Theo Van Gogh- maverick, sensationalist and brilliant!

Theo Van Gogh- maverick, sensationalist and brilliant!

 

 

The great grandnephew of Vincent van Gogh,Theo Van Gogh ( Director of “ Interview: Original” – showing on Wednesday @ 10 pm on NDTV Lumiere) would probably rank right up there when it comes to the most controversial filmmakers of all time.  Not just controversial, but brilliant, sensationalist and in a lot of aspects, pioneering as well.

 

A strident and vocal critic of religion, he published many inflammatory articles. A writer of polemic prose, his often aggressive tone and personal animosities saw him involved in a number of public lawsuits. As a well-known critic of Islam, particularly after the September 11 attacks, he rejected every form of religion and strongly felt that political Islam is an increasing threat to liberal western societies.  In his book ‘Allah Knows Best’ (2003), van Gogh’s presents his views on Islam in his typically cynical, mocking tone.

 

In November 2004, Mohammed Bouyeri assassinated Theo van Gogh in the street in Amsterdam, leaving a five-page note pinned to his body. The note threatened Western governments and Jews.

 

At the time of his death, Van Gogh was working on a project to direct three version of his films in English. After his death, the producers Bruce Weiss and Gijs van de Westelaken decided to continue the project as an homage to him. Steve Buscemi, Stanley Tucci and Bob Balaban pay tribute to the work of the Dutch director in a trilogy called ‘Triple Theo’. Interview (2008) was directed by Steve Buscemi, starring Sienna Miller and himself. Stanley Tucci directed Blind Date (2008) and Bob Balaban is to make 1-900 Sex Without Hangups (06, 2004).

 

A high-priority for the producers of Triple Theo was replicating Van Gogh’s unorthodox triple camera shooting system. For each scene, Van Gogh would shoot with three digital cameras: one camera focused on the male lead, one camera focused on the female lead, and one master camera which captured both actors and the set.

 

One critic wrote that Van Gogh had invented a new film language. His technique created a dramatically different feeling on set, and ultimately an untraditional final film, as the three digital cameras provided them not only with a very short shooting schedule but also with an abundance of shots. Van Gogh’s system allowed him to stay within budget, keep his actors on their toes and end up with a massive amount of footage for the editing process. “The quantity of footage enabled us to edit the film to feel as tense as in real life,” said Westelaken. “Also, the actor does not have to follow the camera and the light anymore. We do it the other way around, the actors act, and the cameras follow”.

 

Stanley Tucci, who directed the remake of Blind Date, comments, “I loved working with the Van Gogh system and the whole Van Gogh crew. You can shoot a lot of stuff simultaneously, and therefore shoot a full-length film in a very short period of time and it still looks beautiful.” He did find the process exhausting and adds, “Even though our shoot is only seven days, it’s still incredibly intense and you’re shooting 15 pages a day, with a lot of set ups. It takes a lot out of you and I can’t imagine doing more than seven days!”

 

Actress Patricia Clarkson (Blind Date: Remake) had her own take on the shooting process explaining, “I have shot on 35 with two cameras before, but this is really a dream for an actor. You don’t have to keep repeating to get the close-ups, to get everything in one shot, and you really can work very quickly with an enormous amount of freedom. That freedom is rare when you are shooting in 35 in a very structured way. There is no acting required here, we can just play!”

 

 Rohan Jayasekera, the Associate Editor of the magazine ‘Index on Censorship’, concluded Theo Van Gogh’s death as: “A sensational climax to a lifetime’s public performance, stabbed and shot by a bearded fundamentalist, a message from the killer pinned by a dagger to his chest, Theo van Gogh became a martyr to free expression. His passing was marked by a magnificent barrage of noise as Amsterdam hit the streets to celebrate him in the way the man himself would have truly appreciated.”

 

For those looking for something less controversial , head for “ 2 Days in Paris “- starring Adam Goldberg  and Julie Delpy, it releases tomorrow at PVR Cinemas in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore.

 

Marion, a French photographer and Jack, an American interior designer are a New York based couple whose relationship seems to have lost its spark. In an attempt to rekindle their romance they plan a holiday in Europe. As their trip goes disastrously wrong, their only hope lies in the two days they will spend in Paris. Nominated for Best First Feature at the 2008 Independent Spirit Awards.

