Audi Festival of German Films 2010 Weblog

A cracked actor - and a sleeping sickness

Welcome to film lovers in Canberra and Perth, where the festival has just opened. My colleague Peter Krausz and I have been writing about some of the films on this year’s program since before the festival opened in Sydney and Melbourne- you can scroll down and discover more about some of the films screening.

I’m glad to see both the ACT and Western Australian programs include three of my personal highlights from this year: STOPPED ON TRACK (see the two posts below), SLEEPING SICKNESS, and CRACKS IN THE SHELL.

The last-named, directed and co-written by Christian Schwowchow, is a very interesting spin on the story archetype last seen in Darren Aronofsky’s US Oscar-winner, Black Swan. This time the protagonist is not a ballerina but an emotionally vulnerable young actress named Josephine (Denmark’s Stine Fischer Christensen), pushed to the brink by a manipulative and sexually exploitative stage director.

What really marks out the German film from Aronofksy’s however is the non-generic approach he takes to the material. Instead of the former’s deliberately extreme (sometimes bordering on the hysterical) blend of melodrama and horror, CRACKS IN THE SHELL is a naturalistic and probingly psychological drama built around a rivetingly virtuosic performance from Christensen.

This insightful film is not only a compelling investigation into emotional vulnerability and the abuse of power but also into the nature of acting and notions of personal authenticity.

Making quite a contrast is SLEEPING SICKNESS, a hauntingly strange and structurally bold tale of Europeans in Africa focused on colonialism, medical aid and corruption in contemporary Cameroon.

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Stopped on Track - tough but moving

I confess to being both surprised and heartened by the news that Andreas Dresen's film, STOPPED ON TRACK, has won the best film prize at the Lolas, the German academy awards (see Peter Krausz's story below).

I found this brave, unsentimental drama about a middle-aged family man named Frank Lange (played compellingly by Milan Peschel) with an incurable brain tumour, to be one of the standouts of this year's festival. All credit to the programming team for selecting it for the festival because it's easy to put this kind of film into the "too hard" basket.

While film festivals should ideally always present a variety of different cinematic moods and styles and subject matter, the desire to attract the broadest possible audience should never out-shout the need to present the kind of experiences that are more challenging yet ultimately profound and haunting, the kind that remind us of what it means to be human.

Extremely hard-hitting, indeed tough to sit through at times, STOPPED ON TRACK is ultimately deeply moving because it embraces the truth of the human condition with such candour and such empathy. It is a sincere and deeply felt examination of mortality, love, pain and family.

There are moments that make the viewer flinch - the young son undiplomatically asking his father if he'll inherit his mobile phone, is one - but these are precisely the scenes that will make the film live in the memory.

GERMAN ACADEMY AWARDS (THE LOLAS) ANNOUNCED

Andreas Dresen's harrowing cancer drama Stopped On Track has been awarded the Gold Prize for Best Film at yesterday's German Academy Awards. The film also won best Actor for Milan Peschel, best direction for Dresen, and best supporting actor for Otto Mellies.

The most awards were won by Roland Emmerich's Studio Babelsberg filmed American co-production, Anonymous, which took away 6 awards for: cinematography, editing, production design, costume design, sound design, and make-up.

The controversial neo-Nazi film Combat Girls received three awards, including Best Film in Bronze, best actress for Alina Levshin, and best screenplay for David Wnendt.

The best supporting actress award was presented to Dagmar Menzel for her role in Cracks in the Shell.

Best film music went to the film Hell, while Best Film in Silver went to Christian Petzold's East German set drama Barbara.

The best documentary award went to Gerhard Richter - Painting, and the best children's film went to Winter's Daughter.

The inaugural Bernd Eichinger award for contribution to German Cinema was presented to Michael "Bully" Herbig, who amongst other films, was co-producer and lead actor in Leander Haussmann's film Hotel Lux.

The prestigious Lifetime Achievement Award was presented to veteran German cinematographer, latterly working in Hollywood with such filmmakers as Martin Scorsese, Michael Ballhaus.

Peter Krausz

Peak - a standout documentary

A personal standout so far: Hannes Lang's visually stunning Alpine documentary, PEAK.

A portrait of the ways in which climate change is affecting the Alps in different countries, PEAK is loosely in the tradition of such master documentary makers as Austria's Michael Glawogger (Megacities; Workingman's Death) and Germany's Philip Groening (Into Great Silence) in the way he eschews commentary or politicking to patiently let his themes seep out of the material.

Just as important is the formality of his filming method - carefully composed images, a still or scarcely moving camera mounted on a tripod or tracks, and unusually long takes that allow viewers to drink in the invariably magnificent mountain vistas.

