16th Cine Europa @ Shangrila Plaza

Because I failed to go to film festivals earlier this year and even missed the Cinemalaya fest, I vowed to at least attend the Cine Europa which normally lasts more than a week, which means that I can allot at least 2 days for it. Here are some of the movies I was able to watch for this year's offering:

1. La stanza del figlio (The Son's Room/ Italy)

This movie portrays a family's grief over the loss of a son. The father is a psychoanalyst who had to go see a patient and in the process cancel a "date" with his family. His son went SCUBA diving with friends and died in an accident. The family members are very intimate with one another so when this happened, the father blames himself, the wife is still inconsolable, and the daughter starts having her own problems. They find healing when they meet the son's girlfriend who shows them pictures of the son's room.

2. Les bien aimés (Beloved/ France)

This movie is about two women with their respective tumultuous love lives. The mother Madeleine was a whore who first married a Czech doctor who cheated on her but would time and again come back to her life. They eventually divorced and the mother remarried. The daughter Vera was in love with a queer guy who seems to be fond of her, too, but cannot commit because he suspects himself of having HIV. 

3. Almanya – Willkommen in Deutschland (Almanya – Welcome to Germany/ Germany)

This film is a drama comedy about home and identity. Young Cenk is confused on what he really is being of Turkish descent but living in Germany. His grandparents recently acquired German citizenship and the family of three generations go back to Turkey because his grandfather thinks they must not forget their Turkish roots. Cenk comes to know about the story of his grandparents and his uncles and aunt through his elder cousin Canan (lots of flashbacks in this movie). While in Turkey, the grandfather dies but is refused interment  at a Muslim cemetery because of his new citizenship. Cenk's second uncle decides to remain in Turkey and rebuild their house there while Cenk delivers his grandfather's speech. (I got teary eyed during this final scene...)

4. A Royal Affair (Denmark)

This film is a historical drama set in 18th century Denmark during the reign of the insane King Christian VII. His wife Queen Caroline Matilda of Great Britain, largely  ignored by her promiscuous husband, falls in love with the Royal Physician Johann Friedrich Struensee who gains considerable influence and briefly becomes the de facto regeant of Denmark. Struensee, a man of the Enlightenment, carries out reforms. He dies a tragic death of execution for all his efforts in  alleviating the commoners' plight. 

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I think I could have watched more if I only were able to report for work earlier but cool mornings make it almost impossible to get me out of bed... At least I did get to watch "A Royal Affair" which won two awards (Best Actor for Mikkel Følsgaard as King Christian, and Best Script) in the 62nd Berlin International Film Festival.