The 75th Berlinale is coming to a close. Did the film festival make a sharp turn upward? For this Chat Cinema podcast round up discuss the cinema event under new leader head Tricia Tuttle.
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McKellen’s Critic
The Critic: Strong performance from McKellen
Finally released in German cinemas, The Critic stars renowned stage and screen actor Sir Ian McKellen. It is London, 1934, and McKellen is an infamous theatre critic called Jimmy Erskine. For fifty years Erskine has written biting theatrical reviews for respected national newspaper The Daily Chronicle. When the newspaper proprietor dies, his son David Brooke (Mark Strong) takes charge. However, Brooke wants to implement immediate changes to compete with its rival The Daily Mail. He also advises Erskine to tone down his writing style, and public proclivities.
Meanwhile, struggling theatre actress Nina Land (Gemma Arterton) also admires Erskine’s work. Therefore, she is upset by his cruel reviews of her performances, and this also infuriates Brooke. When Erskine is arrested for drunken and lewd behavior, the editor issues him a final warning. This will soon culminate in Brooke ending Erskine’s contract with one month’s notice.
Needing to save his job, Erskine watches Nina’s performance in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Brooke is also in the audience and Erskine notices him emotionally moved. Therefore he writes Nina the glowing review she has always wished for. However, this praise for Nina will come at a cost. In return, she must do him a favor and seduce the already besotted Chronicle editor.
The Critic is McKellen’s film, he almost singlehandedly saves it from oblivion. Although Arterton and Strong give excellent supporting performances, no other characters are foregrounded or resonate. Patrick Marber’s previous scripts for Closer (2004) and Notes on a Scandal (2006) had tangible sensitivity. However, in The Critic witticisms take precedent over progressive characterization.
Anand Tucker is multi-talented and experienced in all aspects of film production. Here, however, the effect is counter-productive. There is no conspicuous director imprint and so the trajectory becomes jarring. Indeed, The Critic premiered at Toronto IFF in September 2023 to mixed reviews. It was considered that the dark ending was unpopular with the audience. Therefore, the film’s distributor requested re-shoots. The September 2024 general release had a new cut and a new ending.
By Steven Yates
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The Club
Once again the Anamorphic Club Cafe opened for two days during the Berlinale. A place to meet and greet filmmakers while looking over the filmmaking goods from Sony cameras, Hawk lens and Vantage Films. Directors, producers and cinematographers came together for chats and seminars on the latest filmmaking trends.
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Berlinale 75th
For this episode of Chat Cinema we talk about the Berlinale. The 75th edition starts February 13th. Has the film gathering event turned a major corner with a new head? The Honeymoon period was pleasant. Now comes the hard part. Turning the Berlin gathering into a true “A-List” festival.
But, beneath the mixed headlines, we also found some gems that will screen over the course of ten days.
Check out the podcast with co-host Steven Yates.
At the Anamorphic Club Cafe Berlin we talked to Cinematographer Jeff Jur about Dirty Dancing on enduring quality of the 1987 film.
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A Solidified Berlinale
Berlinale press team sent me the location of the press conference, my eyes rolled. House of the Cultures of the World. A 1957 building straddling the Spree River in the Tiergarten section of the city. The symbolism of the location is not lost. After all the controversial headlines, the festival needed to prove point of being open to all. The problem is getting to this symbol of universal openness. Indian Jones would need patience this locale is inside the city, yet in a remote place not easily reached. I needed to take the U5 to the nearest Metro Station, Bundestag, then another eight-minute walk in -2C weather. After talking to other colleagues, we decided to watch the YouTube stream then discuss the details afterward. The reactions, The Berlinale has solidified its place as a second-tier festival.
This has been a cold January in the German Capital. Tricia Tuttle came out on stage wearing a jacket. Was this for warmth or protection? As the newly installed head of the Berlinale spoke in a clear but at times flatness enthusiasm. The jacket could have been more a security blanket. As the newly creative head read from cards, her lack of fervor became clear.
