2.21.2008

A list of films I like from Berlinale 2008 - Berlin Film Festival

The Song Of Sparrows


In competition:
Avaze Gonjeshk-ha | The Song Of Sparrows (Iran) Majid Majidi
There Will Be Blood (USA) Paul Thomas Anderson
Tropa de elite | The Elite Squad (Brazil) Jose Padilha
Lake Tahoe (Mexico) Fernando Eimbcke
Ballast (USA) Lance Hammer
Caos calmo | Quiet Chaos (Italy) Antonello Grimaldi

Off competition:
Be Kind Rewind (USA) Michel Gondry
Shine A Light (USA) Martin Scorsese

Restless' up rising talent - Ran Danker

Ran Danker - shavim

Just drop a quick note about this young man shined our Berlinale screening the last day, before I go on and on about the film festival.

The last film in Berlinale 2008's competition screening - "Restless" by Amos Kollek was a fresh link from Israel to NYC. A story about a runaway, selfish poet father living in New York fighting for the meaning of his life, and a long lost son he has never met traveled oversea to find him after lost of the mother and fired by his sniper job what he's good at.

The morning we just viewed a cruel story about an 8 years old girl in war, and all we wished to see next is something more cheerful. And "Restless" is another tough reality to watch. But when we were just put ourself in the mood of another depressive story. Ran Danker, 25 years old, US born Israeli super star appears and brights us all. We can't ignore his resemblance to Wentworth Miller but something about him, maybe is his brief guitar scene at the battle field and his sniper's cruelty character make him a little bit more human than Miller in Prison Break.

Enjoy his music video shows he's not just a good actor, also his talent of music.