Berlin Round Up: 59th Fest Commences, Honors Eastern Bloc Film, and Premieres “The International”

As for thoughts on “The International,” notices were generally quite negative.  indieWIRE‘s own Shane Danielsen found that the film “plays as if someone described an espionage thriller to the director—its conventions, its structure—and he ran with it, never mind the mounting implausibilities (of which by far the most outlandish was the appearance of an honest Italian politician).”

His core problems with the film were returned to throughout most of the reviews that hit the web this evening, from Variety‘s Todd McCarthy who said that though “graced with well-chosen location eye candy, Tom Tykwer’s biggest production to date is proficient but lacks the added tension and characterization to put it anywhere near the top tier of contempo action suspensers.”  The Telegraph‘s Sheila Johnson felt Tykwer was “trying hard to spin ‘The International’ into a bang-up-to-the-minute yarn about globalisation and corporate villainy. But it feels like a tale torn from yesterday’s headlines. And topicality is, in any case, a dubious blessing.”

Some consolation was found in The Hollywood Reporter‘s generally positive review by Sura Wood: “Punctuated with bursts of explosive energy, this is a contained, cerebral film. Rapture is reserved for dramatic modern architecture, which is equated with power and control, a reflection of how master manipulators view themselves.” Though she did go on to note the partnership between Owen and Watts’ characters, the expository dialogue and, “in particular, a prolonged, far–fetched shootout at the Guggenheim Museum are weaknesses in an otherwise intricately plotted script by Eric Warren Singer.”

Danielsen went on to wonder what this film means for the rest of festival. He asks: “Last year’s event was widely considered a disappointment—but who could have known, in February, that it was merely the opening salvo in what would be a string of desultory major fests, followed by equally sub-par outings at Cannes, Venice, Locarno and Toronto?”

Specifically he asks why the fest overstocks its competition with 26 features (quipping that “the jurors, whose press conference apparently focused largely on the perils of globalization, could be forgiven for feeling as if they’re toiling in some Third World sweatshop.”) and why one of those features is Stephen Daldry’s “The Reader,” which has already opened in North America, the UK, and a number of other European territories.

“That rules are made to be bent, is a not terribly German sentiment,” Danielsen said. “How this all plays out shall, at the very least, be interesting to watch.” Indeed.