European Films

American novelist, actor and director Ethan Hawke in Venice for the premiere of his own adaptation of his novel The Hottest State. Check our photo diary section for our complete photo coverage of the Mostra del cinema. Photo portrait (c): Fabrizio Maltese for europeanfilms.net, 2006. All rights reserved.

Farväl Falkenberg (Falkenberg Farewell) – Festival review (includes minor spoilers)

A group of Swedish youngsters says goodbye to the happy melancholy of youth in Jesper Ganslandt’s effective mood piece Farväl Falkenberg (Falkenberg Farewell). The atmospheric portrait of the kids living in the titular Swedish coastal town emerged from a mountain of material inspired by the real lives of the film’s protagonists,  initially shot on digital video without any financing or producer attached. The result is a freewheeling dive into the hermetically sealed world of all-male friendships that, though the film’s storytelling technique is quite impressionistic by way of Gus Van Sant, feels natural and true. Viewers paying attention to the film’s formal and structural aspects  (and those familiar with one Van Sant in particular) will see a certain late plot development coming, which upsets yet confirms the status quo that preceded it. Though the film’s closing moments are not as resonant as the earlier scenes and the characters are not likely to linger in the mind as singular individuals, the film certainly works on an artistic level.

Azuloscurocasinegro (Darkbluealmostblack) - Festival review (minor spoilers)

Friends struggle with their destinies and love lives in Daniel Sanchez Arévalo's assured debut feature Azuloscurocasinegro (Darkbluealmostblack). Starring likeable thespians, the film is a melodrama of the bittersweet Spanish kind that involves prisons, ill fathers, rooftop conversations, pregnancies and a mad dash of homosexuality. Though clearly belonging to a specific genre, the film  can stand comfortably on its own despite some minor shortcomings and improbable plot turns. Arevalo seems a worthwhile addition to the growing ranks of providers of solid and entertaining stories taken from life, as seen through a melodramatic prism.

Dutch director Paul Verhoevn (left), Dutch actress Carice van Houten and German actor Sebastian Koch at the World Premiere of their film Zwartboek (Black Book) at the Venice Film Festival. Check our photo diary section for our complete photo coverage of the Mostra del cinema. Photo (c): Fabrizio Maltese for europeanfilms.net, 2006. All rights reserved.