The Best of Metropolis in 2008

Place: Metropolis Cinema

Mood: Thoughtful
Song: Chicago * Sufjan Stevens

You came to take us,

All things go, all things go

To recreate us,

All things go, all things go (...)

I was in love with the place

In my mind, in my mind

from Chicago by Sufjan Stevens

So some of you know that I love my job at Metropolis Cinema. And what's not to love there. We used to screen films, organize film festivals and greet people, see if they liked what they saw and what they'd love to see next. The interaction with people used to be my favorite activity, apart from the organization. But with Metropolis shutting its doors on August 28, 2008, I felt like losing a certain part from my own being. The fact that we managed to pull one of our strongest events to date a month after the fatal closing, in another location (The Directors' Fortnight retrospective, September 2008) has led me to believe that closing a theater would not necessarily mean putting an end to what we've loved to do for three years.

But things are not as easy as they might sound like, and the future is all but certain. And while I want to be optimistic as to what it might bring to Metropolis, I'd like to recount some of our strongest moments in 2008. The small team of Metropolis has managed to present a selection of events with acclaimed partners:

- the prestigious French publication Les Cahiers du Cinema for a film week selected by its editor-in-chief Jean-Michel Frodon who came to present it himself - March 2008

- a rerun of Cannes' 47th Critics' Week (La Semaine de la Critique) with the presence of its artistic director Jean-Christophe Berjon, its general manager Rémi Bonhomme, the German-Iranian filmmaker Emily Atef and the French actress Anaïs Demoustier - July 2008

- a retrospective of Cannes' Directors Fortnight (La Quinzaine des Réalisateurs) in the presence of its general manager Christophe Leparc and the Egyptian director Toufic Saleh - September 2008

As to the films, a wide range of movies have been screened, from the celebrated 2007 award winners The Edge of Heaven by Fatih Akin and 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days by Cristian Mungiu to the newest gems of established filmmakers Hou Hsiao Hsien (The Flight of the Red Balloon) and Alexander Sokurov (Alexandra). Some Arab films have been also screened in Metropolis notably Danielle Arbid's A Lost Man and Toufic Saleh's The Dupes.

Finally, one cannot but mention the ciné-concert in November that saw Rami and Bachar Khalife recreate a soundtrack for Murneau's 1929 classic Faust.

I would like to thank everyone at Metropolis for having made all of these cinematic moments happen in the first place, notably Hania, Sarra, Ali, Zeina, Rémi, Tania, Ghassan, Beirut DC, and all those who contributed in a way or another, to bring these events to life.

And while I'm anxiously awaiting for what 2009 might bring, here's a closer look at what I believe have been the finest film moments of 2008 at Metropolis Cinema:

01
Japon [Japan]
by Carlos Reygadas - Mexico, 2002
(Directors' Fortnight Retrospective, September 2008)

02
Alexandra
by Alexander Sokourov - Russia, 2007
(Cahiers du Cinéma Film Week, March 2008)

03
4 Luni, 3 Saptamini, si 2 zile [4 Months, 3 Weeks, 2 Days]
by Cristian Mungiu - Romania, 2007
(Cahiers du Cinéma Film Week, March 2008)

04
The Edge of Heaven
by Fatih Akin - Turkey, 2007
(Film Release, May 2008)

05
Shorts:
(47th Critics' Week Rerun, July 2008)

Skhizein
by Jérémy Clapin - France, 2008

Ergo
by Géza M. Toth - Hungary, 2008


Next Floor
by Denis Villeneuve - Canada, 2008

06
Mies Vailla Menneisyytt [The Man Without a Past]
by Aki Kaurismaki - Finland, 2002
(Cahiers du Cinéma Film Week, March 2008)

07
Be With Me
by Eric Khoo - Singapore, 2005
(Directors' Fortnight Retrospective, September 2008)

08
Das Fremde in Mir [The Stranger in Me]
by Emile Atef - Germany, 2008
(47th Critics' Week Rerun, July 2008)

09
Al Makhdu'un [The Dupes]
by Tawfik Saleh - Syria, 1972
(Directors' Fortnight Retrospective, September 2008)

10
Better Things
by Duane Hopkins - UK, 2008
(47th Critics' Week Rerun, July 2008)

2008 in Films

And my 10 favorite films of 2008 are the following:

Three Monkeys (Uc Maymun)
by Nuri Bilge Ceylan – Turkey






Because Nuri Bilge Ceylan managed to make the unimaginable happen: topple his previous opuses "Uzak" and "Iklimler". His directing at its best.

