July 7, 1998
The Traveller From The South (1998) **
A moving human drama from Iran about a young country boy who comes to Teheran for a visit. On the train he meets an old lady, who suddenly becomes very ill. The plot then enfolds in such a way that we aren't exactly sure if the boy is trying to help the old lady, or is swindling her out of her money. The suspense is skilfully maintained as he sells her jewelry by pretending to be her grandson, and doesn't even blink when a suspicious merchant wants to call the cops.
Tranceformer: A Portrait Of Lars Von Trier (1998) **
A documentary about Denmark's most famous contemporary filmmaker, co-founder of the Dogma 95 movement. It traces his career from the early, quite pretentious stylistic exercises like "Element Of Crime" and "Epidemic", to the later successes like "Europa", "The Kingdom" and "Breaking The Waves". An interesting portrait of a truly original and unbelievably excentric genius.
Children Of Heaven (1998) **
Touching story of two little children from Teheran, forced to share a single pair of shoes. Mixing pathos, comedy, and sentimentality, the film belongs to the familiar Iranian genre of "children-on-a-quest" movies, but its roots go much deeper, all the way to Vittorio De Sica's masterpieces of Italian neo-realism like "Shoeshine" and "The Bicycle Thief".
Timeless Bottomless Bad Movie (1998) **
There are only topless women in this bizarre film made by street kids from Seoul.
Tango (1998) **
Directed by Carlos Saura. With Miguel Angel Sola, Juan Luis Gallardo and Mia Maestro. The repressed eroticism of this intimate Latin dance is beautifully explored in this slow, almost plotless film, which begins as a paean to the beauty of Argentinian women, but ultimately becomes a powerful allegory about the tragic history of that country. Worth checking out to see gorgeous senioritas sensually moving their slender legs to the steady rhythm of tango.
Tamas And Juli (1998) **
Touching love story between a kindergarden teacher and a mine worker. Directed by Ildiko Enyedi.
Femmes et... femmes (1998) *
An angry feminist drama from Morocco, full of nasty men and persecuted women. Quite good, actually, with admirable female characters. It makes a strong ideological point without sacrificing its narrative elements. But it's still extremely manichaen.
Elvjs And Merilijn (1998) *
An Elvis impersonator from Bulgaria and a Marilyn Monroe lookalike from Romania travel across war-torn Yugoslavia to hedonistic Italy.
Esther et Mariana, d'une rive a l'autre (1998) *
Tragic story of Mariana Zaffaronni, whose parents were killed in Argentina by the military junta in the late 70's. She was adopted by Miguel Furci, a secret service agent, one of the people indirectly responsible for her parents' death. But when her grandmother finally found her 16 years later, Mariana, now called Daniela Furci, refused to leave her adopted family.
El Faro (1998) **
Argentinian film about two sisters whose parents died in a car crash. A charming, smart and intelligent work.
Expect The Unexpected (1998) **
Directed by Patrick Yau. With Lau Ching-Wan and Simon Yam. A tense police drama about heroic Hong Kong cops looking for - what else? - dangerous criminals. It has its moments, but unfortunately doesn't live up to its title.
Evil Dead's Trap (1998) *
A horror film from Japan, about young people going to a place they know is dangerous, and getting killed one by one. It's one of those movies that would be ridiculed in "Scream".
Christmas In August (1998) *
Korean film about a photographer and his platonic relationship with a young woman.
Roujin Z (1998) **
An animated feature from Japan, about a high-tech hospital bed acquiring an artificial intelligence.
River Of Gold (1998) *
Boring Portuguese film about an old man, his wife, a young girl, a chair, a rope, some bees, etc.
The Quiet Family (1998) **
Directed by Kim Ji-Woon. Corpses pile up in this wacky South Korean comedy about a weird family.
Casos de violencia contra comunidades indigenas de Chiapas (1998) **
Directed by Carlos Martinez Suarez. Under a somewhat awkward title hides a fascinating documentary about the civil war in south-east Mexico. Amazing video footage, shot guerilla-style, shows Maya peasants, armed only with their courage and a vast vocabulary of profanities, verbally assaulting government soldiers in their tanks.
