Berlin Film Festival

Most baby-boomers are familiar with the Powell-Pressburger production of the Offenbach opera Tales of Hoffman only through the full-color stills from the film which were reproduced in the "Motion Picture" section of The World Book Encyclopedia. If this is your only memory of the film, we advise you to seek out a copy of this lengthy but visually enthralling picture as soon as possible. Metropolitan opera star Robert Rounseville plays Hoffman, a university student who is spectacularly unlucky in affairs of the heart. Each of his love affairs with Olympia (Moira Shearer), Giulietta (Ludmilla Tcherina) and Antonia (Ann Ayars) is doomed to failure due to circumstances far beyond our hero's control (Olympia, for example, turns out to be nothing more than a life-sized mechanical doll). As in the previous Powell-Pressburger collaboration The Red Shoes, the film's best moments are its ballet sequences, choreographed by Jane Ashton. Offenbach's score is given a splendid rendition by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, under the baton of the legendary Sir Thomas Beecham. Most prints of Tales of Hoffman run 118 minutes, eliminating the closing "Tale of Antonia" sequence; the laserdisc version has been restored to 127 minutes, while the search goes on for the complete 138-minute negative. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A "Hobson's Choice," as any slang expert will tell you, is no choice at all. In this 1953 filmization of Harold Brighouse's 1915 play Hobson's Choice, hero John Mills finds after several reels of evidence to the contrary that he does have a choice over how he'll conduct his life after all. Mills is the assistant to domineering boot-shop owner Charles Laughton, who lords it over his employees and three daughters by day, then tumbles through the streets on many a drunken evening. Laughton's "old-maid" daughter Brenda DeBanzie breaks free of her father's tyranny, marries Mills, and together with her new husband sets up a rival boot shop when Laughton refuses her a dowry. Father rants and raves, but finally agrees to a merger with his daughter that will assure Mills a large measure of freedom over managing things. The winner of the British Film Institute "Best Film" award of 1954, Hobson's Choice chalked up another international success for director David Lean. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Erik Weihenmayer is an athlete and climbing enthusiast who, in the spring of 2001, scaled the summit of Mount Everest. This would be a notable accomplishment for anyone, but Weihenmayer was different from those who had reached Everest's peak before him -- he's been blind since the age of thirteen. Weihenmayer's remarkable story came to the attention of Sabriye Tenberken, an educator who teaches blind teenagers in Lhasa, Tibet. In Tibetan culture, blindness is considered by many to be a curse, and it's not unknown for families to abandon children who are blind to the streets. Hoping to show others what her students could do, Tenberken invited Weihenmayer to Tibet to lead six teenagers on a climb of Lhakpa Ri, a peak on the northern face of Mount Everest. Weihenmayer eagerly accepted the invitation and in 2004 he joined Tenberken and her students on the adventure of a lifetime as six sightless novice climbers attempted to conquer one of the world's tallest and most challenging mountains. Documentary filmmaker Lucy Walker joined Weihenmayer for his adventure with the Tibetan students, and Blindsight is a record of what he and his charges accomplished together. Blindsight received its North American premiere at the 2006 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

With Hallam Foe, British director Peter MacKenzie and scripter Ed Whitmore adapt the 2002 novel of the same name, a quirky, bittersweet, coming-of-age psychodrama by Peter Jinks. The titular character is the 17-year-old son (Jamie Bell) of a wealthy Scottish businessman (Ciarán Hinds). Still rattled by the death of his mom (who drowned in a nearby loch), Hallam retreats into a deep-seated fantasy world. He harbors amorous feelings for his new stepmother, Verity (Claire Forlani), until he gradually concludes that she murdered his biological mother. Hallam nonetheless lets himself be seduced into an affair with Verity, and is so repulsed by this transpiration that he flees to Edinburgh. His life turns a corner, however, when he spots -- and instantly becomes infatuated with -- Kate (Sophia Myles), a local girl who bears an uncanny resemblance to his mother. After he talks her into giving him a routine job in the kitchen of the hotel that she manages, they become romantically involved, ever so gradually, which spells trouble for Hallam's emotional state by thoroughly overwhelming and confusing him -- and deeper trouble still when Kate's married lover (Jamie Sives) discovers that Hallam has been spying diligently on Kate from his perch in a nearby bell tower. Ewen Bremner co-stars as the bellhop supervisor at the hotel. ~ Nathan Southern, All Movie Guide

Emma has moved to Budapest from the countryside with her good friend Böbe, and both of them have taken jobs as schoolteachers. However, their wages are pitifully small, and all they can afford in the way of housing is a shared room in a boarding house near the airport. The two women have settled into their lives, but it isn't easy: Emma's sexual affair with the school's married principal is not emotionally satisfying, and Böbe's penchant for picking up foreigners and bringing them back to their room for sex creates unpleasant situations, to say the least. At school, it used to be clear what the quickest route to success was, but now that the communists are no longer in power, a lot of the senior people are floundering in uncertainty. Eventually, Emma gains the courage to strike out on her own. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

