The Dust of Time

2008 Director Theodoros Angelopoulos

This is a film which demands full viewer commitment. Spanning more than half a century and taking place across three continents, this sequel to the monumental Weeping Meadow is a larger-than-life love story, a saga of displaced people constantly on the road, always looking for a home they ultimately only find within the journey itself.

A director is struggling to complete shooting on his latest project, a sweeping historical story being shot in Berlin that tells the true story of his parent's relationship. Spyros  and Eleni  first met and fell in love shortly before World War II broke out, but the two were separated during the fighting, with Spyros making his way to America and settling in New York, while civil war forced Eleni to seek exile in Russia. Stalin established a colony for Greek expatriates in Tashkent, where Eleni joined her fellow expatriates, and when Spyros learned of her whereabouts after Stalin's passing, he left New York to be with her, entering Tashkent illegally via Germany. However, after a brief reunion which led to Eleni becoming pregnant, Spyros was found out by the authorities. After Spyros was arrested, Eleni was sent to Siberia, where she met Jacob, a German Jew. Jacob fell in love with Eleni and he stayed by her side as she wrestled with he memory of Spyros and her son, who with Jacob's help was smuggled out of Tashkent to Canada and eventually reunited with his father. It's not until years later that the director is finally reunited with his parents in Berlin as he tries to put their story on film, but what should be a happy time becomes potentially tragic as the director's daughter falls into a deep depression and threatens to take her life.

This film is very ponderous and convoluted and requires the viewer to expend a great deal of attention to avoid losing the plot. It benefits by a second viewing.

The Bothersome Man

2006 Director Jens Lien

This film is an intriguing and bone-dry Norwegian black comedy that marks the intersection between David Lynch, Samuel Beckett  and Jacques Tati.

A man steps off a bus into a strange city with no memory of how he got there. It all seems familiar: people are polite, go to work, have dinner parties, go out and have sex, but no one seems to connect or even enjoy themselves. It isn't long before the new arrival gradually begins to question his environment and plan an escape. The ubiquitous "Caretakers" of the city take note that he doesn't fit in and set out to rectify the situation.

Driven by a fantastic performance by Trond Fausa Aurvag, whose deadpan comic performance lends the surrealism some "fish out of water" slapstick. There are many shades of "The Trial" as well as "The Prisoner" here. This is about as dark and worrying as a film can get and one that will remain in the recess of your mind for a considerable length of time.