Jude Law in drag, Bernal in Thailand at Berlin film fest
Agence France-Presse | 02/09/2009 12:16 AM
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BERLIN - New releases featuring Jude Law in drag, Judi Dench as a pot-smoking fashionista and Gael Garcia Bernal and Michelle Williams as a New York couple thrown off course premiered Sunday at the Berlin Film Festival.
"Rage" by British film-maker Sally Potter and "Mammoth" by Sweden's Lukas Moodysson were hotly awaited ahead at the 59th annual event, with their all-star casts and innovative European directors.
Potter's film is a send-up of the beauty industry, set around New York fashion week. It is constructed solely around a series of stand-up interviews with caricatures out of the world of glamour.
There is Minx, a vain Russian supermodel (an almost unrecognizable Law disguised in a black fright wig and a bustier), Dench as a ruthless critic with a taste for marijuana and Steve Buscemi as a jaded photographer.
Real-life model Lily Cole's giant blue eyes peek out from behind her copper tresses as she tells of her loneliness in the business and begs the person behind the camera -- a teenage blogger called Michelangelo -- to take her away.
And comic Eddie Izzard appears as Tiny Diamonds, a media magnate hunting for the next big thing.
The format was unique and minimalist but audiences here got fidgety after the first few minutes when it became clear the monologues were all the film had to offer. A few dozen people walked out a third of the way into the picture.
Moodysson is best-known for his devastating drama about sex trafficking "Lilya 4-ever" and his bittersweet look at a 1970s commune in "Together".
"Mammoth", his first English production, stars Bernal and Williams as a husband and wife who find their careers pulling them away from the young daughter, who is cared for by a Filipina nanny, Gloria.
Bernal's character is a computer game tycoon, a kind of man-child who has made a fortune with his hobby, while his wife is a doctor working night shifts in a hospital.
The action then shifts to Thailand, where Bernal goes on a business trip, and the Philippines, where Gloria's small children still live and miss her desperately.
The film shows that the first and third worlds are united in the painful experience of guilt when parents cannot provide their children with what they need. But it points out that the wealthy have far more means at their disposal to bridge the gap.
Bernal brushed aside a reporter's question about the film's resemblance with the 2006 drama "Babel", which also involved interlocking stories set across cultures and featured the Mexican actor. But he acknowledged they shared similar themes.
"The very necessities of affection are universal, we all have them," he said. "That is why the stakes are so high because those basic necessities are lacking here."
"Mammoth" also got a frosty reception, in large part for an ambiguous ending that left many feeling unsatisfied.
The 11-day Berlinale, as the festival is known, ranks second only to Cannes in size and prestige.
"Rage" is screening out of competition while "Mammoth" is one of 18 films vying for the Golden Bear top prize.
The event will wrap up February 15, after a gala awards ceremony the night before. Oscar-winning Scottish actress Tilda Swinton is president of this year's jury.
