that seems to be the symbol of his power ?

Under a continuous rain, in a beautiful landscape of isolated mountain, what is really happening in front of our eyes ? The rain contributes to create a feeling of wildness and isolation of the people. To be honnest, the scenery is really beautiful, framed perfectly, and the interiors have an impressive softness of lights and clairobscurs...

But what kind of job requires them to get out, and dig in the mud ? A lot of question, and this film does not intend to answer. This is the description of a cursed place, where actions of each are conditioned, in a succession of men arriving here without past or future. In this very understated film, the rôle of the actors is dominant, and they succeed in creating the reality of a logical world, without giving us the keys to understand it.

Despite of the globaly positive judgements, I have to moderate this. The lack of implication of the audience, the lack of comprehension and enjeu doesn't help to really enter in a film, even if its qualities are real.