1998 film
Films: L' Ennui (1998) - Festen (1998) - Happiness (1998) - Sitcom (1998) - I Stand Alone (1998)
J'aimerais pas crever un dimanche/Don't Let Me Die On a Sunday (1998) - Didier Le Pêcheur
J'aimerais pas crever un dimanche/Don't Let Me Die On a Sunday (1998) - Didier Le Pêcheur [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
From the Back Cover
One night, a morgue employee named Ben meets, under the strangest of circumstances, Teresa, a young woman who has overdosed on Ecstasy at a rave. Form this sensational beginning, Teresa and Ben embark on an odyssey that takes them into the world of sadomasochism, wild techno-dance-parties and orgies as they each search for new sensations that will ease their chilling sense of despair. Starring Elodie Bouchez (The Dreamlife of Angels, Wild Reeds) and Jean-Marc Barr (Dancer in the Dark, Breaking the Waves, The Big Blue), this provocative, disturbing film will challenge your sensibilities in much the same way as Eyes Wide Shut, Crash, Breaking the Waves and Tokyo Decadence.
More films
- Fucking Åmål, Show Me Love - Lukas Moodysson [1 DVD, Amazon US]
Åmål is a small insignificant town where nothing ever happens, where the latest trends are out of date when they get there. Young Elin has a bit of a bad reputation when it comes to guys, but the fact is that she has never done *it*. Another girl in her school, Agnes, is in love with her but is too shy to do anything about it. For different reasons, Elin ends up at Agnes' birthday party as the only guest. They have a girl's night out together but after that Elin desperately avoids Agnes, refusing to even consider her own homosexuality. [incredibly well done feelgood movie about two girls in love] [...] - Following (1998) - Christopher Nolan [Amazon.com]
Creepy intimacy, plenty of suspense, and a few surprises enliven this black-and-white treat from the director of Memento. Bill is a struggling writer who fills his time and mind by following random strangers he sees on the street. After breaking his own rule ("never follow the same person twice") he becomes fascinated by Cobb, a voyeur who takes things one step further--actually breaking into people's homes to sift through their things. As you might expect, the relationship soon becomes unhealthy. Writer-director Christopher Nolan already reveals a sure hand in this early neo-noir work. Like Memento, Following toys with timelines, jumping back and forth and carefully dropping bits of information exactly when they're needed. Short and sharp, Following features an intriguing plot line and fine, understated performances by the entire cast. Don't miss it. --Ali Davis for amazon.comChristopher Nolan (born July 30, 1970) is a British film director, writer and producer. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Nolan [Mar 2005]
- Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998) - Terry Gilliam [1 DVD, Amazon US]
The original cowriter and director of Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was Alex Cox, whose earlier film Sid and Nancy suggests that Cox could have been a perfect match in filming Hunter S. Thompson's psychotropic masterpiece of "gonzo" journalism. Unfortunately Cox departed due to the usual "creative differences," and this ill-fated adaptation was thrust upon Terry Gilliam, whose formidable gifts as a visionary filmmaker were squandered on the seemingly unfilmable elements of Thompson's ether-fogged narrative. The result is a one-joke movie without the joke--an endless series of repetitive scenes involving rampant substance abuse and the hallucinogenic fallout of a road trip that's run crazily out of control. Johnny Depp plays Thompson's alter ego, "gonzo" journalist Raoul Duke, and Benicio Del Toro is his sidekick and so-called lawyer Dr. Gonzo. During the course of a trip to Las Vegas to cover a motorcycle race, they ingest a veritable chemistry set of drugs, and Gilliam does his best to show us the hallucinatory state of their zonked-out minds. This allows for some dazzling imagery and the rampant humor of stumbling buffoons, and the mumbling performances of Depp and Del Toro wholeheartedly embrace the tripped-out, paranoid lunacy of Thompson's celebrated book. But over two hours of this insanity tends to grate on the nerves--like being the only sober guest at a party full of drunken idiots. So while Gilliam's film may achieve some modest cult status over the years, it's only because Fear and Loathing is best enjoyed by those who are just as stoned as the characters in the movie. The DVD offers the film in its full 2.35:1 widescreen aspect ratio. --Jeff Shannon for amazon.com [...] - After Life (1998) - Hirokazu Koreeda [1 DVD, Amazon US]
