Tokyo Sonata (Kiyoshi Kurosawa)

With Tokyo Sonata, Kurosawa Kiyoshi makes something entirely different than the films he has made before. His latest film is an ode to the old Japanese master Yasujiro Ozu who made films between 1920-1960 in Japan. As with most Ozu pictures, the film centers around a family living in Tokyo, there's the conflicts between generations, with the sympathy for the younger, and the social comment on the salaryman's life. The second film being highly influenced by by the late filmmaker, contemporary filmmakers in Japan seem to become more interested in Japan's rich film history.

The father and husband of the family, Ryuhei, loses his job but is too ashamed to tell his family. He pretends he is still going to work and later finds out he's not the only person who has a fake job. In the park where people without a job get food, he finds many people in business outfit. When he has a job interview, he realizes he could only function well in the company he worked all his life. Because he's 46 year old and has no special qualities. When the man who holds the interview asks him what he is good at, Ryuhei, unable to answer the man, tells him he is good at karaoke. Later Ryuhei picks up a job as a cleaner.

In the meantime, Ryuhei's oldest son, Takashi wants to join the American forces. He thinks he can bring peace to Iraq. His father disapproves, but he will go anyway. His younger brother Kenji wants to play piano but isn't allowed to. He uses his lunch money to take lessons and is convinced by his piano teacher to go to do an audition at a special music school. The mother, Megumi, finds out about Ryuhei, but decides not to tell him. She mostly stands on the sideline but supports her children as much as possible. She thinks about leaving her husband, but decides to stay.

The part about the man who loses his job and fakes he is still going to work may sound like a documentary for Japanese people, because it happens a lot there, and most people are aware of it. If the film had been made in the States, it would probably have been a comedy. While there is enough absurdism in Tokyo Sonata to make a good comedy, Kurosawa is deadly serious. It's a frightening idea that you can lose your job anytime and lose everything you've build up. It's the main reason people settle down at such a young age in Japan. Security is everything, and you better make up your mind when you're in your 20s. But Kurosawa shows us how unreasonable it is, and something has to change in his country.

While Ryuhei's storyline may be the strongest of the film, Takashi's part is not worked out well at all. It seems the character is made up for the sake of making a statement about the war in Iraq. While I agree with Kurosawa, the character adds nothing to the film and should have been left out.

The younger boy, Kenji shows similarities with the boys of Ozu's I Was Born, But... He hates most adults and has conflict after conflict with them. His dad doesn't allow him to play piano, but when he asks his dad what he does every day and why he's never home, Ryuhei has no answer. One of the last sequences in the film where Ryuhei plays the piano is one the most emotional because someone finally listens to him.

The mother, Megumi, only has her dramatic scenes at the end of the film. The actor Yakusho Koji, who's known for roles in films like Babel, Eureka, or Kurosawa Kiyoshi's older films, suddenly shows up as a burglar and kidnaps her. This part of the film is not very convincing, because it feels forced, and put in for the mere sake of drama or character development of the mother, to show how she feels.

Tokyo Sonata is a flawed masterpiece. For a greater understanding of Japanese modern society it's of great value for the western viewer. But it's just as important for Japanese people to have an objective view of their own society. Even if they already know how the system. Tokyo Sonata allows you to look inside the life of an ordinary Japanese family. The film is more sentimental than an Ozu film but it's content makes it one of the best films that played during the IFFR 2009.

****1/2(out of 5)

The Sound of Insects (Peter Liechti)

One of the three filmmakers in focus this year is Peter Liechti, a Swiss filmmaker. His film; The Sound of Insects; Record of a Living Being is based on a Japanese novel. It is about a man who decides to die by starving himself to death. He digs himself a hole in the ground and writes in a diary every day, which is told through voice-over.

With the diary the man wants to leave something behind, which is a very Japanese phenemenon. Through the 80s there were all kind of stories like this one, and the novel was based on police reports about these men. Liechti wanted to dedicate his film to all these Japanese people, until recently something very similar happened in Germany, while they were editing the film already, Liechti tells after the film.

There are four layers, or kind of images in the film. One is the surroundings of the character. We do not actually see the character who speaks, only the place where he is. The second layer is images of memories of the protagonist, the third layer consists of dreams and desires, while the fourth layer is thoughts and delusions of what  the afterlife could be like.

