The Way I Spent the End of the World Tagged Articles at Cinematical

My pick of the week comes from Brazil: Antonia. Directed by Tata Amaral, Antonia is an engaging, low-key pleasure about four women that live in a poor, crime-ridden neighborhood in São Paolo but have dreams of fame and fortune. As I've written before, "the beauty of Antonia is its down-to-earth nature. These women are not super-heroines, nor do they expect any special treatment just because they can sing like angels. They just want a fair shake." The DVD includes a behind the scenes feature and a music video.

From the Eastern European front, both Czech Dream and The Way I Spent the End of the World have received good critical notices. Czech Dream is perhaps best described as a subversive, activist documentary look at the dangers of rampant consumerism, while End of the World is a "tragic-comic coming-of-age tale." DVD details on both titles are scarce.

An early, entirely distasteful scene in Drama/Mex soured me on the film, yet others have been won over by its stylish excess and primal urgency in telling three related stories in a seaside town. DVD details are not available. Cinematical's Jette Kernion called The Girl Next Door "nightmare-inducing," and not in a good way; it's a family drama set in the 1950s featuring physical torture. The DVD includes two audio commentaries, interviews with the cast and crew, and a "making of" feature.

Ryan Stewart had many things to say about The Hottest State, none of them good, so you may want to check out his review before renting this drama featuring Laura Linney and directed by Ethan Hawke. The DVD includes a commentary with Hawke and the crew and a short film by Hawke. The latest version of Lady Chatterley generated highly enthusiastic early reviews, which did not impress Nick Schager, who said the film "shouldn't be associated with the term 'cinematic' in almost any way, shape or form." The DVD includes trailers and a photo gallery.

"Get on your knees, sinner! Repent for not having watched The Death of Mr. Lazerescu, one of the best-reviewed movies of 2005!" Just so you feel better, I'm not talking to you, faithful reader, I'm chastising myself for missing out -- so far -- on viewing the highly-praised Romanian drama. Here's my confession: ignoring all the critical hosannas, I allowed myself to be influenced by an anonymous film festival attendee who told her friend: "Isn't that the one where they drive around in an ambulance for three hours? Booo-ring!" Determined to atone for my sins, I'm putting Mr. Lazerescu near the top of my "to watch" pile, keeping an eye out for another Romanian film, 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days (the Cannes prizewinner that James recommended so highly), which will probably be out this fall, and looking forward to the just-announced release of still another highly-praised Romanian film, The Way I Spent the End of the World. Is there something in the Black Sea that's helping these filmmakers produce such great cinema?

When it played at Toronto last year, Martha Fischer wrote: "On rare occasions ... you see a film so confident and effective that it's almost frightening to consider what the director will produce once he or she gets some experience; The Way I Spent the End of the World from first-time writer-director Catalin Mitulescu is one of those revelations." The Hollywood Reporter summarizes the plot: "Petre plays Eva, a teenager who accidentally breaks a statue of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu with her 7-year-old brother during the last year of the leader's rule. After being prosecuted for the incident, she escapes the country, and her brother hatches a plan to assassinate the leader with his school friends." Film Movement will distribute the film to their club members in July, followed by a limited theatrical release in the early part of 2008 before its eventual appearance on DVD.

Being both far too old and nowhere near hip enough to do things like attending midnight screenings and go to cool parties, I arrived home from Toronto last night in much better physical shape than my hipper, younger (at heart) colleagues. Mentally, though, I'm pretty drained -- clearly I'm soft in more ways than one. I did, however, have a great time at the festival -- despite the daily grind of screenings, the little thrill of WAITING IN LINES to see obscure films from Eastern Europe never wore off. I mean, who are these people? Not only do they get excited about the debut feature from some Romanian guy no one has heard of, but they actually take time off from work, buy passes, and see four and five movies a day, aided by intricate, color-coded schedules that let them know what each friend is seeing at every minute. I can't tell you how many women in their 60s I saw taking sandwiches out of their purses and eating in line, because those were their only free minutes for the next 12 hours -- if I'm doing that when I'm 65, my grandkids damn well better realize how kickass their grandma is.

Despite persistent, jaded mutterings that TIFF 2006 wasn't as good as the festival has been in the past, I was really impressed by the quality of the slate, at least as far as it was reflected in the 20-something films I saw. As the designated viewer of foreign movies no one has ever heard of, I was privileged to see some amazing films -- most of which, sadly, are highly unlikely to ever be released on these shores (What distributor is going to buy the rights to a movie about a talk show in Romania?). In addition, though, I also saw a handful of big(ish)-name releases, only one of which managed to meet and surpass my (obviously too high) expectations. Anyway, what follows is a loose, how-I-feel-today list of my five favorite films of the festival -- for the more obscure ones, just hope the programmers of your local festivals see fit to bring them to town. Otherwise, a region-free DVD player is probably your only hope.

Film festivals, even those as prestigious as Toronto, are lousy with first features. Most of the time the best you can hope from them are a few films that, while not necessarily great, hint at a bright future for their creators. More often than not, the most impressive debuts (like Manolo Nieto's The Dog Pound, for example) reveal enough vision and ability that the weaknesses in the films are easy to overlook, and you're left eager to see the director's sophomore effort. On rare occasions, however, you see a film so confident and effective that it's almost frightening to consider what the director will produce once he or she gets some experience; The Way I Spent the End of the World from first-time writer-director Catalin Mitulescu is one of those revelations.

From the first shot of the film, we're drawn into a world of tremendous vitality and warmth, so powerful and convincing that everyone we see on screen is instantly a fully formed individual and fundamentally real. Set in Romania towards the end of the Ceausescu regime, The Way I Spent the End of the World depicts a few months in the life of one family as they deal with universal struggles like raising kids, finding work, and abiding by societal expectations. Daughter Eva (a forceful, magnetic Doroteea Petre) is the heart of the family: Wise and passionate, she possesses an intelligence so fierce it renders her dark beauty almost over powering. Poised on the cusp of adulthood, she expresses herself through questioning -- not necessarily because she disagrees, but as a way of spreading her wings, and exploring her impact on the world. One person Eva never questions, though, is her adored little brother Lalalilu. Ferociously played by Timotei Duma, Lalalilu is a marvelous character, filled with rambunctious, six-year-old energy and tough and perceptive beyond his years. (Duma gives such a convincing, natural performance in the role that one strongly suspects he's simply playing himself.)