The Alpine tradition is of course an established one in German cinema going right back to 1929's White Hell of Pitz Palu. Here however we see a new take on this material - a modern look at disappearing populations caused ultimately by the lack of snow, and huge, vastly expensive schemes to create artificial snow in the hope that visitors will not desert the ski resorts.

Lang's images are frequently breathtaking and sometimes - as in the visions of brightly lit artificial snow-fans working at night - memorably bizarre.

Leftist terrorism - a new chapter

Lena Lauzemis as Gudrun Ensslin and Alexander Fehling as Andreas Baader in IF NOT US, WHO

Hollywood Reporter ran an interesting interview with IF NOT US, WHO director, Andres Veiel, last year when this latest film on Germany's notorious terrorist gang of the 1970s and '80s premiered at the Berlinale.

"In his award-winning documentary Black Box BRD, Veiel looked at the so-called "second generation" of Germany's notorious left wing terrorist group the Red Army Faction, or R.A.F," wrote the Reporter's Scott Roxborough.

"In IF NOT US, WHO Veiel goes back to the origins of the R.A.F. in the 1960s, looking at the lives of R.A.F. founding members Gudrun Ensslin and Andreas Baader and that of Ensslin's husband, the author Bernward Vesper, who sympathized with the R.A.F. but did not become a terrorist...

"HR: There are already a number of German films on the R.A.F. Why make another?

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MEETING LEANDER HAUSSMANN

At a sold-out screening of Leander’s new film Hotel Lux in Melbourne, he turned to me at the start of the film and said: “if they laugh now then I have them, if not, it will be difficult”. The scene was the first appearance of Jűrgen Vogel dressed up as Hitler, awaiting his performance in a 1933 Cabaret style show satirizing Hitler and Stalin. The audience was silent; Leander was concerned. “Comedy is the riskiest thing to pull off in cinema, drama is much easier. Making fun of difficult historic situations can be hard for the audience, but it is the best way of ensuring it never happens again.” He then stated: “Dictators hate comedians, and artists are the first ones to be eliminated by these totalitarian regimes; dictators do not have a sense of humour”.

Leander Haussmann was born in East Germany and lived for 30 years under the communist/Stasi regime until the fall of the wall in 1989. That sense of liberation was overwhelming for him, but life in the former DDR (German Democratic Republic) was not all bad, with Western music, television and culture surreptitiously available and forming his view of the world and his cinematic career. Previously he had been an actor as well as a theatre director of many productions, and indeed his theatre work continues. Recently he directed a production of Die Fledermaus in Munich which created a great deal of controversy. The move into filmmaking was a natural progression for him, and allowed him to develop his comedic approach to various topics and themes, as a way of laughing at various situations to make a point.

He has made over 12 films, with varying budgets and producers, but the important thing for him is making films his own way without interference. His breakthrough film that won a number of awards including the German Film Awards best screenplay was Sun Alley, which being his first major film, suffered originally from some production interference. It was only when Leander wrested control of the film back from the producers that he was able to complete and edit the film his way. That the film turned out to be successful, especially for his amusing look at teenagers on the Eastern side of Berlin in the 70s, an unusual approach to what has usually been dealt with as drama, vindicated his comedic style to serious topics. The film also utlized plenty of Western music, demonstrating his abiding interest in a wide range of music in all his films to underline story elements. He commented to me after a screening and Q & A of the film that he likes Sun Alley very much and that it stands up very well, 13 years after its first release.

Leander’s other films include the FIPRESCI award winning Herr Lehmann, the amusing take on East German soldiers’ experiences NVA, a romantic comedy based on two Australian authors’ book (Alan & Barbara Pease) on the differences between the sexes Why Men Don’t Listen and Women Can’t Read Maps, and the other film playing at this year’s festival Robert Zimmerman is Tangled Up in Love, a younger man and older woman romantic comedy with some amusing set pieces and witty dialogue. His comments about James Garfunkel (Art’s son, who has a small role as himself in the film), demonstrated Leander’s keen observation of people and his essential humanity and concern for others. The lead actress in the film was also going through some personal crises/issues which he helped her with during the shoot.

It is apparent that Leander will always make comedy films, which he reiterates is so hard to get right, and indeed he mentioned that prestigious film awards rarely go to comedies. His influences include Chaplin, Lubitsch, Tarantino, and surprisingly, David Lean (Dr. Zhivago), but the latter is perhaps not so surprising given the lush use of music and the sweeping production design/cinematography.