Buud Yam (1998) **
A young man travels from one village to another, searching for a medicine man who could cure his sister. Set in Western Africa in the early 19th century, this co-production between France and Burkina Faso presents an idealized vision of the pre-colonial past. It's an ode to the beauty of African women. The landscapes are gorgeous as well.
Bullet Ballet (1998) *
Directed by Shinya Tsukamoto. An avant-garde action thriller. Very painful to the eyes.
Hathi (1998) *
A film about Indian elephants being washed, fed, etc. A great subject for a National Geographic special, but hopelessly boring for a feature film.
Torrente: The Dumb Arm Of The Law (1998) *
Directed by Santiago Segura. Annoying and stupid Spanish comedy about a filthy cop.
Whispering Corridors (1998) **
Directed by Park Ki-Hyung. An intriguing horror film from South Korea, set in an all girls college. But unfortunately, the sexploitation elements are kept to a minimum.
El Sueno de los Heroes (1998) *
An Argentinian film about memory. The first half is nostalgic, the second half - very violent.
Unlucky Monkey (1998) *
Bizarre thriller from Japan - gory, absurdist, occasionally quite funny, but ultimately very disappointing. Directed by Sabu.
Kunoichi: The Lady Ninja (1998) **
Directed by Hitoshi Ozawa. With Yuko Moriyama. In feudal Japan, beautiful ninja women are fighting against seven beasts sent by an evil warlord. They use some very sexy martial-arts techniques (breast wave magic, for example).
Jin-Roh (1998) **
Directed by Hiroyuki Okiura. Impressive animated film about an crack anti-terrorist unit fighting against anti-government guerillas in Japan.
Island Of Greed (1998) **
Directed by Michael Mak. With Andy Lau and Tony Leung Kar-Fai. A Taiwanese version of The Untouchables. The film is quite interesting for its obscure political allusions to the tense Taiwan/China relations, but offers little beside rabid German shepards tearing everybody to pieces.
Dangan Runner (1998) *
Pretentious existentialist b/s, with people chasing each other for no reason.
Dame Algo (1998) *
Spanish comedy about hostages being taken on live TV. Dumb, badly made, superficially entertaining.
A Hero Never Dies (1998) **
Directed by Johnny To. With Lau Ching-Wan. Triad wars. Lots of talk. Some shootings. Forgettable characters. Very nice visuals. This film takes a while to get started - the first hour is almost unbearably dull - but stick with it because later it becomes very interesting. Not really a gangster pic, but a sad and poignant melodrama about loyalty, betrayal, friendship and revenge.
Aprile (1998) **
Nanni Moretti tells all about the Italian politics and the birth of his son Pietro.
Le Passager clandestin (1998) **
A gentle little fairy-tale about an Uzbekistani refugee illegally emigrating to Holland and befriending a lonely sailor's wife. His native town, once a bustling seaport, is now located in the middle of a desert, victim of a horrible ecological disaster that has turned the once-huge Aral Sea into a small pond.
Le Cercle parfait (1998) *
Unlike Welcome To Sarajevo, this film presents the Bosnian conflict from a local perspective. The hero is an elderly poet who takes care of two orphan boys who escaped from a village that was ethnically cleansed by Serbian soldiers. It's an uneven, somewhat timid film. A subject like this cries for a more hard-hitting and uncompromising work.
Un Bunuel mexicain (1998) *
This documentary covers the middle period in the career of that iconoclastic Spaniard. Unfortunately, the presentation is quite superficial, offering no fresh insights.
Cotton Candy (1998) **
Interesting film about teenage prostitution in Japan. A young schoolgirl, maybe 13 or 14, becomes a mistress of a rich man. Directed by Roshell Bissett, a Canadian who used to work as a teacher in Japan. 46'
Color Of The Clouds (1998) **
Spanish film about a young boy mistaken for a Bosnian refugee and adopted by a kindly old lady, who's about to be evicted from her house.
