Berlin Round Up II: The Economy, “Ricky,” “Storm,” More

indieWIRE was also on hand for a press conference for Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader,” which turned more to talk of present star Kate Winslet’s Oscar than anything else: “Asked about the race for her role in Stephen Daldry’s best picture nominees, [Winslet] said proudly, ‘I’m thrilled to be nominated.’ Follow-up quesions about the Academy Awards resulted in a sharp retort from the moderator, who exclaimed, ‘This is a conversation about ‘The Reader,’ not the Oscars.’ So that was that, but Winslet’s role continued to be a focus of the packed forty minute conversation.”

The strong buzz surrounding competition entry “Storm”‘s Kerry Fox could perhaps put in her in Winslet’s shoes a year from now, reports Eugene Hernandez. The film “marks a key leading film role for an actress who was a fast-rising international star after receiving acclaim for her work in Jane Campion’s ‘An Angel At My Table’ (1990) and Danny Boyle’s ‘Shallow Grave’ (1994),” said Hernandez. “After today’s screening, numerous folks were buzzing about her turn in this film. She shares the screen with Anamaria Marinca who plays a young Bosnian woman convinced to testify against an alleged war criminal.” Variety‘s review wasn’t quite in agreement, saying a “rather tired-looking Fox doesn’t breathe much life into her conflicted role as both UN careerist and social conscience,” though The Hollywood Reporter‘s Kirk Honeycutt said that the film’s “acting is across the boards splendid. Rage, mistrust, passion and despair—all are suggested without histrionics.”

Bertrand Tavernier’s latest, “In the Electric Mist,” which Tommy Lee Jones, John Goodman, Peter Sarsgaard and Mary Steenburgen, was also among the many films making their Berlinale debut this weekend. Based on the novel “Into the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead” by Janes Lee Burke, the story unfolds prior to Hurricane Katrina, and indieWIRE reported that Tavernier defended his decision to include footage and reference of the disaster by explaining that “it seemed [odd] to me to go to Louisiana and not address Katrina. It gives the characters more depth.”

Matt Rivera reviewed the film for his website, noting: “Alas, it’s the script which stumbles - more than once - landing the film in the murky, alligator-infested waters of Louisiana,” while Variety called it “well-executed but dramatically foggy.” Screen International‘s Jonathan Romney said Tommy Lee Jones was the film’s “weakest link.”

Other films that screened over the fest’s first few days include Jean-Marc Vallee’s “The Young Victoria” (which Screen called a “lovingly-detailed, lavishly-recreated British period production with all the right cast giving all the right performances”), Henrik Hellstrom and Fredrik Wenzel’s “Burrowing” (which Variety noted as an “intermittently mesmerizing, low-budget experimental mood-piece,” Florian Gallenberger’s “John Rabe” (“a credible and entertaining portrait of a ‘good Nazi,’” said The Hollywood Reporter), and the 2009 Panorama Opener, Rie Rasmussen’s “Human Zoo” (Rasmussen also produced, wrote and edited the film as well as playing the lead and Screen finds “it’s obvious she took on too much, starting out with something akin to ‘Lorna’s Silence’ but ending up with a cross between ‘Femme Fatale’ and ‘Nikita’.”)

The festival continues through next weekend. indieWIRE will continue to report from the scene.