14th IFFK: Eight interesting retrospectives and two country foci in the weeklong festival article
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There are various parameters to judge a film festival. The obvious ones are the films in competition and the composition of the jury. Another popular yardstick is to assess the latest international, national and regional cinema on show that provides a look at the latest trends. But the true cineaste would look forward to a good well-balanced retrospective of a filmmaker of some repute. Often a well balanced retrospective section could be more interesting than the rest of the program.
The 14th IFFK has put together not one retrospective of one filmmaker but as many as eight and another two devoted to two countries. There is one each for Mrinal Sen (India), Francesco Rosi (Italy), Jacques Tati (France), Arturo Ripstein (Mexico), Mikio Naruse (Japan), Raoul Peck (Haiti), Pen-Ek Ratanaruang (Thailand), the late Lohitdas (Kerala, India) and finally two county foci (read retrospectives) focusing on growth of two national cinemas, one on the Cuban cinema over the years and another on the French new wave of the Sixties. One would call this array staggering in scope. Or is it?
I look forward to a Mrinal Sen retrospective any day. However, I am always disappointed when his lesser known works that are brilliant are missing. A good retrospective ought to include the important works rarely seen. At the 14th IFFK on show are eight of his later works including his three of his films in Hindi, Khandhar (1983), Bhuvan Shome (1969). and Ek din Achanak (1989) Were I to plan a retrospective of Mrinal Sen, it would definitely include one film that is often omitted—Oka Oori Katha (1977, in Telugu), based on Munshi Premchand’s story Kafan (a brilliant read and little known to most Indians), with an outstanding performance by Kannada actor Vasudeva Rao. It is a film I always include in my list of finest 200 films in the world. Another weakness of this package of eight movies is the absence of films from his early period. Sen is a rare filmmaker who has won awards at the best film festivals: at Berlin (for Akaler Sandhane, Parshuram, and Chorus), at Cannes (for Kharij), at Chicago and at Montreal (for Khandhar), at Karlovy Vary (for Oka Oori Katha), at Moscow (for Parshuram and Chorus) and an honorable mention at Venice (for Ek din Achanak). Sen’s contribution to the rise of Indian cinema’s stature in the Seventies and Eighties in international film fraternity cannot be forgotten.
A retrospective of Francesco Rosi would delight any fan of Italian cinema. Rosi had evolved from a political filmmaker to a mature filmmaker adapting intriguing works of literature on screen, an evolution that paralleled the works of Luchino Visconti, for whom Rosi had worked as an assistant. At 14th IFFK one would find five of Rosi’s films including Three Brothers (1981). Even though five of his finest works are missing—The Mattei Affair, Christ Stopped at Eboli, Many Wars Ago, Salvatore Guiliano, and Illustrious Corpses, the five on show at IIFK do not lack a punch. Apart from Three Brothers, Rod Steiger in Rosi’s Hands over the city (1963) and Sophia Loren and Omar Sharif in More than a miracle (1967) are rare Rosi films I look forward to catch up with at the IFFK.
Just as Rosi was an assistant to the maestro Visconti, the Mexican filmmaker Arturo Ripstein was an assistant to another maestro, Luis Bunuel. A retrospective of Ripstein is a true feather in the cap of IFFK mainly because his films are rarely screened in India. Unlike the two retrospectives of Sen and Rosi, the Ripstein package of seven films represents his acclaimed works. Each of the seven films of Ripstein seems to be truly worth watching if we go by the reviews they have received over the years.
The five films of Mikio Naruse that constitute another retrospective is truly a gift for the IFFK delegates as Naruse’s works, like Epstein’s films, has been rarely seen in India. The late film critic Susan Sontag was an ardent admirer of Naruse’s cinema that looked at the importance of money on social life in Japan as much as the family unit. Sontag considered Naruse’s favorite actress Setsuko Hara as one of the finest thespians of the world cinema. Neruse is often considered on par with Ozu, Mizoguchi and Kurosawa. The combination of Neruse and Hara will be on show at IFFK in Yama no oto (1954) (which I believe the IIFK is calling Echo). Other Naruse films of note include Mother (1952) and Scattered clouds (1967),
The retrospective of Jacques Tati is likewise a comprehensive package of four of his most renowned films that have been restored and on show at IIFK. They include My uncle, Mr Hulot’s holiday and Play time. Tati is France’s Charlie Chaplin but his cinema has had considerable exposure on Indian audiences in the past, first during a retrospective at the 1978 Filmotsav in Madras (Chennai) and more recently on Indian TV channels. For those who were not even alive in 1978, this package would provide great fun unlike the heavy subjects in the other retrospectives. The only film that one would miss is Tati’s Traffic in this retrospective.
The Raoul Peck retrospective comes under the umbrella of “Contemporary Masters.” To include a Peck package is a masterstroke by IIFK. I am a great fan of his film Sometimes in April, a feature film that I found to be far superior in execution to Hotel Rwanda, the Hollywood Oscar winner, also on the Rwandan genocide. I am delighted that Peck, a Haiti national, is in such renowned company at IIFK. Just as the late Greek actress Melina Mercouri served as the Greek Minister of Culture, Peck served Haiti as its Minister of Culture for a while. His two films on Patrice Lumumba the assassinated President of Zaire, made with a gap of 8 years between the two, should interest many blue-blooded film buffs. His latest film Moloch Tropical (2009) will crown the retrospective.
Comparatively young Thai film director Pen-Ek Ratanaruang’s five movies constitute another retrospective in the section titled “Contemporary Masters.” He is a rising star of Thai cinema whose films have won a minor award at Berlin and a host of awards at Tier II festivals around the globe. In India, he won an award for Ploy at the New Delhi Osian film festival a couple of years ago.
There is a retrospective of a Malayalam film director and writer Lohitdas who passed away this year, which will go down well with Malayalam film enthusiasts.
Finally the two country retrospectives are truly a gift for serious filmgoers. The French new wave includes Godard, Truffaut, Chabrol, Rohmer, Agnes Varda, Demy and Malle. Each director has at least one of his/her finest works on show in this retrospective. I look forward to seeing Chabrol’s Handsome Serge, so different and endearing compared to his later works.
However, the real treat is the selection of the Cuban cinema that includes films by Tomas Alea and Humberto Solas. One of my favorite Alea films, The Last Supper, is on show. It was first shown in India in Bangalore at the1980 Filmotsav where Alea accompanied the film. I was thrilled to be able to interview Alea on the film for a New Delhi magazine where he conceded that we Indians might miss the important nuances in his film where the rich speak “Spanish” Spanish while the slaves speak “Mexican/Cuban” Spanish. For Alea watchers, there is another film of the director Memories of Underdevelopment in the Cuban package. I regret, however, that the finest work of Alea, Death of a Bureaucrat, a fabulous black comedy, is absent in the otherwise ideal package. This particular Cuban film arguably provided many ideas to a certain FTII alumnus when he made his debut feature film in Hindi decades ago. But the Cuban package offers a lot more: Solas’ Lucia and Manuel Diaz’ The Man from Maisinicu, which are essential viewing for anyone interested in Cuban cinema.
Even though the Kerala Minister for Education had dreamt of screening an Ermanno Olmi retrospective last year at the 14th IIFK that dream has not been realized. Perhaps they will do it next year! However, the officials who managed to organize these 8 retrospectives and 2 country foci need to be congratulated. I only wish the missing films mentioned above in some of the sections were included. Had they procured those missing films they would have scored a perfect 10.