Back to Hotel Lux, Leander’s biggest film, with an 11 million Euro budget and a veteran producer on board (Schtonk) who was happy with Leander’s script (eventually, after a few drafts). Apart from other private investors, the biggest coup for Leander was getting Michael ‘Bully” Herbig a very well regarded German comedian who loved the story and assisted with producing the film. A fair bit of the money was spent on special effects and recreating the hotel on German locations. Leander was also keen to get Jűrgen Vogel on board to assist with audience response, and casting Thekla Reuten, the major Dutch actress (Twin Sisters), took a while as he needed the right actress to play such a complex role. Surprisingly, the film received a lukewarm response in Germany, and as yet has not made back its budget. Leander commented that virtually no German films did well in Germany over the last year, despite 20% of German audiences supporting German films. “Only Til Schweiger makes money” he amusingly remarked. Hotel Lux has been nominated for 3 German Film Awards, to be presented on April 27, in the categories of: production design, cinematography and costume design. He is not enamoured by these awards: “they only go to serious films and comedies always miss out”. He is also quite disdainful about the Film Academy which according to him, comprises few filmmakers, and mostly people who only like dramas and sneer at comedies. His formula of melding tragedy with humour is not favoured by the majority of the membership.

His next film, which he has already started working on with a good filmmaking friend, will be a comedy about a shark alert that turns into a huge disaster. For him, it is mocking the process of initiating an event that forms the kernel of this comedy. However with Leander you are never quite sure when he is serious, as he mentioned that you can google his website and watch them writing the screenplay in real time. He also says that there is so much interest in this “silly” idea that he has the money for the film already sewn up and actors beating a path to his door. Oddly he said nothing about the film he is supposedly scheduled to complete this year: Der Kleine Bruder. It was a real pleasure meeting Leander, and having a number of discussions with him, an example of a key filmmaker from the burgeoning German film industry.

Peter Krausz

Big chills from the not-so-good neighbour

Charly Hübner in THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR

Stephan Rick's THE GOOD NEIGHBOUR is an effective thriller that recalls Dominik Moll’s 2000 success Meet Harry, He’s Here to Help along with various Hollywood “cuckoo in the nest” thrillers of the 1990s (The Hand That Rocks the Cradle et al).

Trouble begin for lonely journalist, David (Maxim Mehmet), freshly moved to the provinces from Berlin, when he fails to report the death of the young woman cyclist he accidentally runs down on a country road after earlier chatting her up at a local nightclub.

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Extensive festival coverage at SBS

Image: GERHARD RICHTER PAINTING

SBS TV's film website has been giving extensive coverage of the festival, with full-length reviews of eight of the titles screening; interviews with new festival and Goethe-Institut Australia head, Dr Arpad Soelter and SUMMER WINDOW's Berlin-based director, Hendrik Handloegten; and a guide to five of the best films.

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Taboo: illicit desire in the shadows

Lars Eidinger as Georg Trakl

This year’s Berlinale awarded its Alfred Bauer prize for innovation to a Portuguese film titled Tabu after the 1931 Fritz Lang film.

That prize winner, directed by Miguel Gomes, is to screen in this year’s Sydney Film Festival, and has nothing to do with Christoph Stark's feature, Tabu – Es is die Seele…Ein Fremdes auf Erden, screening in the 2012 Audi Festival of German Films under the English title of TABOO – THE SOUL IS A STRANGER ON EARTH.

Now we've cleared up the potential confusuon, Stark’s film is about the putatively incestuous relationship between Austrian poet Georg Trakl (Lars Eidinger) and his younger sister, Grete (Peri Baumeister).

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SUMMER WINDOW OPENS THE FESTIVAL OF GERMAN FILMS IN MELBOURNE

Around 500 people attended the opening night of Hendrik Handloegten’s romantic drama with a supernatural twist: Fenster zum Sommer/Summer Window. Looped into two cinemas at the Palace Cinema Como complex, the festival was simultaneously opened in both cinemas, with Hendrik in one cinema and Leander Haussman in the other. Melbourne loves its cultural film festivals, and now in its 11th year, the festival has developed a solid core audience, together with a good mix of German speakers, film buffs and film festival enthusiasts.

Summer Window is an unusual film as it traverses both the romantic drama genre, and the fantasy time traveller idea, with the film asking the question: Can you alter fate? It was terrific to see a beautiful widescreen digital print of the film, especially considering the fine location work in Germany and Finland. The contrast to previous opening night films was quite apparent, and together with the positive audience response, demonstrated the willingness of German filmmakers to present a wide range of genre films, as well as more idiosyncratic and challenging films. Indeed, all commented on the diversity of the program this year, and the willingness by writers/directors to both encapsulate, and step outside, traditional narrative boundaries.

Nina Hoss is a major figure in Germany, prominent on stage and screen, and she was front and centre in almost every scene, navigating her way through the perplexing situation of going back in time in which she finds herself. The rest of the cast similarly acquit themselves, highlighting the attention to detail by Hendrik in juggling the two time periods, and the resultant actions and emotions that arise. It was interesting to note that Hendrik shot the film in winter in Germany and summer in Finland, with naturally a three month gap between shooting schedules. This was somewhat unnerving for him due to the loss of continuity of the narrative, and a futile attempt to start assembling the film before the other seasonal sequences had been shot. Still, it all worked out in the end, with the rarity of a good fall of snow in Berlin to highlight the contrast with the sunny Helsinki climate in summer.