For Liechti the personal experience of a film is very important. He is an intuitive artist who wants everyone to feel and experience the film in his own way. One of the themes, his film is about, is the connection of the mind and the body. In the film, the man wants to die, and his body seems to be doing what he wants, but he can still think clearly. Another film of his is about him trying to quit smoking, again it's about the mind wanting something, but the body not cooperating. It's an important theme through Liechti's work. 

Because Liechti's film remains on the surface, it remains a meditation on death, and a detailed discription. Liechti's interest, or fascination with death makes the film an interesting experimental portrait of a man who wants to die, but finds out it's not that easy.

**** out of 5

Wrong Rosary (Mahmut Fazil Coskun)

Wrong Rosary is a humanistic drama by Turkish filmmaker Mahmut Fazil Coskun. Like Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly, it is part of the tiger competition selection. This means it's a nominee for a prize, for the best first or second film by a director.

The protagonist starts to work as a mussar in a mosque. This is the person that does the singing through a microphone, that will be heard outside through a speaker, but also inside with the praying. When he moves into his new place, he finds out has an attractive Christian girl living to himm, wich he falls in love with. He also becomes an assistant to a bookstore keeper, because he can read Ottoman language. 

With the man being a muslim, and the woman a christian, a relationship between them seems impossible. Especially the second part of the film focusses on this relation, and the film turns out to be a love story. The shyness of the muslim man make for some funny situations, like when there's a picture taken of them together, but he is only half on there. These scenes make Wrong Rosary a lighter film, while the film's themes are universal. The problem though, is that Wrong Rosary sometimes falls into the standard love cliches which makes the film a little predictable.

*** (out of 5)

The Dark Harbour (Takatsuga)

Takatsuga's first feature length film, and in the Tiger Competition Award, The Dark Harbour is a film about a poor fisherman who's looking for a wife. He goes through a lot of efforts, and suddenly a woman with a boy start hiding in his closet. The woman's husband had a lot of debts and they ran off together. The woman becomes the fisherman's wife but it turns out that she has different plans. 

The Dark habour is a funny, light film, especially in the first half. The attempts of the fisherman to think of ways to find a woman leads to some hilarious scenes. Yet the second part of the film is much more serious and has some social commentary in it. This shows in fact that Takatsugu, like the fisherman in the film is from a poor fishing village himself. 

Another social comment is the boy who is left by his mother to remarry, which is a major problem in Japan at the moment. This may have been inspired by Kitano Takeshi's Kikujiro no Natsu. There is more similarities with Kitano. The sometimes surrealistic, dream-like humourous scenes, and the main character looks a lot like one of the side characters in Kikujiro no Natsu. 

The Dark Harbour is funny, witty and makes some good statements. While there is not one message in the film, the director says it's important to keep trying, like the fisherman of the film, because in the end you will be rewarded. The Dark Harbour is a good debut feature by a promising young director.

***1/2 (out of 5)

Still Walking (Hirozaku Koreeda)

After films like Maboroshi, Afterlife, and Nobody Knows, Still Walking is Koreeda's latest film. While it's known that Koreeda is influenced by the the old Japanese masters like Ozu, this film is a real homage in the sense that it's a family drama. The themes of the family that has fallen apart, the characterizations in the characters, and the objects that connect the scenes with eachother. But not everything is like an Ozu picture. The shooting isn't as static and more important: the film plays mostly on one summer day.

Every year a family comes together because of the loss of the oldest son. The parents are still bittered, because as the mother says: isn't burying your son the saddest thing there is? In the meanwhile the younger son has married a widow, with a son, it's the first time he visits his old home again in a long time. 

The title of the film; Still Walking, could refer to the fact that the son is always walking in the shadow of his dead older brother. In Japanese culture, the oldest son is considered the most important. He often picks up the same job as his dad. The title also refers to the fact that the family keep walking to the grave every year, of the dead son and the inability to move on. Especially the parents cannot forget about it. The mother keeps inviting the boy who was saved by her son, while he sacrificed himself. She does so on purpose, so she can let someone else feel the grief once a year.

The writing is one of the strongest points of Still Walking. The characterizations are acted out perfectly by the actors, which makes the characters easy to empathise with. The themes of Still Walking are universal, and there is some of it in every family. Koreeda's earlier films all still had some documentary in it, but Still Walking feels like an excellent written film. Koreeda wanted to be a writer before he started out as a filmmaker, and now we can see why.

