raulvern Reviews

Interview (I) (2007)

buscemi shows his skills as a director

[9/10 · 1 October 2007]

Great film that is mainly based on dialogue and on the skillful performance of its actors. Steve Buscemi proves that he is not only an edgy actor but that he is capable of staging a movie in a very limited space. 70% of the film plays in a loft. Although it is limited in location and based on two actors Buscemi manages to keep the tension on a very high level. The film is such an interesting character study that the occasional repetitiveness of the "should I stay or should I go" game is overshadowed by the gripping power game between a "has been" political journalist and a trash-movie actress. And the surprising end rounds up the stimulating cinema experience. Go for more, Steve Buscemi

Autumn Ball (2007)

love in the time of bloc houses

[9/10 · 24 September 2007]

Finally an Estonian film that combines "international" know-how in film-making with a story that is at the same time embedded in the Estonian context and universal. The film describes the life of a series of characters in Lasnamäe, a rather grey bloc house area in Tallinn. And the good news: it avoids all the clichés that could come up when thinking about such depressing neighborhoods. Sügisball is deeply human and the characters are all very complex. The movie shows "the human condition" in autumn colours without abandoning all hope. Visually it is very impressive how Lasnamäe is shown. In some shots the audience is literally diving into this monster out of concrete. We see the daily fight of the protagonists to find love and human contact in an environment that "was created for the future". Full of warmth and depth the film depicts the Lasnamäe in all our minds. Very convincing work!

The Class (2007)

cynical "elephant" rip-off

[3/10 · 23 September 2007]

Obviously this movie is a bit too heavily inspired by Gus Van Saint's "Elephant". And yes: "Elephant" is a few classes better. The camera-work and the editing are good in "Klass" but this film contains a series of weaknesses. Maybe I should start with the minor ones: obviously there seems to be a stylistic insecurity which can be seen by the rather unsystematic use of colour effects. The music was uninspired and sounded like the work of an untalented bedroom producer. The sound effects were very American (very overproduced hitting sounds) which was heavily contrasting with the rather "TV style" dialogue sound. The script is in some moments very unauthentic and it seems obvious that it was written by a person far above teenage-age (some dialogues were very "unteenage"). Which brings us closer to the ultimate problem of this film: the content. In the intention to provoke and to get attention the author has used a topic with a predominantly American context ("High school mass murderer") and tried to transplant it into an Estonian context. This is highly unbelievable. And even within the context of the script not fully explainable. But yes: violence plus teenage plus mass murder works on the audience. And the author even pretends to show some authentic high school life in Estonia. How cynical!

Võõras (2007)

if cinema is about daring to explore new ways then this is pure cinema

[10/10 · 22 May 2007]

Honestly: I was frightened. The idea of Tanel Padar performing a pop star, the cliché of Kohtla-Järve, heroine and all that. So I went to see it with a lot of apprehension. A few days before there were riots in Estonia and the cinema was not very full because people had other worries. And once the end titles were rolling (beware: the movie continues afterwards) I was just astonished. Võõras is a film that really escapes from the storytelling rules, a film that dares to go on a completely different path. Sometimes this film is not perfect but it contains so much authentic and intense moments. And it is really intelligent. I doubt that most of the audience really captured the depth of it. This is not a movie for the masses. But it's a film for people who still bother to use their brain, who appreciate good acting and beautiful cinematography and who love independent films that actually have something to say.