A 15-year-old girl navigates a dangerous urban landscape in search of the brother whom she has hypnotized into believing he is a dog in director Bruce McDonald's pop-infused, 21st century variation on The Catcher in the Rye. When the viewer first meets Tracey (Juno's Ellen Page), she is sitting naked in the back of a bus with only a flimsy shower curtain to guard her from the elements. Tracey is the broken product of an unstable home; her father (Ari Cohen) regards his children as "accidents," and her catatonic mother (Erin McMurtry) only pauses from watching television long enough to light up another cigarette. Upon discovering that a botched hypnosis experiment between Tracey and her younger brother, Sonny, has left the young boy emotionally transformed into a canine, the decision is made to send Tracey to a psychiatrist. Tormented by her classmates and lost in fantasies about her boyfriend and rock & roll savior Billy Zero (Slim Twig), the emotionally complex young woman has become enamored with a new student at school who doesn't even realize she exists. Later, when Sonny disappears, Tracey takes it upon herself to locate her missing sibling and make sure that he finds his way back home. While at first it appears that benevolent rent boy Lance (Maxwell McCabe-Lokos) may be her guiding light through the darkened city streets, Tracey quickly learns that to trust is to place your life in the hands of someone who may sell you out at a moment's notice. Now naked and desperate in the middle of a labyrinthine metropolitan nightmare, Tracey makes it her mission to find Sonny no matter how harrowing her quest may become. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

This East German youth film stars Renate Kroessner as Sunny, an ex-factory worker who sings in a band called "The Tornadoes." As the title implies, Sunny wants to go solo, as both a musician and a woman, her independence having been compromised by her relationships with three troublesome men as well as by the restrictions of the band. Co-director Wolfgang Kohlhaase's energetic script and plentiful views of Berlin nightlife made this film a big hit with German teens, and Stroessner's performance won her a "Best Actress" statue at the 1980 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide

Director Eytan Fox bursts the idyllic bubble of cosmopolitan Tel Aviv with this thought-provoking meditation on cultural relations concerning a brooding Israeli reserve soldier who enters into a passionate same-sex affair with an intense Palestinian man. Noam (Ohad Knoller) shares his posh Tel Aviv apartment with progressive-minded twentysomething Lulu (Daniela Wircer) and flamboyant café owner Yali (Alon Friedman). It was during checkpoint duty that Noam first made the acquaintance of intense and handsome Palestinian Ashraf (Yousef "Joe" Sweid). Though their initial meeting was someone harried as Ashraf struggled to aid a woman who was forced to give birth at the roadside, a connection was formed and Ashraf soon comes knocking on Noam's door. In the weeks that follow, the pair embark on an intense love affair and the amiable Ashraf forms a fast bond with Lulu and Yali. But life in Tel Aviv couldn't be more different from life in nearby occupied Palestine, and as the reality of the violence that surrounds them slowly envelopes them, Noam and Ashraf find that their heated affair was doomed from the moment they locked eyes. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide

A woman sees her own traumatic past reflected in the actions of her teenage daughter in this drama from first-time writer and director Jasmila Zbanic. Esma (Mirjana Karanovic) is a single mother trying to raise her teenage daughter, Sara (Luna Mijovic), in Sarajevo in the wake of war. While Esma works as a barmaid at a nightclub run by Saran (Bogdan Diklic), a man on the wrong side of the law, she has trouble making ends meet, and receives occasional benefits payments from a support group for women who have been affected by the war. Esma has little interest in talking about the loss of her husband, whom she claims was a hero fighting for Bosnia, and can become hyper-emotional with little provocation. As Pelda (Leon Lucev), one of Esma's co-workers at the club, attempts to interest her in romance, Esma notices that Sara has caught the eye of Samir (Kenan Catic), a rebellious young man who is one of her classmates. As Esma tries to discourage Sara from becoming involved with Samir, she finds fate has forced her to tell her daughter the truth about her father. Grbavica received its world premiere at the 2006 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

This slow moving exploitation film concerns two couples in love. A married woman meets a shepherd, flocking to him in an adulterous affair while her husband goes on a fishing expedition. Also, a twelve years old girl storms the dreams of a ten year old boy when both are eager to experience their first love. The young couple receive a lesson in love when they run across the shepherd and the fisherman's wife in the throws of passion. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide

Generous doses of newsreel footage highlight this British wartime drama. Tom (Brian Stirner) is a typical 18-year-old Briton who goes into military service early in 1944. The film follows the protagonist through the rigors of training and the shock of his first battle. Tom is killed on D-Day--hence the film's title, an allusion to "Operation Overlord." ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this multiple Oscar-winning thriller, Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI's training academy whose shrewd analyses of serial killers lands her a special assignment: the FBI is investigating a vicious murderer nicknamed Buffalo Bill, who kills young women and then removes the skin from their bodies. Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into this case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out. Lecter does indeed know something of Buffalo Bill, but his information comes with a price: in exchange for telling what he knows, he wants to be housed in a more comfortable facility. More important, he wants to speak with Clarice about her past. He skillfully digs into her psyche, forcing her to reveal her innermost traumas and putting her in a position of vulnerability when she can least afford to be weak. The film mingles the horrors of criminal acts with the psychological horrors of Lecter's slow-motion interrogation of Clarice and of her memories that emerge from it. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Based on fact, The Boat is Full is set during World War II. A group of Jewish refugees desperately attempt to escape to the safety of neutral Switzerland. The problem: too many refugees, and too little room in the boat commissioned for the trip. Director Markus Imhoof is neither a polished nor a subtle filmmaker, nor is the acting of the highest calibre. This hardly matters: the intensity and sincerity of everyone involved in The Boat is Full compensates for any and all production crudities. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide