Week 5
Best Film: The Passion of Joan of Arc
Best Director: Carl Theodor Dreyer (The Passion of Joan of Arc). I don’t love all of his decisions, but he does right he does very, very right.
Best Script: No particularly striking screenplays this week. I’ll go with Werner Herzog for Fitzcorraldo.
Best Performance: Very tough one. In another week, Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone), Toshirô Mifune (Yojimbo), or Nadir Saribacak (Wrong Rosary) could easily have won, but they don’t even make the finals. After more than a month of films, this week featured probably the two best performances so far: Klaus Kinski in Fitzcorraldo and Maria Falconetti in The Passion of Joan of Arc. I have to go with Falconetti, even though it’s impossible to imagine any actor equaling Kinski’s deranged charisma.
Best Moment: Easy. The conclusion of The Passion of Joan of Arc is something everyone should see.
Best Use Visuals or Technique: No contest again: Dreyer – execution scene – brilliant.
Biggest Surprises: The bizarre — and irritating — similarities between Mother and Poetry; Klaus Kinski’s hair; and Marion Cotillard’s disappearing legs. And I need to call out the consistent quality of Turkish films so far. I shouldn’t draw too many conclusions from just two movies, but they’ve both exhibited wonderful care and artistic self-assurance.
