Gangleri – filmreviews

This British film plays in a small fishertown two years after the disappearance of a young woman, not even her body was discovered. The film is all about “Kath”, the sister who is obsessed by the disappearance and tries everything to find her sister or at least her body. Slowly she looses her grip on reality.
“Frozen” is mostly a drama, but has some thriller edges, because on the background, the hunt for the possible killer is always present. From the beginning I had the idea that the clue was given away too easily, but the ongoing suggestion of the solution proves to be just a suggestion. “Frozen” is almost completely Shirley Henderson who carries the film almost all on her own and does that very well. The result is an enjoyable ‘mysterious drama’ with nice images, great acting and a realistic atmosphere.
-3.5-

A Wonderfull Night In Split

A Kroation film that gives a few stories that play between 10:00pm and 12:00pm on some new years night. All the stories play in a small part of the city of Split and give a glimpse of the ‘dark side’ of the city, especially drug-related. In a way the film is a drama, but also in a way it is a (black) comedy. It sure has some weird elements, strange characters and funny dialogues. It starts confrontatingly realistic, but ends in a mirage. It is spoken in Kroatian, has great camera work and is beautifully shot in high-contrast black and white. Also it has a dense atmosphere, since it mostly plays in very small allies. A very nice film!
-3.5-

This weekend there is an art and music festival in Eindhoven, called “Edit”. During this festival “the best film ever from Eindhoven” (perhaps the only) was shown. I had heard a lot about this zombie-thrasher-horror-film. It was made with a tight budget and the help of 1236 volonteers (which has become the advertisement). Since it was shown in Eindhoven, some of the cast and crew were part of the audience. Also I knew that some people I know are in the film. To the film then. Well, “Horizonica” as a film is not too good. The acting is awfull, the synchronising terrible (as if the actors simply read their text out loud), the images and colours poor (safe for some nice ideas with over- or underlighting), the story thin. Let me start with the latter. In an act of hatred and revenge, a young man poisons the water system of Eindhoven with a virus that turns people into murdering zombies. A few lines are put in the film, such as first-year students being dropped in the woods (for the Blair Witch effect), a group of policemen trying to save the world, etc. The film quickly develops into a typical slasher movie with extremely bloody scenes and grim humour. There are also some Jap-horror elements which works well with the very industrial soundtrack. These sure are the better scenes, but they seem to be a bit out of place in the film. Then there are a few scenes completely loose from the rest with overacting and absurd dialogues, which are the most funny elements of the film. Well then, do you have to watch the film? If you are from Eindhoven or its surroundings: you better. Especially the Eindhoven-promotional beginning is a funny watch. For the rest you will have to enjoy bloody slasher films and/or have a grim sense of humour. The film sure is funny, but good?… nah.
-2-

I saw this film (in German) in a room with a few hundred “Grufties” during the 2007 edition of the Wave Gotik Treffen in Leipzig. Not that this has anything to do with the film, but I thought it would be nice to mention.
Tom Tykwer, the many-sided director of Lola Rennt, Heaven, Der Krieger und die Kaisering, this time comes with a historical drama around a boy with a magnificent sense of smell. After a wretched youth he becomes student with a perfume-maker and becomes obsessed with the pursuit to capture the scent of a woman.
“Perfume: the story of a murderer” is a nice historical drama which gives a nice insight in the fabrication of perfumes, has a nice sence of humour and good acting. The beginning and especially the end are much overdone though, both in filming (the beginning) and the story (the end). For the rest a nice watch.
-2.5-