YOUNG GOETHE IN LOVE (d. Philipp Stolzi)
"Young Goethe" is apt, as this humor infused costume biopic focuses on the education, first employment (as a law clerk and rival in love to his boss played by a subdued Moritz Bleibtreu), and first love of the German author.  I once read that Johann von Goethe was a true genius; but one would never know it from the bumbling interpretation of the character by Alexander Fehling.  This is an amiable enough romp of a film which seemed to trivialize Goethe's early life by equating it totally with his first influential novel, "The Sorrows of Young Werther".  It's a true audience pleaser, however, with an engaging, somewhat farcial narrative which only mildly engaged me.  ** 3/4

MONDAYS IN THE SUN (d. Fernando Leon de Aranoa; Spain)
Imagine Last Orders (denizens of a bar spreading the ashes of one of their own) as directed by Ken Loach, all lefty and concerned for the working man...and you have this film.  Now, that is a recipe for a pretty good film, actually, sort of talky, a little preachy; but I enjoyed it.  *** 1/4.

TIMES AND WINDS (d. Riha Erdem)
This Turkish film takes place in a rural community of breathtaking beauty, spanning mountain and water vistas.  The townspeople are a quirky bunch...the men all flawed, the women docile.  But the film focuses on the plucky children of the village, especially a pair of young teenage boys who have father problems.  The kids are great; the director has a wonderful eye and he's blessed with a great steadycam operator.  The only flaw in this film is overkill in the musical score.  However, all in all, this is the kind of film, observant of a foreign milieu but also totally involving, which makes international film festivals especially interesting. *** 1/4

THE CHILD PRODIGY  (L'enfant prodige) (d. Luc Dionne)
Andre Michel was a real child prodigy of Mozartian proportions, a child of Quebec in the 1930s who started playing piano at 3 and giving concerts of his own compositions at 5.  This is more or less a traditional biopic of a troubled life:  the genius child and his failed musician father, overbearing mother, ignored sister.  Michel's romantic classical compositions are lushly presented throughout the film with ravishing effectiveness.   And somehow, with an unsparing lack of sentimentality, the film transcends the usual biopic tropes...probably because of the essentially tragic nature of the real life artist's life. *** 1/2

NORMAN  (d. Jonathan Segal)
Segal has pulled off something of a miracle here:  the high school misfit dramedy which seems original and significant.  Much of the effectiveness has to do with the cast.  Dan Byrd has developed his supercilious nice-guy teenage persona in television; and here he is perfectly cast as Norman, smart-ass wimp who fantasizes his way to infamy of a sort.  Richard Jenkins, an actor of uncommon sensitivity, plays Norman's dying father; and Emily Van Kamp is perfect as the new girl who falls for the outcast.  The elements of plot and setting (a nicely rendered Spokane) are familiar; but the execution by writer-director Segal and his cast are near letter perfect.  *** 1/2

STEAM OF LIFE  (d. Joonas Berghäll & Mika Hotakainen; Finland)
This is a documentary about the struggles of Finnish men as told to the camera and each other in the omnipresent saunas all over the country.  The saunas vary from such inventive rural contraptions as a trailer or an old phone booth, to elaborate home and commercial ones.  The men are varied as to social level and lifestyle; but I was particularly struck by the proportion of men disclosing distressing relationships, and how prevalent were the displays of out-of-shape naked bodies.  Nevertheless, this is an interesting document of the state of men's life styles in today's Finland.  ** 3/4

OUTSIDE THE LAW  (Hors la loi) (d. Rachid Bouchareb; Algeria)
Three brothers become revolutionaries for Algerian independence after their family is expelled from their rightful land by colonial French in the late 1920s.  The film is an epic family saga which tells the story of their underground (read terrorist) activities in France leading up to the 1960's victory.  The story has wide scope and is every bit as interesting and involving as the very best of the WWII resistance films, which it resembles.  *** 1/2

ILLEGAL (d. Olivier Masset-Depasse; Belgium)
This is another film about the plight of refugees from the third world as they try to make better lives in the West.  In this case the Russian mother of a teenage son who is living illegally in French Belgium is captured and sent to a relocation facility on her way to expulsion.  Anne Coesens is especially fine as the woman torn between the love of her son (who was not captured) and her determination to not be expelled by keeping her identity secret.  The film has a ring of authenticity especially in its depiction of the refugee holding facility, something between a prison and army barracks.  ***

THE WHISTLEBLOWER   (d. Larysa Kondracki)
Rachel Weisz plays a Nebraska policewoman who takes on a well paying job as UN Peacekeeper in Bosnia in the 1990s.  There she discovers a far reaching and shocking sex-and-slave-trade conspiracy by some of her fellow DynCorp hirees.  This "based-on-a-true-story" thriller tells her story as she blows the whistle on this scandal, encountering danger to herself and the girls she is determined to save.  Nicely filmed, with a good propulsive script, the film just seemed a little too predictable.  Still, this is an important exposé of an ongoing problem kind of film; and it deserves finding an audience.  *** 1/4

