Will Smith has lately chosen very different and demanding roles for himself. From Ali, Pursuit of Hapyness to I am Legend and now Seven Pounds. Correctly portraying any of these roles requires that he looks very closely into the character and then molds himself into it, to accurately deliver it.

Even though the movie is not very powerful and engaging on its own, I attribute it primarily to the director, but Will Smith's acting and the revealing of the secret at the end makes it interesting to watch.

Will Smith has once again done this dark and tragic role where the character is suffering under some strong emotion, for example, loneliness in I am Legend, failure in Hancock and guilt in Seven Pounds. In every case the feeling drives him to extreme actions and that is where the twist is in this movie.

The view rating on IMDB is quite good at around 7.6, while the critics rating at Rotten Tomatoes is quite poor at 28%. This correctly represents the weaknesses and strengths of the movie. In its story telling and ability to engage the viewer it fails but succeeds in delivering a strong emotional performance and unexpected ending.

Seven Pounds

I attended two excellent movies.

Mishima: A life in four chapters (1985)

Directed by Paul Schrader, the writer of Taxi Driver and Raging Bull. Produced by Francis Coppola and George Lucas about one of Japan's great 20th century writers, Yukio Mishima. Of course its a big deal and big responsibility that probably no one else can take up except for these guys. The movie is actually not new, its a 1985 production but probably shown as a classic.

It tells the story of his life and his struggle with life. The struggle to bring beauty and reality together. The struggle to bring words and actions together. To bring the pen and sword together. He expressed and appreciated beauty in words of poetry. While action represented the reality, which may have nothing to do with abstract concepts of beauty in words. He wanted to see these two come together in something. This he found in the ritual suicide committed by samurai's to save themselves from humiliation. It may not seem that relevant to everyone else but suicide is seen in a very different light in Japanese culture and Samurais the symbol of courage and conviction, commit it. This was not the point of the movie but his struggle found the ultimate unity of art, beauty and action in the act.

 Terribly Happy - Frygtelig lykkelig (2008)

This was a Danish movie later to be released commercially. A dark comedy. A crime and psychological thriller. Very much like the silent Fargo. But it tells the story in its own way. Set in a small town of few houses and small number of people. A police officer is moved from Copenhagen this terrible place as a punishment of acting irresponsibly. He finds this town to be quaint and boring. But as time passes, it turns out to be the worst place on earth for him. He was a decent man, though troubled by his marital issues and separation from his children. But this town slowly drags him into the quicksand of crime and passion. One after another, his guilt compels him to cover up his crimes only to find out later that the whole town is in it. Based on a Danish novel by the same name, it was a excellent thriller to end this season with. 

Even though I saw two other movies but only one deserves mention.

Man On Wire (2008)

A documentary detailing the attempt to walk across the two towers of World Trade Center. The only problem was that the WTC wasn't built yet and even if it was he wasn't allowed to do such a thing.

Phillipe Petit was high-wire walker in France. One day he saw an add in the newspaper that said that two towers will be built in New York that will be the tallest in the world. Immediately he found his purpose, he knew they were being built for him to walk across them. Only that the actual construction had just started and it will take a few years for it to complete.

When the construction reached a terminal stage and the top floors were soon to be completed, he along with a bunch of friends traveled to New York many times to plan how they were going to:

1. Get to the top floor

2. Put a high-wire across

3. Walk across that high-wire before getting arrested

They did all three and they way they did it is a story to be told.

Excellent films once again.

Standard Operating Procedure (2008)

Another documentary by the acclaimed director Error Morris, I saw one documentary of his before Fast, Cheap and Out of Control which I liked because of the way he directed it though the content was not interesting to me. I have yet to see the famous Fog of War. This documentary is about the acts of torture that occurred in the Abu Gharib prison in Iraq which later became a public issue.

When the acts were investigated many of them were labeled simply as "Standard Operating Procedures" as opposed to crime against humanity. Even though torture is prohibited through the Geneva Convention still some things are not considered torture and people are desensitized towards a particular act by labeling it in a non-violent way such as S.O.P. I found the testimony of Colonel Karpinksy to be most phony if not lies straightforward. What happened was tragic and reveals what people can be capable of. It is not about blaming one group or another, it is simply about leaving some shred of humanity in place and not ripping it all apart. I don't think the movie condones the acts in anyway but towards the end it does enter a neutral territory where it is difficult to asses if it condemns it altogether or not.

Cherry Blossoms: Hanami (2008)

This was one of the most beautiful films I saw at the festival. It was a German movie. About parents who have grown old and have only themselves look after and hold on to. About children who have grown up and need to be away from their parents and even a casual visit seems like a burden in their fast and busy lives. It is about the story of one such parent. What happens when the only support, the spouse, is about to die or passes away.

Rudi and Trudi are husband and wife, looking after each other and living in the same old country house they have lived all their lives while their children have all moved to different places. Two live in the big city of Berlin and one all the way in Tokyo. Trudi is very fond of the Japanese dance called Butoh, or the dance of the shadows. She always wanted to go Japan and see the Mt. Fuji. Rudi, on the other hand just likes to stick to his routine and come home to Trudi. Trudi is given the news by doctors that Rudi may not live long. So she quietly convinces Rudi to visit all the children. When they visit their children in Berlin, all of them find it a burden to take care of them and want to get back to lives as soon as possible. She wants to visit the youngest in Tokyo as well, Rudi resists. The pain of hiding the truth about Rudi's health is eating her from inside and finally she suddenly dies on him. What this means to Rudi and what it does to him and what really holds value in this short life is what it is about. Rudi finally visits Tokyo only to show Trudi everything she missed out.

One good, one bad.

Un conte de Noël - A Christmas Tale (2008)

Supposed to be a great movie about family and the love hate relationships that exists. But it was poorly put together moving back and forth between past and present, without linking them properly. It was like a kaleidoscope, where you see random patterns in the colorful pieces but there is no image in the end. The writer/director could have tried not drowning it into unnecessary philosophizing. A thing of beauty is more often than not, simple.

Låt den rätte komma in - Let The Right One In (2008)

"Do you want to go steady?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

"What if I am not a girl?"

Amazing version of a usual vampire tale. A scared little boy, beaten and humiliated by bullies in the school befriends a vampire girl without knowing. Finds friendship and to some degree love in her, even though we can't say if she was a "she". Her father has to hunt on her behalf to avoid exposing her to the world, but it has to come out some time. That is why they have to keep moving from place to place. This time they move into the next apartment to the boy's. A very different imagining of the vampire character, superbly executed.