Filmfest Munchen (Munich International Film Festival) runs from 1st July through until 10th July. This year marks the 38th Munich International Film Festival and is the largest summer film festival in Germany, and second only in size and importance to the Berlinale. It has been held annually since 1983 and takes place in late-June/early-July, and this year will screen seventy feature-length films from twenty-nine countries, including twenty-eight German Premieres and thirty-three World Premieres, all on the big screen, at eight open-air locations and in seven Filmfest theatres. Many of the films revolve around issues of community and belonging, sexual identity, and journeys into imagined worlds. There are a dozen competitions with prizes worth over €250K which are donated by the festival's major sponsors and partners.
This year there are ten international feature films in the Cinemasters Competition, these being :-
* 'THE MONEYCHANGER' - from Argentina, Germany and Uruguay, in the Spanish language with subtitles and Directed and Co-Written by Federico Veiroj. Money laundering meets cynical opportunism amid the fascist dictatorships of 1970s South America.
* 'ONLY THE ANIMALS' - from Germany and France, in the French language with subtitles and Directed and Co-Written by Dominik Moll. A variety of plot threads are interwoven into a thriller that reveals the dark underside of global capitalism.
* 'THE DOG WHO WOULDN'T BE QUIET' - from Argentina, in the Spanish language with subtitles, and Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Ana Katz. A comedy drama film about the disoriented generation of thirty-somethings.
* 'RIDERS OF JUSTICE' - from Denmark in the Danish language with subtitles and Directed and Written by Anders Thomas Jensen. Markus (Mads Mikkelsen), a military officer just returned home, seeks revenge over the death of his wife, and together with a small group of friends plan to strike against organised crime.
* 'LA LLORONA' - from France and Guatemala in the Mayan and Spanish languages with subtitles, and Directed, Co-Written, Co-Produced and Co-Edited by Jayro Bustamante. Supernatural events add to a political drama based on real events to create an eerily suspenseful thriller.
* 'SAINT-NARCISSE' - from Canada in English and French with subtitles, and Directed and Co-Written by Bruce LaBruce. Self-indulgence, sex, and sacrilege rule in this anarchic journey toward an imagining of family outside societal norms.
* 'SUN CHILDREN' - from Iran in the Farsi language with subtitles, and Directed, Co-Written and Co-Produced by Majid Majidi. To make fast money and support their families, twelve-year-old Ali and his clique of other street kids work hard, doing small jobs in a garage and committing petty crimes. Ali learns of a mysterious buried treasure, located under the Sun School, a charitable institution that tries to educate street kids and child labourers.
* 'SUMMER OF 85' - from France in the French language with subtitles. Directed and Written by Francois Ozon. It’s 1985, and mid-teen Alexis and his parents have moved to a picturesque village on the coast of Normandy. One day during the hot summer, a sudden storm capsizes Alexis’s tiny sailboat. His miraculous rescue by a charismatic 18-year-old David ignites a deep summer love affair, but after a few weeks there's trouble in paradise.
* 'TOVE' - from Finland and Sweden in the Swedish language with subtitles Directed by Zaida Bergroth. This intimate biopic of Mumins-creator Tove Jansson uses vibrant imagery to portray an irrepressibly creative artist.
* 'WIFE OF A SPY' - from Japan in English and Japanese with subtitles. Directed and Co-Written by Kiyoshi Kurosawa. It’s 1940, and the population of the Japanese Empire is divided over its entry into World War II. Satoko, the wife of a fabric merchant, is devoted to her husband, but is beginning to suspect he’s up to something.
For more on the Cinemasters Competition, the other competitions running during the Munich International Film Festival, plus a whole lot more besides, you can go to the official website at : https://www.filmfest-muenchen.de/en/
As I write this Greater Sydney, where I live, has gone into COVID lockdown for two weeks ending (at this stage) on Friday 9th July, which means all of our cinema's are closed until this date, which further means that the release of the movies as given below, slated for release this week, will be delayed somewhat. That said, these movies will either have been released or are set for an imminent release somewhere in the world, and as Odeon Online has an international readership, I thought it best to carry on regardless. And so, this coming week (albeit not in Australia now), there are five latest release new films coming to an Odeon close to you. And we kick off with the sequel to a 2019 psychological horror film that this time around sees the survivors of previous escape rooms find themselves in new and increasingly elaborate games filled with deadly traps. This is followed by a French offering about a chauffeur who lands a driving job to a world acclaimed perfumer who struts around like a diva, is selfish and has the temperament to go with it. Next up is a feature from Ireland about a young mother who escapes her abusive husband and fights back against a broken housing system by building her own home and in the process rebuilds her life and rediscovers herself. Then we turn to video game adaptation where werewolves lay siege to a small rural community in this horror comedy offering; before closing out the week with an animated feature about a friendship that is forged between a never ageing ten-year-old vampire and an orphaned schoolboy, but a moon headed monster throws obstacles in their paths.
