At the movies

I watched 37 movies at 35th Ghent International Film Festival and for the first time in years, I had the feeling that I was still missing out on another bunch of interesting films. Needless to say, the 2008 edition was an outstanding one with a strong emphasis on world cinema and a high-quality retrospective section. Two films will undoubtedly make it into my personal top 5 of 2008: Kornél Mundruczo’s visually stunning DELTA (Béla Tarr meets Carlos Reygadas) and British video artist Steve McQueen’s gut-wrenching HUNGER, two films that were also part of the Official Selection at Cannes this year.

Another surprise was Fien Troch’s intriguing second feature UNSPOKEN. Although this promising Belgian filmmaker is hardly 30 years old, her film is directed with great intelligence and visual flair. A mystifying but unpretentious arthouse film that doesn’t cease to fascinate!


Apart from a tribute to American silent film actor Harold Lloyd, the Memory of Film section – in collaboration with The World Cinema Foundation, established by Martin Scorsese - had its focus on neglected films from around the world - in particular, from those countries lacking the financial and technical ability to preserve and restore their cinematographic masterpieces. The digitally restored Turkish film DRY SUMMER (SUSUZ YAZ) (1964) from Metin Erksan - a village story about the struggle over land and water – earns a special place in our film history (and in my heart from now on) because of the genuine way its social realism handles erotic elements.


I will try to review most of the other films I saw when they get a national release here in Belgium. In the meantime, here’s some kind of personal value judgement:

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

DELTA
HUNGER
UNSPOKEN
DRY SUMMER (1964)

♣ ♣ ♣ ♣

THE HONEYMOON KILLERS (1970)
HONEYDRIPPER
DAISIES (1966)
SNOW
KATYN
TULPAN
WENDY & LUCY
THE SONG OF SPARROWS
TWO-LEGGED HORSE
IN LOVE WE TRUST
ADORATION
KABULI KID
AUTUMN
MY MAGIC
LA PISCINE (1969)

♣ ♣ ♣

LA RABIA
LAKE TAHOE
GOD MAN DOG
ELLE VEUT LE CHAOS
WITH A GIRL OF BLACK SOIL

♣ ♣

SWEET FOOD CITY
THE SHAFT
PARKING

♣

FLIPPING OUT
LINHA DE PASSA
SUMMER BOOK
THE PRINCESS OF NEBRASKA
GITMEK: MY MARLON AND BRANDO

0

ELEGY
THE GUATEMALIAN HANDSHAKE