Slovak director, screenwriter and cinematographer Juraj Jakubisko, who won more than 80 international film awards, has died at the age of 84 in Prague, according to Film New Europe.
Jakubisko, who was given the nickname “the Fellini of the East“ due to his visual originality and magical realism, was born on April 20, 1938 in the eastern Slovak village of Kojšov. He studied photography at a secondary school for applied arts in Bratislava, and graduated in film directing from Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (Famu) in Prague.
He began winning international acclaim with his experimental short films even before his directorial feature debut with “Crucial Years” (Kristove roky) (1967). The films “The Deserter and the Nomads” (Zbehovia a pútnici) (1968), which won the Little Lion award for young artist at the Venice Film Festival, “Birds, Orphans and Fools” (1969), and the tragicomedy “See You in Hell, Friends” were banned in the 1970s,...
Jakubisko, who was given the nickname “the Fellini of the East“ due to his visual originality and magical realism, was born on April 20, 1938 in the eastern Slovak village of Kojšov. He studied photography at a secondary school for applied arts in Bratislava, and graduated in film directing from Film and TV School of the Academy of Performing Arts (Famu) in Prague.
He began winning international acclaim with his experimental short films even before his directorial feature debut with “Crucial Years” (Kristove roky) (1967). The films “The Deserter and the Nomads” (Zbehovia a pútnici) (1968), which won the Little Lion award for young artist at the Venice Film Festival, “Birds, Orphans and Fools” (1969), and the tragicomedy “See You in Hell, Friends” were banned in the 1970s,...
- 3/1/2023
- by Zuzana Točíková Vojteková
- Variety Film + TV
Nearly three decades since he departed this mortal coil, Federico Fellini will now be featured in a new film. Fear not, some sort of CGI recreation is not planned for Slovakian filmmaker Matej Mináč’s forthcoming feature Never Give Up. Rather, the film will incorporate never-before-seen footage of the Italian maestro in the meta road trip tale.
Cineuropa reports the project, inspired by Mináč’s own experiences, will follow a “young and hapless film director traveling to Italy to do an interview with the titan of world cinema” in the year 1989, accompanied by a seven-person crew. Told with a comical touch, “the film will explore the hard life of filmmakers set against the backdrop of three ideologies – socialism, nationalism and early capitalism,” says producer Jana Motyčková.
As to how Fellini precisely figures in, never-before-seen unused footage shot for Mináč’s 1989 documentary The Portrait of Director will be used. For the documentary,...
Cineuropa reports the project, inspired by Mináč’s own experiences, will follow a “young and hapless film director traveling to Italy to do an interview with the titan of world cinema” in the year 1989, accompanied by a seven-person crew. Told with a comical touch, “the film will explore the hard life of filmmakers set against the backdrop of three ideologies – socialism, nationalism and early capitalism,” says producer Jana Motyčková.
As to how Fellini precisely figures in, never-before-seen unused footage shot for Mináč’s 1989 documentary The Portrait of Director will be used. For the documentary,...
- 3/23/2021
- by Jordan Raup
- The Film Stage
Based on Mináč’s own encounter with the Italian master of cinema, the film will feature authentic, never-before-seen footage with Fellini. Slovakian filmmaker and producer Matej Mináč, who gained international renown through his award-winning films about Sir Nicholas Winton, All My Loved Ones, Nicky's Family and The Power of Good: Nicholas Winton, will be returning to his roots in his next project. Mináč started his film career with The Portrait of Director in 1989, a feature-length documentary portrait of Slovakian director Juraj Jakubisko, for which he conducted an interview with Federico Fellini. Mináč’s new film project, Never Give Up, will follow a young and hapless film director travelling to Italy to do an interview with the titan of world cinema. Based on Mináč’s own experiences, the project had originally been planned as a docudrama, but it has now taken the shape of a comical road movie. A young film director from.
Igor Luther worked on the fragmentary essay titled Self-Portrait where he looks back on his own fruitful professional career and turbulent private life. Slovak producer and director Ivan Ostrochovský, who revealed his latest fiction feature Servants at this year's Berlinale, is continuing in his producing efforts. After co-producing the experimental docu-pic Frem and Petr Zelenka’s dramedy Droneman (read the news), one of the projects he is currently working on as a producer is a documentary with the working title Self-Portrait, centred on the most acclaimed Slovak cinematographer, Igor Luther, who passed away at the beginning of June 2020. Luther commands a glowing filmography, having lensed Juraj Jakubisko’s The Years of Christ and Birdies, Orphans and Fools, Alain Robbe-Grillet’s The Man Who Lies and Eden and Afterwards and serving as DoP on films by Michael Haneke, Wolfgang Staudte, Andrzej Wajda, Aleksandar Petrović and a fruitful collaboration with Volker Schlöndorff with whom.