 

Below are the show-timings…

 

Mumbai

 

PVR GOREGAON – 4.10 pm, 11.35 pm

 

PVR JUHU – 7.05 pm

 

Bangalore   

PVR FORUM Mall

3:15 PM & 10:00 PM.

 

Delhi

PVR Selectcity Walk 10:00 pm

 

Also, don’t miss out on the brilliant The Edge of Heaven by Fatih Akin showing at Fame Cinemas from tomorrow in Mumbai and Kolkata.

 

Mumbai-Fame Malad - 7.10pm

Kolkata- Fame South City Mall- 7.20pm

 

NDTV Lumiere – A 24 hour World Cinema Channel is now available on Digital Cable. 

Contact your cable operator to get the digital set-top box and receive NDTV Lumiere.

"Treat for world cinema lovers in November "

November, replete with international movie festivals, DVD launches and theatrical releases promises to be a real treat for world cinema lovers in India.

The Kolkata Film Festival kicks off on 10th Nov with some really amazing films to watch out for- don’t miss the NDTV Lumiere Kim Ki duk retrospective with four of his gems playing at the festival - Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter.. and Spring, Time, Breath and The Coast Guard. Really expecting fireworks here!

The other award winning movies picked from the NDTV Lumiere catalogue include Three Monkeys, Samaritan Girl, Ulzhan, The Edge Of Heaven and Duska.

‘ Three Monkeys’ which won the 2008 Festival de Cannes for Best Director was also released in Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata barely a few months after it won the award !

For those who can’t attend the festival, there is plenty more happening – Some of the best Jaques Tati titles like Playtime, Jour De Fete,Mon Oncle and Mr Hulot's Holiday will hit the DVD shelves all over India apart from Fatih Akin’s In July, Solino, Short Sharp Shock and other great titles like Caramel, Persepolis, Goodbye Bafana, Crossed Tracks, 8 ½, Tuya’s Marriage and La Dolce Vita !

If that’s not enough, wait for ‘ 2 days in Paris’ – releasing on 7th Nov in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore…. Starring Adam Goldberg and Julie Delpy , this one for a change is without any twisted plots/identities/ fatalities and the like… the movie was screened at the Berlin International Festival and bagged a host of accolades elsewhere as well.

Also releasing soon in theatres are The Secret of the Grain and Page Turner….

Meanwhile, Days of Glory got a tremendous response here in India and the movie is now running for another week in Mumbai and Bangalore!
PVR Juhu, Mumbai – 9:05 pm
PVR Forum Mall, Bangalore- 10.00 p.m

Days Of Glory!

The movie which enforced the French President Jacques Chirac to change laws in France is now in releasing on 24th Sept in India at PVR Cinemas in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore !

‘Days of Glory ' is a true war story directed by Rachid. It has won a handful of awards including Best Actor at the Festival de Cannes and Best Film at the 2007 Lumière Awards. Probably one of the most influential war films, the story revolves around four Algerian men who join the French army as soldiers to liberate France from the Nazi enemy.

For those interested in watching it, here are the show-timings –
Days of Glory:
PVR Juhu, Mumbai – 8:30pm
PVR Forum Mall, Bangalore- 7.40 pm
PVR Saket, Delhi- 9pm

The director was even selected as the jury member at the Festival de Cannes 2008- below is an interesting interview of Rachid Bouchareb – courtesy Films Distribution

Interview with Rachid Bouchareb , Director, Days Of Glory:

Q. Good Timing…

There comes a time when things have come together and matured. For me, that moment came when I finished Little Senegal.

I’ve always been caught up in the history of immigration. It’s my family’s past. One of my uncles fought in the Indochina war. We lived through the Algerian war and I even have a great grandfather who fought in World War One. I’ve always been at the intersection of the colonization, decolonization, immigration and all these men who made French History.

Olivier Lorelle, my co-screenwriter, and I did over a year of research. We started off going through the army documentation department. I even found Defense Ministry documents in the names of Naceri and Debbouze, who were the ancestors of the ones we all know today. We also worked in libraries but above all, we met with people who had lived through the period. We wanted to hear what they had to say. We went to Bordeaux, Marseilles and Nantes as well as Senegal, Morocco and Algeria. We fed off their experiences and feelings. This was when I realized the film could not be the story of one man. It had to encompass the African continent.

