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The Week in Germany: Culture January 5, 2007 German Cinema Roundup - New German Films in Washington and San Francisco, de Niro and Clooney in Berlin, Franka Potente Makes Her Own Movie
A roundup of German film news, including the Berlinale film festival, screenings in the US and a new film directed by Franka Potente of "Lola Rennt" (Run Lola Run) fame. Meanwhile Tom Tykwer's "Perfume: The Story of a Murderer" opened in the US on December 27. Already a hit in Germany, the film's music, acting, set design and cinematography have been praised in many reviews. Reuters described it as a "visually lush, fast-moving story". Links:
Films from Germany, Switzerland and Austria on show in Washington and San Francisco
Two film festivals open this month in Washington and San Francisco to showcase the latest independent and documentary films from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Coordinated by the Goethe-Institut San Francisco, the 12th annual Berlin & Beyond Film Festival runs from January 11-17 at the Castro Theater. It opens with Andreas Dresen's "Sommer vorm Balkon" (Summer in Berlin), the enchanting tale of two women during one very warm summer in the city. At the same time, the Goethe-Institut Washington's 15th annual New Films Festival will also open with "Summer in Berlin". This popular showcase featuring a cornucopia of German, Swiss and Austrian productions runs from January 19-25 at Landmark Theatres' E Street Cinema. Also in Washington, the Goethe-Institut's New Women in German Cinema
showcase concludes on January 8 with a screening of Florian Hofmeister's
"3° Colder" (3 Grad kälter) at the Goethe Forum. Links:
De Niro, Clooney & Co. head for Berlin
Meanwhile in the German capital the 57th Berlin International Film Festival taking place next month announced its schedule on Thursday. Two American-made World War Two dramas lead this year's lineup: Robert de Niro's "The Good Shepherd", starring Matt Damon, de Niro and Angelina Jolie, and Steven Soderbergh's "The Good German", starring George Clooney, Cate Blanchett and Toby Maguire. Among the European entries is German director Christian Petzold's "Yella",
about a young woman from the former East Germany who has moved westwards
to escape a melancholy past that keeps catching up with her. Links:
Franka Potente makes her own movie
After her Hollywood turns in "Blow", "The Bourne Identity" and "The Bourne Supremacy", German movie star Franka Potente is back on her home turf and has moved to the other side of the camera to direct her first film - an homage to the silent movies of yesteryear. "Der die Tollkirsche ausgräbt" (Digging up Atropia, or Deadly Nightshade), which recently opened in Germany, is set in 1918. It is also made to look and feel like 1918, with a cast of characters donning the period costumes - and cosmetics - of silent cinema's heyday. Potente, who wrote the screenplay and directed the 43-minute, black-and-white silent film, has said she was inspired by the dawn of the Weimar Republic era, when Germany went from monarchy to democracy, as well as by Charlie Chaplin.
Yet at least one German critic named Christoph Peterson suggests in a review on the German movie website www.filmstarts.de that she misses the mark by blending all kinds of techniques, including adding fake "scratches" to the final product to mimic the technical standards of the time, in a willy-nilly fashion that he claims is more irritating than entertaining. Chaplin's brilliant comedic timing is also sorely lacking here, according to Peterson. Still, surely Potente should get some points for her idea and for the film's lush costumes and scenery. And producer Stefan Arndt has nothing but praise for Potente as director. "She is super to work with," he is quoted as saying in an article on the German Films website. "We need more female directors like this! They also hold up better under stress! She's very conscientious and fights for the film."
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