2018 Berlinale

Opening night of the 68th Berlinale 2018 last night!

Marlene-Dietrich Platz was already buzzing with activity as people began to arrive at the premiere of the opening film, Wes Anderson's Isle of Dogs.

We watched the recorded Opening Ceremony and film at the  Friedrichstadt Palast - quite a lengthy affair, compered by presenter/actress/comedian Anke Engelke, and with speeches and interventions from various dignitaries, including the Minister of State and Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media, Monika Grütters, the Governing Mayor of Berlin Michael Müller,  Berlinale Director Dieter Kosslick, the Jury President Tom Tykwer and various others.




Isle of Dogs (Germany/USA 2018, dir. Wes Anderson, Competition & Opening Film) was great fun - and I'm not a big fan of animations, but the director brings his habitually wacky inventiveness to this as to his other successes - remember The Grand Budapest Hotel, 2014? and, of course his animated film of the Roald Dahl story The Fantastic Mr Fox, 2009.

Wes Anderson addresses the Freidrichstadt Palast
audience in German, accompanied by part of the team

Set in the Japanese archipelago 20 years into the future, when the dastardly Mayor Kobayashi banishes all dogs to the toxic wasteland of Trash Island, ostensibly because of the threat to humans from a rampant epidemic of dog flu and Snout Fever... but really because he just hates dogs...  They are joined by Kobayashi's young ward, Atari, who has escaped to the island in search of his missing pet, Spots and joins forces with a renegade canine pack. The search for Spots and the resistance to Kobayashi's plan gives ample scope for the film to explore social and ecological themes through the distinctive personalities of the leading pack embodied by a stellar voice cast. This includes a rough stray named chief (Bryan Cranston) - who bites, a former show dog (Scarlett Johansson), a 'psychic' tv addict (Tilda Swinton) and a host of others (Greta Gerwig, Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum) - all totally engaging... and not just because I'm a dog-lover! The humour is deliciously drole and the art work and animation amazing - so maybe I should review my feelings about animation..... UK release date: 30 March 2018 See the trailer here: Isle of Dogs

Next post to follow shortly!