Late Italian actress Giulietta Masina, the original Feather Fairy, is to be digitally revived for The Feather Fairy and Two Worlds. Slovakian filmmaker and part of the Czechoslovak New Wave Juraj Jakubisko is finishing the special effects on his latest project, a sequel to his fairy tale The Feather Fairy. The Feather Fairy and Two Worlds is intended to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the original’s release. The first film is an adaptation of the Brothers Grimm short story Mother Hulda and follows a grandmotherly character, the titular fairy, and a boy called Jacob who is not afraid of death. The sequel will revolve around Lukáš, Jacob’s son, who wanders off into the world in search of happiness and love as he is looked after by his godmother, the Feather Fairy. The official synopsis further elaborates on the main plot line: “He arrives late in the fairy-tale land that she.
When it comes to feature film output in Central and Eastern Europe, it’s all about marshaling indie forces and breaking out of familiar tropes this year, say producers and filmmakers.
It’s also about relationships in the increasingly interconnected region, as Katarina Tomkova, one of the Slovak producers for “Servants,” says of the
communist-era drama focused on priests facing pressure to spy for the state. The fact-based idea — a Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Irish co-production that premieres in Berlinale’s Encounters section — grew out of a deal structure created “very organically, and was based on personal relationships and friendships,” says Tomkova of Slovakia’s Punkchart.
“Servants” star Vlad Ivanov was a juror at the Vilnius fest, which awarded Ivan Ostrochovsky’s previous film, “Koza,” which led to Romanian producers Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu and Tudor Giurgiu — and later composer Cristi Lolea — joining the project.
Czech producer Pavel Strnad of Negativ...
It’s also about relationships in the increasingly interconnected region, as Katarina Tomkova, one of the Slovak producers for “Servants,” says of the
communist-era drama focused on priests facing pressure to spy for the state. The fact-based idea — a Slovak, Czech, Romanian and Irish co-production that premieres in Berlinale’s Encounters section — grew out of a deal structure created “very organically, and was based on personal relationships and friendships,” says Tomkova of Slovakia’s Punkchart.
“Servants” star Vlad Ivanov was a juror at the Vilnius fest, which awarded Ivan Ostrochovsky’s previous film, “Koza,” which led to Romanian producers Oana Bujgoi Giurgiu and Tudor Giurgiu — and later composer Cristi Lolea — joining the project.
Czech producer Pavel Strnad of Negativ...
- 2/23/2020
- by Will Tizard
- Variety Film + TV
Above: Us one sheet for Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice. Two weeks ago, as the 57th New York Film Festival kicked off, I griped about the uninspiring quality of the posters for the films in the festival’s main slate. 50 years ago it was a very different story. The posters I have found for the 19 films in the 1969 main selection make up a dazzling collection of illustration and forward thinking graphic design, even, or especially, the type-only poster for the only studio film in the festival: Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice which was the opening night film on September 16 (notably a Tuesday evening).Of course, many of these posters might have been made months or even a year after the festival, since we’re looking back with half a century of hindsight, and many of this year’s designs will no doubt be updated, but this was also the era in which...
- 10/11/2019
- MUBI
In memory of Elliott Stein, the purest film maven I’ve ever known and the friend who first drew my attention to this film. The most familiar films of the Czech New Wave in the U.S. are most likely the dry dark comedies of Milos Forman and Ivan Passer; the diverse works of Jiri Menzel, Jan Kadar, Vera Chytilova and Juraj Jakubisko are recognized in more specialized circles. For Eastern and Central European cinephiles, however, the modernist historical drama Marketa Lazarova (1967), never lumped together with the movement, is not only the masterpiece of the era but also one of the […]...
- 2/26/2014
- by Howard Feinstein
- Filmmaker Magazine-Director Interviews
In memory of Elliott Stein, the purest film maven I’ve ever known and the friend who first drew my attention to this film. The most familiar films of the Czech New Wave in the U.S. are most likely the dry dark comedies of Milos Forman and Ivan Passer; the diverse works of Jiri Menzel, Jan Kadar, Vera Chytilova and Juraj Jakubisko are recognized in more specialized circles. For Eastern and Central European cinephiles, however, the modernist historical drama Marketa Lazarova (1967), never lumped together with the movement, is not only the masterpiece of the era but also one of the […]...