Whatever your taste in big screen film entertainment is this week - be it any of the five latest release new movies as Previewed below, or those doing the rounds currently on general release or as Reviewed and Previewed in previous Blog Posts here at Odeon Online, you are most welcome to share your movie going thoughts, opinions and observations by leaving your relevant, succinct and appropriate views in the Comments section below this or any other Post. We'd love to hear from you, and in the meantime, enjoy your big screen Odeon outing during the week ahead.
'ESCAPE ROOM : TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS' (Rated M) - this sequel to the 2019 film
'Escape Room' which grossed US$155M off the back of a US$9M production budget making a follow up inevitable. Once again, this film is Directed by film-maker, Actor and Writer Adam Robitel whose prior film making credits are 2014's
'The Taking of Deborah Logan', 'Insidious : The Last Key' in 2018 with
'Insidious : The Dark Realm' currently in post-production. This psychological horror film is released this week in Australia and not in the UK and the USA until mid-July, having been originally slated for a mid-April 2020 release but delayed due to the ongoing impacts of COVID-19.
After surviving a series of harrowing, deadly escape rooms designed by Minos Escape Rooms Corporation, Zoey Davis and Ben Miller (Taylor Russell and Logan Miller respectively both reprising their roles as the survivors of the last film), are determined to bring it to justice for the personally witnessed deaths of those who hadn't survived them. On their way to confront Minos in New York City, they are unexpectedly trapped with several other survivors of other escape rooms. They must all work together to get through yet another gauntlet of Minos' more elaborate and dangerous escape rooms if they are to have any hope of putting a stop to its murderous games once and for all. Also starring Indya Moore, Holland Roden and Thomas Cocquerel.
'PERFUMES' (Rated M) - is a French comedy film Directed and written for the screen by Gregory Magne in only his second feature film outing following 2012's
'L'air de rien'. The film saw its World Premier screening at France's Saint-Jean-de-Luz International Film Festival back in September 2019, went on release in France in early July 2020 and only now does it get a limited run in Australia. Anne Walberg (Emmanuelle Devos) was once the star of her industry, a perfumer whose ability to produce enticing new fragrances was second to none and which saw her rise through a competitive landscape. She remains in demand, but her often unreasonable behaviour has made her difficult to deal with. However, striking up an unlikely friendship with her equally troubled new driver, Guillaume Favre (Gregory Montel) Anne sees a way to return to the top, which might offer a solution to both their problems. The film has garnered critical acclaim.
'HERSELF' (Rated MA15+) - this drama offering is Directed by Phyllida Lloyd in her third feature film following the success of both
'Mamma Mia!' in 2008 and
'The Iron Lady' in 2011. The film saw its World Premier at the Sundance Film Festival back in January 2020 before its release Stateside in late December last year. Here then, single mother Sandra (Clare Dunne, who also co-wrote the Screenplay) has been struggling to get by with her two young daughters Molly and Emma (Molly McCann and Ruby Rose O'Hara respectively). After the housing system refuses to give her a new home, Sandra decides to build her own with the help of a friendly community and a handful of new friends. With this new purpose, Sandra rediscovers herself, that is until her abusive ex-husband Gary (Ian Lloyd Anderson) sues her for custody of their children. The film has generated largely positive critical Reviews.
'WEREWOLVES WITHIN' (Rated MA15+) - Directed by Josh Ruben who as an Actor has sixty-six credits to his name, fifteen as Director, thirteen as Producer and seven as Writer, here Directs only his second feature film following 2020's
'Scare Me'. Based on the video game of the same name, the film saw its World Premier at the recent Tribeca Film Festival in mid-June, ahead of its release in the US last week, and has generated mostly favourable Reviews. After a proposed gas pipeline has created divisions within the small town of Beaverfield, and a snowstorm traps its residents together inside the local inn, newly arrived forest ranger Finn (Sam Richardson) and postal worker Cecily (Milana Vayntrub) must try to keep the peace and uncover the truth behind a mysterious creature that has begun terrorising the local community. Also starring Michael Chernus, Michaela Watkins, Cheyenne Jackson, George Basil, Sarah Burns and Catherine Curtin.
'LITTLE VAMPIRE' (Rated PG) - this French and Belgian Co-Produced animated feature film is Directed by Joann Sfar whose previous film making credits are
'Gainsbourg : A Heroic Life' in 2010,
'The Rabbi's Cat' in 2011 and
'The Lady in the Car with Glasses and a Gun' in 2015. Here the Director adapts his own cult comic book into this feature length film that was selected to compete at the Annecy International Animated Film Festival recently. Little Vampire (voiced by Louise Lacoste) is bored. He’s been ten years old for three hundred years and he wants to go to school to find himself a friend. Michel (Claire de la Rue du Can) is an orphan who’s prone to problem behaviour at school and who finds himself quite at ease upon discovering the enchanting universe of his undead buddy. The friendship between the two boys is instantaneous, but the terrifying Gibbous (Alex Lutz), a supernatural, moon-headed creature who has sworn to destroy the joyful little community of living dead, insists on throwing countless obstacles in their path.
With five new release films this week to tempt you out to your local Odeon, remember to share your movie going thoughts with your other like minded cinephile friends afterwards here at Odeon Online. In the meantime, I'll see you sometime somewhere in the coming week, at your local Odeon.
-Steve, at Odeon Online-