This unpretentious, endearing film is a modest triumph. Based on interviews with more than 500 people about the one memory they would choose to take with them to heaven, Japanese director Hirokazu Kore-Eda has modeled a unique blend of documentary and fiction that addresses the vagaries of memory but also what it means to make films. After Life transpires in a sort of way station where the dead must select one memory to be re-created on film and taken on with them forever, relinquishing everything else. Over the span of a week, a dedicated group of caseworkers tease out self-deceptions as well as real epiphanies from 22 different lives. An old woman remembers reuniting with her husband on a crowded bridge after World War II; a man recollects the breeze felt on a tram ride the day before summer vacation; a successful man faces his own treachery. Remembering becomes a courageous act in the casual exposition of this lovely film. --Fionn Meade for amazon.com [...] - Kleine Teun/Little Tony(1998) - Alex van Warmerdam
Farmer Brand can't read and he is quite happy with that. His wife, Keet, who has to read him all the subtitles on the television, isn't. She decides to hire a teacher for him. This is a beautiful young woman, called Lena. Brand falls in love with her. To his puzzlement and dismay Keet encourages him, because as she says she doesn't want a husband with another woman in his head. She wants their love to grow stale. She also wants Lena to give Brand and her a son. The love between Brand and Lena does not grow stale easily and after the birth of little Teun, their strange menage a trois comes to a dramatic conclusion. Hanne van Essen, imdb.com --[...]Alex van Warmerdam is my favourite Dutch filmmaker. --jahsonic
- Pi (1998) - Darren Aronofsky [DVD, Amazon US]
Patterns exist everywhere: in nature, in science, in religion, in business. Max Cohen (played hauntingly by Sean Gullette) is a mathematician searching for these patterns in everything. Yet, he's not the only one, and everyone from Wall Street investors, looking to break the market, to Hasidic Jews, searching for the 216-digit number that reveals the true name of God, are trying to get their hands on Max. This dark, low-budget film was shot in black and white by director Darren Aronofsky. With eerie music, voice-overs, and overt symbolism enhancing the somber mood, Aronofsky has created a disturbing look at the world. Max is deeply paranoid, holed up in his apartment with his computer Euclid, obsessively studying chaos theory. Blinding headaches and hallucinogenic visions only feed his paranoia as he attempts to remain aloof from the world, venturing out only to meet his mentor, Sol Robeson (Mark Margolis), who for some mysterious reason feels Max should take a break from his research. This movie is complex--occasionally too complex--but the psychological drama and the loose sci-fi elements make this a worthwhile, albeit consuming, watch. Pi won the Director's Award at the 1998 Sundance Film Festival. --Jenny Brown for Amazon.com - Buffalo 66 (1998) - Vincent Gallo [DVD, Amazon US]
Writer-director-composer Vincent Gallo and Christina Ricci star in this quirky and deliberately grimy little movie. Gallo plays Billy Brown, recently released from prison and unable to find so much as a decent bathroom in his cold hometown. Billy's parents are unaware that he's been locked up; in a pathetic attempt to impress them with how successful he's become, he hits on the novel plan of kidnapping young dance student Layla (Ricci) and forcing her to play the role of his wife. Billy's distant--to say the least--parents are played to the hilt by Anjelica Huston and Ben Gazzara, Huston in particular bringing a demented glee to her role as Billy's football-obsessed mother. As the movie unfolds, we learn more about Billy's tormented childhood and unfortunate tendency to bet on the Bills in the Super Bowl. Gallo boldly throws himself into the task of playing a complete sleazebag, and Ricci does lovely standout work as the one ray of hope in the grinding darkness of Billy's life. This odd little love story is just the thing to make you feel better about your own relationship--especially if you're not in one. --Ali Davis for Amazon.com - Lola Rennt/Run Lola Run (1998) - Tom Tykwer [Amazon.com]
Tom Tykwer (born May 23, 1965) is a German film director.
Tykwer is best known for directing Run Lola Run (1998).--http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Tykwer [Apr 2005]
Run Lola Run (original German title Lola rennt, lit. "Lola runs") is a 1998 film by German screenwriter and director Tom Tykwer, starring Franka Potente as Lola. It is an uncoventional film, in that it covers the same twenty-minute span of time three times, each differing in small details that in turn lead the story to radically different outcomes.
The script follows a spiral structure. Spirals are frequently used as a visual motif.
The film, particularly with its time limit and "multiple lives" concept, owes something to video games. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Run_Lola_Run [Dec 2004]