A German-funded documentary, Comrades in Dreams offers a taste of cinema in North Korea, India, Burkina Faso and the mid-west of the US through the eyes of four local cinema owners. As you would expect, there are obvious differences - North Korea plays only inspired 'propaganda' type films with a strong sense of nationalism, where the other cinemas can play what they like, although those from India proudly prefer local home-grown films. Director Uli Gaulke directs with subtlety; he allows time for his subjects to have their say and his observational style works well. The film has suffered in the editing room, though. It lacks a clear narrative structure resulting in a series of scenes that don't seem to follow on naturally from one another. The placement of the four stories amongst each other is uneven - the Indian film is dropped too early. Gaulke's subjects could have been fleshed out a great deal more (they are definitely interesting enough) which suggests that this material would have been better suited to a four-part television series where there is more time to fully explore the intricacies of each story.
6.5 on the DaveScale.
(dir. Uli Gaulke, Germany, 100 mins)
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