The Blacksheep Affair (1998) *
A Chinese soldier fights crime and corruption in a former Soviet republic. The martial arts sequences are terrific, but the rest... It's a pro-Communist propaganda film, and a very naive one at that. It manages to insult everybody, including Japanese, Italians, Croatian and even Lavernians. Lav... Who?
Cleopatra's Second Husband (1998) **
One couple lets another couple move in with them. Tragedy ensues. A weird black comedy.
Airbag (1998) **
A Spanish "Pulp Fiction" (again featuring Maria de Madeiros), but without any memorable characters. Outrageous, but not particularly inventive.
Going To School With Dad On My Back (1998) *
A father encourages his young son to go to school. A sentimental drama from China.
The Gingko Bed (1998) *
A South Korean mixture of many genres: supernatural, horror, action, romantic love story, etc.
Show Me Love (1998) **
Directed by Lukas Moodysson. Swedish film about a lesbian love affair between two high school girls.
Shattered Image (1998) **
Another puzzling "mirror/mirror" kind of tale, starring Anne Parillaud in a double role. Directed by Raoul Ruiz.
The Quarry (1998) *
An escaped criminal kills a minister and takes his place. Somber film set in South Africa.
The Polish Bride (1998) *
A woman, forced into prostitution against her will, gets help from a Dutch farmer.
Le Onzieme (1998) *
Aka: "Tang, le Onzieme". Directed by Dai Sijie. With Akihiko Nishida, Tapa Sudana and Nguyen Minh. This is one of those boring, but visually stunning international co-productions, made to promote tourism in the Third World. Set in a small mountain village in Vietnam, it's a fairy-tale about an eleventh child who possesses a rare ability to capture a fish capable of curing leprosy.
99.9 (1998) *
A somber and stylish horror movie from Spain. Familiar plot (a person dies, his friend investigates and gets in trouble), gruesome torture scenes, a mood of menace and dread. There are some "interesting" sequences, but they are so badly lit, one can hardly see anything.
Unmarried Couples (1998) **
Swedish comedy about relationships. Amusing, but not particularly original.
Dear Antonioni (1998) **
An hommage to one of Italy's most celebrated auteurs. While director Gianni Massironi seems a little indimidated by his subject, he still manages to make a film that's as intellectual as any of Antonioni's own works.
Deadly Rescue (1998) **
While on vacation in Turkish Cyprus, two German women (a mother and her daughter) are sentenced to a long prison term for killing a rapist.
Knock Off (1998) *
Russian terrorists and American fashion designers battle each other in Hong Kong during the handover ceremonies. Both dramatically and stylistically, it's just one big mess. But it can be enjoyed, perhaps, on a purely abstract level, like a series of expressionist, cubist and fauvist paintings viewed in rapid succession. There is even a POV shot of a foot entering a shoe.
Day Of Full Moon (1998) **
Inspired by Bunuel's "Le Fantome de la Liberte", this Russian film follows various characters as they pass near each other.
Dahan (1998) *
Indian film about an attempted rape and its consequences for everyone involved (the perpetrators, the victim, her husband and a woman who came to her rescue).
Life On Earth (1998) *
The last day of the 20th century in a little village in Mali. Length: 61 min.
Confession (1998) *
Another one of Alexandre Sokourov's insomnia-curing masterworks. While not nearly as accomplished as his earlier Mother And Son, it still manages to bore and amaze at the same time. It bores, because absolutely nothing of even the slightest dramatic interest happens for more than four hours. But it also amazes, because those viewers who will allow their eyes to be wired open, Clockwork Orange-style, will discover unforgettable, profoundly moving and absolutely unique images of Russian sailors washing their clothes, cleaning the decks, reading and talking. The sheer contrast between the banality of the subject matter and the artistry of the execution, is mind-boggling.
The Power Of Kangwon Province (1998) **
South Korean film about a young woman having an affair with a married policeman.
Beast Cops (1998) **
Michael Wong and Anthony Wong star in this serious crime melodrama about gangsters and cops.
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