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2 more reviews on Seattle Film Fest's Best Picture: RUN LOLA RUN and a wrap up on SIFF...
This is one of the top "I WANNA SEE IT NOW" movies on my list. I was frustrated as could be when I couldn't see it up in Rotterdamn when I was at the RIFF, but the publicist said I'd get a screening back in the U.S. (See I was leaving the same day it debuted there) So I've been hoping to see it... and hoping. Knowing that it seems to be my type a flick. But... ya know... Sometimes it's fun to wait. BUT THIS ISN'T ONE OF THEM. Just kidding. Personally, I'm a big fan of the International Worldwide Release Date. When a film opens... It opens everywhere. But that's still a couple of years/ a decade or so away I think. But Digital Projection is the big step towards dealing with it. Of course the other issue is mounting worldwide same day promotional campaigns where talent needs to be EVERYWHERE at the same time. That's gonna be next to impossible. We'll see how the industry adapts. But for now... Let's hear more about RUN LOLA RUN, and the wrap up and awards from the Seattle International Film Festival!
I haven't sent anything to AICN before, but thought I'd write in from the
last day of the Seattle International Film Festival, with a report on the
film that won the Best Picture award here, Run Lola Run. You probably saw
this film at Sundance, where it won some award, too. You may call me
Agent DZ-015.
Last night I went down to the Egyptian Theater in hopes to get into Run
Lola Run after a failed attempt to get into the Friday screening, (which
I'm told the director and the actress attended). Fortunately I fared much
better the second time around, and even got a decent seat.
First off, I completely agree with Mongo that a festival like this is a
terrific place to see a film. The audience is great, really enthusiastic,
and even though the theaters aren't state of the art (the Egyptian doesn't
even have digital sound), they more than make up for it in atmosphere.
Now about the film...
Run Lola Run is a terrific film. I didn't see too many of the other films
at the Festival, but I'm not surprised that Lola won for Best Film. It's
one of the rare films that successfully combines action, romance,
suspense, humor, and actually has a point and is thought provoking. The
direction is also terrific, featuring frenetic camerawork and mixing 35mm
film with digital video with animation in a way that is reminiscent of
Natural Born Killers. Combined with the pounding techno soundtrack, it
often comes out with an MTV feeling.
Lola, a bright red-haired punkette, has got 20 minutes to come up with
100000 DM that her boyfriend Manni lost. If Manni doesn't get the money,
the gangster he works for will kill him. So with the clock ticking, Lola
starts. . . running.
What makes this movie really interesting though, is that the same 20
minutes are relived multiple times (kind of like Groundhog's Day), and
each time, slightly different decisions are made by Lola and the other
characters, that have a huge effect on everyone around them. Tom Tykwer,
the director, also chooses to show us glimpses of what eventually happens
to the characters Lola interacts with, hammering home the importance of
each choice that is made. And each time the clock starts over, you start
to empathize more and more with the characters.
Anyway, if any of you get a chance, go see this one. I think it's coming
out on the 18th. It's not just for those looking for an "alternative to
your standard Hollywood fare this summer." It's just a really good movie
period.
Agent DZ-015
And now for Mongo...
Yo King Geek,
Well the fest is over, the cutains closed, and the awards have been given
out. If you came to see the AWARDS results, just scroll down to the area
titled ***AWARDS***, I have one or two small comments regarding them but
otherwise it's just the straight dope listed out as they were announced.
As for films, let me tell you -Oh Copious One- there were some real skunks
out there. Most of them not guilty of being necessarily *BAD* just fuckin'
boring.
Lots of furrowed brows and long-toothed discussions; deep thoughts,
personal revelations, lots of men and women who realize they're queer or
mad as hell... just pick a personal problem. Basically... it's all about
individuals finding the mental stick up their ass and s.l.o.w.l.y,
v.e.r.b.a.l.l.y, pulling it out. Yeesh.
All those films that required a drool cup or just trudged on forever, I
tried not to even go into, it's so damn easy to give a bad review.