- 2/26/2014
- by Howard Feinstein
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
The French New Wave was not the only new wave of the 1960s: during a temporary loosening of the Communist regime’s hold on culture, Czechoslovakia had its own new wave that produced films just as beautiful, witty, exciting, innovative and thought-provoking as the French. The 1960s saw two Czechoslovak winners of the foreign language Oscar: The Shop on Main Street in 1965 and Closely Observed Trains in 1967. Like the French New Wave filmmakers, Czech New Wave directors such as Miloš Forman, Věra Chytilová and Jan Němec were well-versed in film history. Although Communism had restricted their access to more recent international trends in film, philosophy, politics, art and literature, during the 1960s Czechoslovak students, artists and intellectuals had greater access to contemporary movements and ideas and embraced them enthusiastically. The country was also able to reconnect with its own artistic and cultural past, formerly repressed by Communism: one major example is the work of Kafka,...
- 2/26/2013
- by Alison Frank
- The Moving Arts Journal
DVD Release Date: July 24, 2012
Price: DVD $24.98
Studio: Screen Media
Anna Friel goes gothic in Bathory: Countess of Blood.
The 2008 biographical drama-fantasy film Bathory: Countess of Blood is based on the legend surrounding the life and deeds of Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary, the most prolific female serial killer in history. Or so history would tell us…
Set in the 17th Century, the film zeroes in on countess Erzsebet Bathory (Anna Friel, Limitless) and her marriage to powerful Hungarian nobleman Ferenc Nadasy (Vincent Regan, Clash of the Titans), her lust for Italian painter Caravaggio (Hans Matheson), and her strange relationship with a mysterious healer Darvulia (Deana Jakubiskova). After her husband’s death following years of civil war and regional tensions, Bathory and her collaborators are accused of having tortured and killed hundreds of girls so that the Countess could bathe in the blood of virgins in an unholy quest for immortality (or,...
Price: DVD $24.98
Studio: Screen Media
Anna Friel goes gothic in Bathory: Countess of Blood.
The 2008 biographical drama-fantasy film Bathory: Countess of Blood is based on the legend surrounding the life and deeds of Countess Elizabeth Bathory of Hungary, the most prolific female serial killer in history. Or so history would tell us…
Set in the 17th Century, the film zeroes in on countess Erzsebet Bathory (Anna Friel, Limitless) and her marriage to powerful Hungarian nobleman Ferenc Nadasy (Vincent Regan, Clash of the Titans), her lust for Italian painter Caravaggio (Hans Matheson), and her strange relationship with a mysterious healer Darvulia (Deana Jakubiskova). After her husband’s death following years of civil war and regional tensions, Bathory and her collaborators are accused of having tortured and killed hundreds of girls so that the Countess could bathe in the blood of virgins in an unholy quest for immortality (or,...
- 4/27/2012
- by Laurence
- Disc Dish
Bathory
Guest review by Dog Ate My Wookie
Stars: Anna Friel, Hans Matheson, Karel Roden, Vincent Regan | Written by Juraj Jakubisko, John Paul Chapple | Directed by Juraj Jakubisko
The history of Countess Bathory is world renowned, the story of her dastardly deeds in the search for youth has been told thousands of times around the world and with each telling the grisly affair becomes more sordid and gruesome. My favourite telling so far has to be the Hammer Horror classic, the old Bathory on her quest for pure blood to bathe in so that her youthful looks may return.
Bathory (2008) not to be confused with The Countess (2009) which I totally thought this film was, tells the story from a whole new perspective. Countess Erzsébet Báthory may be a name of legend, she may have even made the Guiness Book of world records for the number of lives she took but...
Guest review by Dog Ate My Wookie
Stars: Anna Friel, Hans Matheson, Karel Roden, Vincent Regan | Written by Juraj Jakubisko, John Paul Chapple | Directed by Juraj Jakubisko
The history of Countess Bathory is world renowned, the story of her dastardly deeds in the search for youth has been told thousands of times around the world and with each telling the grisly affair becomes more sordid and gruesome. My favourite telling so far has to be the Hammer Horror classic, the old Bathory on her quest for pure blood to bathe in so that her youthful looks may return.
Bathory (2008) not to be confused with The Countess (2009) which I totally thought this film was, tells the story from a whole new perspective. Countess Erzsébet Báthory may be a name of legend, she may have even made the Guiness Book of world records for the number of lives she took but...
- 3/18/2011
- by Phil
- Nerdly
The tale of the notorious Countess Elizabeth Báthory has been recounted by historians, writers, poets, playwrights, musicians, painters and moviemakers for centuries.
Tradition has it that the Hungarian noblewoman (1560-1614) was the greatest murderess in the history of humankind, as documented by the Guinness Book of Records.