Then we had to digest all the facts collected. I wanted to make a film, not a documentary. A docu-fiction would have been a trap too. Cinema has to consider the viewer. There has to be a dimension that goes beyond historical context to dive into the human heart, to reach out to what moves us all, beyond out differences.

For me, cinema vehicles encounters and emotions. Above all, it makes you feel, even if it also teaches you something. It was the only way I could carry the story and connect with the viewer. I did not want to be didactic. There’s no point. We developed the screenplay over two and a half years. It took us 25 versions to get beyond history and concentrate on the human content, on the small, everyday details that reproduce life better than any message.

During the research phase, I found an article from five years ago about a village in Alsace that had just built a war monument to the hundreds of skirmishers who died protecting the inhabitants. They had held their ground to the end, suffering enormous casualties. This event catalyzed my desire to tell the story of a mixed group that unites in the face of hardship. I was also determined to only use authentic elements. I wrote about the mission of these men that found themselves in a lost village and sacrificed their lives in the name of the Fatherland.

Q. The Actors and Characters…

From the outset, I talked to the actors about it because I couldn’t imagine the film being anything other than collective. I chose my actors for their sensibility.

I knew some of them personally already but I appreciated them all professionally. I went to see them and told them about my project. They were all interested.

I told them we’d meet again when I had a screenplay! They were the first people to be enthusiastic about it. The project went beyond making a film. There was an extra dimension.

To create the characters, I was more than anything inspired by the veterans I met. Yassir, the Goumier, came out of these encounters – I met Yassir in a hostel in Nantes. Saïd, the goat keeper also exists. Other characters are several personalities combined. Abdelkader is also inspired by characters such as Ben Bella, who fought in World War Two, was disillusioned and became a nationalist. I also met three people who met women in France, moved to France and made their lives there.

At first, the screenplay lasted three and a half hours and started in Africa. We had to cut back to the countries of North Africa. I did not write a specific character for each actor. I wanted to feel free when I was writing. Jamel could have played Abdelkader. I didn’t want constraints. The roles were interchangeable.

Since Jamel was going to sink or swim with us and carry the film as an actor,

I asked him to be one of the co-producers. And the adventure began. We met with film financiers one by one, then we went and saw the French National Assembly, the Senate, the regions – even some where we didn’t film. We also met with ministries in Algeria and Morocco. It was a long process and everyone had to work at it but I never had any doubts. The film would be made. The necessity of telling the story was so obvious that there was no alternative! Sometimes the energy of a project gets away from you and carries you along. That what the film was like for me! This certainty moved things forward. The subject was so important that I felt a moral obligation to see it through.

Q. An Intimate Saga: On Location…

For me, the film was unusual in that it combined vast scenes requiring real logistics and more intimate moments between the actors. Both were closely tied, and even in the biggest battle scenes, my aim was to stay as close to the characters as possible.

Before shooting, we storyboarded the 900 shots of the screenplay over a four-month period. Shooting lasted 18 weeks and took place in Ouarzazate, Agadir for the boat scenes, the south of France - in Beaucaire and Tarascon – for the Liberation scenes, then in the Vosges and around the Alsace-Loraine border. The snowy mountain scenes, supposed to be in the Vosges, were shot in Morocco!

We also had many battle scenes that covered several hectares with explosions everywhere, as well as special effects simulating planes in the sky and fleets of navy vessels. I wanted the film to have an epic dimension, for us to feel the numbers, the passing seasons, the movements across countries and the changes in the men. I had to be there on all fronts! Even the set of a village in the Vosges required five months work for fifty people who transformed a hamlet in ruins, reconstructing a group of houses and adding a church and café. It all had to serve as a historical setting.

My first shock was during the costume fittings. Seeing Jamel, Samy, Roschdy and Sami dressed as their characters suddenly gave me a sense of the film’s reality. A soldier’s jacket, a cap or a djellaba suddenly gave the characters an element of truth. They had taken the places of their ancestors! From the outset, we felt that none of them was playing a hero. They were a group of men.

The second shock was on the first day of shooting. For organizational reasons, we had to start with the scene where the soldiers are lined up in front of the camp in Sicily and Jamel is hit with the butt of a riffle. We were immediately at the heart of the matter. Since I hadn’t made a film in three years, I would have preferred getting back into it by filming trucks go by, but that’s how it turned out and it was fine that way!

