Montreal Festival of New Cinema & New Media - Help me choose which movies to see... (1 Viewer)

[MichaelPe]

This film festival is starting this week, and I'd like to hear your suggestions about which films I should go see. Here is a list of the films playing:
(those with an asterisk are films that I've already decided I'm seeing)

• Un crabe dans la tête (Soft Shell Man) *
• Y tu mamá también (And Your Mother Too) *
• Va savoir (Who Knows)
• Sauvage innocence (Wild Innocence)
• Chopper
• Die Reise Nach Kafiristan (The Journey to Kafiristan)
• Vou Para Casa (I'm Going Home)
• Le Pianiste (The Piano Teacher) *
• Le Souffle (Deep Breath)
• Safar E Gandehar (Kandahar)
• Carrément à l'ouest
• O Fantasma
• Le Pornographe (The Pornographer)
• Zhan Tai (Platform)
• Hatouna Mehuheret (Late Marriage)
• Trouble Every Day
• Det Nya Landet (The New Country)
• Atanarjuat
• L'Emploi du temps (Time Out)
• Italiensk For Begyndere (Italian For Beginners) *
• The Business of Strangers*
• Sestry (Sisters)
• Hundstage (Dog Days - Canicule) *
• Blagajnica hoce ici na more (The Cashier Wants To Go To The Sea)
• Czesc,Tereska (Hi, Tereska)
• La Fé Del Volcán (The Faith of the Volcano)
• Queenie in Love
• A B C Africa
• Brève Traversée (Brief Crossing)
• Werckmeister Harmóniák
• Ce vieux rêve qui bouge
• Sous le sable (Under The Sand)
• Millennium Mambo
• Mulholland Drive*
• Telez (Taurus)
• L'Anglaise et le Duc (The Lady And The Duke)
• Liulian Piao Piao (Durian Durian)
• Cités de la plaine (Cities On The Plain)
• As I Was Moving Ahead Occasionally I Saw Brief Glimpses of Beauty
• Scratch
• Promises*
• Ya vas Lyubil...(Tri Romansa) (I Loved You... Three Romances)

Well, that's the most of the list... I've never heard of most of these titles, so I'd like to know which ones to check out. Thanks in advance for your help.
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MY TOP 20 OF 2001

 

[Pascal A]

Ted has a very high opinion of Y tu mamá también which played a few days ago at the New York Film Festival. Here's our HTF thread on the subject.
My recommendations would be (in addition to the asterisked selections):
Werckmeister Harmóniák (Bela Tarr) - Essential Tarr/Hungarian cinema.
Atanarjuat (Zacharias Kunuk) - Cannes Camera d'or winner.
Va savoir (Jacques Rivette) - I missed this one at the NYFF, but the film is high on my list to watch.
Safar E Gandehar (Mohsen Makhmalbaf) - Timely, socially relevant, and compassionate.
Zhan Tai was disappointing; a well intentioned, but failed attempt at combining the objective distance of Angelopoulos' The Travelling Players with the pathos of artistic suppression shown in the films of Tian Zhuangzhuang.
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Strictly Film School
[Edited last by Pascal A on October 09, 2001 at 09:44 AM]

 

[Ted Todorov]

Of your non-* films:
Va Savoir -- strong recommendation.
L'Anglaise et le Duc seems to generate mixed reactions -- I went with three other friends -- me & one friend loved it, the other two hated it. Do you like Rohmer?
Ted

 

[MichaelPe]

Thanks for your suggestions. The festival starts on Friday, so I'll be sure to see those films.
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MY TOP 20 OF 2001

 

[MichaelPe]

Just watched "Va Savoir", and you guys were right. It's the first film I've checked out so far, but I'm planning on seeing a lot more (I just bought 10 more tickets).
All showings of "Safar E Gandehar" were already sold out, but luckily I was able to grab one of the last tickets for "Mulholland Drive" for next Saturday (too bad it will have French subtitles). Can't wait...
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MY TOP 20 OF 2001

 

[Pascal A]

Excellent! Definitely let us know your thoughts on the festival - there's a really good, enviable mixture of new and old (but exceeding difficult to catch) films in the program.
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[Doug D]

