Berlinale Day 9

The final day of screenings, the Romanian film Ana, Mon Amour from previous Golden Bear winner Calin Peter Netzer ran for the press in Competition. A complicated psychological love story involving, sex and religion. The narrative structure of the film is complex, flashbacks. It was noted the film was influenced by Bergman’s Scene from a Marriage.

Starring Diana Cavallioti and Mircea Postelnicu as a couple with challenges, the director focused on close ups of the actors to move the story along. There is a lot of nudity along with a strong sex scene, was the sex over the top? The opinions were mixed.

Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Director James Mangold arrived at the Berlinale with their new film Logan, another sequel to the Marvel Comics X-Men/Wolverine Series. The latest franchise installment screened out of competition. The applause level was 4/10. After a festival of so many heavy films, it was a relief to see a Hollywood Blockbuster film.

Logan marks the end of the series for star Jackman. He and his team took on a darker tone with the R rated saga with a marked increased level violence and the added ingredient of eleven year old killing machine Laura (Dafne Keen). This was a controversial topic during the press conference. Mangold defended the violence by saying his film was aimed at adults.

I did not see the film but the press room feedback was mostly positive.