The team placed a best foot forward, going down the list of films on the scheduled to show in February. Normally before a film festival the buzz is built by press leaks of works that will unspool. The only news from Berlin concerned last year’s controversial anti-semitic row, budget cuts this year, threatened boycotts and then the sudden increased funding from the Ministry of Culture. Keeping track of a tennis ball would have been easier than staying up to date on news coming from Potsdamer Platz.
If there were high expectations, a breath of fresh air for the 75th edition of the Berlinale, the audience’s reaction sucked the air out of the room. The timid, almost chilly polite applause did not need explanation. Instead of something new, the festival was merely repackaging an average grade product. The Competition Section has a Richard Linklater work in the batch among the nineteen films in the run for the Golden Bear.
On the small-scale glamour front, the Special Section will include A Complete Unknown with Timothee Chalamet for a German Premiere and Robert Pattison in Bong Joon Ho’s Mickey 17 will hit the Red Carpet. Other stars confirmed to attend are Jessica Chastain with more to be announced. Perhaps the pleas for more big stars to come only reached the Junk Mailbox.
The Berlinale continues to say “It is one of the big festivals” alongside Cannes and Venice in relevance It is time to stop believing the press releases. For Tricia Tuttle, the honeymoon period is over.
The Berlinale starts Feb 13th.
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No Ordinary Cinema
David Lynch never offered ordinary cinema to film audiences. Instead the cerebral filmmaker challenged narrative styles with Blue Velvet and his tv show Twin Peaks. The Montana born, three time Oscar Nominee died at age 78.
The new Berlinale Poster, released the last week of December shows a new modern style. The number seventy-five features prominent at the right corner. Ditching film festival Bear artwork is supposed to signal change, breaking from the past, the arrival of a new era, a reinvention of a once significant February cinema event. But, is the new Berlinale just recycling the old with more colorful packaging? It takes more than shiny artwork to re-establish confidence in a film festival that has dug itself into a celluloid hole.
After a few conversations with some professional industry colleagues about the upcoming edition, we are starting to have more questions. What happened to doing something new? It is no secret the Berlinale fell behind, lacking the grandeur of Cannes, the artistic component of Venice, the hipness of Sundance or the commercial launching heft of SXSW, the space for change, a new way opportunity,is wide open in the German Capital. Yet, festival head Tricia Tuttle is on a Honey Moon press tour using pleasant Cucumber Salad language on how the festival looks to differentiate itself from the past. However, on closer examination, what changed appears unclear to regular Berlinale goers. One category eliminated, a new one added, the same past filmmakers with the similar thematic films appear on the schedule, again.
The wait and see game has started. Hopefully, the newly installed Berlinale team has not wasted precious good will.
What happens when a course change may fail before the actual implementation? The 75th edition of the Berlinale could soon become a case study answering this question. Less than two months before the German Capital hosts filmmakers, headlines rolling out have painted an unflattering portrait of the Potsdamer Platz headquarters. Head Tricia Tuttle makes her debut February as the first female head of the international film hub. Although, reading recent Berlinale news coverage, the American may want to take cover in a dark movie theater in order to forget all the troubles.
Budget cuts, lack of screens, controversial past winners have taken a toll on the Berlinale’s reputation in the global filmmaker community. Global filmmakers may skip Berlin, weary of being labeled antisemitic because of their stance on the Middle East conflict. Instead of celebrating cinema, captions reading “a balancing tightrope”, “unwanted fears”, “revising the budget every month” are overshadowing a cinematic event trying to regain competitive footing with Cannes and Venice Festivals.
As for the movies announced so far, the schedule comes as torpid, local, lacking big draws, a zero-sum excitement level. The Competition category announcement occurs on January 21st. Perhaps then, the Berlinale can regain some it’s lost luster.
The Berlinale starts February 13th.
Croat Director Nebojša Slijepčević lifter a page from a tragic event in his region’s history for the the short film “The Man Who Could Not Remain Silent“. The story of a train ride that turned into courage and loss during The 90’s Balkan War. This Chat Cinema Podcast talks to the Cannes Film Festival Palm d’ Or winner about the circumstances and speaking out in the face of brutality.