Mes tres chers, i've been on holidays (albanian beautiful southern coast)....on these hot days of summer everybody needs to feel positive.....so let's not go too deep on "hard subtitled films" (and i still hate this phrase, even on my best positive energy) ....anyway...let all of us see "Midnight in Paris" of Woody Allen , and let all get drunk with that City of Lights a nuit ;)

I am curious (Yellow) 1967 Vilgot Sjöman

Yeah, just like that, I'm curious. Curiosity drives me to see these kind of films. In my case, more likely it would be "I Am Curious (Red)".

The whole construction of this film intrigued me. Characters with their real names. Almost with their real lives. The personage’s characters are almost identical to actors’ characters who play these personages. There is hard to understand what scenes are created specifically for the film and what scenes develop naturally.

Into the film’s "style" seems clearly a kind of influence from "Nouvelle Vague". Wordplay. Atypical chronology. Plus, in some moments Lena looks "too fashion" for her style of living. Almost as "fashion" as Anna Karina in the films of Jean-Luc Godard. As though giving a buffet to the social class they come from.

The film was banned in some countries (in those years) including the U.S. Allegedly because of  the  pornographic content. Or those Lena’s theories about social classes and non-violence were more "decadent" than pornography on that time?

I like to believe that the real reason was the answer to this rhetorical question. I may be wrong.

Blonde Lena, sometimes full of confidence , at times so grumbler, sometimes nestled under her  idyllic shell, at times a real activist exposing the most pressing problems of the time, remains in all cases "curious". Curious about what is happening inside her and curious about the world around.

Questions that makes Lena at the beginning of the film are shocking, not only for that time, but also for today.

"Do we have a class system in (Sweden)?" => Sweden can be replaced with any state.

And another: "What are we going to do about it?"

In a world where the class hierarchy is a normal phenomenon, even vital (at least so they told us) for the human society progress, asking questions like "What are we going to do about the class system?" is to deny the essence of the existence of this society, society itself.

So, if we eradicate capitalism (since at first glance it seems like there is its fault) ...then what? Even the cave men had a hierarchy. Namely we can not blame only over capitalism, this issue seems a little bit more complex. Guiltiness consists to that  human ego that feels completely self-satisfied (everything is a matter of perception) only when it breaks someone else’s ego.

In other words, riches do not experience any great fun to see others being poor and powerless. They just want  to be rich and powerful themselves. But always is needed a referral system. If there will be no poor, hence there will be no rich. Because, compared to who, they will be rich?

It seems deeper than it should be, right...?

1. Vilgot Sjöman was born in a simple working class family.

2. Lena’s conflict with her father.

... These reasons are more than sufficient to go that deep in the case above, which for me is the arbor of the film.

Martin Luther King Jr.

I do not believe that Martin Luther King Jr. was a random choice. The film has come out in '67, uffa, (and then they say it was  banned for pornography!!!). The two Lena’s dreams are the two major wounds of  humanity, at least for that time (some progress has been made today) Afro-Americans’ rights and Women's rights.

Even in Sweden of "social democracy" we see a decaying society (occasionally beautiful in appearance). A society that generally agree with what “majority” says and makes and that hardly shows any kind of interest on what is happening around the world. They go for happy holidays in Spain, at a time when Spanish people suffer under General Franco's regime.

As for that controversial sexuality in this movie ... there are some interesting positions.

Even Lena herself is quite interesting, especially about how she sees herself (sometimes she has a low self-esteem) ...like the three-quarters of normal women, or even normal people.

I myself can sit all day long watching naked Lena and Börje, having sex in strange positions, even from the most vulgar ones (if you want to call it so) ... and still there I find Art.

Vilgot Sjöman

Usually I have a negative feeling of sex scenes in Hollywood films, although they have almost no sex at all within, being that "glossy" , they make you feel a bit weird (in a sort of way). And Art is the only thing I can’t see in these cases.

There is also an "I Am Curious (Blue)", but I will not see it soon. I want to keep a little more these extravagant hyper-emotions of "I Am Curious (Yellow)".

From me, this film has a big like (who cares what the world says) ...by Led Kasapi

(70th Venice International Film Festival) "La Jalousie" According to Philippe Garrel

A 30-year-old man lives with a woman in a small, furnished rental. He has a daughter by another woman, a woman that he abandoned. A theater actor and very poor, he is madly in love with this other woman. She was once a rising star, but all work offers have dried up. The man does everything he can to get her a role, but nothing works out. The woman cheats on him. And then she lives him. He tries to kill himself, but fails. His sister visits him in hospital. She's all he has left, his sister and the theatre...

This drama by Philippe Garrel is selected to be presented, among other films in official competition at the 70th Venice International Film Festival. Protagonists are Louis Garrel, son of the director and Anna Mouglalis.

From the synopsis of the film the story seems entirely suited to Philippe Garrel style. A simple event,  with "jealousy" as a central phenomenon. Only that in this case ( unlike most films with the central theme "jealousy" ) seems that the real concern is not owned by the subject where “jealousy” falls over, but from the one who cultivates this sense. We are not going to see that  typical drunkard or egocentric man that  denigrates his wife's life with his obsessions. Even the term "jealousy" may seem dubious in this case. " Profusely Love " would be the proper term.

