The Robber

2011 in Movies: foreign films

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It was another year in which foreign cinema was essential (although not as great as years past).  Three of the nominees for the 2010 Best Foreign Language Oscar were released in the US this year: Incendies , Dogtooth and the Oscar-winning In a Better World.   Incendies earned a very prominent spot on my Best Movies of 2011.  Joining Incendies on my Best Movies of 2011 are The Artist from France, Poetry from Korea, Carancho from Argentina and Potiche from France.  That’s five films – down from ten on my list for 2010 and the lowest number of foreign films on my list ever.

Still, the French had a fine historical drama in Sarah’s Key, the costume epic The Princess of Montpensier, the sexy comedy The Names of Love and the arty head scratcher Certified Copy.   Stylized violence characterized both the Japanese gangster film Outrage and the Samurai movie 13 Assassins.  There was a sly Mexican dark comedy, Norah’s Will.  Attenberg was a better Greek comedy than Dogtooth.

The Polish documentary War Games and the Man Who Stopped Them was excellent. Hungary delivered a small drama, Question in Details.  The Aussies gave us a very violent contemporary Western, Red Hill.  Germany and Austria produced a contemporary crime drama in The Robber.  Even the Bolivians gave us a pretty solid Western:  Blackthorn.

Here’s the trailer for Poetry.

Movies to See Right Now

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Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Don’t miss Cave of Forgotten Dreams while it can be seen in 3D;  Werner Herzog explores the amazing 30,000 year old Chauvet cave paintings.  In the fine French drama Queen to Play, a working class woman discovers a passion for chess  in midlife; she and her family, must adjust, along with a French-speaking Kevin Kline.

Source Code is a gripping scifi thriller with intelligence and heart, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan. In a Better World is an ambitious contemplation on violence by Danish director Susanne Bier (Brothers, After the Wedding).  Potiche, a delightful French farce of feminist self-discovery is the funniest movie in over a year, and another showcase for Catherine Deneuve (as if she needs one).

The Princess of Montpensier is an exquisitely beautiful romance about a 16th century French noblewoman who is forced by her father to marry – but not the man she loves; her new husband is unhealthily jealous and for good reason – various members of the Court fall in love with her and she is too immature to handle it well. Hanna is a rip roaring girl-power thriller starring Saiorse Ronan as a 16-year-old raised in the Arctic Circle to be a master assassin by her rogue secret agent father, and then released upon the CIA. The Robber is about an emotionless, compulsive bank robber who doesn’t care about the money, and you won’t care about him, either.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

I haven’t yet seen Incendies or Meek’s Cutoff, two promising films opening this weekend. You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Hail! The Conquering Hero.

Movies on TV this week include the classic French heist film Rififi and one of my favorite Sam Peckinpah Westerns, Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid, both on TCM.

Movies to See Right Now

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The Princess of Montpensier

Don’t miss Source Code, a gripping scifi thriller with intelligence and heart, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Vera Farmiga and Michelle Monaghan.  Poetry is a troubling, uncomfortable and profound film with a great performance by Koran actress Jeong-hie Yun.  In a Better World is an ambitious contemplation on violence by Danish director Susanne Bier (Brothers, After the Wedding).  Potiche, a delightful French farce of feminist self-discovery is the funniest movie in over a year, and another showcase for Catherine Deneuve (as if she needs one).

The Princess of Montpensier is an exquisitely beautiful romance about a 16th century French noblewoman who is forced by her father to marry – but not the man she loves; her new husband is unhealthily jealous and for good reason – various members of the Court fall in love with her and she is too immature to handle it well.  Hanna is a rip roaring girl-power thriller starring Saiorse Ronan as a 16-year-old raised in the Arctic Circle to be a master assassin by her rogue secret agent father, and then released upon the CIA.  The Robber is about an emotionless, compulsive bank robber who doesn’t care about the money, and you won’t care about him, either.

For trailers and other choices, see Movies to See Right Now.

I haven’t yet seen Cave of Forgotten Dreams,  Incendies or Queen to Play, which open this weekend.  You can see trailers of upcoming films at Movies I’m Looking Forward To.

My DVD pick is Somewhere.

Movies on TV this week include the epic Lawrence of Arabia on TCM, which will look great on your wide screen HDTV – more on that tomorrow.

The Robber: robbing and running, but why? and who cares?

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The title character in The Robber/Der Rauber finishes a six-year prison term for bank robbery and immediately and compulsively robs a bank.  He doesn’t care about the money, he is simply driven to rob banks.

He has spent his six years in prison obsessively training, and he wins the Vienna Marathon when he gets out.  Along the way, his running ability helps him make dramatic escapes.  The role of the robber is very physically demanding, and he is well-played by Andreas Lust (Revanche).

It’s a well-acted and at times beautifully shot movie, but the story by writer-director Benjamin Heidenberg lets us down.  Why is the robber so compulsive?  How did he get to be so alienated?  Since he shows no emotion or human connection, why should we care?

There exists an excellent German bank robbery drama with lots of running, plus a great character, so I recommend Run Lola Run on DVD.