The seventy-third edition of the Berlinale, as every year, has brought to the German capital an endless selection of author cinema. Far from having the succulent names that populate the official sections of Cannes or Venice, Berlin usually presents stimulating proposals or encourages new authors; however, new works by veterans such as Philippe Garrel, Hong Sang-soo or Nicolas Philibert have also been seen. Among the many sections that make up the festival, the official competition offered a level worthy.
Despite the fact that there were not too many films that dazzled, practically all of them have aspects that are at least interesting. From other sections such as Panorama, Forum or Encounters there were also some jewels and surprises to claim. The social component for which the Berliner festival is characterized it has been more camouflaged than other times, especially through romances and family dramas. Although, clearly, the presence of current affairs and sociopolitical significance continue to underpin an essential part of the identity of the contest.
Next, we present eight of the best and most outstanding films of this editionwhich will hopefully be seen in the coming months on the festival circuit and in commercial movie theaters.
Past Lives (Celine Song)
Celine Song’s romantic drama, which already wowed at Sundance, rocked the competition in Berlin. Is prodigious debut feature recounts the platonic romance between Nora and Hae Sung over more than two decades. As children, in Seoul, they were inseparable, but Nora’s family immigrated to Toronto, so they lost contact. Many years later, they meet on Facebook and resume their relationship.
Song shows exceptional maturity capturing interpersonal relationships and the inevitable cruel passage of time. If ‘Past Lives’ differs in any way from other romantic dramas, it is that the conflict is never created by its characters (who strive to live up to their difficult situation and show their love and respect for each other) but are instead the circumstances that cause it.
Celine Song’s film is much more than a love story. is above all a monumental philosophical treatise on time, the ties that unite us and also on accepting that in life what one wishes does not always happen. Learn to be comfortable with what has been lived and what has not been lived.
The extremely complicated task that the Korean-Canadian director undertakes when it comes to balancing the narrative delicacy that she proposes while creating an exuberant cinematic experience is admirable. Two extraordinary performances elevate one of the most unforgettable romances of recent times. Without a doubt, the film of the festival.
Arthur at 30 (Martín Shanly)
The second film by Argentine Martín Shanly, in the Forum section, was an absolute revelation. It centers on a character (played by himself) in crisis. His life is monotonous, he hasn’t gotten over his ex after years, and his friends start getting married and acting like adults.
The best thing about ‘Arturo a los 30’ is not only his poignant sense of humor, which manages to be really funny when you least expect it, but also his ability to deal with severe subjects with remarkable lightness and maturity. His narration is made up of different vignettes, alternating years, characters and anecdotes to compose a nuanced portrait of his endearing protagonist. It is a film that hides enormous wisdom almost without being aware of it. A generational portrait drawn with understanding and affection.
Samsara (Lois Patino)
In the Encounters section, Lois Patiño presented her second feature film, a reflection on reincarnation that awed by its reckless willingness to expand the cinematic experience. The film begins in Laos, following teenage monks, and ends in Zanzibar, where women work collecting seaweed to make soap and other products.
The journey proposed by the director invites the viewer to meditate and let themselves go. The radical conclusion reached is that sometimes you just have to close your eyes to see. It is a film that is lived with the five senses that, practically literally, transports you to those places and to those ways of life, firstly through its precious narration, secondly through a simply great formal resource. It is impossible to understand ‘Samsara’ outside of a movie theater.
The Shadowless Tower (Zhang Lu)
There are movies whose theme is so extensive that it is practically impossible to summarize. The new work by Chinese director Zhang Lu, who is competing for the Golden Bear, is one of them. It centers on Gu Wentong, a food critic who learns that his father, with whom he has not had contact for years after an incident that tore his family apart, lives in a coastal town about 300 kilometers from Beijing and regularly goes on bike to see him in secret.
In turn, he establishes a relationship with his new co-worker, a photographer younger than him. Zhang’s script portrays the midlife crisis from Gu, divorced and with a daughter being raised by his sister and her husband.
In ‘The Shadowless Tower’, family relationships are portrayed with a special sensitivity to understand the ins and outs of human emotions. Without ever wanting to be an emotional torrent, the film gradually digs tunnels towards the viewer’s heart. Small gestures, such as walking backwards or the reflection of shadows in spaces, are the ones that take center stage and intensify a drama charged with symbolic power.
Zhang’s characters desperately search for an illusion to direct their lives, which are lost in continuous apathy. The only solution for this is to look inside, to stir in a past that blocks them. The director composes a exciting and highly ambitious treatise on forgiveness and moving forward. About life, in short.
Totem (Lila Aviles)
Lila Avilés competes in the official section with her second film, very hard and delicate. Despite having a choral narrative, the director focuses above all on the point of view of Sol, a seven-year-old girl who spends the day at her grandfather’s house in preparation for a birthday party for her father. she.
It is a camera drama filmed with a great narrative pulse whose solemnity and gravity never prevent sequences full of humor. Avilés shows great sensitivity treating a deeply sad subject without falling into sentimentality or commonplaces.
The brilliance of his proposal resides in his display of suffering through everyday life. In ‘Totem’ the decoration of a birthday cake, the innocent questions of a girl or the ritual of a medium to ward off evil spirits take on a powerful dramatic force, revealing the painful meaning behind each gesture.
Passages (Ira Sachs)
Tomas (Franz Rogowski) and Martin (Ben Whishaw) have been together for over fifteen years. When at the end of the filming party for his film, the former sleeps with Agathe (Adèle Exarchopoulos), she tells her husband about it. This creates a love triangle brings together all the obsessions of Ira Sachs, in what is probably his best film.
Shot in Paris, the American director, here closer to European cinema than to that of his native country, finds in his characters the perfect way to dissect the jealousy and conflicts that arise in life as a couple. It’s a movie that portrays the uglier side of human relationships and yet he manages to make his narrative more absorbing and interesting than ever.
‘Passages’ also stands out for its powerful visual ideas, especially highlighting a sex scene between its two leading men, where Sachs, with a single shot, knows how to convey the passion, resentment and quarrels between the two with a simple and straightforward staging. naturalist.
Matria (Alvaro Gago)
The debut of Spanish Álvaro Gago was presented in the Panorama section. In the tradition of Ken Loach and the Dardenne brothers, ‘Matria’ is a powerful sample of social cinema in which the performance of its omnipresent protagonist, María Álvarez, stands out. The director infuses a stifling atmosphere in a small Galician town that captivates his character and the viewer with a decisive dramatic force.
Without being a film that seeks subtlety, it is always elegant when it comes to exposing the multiple problems that its heroine must face without falling into the most frequent mechanisms of this type of cinema. Álvarez prints an overwhelming energy in Ramona, a very well written character, which she endows with personality and nuances. She is the soul of ‘Matria’, a convincing first film that glimpses a promising future for its director.
Music (Angela Schanelec)
German director Angela Schanelec adapts the myth of Oedipus in his new work, but he does it in the least obvious way possible. ‘Music’, like his previous works, is cryptic and ellipticaland requires an active effort on the part of the viewer to understand what they are witnessing.
It is also, without a doubt, the film of someone who has absolute control of his art and who manages its complicated narrative gears with an internal logic that, although it is not always transmitted, is perceived and admired. It is not a simple work, even its narrative opacity can be frustrating, but especially in its first half, dazzles with undeniable visual power.
Schanelec proposes an exercise as complex as it is interesting based on ellipses, silences and songs that reveal the hidden feelings of hermetic characters. As intriguing as it is inaccessible, ‘Music’ is a demanding experience worth celebrating.
Article written by Fernando Garcia.