Tales of her cruel acts appeared several years after her death and became more and more exaggerated over the decades. She was said to have bathed in blood and performed gruesome acts of torture on her female virgin victims before killing them. Nicknamed the Blood(y) Countess, she has influenced vampire fiction, often being described as Dracula's cousin; a 1970 film about the character was called Countess Dracula.
But is there any truth to the stories? In four centuries, the official documents proving her guilt have never been found. There are recorded statements of witnesses, but not the direct ones - and their credibility is disputed.
Tradition has it that the Hungarian noblewoman (1560-1614) was the greatest murderess in the history of humankind, as documented by the Guinness Book of Records.
Tales of her cruel acts appeared several years after her death and became more and more exaggerated over the decades. She was said to have bathed in blood and performed gruesome acts of torture on her female virgin victims before killing them. Nicknamed the Blood(y) Countess, she has influenced vampire fiction, often being described as Dracula's cousin; a 1970 film about the character was called Countess Dracula.
But is there any truth to the stories? In four centuries, the official documents proving her guilt have never been found. There are recorded statements of witnesses, but not the direct ones - and their credibility is disputed.
- 12/8/2010
- by David Bentley
- The Geek Files
Of Gods And Men (15)
(Xavier Beauvois, 2010, Fra) Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale. 122 mins.
The spiritualism is far from abstract in this powerful, resonant drama, based on a story of French Cistercian monks in 1990s north Africa. When their harmonious village life is threatened by violent Islamic fundamentalists, they're given a real test of faith. Should they stay or go? Do they belong there anyway? Are they ready for martydom?
Megamind (PG)
(Tom McGrath, 2010, Us) Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey. 96 mins.
Smart, polished animation with Ferrell's blue meanie vanquishing his nemesis, but then wanting to be good.
Monsters (12A)
(Gareth Edwards, 2010, UK/Us) Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able. 94 mins.
Low-budget sci-fi plus indie date movie equals alternative credentials, as a couple trek through a futuristic Mexico infested with aliens and metaphors.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (15)
(Jalmari Helander, 2010, Fin) Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Rauno Juvonen. 83 mins.
This deadpan Finnish treat reimagines Santa as an evil child-snatcher.
(Xavier Beauvois, 2010, Fra) Lambert Wilson, Michael Lonsdale. 122 mins.
The spiritualism is far from abstract in this powerful, resonant drama, based on a story of French Cistercian monks in 1990s north Africa. When their harmonious village life is threatened by violent Islamic fundamentalists, they're given a real test of faith. Should they stay or go? Do they belong there anyway? Are they ready for martydom?
Megamind (PG)
(Tom McGrath, 2010, Us) Will Ferrell, Brad Pitt, Tina Fey. 96 mins.
Smart, polished animation with Ferrell's blue meanie vanquishing his nemesis, but then wanting to be good.
Monsters (12A)
(Gareth Edwards, 2010, UK/Us) Scoot McNairy, Whitney Able. 94 mins.
Low-budget sci-fi plus indie date movie equals alternative credentials, as a couple trek through a futuristic Mexico infested with aliens and metaphors.
Rare Exports: A Christmas Tale (15)
(Jalmari Helander, 2010, Fin) Onni Tommila, Jorma Tommila, Rauno Juvonen. 83 mins.
This deadpan Finnish treat reimagines Santa as an evil child-snatcher.
- 12/4/2010
- by The guide
- The Guardian - Film News
Lust, power, murder, the quest for eternal youth and a dash of lesbianism – no wonder the story of Erzébet Báthory appeals to film-makers so much
Deep within the preposterous Euro pudding that is Bathory, there lurks a would-be revisionist account of the woman cited in the Guinness World Records as having killed "the most number [650] of victims attributed to one murderess". In between Anna Friel's mad wigs, a babel of accents and a parade of indistinguishable Magyars, Juraj Jakubisko's film suggests Erzsébet Báthory was a sort of Renaissance Florence Nightingale figure who had an affair with Caravaggio. She didn't mean to stab her hairdresser with a pair of scissors! Those bathtubs of virgins' blood were nothing but water tinted red by herbs! She was framed!
Báthory has been portrayed on film some 30 times since 1970, has lent her name to a Swedish black metal band and, since she could...
Deep within the preposterous Euro pudding that is Bathory, there lurks a would-be revisionist account of the woman cited in the Guinness World Records as having killed "the most number [650] of victims attributed to one murderess". In between Anna Friel's mad wigs, a babel of accents and a parade of indistinguishable Magyars, Juraj Jakubisko's film suggests Erzsébet Báthory was a sort of Renaissance Florence Nightingale figure who had an affair with Caravaggio. She didn't mean to stab her hairdresser with a pair of scissors! Those bathtubs of virgins' blood were nothing but water tinted red by herbs! She was framed!