With Still walking, Koreeda has made another masterpiece. With such a diversity in his films, it's hard to say what will be his next move. His films are turning more into fiction and less relying on concept and beautiful images, as his former films. With his excellent writing and characterization Koreeda has become Japan's leading filmmaker, with still a bright future ahead.

***** (out of 5)

The Summer Book (Teoman)

Summer Book won the national prize at the Istanbul Film Festival in 2008. It plays in the Young Turkish Cinema program, which is a programma that is dedicated to the new generation of Turkish filmmakers.

The protagonist of Summer book is a little boy named Ali who grows up a in a small village around the sea. When the summer vacation starts he gets a book from his teacher, the book the title of the film refers to. Then he is sent by his dad to sell chewing gum one the streets, to learn about business. He'll have to try to sell them with profit. His much older brother though, wants to quit military education to do a normal one. This angers the father, and not long after he has a stroke.

The Summer Book is a slow-paced minimalistic film with non-professional actors and natural lighting. The main theme is, like in most Turkish films playing at the festival, about staying in the birth village or moving away. The strongest point about Summer book is the actors who are very convincing. Their acting and Teoman's effective style make Summer Book a good debut effort.

***1/2 (out of 5)

The Housemaid (Ki-young Kim)

The Housemaid is a Korean classic by filmmaker Ki-young Kim. It played during the IFFR 2009 because it had recently been restored by a restoration foundation where Scorsese is in charge. It is said to be one of his all-time favourite films, which probably explains the big audience during the screening. 

The protagonist lives a normal life with his family as a music teacher. One day his wife gets sick and they decide to take in a housemaid. The man asks one of his music students to get him one, which she does. But the housemaid has plans of her own, which is also true for the protagonist's wife. The women's plans turn the man into a victim, and all the women of the film want him for themselves. The women's egoism leads to tragedy after tragedy. 

With the psychology of a Nicholas Ray film, and the melodrama of a Douglas Sirk picture, the acting is so over the top that the audience doesn't know whether to laugh or cry.Especially at the Shakespearean climax of the film the whole theatre often bursts into laughter. This is melodrama at its very best.

Many people now would consider the acting in the Housemaid bad because it's so ''unrealistic''. But realism in acting is purely subjective, it being based on culture and time. What is realistic in the west may be unrealistic in the east, and the other way around. But the strong melodramatic acting by the leads in the Housemaid is not the only strong part of the film. Kim keeps building up suspense and twists, where it's almost impossible to guess what will happen next. This is especially true for the ending, where the protagonist does something so unexpected, that no on in the audience could have foreseen. It immediately leads to a big applause for the Korean 1960 masterpiece, a movie that anyone who cares for cinema should see.

*****(out of 5)

Tokyo Onlypic

Tokyo Onlypic is a satire on the olympic games. They were edited together by filmmaker Mashima Riichiro, and one of the games was also from his hand. The games are played in segments and everyone of them was made by a different filmmaker. The games are made in animation, stop motion or real images.

While the real olympics of 2008 took place in Beijing, the olympics in Tokyo Onlypic, as the name suggest, take place in Tokyo. In the opening ceremony Mashima makes fun of Japan's pacifist ideal by having pidgeons be the symbol of the olympics. After that the games begin, which are made to be as absurd as possible.

For example, one of the games of the film is the ''Mother Independence'' game. Here the contestants are mother's babies who have to throw their mommy away as far as possible. The Japanese guy throws best, but goes after his mom, which makes him disqualified. Obviously a satire on the Japanese kids living home till an old age, compared to other countries.

While some games can be extremely funny, the film takes way too long. After 30 minutes you've had enough of some of the bad animation and corny jokes. Some parts are just plain bad, too.

But the best advice to sit the entire 130 minutes through, came from Mashima himself in the introduction. If there's a bad part, please don't leave the screening room but take a nap instead. 

** (out of 5)

Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle)

While there's a lot of small films playing during the IFFR, there's also some big-budget blockbusters like Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire playing. The story is about a teen who grew up in the slums in India and is a contestant on the Indian Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? Because he knows all the answers he is arrested under suspicion of cheating, but while he is interrogated he explains why he knows all the answers. He tells the interrogaters his life history.