Each day was difficult. I was panic-stricken but I couldn’t let it show. In front of 500 extras and 220 technicians, you can’t look like you’re unsure of yourself! I faced up to my doubts when I was alone in my room at night. I reassured myself by working.

With the actors, we worked hard beforehand. While we were shooting, almost every night, we had a meeting about the screenplay. It became a ritual. We talked about the scenes, the script, the story... It was a human adventure we undertook together.

It was the first time I’d worked with Jamel. He’s very conscientious. This dramatic role was very important to him and he was worried about doing a good job. He worked hard. From time to time, he joked around to ease the tension and maybe also to reassure himself. I was moved by what he put out, by his sincerity and his fragility. We soon forget that it’s Jamel Debbouze acting and only see Saïd. It takes talent to provoke that small miracle.

I’ve known Roschdy for a long time. He has inner strength. He does everything with apparent ease but it’s based on a lot of hard work. He hits the right note. He always tries to understand and never pretends. His sense of observation and his ability to integrate parameters are impressive.

Unlike many of his fellow-actors, Sami Bouajila is very focused and leaves nothing to chance. He works on his character until he masters it completely. He became Abdelkader. He had his energy, integrity and reflexes. He was very implicated on a human level and was very attached to the group.

There’s something fascinating about Samy Naceri. He doesn’t talk much. He almost never asks questions. He listens and suddenly, when the camera comes on, he comes to life and gets it right the first take. He is an instinctive and powerful actor. During the scene when he takes his dead brother in his arms, he bowled us over. The whole crew was speechless.

Generally speaking, we did not do many takes, no more than three or four. Everyone was spot on. Sometimes I had to rein them in so we didn’t go off the rails. Even though they could bring minor additions to their characters, I was against improvisation. I often had to refuse suggestions. I didn’t like having to do it but I had to stay faithful to the screenplay. Once, two or three of them wrote a dialogue. I was really happy they did it together. They came to see me and I said to them, “Okay, let’s do it but you can only have one take. We’ll see if we keep it when we edit...” For pacing reasons, I didn’t keep it, but I was delighted to see them working together like brothers!

Q. The emotion of a story in the name of the men who lived it…

When I make a film, I am always a viewer. If I don’t feel emotion during the scene, the viewer won’t feel it either. I’m a thermometer! I forget my trade and the technical aspect so I can feel. If I’m not moved, we start over! If it doesn’t work, it is not necessarily the actor’s fault. It can be a problem with the script. If so, it’s up to me to suggest something else.
Something really powerful happened during the filming that I hadn’t expected.

I realized it first with the Moroccan soldiers who were extras in the part we shot in Ouarzazate. Every morning, they were incredibly enthusiastic. They did more than just obey directing orders. They really put their hearts into it. They said to me, “Rachid, we’re with you!” or, “We’ve worked on other films but with you, we know why we’re running.” And their commitment shows in the film.

I was reluctant to get them to redo a scene, getting them to carry a load and run in sandals over rocks that made their ankles bleed. But they volunteered. Because the film talks about their ancestors, their relation with France and a period that profoundly marked their history. Even with them, we were at the heart of the matter. Some came with the photo of their father who had fought in World War Two. One of them, who had fought in the village, showed me his photos and the letters he wrote to the government that were never answered.

This human factor also struck us when we came back to France. Everywhere we went, people came to see us, whatever their origins. Sometimes they came from 50 kilometers away. They waited, to show us their photos, to tell us about skirmishers they’d met and the people who liberated them. We also saw a lot of second or third generations who told us about their parents. Sometimes they waited for hours because we were busy with the film. The film was given an incredible reception! We were asked to participate in debates with the French, North Africans and Africans who talked about the subject, the film and what their parents had been through. We understood that it was high time we told this story, to give an image to what had been kept quiet for so long. Despite everything I had felt myself, I was surprised by this amazing enthusiasm.

All these testimonies taught me something that struck me even more. It was the same thing I heard from the survivors: the love and attachment to France that, incredibly, remains stronger than any other sentiment.

