![_Golden State Warriors Officially Moving To San Francisco [Updated]](http://sfist.com/assets_c/2012/05/SFArena_Rendering-thumb-250x250-715954.jpg)
SFIFF: All The Rage
Last night we again settled ourselves into the comfy reclining chairs at the newly renovated Kabuki theater for the SFIFF, and adored the amorous, light-hearted “claymation” Spanish short Capelito - the travails of a spurned mushroom-shaped suitor, who can’t win to lose when it comes to wooing his mushroom-shaped princess.
The film that followed Capelito, though, turned out to be one of the most disturbing, provocative films we’ve seen at this year’s festival thus far. Rage, a made-for-television German thriller/drama by Turkish-born, German-raised Zuli Aladag, kept us at the edge of our seat for ninety minutes.
On reflection, it seems so appropriate that Rage should play on May Day, and the same day as all the rallies protesting recent immigration sweeps. We weren’t really prepared for the intensity of Rage. For instance, we’d never seen Russian Roulette performed with pocket knives before (not that we’ve ever seen Russian Roulette offscreen).
More about Rage -- which was condemned in Germany as xenophobic -- and a Q&A that got so engaging that it had to be continued outside the theater.
SFist Wendy, contributing.
We were aware from various synopses that Rage would chronicle the conflict between a young Turk, Can, whose family is living in Berlin, and his German counterpart, Felix, but the film is about so much more. The conflict between Can and Felix ultimately envelopes both their families, and draws us into intense ethnic and cultural tensions, as well as extreme generational tensions between fathers and sons.
Throughout the film, we found ourselves struggling to figure out if there was a hero and a villain, and if so, who it was. The film left us with many more questions than answers, and it definitely ended so unexpectedly for us that we were in shock as the post-film Q&A with director Aladeg commenced. The film generated such a reaction and so many questions that the Q&A had to be continued outside because the theater was closing.
Rage, which has shown in Germany but not in Turkey, was apparently condemned by Der Spiegel and by older generations as xenophobic, but according to Aladag, was met with a more “natural” reaction by younger generations, especially younger Turks living in poorer urban areas. We highly recommend checking out Rage (which unfortunately does not show again at the festival).