Competition Films I Have Seen: Ranked in order of preference My Golden Lion: Code 46 (UK, dir. Michael Winterbottom) - Erratic sound mix and multiple story threads could be tidied, but it's a stunning, economical, hugely risky vision of a hybrid future The Return (Russia, dir. Andrei Zvyagintsev) - Powerful access to POV of embittered child, aided no end by phenomenal turn from Dobronravov; simplified style yields huge, potent impact Twentynine Palms (France, dir. Bruno Dumont) - Minus helmer's taut, portentous eye, would fall apart into lewd orgasms, usual dolor, histrionic finale; still a toss-up, but edge to Dumont (full review) 21 Grams (USA/Mexico, dir. Alejandro González Iñárritu) - For a while, rumors aside, fractured editing seems fine, but cumulative effect is handicapping; Penn, Del Toro, Leo fine, Watts; writing not Zatôichi: The Blind Swordsman (Japan, dir. Takeshi Kitano) - Maybe I wasn't at my best while watching, but all I read about is film's powerhouse charm, and I just found it enervatingly antic Competition Films I'm Curious to See: Ranked in order of interest; full lineup available here (opens in a new window) Goodbye, Dragon Inn, Taiwan, dir. Tsai Ming-liang; A Talking Picture, Portugal, dir. Manoel de Oliveira; Good Morning, Night, Italy, dir. Marco Bellocchio; Rosenstrasse, Germany, dir. Margarethe von Trotta; The Kite, Lebanon/France, dir. Randa Chahal Sabag; Raja, France, dir. Jacques Doillon; Imagining Argentina, UK, dir. Christopher Hampton; A Good Lawyer's Wife, South Korea, dir. Im Sang-soo |
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