Slumdog Millionaire has a highly original concept, but there is many flaws in the script. There is hardly any character development, and that's also the reason why the characters are unconvincing. For example, the love relationship between the main characters is unclear, there is no contact, and no reason why they would go through so much trouble for eachother. It is a love story without romance. Another point in the script is that the story is so plausible. It's obvious the writers have a wide imagination, but there is so much coincidence and drama in the main character's life that it just seems fake. 

While the first part of the film is similar to City of God, in terms of story and editing, the second part is a love story filled with cliches. Where the young actors are convincing in their growing up in the Mumbai slums, the teen protagonist is stiff and unconvincing. But even weaker is the ending, the only place where one can still get away with it is in a bad Bollywood film. Which is exactly what Boyle has made. 

** (out of 5)

Morphia (Alexei Balabanov)

Morphia is Balabanov's second film playing at the Rotterdam filmfestival. Last year his Cargo 200 played in Rotterdam as well. Morphia is just as macabre as Cargo 200, with its explicitly shown surgeries and amputations.

The film is about a doctor who starts to work in a country village. He gets addicted to morphine which leads to a fatal accident, which is his fault because he switched the morphine with different medicines. He goes to a rehabilition centre to get rid of his addiction, but fails. 

The script is based on events that happened during the 1917 civil war, during the Bolshevik revolution. It was screenwriter Sergei Bodrov Jr. 's last script. He passed away in 2002. It depicts a surreal, but realistic view of the madness that occurred in Russia at the time. Balabanov seems the perfect choice of director to make it into a film.

Morphia is a raw film, it doesn't try to hide anything. Instead it shows you more than you want to see. Like in one of the first scenes, there's an intertitle that says: first amputation, but you may have wished it would have said last amputation. On the other hand, when the doctor does it, it seems like a perfectly normal routine, it's just how they did it back then. Balabanov is known for his dark and sinister view, he's a controversial filmmaker. But also one of the best contemporary Russian filmmakers.

****1/2 (out of 5)

The Chaser (Na Hong-Jin)

South-Korea has recently become known for making good genrefilms. They're over-the-top, have a lot of humour in them, and combine a good mix with other genres. The Chaser, has these jokes but also some brutal, visually realistic violence. These are moments that make some people close their eyes, or even walk out of the film.

The film is about a pimp who's girls has started disappearing lately. One night he finds out what the cause is; a psychopath is murdering girls one by one in the neighberhood. When another of his girls disappears he goes out to find her. By accident he finds him, but he escapes. He escapes everytime until a final confrontation at the end. 

One of the most ingenious parts of the Chaser is its script. It is so detailed, and everything has a purpose, which leads to many ''so that's why'' moments for the viewer. Sometimes it's hard to sympathise with the protagonist because he's not very protective of his girls. But in a film with a pace like this, there's no time to ask yourself many questions. You can only go with the fast flow of the film, if not, you're bound to miss something.

There's many dramatic peaks and climaxes in The Chaser, which sometimes give you a feeling that there's no end to it. It goes on and on, but isn't that what good genre films are about? To keep you at the edge of your seat for it's entire length? While this is not true for the entire 125 minutes of the film, it does come close.

**** (out of 5)

Le Depart (Jerzy Skolimowski)

In 1967, Skolimowski made Le Depart. Accompanied by a jazzy score by composer Komeda , known for working with Polanski, the style of Le Depart is like Deep End. The difference is that it's shot in black and white, and made in France. Which is the first country outside of Poland Skomilowski made a film.

Le Depart is about a boy who wants to drive rallies but has no money to rent or buy a car. While looking for ways to raise money, he meets a girl he likes and looks for the money with her. The boy's role is played by Jean Pierre-Leaud  who was discovered by Truffaut with Les Quatre Cents Coupe. 

Le Depart is a typical new wave film. Not much plot, experimental shooting and unconventional editing. Where Deep End became slightly predictable halfway the film, with Le Depart it's hard to guess what's going to happen next. Jean Pierre Leaud is the reason for this. He is unpredictable and convincing with his passion for cars, which is greater than the passion for his girlfriend. Like with Les Quatre Cent Coupes, Jean-Pierre Leaud seems to have been made for Le Depart. 

As with Polanski, Skolimowski's best films were made during the beginning of his career. There's an energy in this film that lacks in Skomilowski's later films. Where Deep End shows similarities with the Czech New Wave, Le Depart stands closer to the French New Wave. His Polish films show more about his roots, but Le Depart and Deep End are the highlights in a filmmaker's career who should be as recognised as contemporary and friend Polanski. 

