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It’s the coldest German winter in over a decade apparently. So what better time to head to Berlinale and get warm amongst a busy Berlin audience sitting in a cosy screening room or two? #amiright
Look out for RecDek House Berlinale news coming to you shortly. And in the meantime, below are 5 films that caught my eye.
Rose – Early 17th century Germany, isolated Protestant village. A mysterious soldier arrives claiming to be heir to an abandoned farmstead, produces documents to back it up. Villagers are suspicious of this slight, scarred stranger, but he works hard, proves himself God-fearing, gradually gets accepted. Except his entire existence is a lie - the true story of a swindler who defied her birth as a woman, lived as a man, and fooled an entire community. Sandra Hüller stars. Markus Schleinzer directing this twisted period deception.
Wolfram – Warwick Thornton's back (the Sweet Country director), setting this in the same universe as that film. Colonial Australia 1930s, two brutal outlaws roll into a mining town unleashing violence. Two siblings break free from white masters forcing them into child labour in the mines, escape across central Australia's desert searching for safety and home. Deborah Mailman and young actors carrying this outback Western meets historical survival drama about reckoning, resilience, family truth. Thornton's also speaking at Berlinale Talents about stolen narratives and his Indigenous Australian cinema.
Everybody Digs Bill Evans – New York 1961. Jazz pianist Bill Evans has finally found his voice, created the perfect trio with bass player Scott LaFaro (his musical soulmate). Village Vanguard residency culminates in recording two of the greatest jazz albums ever made in one day. Days later, LaFaro dies in a car crash. Evans, numb with grief, stops playing for the first time since childhood. Anders Danielsen Lie plays Evans navigating sobriety versus intoxication, family versus girlfriend who shares his taste for music and hard drugs. Grant Gee directing this portrait of a troubled genius learning that sometimes intermission is part of the music.
The Only Living Pickpocket in New York – John Turturro plays Harry Lehman, expert pickpocket whose skills made him a master back in his glory days. Now pushing 70 in a changed city where nobody carries cash or wears expensive watches, where cards get cancelled instantly and phones tracked immediately. Harry's analogue in a digital world, barely surviving. Then he accidentally lifts a valuable USB stick from a rich kid who turns out to be heir to a ruthless crime family. Journey to retrieve it takes Harry through all five boroughs revisiting his rapidly fading past. Steve Buscemi, Giancarlo Esposito in the cast. Noah Segan directing.
Rosebush Pruning – American siblings wallowing in inherited fortune beneath Catalonian sun, avoiding their blind father's demands, seeking validation through each other and designer clothes. When eldest brother Jack announces he's moving in with girlfriend Martha, blood ties sever and brother Ed's forced to uncover the truth about their mother's death. Generational lies unravel, family disintegrates. Karim Aïnouz directing this biting satire about absurd patriarchal family structures, screenplay by Efthimis Filippou (The Lobster writer). Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Lukas Gage starring.
The festival's awarding Honorary Golden Bear to Michelle Yeoh, Berlinale Camera to composer Max Richter (who just scored Chloé Zhao's Hamnet), and Wim Wenders is heading the International Jury.
And what about just something to watch at home?
Our blue boxed pick of the week reveals all…
Real life Queen’s Gambit, is our pick of the week…
QUEEN OF CHESS (Netflix)
The girl who broke Bobby Fischer's record is the story of Rory Kennedy's documentary about Judit Polgár, the greatest female chess player ever. Judit became the youngest grandmaster in history at 15 - beating Fischer's record by a month.
At the Hungarian national tournament in 1991, teenage Polgár faces a choice: play safe for a draw against Tibor Tolnai and make history, or risk everything going for the win to become national champion. Bobby Fischer grins in archival footage: "Women are terrible chess players, I guess they just aren't so smart." Watching Polgár demolish that sentiment is deeply satisfying.
Her father László had this wild theory: geniuses are made, not born. He researched Einstein, Mozart, Edison - noticed they all started learning at age 5, studied one field eight to nine hours daily. So he built Polgár University for daughters Susan, Judit and Sofia using 32 pieces and 64 squares. Affordable infrastructure even in Soviet-run impoverished Hungary. Grandmaster Maurice Ashley reckons lots of people thought it was child abuse, but nothing comes across clearer than Judit's unruffled self-possession.
The sport's packed with massive egos and misogyny - Fischer's comments are mild compared to other chess greats claiming women lack intellectual depth and "personality" to excel. Polgár's bold playing style worried everyone: enemies because she'd win (usually did), allies because "she might get killed" figuratively on the board. Most fraught situation? Garry Kasparov.
The Russian (generally considered greatest player ever, now exile and Putin opponent) cooperates at length but seems to harbour rusty views. At the 1994 Linares tournament, cameras caught him making a blundering move, letting go of the piece, changing his mind, moving it back - clear violation. Judges missed or ignored it, Kasparov didn't acknowledge it, Polgár didn't scream about it despite having every right. She knows what he did. So does he, because he squirms. How they fared against each other subsequently is preserved for viewers who don't know the record.
Expect genuine suspense from 30-year-old history using creative graphics, gothically lit chessboard shots, editing as irresistible as a Polgár endgame. Outstanding stuff.
See you in Berlin.
Ed
PS - if you are interested in sponsoring RecDek House SXSW and Cannes hit me up asap.
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