Last wednesday we went to the opening of the amsterdam fantasy film festival!
The whole festival is taking place at Tuschinski, the most beautiful movie theater we got..
Actually, I just wanted to see The Fall but there was a ceremony before that..
First a royal award for the Festivaldirecteur and founder Jan Doense, then a award for Tim Burton who was granted a Career Achievement Award and also was the Guest of honour this years festival.
That was nice and all but I was here just for two reasons: 5 Centimeter Per Second and The Fall! So let me give you my reviews..
THE FALL
Imagine 300’s picture having one of the deepest plots that have ever been made and having the independence that even the most indiest indie film would have times ten. Imagine the stories that you made up and lived in under the blanket of your bed at night when your parents were asleep. Imagine that you still have an imagination of a child and an experience of a grown-up who had been struck by the truth that usually breaks people’s dreams and illusions. This is “The Fall”.
The Fall was filmed over a period of four years and in 24 different countries. Being obsessed with movies and watching every single one that seems interesting, I have never ever seen such power and independence in a film. Independent films usually have their common indie feel – a crooky picture that shows protest to all the camera glamour that most of Hollywood films have, lack of dialogues filled with deep thoughtful pauses and this pretentiousness that screams “this is a masterpiece protest to Hollywood!”. Hell no – “The Fall” has nothing of that at all. Having a breathtakingly gorgeous picture, it has smart dialogues and striking truth that is being told by a broken man to a little dreamful girl.
may call it a genius piece of cinematography, a masterpiece and something like that, but loud words like these doesn’t fit this experience that you will have to encounter by yourself. Believe me, you won’t find the right words to describe the feel that you will have after watching this one.
5 CENTIMETERS PER SECOND
From the masterful director Makoto Shinkai, who also brought you Voices of a Distant Star and The Place Promised in our Early Days has released his newest work, 5 Centimeters Per Second, recently.
“The movie is named 5 Centimeters Per Second for the speed at which cherry blossom petals fall, petals being a metaphorical represen- tation of humans, reminiscent of the slowness of life and how people often start together but slowly drift into their separate ways.”
Much like his other works, the theme for this anime is “distance”. Shinkai perhaps, have mastered story-telling of this theme. He crafted each episode so well with this theme that you can’t help but be moved. Each episode uses the theme but each potrayed in a different way. The first episode being the physical distance between our characters. The second being the distance in feelings. And the third being the distance in time.
But be warned, the animation of this movie along with an hd encode may cause blindness, so come in with high expectations. This movie has probably the most beautiful animation ever. The art direction and scenery in this movie will just blow you away. I have never been so impressed like this.
Tags: 5 Centimeters Per Second, AFFF, Cinema, Filmfestival, Jan Doense, Makoto Shinkai, Manga, Tarsem Singh, The Fall, Tim Burton, Tuschinkski
August 31, 2009 at 2:18 pm |
Both movies are a visual treat that will explore the realms of your imagination. The fall particularly, is a thinking mans movie. Glad you enjoyed both.