The story of these men and their relation to France does not start in the 1960’s. Well before that, they came, they liberated France, they were heroes. They were not only “street sweepers!” They were heroes who were loved and welcomed with open arms! It often remains the best moment of their lives. That’s why the attitude that followed and continues today seems so strange to them. They see it as a love story gone sour, a betrayal. It shocks them that their children and grandchildren have such a hard time. The change happened in the 1960’s. And yet despite the degradation of their image, the rejection, their ex-servicemen pensions that have not been paid, they have no hatred, no spirit of revenge. If they had to do it again, they would.

I didn’t try to change history. If they had been full of violence or bitterness,

I would have put it into the film. But it’s not the case. Liberating a country that is theirs, the Fatherland, being welcomed the way they were by French villages, being applauded along the road... It has left its mark on their memories, their history and all the injustice they’ve experienced since then has not erased that. I’ve wanted to make this film for a long time so young people know about it and others remember. I’m convinced it will be well received. The timing is right. It is a brick so can keep building together.

The Edge of Heaven

Fatih Akin, winner of the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival for his 2004 film Head-On, weaves a magical web with his tale of six crossed lives and destinies, where one man’s quest to set right a wrong is the beginning of a chain of events and consequences that is greater than them all.

Retired widower Ali (Tuncel Kurtiz), residing in Germany, sees a solution to loneliness when he meets prostitute Yeter (Nursel Köse). Ali proposes to the fellow Turkish native to live with him in exchange for a monthly stipend. Ali’s bookish son Nejat (Turkish star Baki Davrak) seems disapproving about his bully father’s choice. But the young German professor quickly grows fond of kind Yeter, especially upon discovering most of her hard-earned money is sent home to Turkey for her daughter’s university studies.

The accidental death of Yeter distances father and son even more, emotionally and physically. Nejat travels to Istanbul to begin an organized search for Yeter’s daughter Ayten (Nurgül Yesilçay in a bold and compelling performance). He decides to stay in Turkey and trades places with the owner of a German bookstore who goes home to Germany. What Nejat doesn’t know is that 20-something political activist Ayten is in Germany, having fled the Turkish police.
Alone and penniless, Ayten is befriended by German student Lotte (Patrycia Ziolkowska), who is immediately seduced by the young Turkish woman’s charms and political situation. Lotte invites rebellious Ayten to stay in her home, a gesture not particularly pleasing to her conservative mother Susanne. Ayten is arrested and confined for months while awaiting political asylum. When her plea is denied, Ayten is deported and imprisoned in Turkey. Passionate Lotte decides to abandon everything to help Ayten.

In Turkey, Lotte gets caught up in the frustrating bureaucracy trying to free Ayten. A chance bookstore meeting will lead her to becoming Nejat’s roommate. A tragic event will bring Susanne (the legendary Hannah Schygulla in an award-winning performance) to Istanbul to help fulfill her daughter’s mission. Emotional moments spent with Susanne will inspire Nejat to seek out his estranged father, now residing on Turkey’s Black Sea coast.

A moving tale of love and loss, The Edge Of Heaven won the Best Screenplay award at the 2007 Festival de Cannes.

Don’t forget to catch this movie @ PVR Juhu, Mumbai, 8:50 pm

Ever since the launch of the 24 hour NDTV Lumière channel, my fetish for quality movies just doesn’t seem to get over. I am eagerly waiting to watch “The Son’s Room”, a moving drama about a successful psychiatrist Giovanni’s struggle to hold his family together in the wake of a devastating tragedy that consumes his teenage kid, Andrea, in a scuba diving accident. The family retreats into their own private grief, as they struggle with the shock of the death.

It’s only when an unknown girlfriend from Andrea’s past visits the family, that the family finally unites in their grief, and move towards the future.

This heartbreaking family drama won the Palme d’Or at the 2001 Festival de Cannes, and a host of international awards.

It’s being telecast on Sunday the 19th, October at 10pm and on Monday the 20th, October at 7pm. All in all, a weekend that offers a delectable fare for movie lovers.

October Lineup : World Cinema in India

atih Akin, Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Claude Lelouche,Francois Ozone, Elia Suleiman ¦.now watch all their movies without getting up from your couch!

NDTV Lumiere is launching its 24 hr TV Channel showcasing films by these masters and many more on 10th October at 10 p.m in India.

The first months schedule has everything -romance, passion, racism, drug wars, politics, crime, caramel and horror ( The Orphanage a real shudder fest produced by Guilermo Del Toro premieres on television! )

The October line-up is really tempting¦The first movie- Gone with the woman is quite unique, witty, clever and colourful.

