Movie Madness

I’ve never been that much of a movie buff, but for the past week I’ve been dipping my toe into the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival, and now I can’t wait for next year. I managed to catch 6 movies (well, one of them was more of a presentation) including 3 in one day, and although I wasn’t that pushed about one or two, most of them were magnificent. Retour de Flamme, a live show featuring rare fragments of ‘found’ silent movies, was a bit of a disappointment - interesting, but more like a lecture, and the piano accompaniment was a bit perfunctory, although it was worth it just to see the only existing footage (with sound) of the late great Django Reinhardt. Two Korean films showed that the creative juices are alive and kicking on the other side of the world – Castaway on the Moon, an utterly beguiling rom com with a difference, and Breathless, a subversive take on the gangster saga, dramatic but very very violent. Shameless, an intriguing unrom com from the Czech Republic, and Revanche, a powerful and engaging German thriller full of tragic twists and turns, featured memorable performances in supporting roles – a small boy in the former, and an old man in the latter. But surprisingly, the one that really grabbed me was a documentary. Pianomania, a year in the life of Stefan Knupfer, head technician at Steinway in Vienna – inspiring and totally exhilarating! www.jdiff.com