Transylvania [Tony Gatlif, 2006]

Ah, yes – here is the first real gem of the festival for me; a truly
fantastic film.

From the first few bars of the stirring music, I was already disposed to
like it. After the opening scene – a blur of passing scenery,
intercut with spilt-second stationery shots of people – I was
beginning to think that this could be good. Within 20 minutes I was in
love.

Transylvania takes you on an intoxicating impressionistic journey across
a strange, beautiful, joyful and deeply sad landscape – which I
suspect has very little to do with the real Transylvania, and everything
to do with an Eastern Europe of the imagination. Along with the lead
character we journey in search for love. It's a tale of Romance; a
journey that intoxicates the senses, and stirs the emotions; a journey
of breathtaking landscapes, eccentric characters, miserable poverty, and
the richness of culture. It may not stimulate the intellect, but it
enthrals the heart.

Tony Gatlif's direction is fresh and inventive, a sumptuousness of
style without the banality of ostentation. Beautifully crafted shots,
and a camera that dances with the music; the patient observation of
faces, and the giddy swirl of the emotions. It's simply
exhilarating.

One of the best films I've seen this year.

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Anna M. [Michel Spinoza, 2007]

This film faces a difficult task from the outset. It has to add
something fresh to a sub-genre that has already been explored a number
of times before, with some success (e.g. `Enduring Love',
`He Loves Me… He Loves Me Not…'*). Anna M may not escape
the familiarity of plotting, but it does have a depth of character
analysis that definitely makes it worth watching.

In this film the emphasis is not on the victim, but the perpetrator.
Michel Spinosa carefully develops our understanding of Anna in a way
which means we are deeply unsettled by her actions while feeling sadness
for how she is consumed by her illness.

An interesting film.

Cut the last scene, though. Complete waste of time.

*In fact, I notice on IMDB that the lead actress, Isabelle Carrι, was
in the latter film.