Báthory has been portrayed on film some 30 times since 1970, has lent her name to a Swedish black metal band and, since she could...
- 12/3/2010
- by Anne Billson
- The Guardian - Film News
She is known in the pages of history as the woman who performed the first lesbian kiss on UK television. I’m not talking about Countess Elizabeth Bathory a.k.a Countess Dracula, I’m talking about Anna Friel! But worlds collide and the lurid past of the infamous butcher comes to live in Bathory starring Rochdale’s finest actress since Gracie Fields – yes, Anna Friel!
The film, distributed by Metrodome and directed by Juraj Jakibisko, opens in UK cinemas from 3rd December. Here’s the trailer, posters and synopsis for you to feast upon.
Synopsis:
The tale of the notorious Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who has been recounted by historians, writers, poets, playwrights, musicians, painters, and moviemakers for many years. Tradition has it that Countess Bathory was the greatest murderess in the history of humankind – a fact documented by her entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
This historical epic...
The film, distributed by Metrodome and directed by Juraj Jakibisko, opens in UK cinemas from 3rd December. Here’s the trailer, posters and synopsis for you to feast upon.
Synopsis:
The tale of the notorious Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who has been recounted by historians, writers, poets, playwrights, musicians, painters, and moviemakers for many years. Tradition has it that Countess Bathory was the greatest murderess in the history of humankind – a fact documented by her entry in the Guinness Book of Records.
This historical epic...
- 12/1/2010
- by Martyn Conterio
- FilmShaft.com
The tale of the notorious Countess Elizabeth Bathory, who has been recounted by historians, writers, poets, playwrights, musicians, painters, and moviemakers – most famously in Hammer’s Countess Dracula – for many years.
Tradition has it that Countess Bathory was the greatest murderess in the history of humankind. Stories have it that she bathing in blood and perfomed many gruesome acts of torture on her female virgin victims before killing them. But is that really true? In four centuries, no historical document has been found to reveal what had exactly happened.
Diametically opposing the established legend, Bathory – starring Anna Friel as the eponymous countess – is about a defenceless widow who owns more property and riches than the King himself and who, as a result, becomes a victim of scheming from on high.
Directed by Juraj Jakubisko, Bathory is released in the UK on December 3rd courtesy of Metrodome.
Tradition has it that Countess Bathory was the greatest murderess in the history of humankind. Stories have it that she bathing in blood and perfomed many gruesome acts of torture on her female virgin victims before killing them. But is that really true? In four centuries, no historical document has been found to reveal what had exactly happened.
Diametically opposing the established legend, Bathory – starring Anna Friel as the eponymous countess – is about a defenceless widow who owns more property and riches than the King himself and who, as a result, becomes a victim of scheming from on high.
Directed by Juraj Jakubisko, Bathory is released in the UK on December 3rd courtesy of Metrodome.
- 12/1/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
And we've got a treat in store, says Gwladys Fouché. Stand by for not one but two hammy international biopics of a Hungarian aristo who bathed in the blood of virgins
There's nothing like a good, hot slab of Euro pudding. Where once we Europeans used to slaughter each other, now we come together to cook up Champagne Charlie and I Am Dina instead. It's the cinematic equivalent of Eurovision: all together in perfect disharmony.
The best Euro puddings are the ones with ambition. Sweeping sagas set in exotic locations with actors famous in their home countries trying to make it big internationally. I imagine producers hoping to unite Europe behind them and storm the box office, before realising the Hollywood machine will beat them once again.
And, praise be, there's a tasty example just coming out of the oven, dripping with epic scenes and celebrity actors eager for cash.
There's nothing like a good, hot slab of Euro pudding. Where once we Europeans used to slaughter each other, now we come together to cook up Champagne Charlie and I Am Dina instead. It's the cinematic equivalent of Eurovision: all together in perfect disharmony.
The best Euro puddings are the ones with ambition. Sweeping sagas set in exotic locations with actors famous in their home countries trying to make it big internationally. I imagine producers hoping to unite Europe behind them and storm the box office, before realising the Hollywood machine will beat them once again.
And, praise be, there's a tasty example just coming out of the oven, dripping with epic scenes and celebrity actors eager for cash.