Notes on a few more:
Chopper is wildly brutal. If you can handle the ride, you might enjoy the pitch-black comedy.
Le Pianiste (The Piano Teacher), Michael Haneke's film, got good notices in Cannes, but is also pretty pitch black and also have some squirmy scenes.
Zhan Tai (Platform) got an incredible writeup in, I think, Cinema Scope. I've been wanting to see it for a while.
Trouble Every Day - Vincent Gallo as a cannibal!
Italiensk For Begyndere (Italian For Beginners) - one of the more recent Dogme films, all I know about it.
The Business of Strangers - billed as a female "In The Company of Men". I've seen mixed reviews.
A B C Africa - Abbas Kiarostami's new documentary. I've never seen any of Kiarostami's documentary work (well, unless you consider CLOSE UP a documentary), so I would make this a priority.
Werckmeister Harmóniák - never got to see any Bela Tarr, always wanted to.
Sous le sable (Under The Sand) - saw this, not too excited about it.
Millennium Mambo - I've only seen Flowers of Shanghai by Hou Hsiao-Hsien, but I'm really curious to see more, so I would definitely check this out. Many seem to consider him the best living director.
Liulian Piao Piao (Durian Durian) - I've liked Fruit Chan's other two movies (Made in Hong Kong and The Longest Summer) - somewhat in the HK action mold, but a bit more character driven and odd. If you like any HK cinema, I'd check it out.

 

[Leye]

Hi, Michael. Just wondering whether every movie in this
Montreal film festival is in French subtitle? Is it as
troublesome to book the ticket as Toronto?
The lineup of the movies seems really interesting.
I have seen the following:
Trouble Every Day: It's Claire Denis most threatening one.
Let gone the poetry of Beau Travail. Can't withstand the doomsday feel, especially after 911.
Millennium Mambo: Disappointed. As shooting the first of the ten cities series, Hou is in transition now. He seems to grasp the pulse, but can't distinguish himself. Pale to compare to his countryman -- Yang and Tsai. Tsai's new work is the best one I have seen this year, and I believe no one can do better than him this year.
Le Pornographe: A pornographer who like to think and can't get over his obsession. Not very interesting.
Le Souffle: From dumb country life to cruel teenage dream. The idea has been expressed many time. But here is something refreshing. He captured the essence of the lost childhood.
Vou Para Casa: OK. Not necessary to be seen.
Liulian Piao Piao and Platform are both very promising.

 

[MichaelPe]

Tonight, I saw Un crabe dans la tête. I will definitely be adding this film to my "top 20" list. The presentation was amazing... director André Turpin and David La Haye were present and gave a nice introduction before the film. I also had the honor of sitting in the seat right behind the beautiful Chantal Giroux, who has a main role in the film.

Just wondering whether every movie in this
Montreal film festival is in French subtitle? Is it as
troublesome to book the ticket as Toronto?

No, not all films are subtitled. Most of the French films are subtitled in English, but most of the English films do not have subtitles (except for "Mulholland Drive"). Buying tickets was painless... many of the films were sold out on the first day.
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MY TOP 20 OF 2001

 

[MichaelPe]

Well, the festival is over and I'd like to thank you for your recommendations. During those 10 days, I had the pleasure of seeing 12 of the best films I have seen all year.

If anyone cares, here are my favorite films from the festival:

1. Mulholland Drive (20/10/01) Link Removed
2. Italiensk For Begyndere (Italian For Beginners) (21/10/01) Link Removed
3. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (20/10/01) Link Removed
4. Y tu mamá también (And Your Mother Too) (21/10/01) Link Removed
5. Un crabe dans la tête (Soft Shell Man) (16/10/01) Link Removed
6. Safar e Ghandehar (The Sun Behind the Moon) (23/10/01) Link Removed
7. La Pianiste (The Piano Teacher) (15/10/01) Link Removed
8. Sous le sable (Under The Sand) (18/10/01) Link Removed
9. Va Savoir (Who Knows) (13/10/01) Link Removed
10. Hundstage (Dog Days) (19/10/01) Link Removed
11. The Business Of Strangers (14/10/01) Link Removed
12. Hatouna Mehuheret (Late Marriage) (18/10/01) Link Removed[/list=a]
    
    Go see these films if you have the chance...
    
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    MY TOP 20 OF 2001

 

[Pascal A]

During those 10 days, I had the pleasure of seeing 12 of the best films I have seen all year.

I had a similar reaction to the New York Film Festival; I seemed to have quickly populated my Top 10 list for 2001 within six days (three weekends) what I could not compile with certainty over nine months.

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Strictly Film School