Latest news with #DasLicht
The Guardian
14-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Das Licht (The Light) review – mystical satirical romp channels German anxiety over refugees
Here is a weirdly incoherent and very long aria of semi-comic dismay from white-liberal Europe, and from a Germany whose bold 'Wir schaffen das' – or 'We can handle this' – Angela Merkel-era attitude to refugees has turned to anxiety. Veteran German director Tom Tykwer has created a heavy-footed magical-realist romp lasting two hours and 40 minutes about a complicated extended family in Berlin whose painful lives are turned around by a magic refugee whose purpose is to salvage their happiness. The film twice uses Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody to provide a jukebox blast of energy – the second time at the very end, worryingly indicating that the classic track is being brought on to save the day because the film is out of ideas. Lars Eidinger gives a muscular, unselfconscious performance as Tim, a thoroughly modern cool dad who writes advertising copy for environmentally conscious brands, cycles everywhere in the driving rain and has a disconcerting habit of stripping naked when he gets back to his bohemian apartment. Nicolette Krebitz plays his wife, Milena, who is trying to establish a community theatre in Africa with a German government grant. But their teen children, eco-protester Frieda (Elke Biesendorfer), who has just had an abortion, and VR gamer nerd Jon (Julius Gause) are unhappy. There is also Dio (Elyas Eldridge), Milena's son by Godfrey (Toby Onwumere), with whom she co-parents. When their cleaning lady drops dead one day in their kitchen, a very peculiar thigh-slapper of a comic moment that is evidently intended to satirise (and yet also ultimately forgive) their entitled prosperous arrogance, the family has to get someone else in; this is Syrian refugee Farrah (Tala Al Deen), who is wise and all-knowing, with a private grief in her own turns the family on to an experimental treatment for depression: a throbbing, flashing light you gaze into that helps your body to release endorphins. Tim's family are coming into mystic alignment with Farrah's … There is quite a bit of energy in this film, but it's shapeless and undirected, and seems to be making an unearned claim on our affectionate regard for how chaotically adorable and yet meaningful the whole thing is. The final sequence, though initially very striking, raises serious ideas and moods which the film itself is unable to absorb. Das Licht (The Light) screened at the Berlin film festival.
The National
13-02-2025
- Entertainment
- The National
Das Licht review: Tala Al Deen's shining performance lifts Tom Tykwer's Berlinale opener
'We are a typical dysfunctional German family,' announces Frieda (Elke Biesendorfer), the tattooed, pierced 17-year-old girl in Tom Tykwer's ambitious new film, Das Licht (The Light). The opening night movie for this year's Berlin International Film Festival, this is a fine choice as a curtain-raiser by incoming artistic director Tricia Tuttle, not least because it's largely set in a rain-soaked Berlin. As Tuttle recently told Variety: 'Filmmakers are noting that we live in a crazy, divisive world' – words that seem to entirely sum up The Light. Tykwer, who writes and directs here, has never shied away from experimentation – think of Run Lola Run (1998), which never breaks sweat as Franka Potente sprints to save her boyfriend, or his collaboration with the Wachowskis, adapting the dystopian Cloud Atlas (2012). The Light comes at you like a locomotive in its early scenes, as the members of the Berlin-based Engels family go about their business. Frieda is out clubbing with her friends, taking illegal substances, while her twin brother Jon (Julius Gause) is in his bedroom, his VR goggles strapped on as he immerses himself into a sci-fi game called Transportal. Meanwhile, their parents are going through issues. Mother Milena (Nicolette Krebitz) works in government, driving an initiative to fund a community theatre project in Kenya. Father Tim (Lars Eidinger) works for an activist group whose latest campaign – titled #Us – is about showing that the problems with the world are not caused by others, but ourselves. Milena also has a little boy, Dio (Elyas Eldridge), from a (presumably brief) affair with a Kenyan named Godfrey (Toby Onwumere), who now lives in Berlin and is forever on their doorstep, looking timid. Milena and Tim are in couples therapy with the hope that they'll save their disjointed marriage. Rarely, it seems, does the family ever spend any time together. But when their maid dies while cleaning their apartment – the crescendo of the film's brilliant opening salvo – it leads to another coming into their lives. Farrah (Tala Al Deen) is a Syrian immigrant, a medical practitioner back in Aleppo who now must work as a housekeeper to make ends meet. Farrah is first glimpsed in her apartment, facing a high-intensity LED lamp, which flashes bright lights into her face. Called the Lucia Lamp, it was developed in Austria by a psychotherapist and a neurologist as a form of therapy and Farrah is using it to overcome considerable trauma in her own life. What does she want with the Engels family? That only becomes clear in the operatic – and overblown – conclusion. But the idea that an Arabic-speaking woman comes to heal this western family feels patronising. If that isn't enough, Tykwer's film also dabbles in VR – there is a remarkable scene where Jon and the girl he met online encounter each other in real life, then swirl about the streets like their avatars do in the nether regions of their shared Transportal game. And then, to top it all, the director goes full musical, with several song-and-dance sequences – from a gym workout number fronted by Eidinger to an airing of Queen's seminal song Bohemian Rhapsody. Mamma mia, indeed. With strong performances, especially from Al Deen, who brings dignity to her character – credit Tykwer for going out on a limb here – the film offers up a bold look at the chaos of 21st century living. A film about dysfunction – whether it's in the home or a group like the United Nations, it's a work that stumbles as much as it strides. But it's a provocative and political piece, designed to make you look at the world in a way you haven't before. Das Licht premieres on Thursday at the Berlin International Film Festival
Euronews
12-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Euronews
Berlin Film Festival: How well do you know the Berlinale?