THE LIFE OF FISH  (d. Matías Bize; Chile)
Handsome international star Santiago Cabrera plays Andrés, a 32-year old Chilean who has been living in Berlin for ten years as a journalist.  Having returned for a visit to Chile, he encounters a series of old friends and an ex-girlfriend (exquisite Bianca Lewin) at an evening soirée.  The film is beautifully shot largely in extreme close-ups (in one notable scene through a fish tank) as Andrés wanders from room to room.  Also remarkable is a techno score which adds immeasurably to the party ambiance.  This is a slowly developing, mature film with a fine cast, inventive direction, and a script which emphasizes subtext quite skillfully.  *** 1/4

NOTHING'S ALL BAD  (d. Mikkel Munch-Fals)
A father-son pair of sexual perverts encounters a mother-daughter pair of potential victims.  But this is a non-violent black comedy of sorts; about characters who are hiding their lives from each other and even from themselves.  Maybe I was tired going in, or coming down with a cold which developed later that night; but I just couldn't manage to get involved with this film.  I loved the artful cinematography and the oft times cleverness of the writing.  Still, the film overall didn't work for me.  ** 3/4

THE CLINK OF ICE (Le Bruit des glaçons) (d. Bertrand Blier)
An alcoholic, middle age writer, living in country mansion solitude with his housekeeper, is visited by Cancer in the guise of a man who is most likely a hallucination product of his illness.  Add in the housekeeper's own hallucinatory specter and you get even more complications. The film has fine production values; but its attempt to make serious comments on illness using the devices of black comedy and farce just didn't work for me.  ** 1/2

LOVE LIKE POISON (Un Poison violent) (d. Katell Quillévéré)
This is a coming-of-age film about a 14-year old girl facing multiple issues (puberty, deserting father, dying grandfather, first love, crisis of faith).  Clara Augarde is convincingly natural in the role; and I suppose this is a realistic view of life from a young girl's point of view.  The film has a beautiful score, some nice choral religious works.  But other than that I found it tedious and difficult to relate to in any way.  **

MY AFTERNOON WITH MARGUERITTE (La Tête en friche) (d. Jean Becker)
  Gérard Depardieu, bigger than life (literally), commits totally to the role of Germain, semi-illiterate 40-ish son of an abusive mother, a gardener who takes on occasional odd jobs.  In flashbacks to his childhood we see a fat boy, bullied, unloved and intellectually crippled by a learning disorder.  The man-boy Germain encounters an old lady in the park, a highly literate 90-something retired lady beautifully played by Gisèle Casadesus; and they become unlikely friends.  This is a feel-good film that manages to examine an unusual relationship without being overly sentimental.  *** 1/4

NUUMMIOQ  (d. Torben Bech, Otto Rosing; Greenland)
This is a meditative story about a man, living in a small Greenland community, facing a life crisis.  Accompanied by his cousin, he goes off on a boat journey and...well, nothing much happens.  But the scenery is pretty spectacular and well photographed.  The film is slow, even by foreign film standards.  It does set a mood; and I'm not saying it is without merit.  I just didn't care much. ** 1/4

BIBLIOTHÈQUE PASCAL (d. Szabolcs Hajdu; Hungary)
A Gypsy woman has lost custody of her 3-year old daughter and undergoes depredations to get her back.  I was impressed by one special effects dream sequence; but other than that the story left me cold, unable to care enough for the woman's dilemma to feel like slogging through to the end, so I did one of my rare walk-outs.  Maybe I'll program it again at SIFF...but my initial reaction wasn't promising.   W/O

ANGELS OF EVIL (Vallanzasca - Gli angeli del male)  (d. Michele Placido)
Renato Vallanzasca is apparently a real-life criminal/gangster who has spent 40 years in prison.  As played by Kim Rossi Stuart in a performance of feral charm comparable to Al Pacino in Scarface, his life of crime and imprisonment comes to vivid fruition on film.  Director Placido also made the similar period gangster film Crime Novel, set in Rome.  This film, mostly set in Milan, has the same feeling...lifetime friends who grow up to rob and murder together.  This is a high quality production all the way, with an unusually coherent script and a truly fascinating antihero protagonist.   *** 1/2

GORBACIOF  (d. Stefano Incerti)
This is an almost dialog free film about unpleasant characters, which I disliked immensely.  It's the story of a prison cashier with a strawberry birthmark on his forehead (thus his nickname) who steals from the till to support a gambling habit and falls for a beautiful Chinese girl (luminous Mi Yang) who unaccountably returns affection to this loser.  The film is well shot, and features a stoic central performance by Tony Servillo who is coming off a really outstanding job of playing Giulio Andreotti in Il Divo.  But I could find nothing to admire about the character or the script.  * 3/4

OUTRAGE (Autoreiji)  (d. Takeshi Kitano)
Kitano has constructed the ultimate gang war movie where rival Yakusa gangs go at the systematic internecine killings with unbridled savagery.  The film is constructed like a French farce, only instead of serial love affairs we're dealing with serial gang killings.  Unfortunately, I had some trouble keeping track of sides (including the corrupt police); and the whole action packed plot became tedious.  Still, Kitano is a stylish enough director (and actor) to make the film visually interesting enough to sit through.  ** 1/2

