by Alex Deleon Farba for <filmfestivals.com>
Judging from the Sunday morning papers here in Berlin on day five of Berlin '64 one might get the impression that the main raison d'être of the festival is the visitation of Hollywood megastar Gorgeous George Clooney. A sampling:
Mr. Clooney is here to present and promote his fith directed effort, "The Monuments Men" of which he also the star. The picture is a didactic all star entertainer about the recovery of stolen art works in WW II and is here in competition as a world premiere made in Babelsberg, but is more icing on the festival cake than a serious Contender for the Golden Bear palmarès.
The press here followed every move and minute of Clooney's 24 hour gambit about town including meetings with prominent politicos such as culture minister Monika Grütters, interview rounds, the lavish premiere party, and even the full menu of the film crew dinner sponsored by the actor at the swank Grill Royal ~ €1450 worth of Chateaubriand and Chardonna 2011 at 120€ a bottle. Other dinner guests were costar Matt Damon and wife, John Goodman, and French Oscar laureate, Jean DuJardin. Well, there are suPerstars and then there are MegAstars ... George Clooney, now 52 and showing silvery strands in his hair, is undisputedly Mega all the way. It took him a long time to get there but he'll probably stay there for years to come.
New arrivals sighted at Tegel Airport were American actress Uma Thurman, 43, and British thespian Pierce Brosnan. 60. Uma brought along her baby daughter,Rosalind Arusha Arkadina Altalune Florence -- (Only a year and a hlaf old and already five names!) -- presumably to disassociate herself in real life from whatever sleazy associations might slosh off from her participation in Lars von Trier's sex charged "Nymphomania" , Part 1 of which opens here tonight. Mr. Brosnan who will appear in the Berlin Special gala "A Long Way Down" was accompanied by the love if his life -- his mother.
The big event today is the breatlessly awaited uncut version of "Nymphomania" -- von Trier's salacious bid for screen immortality.
Another big event on the agenda for today is the arrival here of the much discussed doc of the year -- Jehane Nouhaim's "Al Medan" (The Square) tracing the Arab Spring and Nightmare in Egypt from the fall of dictator Mubarak to the still up-in-the-air present... a strong contender for the 2014 Documentary Oscar.