FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE THE BEST MOVIES IN OUR VIDEO STORE! Ingmar Bergman - Wild Strawberries 

When Ingmar Bergman died a few years ago, customers came to the video store for the first time and increasingly asked about his films. Before that Bergman was one of those who lay on the shelf like lead. There's probably so much truth in his films that it's hard to find sympathy? After all, in Bergman's work we saw God floating down as a spider... The film by him I remember again and again is Smultronstället, who even dares to laugh anxiously and reveals an optimistic view of life - as is possible in Bergman's humanism. At the centre is a 76 year old professor named Isak Borg (played by the great old man of Swedish cinema, the director Victor Sjöström). Together with his daughter-in-law he travels from Stockholm to Lund to receive a doctorate. While driving, the old man remembers his past: his lover who married his brother and his own unhappy marriage. Away from his outward success, he feels something distant and lifeless inside. Smultronstället opens with a dream sequence that already belongs to the canon of cinema: A building in Stockholm with sly windows, a clock without hands, an approaching hearse. Borg tries to draw in the outstretched hand of a dead body. There are other expressionist dream images, influenced by Freud, that show the old man how he sees himself. These scenes have been copied so often that it almost seems artificial to deal with them. However, the film is able to arouse so many emotions that something "science" doesn't hurt at all. The embodiment of the professor by Victor Sjöström can only be described as transcendent. Sjöström was Sweden's most important director during the silent film era. He died at the age of 80, not long after the film was finished. Sjöström's work can probably be described as Bergman's greatest influence (Bergman has never seriously sought a modern visual language that is not in the tradition of Swedish models). Bergman himself described the end of his film as follows: Sjöström's face in splendour. It radiates light, as if from another reality. His whole appearance is gentle and sensitive; his gaze is joyful and loving. Much like a riddle. Later, Bergman admitted to having designed the character as a justification for himself in front of his own parents. But Sjöström had made him his own. Nevertheless: Above all the character expresses Borg's forgiveness between children and parents as well as the lost possibilities of youth. Another facet of Smultronstället is the journey across the Swedish country - a world of nature. In a way, it is the beauty of nature that guides Borg. How could life become so stunted, so sterile? Basically, none of the characters in Bergman's film has any idea what happened to her. Borg's mother as an example became hard and mean over time. Borg himself only begins to backfire after his daughter-in-law Marianne (Ingrid Thulin) speaks openly to him. Smultronstället was always so close to me as a film because he expresses the thoughts of reconciliation and reparation without religious metaphors. By the way, Bergman Film is now often and gladly awarded!

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Olivier Assayas - Irma Vep 

Olivier Assayas has always tried not to belong to a fixed style. He has always changed, and yet I am tempted to consider Irma Vep as his magnum opus. And most of all, I like to give it a direction as well, because that's what we video librarians love! He follows the lead here of Wong Kar Wai's early films, and he in turn loves the lead of the Nouvelle Vague. Irma Vep must have been made in a creative frenzy, improvised and striving to focus on the medium of FILM itself. Just as the authors of the Nouvelle Vague liked to do. The setting is a hectic shoot in Paris. The formerly legendary Rene Vida (the original Jean-Pierre Leaud as a greeting from the 60s), now a bit confused, is directing a remake of Louis Feuillade's series Les Vampires (for those who don't know them; it's a series from the early days of cinema in 1915, in our rental store as DVD4690, DVD4696 and DVD4697). Immediately we notice that Vidal's production is just about to implode. Flown in specially; Maggie Cheung (borrowed from the films of Wong Kar Wai) as an international star who doesn't quite know what to do with the role of Irma Vep. "You must respect the silence"; is Vidal's directorial instruction. Then he takes a sip from a giant Coke bottle. Assayas, for his part, may be considered a scholar of cinema. A cinephile par excellence. For us, that means; we may look for references. Not only Jean-Pierre Leaud as a star of the Nouvelle Vague, but also Lou Castel, a Fassbinder actor from Beware Of The Holy Whore (with us on DVD1364 with English subtitles). Oh yes, and the score features a cover of Serge Gainsbourg's "Bonnie & Clyde." When Irma Vep hit theaters, in 1996, it felt like movies were under some kind of postmodern compulsion. It HAD to be quoted! That's why a manifesto from the heyday of the Nouvelle Vague is casually inserted: "Cinema is not magic. It's a technique and a science." But it will always survive, because there are enthusiasts like Assayas in every generation who give themselves completely to their passion and create such small, cheap films as Irma Vep. Like back in the nouvelle vague.

Golden Age 

According to calculations by the Data Science Lab of the Central Institute for Health Care in Germany (https://www.zidatasciencelab.de/about/), 80% of Berlin's women may have received their first vaccination by the end of June and their second vaccination by the end of July. Thus more than one herd immunity is reached. For us in the Feierei and Gastro scene a reason to breathe a sigh of relief! A look inside our Filmkunstbar Fitzcarraldo: Our colleagues still in Sleeping Beauty sleep and I constantly organizing how to keep the place alive despite everything. Like so many in our industry, which was already the heart of Berlin when we couldn't even afford to clear the snow in winter. That's why we're all waiting for the golden 20s! The best time that rewards us for the long wait!