BOY  (d. Taika Waititi)
Taika Waititi is a multi-hyphenate native New Zealander.  This is a gentle comic drama about two young boys, Boy and Rocky, whose mother died in childbirth and whose father (played by the director) has just been released from prison in the North Island seaside town of Waihau Bay in 1984.   The story plays from the point of view of the 11-year old elder boy; and it is full of apt and authentic commentary on the place and time.  It's an enjoyable look at small town N.Z. life with just enough originality to be diverting.  Plus, Waititi's skill at handling the excellent, novice child actors is a marvel.  ***

IF I WANT TO WHISTLE, I WHISTLE  (d. Florin Serban; Romania)
Silviu (played stoically by amateur actor George Pistereanu with brutal bearing and soft eyes) has been living in the Romanian equivalent of Borstal for the past 4 of his 18 years.  He's about to be released when he learns that his no-account mother is about to inflict the same bad child-rearing on his younger brother as she inflicted on him as he was growing up.  That's the set-up for this riveting story of the end of hope set in a relatively enlightened prison environment.  It reminded me more of a Dardenne brothers' film with so much time spent on the main character rushing around going nowhere, than the current Romanian school of slower paced slice-of-life cinema.  Still, I was emotionally involved with Silviu's predicament, even if I didn't fully understand his actions.  Credit the young actor, whose affectless performance showed natural star quality.  *** 1/2

A BAREFOOT DREAM  (d. Kim Tae-gyun; South Korea)
A Korean man, once a failed pro soccer player, settles in the new nation of East Timor in 2002 and attempts to make a group of street kids into a successful soccer team.  His crass motives are suspect; but the film's story arc is as predetermined as every clichéd, uplifting sports movie has been since the invention of film.  This is especially obvious since it is "based on a true story".  However, this is also an audience pleaser, with adorable kids, great kinetic soccer action, and a positive message which is annoyingly lacking in any irony.  It's just too light for this competition, and I'm disappointed for the Koreans.  ** 1/4

BLACK BREAD (Pa Negre) (d. Agusti Villaronga)
In Spain after the 1930's Civil War, the fascist victors wrote the history and ate white bread; while the losers were left to live or die on non-nutritious black bread.  This is an intense coming of age film about a 10 year-old boy, son of a formerly Red, Catalan farmer in 1944, the start of the era of fascist repression. Francesc Colomer is quite fine as the boy Andreu, typical of the 2nd generation of the conquered:  caught up in the post-war struggle with divided loyalties.  This is politics mixed with family melodrama.  I wish the politics had been made more clear to viewers like myself...I was confused throughout the film about the motivations of the characters and the whys and wherefores.  So despite the obvious quality of the production, I was left emotionally unmoved.  ** 3/4

LOPE  (d.  Andrucha Waddington)
This is a straightforward costume drama biopic about the early life and loves of prolific 16th-century Spanish playwright and poet Lope de Vega.  Alberto Ammann plays the role with just the right amount of dash, if a little short on charisma.  The performances and set-pieces were fine (although some of the swordplay scenes were awkwardly blocked).  And I enjoyed the view of Madrid's contemporary outdoor theater somewhat reminiscent of Shakespeare's Globe happening around the same time, I think.  But there were long periods of the film where the story failed to engage; and the murky, under-lit cinematography in this print didn't help. ** 1/4

SIMPLE SIMON  (d. Andreas Ohman; Sweden)
This is a delightful coming of age comedy about two brothers:  normal 24-year old Sam (handsome Martin Wallström), and his Aspergers symptomatic 16-year old brother Simon (played by yet another of the bountiful, talented Skarsgard brothers, this one Bill).  The elder cares for his younger brother despite pitfalls to his own romantic relationship.  The film feels a little familiar, being something of a mash-up of Elling and Ben X, but with its own charming and involving story.  It's hard to beat this film for audience friendly.  *** 1/2

HONEY (Bal)  (d. Semih Kaplanoglu;  Turkey)
This is basically a film about the quotidian life of a 10-year old boy in rural Turkey.  His father raises bees, the hives of which are failing.  His mother is a simple housewife; and the boy himself attends school where he has a severe reading disability and a bad stutter.  This is the set up for a slow, reflective coming-of-age film of great naturalistic beauty.   ***

HERMANO  (d. Marcel Rasquin; Venezuela)
A woman and her young son find a baby left in the trash.  Cut to 16 years later and the "brothers" are budding soccer players living in the Caracas barrio.  This is a film about ethical dilemmas, nature vs. nurture, good boys vs. the hard environment of the slums.  But it is also an absorbing story centered around soccer and making that sport dynamic and exciting (quite a task for this viewer) through astonishing camera work and editing.  The measure of how involved I became with these characters is how tense every scene made me feel with the unpredictability of a script which breathed with the essence of real life.  Impressive filmmaking.  *** 1/2