By 
“THE CONGRESS” ***
Israeli director Ari Folman became known for his memories of the Lebanon war expressed in his Golden Globe winning Animated film “Waltz and Bashir”. Back then, he used a psychological and surrealistic narrative to get rid of the traumatizing experiences he’s been through as well as his colleagues. In his first English-speaking project, the director confirms that he isn’t quite done with the subject and maintains his process of exorcizing the haunting fears of the past. He also finds a chance to explore the decadence and integrity in many artistic levels, depicting a sickening system of manipulation and the distractions that cause interruptions on a creative manifestation. In a somberly poetic atmosphere the film introduces actress Robin Wright, sort of performing herself with references to her career, her family, the flops and emotional liaisons, delved into a personal crisis. She hasn’t got a hit in over a decade, currently single and living in a remote area with her children, a girl who’s about to move out, and the younger son who needs special care as he’s losing his hearing. The arrival of a proposal by an iconic studio, ironically named ‘Miramount’, is a chance of fixing her missed opportunities, but the facts of this scientific contract are definitely life-changing: as the Hollywood stars grow older, an experiment apparently successful, is conceived where the actress is “scanned” by a computer programmer, capturing all her emotions, insecurities, joys and emptiness. The material scanned is in property of the studio which uses the actress’ images as they please in various projects, especially in a series of war-combat flicks. In this first half of the film, Folman describes the desperation of an artist seeking a professional reconnection as she’s also trying to keep her children safe, creating an amazing suspense in a dream-like environment where the unexpected situations form a suffocating affliction. Then, the film travels into the fantastic and adventurous animated world, as Robin attends the great reunion of all stars involved (pay attention to glimpses of Tom Cruise, Michael Jackson, historical and mythological figures), and things will get out of order. Folman reveals his imaginative and psychedelic aesthetic trying to straighten up the disturbing effects, with a deliriously fantasy that resembles an acid trip or a valve of escape for the hopeless. The result of this combination of futuristic suspense, personal drama, live-action and animation, contemplation and cynicism, serves coherently as the director’s practices on escaping from the ghosts he encountered and accumulated on his consciousness. But it also works as the latest effort of an artist to criticize and re-examine the rules of a greedy industry that won’t consider anything in order to keep the cash rolling.
MOVING LOVERS
In Phillippe Garrel’s “Jealousy”, an actor (played by his handsome son Louis) leaves his family for his lover, a complicated femme fatale struggling for success. The situation leads both of them to engage in other passionate encounters, increasing the risks and challenging their loyalty. Beautifully shot in B&W and directed with seductive sensibility, it’s a brilliant exercise on modern relationships and family ties.
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