Screening summary.
red lob — nanni moretti (1989)
we’re the same, but we’re different.
during a decisive water polo game in sicily with his team, the now middle-aged michele apicella finds time to ruminate over his personal life and political commitment with the italian communist party. still recovering from an accident that left his memory partially impaired, in the course of the game michele comes to terms with images from his past coming back to him and with the often illogical demands of the present.
red lob's story slowly unfolds as an absurdist piece, where the space of the pool and its surroundings become an atemporal universe that encompasses forty years of italian history, firmly binding together past and current political ambiguities. michele apicella, moretti’s alter-ego, makes his last appearance in this film which marks a turning point in the director’s career. in red lob michele is at a crossroads, but so is history: his uncertainty is not an existential anomaly; rather, it is a sign of the times.
calamari union — aki kaurismäki (1985)
after that, it’s every man for himself.
like many other big cities, helsinki in the 80s is not for the faint of heart. while clearly a place of romance and opportunities, finland’s capital can also be resentful and cruel. at least this is true of its suburbs, where members of the lower classes are confined to spend the largest part of their lives. a search for better things is therefore what drives a group of men named frank—plus one who goes by the name of pekka—to plan their escape in an attempt to reach the green pastures of the upper class districts. this is the premise of calamari union, an offbeat parable of social maladjustment and revolt.
through dark humor and nonsense kaurismäki's film endeavors to depict the social processes driving people that are already vulnerable more and more to the margins. if even potentially egalitarian societies bear the burden of a narrowing of freedom, it’s then up to individuals to take the initiative that will win them their own right to happiness. but is there any actual space for them to succeed?
the emperor’s naked army marches on — kazuo hara (1987)
violence is my forte.
in 1981 japanese new wave director shohei imamura introduces the documentary filmmaker kazuo hara to kenzo okuzaki, a man who tried to shoot emperor hirohito. okuzaki, a veteran from japan’s wwii campaign in new guinea, is a man on an important quest: tracking down the officers of his former battalion and uncovering the truth behind the atrocities resulting in death for several of his fellow soldiers. okuzaki’s rightful dedication to his cause however borders on madness and he will stop at nothing to accomplish his mission. hara will therefore have to struggle in order to maintain a degree of control over his documentary against okuzaki’s will.
by displaying its arduous production—the last section of the film was confiscated and more than once during filming okuzaki resorted to objectionable practices to get ahead—the controversial the emperor’s naked army marches on unmasks on one hand the complex dynamics at work in documentary filmmaking; on the other, it discloses the conflictual relations between higher powers and responsibilities of the single.
show down at aspen — thames television (1970)
rip up all city streets with jack-hammers.
in a short documentary british network thames television follows gonzo journalist hunter s. thompson as he makes his bid to become sheriff of pitkin county, colorado by running on what thompson calls the “freak power" ticket. it's the year 1970 and the territory around aspen is at a critical junction between resisting and succumbing to unbridled land development.
thompson’s radical experiment in politics, which is nothing more than a hands-on albeit unorthodox approach to pragmatic issues as sustainability and decriminalization, sets in motion a clash of social identities and wills: on one side are those whom thompson himself defines “profiteers”, staunch local conservatives, citizens willing to uphold at all costs the respectability of the american way of life—which includes a right to make the most out of one’s own property; on the other are the “freaks”, the social dropouts, the hippies, supposed underachievers with nothing to lose and whose main goal is to establish a turf and navigate life as freely as possible.