With the Berlinale well under way, German journalists have their hands full trying to give 'critical' justice to the over 300 films being screened in just 12 days. Here is a sample of some recent reviews.
An excerpt of a review of The English Patient in Neues Deutschland: 'The telling of the story is done with hard contrasts placed here and there, doesn't shy away from shocks, and mercilessly draws the audience into events, until each member discreetly wipes tears from the corner of their eyes - only real cinema can be so gripping!'
This in the Berliner Morgenpost on an entry in the children's film festival: 'Two continents, two cultures, two age groups confront each other in this beautiful French children's film Imuhar (A Legend) by Jacques Dubuisson. You could believe time stands still. It is rare that the audience is so urgently and lovingly brought so close to the otherness of different people.'
À propos exploring different cultures, the Berliner Zeitung was impressed with Africa: What about your Pain? being shown in Forum. 'Limiting perspective to the obvious and photogenic threatens to turn people on camera into objects. It is rare that a film faces this challenge so radically as the nearly three-hour Africa: What about your Pain. The visually overwhelming travel journal leads back to its own beginning, just like all journeys in real life.'
And the last word to the Berliner Morgenpost on The Mission, another film in Forum: '125 minutes on celluloid and 20 minutes of discussion demonstrate that film has something to do with trust, politics, and the abuse of both. This is the strength of the two-hour film… It doesn't seek the truth in redemption, but in the faces of the people: the fanatic Croatians, the bewildered Muslims, the woman who finds her home in ruins, and the baker who uses sarcasm to come to terms with the people's confusion.' Meredith Jones
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