Rainer Rother

Comments

Shoah

A unique film, both personal and historical, which changed the way the extermination of the European Jewish population was understood. Also a milestone in documentary filmmaking.

The General

Size matters. Sometimes. And here Keaton's persona is confronted with the biggest challenges - and the directors mastered them by never losing pace. Perfectly balanced storytelling.

Vertigo

Hitchcock's mise en scène demonstrates that the way events are presented to the audience is more important than the question "what happens?" Cinematic and formal means are the core of the film's strategy to mislead - and lead - the audience to construct the story, then reconstruct it.

M

Lang's first sound film already demonstrates his absolute understanding for the new technique, the inevitable changes it brings to storytelling and acting. It has not lost any of its qualities and its emotional power since it premiered in Berlin.

A Separation

A portrait of Iranian society and all the limitations set by an Islamic regime; but every aspect of it is just contained in a couple's fate. Farhadi let the story twist once and again in a breathtaking manner. The ensemble's performance is simply stunning.

Spirited Away

The definite proof that animation film is a form of cinematic art speaking to audiences of every age, capable of dealing with almost every subject without losing the special charm of its genre.

Sans soleil

The essay film par excellence. Sometimes philosophical, sometimes playful, always intriguing, always surprising.

Taxi Driver

Maybe the most uncompromising New Hollywood film. The final scenes with the eruption of violence are presented and deconstructed at the same time.

2001: A Space Odyssey

Science fiction but with some respect for science. Spectacular without intergalactic battles, exploding planets, spaceships passing by loudly in a vacuum. Still surprising.

A City of Sadness

The drama of civil war in postwar Taiwan conquered by the Kuomintag mirrored in a single family's fate. Nothing is 'dramatised' but everything is made visible in its dramatic consequences. Nothing is 'forced'. Hou Hsiao Hsien does not need this to achieve heartbreaking scenes.

Further remarks

Thank you for the opportunity (and the challenge).