Arnaud, Chiara, and Mathieu
Following a screening of “A Christmas Tale” at the IFC Center earlier today, Charles Taylor moderated an intercontinental Q&A via video conference. Unfortunately, technical difficulties created a problem with the sound quality, never a problem before, for IFC iChats with Lars von Trier, Hou Hsiao-hsien, etc.
In my first dispatch from the 49th Thessaloniki International Film Festival for indieWIRE, I mentioned a film called, “The Hourglass,” a Serbia-Hungary-Montenegro co-production, directed by Szabolcs Tolnai. THIS IS A SPECTACULAR FILM!
One of the more fanciful scenes in Szabolcs Tolnai’s “The Hourglass”
It was a peak filmic experience for me this year, but you know me.
Based on the writings of Danilo Kiš, “The Hourglass” or “Fövenyóra” in Serbo-Croatian, is the kind of surrealist film that fans of David Lynch or Jan Švankmajer would love. The look and feel of the B/W film is gorgeous, and the story, though fractured, adds up to the fascinating journey of a displaced writer as he searches for his roots and the truth about his father who disappeared in WWII.
The Thessaloniki jury honored the film for artistic achievement at the closing ceremony. (Here are the award winners that the editors added after my second dispatch, which I filed before festival’s end. In the dispatch, I focused on the three national cinemas that stood out for me personally, across multiple sections. Gremlins attacked the accents in the story.)
Before the festival, I was already intrigued to see “The Hourglass” because I read that the DP, Gergely Pohárnok, had shot one of my very very very favorite films of all times, “Hukkle” (2002) by György Pálfi, who also directed “Taxidermia” (2006). This 30-year-old cinematographer is one to watch.
DP Gergely Pohárnok at a dinner for filmmakers in competition at Thessaloniki
By the way, “Hukkle,” (pronounced hoo-clay, not rhymes-with-chuckle, as Ken Eisen of Shadow Distribution helpfully corrected me) is must-see film and a virtually wordless mystery in which farm animals, pets, and wildlife play a part.
A scene from Hungarian “Hukkle” (2002), directed by György Pálfi
Have you seen the first fiction films by the Dardennes? No? I have!
It’s instructive to note that the brothers didn’t spring fully formed from Zeus’ head like Athena did. These early films are not of the same quality as “La Promesse” (1996) and everything that followed.
“Falsch” (1986) is a campy spoof, and unrecognizable as theirs. I found it unwatchable. A similar short, “The World’s Racing” (1987) is kind of fun, but still, unrecognizable.
“You’re on My Mind” (1992) follows the downward spiral of a steel worker after he’s been laid off, and the effect on his family. It is clearly an antecedent to their later work, but a bit amateur.
There’s nothing like eating in one of the tavernas in the Modiano Market, where fresh meat and produce are steps away. And this is Sesame City. I packed bite-sized sesame crackers and a jar of black tahini in my luggage.
Market photos:
Harvey Milk (Sean Penn), the San Francisco city supervisor who met a tragic fate
See the film that people are talking and blogging about, by one of the best American directors, Gus Van Sant.
Syndicate this site