Film Festival: Berlinale: Timothée, Tilda and Trump as an elephant in the room

Men with megalomania and burst hopes from migrants: A number of films from this year’s Berlinale make you think of US President Donald Trump and his politics. Although Jessica Chastain, Robert Pattinson, Timothée Chalamet and Tilda Swinton awarded the Berlinale Star Glamour, their appearances were also characterized by Trump and other political questions.

Striking: No star took the name Trump in speeches or at press conferences. He was the elephant in the room, so to speak. This reminded that Hollywood has been strikingly silent since Trump’s taking office. The celebrities hold back with political statements.

Meanwhile, the first of the 19 contributions were started in the competition. The Chinese feature film “Sheng Xi Zhi di” (“Living the Land”) by Huo Meng and the French competition contribution “Ari” by Léonor Serraille were the first favorites.

Jessica Chastain in migrant drama

The drama “Dreams” by Michel Franco celebrated world premiere at the weekend. Oscar winner Chastain plays the leading role in this love drama, which revolves around an affair between a wealthy American and an illegal migrant from Mexico.

“I won’t give up my country,” said the American when asked whether the United States was still the country of dreams. “Many of us are still very hopeful – and we are fighting for a good thing.”

Although Chastain did not speak out the name Trump, it became clear that she has referred to the time since the US President took office. His government drives arrests and deportations of migrants without a residence permit, regardless of all criticism of citizen and human rights activists.

Chalamet evades political question

At the press conference on the BOB-Dylan film “Like a Complete Unknown”, it was briefly about the current situation of the United States. The main actor Chalamet remained extremely vague. The question of a journalist, what he had learned in his leading role as Bob Dylan about interpreting the present with the rise of populism, he rather evoked.

The Oscar candidate only emphasized-without mentioning the US President: “I would say: Beware of any savior figure, no matter who that is”. Before everyone who said that he had a solution, you have to be careful. The moderator of the press conference then warned of just asking questions about the film.

An unscrupulous politician in “Mickey 17”

Memories of the US President are also awake in “Mickey 17”: Robert Pattinson is the star of this sci-fi satire, which also ran at the Berlinale at the weekend. Director Bong Joon-Ho (“Parasite”) tells of a space mission that wants to submit a new planet. Pattinson plays Mickey, who has a particularly ungrateful task.

It is used on the mission for particularly dangerous tasks. If he dies, with the help of a bioprinter, a kind of clone is simply made by him. One day the team thinks it is dead, even though he is still alive. And suddenly there are two Mickeys who fight each other.

Interesting: The American Mark Ruffalo plays an unscrupulous politician and leader of space mission in “Mickey 17” – with a way of speaking that is reminiscent of Trump.

Oscar winner Tilda Swinton also indirectly distributed against the US president at the opening gala. In doing so, she referred to his controversial statement that the United States would take control of the Gaza Strip, develop the Palestinian coastal area destroyed by the war economically and thus transform the area into a “Riviera of the Middle East”.

Jury President Todd Haynes said that the USA was still “completely under shock” after the Trump election.

A Hollywood star in BabyRosa – and one who likes to eat schnitzel

But there was also a conversation outside of politics. CHALAMET – one of the most sought -after actors at all – came to fan screeches in a combination of hoodie, fuel top and baggy on the red carpet – fully in Babyrosa to match the Valentine’s Day. At the premiere of his film, his girlfriend Kylie Jenner joined him in the cinema hall.

Actress Fiona Shaw – known from “Harry Potter” and represented at the Berlinale in the competition contribution “Hot Milk” – had previously been surprised about the long line before the press conference with Chalamet. So much crowds were, some have been suspected, no longer since Madonna came to the Berlinale.

Pattinson also caused excitement. In keeping with the tough image of the capital, he came in a leather look and with jumping boots on the carpet. For a long time he made autographs and did selfies with fans. When asked what he prefers to do in Berlin, he said: “I always go to the same place. It is a schnitzel restaurant.”