Also especially noteworthy is the fine music score which serves such an essential part of the film’s contrasting locations and dramatic arc. Discussions after the screening indicated that the audience was quite engaged by the film, but also experienced an unusual twist to a standard narrative, that in itself created some on-going discussion, while the enjoyable party in the foyer continued until very late. A comedian was organized, apart from some fine music and torch songs, to regale the audience at the party about the “5 Steps to Being German”. He was part of the Melbourne Comedy Festival, and for me, demonstrated the power of film. Well, ten days to go, and I am certainly looking forward to interacting with the audience, discussing the films, and interviewing the guests of the festival; the latter and more will appear in future blogs. Viel vergnűgen!

Peter Krausz

Tom Tykwer's tale of a lovers' triangle, Three

Image from Tom Tykwer1's THREE

Last year I wrote about Tom Tykwer's latest film, THREE, when it premeired at the Sydney Film Festival. Now it's getting a national airing as part of the Audi Festival of German Films, this seems an oppoprtune moment to rervive those notes:

THREE, the latest from one of Germany’s most successful filmmakers, Tom Tykwer (Run, Lola, Run), marks a return to more personal, German-language storytelling following excursions into big-budget, globalised movie-making with Perfume: the Story of a Murderer and The International.

THREE uses the same device as US filmmaker Miranda July’s partially-German funded but American-set The Future: a long-established but child-less couple hit mid-life road bumps, not so much out of incompatability as plain old ennui and routine, leading to extra-marital exploration followed by personal crisis. After this, their lives will never be the same.
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Festival opener Hotel Lux stares down the weather gods

Thekla Reuten and Michael Bully Herbig in HOTEL LUX

Against the best efforts of the weather gods, last night (Wednesday April 18th) marked a successful opening for the Audi Festival of German Films in Sydney with a screening of the madcap political farce, HOTEL LUX.

You might imagine some of the guests being deterred from turning up by the monsoonal storm raging outside. Not a bit of it. The Chauvel cinema was full for the film - introduced by its visiting writer director, Leander Haussmann, who grew up in the East Germany, with some sobering words about the “anti-human ideology” of not only Nazism but also Communism.

The one thing that dictatorships of both the Fascist and Communist type have in common, he added, is their total lack of a sense of humour – an observation setting the scene for a film that, for all its fantastic elements, is rooted in distaste for political extremism and totalitarianism whether from the right or the left.

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How to navigate the film festival program #2: Cultural clash

Colour of the Ocean

A trend continuing in popularity in German cinema is the exploration of cultural clash - usually wrapped around the allied themes of refugees, multiculturalism and racism. This year's program has several films reflecting this interest.

High on my personal must-see list is Maggie Peren’s exceptionally well-reviewed COLOUR OF THE OCEAN, in which a German tourist on the Cayman Islands discovers a group of African refugees in detention, leading her to helping one of them.

But does this lead to a positive outcome? Film industry bible Variety praised this “muscular, moving thriller with a three-sided perspective on the moral complexities of immigration,” adding that Peren “juggles the multiple perspectives of her story with aplomb. The narrative never bogs down in rhetoric; nor does the viewer get led astray.”

Similarly impressed was the European-based Screen Daily, which called it “immensely impressive” and “compelling. Peren illuminates important questions of responsibility, compassion and moral duty but within a collection of richly textured human stories. The result feels accessible and touching rather than worthy or overly didactic.”

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KRIEGERIN/COMBAT GIRLS: A Compelling and controversial film

When I attended the Munich Film festival in June 2011, there was a lot of “buzz” about a film that had just been completed in time for the festival. The themes of neo-Nazism and hatred of immigrants were part of David Wnendt’s script and direction for his graduating film from the Konrad Wolf Film School, and there was a lot of interest and controversy stirred up by these ideas. Set in the Eastern part of Germany and starring a young woman who gravitates towards a neo-Nazi gang, the film created plenty of media interest when the press screening occurred ahead of the first public screening during the festival.

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How to navigate the film festival program #1: Historical stories

Mahler on the Couch

Now the program for 2012’s Audi Festival of German Films is online (37 titles this year including shorts) I thought it might be helpful to classify the films according to common themes, styles, genres and other elements, the better for German film lovers to explore what’s on and make their bookings.

Film festival programs are not the easiest to navigate at the best of times. Generally the bigger and better the festival, the harder to get your head around. So many enticing titles. Where to begin? Hopefully this blog can help.

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