My wife is an actress is based on actress and singer Charlotte Gainsbourg. Written and directed by her husband, Yvan Attal, it is an ode to Charlotte, and a wryly funny comedy about jealousy.

Then there is also Fratricide edgy, hard hitting streets of Hamburg gangs¦ also looking forward for the Louis Malle Masterclass which features the early films of master filmmaker.

For those who were interested in the show-timings of The Edge of Heaven, here they are!

Bangalore PVR Forum Mall - 7.50 pm

Delhi PVR Saket 9pm

Mumbai - PVR Juhu 8.50 pm.

Also, dont miss the other two films playing in theatres from the 10th- Three Monkeys in Kolkata and Padre Nuestro in Mumbai. The show timings for them - Padre Nuestro Fame Malad 8.45 pm

Three Monkeys Fame South City Kolkata 7.15 pm

After a tremendous response to its theatrical releases and DVDs, NDTV Lumiere definitely looks set to capture the market for world cinema in India with the launch of this channel.

Its time to get addicted to the luxury of the best of contemporary , cutting-edge world cinema at home, without moving an inch.

Below are the prime time properties with a synopsis on a few of the movies¦

Gone With The Woman
Friday 10th Oct, 10pm

A wryly gentle Norwegian comedy about a young man whose life is suddenly invaded by the beautiful Marianne, who moves into his house and turns his life upside-down. Winner of the Discovery Award for Best Film at the 2007 Hollywood Film Festival.

Director: Petter Naess
Country: Norway
Year of Production: 2007

Kick back and relax on our Friday Lounge with a selection of films that are as warm and fuzzy as a pair of comfy slippers.

Elevator To The Gallows
Saturday 11th Oct, 3pm

French director Louise Malles feature debut, a gripping crime thriller about a woman, her lover and committing the perfect crime. Set to an exquisite jazz score by Miles Davis, winner of Prix Louis Delluc, 1957.

Director: Louise Malle
Country: France
Year of Production: 1958

Each month we showcase the work of one exceptional filmmaker in Saturday Masterclass at 3pm.

48 Hours A Day
Saturday 11th Oct, 10pm
A hilarious French comedy about the fate of modern women who continually juggle with their jobs, husbands, children and domestic lives.

Director: Catherine Castel
Country: France
Year of Production: 2008

Saturday Box Office brings to you the most popular blockbusters from around the globe.

Fratricide
Sunday 12th Oct, 10pm
A hard-hitting tragic tale of the struggle for identity among Kurdish emigrants in urban Germany. Director Yilmaz Arslans film won the Silver Leopard at the 2005 Locarno International Film Festival.

Director: Yilmaz Arslan
Country: Germany
Year of Production: 2005

Wrap up your weekend with the finest award-winning cinema from the best international film festivals, on Sunday Showcase

Garage
Monday 13th Oct, 10pm

Josie, caretaker of a crumbling gas station in a small Irish town, is a social misfit. His lonely, yet peaceful life is threatened when he strikes up a friendship with David, a shy teenager. Winner of the C.I.C.A.E. Award at 2007 Festival de Cannes.

Director: Lenny Abrahamson
Country: Ireland
Year of Production: 2007

We present the work of promising young maverick directors on Project Mondays

The Housekeeper
Tuesday 14th Oct, 10pm

Acclaimed French director Claude Berris romantic drama about newly single 50-something Jacques, who hires a much younger housekeeper and is not sure how to handle his conflicting emotions and her unabashed affection for him.

Director: Claude Berri
Country: France
Year of Production: 2002

Tuesdays showcase critically acclaimed films from across the world on Festival Flix.

The Caiman
Wednesday 15th Oct, 10pm
Italian director Nanni Morettis drama about a movie producer struggling with a floundering marriage, errant kids and rising debts. Destiny takes him to a script called The Caiman. Palme dOr nominee at 2006 Festival de Cannes.

Director: Nanni Moretti
Country: Italy
Year of Production: 200

Festival Flix continues on Wednesdays, bringing you more quality world cinema.

The Room Of Death
Thursday 16th Oct, 10pm
A French murder mystery thriller involving two out-of-work computer programmers, embroiled in a web of murder, kidnappings, police chases and a bag full of cash. Lumiere Award winner for Best Writer.

