I promised you a run down of the ten films I saw at this year's Athens International Film Festival. Why ten films? I only had the time and money for a ten film card. You can also pay for the films as you go, but with a card it's cheaper. I didn't even end up seeing the ten films I had planned on. Real life got in the way and I missed two of my short-listed films and ended up seeing two other films instead.
Anyway here we are:
1. Heartless - Philip Ridley (UK)
A really good film. Dark and gritty and scary, and very gory at parts. The mix of real and unreal, dream; hallucination and reality was brilliantly confusing. This film gets your adrenaline pumping and twists you all up, so that by the end you don't know which way is up. Not to mention that Jim Sturgess was amazing in the leading role. I loved this film, and I definitely recommend it.
2. Exit though the gift shop- Banksy (UK, USA)
This film had possibly the world's worst trailer. The trailer looked boring and uninspiring; I only went to see this films because I rather like Banksy and was curious. The film/documentary ended up being brilliant! Interesting, humorous and gripping. We all left the cinema wondering if we had seen a brilliant hoax or rather one of the art world's most unlikely tales. You should see it!
3. Shinoburu (Symbol) - Hitoshi Matsumoto (Japan)
I'm a big fan of weird japanese cinema. I love the Tetsuo films by Tsukamoto (I and II). Shinoburu started off very good. Quirky and strange and very funny. Unfortunately after the second half the director sort of lost it, and the ending was frankly ridiculous. You should only see it because I would like a second opinion on it.
4. Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll - Matt Whitecross (UK)
A biographical film about Ian Dury. A really fun film with a bright choppy pop style to it. Andy Serkis is stunningly brilliant in the title role. Another sure fire recommendation.
5. Nuit Noire (Black Night) - Olivier Smolder (Belgium) 2004
I should look Smolder up, because this film was something else. An odd surreal dream - or nightmare - of a film. It was in turn creepy, unsettling, spooky, disturbing, puzzling, surprising, amusing. But throughout, the photography and the settings were gorgeous, like a work of art. Actually like a Peter Greenaway - and that's saying a lot. As long as you're not afraid of bugs and aren't prone to nightmares you should see it, it's beautiful!
6. The Trosky - Jacob Tierney (Canada)
A light comedy from Canada. This film was an absolutely hilarious feel-good comedy. The hero - Leon Bronstein - believes he is the re-incarnation of Leon Trosky and the results are hilarious.
7. Farewell - Ditteke Mensink (Holland)
This was a strange one off of a film. In 1928, a bunch of reporters did a round the world publicity trip on the Graff Zeppelin. What made this trip different? There was a woman on board - a reporter. She was the first woman to circumscribe the globe. This film is a collage of the authentic footage with the story being narrated from her personal diary recording the trip. How often do you get to see such footage on the big screen? The shots of the zeppelin in particular were breathtaking.
8. Wonderwall- Jo Massot (UK) 1968
A psychedelic late 60s film with a soundtrack by George Harrison and lots of wacky psychedelic imagery. A strange old scientist finds a hole in the wall of his home that lets him see into the house of his neighbor Jane Birkin. In true late 60s fashion, the film is slow and doesn't always make much sense today and unfortunately the colour had faded rather badly. I though it was rather a cute quaint little film.
9. Peter Ibberson- Henry Hathaway (USA) 1935
This is the first of the two films I hadn't planned on seeing, but wanted to use up my card and I thought I couldn't go wrong with an old classic. It even had Gary Cooper in it! Well, it was a nice film. And the plot device was very original - especially for the period. The thing is it was a bit too much of a melodramatic romance for my liking. A bit too cheesy and fluffy for an old cynic like myself.
10. Lovers of hate - Bryan Poyser (USA)
And finally the last film I saw to finish my card. There was a reason I hand't planned on seeing this film. I was sure from the write up it would be a banal boring film. As I entered the cinema I hoped against hope I would be proven wrong and pleasantly surprised. No such luck. A mediocre boring film with unlikable characters.
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