But there was one that I remembered seeing and hoping it would be good,
thinking it must have something going for it. The title stuck in my head,
the poster image stayed with me and after seeing it I can honestly say that
it's one of the three or four films that I would sit through again.
The movie is RUN LOLA RUN and from the poster to the soundtrack to the film
itself it's a tight package that wins my own award, The *LA FEMME NIKITA
AWARD*: the movie most likely to be remade by Hollywood.
I'm a poster collector and in general I'm bored with the standard photoshop
cut-&-paste profiles. The wunderkind (and posterboy for Lucas and
Speilberg) Drew Struza is even getting repetative.
On the plus side you have Tarantino, Gilliam, and a few others that always
seem to have eye popping posters. RUN LOLA RUN has one of those striking
posters: a woman (actress Franka Potente) with a shock of red hair, pumping
her arms, running straight at you - out of the poster wearing a sweaty worn
tank top. Of all the posters I saw over the course of the fest, this one
stuck out, I continually checked to make sure I hadn't missed it's
screening.
Writer Director Tom Tykwer said he wanted to make a film that dealt soley
with human energy and he did it with a vengence.
Lola's boyfriend Manni lost 100,000 bones acting as a courier for a local
Berlin Henchman, he calls Lola in a desperate state - 20 minutes to deliver
the dough, if Lola can't come up with it Manni is gonna hit a local market
in a suicide run.
Lola's out the door and off in search of the cash to save her man!
The movie throws us around, slamming into passerby's and hapless
acquaintences and in a brilliant move, showing their unltimate demise or
rise into the future in quick snapshots then propelling us back into Lolas
world as she continues her furious hump to save poor Manni.
The ironic thing is that she goes to her daddy. Lola, the street smart kid
is nothing but a rich girl playing at the scene, but no matter, this is no
time to think of such things, her man is feeling the squeeze!
Lola runs through the same sequence of events a full three times until she
gets it right. Each time, like a spoiled child playing a game, when she's
not satisfied with the outcome actually reverses time and starts over.
If you are looking for reality this is *not* the flick to see which in turn
ended up being the one point that bothered me about the film. It was so lax
with any sort of grounded rules in reality that it quickly became apperant
that _No Matter *WHAT*, It Would Turn Out Aall Right_. Yeesh.
At a few points during the film, Lola screams so loud all the glass around
her shatters and a roulet ball can do nothing but obey her commands, but
when it's IMPERATIVE that Manni hear her, Lola's cries go unheard. An
audience member asked about this, "why could she shatter glass yet Manni
could not hear her?" Hrm...
Well, Tykwer didn't have an answer, "I don't know," he stated.
That's not the answer I was looking for, nor the rest of the audience.
But who cares right? He rocks with a camera slaps us like a bitch with the
editing to create a standout F.L.I.C.K.
And we get to watch a sweaty babe hump it around the Berlin streets! Her
ass shakes, her tits bounce, the only thing better would have been that she
didn't wear a bra, or a shirt for that matter.
Why?
Why not?
Damn it Jim! This is a movie about energy, not logic! Accept it or move on!
Overall it was a fun rolicking time with a striking, throbbing lyric heavy,
rave-like soundtrack.
See it if you are in the mood for a sweatyinsaneadrenalinechargedtime.
*whew*
Now here are the:
***AWARDS***
~~~~~~~
The one thing I want to say is that of all the high brow anal squeezing
films to come out of SIFF this year, it's ironic indeed that the one true
GEEK film (other than the Midnight vampire flick ANGEL OF THE NIGHT) won
the hightest award.
Why is this such a big deal? Cause there were so few! There are good,
hustling films out there that everyone wants to see! Last year at SIFF,
they premiered KIKI'S DELIVERY SERVICE to such a packed crowd that they
*DEMANDED* a second showing that drew the execs at Disney. Now that was a
show!
They could have pulled in PRINCESS MONONOKE! IRON GIANT! MYSTERY MEN! THE
BLAIR WICH PROJECT! Just name a show you are dying to see!
But they didn't.
They had one (maybe a southern few more counting Aguirre and Limbo) or two
and the rest were brain crunchers which I don't mind but COME ON!
