IFFK 2008 Day 4

I saw two films today. In the afternoon I returned to office to check whether I still have the job. These are the troubles of watching films during the times of recession. I think I have to follow this trend on the days to come also.

In fact the first film I saw today, a Hungarian film titled Adventurers (directed by Béla Paczolay), would inspire anybody to say goodbye to such mundane things as egotist bosses and silly deadlines. The film is about three men: grandfather, father and son (played by different people; apparently, Kamalhasan does not have much influence in Hungary.)

The film starts stylishly. A middle aged person picks up a much younger person and they are off for a trip. Later we find out that they are father and son and they are going to meet the grandfather. The father has quitted his job as a trumpeter and the son does not have any job even to quit from. After some brief adventures on the way, they find the grandfather who wants to relocate to Budapest and stay with his son. But his son is reluctant, because he does not have any house. At last the grandfather has his way. The rest of the film narrates the fun-filled account of their journey.

At last they realize that a streak of wastefulness has been genetically embedded on them. And they decide to live with it, nevertheless. The film for most of the part retains a Dil Chahta Hai like carefree atmosphere. Also the mannerisms of the “son” resemble that of Aamir Khan in the Hindi film.

The next film was also about the relationship between father and son. But it is more like an arthouse film than an entertainer. Yellow House directed by Amor Hakkar is a film in the competition section of the festival. It is set in an arid village in Algeria. A farmer learns that his son, who was working in the armed forces, has been killed in an accident. He makes a trip to the place of tragedy on his tractor and brings the dead body of the son to the village. To wash away the sorrows of his wife, he paints his house yellow, based on a pharmacist’s advice. Later he brings home a TV and video player to watch the video footage of his son.

This simple story has been narrated in the true neorealistic style. At times the film becomes very slow. But it springs back to life through incidents that show the tenacious spirit of the father. It is a serious film which offers different parallel readings such as this and this. And a person who calls himself "payyan" has this to say about the first three days of IFFK 2008. If you want more IFFK stuff, try this blog also.