Berlin 66 opened rousingly on Thursday, February 11 with multiple screenings of the new Coen Bros. Hollywood send-up "Hail Caesar" and a turn away overflow press conference crowd for the Jury led by Meryl Streep which was an event in itself. Day one, one might say, was all about Streep, the Coen Brothers and actor George Clooney in his best jesting form and looking great in a slick black leather jacket at the Hail Caesar press conference table.
First off, a few words about the film. Manohla Dargis, in her sparkling NY Times review hit the nail squarely on the head when she called the film an "off center comedy" ~ as off center (flip-floppily structured) as it gets with chuckles and belly laughs all the way. To put it mildly, this in not the Co' Brothers most serious film, but it is arguably their funniest ever with a string of brilliant off-beat pearls by actors all of whom shine in their unexpected off-the-wall castings. Basically this is a spoof of fifties Hollywood but much more than that, loaded with absurd humor of the kind that almost harks back the Marx Brothers era.
One at a time:
Jeff Brolin, tremendous as the blustering bigger than life studio head draped in a double breasted suit and topped with a bulky fedora, who regularly unloads his guilt in the catholic confessional box;
Clooney as a clueless movie star who gets kidnapped by the Communists and walks around through the whole picture clad in his clanky starring role Julius Caesar paraphernalia, down to leather sandals with protruding toes;
Scarlet Johansson as a snarling sinful take on Fifties simon-pure superstar bathing beauty, Ester Williams!;
Channing Tatum leading a bunch of sailors in white in a sly slightly homoerotic take on a Gene Kelly MGM dance number -- to me, the highlight of the picture with surprisingly adept tap dancing, jumping from table to table -- this section had me stomping along to the beat in my seat --
New face Alden Ehrenreich as an hilarilious acrobatic Roy Rogers ripoff whistling to his white horse then doing handstands in the saddle pursued by the bad guys -- and performing incredible rope magic, even with a strand of spaghetti in a restaurant for his girlriend --but this is only Half of cowboy star "Hobie Doyle's comedic turn -- he is next engaged to fill in for an ailing actor in a drawing room drama exchanging ten gallon cowboy headgear for a tux and Bow tie, and called upon to mouth a bit of sophisticated dialogue which is like a foreign tongue to him -- the extended scene where his English director (Ralph Fiennes) patiently re-shoots his flubbed entry scene over and over painfully correcting the perplexed actor's stumbling delivery of his single line -- (t'were as though...) -- is a real rib tickler.
Another highlight in this linkup of comical skits strung together by the ridiculous premise of Caesar discovering God on his knees at the foot of Jesus on the cross --the whole "Hail Caesar" business being a kind of takeoff on early fifties religious extravaganzas such as "The Robe" -- A satire of all-powerful Hollywood Gossip columnists who could make or break careers -- such as Louella Parsons and Hedda Hopper, both played sniffingly by Tilda Swinton --- All in all a hilarious piece of extra savvy entertainment and a glorious procession of contemporary stars revealing unexpected comedic chops --
Well, okay, it did get to be a bit much by the end, but a very good time was had by me -- if not by All -- of the serious minded film critics and international press people around me.
As far as I could tell from my front and center first row seat, I was the only one in the entire audience to burst out laughing or constantly snickering throughout the proceedings. I'll just hafta see it again with a native American audience to appreciate the collective cackle noticeably absent at this ultra-sober festival screening.
The crammed over flow press conference after the screening was almost equally comical. One Polish gal addressed a long long long question to Gorgeous George, who finally replied: "Are you flirting with me? ~ it won't work because I'm a married man now!" ~ which brought a roar of glee from the house. Most questions were, in fact, addressed to Clooney, who between sly quips that brought smiles from his colleagues at the table, finally summed it all up by saying that it was a privilege to work with such talented directors as the Coens, and above all -- FUN all the way.
On the serious side one woman expressed the view that with the refugee crisis now besetting Europe, shouldn't people "in the public eye", such as the Coen Brothers, be making films on that subject? Josh Coen responded with due respect, but firmly, that it is not the job of filmmakers to engage in politics but rather to be true to their art ~ and that is hard enough.
As for the other big event of the day, the jury press conference was basically orchestrated by Jury president Meryl Streep looking demurely majestic at center table. She noted that this was her very first time ever to sit on a film jury, let alone as president, and that she was very much looking forward to this new experience. Questioned as to the lack of empowerment of women in the film industry she pointed out that this jury was predominantly female -- four women out of a team of seven. Clive Owen sitting next her was asked if, as an actor, he would be paying more attention to the acting than anything else in making his judgements. To this his reply was "No"--what counts for him is the overall effect of the picture, not just the acting. English film critic Nick James of the prestigious film journal Sight and Sound observed that it is quite a rare thing for a critic to be seated on a jury such as this, and felt honored to be so chosen. A chinese woman asked Ms. streep if, having acted recently alongside a major Chinese actor, she has started seeing more Chinese cinema. Not really, said the American actress -- "I can't even keep up with all the films friends of mine are in!" -- La Streep obviously has many friends in the business.
Tonight -- the big opening night Red Carpet Gala with every Berlin celebrity who is anybody expected to turn out --but, having already seen the opening film "Hail Caesar", I'll probably take a rain chekk on that and rest up for the onslaught of films and events in the week ahead.
Ps: At the Polish stand on a quick tour of the European Film Market, EFM, in the classic Gropius Building, I found out that Polish Grand Master Andrzej Wajda has just finished a new film "Afterimages", which will open in Warsaw on March 5, the director's Ninetieth birthday -- Long live the king!
