Neil Young: Lepo je sanjati

Lepo je sanjati, seveda - in to velja za žogobrc prav toliko kot za filmske festivale. Pravkar sem celo uro brskal po seznamu filmov z Liffa in izbiral filme, ki bi si jih v idealnem svetu lahko ogledal. V svetu, v katerem bi se lahko udeležil celotnega festivala (namesto samo štirih dni), in bi bil brez dolžnosti (doletela me je čast biti član žirije za kratki film), bi vse jezike govoril tekoče (ogledal bi si lahko tudi filme, ki imajo samo slovenske podnapise) in bi lahko s čarobno paličico razrešil vse neizogibne zaplete glede urnika, ki uročijo tako največje kot tudi najmanjše festivale.

Na vrhu mojega seznama bi bila celotna retrospektiva manj videnih filmov Michaela Hanekeja. Predvajani bodo le nekaj mesecev po kanski zlati palmi za Beli trak, ki je kronala njegovo življenjsko delo. Liffova ekipa si zasluži posebno pohvalo za nekatera redko predvajana zgodnja dela avstrijskega mojstra, kot so ... in kaj pride potem? iz leta 1973, Tri poti k jezeru (1976), dvodelni Lemmingi (1979) in Kdo je bil Edgar Allan? (1984). Vsak obiskovalec 20. liffa, čeprav ni seznanjen z njegovimi deli zadnjih let, deležnimi večje slave, kot so Skrito (2005), Učiteljica klavirja (2001) in Funny Games (1997), naj si resnično ogleda čim več teh malo znanih Hanekejevih biserov.

Moj seznam »fantastičnih 11« (poleg Haneka) je naslednji: Nezgoda (Cheang Pou-Soi); Vse je oproščeno (Mia Hansen-Love); Pokvarjeni poročnik - New Orleans (Werner Herzog); Črnci (Goran Dević); Ubil sem svojo mamo (Xavier Dolan); Naelektrena meglica (Bertrand Tavernier); Louise-Michel (Delepine & Kervern); Sever (Rune Denstad Langlo); Božji bojevnik (Nicolas Winding Refn); Belka (Claire Denis) in Divje trave (Alain Resnais).

Ko sem že pri stvari, tukaj je »prvih 11« celovečercev, ki mi jih je uspelo videti že na drugih filmskih festivalih (eden ali dva sta na Liffov seznam prišla celo po moji zaslugi, sem namreč član programskega sveta), ki jih toplo priporočam: Bronson (Nicolas Winding Refn); Vaja dela mojstra (Kyle Patrick Alvarez); Akvarij (Andrea Arnold); Sveto dekle (Lucrecia Martel); Madeinusa (Claudia Llosa); Služkinja (Sebastian Silva); Policijski, pridevnik (Corneliu Porumboiu); Brez imena (Cary Fukunaga); Turisti (Alicia Scherson); Smo imeli revolucijo ali ne? (Corneliu Porumboiu); Počitnice brez staršev (Celina Murga).

O številnih omenjenih filmih sem pisal v članku za Ekran, ki ga boste zagotovo našli v dobro založenih knjigarnah ali trafikah v Ljubljani in njeni okolici. Recenzije »prvih XI« boste našli tudi na spletni strani Jigsaw Lounge (www.jigsawlounge.co.uk), kjer so tudi poročila z vseh Liffov, ki sem jih kdaj obiskal, vse nazaj do novembra 2002. Tedaj je bil Sunderland AFC, kakšna sramota, čisto na dnu seznama - zaradi česar je bil pregnan iz Lige prvakov. Kako čas hitro teče!

Neil Young

Še blog v angleškem jeziku:

Greetings from Sunderland, United Kingdom: home of what is, currently and officially, England's eighth best professional football team. Because, with apologies to fans of Stoke, Burnley and Fulham, at this stage of the season the Premier League table simply does not lie. 

Of course, things may be well have change by the time I arrive in Ljubljana on Wednesday 18th November. Sunderland are away to Tottenham Hotspur (5th) tomorrow (Saturday) and if a win there - with other results going our way - could see us as high as fourth by the end of the weekend.

It's nice to dream, of course - and that's true of film-festivals as much as of "footy." I've just spent an hour browsing through the LIFFe programme, picking out movies which in an ideal world I'd be able to see. An ideal world, that is, being one in which I was able to attend the whole festival (instead of only four full days), and had no duties to perform (I have the honour of serving on the jury for the Short Film Prize), and was fluent in all languages (thus enabling me to watch those movies only showing with Slovenian subitltes), and could magically untangle those inevitable scheduling conflicts which bedevil film-festivals from the biggest to the smallest.

Top of my list would be the entire retrospective of lesser-shown Michael Haneke films, organised only months after his career-crowning Palme d'Or triumph at Cannes with The White Ribbon. The LIFFe team deserve special commendation for seeking out some very rarely-screened earlier works from this Austrian master, dating back to 1973's After Liverpool, Three Paths to the Lake (1976), the two-parter Lemmings (1979) and Who Was Edgar Allan? (1984). Anyone attending the 20th LIFFe, if only for a day or two, and even if they aren't familiar with his recent, more internationally-renowned output such as Hidden (2005), The Piano Teacher (2001) and Funny Games (1997), really should try to take in as many of these Hanekes as they can.
Anyway, my 'Fantasy XI' of (non-Haneke) stuff I'd love to see reads as follows: Accident [Cheang Pou-Soi]; All Is Forgiven [Mia Hansen-Love]; Bad Lieutenant - Port of Call New Orleans [Werner Herzog]; Blacks [Goran Devic]; I Killed My Mother [Xavier Dolan]; In the Electric Mist [Bertrand Tavernier]; Louise-Michel [Delepine & Kervern]; North [Rune Denstad Langlo]; Valhalla Rising [Nicolas Winding Refn]; White Material [Claire Denis] and Wild Grass [Alain Resnais].

While I'm at it, here's a 'First XI' of features that I have managed to catch already around the film-festival circuit (one or two having made it into LIFFe's list partially thanks to my recommending them in my capacity as member of the Programming Boatd), and which I can personally recommend: Bronson [Nicolas Winding Refn]; Easier With Practice [Kyle Patrick Alvarez]; Fish Tank [Andrea Arnold]; The Holy Girl [Lucrecia Martel]; Madeinusa [Claudia Llosa]; The Maid [Sebastian Silva]; Police, Adjective [Corneliu Porumboiu]; Sin Nombre aka Without Name [Cary Fukunaga]; Tourists [Alicia Scherson]; 12:08 East of Bucharest [Corneliu Porumboiu]; A Week Alone [Celina Murga].

I've expounded on many of these in an article I wrote for Ekran magazine, which you'll find in all good bookshops and news-stalls in Ljubljana and beyond. And there are fuller reviews of the 'First XI' on the website Jigsaw Lounge (www.jigsawlounge.co.uk), where you'll also find coverage of all the LIFFes I've attended, dating all the way back to November 2002. At which point Sunderland AFC were well into a season which would conclude in the ignominy of finishing bottom in - and being relegated from - the Premier League. How time flies!

Neil Young