Berlín (Berlin)

With actors Ed Bejarano, Timo Berger, and Clara Masnatta

“Berlin” is the portrait of a city quickly sketched on DV tape, a mosaic of everyday life as experienced by two Argentine immigrants. Virtually dispensing with dialog, this one-man pic by Homero Cirelli comes close to the feel of a silent movie, though music and sound effects are carefully used to create atmosphere. Aiming to capture fleeting moods and moments, it has an experimental quality that should appeal primarily to under-30 festival auds, who will appreciate the complete lack of German stereotypes.
Two young men (Ed Bejarano, Timo Berger) arrive in Berlin with backpacks and take a look around. We find them drinking beer on the roof of a deserted building, where a reduced city panorama begins to delimit their new world. One gets a job in a restaurant kitchen, the other moves in with an upscale roommate. They meet a girl (Clara Masnatta), listen to bands play in basement clubs, attend a “Love Rules” peace rally. Overall impression is that of a young, vibrant, multi-racial city. Cirelli seems to be taking notes with his rough, hand-held DV camerawork, whose ugly colors become part of the modern city experience.

Links: IMDB, Variety.Com
Genre(s): Classic Documentary;