Think you're a card-carrying film buff? But how much do you know about Europe's largest film event and the world's biggest film festival for the public - the Berlin Film Festival? Time to put your knowledge to the test with our quiz on the Berlinale, whose 75th edition kicks off this week (13 – 23 February). Answers can be found at the bottom, with further explanations in some cases – no peeking! 1. The opening film of this year's 75th edition is Tom Tykwer's Das Licht (The Light). But what was the first Berlinale opening film at the Titania-Palast in Steglitz on 6 June 1951? A. Elia Kazan's A Streetcar Named Desire. B. John Huston's The African Queen. C. Disney's Alice In Wonderland. D. Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca. 2. Every year, a major figure from the world of cinema is awarded a lifetime achievement award. Who is this year's recipient of the Honorary Golden Bear? A. Cate Blanchett. B. Tilda Swinton. C. Julia Roberts. D. Wim Wenders. 3. Approximately how many square meters of red carpet is rolled out each year during the film festival? A. 1,000. B. 1,500. C. 2,000. D. No one knows: it's one of the Berlinale's best kept secrets. 4. The top prize at the Berlinale is the Golden Bear, a statue designed by German sculptor Renée Sintenis. Why was the statuette redesigned in 1960? A. It was too heavy: Sofia Loren dropped it on her foot in 1959 and broke her toe. B. It needed some work done – eyelift, declawing, the works. C. In order to raise its left arm as opposed to its right to avoid any unfortunate historic parallels. D. Renée Sintenis wanted her signature stamp to be more visible. 5. Delivering on the promise of drama in a slightly different way, the 20th edition of the Berlinale held in 1970 stirred the pot by awarding no official prizes. What happened? A. The jury disagreed and resigned. B. The awards were called off because of a terrorist threat. C. It was a symbolic 20th-anniversary gesture: everyone's a winner! D. The award statuettes were lost, presumed stolen by delivery drivers. They were found a year later and the laureates of 1970 only got their award distinctions in 1971. 6. The award for the country that has taken home the highest number of Golden Bears is… A. France. B. Germany. C. USA. D. UK. 7. Who is the only filmmaker to have won the Golden Bear more than once? A. Rainer Werner Fassbinder. B. John Cassavetes. C. Ang Lee. D. Terrence Malick. 8. Who was the first female filmmaker to win the Golden Bear? A. Shamefully, no female filmmaker has ever won the Golden Bear. B. Márta Mészáros in 1975. C. Jasmila Žbanić in 2006. D. Ildikó Enyedi in 2017. 9. The Berlinale have always been ahead of the curve when it comes to gender representation and parity in the Competition selection – especially compared to the other two festivals in Europe's Big Three (Cannes and Venice). How many of the 19 films in Competition this year are directed by female filmmakers? A. 7 B. 8 C. 9 D. 10 10. Tragedy struck the Berlinale in 2003 – what happened? A. Jury member Kathryn Bigelow walked out of a Competition screening, yelling 'Titanic's a big pile of shit!' B. George Clooney's presence at the festival for Confessions of a Dangerous Mind provoked a wave of fainting spells, leading to a surge in hospitalisations in what has since been referred to as 'Clooney Delirium'. C. Renown French producer Daniel Toscan du Plantier succumbed to a heart attack in front of the Hyatt mid-festival. D. The Golden Bear was accidentally decapitated on stage during the award ceremony, the first time the coveted statuette broke. 11. In 2020, the Berlinale suspended a major award – the Alfred Bauer Prize – named after the festival's founding director (1951 – 1976). Why? A. The new Berlinale management deemed there were too many awards and it got the chop as part of a streamlining initiative. B. It wasn't suspended as such, just renamed The Alfie. C. Bauer's correspondence was published, in which he called cinema 'the lowest artform' – hardly worthy of a namesake award. D. It was revealed that Bauer had been an active high-ranking Nazi closely involved in a propaganda organisation set up by Goebbels. 