- 8/5/2008
- by Gwladys Fouché
- The Guardian - Film News
Today
THE SOULER OPPOSITE
7 p.m., Monica
(also 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, Monica)
Comic meets girl. Comic pursues girl. Comic dates girl. Girl stops thinking comic is funny and their relationship turns into no laughing matter. But the movie, overall, is oddly endearing even as it sweeps toward a too-slow conclusion.
Screenwriter-director Bill Kalmenson, a former comic himself, believably conveys the comic's life and angst. The suffering here, professionally and romantically, seems entirely realistic.
In a romantic comedy where one-liners are an integral part of the proceedings, comic Barry Singer (Christopher Meloni) milks his eternal adolescence and mistrust of relationships, using those topics for fuel in his stand-up comedy act.
Finally finding someone he can care for, younger woman Thea Douglas (Janel Moloney), Barry discovers it's nearly impossible to lower his defenses as he hurtles into sensitive areas of his life, like love, commitment and trust.
Meloni does a stand-out job as a stand-up comic in this ingenuous romantic comedy. There are legitimately touching scenes -- as when he finds himself in a family situation with Thea's clan and is genuinely moved by their affection. Moloney, for her part, is appealing and believable as a political activist with a sense of humor and romance. Timothy Busfield has a decent, supporting comic role, but his contribution to the film could have been pushed further into dark comedy.
Overall, the characters have a refreshing, natural feeling, and that's likely to bring "Souler Opposite" a wider release than the festival circuit.
Michael Farkash
BAT OUT OF HELL
4:30 p.m., Mann's Chinese
(also 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Monica)
A French gangster film with grisly executions, bloody gun battles and deeply buried secrets that drive a young crime boss' son (Arnaud Giovaninetti) to confront his ruthless sire, director Xavier Durringer's "Bat Out of Hell" is mildly interesting with its glimpses of seedy Paris and the usual morally reprehensible suspects, but not enough to fully engage domestic audiences overloaded with such fare.
At its murky core, the lead's rocky relationship with his father is the most intriguing thing going on, but most of the film is a feverish few days of attacks and reprisals as two gangs go to war. One develops sympathy for Giovaninetti's lost soul and his loyal comrade-in-arms (Gerald Laroche), but the film as a whole, co-written by one-time prison inmate Jean Miez, is only sporadically involving.
David Hunter
JOURNEY ON THE HOUR HAND
9:30 p.m., Mann's Chinese
(also 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Monica)
It's not every day you see Turkey, Hungary and the Czech Republic collaborating on an existential mystery about an itinerant clockmaker who gets tangled up in the time-space continuum, but that's exactly what gives "Journey on the Hour Hand" its exotic allure.
After an intriguing start, however, the storyline undergoes a metaphysical meltdown -- imagine an episode of "The Twilight Zone" written by Kierkegaard -- and never quite recovers.
Director Omer Kavur does a good job in laying on the atmospherics and lead Mehmet Aslantug makes an effective everyman, but the film's pace is so numbingly measured that on more than one occasion it really does feel as if time has come to a complete stop.
Michael Rechtshaffen
KEEP COOL
10 p.m., Monica
Fast and frenetic, but even more so if one is familiar with the exquisite period films of Chinese director Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red Lantern", Shanghai Triad"), "Keep Cool" is an amiable comedy that captures the passionate lives of a loosely connected trio in Beijing and takes off when a bookseller (Jiang Wen) pursues a sexy young woman (Qu Ying). After the expected initial brush-off, he tracks her down to an apartment complex and, in a fairly amusing gambit, hires passers-by to yell out his messages of love, a ploy that eventually succeeds.
But she is also involved with a nightclub owner, who sends thugs to discourage the persistent bookseller. In a violent encounter on the street, an aging researcher (Li Baotian) is drawn into the scenario when his portable computer is smashed to bits and he seeks compensation from the frustrated young lead. They form an alliance and set up a meeting with the nightclub owner to further their own agendas. Fine performances aside and with respect to the subtext about changes going on in Chinese society, "Keep Cool" is good but not great, which is, alas, what one expects from such a supremely talented international filmmaker.
David Hunter
Tuesday
WITHOUT A MAP
4 p.m., Monica
Trekking into too-familiar territory, writer-director Peter Turman takes us into the lives of a Hollywood wannabe writer and his quest for meaning in life and a successful romantic relationship. It's the voyage of discovery a lot of young people must make and which young filmmakers are wont to share with audiences.
The writer character, Martin Philip Tanzini), hates his job and struggles to get his icy, sexy girlfriend Anna (Lola Glaudini) to take their relationship seriously.
After they go through one more volatile breakup, Martin meets ad executive Jamie (Robin McKee) and they seem to hit it off all right, a rarity for Martin. Except, of course, he's still obsessed with Anna.
