Stars are stars - The end

So, the film festival I talked about in previous posts has been over for a few days and I'm back home already missing everything (mostly the people I met). Everything went well and I exceeded my own expectations - certainly a high point of my year.

Here's my evaluation of all the long and short films I managed to watch:

Elefantenhaut (Elephant Skin)                                                  2009
by Severin Fiala & Ulrike Putzer, Fiction, Austria, 34'
7.5/10

Great cast portraying the ugly and embarrassing human nature. Ulrike, the director, explained after the film exhibition how she gathered her cast and there were a few funny stories behind them.


Here                                                                                        2009
by Ho Tzu Nyen, Fiction Singapore, Canada, 86'
5.6/10

Would have been more interesting if the characters were real. A few interesting aspects but overall it's boring.


Humpday                                                                                 2009
by Lynn Shelton, Fiction, USA, 94'
5.1/10

This movie goes nowhere. And it's very unrealistic.


Independencia                                                                         2009
by Raya Martin, Fiction, France, Philippines, Germany, The Netherlands, 77'
7.2/10

Good one but I already talked about it here.


The Sound of Insects - Records of a Mummy                            2009
by Peter Liechti, Experimental, Switzerland, 87
6.9/10

This one is about a man who decides to commit suicide by dying of starvation in the middle of the forest. It's an interesting experimental piece with no characters. You only hear the narrator reading the man's notes about pain and death. All it shows are uneventful scenes from the forest and unrelated footage. It's pretty heavy in a psychological sense. Unfortunately you get that halfway through the movie and the rest starts to be boring and you just want it to end.


George Washington                                                                  2000
by David Gordon Green, USA, 89'
6.1/10


Crazy                                                                                       1999
by Heddy Honigmann, Documentary, The Netherlands, 97'
5.8/10

Heddy Honigman had a big retrospective in this festival. Unluckily I seem to have assisted to some of her poorer output.


Hersenschimmen (Mind Shadows)                                          1988/89
by Heddy Honigmann, Fiction, The Netherlands, Canada, 112'
6.3/10


Panique au Village (A Town Called Panic)                                 2009
by Stéphane Aubier & Vincent Patar, Animation, Belgium, 75'
8/10

I love stop-motion animation and this is one of my favourites from the festival. Already mentioned it here though.


Leonard Cohen: Live at the Isle of Wight 1970                        2009
by Murray Lerner, Documentary, USA, 64'
7.4/10

A fantastic concert during a mythical music festival. The documentary part is a bit poor and lacks background but overall it's pretty nice. Funny how some time ago when I wanted to post a decent video about Cohen the one I found was specifically from this film.


And my personal winner of the film festival is...

All Tomorrow's Parties                                                            2009
by Jonathan Caouette & All Tomorrow's People, Documentary, United Kingdom, 82'
8.4/10

A documentary about a British cult music festival I knew little about. And shame on me for that because 80% of the bands mentioned are on my favourites list. The festival's philosophy is fantastic! They have no sponsors, they pick one band to choose the whole festival line-up and organizers, artists and fans get to stay in the same accommodation area. They promote a very intimate relationship between the musicians and the young audience. I need to keep my eye on future edition's of this festival.




I missed a lot of other movies that were supposed to be good and/or of obligatory watch, like a few by Werner Herzog and others that sold out all sessions. For instance, the documentary about The Doors narrated by Johny Depp, When You're Strange. But I learned that whatever pleases the masses rarely pleases me, so I'm happy with what I experienced during Indie Lisboa 2010.

3 comments:

  1. Elephantenhaut e esse magnífico Ricardo que existia de verdade...

    ReplyDelete
  2. Quando for à Alemanha vou ver se te trago um cd dele. :P

    ReplyDelete
  3. Amar-te-ei para todo o sempre se o fizeres!! :D

    ReplyDelete