Director: Alfred Lot
Country: France
Year of Production: 2007

Keeping you on the edge of your seats is ATW (action, thrillers, war) on Thursdays.

blogged by Shamath Mazumdar, NDTV Lumiere

Fatih Akin on ‘The Edge of Heaven’ - coming soon in theaters

When I saw Fatih Akin’s ‘ The Edge of Heaven ‘ - winner of the Best Screenplay Award at the 2007 Festival de Cannes at this year’s MAMI Film Fesitval in Mumbai, I was spellbound. Hearing that the film will be released theatrically in Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore at PVR on 10th October makes me rejoice all the more!

After Head-On and Crossing The Bridge: The Sound Of Istanbul (2005), Akin puts his mighty filmmaking talents into a complex film that has been hailed as his best yet.

This German/ Turkish film has already won multiple international awards and has screened at various film festivals from around the world.

It’s great to see such gems regularly releasing in the major cities of India courtesy NDTV Lumiere. They have also released a bunch of amazing world cinema titles in India on DVDs. The current list includes The Orphanage – it’s quite spooky, Goodbye Children ( Louis Malle probably at his best! ), Half Moon, Crossing the Bridge, Head On ( another Fatih Akin masterpiece) and a few more.

Below are comments from Fatih Akin on The Edge of Heaven and his films in general -

Courtesy : Match Factory

—–

Erich Fromm’s “The Art of Loving” influenced me a lot. I’m fascinated by human relationships. Not just boy meets girl or in a sexual sense, but also between parents and children. All human relationships. I believe that all the wars in the world are the result of not using love in the way that humanity should. I think evil is the product of laziness. It’s easier to hate someone than to love them.

Shooting In Turkey

I finally started shooting on May 1, 2006. The Edge Of Heaven was shot in Germany – Bremen and Hamburg, and in Turkey – Istanbul, the Black Sea Coast and Trabzon. The shoot lasted about 10 weeks. For a filmmaker, Turkey is a great place to shoot. Shooting in Germany is much less interesting. It can be attractive, but you have to look hard or create it. The light is extraordinary in Turkey because of its geographic position. For me, shooting in Istanbul is like shooting in New York. They’re both attractive and cosmopolitan. Each city is a megalopolis. I love to shoot in cities. I’m a big city child. It’s what I know. In The Edge Of Heaven, the city of Istanbul is actually a character. Since she doesn’t speak the language, foreigner Lotte becomes lost as she confronts Istanbul. But I also wanted to break the urban image with scenes in the countryside and the coast.

In Between Two Cultures

I have this Turkish background and I have this German background. I was born in Germany, but I’m in between the two cultures. Educated in Europe, but also raised in Turkish by my parents. Turkish culture has always been a part of my life. I traveled to Turkey with my family every summer since I was a kid. Since I’m in between these two cultures, it’s natural that my films are in between, too.

Love-Hate Relationship With Turkey

I have this love-hate relationship with Turkey, a very complicated relationship. I became much more interested in Turkey after I finished school in 1995. I decided to make my first short film there, Weed in 1996. I saw another face of Turkey and I became more and more fascinated. I became more Turkish. With every meter of film I shoot in Turkey, I try to understand the country more and more. But the more I understand it, the more it makes me sad. I hate the politics, the nationalism. Look at what is happening in that country.

History repeating itself. The same mistakes again and again. I love that country, but shooting in Turkey takes a lot of energy, tears and blood.

Turkish Bureaucracy

The image of Turkish bureaucracy in The Edge Of Heaven isn’t harsh, it’s Kafkaesque. This is not criticism, it’s truth without comment. In the film, when the political activist is arrested in front of Ayten, the happy crowd applauses. The sad thing is that this happened naturally in rehearsal, the extras just automatically clapped. This really only happens when those arrested are considered to be “enemies of the state”. Fascism is alive and well in the streets of Istanbul.

Count The Turkish Flags

There are a lot of Turkish flags seen in The Edge Of Heaven. Go ahead and count them. I guess the nationalists will interpret that as a sign of love for Turkey, but I didn’t put one in. They were all already there. I didn’t change the locations. I shot them the way they were. Maybe I went too far, there are so many Turkish flags!