12. The 2021 Berlinale was unique, as it was the first edition to be postponed due to the pandemic. It took place in two stages (stage one for industry professionals and stage two later in the year for the public), and saw the introduction of non-gendered acting awards for the first time. What other 'first' made that year's 71st edition stand out? A. All members of the International Jury were past Golden Bear winners. B. All members of the International Jury were actual bears drafted in from Berlin Zoological Garden… and they are delighted. C. There was no International Jury and the winners were voted for by the public. D. It was the first time all members of the International Jury were female. 13. This year marks Tricia Tuttle's first at the helm of the Berlinale. How many Berlinale directors have there been (in total, including Tuttle)? A. 7 B. 8 C. 9 D. 10 14. Visitors from more than 150 countries come to Germany for the Berlinale each year. The 2024 Berlinale registered almost half a million moviegoers from 157 countries. This year, more than 240 films will be screened. But how many countries are being represented by these films? A. 54 B. 64 C. 74 D. 84 15. Once again, this year's Competition selection features another film from prolific South Korean filmmaker Hong Sang-soo, a wonderful director who the Berlinale continually select during the festival. No bad thing, but it's getting a bit old at this point. How many Bears has Hong Sang-soo won (without ever winning the top award, the Golden Bear) since 2020? A. 1 B. 2 C. 3 D. 4 What's your Berlinale film IQ? Answers (and explanations): 1) D; 2) B; 3) B; 4) C; 5) A: The 1970 jury was so divided over the Vietnam war film o.k. by Michael Verhoeven that the members resigned. 6) C: The US have 13, followed by France with 10, the UK with 9. Italy has 8, while Germany hold their own with 7 (5 for West Germany, 1 for East Germany, and 1 for Reunified Germany). 7) C: Twice, for The Wedding Banquet in 1993 and Sense And Sensibility in 1996. 8) B: Only 8 women have won the Golden Bear. Hungarian filmmaker Márta Mészáros was the first in 1975 for her film Adoption. 2 years later, Larisa Shepitko won for her film The Ascent. We had to wait until 2006 for the next female winner, Jasmila Žbanić, who won for Grbavica. Then came Claudia Llosa for The Milk Of Sorrow in 2009, Ildikó Enyedi for On Body And Soul in 2017, Adina Pintilie for Touch Me Not in 2018, Carla Simón for Alcarràs in 2022 and Mati Diop last year for Dahomey. 9) B; 10) C; 11) D; 12) A; 13) A – Technically, Tricia Tuttle is the Berlinale's seventh director, following Alfred Bauer (1951 – 1976), Wolf Donner (1977 – 1979), Moritz de Hadeln (1980 – 2000), Dieter Kosslick (2001 – 2019) and co-directors Carlo Chatrian and Mariette Rissenbeek (2020 – 2024). 14) C; 15) D: In the last five years, Hong Sang-soo has won 4 Bears. Silver Bear for Best Director in 2020 for The Woman Who Ran; Silver Bear for Best Screenplay in 2021 for Introduction; Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize in 2022 for The Novelist's Film; and Silver Bear Grand Jury Prize in 2024 for A Traveler's Needs. Will 2025 finally see him win the Golden Bear? The Berlinale seem to be banking on it... Your ranking: 0-3: Rainer Werner Fail 4-7: Fritz Lightweight
Sharjah 24
10-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Sharjah 24
Berlin Film Festival faces politics amid upcoming election
Political themes in the Festival's opening night Although the festival's new director, Tricia Tuttle, aims to keep politics from overshadowing the films, the opening night will tackle a politically sensitive issue—immigration. Tom Tykwer's Das Licht (The Light) explores the impact of Syrian refugees on a German family, a topic linked to the rise of AfD support in recent years. A blend of independent and star-driven films While the festival remains focused on independent and arthouse cinema, it also features high-profile films. Notable selections include Richard Linklater's Blue Moon, Bong Joon-ho's Mickey 17, and a special award for British actress Tilda Swinton. Balancing freedom of expression and political controversy The festival continues to navigate the tension between artistic freedom and political concerns. Following controversy at the 2024 awards ceremony over remarks about Israel's actions in Gaza, the 2025 edition will feature politically charged films, including a documentary on an Israeli actor taken hostage by Hamas and a screening of Shoah. Berlin: A hub for political and cinematic debate Despite ongoing tensions, Berlin remains a vital space for political discourse and bold cinematic storytelling, embracing both artistic expression and socially relevant themes.
