World War II, globalization in focus at star-studded Berlinale
2007-01-28

Category Globalization Nations Mexico Israel Lebanon China City Ciudad Juarez People Marianne Faithfull Lauren Bacall Antonio Banderas Cate Blanchett Judi Dench Robert De Niro Clint Eastwood Nicole Kidman Angelina Jolie Matt Damon Jennifer Lopez Sharon Stone George Clooney Richard Gere Event 2007 Berlin Film Festival Movie Letters From Iwo Jima Flags of Our Fathers The Good Shepherd

Next month's Berlin International Film Festival will be a star-studded showcase of movies on the impact of globalization and the ongoing struggle to come to terms with the horrors of World War II, its director has told AFP.

Dieter Kosslick said in an interview ahead of the February 8 to 18 event that he saw a deep desire among contemporary filmmakers to tackle themes of people's isolation in oppressive systems and their everyday heroism.

"Take the Clint Eastwood film," Kosslick said, referring to "Letters from Iwo Jima", which is appearing out of competition and depicts the legendary World War II battle from the Japanese point of view. It follows "Flags of Our Fathers" which told the same story from the American perspective.

"It shows different facets of how the individual experienced these events, which I find fascinating," he said.

Other films on World War II themes include Robert De Niro's second outing as a director with "The Good Shepherd", the tale of an idealistic Yale graduate recruited by US intelligence in the 1940s. The film stars De Niro, Matt Damon and Angelina Jolie.

In competition entry "The Good German", George Clooney plays a US journalist who becomes embroiled in a murder conspiracy in postwar Berlin and crosses paths with a lost love (Cate Blanchett).

The German-Austrian co-production "Die Faelscher" (The Counterfeiters) tells the true story of an Nazi operation using concentration camp prisoners to forge vast quantities pound notes in a bid to torpedo the British economy.

And a documentary on the extraordinary life of the late Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal that was shot in nine countries and narrated by Nicole Kidman will also premiere at the festival.

Kosslick said the focus on the war was unplanned.

"But in another sense it is probably no coincidence that these films are all being made at the same time around the world," he said.

"I think it may be that one confronts this history because it continues to repeat itself again and again in new wars. And artists around the world are trying to come to terms with that."

Kosslick cited an Israeli entry, "Beaufort", which looks at the trials faced by the last army unit stationed in southern Lebanon before Israel's withdrawal in 2000, as another example of a fresh look at an infernal conflict.

"We just haven't learned the lessons of the past," he said.

Kosslick said the effects of globalization on individuals and communities also came up repeatedly in films he screened.

"Globalization does not just wipe out these people's jobs but also entire societies and their cultures. You see that in these films," he said.

In one such picture, the Belgian-German-British competition entry "Irina Palm", singer and actress Marianne Faithfull appears as a down-on-her-luck widow forced to take a job in a sex club.

The US film "When a Man Falls in the Forest" starring Sharon Stone examines the isolation of people in small-town America while "Bordertown" features Jennifer Lopez as a journalist risking her life to cover a series of murders of Mexican women in Ciudad Juarez on the US-Mexican frontier.

"Ping Gua" (Lost in Beijing) deals with the fears and longings of residents of the city.

South Korean director Zhang Lu will bring "Hyazgar" (Desert Dream), about a farmer, a North Korean refugee and a soldier trapped in a drought-threatened village in the border region between China and Mongolia.

And "I'm A Cyborg But That's OK" by South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook is "a beautiful film about tender love between two crazy people," Kosslick said.

"In Asian films, you see they are trying to escape this economic insanity, this rat race, the unbridled capitalism they are confronted with."

Despite the weighty issues on screen, there will be no shortage of high-wattage glamour with stars including Isabella Rossellini, Lauren Bacall, Antonio Banderas, Emmanuelle Beart, Richard Gere and Judi Dench also expected in the German capital.

"I certainly won't be alone on the red carpet this year," Kosslick said.