Delegation (2023) Berlin

While on a school trip to the Holocaust sites before graduation three friends find their relationship under pressure as past and present collide in the wake of their soon becoming full-fledged adults.

I’m kind of uncertain what I feel about Delegation. It’s not that the film is bad, more that the mix of a coming of age drama set on a trip to holocaust sites makes for an odd viewing experience. While I know this sort of thing happens in real life all the time as school groups visit the sites, seeing it played out on the big screen is odd to me since it has been beaten into us that the  sites are to be treated with reverence. And I should say the subject of the Holocaust is handled reverentially.  It’s simply that that we are watching teen angst play out in Poland.

On it’s own terms Delegation is a good look at a bunch of kids growing up. The cast is excellent and they sell everything that is going on.  The mix of genres is something that Israeli film have always managed to do well going back to the long running Lemon Popsicle series in the 1970’s. Its films like this that truly make you understand what bittersweet means.

Worth a look.

Brief thoughts on Properties of Metal (2023) Berlin 2023

An American scientist goes to a small village where a young man who can bend metal lives. The pair become friends as the young man slowly comes of age.

Lyrical coming of age film about life in a small Italian town is a sweet little film. Its full of nice characters and a sense of a life that’s lived. It’s so nice on it’s own terms that I’m not sure it needs the McGuffin of the metal bending. While it is there as reason to bring in the scientist( surrogate father) and serves to set up thematic elements the film doesn’t need it.

What a real joy.

Recommended

UNDER THE SKY OF DAMASCUS (2023) Berlin 2023

A group of women in Damascus come together to put a play together  about the treatment of women in the country. 

The idea behind the film is that the women are going to put a play together but the misogyny in Syria. The film is lays bare the abuse of women at the hands of men and by the structures of power. What starts out as a large group of women slowly dwindles as the subject matter takes its toll on their lives. Then a series of unexpected events occur which cause everything to fall apart.

This is an atypical film. The film was put together by Heba Khaled who is living in exile in Berlin. She directed the crew remotely in Syria.  The film is bookended by the story of Sabah Al-Salem an actress who was tossed into prison and broken by the abuse she suffered there. Through the women's research and their own stories the full extent of the abuse of women in Syria is revealed. 

It's also very messy in that things happen unexpectedly. The films final third is a series of events which are stark reminders that life sometimes gets in the way. By the time the ending comes things are not fully resolved, and some of what happens is not concluded. However I was still left staring at the screen feeling beaten up by what I had seen. Life, messy as it is has a way of punching you square in the face.

Because of the rough edges and bumps I loved this film. Because of them this film is closer to life and felt more connected to the whole story. I loved the strength of the women in it. I loved the way the film shows us a side of Syria that is not what we typically see. It is not all bombed out cities, but a place of life. I also love that the film goes full bore on the misogyny that is running rampant in the country (and in other countries as well) it's a clear indication that the relationship between men and women in many places, is a war geared toward the destruction of one side by the other. 

The full on revelations of the misogyny echoes out from the film. As the stories come out we see begin to see that it is not just in one place but everywhere. There are parallels to the world outside Syria.  It's something that we may intellectually have know before, however this film brings it to the fore front.  If you doubt that consider how some of the stories of control mirror efforts to limit the right for women to control their lives and bodies even here in America. 

Make no mistake this film is an absolute gut punch. It’s a film that opens your eyes and rips out your heart concerning the treatment of women in the world. If you had any doubt about how bad the misogyny is this film will set you straight. As the film makes clear the abuse is the result of the abusers having control issues, as well as being sadists.  

I was rocked.  The audience I saw this with was too, as it fell unnaturally silent during several portions of the film.

This is a great film. It's the best film I've seen from this year's Berlin slate. It may be one of the years best as well simply because I can’t shake the film and I’ve been discussing it and rewriting this review ever since I saw it. .

Silver Haze (2023) Berlin 2023

When Jacky was a child she was severely burned when the pub she had fallen asleep in burned. Years later she is still haunted by the events of the day and looking for closure. Meeting a young woman in her job at a hospital she begins toward getting closure.

Marking the glorious return to the screen of Vicky Knight, an actress who rocked the pillars of heaven in director Sacha Polak’s DIRTY GOD, Silver haze is an emotional rollercoaster. A trip into the depths of a pained soul the film carries us along as Knight shows us the pain and suffering caused by a painful event almost two decades earlier. We are carried along as we follow one woman tries to find  redemption and peace. Knight is again working at the highest levels of her profession and if the gods should deem it she should be in the mix for yearend gold.

