Obsession

Der Fan (1982) - Schmidt Simone (Désirée Nosbusch) is a sullen teenager who is obsessed with R (Bodo Staiger, the lead singer of Rheingold), a Ian Curtis-like synth pop singer whose moody lyrics she thinks are written just for her. Soon, she is skipping all the classes, acts out at home, and waits outside the post-office for R's responses to her countless fan mails, I mean, love letters, that would never come. If she doesn't get a response in 7 days, she decides, she will track him down. He is making an appearance on a TV show called Top Pop in Munich, so she hitchhikes, risking unwanted sexual advances from older men. But she is determined.

Once she gets to Munich and settles outside the TV studio, she finally sees R. And to her surprise, he notices her from across the street, while surrounded by gaggle of other adoring teen girls, and calls her over, to attend his rehearsals. What's more, he wants to get away on vacation with her to his friend's mansion. It's a dream come true for Simone. They have sex. But it's just a one night stand for him. Once she realizes that, she won't let him go.

What starts out as a teenage fantasy film devolves into a dark and violent obsession, Eckhart Schmidt's lurid crime drama is soley relying on the presence of its young star Nosbusch and her new wave stylings- the walkmen, the hair, the clothing - including the see through backpacks complete with the fascist logos, leather pants, double breasted tops, Der Fan screams out the 80s. The Fan is obviously targeted for the young audience in its day, offering sex, edgy aesthetics, and cool music, then falling into that weirdness you'd expect in German underground cinema of Jörg Buttgereit- but more polished.

Well done 80s Sci-Fi Pastiche

Turbo Kid (2015) - Simard, Whissel & Whissel

The year is post-apocalypse 1997. The world is mostly barren wasteland that looks like rural Canada. A kid (Munro Chambers) scrapes by scavenging, cruising on his tiny, colorful kid's BMX bike. He mostly stirs clear of danger by keeping to himself and escapes the cruel reality by reading his beloved comic book, Turbo Rider. One day, he runs into a freaky blonde girl Apple (Laurence Laboeuf). She's like a puppy dog, cute but doesn't quite understand personal space. The area is ruled by ruthless Zeus (Michael Ironside) who grinds down his gladiators bodies in a meat grinder for water after his famous arena (empty pool) battles. After being chased by Zeus's murderous goons (who killed his parents) on BMXs, the kid discovers a secret bunker where actual Turbo Rider gear were hidden. The message from yesteryear on the ancient looking monitor and graphics tells him that Turbo Rider is indeed the only hope for humanity. The turbo glove, which very much resembles Nintendo Power Glove, when charged, can blow up enemies with turbo power!

If anything, Turbo Kid is unabashedly, immaculately done pastiche of the 80s kid's movie from the title to music to costume. It also makes good use of excessive amount of blood bags practical prosthetics and dummies as it is ultra-violent, harkening back to old Peter Jackson and Sam Raimi grinder movies. Directors are fully committed to keeping a straight face and that helps the film from being a third rate parody. And I love its smart and economical production design. Chambers and Laboeuf are adorable. I really hope this isn't the one hit wonder from these peoples.

Can't Sleep? Drive to an Airport, See What Happens

Into the Night (1985) - Landis



Average schulb Ed (Jeff Goldblum) has a bad case of insomnia. After finding out his wife is cheating on him, he aimlessly drives to LAX one night. There he rescues, Diana (Michelle Pfeiffer), a damsel in distress, and dove right into whole lotta trouble. Like many 80s movies, Into the Night boasts completely overblown plot so unnecessarily intricate and wordy yet mercilessly unexpositional- it's almost charming. It involves some Iranian imperial emeralds smuggling (up in Pfeiffer's tight butt) and Iranian Gestapos (including director John Landis doing Marx Bros routine as one in a quartet of bumbling idiot goons) and other interested parties. It also features David Bowie as a contract killer type, and flurry of other director cameo appearances - Roger Vadim, Paul Mazursky, Johnathan Demme, etc.

Whatever happened to Michelle Pfeiffer? She is so luminous in Into the Night. She looks mighty foxy in her little red leather jacket and tight jeans. The movie is much a do about nothing but has a goofy, screwball comedy charm in the backdrop of 80s excess.