Balance SIFF out!
It CAN be so much more! You can see it, you can feel it, the crowds and the
critics alike injected LOLA like a month dry junkie firing a crack pipe.
Give the crowds more of what they want!
Aah, well. I know it falls on deaf ears. Sorry for the rant. Here are the
awards.
~~~~~~~~
1999 GOLDEN SPACE NEEDLE AWARDS
BEST FILM: RUN LOLA RUN (Germany) Director Tom Tykwer
Runners-up 2nd Place: THE RED VIOLIN (Canada) 3rd Place: LIMBO (USA) 4th
Place: EARTH (Canada/India) 5th Place: SAY YOU'LL BE MINE (USA)
BEST DIRECTOR: John Sayles For LIMBO (USA)
Runners-up: 2nd Place: Tom Tykwer for RUN LOLA RUN (Germany) 3rd Place:
Deepa Mehta for EARTH (Canada/India) 4th Place: Don McKellar for LAST NIGHT
(Canada) 5th Place: Francois Girard for THE RED VIOLIN (Canada)
BEST ACTOR: Rupert Everett, AN IDEAL HUSBAND (Great Britain)
Runners-up: 2nd Place: David Strathairn, LIMBO (USA) 3rd Place: Hugo
Weaving, FOLLOWING (Great Britain)/ BEDROOMS AND HALLWAYS (Great Britain)/
THE INTERVIEW (Australia) 4th Place: Roshan Seth, SUCH A LONG JOURNEY
(Canada) 5th Place: Alex Dimitriades, HEAD ON (Australia)
BEST ACTRESS: Piper Laurie, THE MAO GAME (USA)
Runners-up: 2nd Place: Julianne Moore, AN IDEAL HUSBAND (Great Britain) 3rd
Place: Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio, LIMBO (USA) 4th Place: Helen Mirren,
THE PASSION OF AYN RAND (USA) 5th Place: Sandra Oh, LAST NIGHT (Canada)
BEST DOCUMENTARY: BUENA VISTA SOCIAL CLUB (Germany) Director Wim Wenders
Runners-up: 2nd Place: GHENGIS BLUES (USA) 3rd Place: SHADOW BOXERS (USA) 4th
Place: REGRET TO INFORM (USA) 5th Place: RABBIT IN THE MOON (USA)
BEST SHORT FILM: 12 STOPS ON THE ROAD TO NOWHERE (USA) Director Jay Lowi
Runners-up: 2nd Place: PEEP SHOW (USA) 3rd Place: THE GIRL WITH THE SCISSORS
(Norway) 4th Place: QUEST FOR THE NOBLE DESERT POODLE (USA) 5th Place: TULIP
(Australia) The winner of the Golden Space Needle Award for Best Short will
be awarded a prize package worth $70,000 of donated goods and services from
local vendors to encourage the winner to film future projects in Washington
State.
ALSO PRESENTED were the 25th Seattle International Film Festival's juried
awards: The American Independent Award and New Director's Showcase Award,
as well as the Atom Films Short Award.
AMERICAN INDEPENDENT AWARD:
DEAD DOGS (USA, 1999) Producer Regge Bulman Director Clay Eide
AMERICAN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER AWARD SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
PIPER LAURIE for her performance in THE MAO GAME (USA, 1999)
Produced by Jodi Leesley, Gail Niederhoffer, Josh Woodward
Directed by Joshua Miller
The American Independent Award is a juried competition instituted to
provide a spotlight for directors who make exceptional films with smaller
budgets. Jurors examined ten films making their World Premieres at the
Festival. Jurors for this competition were Frank Beddor (producer of
SOMETHING ABOUT MARY), Alexander Nohe (Director of Programming for
IFP/West) and Kevin Thomas (L.A. Times Film Critic).