Philippe Garrel started his career very early. When he was 16-year-old, he wrote and directed his first film. During his 10-year relationship with Nico (The Velvet Underground) the two artists, inspired by each were in the top of their creativity. During this period, all his films are semi-autobiographical and deeply under the influence of  "underground" culture.

Garrel is generally well rewarded by the Venice International Film Festival. He has twice won the Silver Lion as the best director with "J'entends Plus la Guitare" in 1991 and with "Les amants Réguliers" in 2005, as well as once has won the FIPRESCI prize with "Sauvage Innocence" in 2001.

Philippe Garrel

By Philippe Garrel I will suggest you "La Révélateur" 1968, an experimental silent film, about a family that has survived from a great evil (undefined) and wander scared through the woods of Munich. Basic idea of ​​the film is that the great evil has not come from "aliens", but from the manifestation to the outside world of that non- human side of human.

Or, for those who don’t feel that comfortable with silent films...I suggest "Les amants Réguliers" that takes place in the same historical background of "The Dreamers" and the protagonist is Louis Garrel ;)...by Led Kasapi

(70th Venice International Film Festival) "Gravity" the return of Alfonso Cuarón

One of the "Three Amigos" returns to the big screen at the 70th Venice International Film Festival with a techno-thriller film inspired by the Kessler Syndrome with Sandra Bullock and George Clooney as protagonists. The opening film of the Festival has a script written by Alfonso Cuarón and his son Jonás Cuarón.

Originally Robert Downey Jr. was selected for the lead role. Plans were changed several times in a row for the female-protagonist until Cuarón finally decided to give this role to Sandra Bullock. Angelina Jolie, Marion Cotillard, Scarlett Johansson, Blake Lively and Natalie Portman were tested for the role before Bullock.

The events take place in space. A medical engineer Dr. Ryan Stone, on her first trip into space, and a veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky, on his last voyage, must cooperate to survive in a mostly destroyed space shuttle , with limited air and without any communication with Earth.

"Gravity" was scheduled to appear in cinemas on  November 21st 2012, but the post-effects of this film took almost a year to be finished. On  October 4th 2013, premiere for North America, "Gravity" will be presented to the general public in 3D and IMAX 3D.

Alfonso Cuarón has experimented different genres in cinema. From "A Little Princess" or "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" to "Great Expectations" or "Children of Men". All so divers from each other, but all so visibly “painted” by the creative mind of a good director.

Alfonso Cuarón

Personally, in any case, I would choose Alejandro González Iñárritu  instead of Alfonso Cuarón. I keep prefering those who remain faithful to themself ; although a new film by Cuarón, after 7 years off , keeps being a good news.

I would suggest to you “Y Tu Mamá También” as one of the best films of 2000 years ... so you could  understand why I “took the trouble” to write for Alfonso Cuarón. Sometimes there suffices just a single masterpiece, to give someone the title of "Genius"....by Led Kasapi

(70th Venice International Film Festival) ...Waiting for " Tom à la ferme " by Xavier Dolan

After three films "Je tue ma mere", "Les amours imaginaires" and "Laurence Anyways," Xavier Dolan will be presented at the 70th Festival of Venice with a psychological thriller. After three premieres in Cannes, his next film will debut in Venice.It has been selected to be screened in the main competition section at the 70th Venice International Film Festival .

Dolan and Michel Marc Bouchard (author of the drama) have adapted both the screenplay for the film. "Tom à la ferme " will be a film unlike those films we have seen so far by Dolan.

In this psychological thriller Stockholm Syndrome, mourning and latent violence permeate a story of lies and imposters. A young ad executive travels to the country for a funeral and discovers that no one there knows his name or his relationship with the deceased.Set deep in the farmlands of Quebec, " Tom à la ferme " tells of the growing fissure separating city and country and the respective natures of the men that reside there.

First impression, after reading this simple plot, is that this film seems a bit "darker" than the other films of the 23-year-old director. In the heart of the three previous films proceeds  a common human drama (those that  we encounter almost every day to ourselves or to people around). There are two or three characters and all the drama forwarded through their interaction. But " Tom à la ferme " seems to be more comprehensive. If the first two films "Je tue ma mere" and "Les amours imaginaires" are almost autobiographical, where the main characters are not more than 25 years old; in "Laurence Anyways" there is  a kind of fracture (and increased directing  skills). Although "Laurence Anyways" is  the less estimated of the three films so far by Xavier Dolan.

I think " Tom à la ferme "  will be a test for the director himself. Let’s  Wait and see if this film will result  a success like "Je tue ma mere" and "Les amours imaginaires" or there will be another "Laurence Anyways". If this happens, the second possibility,  Xavier Dolan probably must  continue to create semi-autobiographical films for a little while and then again later he may try any other genre.

Waiting for " Tom à la ferme " , I suggest you to see "Je tue ma mere" (if you haven’t seen it yet, of course) ... to understand why there are so many “great expectations” for this sapling gay artist.

* After being shown at the Cannes Film Festival in 2009,"Je tue ma mere" received an eight-minute standing ovation. (not that bad, right?) ;)...by Led Kasapi