Akin [Stephan
Cornelio Velema] ****
An
interesting poem on the importance of identity and the struggle to find your own,
which is then acted out in the form of expressive dance, which is not only wholly
appropriate to the subject, but also quite incredible to watch. A short
rollercoaster ride which leaves you gasping for more.
Midnight Jazz / Het
Appelhuis [Jules Mathôt] ****
A middle-aged
man [Raymond Thiry] announces to his radio audience that from 11 p.m. to dawn
he will be playing jazz music and inviting listeners to phone in. At the same
time, a young man is wandering through the woods and fields surrounding the
house. Are these two men related? And if so, how are they related? An
intriguing short in which director Jules Mathôt uses distinct colour schemes to
illustrate the two characters’ different moods. When they get
together the story takes a fascinating turn, although it does leave the
audience guessing as to what it's really all about. But you cannot criticise the brilliance of the jazz
soundtrack, which features some of the greatest recordings ever made. So an
absolute must-see for jazz fans, but this is fine cinema all the way.
Chair Amour [Patrick Serre] ***
As a young
boy starts to explore his sexuality by wearing a dress and excitedly jumping up
and down in his room, he is brutally subjected to his father’s strong religious
beliefs and wonders is his journey to sexual awareness is an expression of
freedom, or a step into the prison of traditional family values. The story is a
bit too obvious and the scenes of religious fanaticism are over the top, but
this is still strong subject matter and the portrayal of a pre-teen homosexual
kid is beautifully handled.
At Midnight Plays A Dance-Tune [Roy Seerden] **½
What starts
out as a straightforward documentary in which director Roy Seerden tries to
find out what happened to his eccentric, troubled neighbour Antoine. Antoine
used to play with the small children in the street, even, according to another
neighbour, sometimes handing them matches so they could stoke a fire. But most
people remember him because he used to play Saint –Saëns’ ‘Dance Macabre’ very
loudly throughout the night, which explains the title. After this introduction,
this short changes into an epitaph for his mother as Roy wonders if his departed
mother is still watching him and how she feels about his descent into a life of
sex (a wild montage suggests he has bedded dozens of men and includes brief
moments of hardcore porn) and drugs. That part is rather self-indulgent and has
little to do with his search for Antoine, who, when Roy finally tracks him down,
ends up being the movie’s saving grace. This is an over-ambitious, flawed film,
but we should not be too harsh with film makers who are willing to really push
the boundaries of cinema.
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