NEW DIRECTORS SHOWCASE AWARD
Patrice Toye for ROSIE (Belgium, 1998)
NEW DIRECTORS SHOWCASE AWARD SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Oskar Reif For THE BED (Czech Republic, 1998)
NEW DIRECTORS SHOWCASE AWARD SPECIAL JURY PRIZE
Torun Lian for ONLY CLOUDS MOVE THE STARS (Norway, 1998)
The New Director's Showcase Award juries debut feature films from emerging
international directors, selected for this special showcase by the
programming committee. The films are judged for their fresh vision and deft
cinematic techniques. Jurors in the New Director's Showcase were John Horn
(Senior Writer/Premiere Magazine), Lance Rosen (Vice President of Business
Affairs/Clear Blue Sky Productions) and Stewart Stern (Screenwriter/REBEL
WITHOUT A CAUSE).
ATOM FILMS SHORT FILM AWARD
MUTINY (USA, 1998) Director Henry Griffin
ATOM FILM SHORT FILM AWARD Honorable Mention:
IN THE MIRROR OF THE SKY (Mexico, 1998) Director Carlos Salles
The first Atom Films award is a part of our on going dedication to the
extraordinary impact short films have in launching careers for emerging
filmmakers and as a cinematic art form in it's own right. Jurors were Kevin
Jones (Creative Director/Cole & Weber), Suzy Kellet (Director of Washington
State Film Office) and Miki Salmi (President of Atom Films). The winner
receives a cash prize of $1,000.
WASHINGTON STATE SCREENWRITER AWARD
DRAGONS By George Wing
The Grand Prize Winner of the Second Annual Washington State Film Office
Screenplay Competition will receive $1,000 cash prize and a performed
Script Read-Through, presented as a Special Event of the Cinema Seattle
Screenwriters Salon.
EMERGING MASTERS SHOWCASE AWARDS
Special awards for our Emerging Masters Showcase were presented during the
run of the Festival to: Michael Winterbottom Francois Ozon Tom Tykwer
Dorota Kedziersawka
The Silver Anniversary of the Seattle International Film Festival marked a
record-breaking year for attendance. We experienced an 8% increase in
ticket sales resulting in a projected overall attendance of 142,560.
Honored guests of the Festival this year included: Minnie Driver, Nick
Nolte, Bruce Willis, Richard Harris, Piper Laurie, Adrienne Shelly, Julia
Sweeney, Donny Most, Don McKellar, Franka Potente, Michael Winterbottom,
John Sayles, Alan Rudolph, Lucia Rijker, Tom Tykwer, Joshua Miller,
Francois Girard among others.
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+ Expand All
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Harry, you incredible moron: it's Rotterdam, not Rotterdamn. Or were you making a lame ass joke? "huh huh I made a funny".
-
...and even the secret fest wasn't too standout overall. One mediocre flick, one rambling but entertaining surprise, one dead-on boring one and a reasonably funny but not too memorable one. I only saw one other film outside of that. ("ikanai", about a woman who unwittingly boards a bus full of people intending to suicide so they can pass on insurance money for various reasons. a little overdone in places but overall great ensemble work and some clever symbolism.) the rest of siff this year was stuffed with bland, unengaging, lookalike films (how many gay coming-of-age pieces or films about middle eastern women can a person see in 3 weeks?). or they were films that were already released or were going to be in broad release very soon. hell, even the midnight movie fare sounded like a bunch of yakuza stuff and wacky heist-gone-wrong things - not a decent wuxia flick or anime in the whole lot! i really hope whoever programs siff next year tries for more obscure, energetic films with more of a variety of themes and directorial voices. and i really REALLY hope whoever does the program guides and writeups about the films tries a bit harder; it's entirely possible i missed out on some great stuff simply because the siff website made it sound as boring as all hell, or didn't tell me a damn thing about it ( i go to secret fest in order to be surprised, but i can't wander into 3 weeks' worth of movies that way...)
-
Jun 08, 1999 2:37:38 AM CDT
Film festivals are a pain in the ass. They're always overpriced
by paragonian
Why can't there be multiple screenings for a couple weeks and reasonable ticket prices? Those are the two obstacles that keep me from festivals and probably a lot of other people. Another thing I was wondering was if all those guests are paid or are there out of the kindness of their hearts. I'm really looking forward to Run Lola Run, Limbo and The Interview.