"Without a Map" frequently feels like it's treading into Woody Allen territory about a quiet, intelligent fellow at odds with the universe who ruminates endlessly about relationships and his place in the world. All this gets a bit tiresome, and a primary device -- the use of quirky, documentary style asides as the characters talk about themselves or about Martin -- also feels like a familiar technique.
Turman provides us with a competently assembled film, but some scenes are lit too dimly and dialog frequently meanders undramatically and repetitiously in the quest for verisimilitude. But then, that's the point -- a film about ennui and spiritual desolation among the aging young.
Michael Farkash
AN AMBIGUOUS REPORT ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD
10:15 p.m., Mann's Chinese
(also 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Monica)
After a five-year absence, Czech director Juraj Jakubisko returns with another lyrical, epic parable about the human race that boasts beautiful imagery and a milieu that both seriously and comically asks what's in store for us as the third millennium dawns. It's also a compelling family saga that begins with the massacre by wolves of nearly an entire village after gung-ho hunters leave it unprotected.
Among the survivors are a young, pregnant bride and the deceased groom's 10-year-old brother, who because of his heroism is promised the bride's baby girl in marriage. Seriously depopulated, the village hangs on and the young hero grows into a stern, hardworking man (Milan Bahul) while the remarried bride (Deana Horvathova) still plans to see him wed her pretty but still-immature daughter (Klara Issova).
In typical Jakubisko fashion, the story seems to stray, but not too far, when the arrival of a circus leads to a drunken night of wagering after which the village's many lonely widowers suddenly find themselves with new mates. But this new influence includes the dispirited circus owner (Joachim Kemmer), who convinces them to grow illegal poppy and cannabis crops that bring down the usually distant representatives of modern law enforcement.
With earthquakes that selectively tilt houses and a half-crazy local constantly reassuring everyone that Nostradamus predicted 1,000 years of peace, "Ambiguous" moves on to a socially disruptive relationship between Bahul's jilted groom and Horvathova's free spirit. Magical and wondrous and a bit long, but a treat for fans of Jakubisko, the film is likewise a terrific introduction to an original, compelling cinema artist.
David Hunter...
THE SOULER OPPOSITE
7 p.m., Monica
(also 3:45 p.m. Wednesday, Monica)
Comic meets girl. Comic pursues girl. Comic dates girl. Girl stops thinking comic is funny and their relationship turns into no laughing matter. But the movie, overall, is oddly endearing even as it sweeps toward a too-slow conclusion.
Screenwriter-director Bill Kalmenson, a former comic himself, believably conveys the comic's life and angst. The suffering here, professionally and romantically, seems entirely realistic.
In a romantic comedy where one-liners are an integral part of the proceedings, comic Barry Singer (Christopher Meloni) milks his eternal adolescence and mistrust of relationships, using those topics for fuel in his stand-up comedy act.
Finally finding someone he can care for, younger woman Thea Douglas (Janel Moloney), Barry discovers it's nearly impossible to lower his defenses as he hurtles into sensitive areas of his life, like love, commitment and trust.
Meloni does a stand-out job as a stand-up comic in this ingenuous romantic comedy. There are legitimately touching scenes -- as when he finds himself in a family situation with Thea's clan and is genuinely moved by their affection. Moloney, for her part, is appealing and believable as a political activist with a sense of humor and romance. Timothy Busfield has a decent, supporting comic role, but his contribution to the film could have been pushed further into dark comedy.
Overall, the characters have a refreshing, natural feeling, and that's likely to bring "Souler Opposite" a wider release than the festival circuit.
Michael Farkash
BAT OUT OF HELL
4:30 p.m., Mann's Chinese
(also 8:15 p.m. Thursday, Monica)
A French gangster film with grisly executions, bloody gun battles and deeply buried secrets that drive a young crime boss' son (Arnaud Giovaninetti) to confront his ruthless sire, director Xavier Durringer's "Bat Out of Hell" is mildly interesting with its glimpses of seedy Paris and the usual morally reprehensible suspects, but not enough to fully engage domestic audiences overloaded with such fare.
At its murky core, the lead's rocky relationship with his father is the most intriguing thing going on, but most of the film is a feverish few days of attacks and reprisals as two gangs go to war. One develops sympathy for Giovaninetti's lost soul and his loyal comrade-in-arms (Gerald Laroche), but the film as a whole, co-written by one-time prison inmate Jean Miez, is only sporadically involving.
