Take 100: The Future of Film

Take 100
The Future of Film
By Cameron Bailey and 10 others
Phaidon Press, June 2010
ISBN-13: 9780714849553

Or you could call this Brobdingnagian book, 100 to Watch, which would be an an equally apt title.

Herein you will find essays on 100 of the most talented young directors working in world cinema today, together with a focus on one of their recent films.  All the essays are accompanied by a brief story synopsis, photos taken on the set, script excerpts, film stills and some hard data about both the director and the film.  It’s quite a sumptuous package, a veritable feast for the eye and the brain.

The book has been put together by 10 so-called ‘curators’, among them Marco Müller, director of the Venice International Film Festival, and Trevor Groth, director of programming for the Sundance Film Festival.  They have each selected 10 directors to write about, and 10 x 10 produces our 100.  At least one of the directors included here, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, has made an undisputed masterpiece, The Lives of Others.  And it was heartening to see that  many fine films that have been reviewed at Jildy Sauce are also in the book, among them Ballast by Lance Hammer, Enrique Rivero’s Parque Via and the brilliant Police, Adjective - to name  but three.  Mia Hansen-Love gets a mention but the film of hers that is discussed is All is Forgiven (2007), rather than Lourdes, a film which approaches masterpiece status in my view.

The essays are generally perceptive and insightful, or at the very least serviceable, and they renew your memory and appreciation of those films that you have seen, while whetting your appetite for those that you’ve not yet got around to.  Among the latter I was especially intrigued by John and Jane, a documentary by Ashim Ahuwalia about 6 workers in a Mumbai call centre.

There’s perhaps one dud among the 100 – a director that I don’t rate at all – but politeness forbids me from mentioning his name.  OK, his first name is Zack.  Also, the subtitle of the book, The Future of Film, is over-egging it a little bit: it should be clear that there are up-and-coming directors not included in the book who will make fine films in the future.

However, there is no doubt that this chunky art book (measuring approximately 30cm x 26cm x 5cm) will be an adornment to any wood-panelled library.  An ideal book to peruse as you sit in a green leather chair, stroking a pedigree cat and planning world domination.  Or just thinking about what DVD to buy next. 

If you love films, you will take Take 100 in both hands and regard it as a gift.

Parque vía

Parque vía
Directed by Enrique Rivero
Mexico, 2008
Cornerhouse, 20 March 2010

Nolberto Coria as Beto

Nolberto Coria gives a commanding central performance in this deeply impressive film.

Coria plays Beto, a man now old who tends to the upkeep of a house that is on the market; he lives there alone as a caretaker.  The house has remained unsold for quite a while and, truth to say, it has become a kind of prison.

Beto has his routines.  He does his chores.  In the afternoon he listens to the TV news, where he hears of kidnappings, murders, myriad atrocities.  He sees a woman, name of Lupe (Nancy Orozco), regularly.  Yet each time a prospective buyer visits the house, an anxiety plays inside him.

And then Beto hears that the house has finally been sold and he must leave his comfortable prison.

Enrique Rivero wrote the screenplay for Parque vía, as well as directing it, and as a study of institutionalisation the film is quite simply mesmerising.  The viewer should be prepared for one brutal scene, all the more shocking considering the quiet that has preceded it.

And the very last scene is revelatory as to Beto’s predicament and all that has gone on before.  He has become a man comfortable in his cage,  one unfit for normal life, and his  fears of the world have finally been quashed.