Film Jukebox: Lali Puna

Lali Puna

Lali Puna have been offering an irresistibly lovely, off-kilter take on electronic pop music for well over a decade. Combining glitchy electronica with guitar pop the band create gorgeous pop songs, held together by Valerie Trebeljahr’s airy vocals and The Notwist’s Markus Acher’s rhythmic guitar. Hailing from Weilheim in Germany, the band have been a staple of Berlin’s Morr Music roster, with intelligence and invention being at the forefront of their musical output. Their new album ‘Our Inventions’ is out now. For more information, go to the Lali Puna webiste. Below, they tell us about their favourite films. LUCY HURST

Valerie

1. Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961)
A girl’s film, I know: love story, Audrey Hepburn, happy ending. I know. But it is my favourite film. It’s heartbreaking when Hepburn sings ‘Moon River’ on the stairs and when it rains in the end. The 60s were such a great decade!

2. Princess Mononoke & Spirited Away (1997 + 2001)
I love Studio Ghibli, it began with a Totoro figure that I bought in a museum without knowing anything about it. When I found out where it came from I tried to get as much information as I could about director Hayao Miyazaki. I can’t decide which is my favourite out of Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. They are both very impressive with gorgeous images and strange stories. They’re best seen in the cinema, I saw Mononoke in a tiny cinema and one part was missing – but even then it was good.

3. Lilo & Stitch (2002)
Sequels and series are usually really bad but Lilo & Stitch: The Movie captured my heart from the beginning. The story sees a little girl adopting a small blue alien monster (Experiment 626) from dog pound. Monster Stitch was programmed to destroy but in Hawaii there’s not much to destroy. I usually hate all the newer Walt Disney films from the start after seeing the posters, but Lilo & Stitch is really different.

4. Full Metal Village (2007)
This documentary examines a small town in northern Germany, Wacken, home of one of the biggest heavy metal festivals – the Wacken Open Air. It is about the locals (a farmer, a young girl, some old women and one former festival organiser) dealing with the festival and its fans. It shows how the locals and the metal fans get along and even harmonise. The film gets a special note because it’s directed by a Korean woman, who has created a sort of Heimatfilm.

5. Fargo (1996)
I don’t just watch romantic and animated films all the time… There is a place for science fiction and heavy dramas too as well as dark comedy such as Fargo. It is great to see Frances McDormand as a pregnant sheriff and William H Macy as a salesman who thinks he’s in control but everything just gets worse and worse and worse. Great dry sense of humour.

Markus:

6. Badlands (1973)
Hypnotic and minimal, Badlands is a very quiet and very violent movie with intense colours, American landscapes and Carl Orff. A nightmare but very beautiful…

7. Stroszek (1977)
Bruno S is a very impressive character. One will never forget him after seeing this movie.

8. The Apartment (1960)
I don’t like romantic comedies at all. Maybe that’s why I like this movie so much.

9. Yi Yi (2000)
Yi Yi tells the story of a family. It’s very long, so at first, it might seem to be very boring, but actually it’s one of the most absorbing and haunting movies I know. I just wish it would be possible to see more films by Edward Yang.

10. Jan Švankmajer – Every movie
Švankmajer is a surrealist animator from Prague. He made all sorts of films, long and short, and in a way these are all parts of one story. Aside from the incredible artistry and fantastic visual experience, they also have great original music.