Horror-ble!: The Hands of Orlac

This is a silent 1924 horror film directed by Robert Wiene.  Orlac (Conrad Veidt), a famous pianist, is maimed in a tragic train accident. At the same time, the convicted murderer Vasseur is to be executed. When Orlac's hands cannot be saved, despite the pleading of his anguished wife (Alexandra Sorina), the doctor replaces them with Vasseur's hands, unbeknownst at first to everyone.

When Orlac finds out the source of his hands, he is of course plagued by this and even afraid to touch his wife now with those murderous hands. Some new crimes are committed where Vassuer's fingerprints are found, but that seems impossible because Orlac now owns those hands. But Orlac sleepwalks, and since the hands have a mind of their own, he is fearful that he is the culprit.

Meanwhile there is a mysterious man plotting against Orlac. He blackmails Orlac for money in order to keep quiet about the hands and Orlac's suspected commission of the new crimes. His identity is revealed, then revealed again, and we question just how much Orlac was guided by the hands.

The Oscar Nominated Short Films (2012)

This compilation of Oscar-winning short films was put together by Shorts International, which also has a cable tv channel. They are the group who in the past few years have theatrically screened Oscar short film programs a few weeks just prior to the Oscar telecast, a few of which I've been able to attend. I have additionally seen a few of these at the Chicago International Film Festival or in other places. At one time cable tv channels such as HBO used shorts to either fill up an hour after the end of a film, or an established program such as Exposure, a science fiction and fantasy-based short film program hosted by Lisa Marie, would appear on the Sci Fi Channel. Now we get a whole channel devoted to shorts, in addition to many online portals one can find shorts on! Overall the films on this DVD are pretty good, a selection of live action and animated shorts from about the last ten years, and I can see why they were chosen as winners.

Films include:

God of Love (2010, U.S)
The New Tenants (2009, Denmark)
Toyland (2007, Germany)
West Bank Story (2005, U.S.)
The Lost Thing (2010, Australia)
Logorama (2009, France)
The Danish Poet (2006, Norway/Canada)
Ryan (2004, Canada)
Harvie Krumpet (2004, Australia)

Synopses and reviews after the jump!

Free event: Amour

The Northbrook Public Library takes a break from their run of Frank Sinatra films to present something totally different--recent award winner Amour. The plight of an elderly couple is portrayed after one of them has a stroke.

Amour
Saturday, April 13, 2013
2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Northbrook Public Library
1201 Cedar Lane
Northbrook, IL 60062

Free event: Gerhard Richter: Painting

A documentary profile of the abstract German artist, Gerhard Richter, taking place mostly in his studio.

Gerhard Richter: Painting
Friday, November 16, 2012
7:00 p.m.
Univ. of Chicago Film Studies Center
5811 South Ellis Avenue
Cobb Hall 306

House of Sleeping Beauties

An elderly man (Vadim Glowna, who also directed and wrote the script), still despondent after his wife apparently committed suicide many years ago, is told by his friend (Maximilian Schell) of an intriguing house. Beautiful young women, naked and sleeping, are his for the night to do with almost anything he wishes. The woman who checks him in (Angela Winkler) tells him little, other than his privacy will be respected and they request the same of him. At first he is nervous and unsure. He goes several times and each time sees a new girl, whom he at first looks at, then is emboldened to fondle and kiss. He even tries waking them up to no avail.

Der Sprinter

It is rare that I will not finish a movie. There is usually something that will keep me around til the end, or at least for me to say, "I survived that."

Der Sprinter is a "survived that" German movie. A young gay man, Weiland, struggles with his sexual identity, and wants to be "normal" after pressure from his parents to cut his hair and take up sports. He does so, taking up sprinting after seeing a well built (male) athlete, but then falls for a well built (female) shot putter. She and Weiland inspire each other to excel at their sports, despite Weiland never having had any previous training or talent.

His coach, who was pressured to fill up the team, sees the potential in Weiland when the shot putter is around, and takes advantage of this talent. Later he worries that since Weiland is in love, he no longer needs to impress the shot putter and will lose his athletic drive.

Weiland's mother, now more accepting of him, travels to see him compete.

Skip this confusion of a film! Weiland is just a vapid and dull character. He portrayed nothing of the gay experience, and if the film was trying to be a comedy or satire it failed in that respect too because it's unfunny and everything is played too straight. It seems more like the film is making fun of specific German types rather than any real statement about homosexuality. The humor could not have been that subtle throughout the film for me not to have gotten one joke.

Sure, you can have a gay character "switch teams" but it needs to back that up and say something, or make fun of him or the people who look down on him, which this film didn't.

The lead actor and director co-wrote this miserable oddball script. What the heck were they trying to say? I don't know. Whoever bankrolled this project--shame on you! Thankfully these guys seem to have few movie credits to their name and have hopefully gone on to other pastures.

CIFF 2010--The Hairdresser

Since the Chicago International Film Festival kicks off later this week, I thought I'd revisit some of the great films I saw last year.

The Hairdresser is a German dramedy about the plus-size hairdresser Kathi. Divorced Kathi has to deal with unemployment and then discrimination when she shows up for work at a salon in a mall. The salon owner tells her in bold terms that she just doesn't fit the look of a sleek and pretty salon. Kathi sees a closed business in the mall and decides to open up her own salon.

The Story of the Weeping Camel

This is not exactly a documentary and not exactly a narrative film. It takes place in the Gobi Desert and focues on a nomadic Mongolian family. A man enters the frame and tells us an old folk tale about a camel constantly seeking the horizon.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams

I don't know if this film is still playing in theatres where you are, but I highly recommend you watch in on the big screen in 3-D rather than on DVD. It is truly the only 3-D film I have watched that uses it effectively and not gratuitiously.