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE THE BEST MOVIES IN OUR VIDEO STORE! Kelly Reichardt - Meek's Cutoff 

This is the very first Western to realistically demonstrate the train to the West. That must have been how they were, the wagon trains into an uncertain future. Gruelling, dirty, ice-cold. The greatest dangers came not from Indians, but from accidents and illnesses. Those who have seen many westerns - like me - think of these wagon trains as adventurers singing at the campfire in the evening. Not here. Kelly Reichardt's strategy is to isolate her characters in the vastness of Oregon. The wilderness seems to dominate the individual personalities. The train consists of three families. Slowly they realize that they are lost. Their leader Stephen Meek (Bruce Greenwood) brags to them about his achievements, but everyone feels that he is progressing blindly. He is followed by Emily Tetherow (Michelle Williams) and her husband Solomon (Will Patton), the young couple Millie and Thomas Gately (Zoe Kazan and Paul Dano) and a few other sad characters. They carry few household appliances and clothes. A birdcage, strangely lost in the vastness of the West (reminiscent of the domesticity they left behind), stands on a wagon. It seems pathetic. The men retreat to discuss their distrust of Meek. But Reichardt identifies with her female figures, who try to eavesdrop on the men. Then we meet the first Indian behind a rock. He is portrayed quite differently than in any other western. Mysterious, self-contained. We don't know what he is thinking while he watches the arrivals. Why should we? In 1845 these two cultures were completely different. The settlers, on the other hand, appear tiny in the vastness of the landscape. One immediately understands their plight. Imagine the feeling more than 150 years ago of rocking off with an ox cart in search of rumours. Their faces are hardly recognizable. The women are stuck in hoods (not like in the classic Western that you can still recognize the faces of the stars). The men wear wild beards like deep shadows. Reichardt is really interested in these settlers. People, completely untrained for such a journey. People who eventually die hopelessly. Merek's Cutoff is based on a true story. But that should be clear.

Film List Independent Movies Pt. III 

Welcome To The Dollhouse reminds us of our school days with brutal accuracy. Many films treat this time as a kind of paradise of growing up. This film, on the other hand, seems like a shock, because we see how cruel children can be against each other - and how deep these wounds are! Probably everyone still has the faces of the students who tortured us back then. Would we meet them on the street today - could we forgive them? On the other hand, how many children have we humiliated and humiliated ourselves? I think this hatred continues to this day. Heather Matarazzo plays Dawn Wiener. She is extremely unpopular, her glasses are crooked, her hairstyle, face colour and clothes are crooked: Nothing fits. Dawn is a hopeless geek. We experience her during a painful ritual in the cafeteria with a loaded tray: she looks for a table where she is not rejected, far away from everyone, unnoticed. Her nickname: "Wiener Dog", sometimes also "Lesbo" or simply "Stupid". When asked why a classmate hates her, Dawn gets a direct answer: "You're ugly." Dawn is not ugly, but she has the charisma of a victim. She is the target for sadists. Her only friend in school is a boy, much smaller than herself, whose nickname is "faggot". Lesbo and Faggot are not necessarily homosexual. For the other students, they simply represent everything you don't want to be under any circumstances. They are what everyone is afraid of! Welcome to The Dollhouse is not a sociological study, but a comedy. We are confronted with Dawn's suffering, but we also experience the funny sides of her person. Dawn's older brother is a nerd, her younger sister Ballerina. Her brother Mark (Matthew Faber) wants to attend a good college and founds a garage band. For this project he even wins the popular Steve (Eric Mabius) as a singer. Steve is already grown up and handsome - and Dawn gets soft knees when he is around. He's the guy who just likes to break women's hearts, but doesn't even notice Dawn. Dawn doesn't know much about sex, she's pretty unenlightened, but ready to learn. For Steve she would do anything! Meanwhile she is haunted by Brandon (Brendan Sexton Jr.). Dawn is smart enough to know that boys her age like to show feelings by appearing hostile. In one of the most beautiful scenes Brandon arranges a date with her to "rape" her (which of course doesn't happen). Scene by scene, Solondz's film reenacts the torment at school for a teenager like Dawn and proves her resilience. We hope that one day she will take revenge by being successful and popular, while the cheerleaders may lead a miserable life! Welcome to The Dollhouse is the debut of Todd Solondz, who won Sundance in 1996. He gives every detail his ruthless attention and that is the key to Solondz satire. The little things are: how Dawn looks in the mirror every day, how her dress sits and if there are any tiny signs of hope? If you can see Welcome To The Dollhouse without having bad memories of your own - be happy! Because then you were happier than Dawn is at that moment.

FREE ON CINEGEEK.DE Silver Linings Playbook

Pat (Bradley Cooper) is surprisingly confident that he has just been released from a mental hospital and is not allowed to approach his ex-wife (because of whom he was admitted). His motto: "Even higher! Therefore, repairing his marriage is at the top of his self-imposed list of priorities. He may have beaten up her new partner, but that's a long time ago for Pat. A nice point in David O. Russell's screwball comedy is the fact that Pat's father Dolores (Robert De Niro) also has no more access to the football stadium because he rioted there. Since then, he has watched football at home and combines it with his strange superstitions, whether victory or defeat. Tiffany (Jennifer Lawrence) is a young widow from the neighbourhood who almost everyone would call a slut (although she's just injured). Lawrence plays the role with all its rough edges: Tiffany understands Pat, because she is crazy herself. To get closer to Pat, she pretends to have contact to the ex-wife and forces him to take part in a dance competition with her (in return she promises to forward his letters...) The dialogues, the rapprochement between Pat and Tiffany seem so real, that you might almost forget how exaggerated the characters actually are. Just like in the great Hollywood classics (which will also become Silver Linings Playground!). The relationship between Pat and his father, who follows an obsession with the Eagles or the joint dance competition Pat and Tiffany have to endure - it's all so funny and tenderly filmed that you can watch this movie again and again. In Silver Linings Playbook Pat, Tiffany, but also Dolores always find a way that makes a good ending possible. That's why Pat's "Excelsior" isn't that absurd at first. Maybe there really is always a silver stripe on the horizon?

Film List Independent Movies Pt. II incl. FREE STREAMS