****1/2 (out of 5)

Four Nights With Anna (Jerzy Skolimowski)

Four Nights with Anna is Skolimowski's latest film. It is about a social weak man who still lives  with his mother. One day he sees a man rape a woman. Because he is near the scenery, he gets busted for the rape and put into jail. When he gets back from jail, his mother has passed away. Out of love for the raped girl that lives nearby, he decides to drug her and spend the nights with her. Or so he says in court when they ask him why he drugged her.

Like in Moonlighting, the actions of the main character are so detailed that you sympathise with him a lot. How cruel the man may seem, we feel this is the only way for him to reach Anna, and can only feel sorry for him. Another typical Skolimowski element is the visual gags that still show up from time to time. Even in a depressing and dark story such as this. It's what Skolimowski reminds us of, when he shows up before the film to give an introduction.

With all the sacrifices the main character makes, we can only hope for Anna to answer his love. But in fact, we know this is not possible, right from the start. A dark and depressing view. The realism in the characters is what makes Four Nights With Anna so good. We get into their psyche, understand them and finally feel with them. This is Skolimowski's biggest strength.

***1/2 (out of 5)

Looking For Cherry Blossoms (Joe Odagiri)

Joe Odagiri is known as a famous actor in Japan. But that he is also a director, is something new. His debut feature film; Looking for Cherry Blossoms, plays at the festival. In his introduction he tells us that this film should not be played on such a big screen, in a big theatre. But in Rotterdam it is possible to have a small experimental film in a large theatre, and that what makes it such a good festival. Unfortunately Odagiri had to fly back to Tokyo rightaway, so we couldn't ask him any questions after the film.

Looking for Cherry Blossoms is a roadmovie about two men who are looking for a particular cherry blossom tree. One of them just visited his grandpa, while the older one is a cab driver. On the road they hit a man, who wants to go along with them. While driving they talk, sing and dance.

Dialogues fascinate Odagiri, and they're absurd in Looking for Cherry Blossoms. For example the cab driver, who is named Jack, has a western girlfriend named Michelle. He tells how he first met her after hitting her. Since then they've been together. There is many absurd situations in the film, but the ending is probably the most bizar of all. 

Before the film, Odagiri also warned us that Looking for Cherry Blossoms may not even be a film at all. The editing and shots are done in an unconventional way, with slow to extreme fast cutting, and shakey images. Looking for Cherry Blossoms is an absurdistic experiment that's fun to watch, as long as you have an open mind.

***1/2 (out of 5)

Daytime Drinking (Young-Seok)

As the title already suggests, this film is about an alcoholic. A young man from Seoul is convinced by his friends to go with them to a small town, where on of his friends knows someone who owns a guesthouse. When the protagonist arrives , his friends let him down. His friend then directs him to a local guesthouse, promising to show up within a couple of days. Because all kinds of strange circumstances the protagonist still finds himself alone in the guesthouse a couple of days later. He meets a girl who exploits his kindness, and is then confronted by her boyfriend, which turns out to not be her boyfriend after all. The protagonist gets stuck in the little mountainvillage and is unable to get out of there.

All possible reasons for why someone drinks are in this film. A broken heart, social pressure, warming up in a cold climate or to be able to talk to a girl you like. In some scenes the protagonist of the film doesn't even have a choice but to drink or he will lose favour with people. 

One of the strong points about Daytime Drinking are the recognisable types of characters. There's an unfriendly guesthouse owner, an unattractive girl who likes poetry, her alcoholic brother who likes mobile ringtones and does a strange dance when he is drunk, and the main character's friend who always lets him down. They all use the naive protagonist for their own purposes. This makes for some hilarious scenes about which I could go more into detail, but the best advice would be to just see it for yourself. 

***1/2 out of 5

Three Days of Darkness (Khavn)

What if you'd put three women in a dark house and let them run around screaming, while being scared of something that you never actually show. This is the concept of the apocalyptic, Filipinian horror film called Three Days of Darkness. It plays during the Hungry Ghost program, the same program as 4BIA is part of.

It's hard to tell which is the worst part of the film, because everything is bad. The script is extremely badly written, with Spanish, English and some Japanese in it, the english lines must be the corniest. Cliché lines Not only the concept and script are uninspired and ripped from bad American horror films, the acting is horrible as well. The actrices are obviously not cast on the acting skills, but on their looks. 