Hardboiled

Détective (1985) - Godard









This all-star cast hard hitting noir riff is perhaps Godard's most playful film from the 80s. It concerns monsieur Jim (Johnny Holliday), a two-bit boxing promoter who owes money around town and a lonely wife, Françoise/Geneviéve (Natalie Baye) of a sad faced pilot (Claude Brasseur) of whom Jim owes money to. They are closely monitored 'with the shitty little Japanese video camera' by a gang of amateur inspectors - uncle Prospero, Neveu (Jean-Pierre Leaud) with the help of a perky little thing/would be Neveu's fiancée after she takes the school exam, Arielle (Aurelle Doazan). Jim has a posse of his own - Tiger Jones, a young boxer whose worst enemy is himself, princess of Barbados (Emmanuelle Seigner) and a young botticelli beauty (Julie Delpy) and an accountant who literally asks computer for solutions to every problem.

Jim not only owes money to the couple but also to a mafioso boss called Prince (Alain Cuny) who happens to be staying at the same opulent Paris hotel where everybody seems to be staying in. Actually, the whole film takes place in and around the hotel. The plot is way too discombobulated to follow along. There are some slight comments on technology and porn, but it's all about characters interactions, funny lines ('Damn Italian legs!'), mad slapstick energy (thanks to Leaud) and beauty of youth. Détective is an unabashedly silly, fun film reminiscent of Breathless.

Beauty of Youth

A Nous Amours (1983) - Pialat

Pialat's raw, unblinking portrait of a promiscuous teen girl is one of the best growing pains films I've seen. Suzanne (Sandrine Bonnaire) is a 15-year old flirt who stays out late every night with different boys. After her stern but adoring father walks out on his family- leaving her hysterical mother and her creepy, underachieving brother to content with by herself, Suzanne goes through a series of men, leaving broken hearts everywhere. She's not the one to love but to be loved. She gets into constant, brutal physical fights with her mom and brother leaving her black and blue. Vibrant Bonnaire is a revelation. Her baby fat still intact, she is the perfect personification of the beauty of youth. Pialat himself memorably plays Suzanne's cynical, frank father who is the only one understands our heroine. Nice to see young Cyril Collard playing good-natured Jean-Pierre, one of the suckers who later gets talked into marrying Suzanne. I love Pialat's unsentimental, objective approach to this 'coming of age' story. Even though it's Suzanne's story, he never lets us forget that she's not the center of the universe. It rings much truer to me.

The Anatomy Lesson

Barbara (2012) - Petzold

As a leading figure of Berliner Schule, director Christian Petzold has been portraying 'lost' people in both literal and metaphorical sense: desperate souls cornered into making tough and sometimes wrong decisions brought on by economic hardships in the post-global recession era. In his new film Barbara, even though the setting is East Germany and the year is 1980, that portrayal of characters in (im)mobile state fits well and works superbly here.

It's East Germany and the year is 1980. Barbara (Nina Hoss) is a city doctor who gets banished to the country as a punishment when she applies for her exit visa to go west. In her new environment, she is under constant surveillance by secret police and subjected to inspections and body cavity search routinely. Deeply distrustful about her new neighbors and colleagues, she tries to keep a distance and concentrate on what she is good at- taking care of patients, all the while planning her escape to the west with her wealthy West German lover.

A young, good-natured fellow doctor Andre (Ronald Zehrfeld) slowly wins her trust with his talent and sincerity. It turns out that he shares a similar history. Andre uses Rembrandt's painting The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp as an analogy for what it's like to be living under communist regime in the 1980s: you want to divert the attention of the spectators (or in this case, of government officials) to obtain a little bit of relief/freedom in a rigid society. And this applies to Barbara's situation as well. There is a mutual attraction growing.

Things get a little more complicated when Stella, a teen runaway from a labor camp with meningitis is admitted to the hospital. She immediately latches on to Barbara. The official policy is to send her back to the camp as soon as she is well. Later Stella confides in Barbara that she is pregnant. Going back to the camp undoubtedly means an end to her unborn child. As the planned escape date approaches, Barbara's personal ethics and morality are being challenged.

Barbara is the fifth collaboration of Hoss and Petzold. As it is revealed at the skype Q & A session after the press screening, the role was written specifically for Hoss. And she is mesmerizing in it. She gives the character a quiet resolve and strength. Deeply moving and humanistic, the film concentrates on the small heroism of one person rather than looking accusingly at a failed ideology.

Barbara screens on Oct. 1, 6pm, Oct. 6, 12:15pm and Oct. 9, 1pm at Film Society of Lincoln Center. For tickets, please go to NYFF 2012 website.