Tom Barman
Any Way The Wind Blows

THE REVIEW

That dEUS had a fixation with Fridays was known (159 times in a song, there must be a reason). Tommaso Barman, in his directorial debut, reveals the same fixation: "Any Way The Wind Blows" (a Zappa-like title) was released in 2003 by Axiom Films, and takes place all in one day. Coincidentally, a Friday.

Antwerp, early June. / On a sweltering Friday afternoon, eight people dream of a different life. / There's wind and music, police and paranoia, hints and allegations. / There's an ancient virus, a wandering frisbee, a dead horse, and, drifting through town, an enigmatic phenomenon called Windman / who feels the pain of everyone but can't seem to help himself. / At night, a party welcomes all...

Antwerp, early June. "Any Way The Wind Blows" is the story, or rather, the stories of eight people that intertwine with each other; there's the professor in crisis, there's the one who loses his job, there's the man of power who abuses his power. And then there's the one who smuggles a mysterious vial (the "ancient virus" from the blurb), two youngsters who roam the city filling it with posters, a young photographer and her companion.
Windman is a standalone character, a man of the winds who doesn't know where to go or what to do exactly.

There are many ideas, but little coherence, or plot: what keeps the film alive is the desire to tell stories, even things that have nothing in common, like a frisbee, a horse, and the mysterious Windman. In the end, the stories intertwine ("at night, a party welcomes all..."), in a web of romantic intrigues and strange coincidences, but I still haven't figured out what the hell the dance that closes the film means.

Barman's direction is like the music of dEUS. Lively, eccentric, enterprising. And indeed, it goes a bit "any way the wind blows." His camera moves wherever the wind blows.
The selection of songs made by Tommaso deserves applause (dEUS, Magnus, Herbie Hancock, Queens of the Stone Age), yet there's one flaw: why didn't they dub the film in Italian? Who knows.

I give it a 7, I say. For the rest, YOU rate it.