Berlin Fantasy Film Fest, Day 6

Monday, September 9

Only one movie for me today. I saw A Different Man, staring Sebastian Stan.
    The film festival experience was about the same today as yesterday, although today, since i'd done some adventuring beforehand and didn't go back to the hostel in between, i was hiding my big camera in my vest. I found that i could detach the lens, and get the camera body into one of my interior pockets. The lens would have fit in the other one, except that, due to the cold and the rain, i had my zipped-off sleeves in there, so the lens had to ride in a cargo pocket in my shorts. This was uncomfortable, both physically, and emotionally, as i was concerned for the lens's safety down there. Also i thought it might look like a can of soda, if any of the security people wanted to bug me about it.
    No one cared. Honestly i don't know if they even would have noticed me bringing in the camera.

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A DIFFERENT MAN

I don't really know how i feel about this one!
    It's an A24 movie which has already been picked up by Universal, so after the festival circuit is over, it's going to get at least a limited release, if not a full theatrical run. Sebastian Stan is the lead, as well as Executive Producer. He plays a struggling actor with a disease which has caused facial deformities. He undergoes a procedure to correct that, and then things get weird.
    I don't know how much i can say about this one without getting into major spoilers, but i will say, the trailer and descriptions i read are kind of misleading. Which is...actually kind of why i don't want to say much, because even if i try to correct the impression i got from the trailer, that will take some of the punch out of a few big reveals.
    It's a weird movie. You will see Sebastian Stan's entire cock and balls, although not erect, which in my opinion is a huge continuity error. That flaccid dick broke the illusion!!
    The narrative is easy to follow, although i think i'm a little lost thematically. There were a number of scenes that i'm not quite sure what the point was, and there's a least a couple Chekhov's guns that go unfired, which was bothersome to me. Planting & payoff is my favorite literary device. That's why i love Die Hard so much.
    And also why it can be narratively unsatisfying to publish this travelogue as i go. We're never going to circle back to that bit where i got stabbed in the leg in Helsinki, i'm sorry. I put it in there in case i got gangrene later or whatever, but nothing ended up happening. I'll edit that out in the second draft{.}
    Anyway, the movie.
    I think it was good. I'll definitely watch it again, to be sure. And to Shazam some of the songs in a setting where pulling my phone out is not a faux pas.