Delta
by Kornél Mundruczó – Hungary






Because the shooting location meets the image meets the soundtrack meets the leading young actress are all made of win. Utterly beautiful.

There Will Be Blood
by Paul Thomas Anderson – USA






Because a film like this one redefines the concept of 'classic'. Daniel Day Lewis stands out.

Wall-E
by Andrew Stanton - USA







Because it pierces your heart, no matter your age. And who wouldn't want to have Wall-E around him for a day or two? A new beginning for Pixar!

Gomorra / Gomorrah
by Matteo Garone – Italy







Because this was one the gems of what many saw as Italy's cinema year par excellence. Keeps you holding your breath until the denouement of each of its five Mafia stories.

The Class (Entre les Murs)
by Laurent Cantet – France







Because Cantet brought back the light to the long forgotten French Cinema. I'll quote the New York Times: "Mr. Cantet (...) has done that rarest of things in movies about children: He has allowed them to talk."

Waltz with Bashir / Valse avec Bachir
by Ari Folman – Israel







Because Folman pushed the boundaries of animation and redefined the genre by tackling it in documentary style to relive what he saw during the Israeli invasion to Lebanon in 1982. The opening sequence is a killer.

PA RA DA
by Marco Pontecorvo – Italy/France/Romania

Because real life and fiction can perfectly coexist in a film. A very touching tale on the street children of Bucharest.

Tulpan
by Sergey Dvortsevoy – Kazakhstan







Because I still believe that every once in a while, you'll get amazing surprises like this little gem. Heartfelt performances in the Kazakh steppe!

Eye of the Sun (Ein Shams)
by Ibrahim El Batout – Egypt








Because you can feel when a director makes a film with his heart with as little means as possible. In terms of sincerity, the result cannot even compare to any multi-million Egyptian film in the recent couple of years. And you cannot but fall for the striking Shams.

Special Mention:

The One Man Village (Semaan Bel Day'a)
by Simon El Habre – Lebanon





Because you don't have to be a renowned filmmaker to make a personal story look universal through its striking image. And because such a striking image will make you a renowned filmmaker quite quickly.

"Vehemently Heinous"

Place: Dark Matter
Mood: Angry
Song: Enjoy the Silence * Depeche Mode

Words are very unnecessary
They can only do harm
from Enjoy the Silence by Depeche Mode

I know it's not very healthy to have my first post of 2009 as angry, but I find writing to be very healing. I dedicate Vehemently Heinous to every possible cunt who tried to make my 2008 miserable. Well, first, these so-called humans are less numerous than the number of fingers you have in a single hand. And second, needless to inform you that you failed lamentably.

But anyway, let me tell you something, if you're not up to what you write, don't write it, you'd only make a fool of yourself. Otherwise, and as the song says, Enjoy the Silence!

Vehemently Heinous

Stupid
Among other things you said
Would you sound any sweeter
If I were Dead

I heard you chanting your antinational anthem
Next to your fire of words
That you have just fed

But I was told it was too cluttered
And as the electrified flames sputtered
It chopped your body to shreds

I never knew you were so good at missiles
But when you shoot in another direction
Only you would morph blood-red

You might want to think it over
Before your bury yourself
In your own bed

Time is between us
And, who knows,
You might always be ahead

But in case you still think you’re Cupid
Just take those damn oranges with you
And wander instead

Because those who claim intelligence
Are still unwelcome
Even in the realm of the Dead


According the the scientific David Darling encyclopedia, www.daviddarling.info, Dark Matter is:

"matter that can't be detected directly, but whose existence can be inferred on the basis of how objects we can see move."

And I firmly believe that Dark Matter is not only found in space, but in some vile humans too.