David Hunter
JOURNEY ON THE HOUR HAND
9:30 p.m., Mann's Chinese
(also 1:15 p.m. Wednesday, Monica)
It's not every day you see Turkey, Hungary and the Czech Republic collaborating on an existential mystery about an itinerant clockmaker who gets tangled up in the time-space continuum, but that's exactly what gives "Journey on the Hour Hand" its exotic allure.
After an intriguing start, however, the storyline undergoes a metaphysical meltdown -- imagine an episode of "The Twilight Zone" written by Kierkegaard -- and never quite recovers.
Director Omer Kavur does a good job in laying on the atmospherics and lead Mehmet Aslantug makes an effective everyman, but the film's pace is so numbingly measured that on more than one occasion it really does feel as if time has come to a complete stop.
Michael Rechtshaffen
KEEP COOL
10 p.m., Monica
Fast and frenetic, but even more so if one is familiar with the exquisite period films of Chinese director Zhang Yimou ("Raise the Red Lantern", Shanghai Triad"), "Keep Cool" is an amiable comedy that captures the passionate lives of a loosely connected trio in Beijing and takes off when a bookseller (Jiang Wen) pursues a sexy young woman (Qu Ying). After the expected initial brush-off, he tracks her down to an apartment complex and, in a fairly amusing gambit, hires passers-by to yell out his messages of love, a ploy that eventually succeeds.
But she is also involved with a nightclub owner, who sends thugs to discourage the persistent bookseller. In a violent encounter on the street, an aging researcher (Li Baotian) is drawn into the scenario when his portable computer is smashed to bits and he seeks compensation from the frustrated young lead. They form an alliance and set up a meeting with the nightclub owner to further their own agendas. Fine performances aside and with respect to the subtext about changes going on in Chinese society, "Keep Cool" is good but not great, which is, alas, what one expects from such a supremely talented international filmmaker.
David Hunter
Tuesday
WITHOUT A MAP
4 p.m., Monica
Trekking into too-familiar territory, writer-director Peter Turman takes us into the lives of a Hollywood wannabe writer and his quest for meaning in life and a successful romantic relationship. It's the voyage of discovery a lot of young people must make and which young filmmakers are wont to share with audiences.
The writer character, Martin Philip Tanzini), hates his job and struggles to get his icy, sexy girlfriend Anna (Lola Glaudini) to take their relationship seriously.
After they go through one more volatile breakup, Martin meets ad executive Jamie (Robin McKee) and they seem to hit it off all right, a rarity for Martin. Except, of course, he's still obsessed with Anna.
"Without a Map" frequently feels like it's treading into Woody Allen territory about a quiet, intelligent fellow at odds with the universe who ruminates endlessly about relationships and his place in the world. All this gets a bit tiresome, and a primary device -- the use of quirky, documentary style asides as the characters talk about themselves or about Martin -- also feels like a familiar technique.
Turman provides us with a competently assembled film, but some scenes are lit too dimly and dialog frequently meanders undramatically and repetitiously in the quest for verisimilitude. But then, that's the point -- a film about ennui and spiritual desolation among the aging young.
Michael Farkash
AN AMBIGUOUS REPORT ABOUT THE END OF THE WORLD
10:15 p.m., Mann's Chinese
(also 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Monica)
After a five-year absence, Czech director Juraj Jakubisko returns with another lyrical, epic parable about the human race that boasts beautiful imagery and a milieu that both seriously and comically asks what's in store for us as the third millennium dawns. It's also a compelling family saga that begins with the massacre by wolves of nearly an entire village after gung-ho hunters leave it unprotected.
Among the survivors are a young, pregnant bride and the deceased groom's 10-year-old brother, who because of his heroism is promised the bride's baby girl in marriage. Seriously depopulated, the village hangs on and the young hero grows into a stern, hardworking man (Milan Bahul) while the remarried bride (Deana Horvathova) still plans to see him wed her pretty but still-immature daughter (Klara Issova).
In typical Jakubisko fashion, the story seems to stray, but not too far, when the arrival of a circus leads to a drunken night of wagering after which the village's many lonely widowers suddenly find themselves with new mates. But this new influence includes the dispirited circus owner (Joachim Kemmer), who convinces them to grow illegal poppy and cannabis crops that bring down the usually distant representatives of modern law enforcement.
With earthquakes that selectively tilt houses and a half-crazy local constantly reassuring everyone that Nostradamus predicted 1,000 years of peace, "Ambiguous" moves on to a socially disruptive relationship between Bahul's jilted groom and Horvathova's free spirit. Magical and wondrous and a bit long, but a treat for fans of Jakubisko, the film is likewise a terrific introduction to an original, compelling cinema artist.
David Hunter...
- 10/27/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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