The public, the private and the deeply personal run on parallel tracks in French director Alice Diop’s documentary “We,” a series of vignettes of life along the Rer B, a railway line running through the suburbs and exurbs of Paris out to the surrounding countryside. But as it gains momentum, this deceptively cunning documentary — which out of a lineup full of showier titles won the top prize in Berlin’s Encounters section — sees those parallel tracks converge and criss-cross unexpectedly, throwing off fascinating intellectual sparks of insight at the switching points.
The lyrical prologue seems at first to belong to another world. At dusk, a father and son, clad in the countrified gentry’s casual, tweedy uniform of quilted jackets and waterproof boots, are scouting for deer in a quiet, darkening field. Through binoculars, they spot a stag, but suddenly, all poetry drained from the flat digital-video image, we...
The lyrical prologue seems at first to belong to another world. At dusk, a father and son, clad in the countrified gentry’s casual, tweedy uniform of quilted jackets and waterproof boots, are scouting for deer in a quiet, darkening field. Through binoculars, they spot a stag, but suddenly, all poetry drained from the flat digital-video image, we...
- 3/11/2021
- by Jessica Kiang
- Variety Film + TV
First-person documentaries immersed in family archives can at times feel claustrophobic, even when they achieve great dramatic ends. Fortunately, Alice Diop’s nonfiction feature, We, is quite the opposite. Like a thread unspooling, Diop delicately, with generosity, repeatedly links her family’s immigration from Senegal and subsequent life in France to the stories of strangers. Not all are immigrants; some are French-born but live far from their places of birth, or their lives have been marked by that other significant, often hidden displacement—of belonging to a lower class. In this sense, Diop uses cinema to expand what the American philosopher Martha Nussbaum calls one’s immediate circle of concern.Diop begins her film commenting in the voiceover on how little footage she has of her mother: 18 minutes, in which her mother appears “only fleetingly.” Diop shows a sample of these brief ordinary moments, such as when her mother is...
- 3/4/2021
- MUBI
Day 3 of this year’s Berlinale announcements contain the line-ups for Encounters, Panorama and Perspektive Deutsches Kino. Check back in tomorrow for the Competition program.
Encounters was first introduced at last year’s festival to support new voices in cinema. A three-member jury will award Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award during the industry event in March, with the prizes handed out physically at the summer event.
The selection consists of 12 titles from 16 countries, including seven debuts. Scroll down for the full list.
Over in Panorama, there are 19 titles including 14 world premieres. Several titles arrive from Sundance such as Prano Bailey-Bond’s UK feature Censor and Ronny Trocker’s Human Factors.
Perspektive Deutsches Kino will again present new views on German cinema, with six titles, all of which are world premieres. The full lists are below.
This week so far has seen the Generation, Retrospective, Forum, Forum Expanded and Shorts programs announced.
Encounters was first introduced at last year’s festival to support new voices in cinema. A three-member jury will award Best Film, Best Director and a Special Jury Award during the industry event in March, with the prizes handed out physically at the summer event.
The selection consists of 12 titles from 16 countries, including seven debuts. Scroll down for the full list.
Over in Panorama, there are 19 titles including 14 world premieres. Several titles arrive from Sundance such as Prano Bailey-Bond’s UK feature Censor and Ronny Trocker’s Human Factors.
Perspektive Deutsches Kino will again present new views on German cinema, with six titles, all of which are world premieres. The full lists are below.
This week so far has seen the Generation, Retrospective, Forum, Forum Expanded and Shorts programs announced.
- 2/10/2021
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
CANNES -- Jean-Luc Godard's new film is part melancholy contemplation on the impact of war and part learned disquisition on the essence of cinema and how the two have entwined to become the music of our lives.
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
CANNES -- Jean-Luc Godard's new film is part melancholy contemplation on the impact of war and part learned disquisition on the essence of cinema and how the two have entwined to become the music of our lives.
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
The film is beautifully shot and edited and largely accessible. Lovers of cinema will like it for its insights into the melding of text and images, and it will find a broader audience for its contribution to the debate on modern war.
The film is in three parts, each named for a Kingdom: Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. The first is a shattering montage of clips, still shots and bits of film showing the full catastrophe of war from a wide variety of sources, including such pictures as "Kiss Me Deadly", "Zulu" and "Apocalypse Now".
To the sound of a pounding piano, Godard mixes film textures, colors, close-ups and myriad images of everything from chariots to tanks, arrows to rockets and horses to jet fighters. The 12-minute masterpiece of filmmaking is an explosive display of war's carnage, banality and suffering. A young voice on the soundtrack needlessly observes, "It is terrible here".
In the second kingdom, Godard himself arrives in Sarajevo to join a group of celebrated writers and philosophers at a literary convention. They interact with fictional characters that include a young Russian Jewish woman named Olga, whose story provides the semblance of a plot line for the remainder of the film.
The strife in the Balkans is examined within sight of Sarajevo's Mostar Bridge, which is being reconstructed. "A survivor is not only changed, he's someone else," one man observes.
Each of the wise men has his moments onscreen. One says that communism has only ever existed once, on an English soccer field in 1953 when the Hungarian national team beat the English side 6-3. "The English played as individuals and lost," the philosopher remarks. "The Hungarians played as a team and won."
Godard spends time speaking of filmmaking, particularly the significance of following a shot by a countershot. When a student asks the 70-year-old legend if the digital camera will save cinema, Godard looks blank and makes no reply at all.
Memories of dreadful times and the ongoing threat of terror permeate the film. One character recalls a German Catholic girl who said in 1943 that the dream of the one is to become two, but the dream of the state is to become one. "They cut off her head", he says.
The horror and pointlessness of it all drives Olga to thoughts of suicide, and before the film brings its taste of heaven, the director will learn of her fate.
The melancholy approach to the subject extends to the self-portrait Godard provides. The firebrand of old is here a genial companion who smokes cigars and calls for champagne. In our last sight of him, he's tending his garden.
NOTRE MUSIQUE
A Peripheria production distributed by Les Films du Losange with international sales by Wild Bunch
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Jean-Luc Godard
Producers: Alain Sarde
Ruth Waldburger
Director of photography: Julien Hirsch
Art director: Anne-Marie Mieville. Cast: Judith Lerner: Sarah Adler
Olga Brodsky: Nade Dieu
Ramos Garcia: Rony Kramer
Indian: George Aguilar
Indian: Leticia Gutierrez
As themselves: Juan Goytisolo, Mahmoud Darwich, Jean-Paul Curnier, Gilles Pequeux, Pierre Bergounioux, Jean-Luc Godard.
No MPAA rating
Running time -- 80 minutes...
- 5/17/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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