The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz
The Malaysian Insider :: Showbiz |
| Documentary brings Egypt revolt to Venice fest Posted: 09 Sep 2011 07:30 AM PDT  A man waves the Egyptian flag on a lamp post at Tahrir square, the focal point of the Egyptian uprising, in Cairo July 29, 2011. — Reuters pic The film is divided into three chapters — The Good, The Bad and The Politician — each handled by a different director and focusing respectively on the demonstrators, police forces and Mubarak. The three sections mix real footage of the protests, the crackdown by the feared security apparatus and Mubarak's defiant speeches in the face of growing revolt with interviews with activists, police officers, Mubarak's aides and political analysts. "It's a collage movie offering three different points of view on the same events," Tamer Ezzat, who like the other two Egyptian co-directors filmed the protests while taking part in them, told reporters in Venice. "The message I'm trying to convey is the revolution is still ongoing. Mubarak's resignation marked a turning point, but we cannot say this is when the story ends." Amr Salama, who directed the take on the 83-year-old Mubarak, said his was both a satirical and serious attempt "to get inside the brain" of the toppled leader. It includes a 10-step guide on how to become a dictator, ranging from hair-dying to creating false enemies, from cultivating a personality cult to going into a state of denial over one's own impending demise. Among those interviewed is Dr Hossam Badrawi, one of Mubarak's closest advisers in the final days of his rule who recounts how his attempts to open the former president's eyes fell on deaf ears. "Mubarak was in total denial, it's almost like he was watching and witnessing something else, not what was happening in the streets," Salama said, speaking in English. "After 30 years he is not the leader he thought he was. I was interested in portraying the ugly image of a dictator and at the same time the dramatic event of him falling and the self-revelation that 'I am not a leader, I am a dictator and the people of my country really hate me'." Other highlights in the documentary include interviews with four police officers, speaking at times candidly about how they were ordered to clamp down on the protests and spy on anyone who was deemed to be an opponent of the regime. "The state used us as a stick to lean on and at the same time beat up people (with)," one of them says. Mubarak, who was overthrown on February 11, is currently on trial on charges of conspiring to kill protesters and inciting some officers to use live ammunition. About 850 people died during the demonstrations. The authors of "Tahrir 2011" reflected on the use of social media and mobile phones during the Arab Spring protests and how this would likely inspire more documentaries on the revolts. "Every time a protester was wounded in Tahrir Square, you'd see five people trying to help him and another 30 filming the scene," said Ezzat. Charif Kiwan, a spokesman for the Abounaddara collective of Syrian film-makers who also took part in the festival's special section on the uprisings, said this type of citizens' journalism had demolished the authorities' grip on information in their countries. "While we're talking, there are people with mobile phones trying to shoot these scenes and documenting them even though they are risking their lives to do that. The regime doesn't want any image of what is happening to circulate," he said. "Documentaries show what these people don't want you to see. An earthquake is taking place, the official narrative is disappearing, it's collapsing. People are finally realising that you can actually turn your gaze and look in a different direction." — Reuters |
| Venice film fest wins on points but lacks knock-out Posted: 09 Sep 2011 07:25 AM PDT  William Friedkin (right) and Emile Hirsch joke as they arrive for the screening of "Killer Joe" at the 68th Venice Film Festival September 8, 2011. — Reuters pic Madonna, George Clooney, Gwyneth Paltrow and Matt Damon were among the A-listers to walk the red carpet, giving Venice the visibility it needs to compete with other festivals around the world. There was positive buzz around Roman Polanski's "Carnage", Tomas Alfredson's "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy", Clooney's "The Ides of March" and Steve McQueen's "Shame". As Hollywood's focus moves from summer blockbusters to potential prize winners ahead of the Academy Awards in February, William Friedkin's "Killer Joe" also proved popular. Outside the English-language world, Hong Kong entry "A Simple Life" and "Faust" from Russia were also in the mix for the Golden Lion for best picture at Saturday's closing ceremony. "We came here with great expectations and high hopes and I don't feel it has quite lived up to that, no film has blown me away," said Jay Weissberg, a critic at trade publication Variety, reflecting the view of many in Venice. In recent years, movies like "Brokeback Mountain", "The Queen", "The Hurt Locker" and "The Wrestler" wowed viewers, and while not all won the top prize, they gave the festival the talking points it needed. In an informal poll of film critics published by Variety, Polanski's Carnage was marginal favourite for the big prize. The comedy of manners is based on a play, and the big screen adaptation is set in real time in a New York apartment, giving it a stage-like effect. Kate Winslet, Christoph Waltz, Jodie Foster and John C. Reilly play two couples whose children are involved in a brawl, and what starts off as a civilized discussion descends into a drunken slanging match. Waltz had many of the best lines as an attorney whose Blackberry constantly buzzes, while Winslet's spectacular projectile vomit scene was a highlight in Venice. The Oscar-winning actress described shooting the scene as "absolutely hilarious", adding: "My kids came to work ... for the vomit day and I'm so thrilled that they were there because they literally haven't stopped talking about it since." Clooney presented thriller "The Ides of March", in which he stars alongside Ryan Gosling and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a popular take on corruption in US politics. Hollywood heartthrob Matthew McConaughey took a break from romantic comedies in "Killer Joe", a comic modern-day Western about a cop who doubles as a hitman. Two lead performances were singled out by critics as worthy of awards attention, although both movies in which they starred may struggle to win over Academy Award voters. Irish actor Michael Fassbender won rave reviews for his portrayal of Brandon in McQueen's Shame, about a sex-obsessed, emotionally isolated New York executive. Mike Goodridge of Screen Daily described Fassbender as "devastating as the gradually crumbling Brandon; he is worthy of the best actor prize at Venice and many prizes beyond." But he added that the film's unflinching portrayal of sex as an illness could limit its awards potential. Also singled out was Gary Oldman, who portrays George Smiley in Alfredson's acclaimed adaptation of John Le Carre's Cold War spy classic "Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy". "This beautifully modulated piece of underacting deserves to make him a strong contender at next year's Oscars," wrote Chris Tookey in the Daily Mail. Yet some felt that however well acted and evocative the movie was of Cold War paranoia, it may prove too British to cause waves in the United States. Hong Kong film maker Ann Hui won admirers in her ode to the elderly "A Simple Life", while the well-received Italian entry L'Ultimo Terrestre (Last Man on Earth) would be the first home win in Venice since 1998. Sokurov, a festival favorite and considered a master by many, brought his strange, absorbing interpretation of Goethe's Faust, a movie which divided audiences in Venice. The German-language picture featured an impressive performance from Anton Adasinsky as the creepy, aged and obese moneylender/Mephistopheles. A headline in the Italian La Stampa daily proclaimed: "The devil has put his hands on the Golden Lion". — Reuters |
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