First there was "Romeos":
That picture pretty much says it all: 20-year-old Lukas (left) is a female-to-male transsexual; he's just started transitioning, using testosterone. He's excited to finally start his new life in big-city Cologne, but incredibly anxious that someone might find out the big secret, that he used to be a girl. Matters are complicated, of course, by super-sexy, super-confident Fabio (right), who seems to be developing an interest in Lukas... but doesn't like transsexuals.
The film does a great job of balancing a serious topic (gender identity, and living the way you feel is right for you, and whether people will accept you for it), with a whole lot of over-the-top teenage angst (of the "No one loves me!!!! No one will ever love me!!!!" type) with really great comedic moments.
I highly recommend it if it plays anywhere near you.
Then, the same evening, essentially by accident, I saw the film that won the festival - "Nader and Simin, a Separation."
By accident how, you ask? Well, the last day of the festival is also the only one for which you can buy the tickets at any time, rather than going through the usual not-until-three-days-in-advance jig that forces you into long and repeated trips to the box office.
So the first day I went to get tickets (the day I waited on line more than two hours!) I went ahead and grabbed not one but two shows for the last festival day. I'm not entirely sure how I ended up with "Nader and Simin" - I don't even usually bother with the films in the main competition, preferring the more independent and experimental festival sections instead, but I guess a movie from Iran sounded interesting and relevant.
It wasn't until I was on my way there with a friend that we saw on the little subway TV news screen that... "Nader and Simin" just won the Berlinale award, the Golden Bear. Oh. Hey. That's the one we're going to see! And indeed, we got there and the entrance to the movie theater was crowded with people holding up signs, hoping someone would have last-minute tickets to sell.
I wish I could say the movie was amazing; actually it was by far my least favorite of the four festival films I saw. The topic was certainly interesting and important (about life in Iran, and partly examining the yawning divide between educated, secular Iranians and people from the religious working class). I just thought the director could have done a much, much better job with the material - the movie was very slow and repetitive and hardly any of the characters were likeable enough to make you want to keep watching them despite the slowness.
But then again, nobody ever said the Berlinale judges picked their winners based on artistic merit... and with a jury that's one member short because it was supposed to include a filmmaker who's now in jail in Iran, you can see why they might have wanted to make a point with their selection.
All in all, I'm still glad I saw "Nader and Simin" - I definitely learned something about Iran (which is a big part of the point of such an international festival for me) and it was pretty cool, just the once, to be at the big-deal movie everyone wanted to see.
No comments:
Post a Comment