Adam Donald - Berlinale 2020
At the Berlin Film Festival, I managed to see five films. They were The Assistant, Funny Face, Exil, Schlaf and Pompei.
The Assistant (Dir. Kitty green)
The first film I saw was Kitty Green’s The Assistant which starred Julia Garner as an over-worked and under-appreciated assistant at a film production company. The film shares many similarities to Bombshell, a film I’d seen recently this year. Unlike Bombshell this is a very subtle film with so much happening under the surface rather than in plain sight. It’s excruciatingly slow and almost plotless. Garner’s performance is fine but I found it too repetitive and not very engaging. It is still a film I will look out for in the future and perhaps it will improve on a second viewing. Patrick Wilson has an odd, unexplained cameo which caught me off guard.
Funny Face (dir. tim sutton)
Funny Face was a film I had noted before the trip. All I’d seen was the poster which was enough to catch my attention and went into it knowing little else. I was unfamiliar with everyone involved in the film except Johnny Lee Miller who plays the “villain”. Having found The Assistant okay at best, I was slightly disheartened and concerned that maybe I wouldn’t see a film that really blows me away. I was wrong to think this and the screening of Funny Face was one of the highlights of the week. It’s being compared to 2019’s Jokerand while there are certainly similarities, Funny Face felt very much like its own thing. I’d describe it as a superhero drama. It has all the tropes of a superhero film but it is presented as a poignant drama. Cosmo Jarvis and Dela Meskienyar play Batman-and-Robin-like characters who face off against a group of developers who destroyed Jarvis’ home. It’s a slow-moving drama that really bursts into life every so often but it’s consistently gripping and visually striking. The soundtrack fit the film perfectly and the two leads were tender and engaging and Johnny Lee Miller’s villain was incredibly intimidating. The finale was a bittersweet conclusion to a fantastically unique and memorable film. I really want to check out more from writer/director Tim Sutton.
Exil (dir. Visar morina)
I was very excited to see Exil as it was another film I had noted down. I’d read that it was a mystery drama about a foreign man who feels he is being bullied at work and thought that sounded very interesting. Also, the film starred Sandra Huller whom I’d been very impressed with in Toni Erdmann. This was a German film and significantly longer than the other films I saw at the festival running at over two hours long. From the opening scene, the film peaked my interest. Though it is another slowburn, it does play out as more of a thriller. It’s a very quiet film but it contained at least three moments where the entire audience gasped- myself included. It addressed some tough issues in a very subtle yet effective way. Much of the discriminatory behaviour against the lead character varies from being painfully obvious to so subtle it’s almost unnoticed. However, the film, rather bravely, twists itself on its head in a number of different ways. There’s a constant sense of dread that disaster could unfold at any moment. At this point in the festival, I had accepted that the films I see may not always provide clear answers. This can either make or break a film I often find, but for me Exil ended at just the right moment to leave a lasting effect on its audience. I have to mention one especially jaw-dropping scene and that’s the clapping scene- which was something so minor and so dismissive on first glance but I still go over it again and again in my head.
Schlaf (Dir. michael venus)
Horror is my favourite genre and I found there weren’t too many horror films on at the festival. I saw Schlaf (which translates to Sleep) late at night which was certainly the best time to watch it. It’s a very dark German psychological horror which had me gripped from start to finish. Once again, starring Sandra Huller who is quickly becoming one of my favorite actresses. She is great in this film as are Gro Swantje Kohlhof and August Schmölzer. Unlike the other films I saw, this was actually quite fast-paced. It has a very intriguing opening scene which was shocking and chilling. The plot is intentionally complex and the film proudly tricks the audience on a number of occasions. There were plenty of moments which caught me off-guard and I found it to be very effective. It’s a film I really hope I get to watch again as it demands multiple viewings. It’s ambiguous, yet riveting and it was my favourite film of the week.
Pompei (dir anna falguères
The final film I saw was Pompei, a French drama which starred Garance Marillier who gave a very memorable performance in a great French horror called Raw. She plays the love interest of the eldest of two brothers in Pompei. Going into this film, I’d read it was about two brothers who try and survive in a community of homeless children but actually it’s more of a love story. A painfullly slow, unengaging love story. I don’t want to be too harsh to this film because there were elements I liked, but at the heart of it was a romance I did not care for. So much time is dedicated to this couple and it was unfortunate how much it overshadowed the rest of the film. The couple in question were played by two good actors but they had no chemistry together whatsoever. The film is so packed with awkward love scenes between them, it soon became tedious. It’s a shame, because there is a good film in here somewhere and some powerful moments which I wish had more of an impact on me.