As much as I am willing to follow Knight anywhere, I kind of wish the script was a little more surprising. While there is nothing wrong with what happens, there was a point somewhere along the way things seemed to be falling onto paths we’ve seen before. I felt a little too much that I knew how some of this was going to play out.  I fully blame Knight and the rest of the cast being too good for the material. Everyone on screen push their characters right off it and into the realm of real people and watching them go through a movie plot makes it a little hard to accept.

On the other hand they are all so good that by the time we get to the final blackout there are some tears shed.

Recommended for the excellent cast and made a must by it’s star Vicky Knight

Teachers Lounge (2023) Berlin 2023

When things begin disappearing in her school and a student is accused of doing it a teacher begins to look into the matter and ends up causing all sorts of problems as she tries to negotiate between various groups.

This very mannered film walks the fine line between drama and uncomfortable comedy as a do good and principled teacher finds the way she sees the world is not compatible with the way things are. The drama comes from the situation and the dark humor comes from the way things just don’t quite play out the way out heroine wants them to. It’s not really funny as such but it’s in that uncomfortable place where bad things happen to good people and you laugh lest you squirm.

While everything in the film is really well done I found that I never connected to what was happening. I blame it on the tone which really didn’t connect to me. I’m not really a fan of cinema of discomfort and I usually need something to hold on to in order to make the connection. Here I didn’t have it and while I could intellectually appreciate everything on screen there wasn’t any emotional connection.

Because there is enough good here and because several other reviewers loved this I think this is worth a look.

Mutt (2023) Berlin 2023

Fena, a trans man living in New York City has a trying 24 hour period. His ex-boyfriend from before his transition reappears, his half sister wants to spend time with him and his father is coming in from out of town.

I really like MUTT a great deal. Its a solid drama with good cast. Lio Mehiel is great as Fena. They are on screen for the entire film and they carry the film on their back. While the rest of the cast is just as good, Mehiel is the one doing the heavy lifting and is the reason that we remain fixed at what is transpiring on the screen.

If there is any weakness in the film it is the single day construction. While setting the film in a single 24 hour period drives the film, X,Y and Z have to happen so Fena can pick up his dad, it creates a sense of artificiality. We know everything will be resolved by the fade out because the structure that the script is using requires things to end in closure. 

Reservation about the structure aside the film still moved me. Yes it's artificial at times, but Mehiel is so damn good that they carry the film and your emotions to a misty conclusion.

Recommended.

Sea Sparkle (2023) Berlin 2023

After her father, a sea captain, is killed at sea, a young girl becomes convinced that he was killed by an undiscovered sea creature. Wanting to clear his name she begins to hunt the beast.

This is a good coming of age story that is not what you expect. I thought this was going to be an adventure instead I got a film about dealing with the death of a parent and the things we do in order to make sense of them. Yes there is the quest for the “beast” but the reality is this is about the part of us that can’t let go.

I really like this film a great deal. It feel like it’s an honest portrait of todays kids. I got lost in the girl‘s quest and I felt like I was watching a real kid and not a movie kid that was working from a script. Actually this was the sort of thing that I could imagine my friend Randi or her friend Janni going through when they were the same age.

This film is definitely worth a look. It’s good enough that I fully expect the film to be playing the festival circuit for a good long while before finding a home on home video.

Recommended.

Quiet Migration (2023) Berlin 2023

A nineteen year old adopted Korean man ponders his future on the Danish farm where he was raised. He wants to see what is out in the world and in the country (South Korea) where he was born.

Beautiful and lyrical film about how we see ourselves and how we struggle to find our place in the world.  It’s a film that ponders the age old question of where do we belong and what makes us who we are.

A film of stunning beauty, I really wish I had seen this on a big screen, I found I was moved by the very human story. I liked how the film gave us people we could really feel for. What is it that makes who we are the place of out birth or the people who raised and loved us? There is a shot late in the film of mother and son toward the end of the film that seemed to answer it and which made me misty.

What a delight.

If I may digress for a moment - in some ways the film would make an interesting double feature with the recent award winning RETURN TO SEOUL, which is also about a Korean adoptee from Europe trying to come to terms with her heritage.  While the course of both films are completely different some of the themes are similar  and seeing them presented from different perspectives had my mind working over time.

Worth a look, especially on a big screen.