Intelligence Is Sexy

I think intelligence is sexy, so I made the character of Nejat a professor. And a German professor of Turkish origin breaks certain clichés which still exist in Germany. Turks today play a significant role in German culture, politics and science. They’re not just hustling in the streets. For Yeter, education is important enough for her to prostitute herself to provide one for her daughter. Nejat can relate to this desire for knowledge. I liked the irony that when Nejat goes to Istanbul he trades places with a German intellectual running a bookstore.

Education Can Save The World

Literacy, education, plays a profound role in The Edge Of Heaven. A book is a key image in the conflict between Nejat and his father. Which book to show? It was a very difficult decision for me. I didn’t want “Siddartha” or “The Hobbit” or anything too full of some parallel meaning. So I thought I would advertise my friend’s fantastic book. I chose “Die Tochter Des Schmieds” (“The Blacksmith’s Daughter”) by Selim Ozdogan. In regards to the film, the key element is about reading. Reading stands for education. And education is the only thing that can save the world.

Hannah and Tuncel

I imagined this German mother coming to Istanbul looking for her missing daughter. I had this image early on with Hanna Schygulla in mind. I had met her in Belgrade in 2004 and she put a spell on me. I was really into the idea of working with her. Some German journalists have compared my career to that of Fassbinder’s, but I don’t see it at all. I come from the streets, not the theater. Yilmaz Güney is more my background, independent against the norm. What Fassbinder was to Hanna, Güney was similar to actor Tuncel Kurtiz, who I also imagined early on to be part of The Edge Of Heaven. But my goal wasn’t to use them as icons from films by Fassbinder and Güney. It would have been vain of me to try and use them like no one else before. I didn’t want my direction to be affected like that. For me, my job is storytelling. And both Hanna and Tuncel fit the idea I had for the parents in the story.

Sampling

The challenge for me as a filmmaker is not to repeat myself. I like to surprise myself and ultimately the audience. I hope that all my films will seem different. I guess we’ll be able to judge that five films from now. When my ideas come, they all come at the same time and they come from a lot of different sources. I even recycle, like sampling in hip hop music, which I love. They use known bass lines to create something new from something old, and it’s a sort of homage at the same time. Some of the issues in The Edge Of Heaven were sampled from Crossing The Bridge. The character of the political activist Ayten was inspired by those Kurdish singers. Here in the West, we don’t have to fight for freedom of speech. But the war for justice is still going on in Turkey.

Passion Is Sexy

Fighting for something with passion is sexy. And I wanted a sexy character for The Edge Of Heaven. Ayten is very emotional. She’s street-smart and very attractive. She’s a political person. At first, actress Nurgül Yesilçay didn’t feel comfortable with the political background of the character. When she finally agreed, she went all the way. I was fascinated by how well she knew her character. I know a lot of women like Ayten and Nurgül is not one of them. Ayten is sort of a female version of me. She believes in one thing, but later she will surprise herself and change her ideas.

Am I political?

I want to change the world - am I political? My film hopes the world will change – is it political? Probably more philosophical, but I think everything is political in today’s world. In the times we live in, I think it’s impossible to separate life and politics and art. I believe in the stuff I believe in, but I might change my mind tomorrow. I try not to be dogmatic. Whatever people believe in – religion or politics – everything has limits, everything heads in one direction. I wanted to make a film about going to the other side of all that, going beyond all that. I tried to make this film with some distance, as a viewer from the outside. But it didn’t seem to be possible. Sometimes it’s not the head which directs. I guess it’s a part of me that’s much more irrational, like the heart.
Germany And Turkey

As Germans, Susanne and Lotte represent the European Union, while Ayten and Yeter represent Turkey. Everything that happens between them in The Edge Of Heaven is representative of the relationship of those systems. I had some fun with the argument between Susanne and Ayten regarding the European Union. But where I stand is not the point. I wrote this dialogue based on what I have often heard from real people around me. By the end of the film, German Susanne and Turkish Ayten both experience a profound change in how they see and feel about things. In the bookstore scene at the end where they hug, I noticed a small detail only in the edit. Not far from the women, there are two small flags, one German, the other Turkish. My friend and partner, Andreas Thiel, who passed away during the last week of the shoot, put them there. This stands for something. I guess it’s also a film about the relationship between the two countries.

Trailer of The Edge of Heaven

blogged by Shamath Mazumdar, NDTV Lumière