| Lost In The Vortex: Episode 3 | |
|
Goodbye Lenin (Wolfgang Becker, Germany, 2003) Germany might not be known for its sense of humour, but Becker proves that they can laugh it up with the best of them. This superb comedy is set in 1989 and follows a Alex Kerner, a twenty-something lad living in East Germany. One day his loyal communist mother falls into a coma, and awakens only after the fall of communism. Instructed by a doctor to avoid all nasty shocks, Alex must forfeit all of the exciting new joys imported from the West and pretend that he is still living in the loving embrace of socialism. Mr. Hulot's Holiday (Jacques Tati, France, 1953)  Ah the cinema of France. Romance, mystery, and... slapstick visual comedy? Jacques Tati is one of cinema's great clowns, ranking up there with the likes of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton. Arriving later on the scene, Tati has the luxury of using sound too - and he uses it to great effect. There is no superfluous banter, no unnecessary explanations, just pure, unbridled buffoonery. I challenge anyone to watch a Tati film and not laugh: it's impossible. Big Deal on Madonna Street (Mario Monicelli, Italy, 1958) Where better to spoof crooks than the home of the Mafia: Italy. An exceptional farce, this film sees a bunch of small-time criminals try to pull off a big heist, with very little success. A genre classic whose successes are rarely matched in today's heist movies. Y tu mamá también/And Your Mama Too (Alfonso Cuaron, Mexico, 2001) On the face of it, this film from the Cuarón brothers is a road-trip/buddy comedy with plenty of funny moments. But it is also a richly nuanced commentary on Mexican society, friendship and self-discovery. Outstanding performances from gael Garcie Bernal and Diego Luna make the film all the more special.  Kitchen Stories (Bent Hamer, Norway, 2003)The man who so recently brought us O'Horten, a great piece of whimsy, here looks at a Swedish kitchen company which sends a representative to observe a lonely Norwegian man's culinary habits in order to design the ultimate kitchen. Bizarre, sweet and very very funny. The Quiet Family (Kim Jee-Woon, S. Korea, 1998) The man now known for his Oriental Western The Good, The Bad, The Weird, and for penning the film on which The Uninvited was based, also made one of the weirdest comedies you're likely to see. A family movies to a guesthouse in the countryside, but fail to find any business. One day a client does come, but his motives seem obscure. Somehow, I'm not quite sure why, the film descends into an insane series of deaths and cover-ups that increase in the absurdity. Bizarre. Leningrad Cowboys Go America (Aki Kaurismäki, Finland, 1989) No comedy list could be complete without Aki Kaurismäki, a peer of the great Jim Jarmusch, his troupe of terrible rock musicisians left their native Russia to ply their trade in America. Styled with enormous quiffs and oversize winkle-pickers, and accompanied by their recently-deceased bassist, they travel across the nation on a futile search for fame and fortune. Delicatessen (Jean-Pierre Jeunet & Marc Caro, France, 1991) Set in a strange, dark future, Jeunet's stylised black comedy tells the story of a washed-up clown who moves into an apartment buiding with some mentally questionable residents and one big, dark secret. There is no way to accurately describe the events properly, so you'll just have to watch it.
Article by Michael Edwards
|
The impending release of 