There's no acceptable reason to watch this horrible film, most of the time it's so dark there's nothing visible. Most of the time the girls in the house just scream and run around, while some images of a butcher at work, are cut through the unconvincing climax sequence.

* (out of 5)

I Am From Titov Veles (Teona Mitevska)

I Am From Titov Veles is film by Macedonian filmmaker Teona Mitevska. Macedonia produces about two pictures a year, with maybe ten documentairies a year. With a not so generous filmfunds, looks for money abroad. She has her own production company with two relatives. Her previous film also played in Rotterdam, it was titled How I killed A Saint.

The film is about three sisters. The oldest is 35 and wants to get married, the middle one wants to go abroad, and the youngest one is a mute that wants a baby, but is still a virgin. The focus of the film is on the youngest one of the three, which we hear speaking through voice-over. While she dreams of having a baby, the middle sister of the three, arranges a marriage partner for the older sister. After she marriages and leaves the house, the other sister will leave the mute girl alone. Only then it becomes clear how dependant the girl was of the other sisters. She then starts dating the old boyfriend of her sister, but finds out he sleeps with a lot of different girls.

As the title suggests, the film is about a girl who is from Titov Veles, but there is nothing in this village. All the sisters will leave the village, with a visa or by getting married. This is what the film is about, growing up in a small village, and getting out of there. The film is a good portrait of live in Macedonia, but in the end there is some tragic scenes that only seem to have been put there for dramatic purposes. They come unexpected, and without a real function beside drama. While the sisters keep discussing how hard it is to get a visa, the mute sister suddenly has a visa at the end, which wasn't that hard after all.

While there are some flaws in the script, there are also some interesting dream sequences, with a surrealistic touch. The film has some beautiful images, and convincing acting, which make I Am From Titov Veles an interesting observation in Macedonian life.

*** (out of 5)

Achilles And The Tortoise (Takeshi Kitano)

Achilles and the Tortoise is Kitano's third trilogy of his self reflection trilogy. While the first film was about his life as a filmmaker, and the second about a Kitano without inspiration for a new film. This third film is about art and the artist. The first two films haven't been as good as Kitano's earlier work. So how does Achilles and the Tortoise do, compared to films like Hanabi, Dolls and Sonachine.

The film can be divided into three parts. In the first part a young boy grows up and wants to become a painter. Because his father is a famous painter he can do anything he wants. Then one day his father dies and the boy has to live with his uncle who is not a big fan of painting. He struggles and learns to express himself. 

Years later when the boy grows up he goes to an art gallery. The owner says his work is too old fashioned and says he should go to art school and study modern painting. Which he does. But after studying he can only imitate work, instead of expressing himself. Something that most artists struggle with. 

When the painter reaches middle age, he starts experimenting with all kinds of radical approaches. His wife helps him with his work, but still the art gallery won't accept his work. During this period the painter goes bankrupt and after an accident his wife will leave him, while his daughter already left him. But art should always be number 1, right?

Kitano researches the struggles an artist has to deal with when he's creating. There is references to most 20th century modern painters. The paintings during the film are all made by Kitano, and he painted a lot for this film. As usual with Kitano there's a lot of humour and satire. At one point in the film, when the painter is studying, he and his friends are studying new ways of painting. One of them rides with a bicycle with cans of paint on his head against a big canvas. With the different colours, the painting becomes like an action painting work. But the big question remains; is Kitano back at his old level?

His humour is as good as always, and the film is much stronger than the other two films of the trilogy, especially in levels of character depth. Kitano is looking for a good balance between drama and humour, without falling back into what he did before. He's not there yet, but he's on to something new. His next film could be another masterpiece.

**** (out of 5)

Nonko (Kumakiri Kazuyoshi)

Nonko is Kazuyoshi's third film and also his third film at the filmfestival in Rotterdam. His first film was in the tiger competition a few years ago. Since then he's come to Rotterdam every few years.  In Japanese there is a special word for an unemployed woman, who helps her parents and stays at home. It's called a ''kajitetsudai''. The lead in Nonko; Nonko, is one of them. She had a short television career and divorced her husband some years back.

One day an ambitious boy shows up who wants a market spot at the local festival that is soon to take place. Nonko is to direct him to the one in charge of the market spots. The man rejects the boy's wish but he doesn't give up, he is an optimistic kind of person. Nonko offers him a place to stay at her parents' place which leads to many conflicts in and around the house, and later even at the festival.