-
Jun 08, 1999 2:45:41 AM CDT
Another thing I really hate are all the gay themed pride films.
by paragonian
Say it loud, I'm heterosexual and I'm proud! Write your congressman, it could happen!
-
Go into that film! it's magnificent! I've seen it 3 times and it was never boring.
Apart from that you'll see some of the best/best known german actors in it. -
I saw and liked Run Lola Run, but could someone please describe the "thought-provoking" moment that this poster is talking about? It's a fun movie, but nothing great, and besides, if you wont take it for just an earblasting, fun experience, why would you want to take it at all? It is what it is, it's pure entertainment.
-
Hey Paragonian or whatever your name is, I think you might be on to something with your little Heterosexual film festival, except wait, isn't that every film festival that's not gay? Personally I don't understand the appeal of the gay film festival, I mean can't we all just watch In and Out a bunch of times and be done with it. Or does every gay person have to tell their story. The world may never know.
-
I missed the Friday night screening of Run Lola Run, so alas I don't have a director's report. Fortunately, I have a couple of items in the FromScript2Screen vault courtesy of Filmmaker magazine. Plus the poster art image, which is pretty cool (I have it as my desktop wallpaper now!)
I can't say it any more forcefully: SEE THIS MOVIE, IT ROCKS! This is the best movie I've seen this year, hands down. Limbo was great, The Matrix was great, but this was just plain freaking awesome.
If you want to see our Seattle Int'l Film Festival Coverage, visit http://www.fromscript2screen.com/filmfest/. We saw 19 films this year plus the Filmmakers Forum day devoted to digital video (I'm still writing that part up, so check back later in the week.)
Best,
Dave Kramer
FromScript2Screen.com
-
I could only afford part of SIFF this year, so I opted for the Secret Fest. $25 to get a pass to see 4 movies that you have no idea what they will be. Part of the deal is that you are supposed to keep what you saw a secret to prevent legal entanglements.
To get good seats, you have to start lining up around 8:30am for a movie that starts at 12:30. As each minute pass, you hope and pray that what you see will make the wait worthwhile. Tradition holds that they get a movie that hasn't been released yet, so we were hoping for Dogma, Blair Witch Project, Summer of Sam. You know, something cool...
This year- Total crap. Two old movies that I could have rented on video if I were a masochist. Two new movies that I would have avoided like a plague given the warning. If I wasn't certain that they have a hit squad to kill those who rat out the titles, I'd tell you exactly what crap movies I had to endure, in hopes of saving some of you from them.
Next year- Nope. They can't have my money anymore. They've abused my trust for the last time... Elitist jerks. -
Jun 08, 1999 8:17:47 PM CDT
to:SithLord From:mongo. Thanks & Drew's Art...AND SIFF SCHEDULIN
by mongo
Your right, in my hurry I missed the spelling of his name, thanks for the correction.
I'm glad to see that there are others out there that follow his work, I personlly think that Drew peaked with TEMPLE OF DOOM Style B, but his work is always amazing to see. I hear that the origonals are so clean that they can be illuminated similar to the posters - from behind, and not show a *hint* of cleanup. Pure talent, it amazes me. I hope he loosens up on the designs so we can see him unleash, no?
Three posters that really caught my attention and really accented the movies lately have been FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS, PULP FICTION (before they pulled it) and CITY OF LOST CHILDREN. *WOW*
As for the SIFF scheduling, I've noticed that they have mostly the same kinda films year after year, it's just that you gotta be choosy. ONE that I didn't mention or get a review in of was GHENGIS BLUES. Outstanding Documentary, Gomer Pyle!!! Should have won for best documentary.
Thanks for the time and space, it's been fun!
Later,
mongo -
I got a sceening copy of this and let me just say it doesn't let you down. It should have won the prize with it's wonderful quick pace direction, fun action and yes, it did have thought provoking moments. The actors are great. I just have a question. The version I got is subtitled, is that the version in American theaters, and is it getting a large release?
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