Notes on Cine Europa 16, conclusion

From what this film junkie has written in regards the Cine Europa films thus far, only 2 entries have made a remarkable impression - Nanni Morreti's painful yet assuring drama "The Son's Room" (Italy) and James Marsh's thought-provoking documentary "Project Nim" (UK). With the following 2 films that I am to write about, this film junkie has now come halfway through with the films in this year's edition of the festival. Will there now emerge as the best among the rest?

"Footsteps in the Sand" (Bulgaria) by Ivailo Hristov

It is somewhat rare that we get to watch a film from such a "marginal" European country as Bulgaria. And when we do, it is almost always through a film event like Cine Europa. For this reason, we cannot really make a general statement as to the common thread in the films from this country or we are not really that familiar with its filmmakers (unlike when we talk about the cinema of Spain or France). That is why on such a choice occasion as Cine Europa, it is considered a blessing if we get to encounter a good Bulgarian film. And "Footsteps in the Sand" is one such film. It opens with the close-up shot of an agitated young man being dumped by his girlfriend over the phone. Viewers thought that the focus of the film would be on him. As such, the opening scene was only a "deception". Because minutes later, the young man would meet an equally agitated passenger at the airport (where he works) who has his own heartbreak tale to tell. The passenger's tale was what really served as the film's focal point from which emerged essential questions in regards living as an immigrant and what it is to find one's worth and integrity when one is rootless and left on one's own, lost in a foreign land. If the American in ''The Phantom Father'' has a set purpose in being in a foreign country (finding his family roots), the immigrant in Hristov's film set foot in America having no clear goal and direction at all, if only motivated by heartbreak and longing, which makes his situation all the more poignant. The film is both funny and sad - or more appropriately, is funny while being sad. It even hints at Bergman and Antonioni (notice the hues and spaces at the airport, as the returning immigrant tells his story (shown through flashbacks) to the airport officials (the young man in the opening scene included)). If there would be a possible downside of the movie, it could be that one gets the feeling that so ''many'' things have been happening to the protagonist living abroad - but then, this was based on a true story. Other than this, "Footsteps in the Sand" offers an affecting portrait of a man trying to piece together his life through running away.

''With a Wolf's Gait'' (Belgium) by Olivier Ringer

This supposedly ''family'' film turned out to be this film junkie's favorite film at the festival. From the opening shot where, from the back of the car, we get to see a family (father, mother and child) approaching the vehicle as they prepare to go on a trip, we know that we are in for something different. And how different it is! We are already familiar with the deceptively simple children's films from Iran and the fairy tale-like sensibility of Albert Lamorisse's films, but "With a Wolf's Gait" feels like a different film altogether. Told entirely from the 6-year-old child's perspective through inner voice-over (a narrative device similar to Tetsuya Nakashima's "Confessions", without the dizzying feel), the film is a dazzling and, at times, affecting reworking of "Little Red Riding Hood", "Hansel and Gretel" and "Jack and the Beanstalk". What's even amazing is that even if it's a reworking of such children's fairy tales, it does not feel like a fairy tale at all - it's still somewhat grounded in reality, hyper-reality maybe. If we have those precocious and strong-willed children in the Iranian films, the little girl in the film (real-life daughter of the filmmaker) is an even more precocious and strong-willed child, to the point of being a complete rebel against what she thinks are her neglectful and insensitive parents. Viewers have become so immersed in this child's universe that the movie already moves according to her rhythm and will to the extent that all the grown-ups here (her parents included) are hardly "seen". Just like with the Austrian film "Breathing" last year, my Cine Europa sojourn for this year ends with a quiet wonder, a wonder coming from a small and little-known work that turns out to be a one-of-a-kind gem.