The title suggests a social comment because Nonko's age and the word Kajitetsudai are in it. In the west a 36 year old woman is not considered that old. But in a country where women settle down before they're 30, it is. These 36 year old, single women, like Nonko are miserable, or so most people think in Japan. But Kazuyoshi does not make a feminist film, he decides to portray one of these women.

But Nonko is not the only outcast in the film. In a society where university degrees choose where they will work even before graduating, and more than half will work in the same company for the rest of their lives, the dreamy, optimistic Masaru is an outcast too. He wants to become a merchant and travel around the world. While Nonko becomes more optimistic during the film, Masaru has his dreams shattered, which leads to a big climax at the end.

While Kazuyoshi went for a more serious approach than with the comedies he made before, there is still a good dose of humor in Nonko. It works because the main characters are convincing. And more important, they are real. A growing population of women in Japan is like Nonko, and many of them will identify with her. Nonko is a subtle plead for the kajitetsudai of Japan. A chance to empathise with them. For the western viewers, the title is just ''Nonko''. This way the  film contains less social commentary but makes it more accessible for the western viewer. 

**** (out of 5)

Deep End (Jerzy Skolimowski)

Deep End by Skolimowski is part of a trilogy of New-wave films he made in different countries around Europe. The films in this trilogy have some similarities with the Czech new wave, like Milos Forman's Love of a Blonde, they don't have a strict plot and are more character-driven. 

Deep End is about growing up. A young boy in England starts working in a bathhouse. He falls in love with a girl who works at the women's department, but later finds out she's not the kind of girl he expected her to be, or to be more specific, she sleeps with a lot of men between and after work. 

As usual, Skolimowski's film is full of practical jokes. These are usually so absurd and visually explicit, that it's hard to miss them. These are the kind of jokes for which Skomilowski got blamed at filmschool, that he didn't take film serious. But it's the only real recognisable trademark in the works of the versatile director. 

It's said that Skolimowski judges his own films on how good the practical jokes in his films are. If this is true, Deep End could be his favourite. Like many new wave films the film doesn't set rules for itself. It is a game between the main characters of the film. A fascinating game that deals with love, growing up and jealousy.

**** (out of 5)

Moonlighting (Jerzy Skolimowski)

One of the filmmakers in focus this year at the Rotterdam Film Festival, is Polish filmmaker Jerzy Skolimowski. He has recently made his comeback with the film Four Nights With Anna, after many years without making any films. Moonlighting is an older film of his, from 1982. 

Moonlighting is about four polish men, who travel from Poland to England to rebuild an entire house in a month. Only one of them, the protagonist played by Jeremy Irons, speaks english, and he has the responsibility to get everything done in time. In the meanwhile, the protagonist dreams of his girlfriend in Poland and pushes the Polish workers to work harder and harder. Hence the title; Moonlighting, which means working through long hours and nights. 

What is fascinating about Moonlighting is how well the protagonist knows how to keep the men working, how to feed them, and keep them locked in the house, even when they have to go to church. You'd almost say he knows everything too well and you get suspicious about the director's own experiences. Was he ever involved in this kind of work? The film is so detailed and there are many practical jokes in the film, like a pick serving as an aerial when the protagonist just bought a television for the workers. 

The details make Moonlighting  a fascinating portrait of Polish workers who go abroad to work and earn money for their family. With some humorous and suspenseful scenes the film manages to keep your attention through the entire 97 minutes.

**** (out of 5)

Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly (Edwin)

Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly is Indonesian filmmaker Edwin's first film. It plays in the Tiger competition, the prize for the best debut or second feature film. There's a big number of characters in the film, among them a blind dentist who plays Stevie Wonder on his radio during work and sings along, his wife who only focusses on her badminton, a rich gay couple that have relationship problems while one of them pleads for tolerance as a preacher on television, a Chinese boy who walks with his face down because he is ashamed of being Chinese and a girl who scares people away with her fireworks. 

They all have their own dreams, mannerisms and are willing to make sacrifices for their dreams. At one point the Chinese boy is asked by his girlfriend what he wants to become when he grows up. Anything but Chinese is his answer. This part of the film is autobiographical, Edwin himself is of Chinese heritage. This leads to what the film really is about; the blind pig who wants to fly. He is stuck on a chain and tries to get lose. The blind pig represents all the characters in the film. 

Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly is a strong plead for the minorities of Indonesia. Sometimes its symbolism is a bit obvious, but this doesn't make Edwin's message weaker. Blind Pig Who Wants To Fly  has a good chance to win one of the three tigers and is because of its content, an important film for Indonesia. 

**** (out of 5)

4BIA (Pisanthanakun, Purikitpanya, Thonkonthun, Wongpoom)

Thai horror, is it different than contemporary American or Japanese horror? After seeing the four segments of 4BIA it becomes clear that most of them have been enspired by American films. For example, the first film is obviously inspired by Rear Window. There's a protagonist with a broken leg and somebody watching through the window. In the third segment horror films are even mentioned by the characters in the film. ''He doesn't know he's a ghost, we have to let him know he's a ghost. Like in the Sixth Sense!'' Screams one of the main characters. 

If these films are influenced so much about American films, what is still Thai about them? Asian horror films are known to draw more on atmosphere than on plot and twists. Recent Japanese ghost films, had been inspired by films such as Mizoguchi's Ugetsu Monogatari or Kobayashi's Kaidan. But this influence is not visible in 4BIA. There's much more visual spectacle than in Japanese  horror films. There's plot twists in nearly every segment as well. The films are closer related to Hollywood than to Japan. So what makes these films different from contemporary American horror films? 

The Thai aspect in these films could be that these filmmakers really believe in the supernatural. For example, after the film there was a question & answer with the filmmaker of the second segment. When someone in the audience asked him if he believed in ghosts, he told the audience he once had an encounter with a ghost. Also in one of the segments, one boy is buried with his cellphone, so he may call his parents from the grave, which happens more often in Thailand. 

The interest in the supernatural has made the horror genre quite populair in Thailand.  This seems to make sense when a lot of Thai people really believe in the supernatural. 4BIA was an unexpected big hit in Thailand. The filmmakers were young filmmakers that got more freedom than in the usual studio system. 4BIA makes for some nice frights and laughs, especially in the third segment. With its popularity in Thailand, we can expect more Thai horror in the future.

*** (out of 5)

Shirin (Abbas Kiarostami)

Take 112 Iranian actresses and French actress Juliette Binoche and put them in a film theatre. Then let them watch a 90 minute Iranian film, that is based on a 12th century poem and capture nothing but their reactions. The sound wil tell the story and with some help from the musical score, the viewer empathises with the women who watch the film. This is the concept of Kiarostami's latest film; Shirin. But does it work?

In the 12th century poem, princess Shirin of Armenia finds a portrait of the prince of Persia at her bed. She decides to leave Armenia to find him, but the tragedy ends in unanswered love. While this is all told in sound get more absorbed into the story than you'd think and it leaves a lot for your imagination. We never really know what this princess Shirin of Armenia looks like or who this prince of Persia is. 

In contrast to the story where nothing is shown, the women in the audience  manipulate our thoughts and emotions. For example, at one point in the film there is laughter sounding through the theatre, but the women in the audience are not laughing. Is it a laughter of humiliation or a laughter of joy? We are unsure and wait for the women's response, which is laughter of joy after all.

So there is freedom for interpretation and manipulation, but what is Shirin actually about? Is it just an experiment by a pretentious filmmaker who tries to be inventive but ends up making a radio play? Or more important; is Shirin cinema? Filmmakers like Stan Brakhage, or even Hitchcock consider silent cinema the purest form of cinema, because everything is told by means of visual narrative. A more common opinion is that the marriage of sight and sound brought cinema into adulthood. But do sight and sound in Shirin really have an equal role? Kiarostami seems to do the exact opposite of what many filmmakers do. The visuals follow the sound, rather than designing the sound world according to its visual counterpart.

While there are some men in the audience, Kiarostami's focus is primarily on the women. Shirin is a story about a woman who chooses her own destiny and decides to find the man she loves. In a country where marriages are still arranged and women don't have the same rights as men, Shirin holds a message for the women of Iran.

Whatever you think about the experimental Shirin, it is an inventive film nonetheless, like many of Kiarostami's films. However, the film's main strength also becomes its main weakness. The emotional scenes and audience reactions are the strongest parts in the film, but in moments where there's no convincing, strong emotion, Shirin may seem hollow. Still Shirin is a daring and succesful experiment by Iran's leading filmmaker. 

**** (out of 5)