Monsoon Wedding is a 2001 film by Mira Nair. It is an Indian film and set in New Delhi. The beginning of the movie starts with guests arriving in different groups to attend a wedding. The first thing that struck me about this movie is that sometimes they speak in English which was weird.
There are many different characters in this film. There is the father who is kind of a jerk to everyone and likes things to be done on time. He takes things very seriously probably because he is paying for everything. Some of the family members dont get along with each other. Some of them already didnt like each other and some of them learn to not like each other. The opposite could also be said as new fond connections are formed when people meet at this event. The guy with the hurt arm and the girl with the tatoo like each other.
The power goes out at one point and the one girl Alice helps the contracter guy(Dubey) try to fix the problem but he doesnt really know what hes doing. That girl has a crush on him, you can tell since she brings him water earlier.
The bride to be in this film, Aditi Verma is nervous about getting this arranged marriage since she has only known the man for a few weeks. She also quarells with her older cousin, Ria, when she trys to give her advice. She makes fun of her saying something like "how could i take advice of passion from my unmarried older cousin?" But it turns out that Ria was sexually abused by her uncle which mentally scarred her. The women bond in this film by shopping together. I didnt know they played golf in India until after i watched this movie.
Aditi goes to see her old lover. She tells him she cant remember why she broke up with him. The police show up and threaten to charge them both with indecent exposure. Her lover gets a call from his wife and then Aditi instantly remembers why she left him and leaves him again. They have the one scene where the family takes a picture after Ria rerturns and this is intense because the photographer, unaware of her past, tells her to take the place closest to the man who abused her as a child.
It rains alot during the wedding, which i guess is why the title has the word "Monsoon" it it. The father is very grateful that he paid the extra $5,000 for waterproofing on the tents. He even lets Dubey stand inside during the rain and dance with the rest of the family. I thought Aditi was going to back out of the wedding at the last second but she does not. I liked the way this movie was filmed and all of the bright colors that were used in the outfits and settings.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Children of Heaven
Children of Heaven is a 1997 Iranian film by Majid Majidi. The movie begins with a man fixing a young girls shoes. Ali is the one in charge of bringing them back home. He also was supposed to get food on the way back. He successfully got the bread and potatoes from the 2 different vendors. But while he was choosing the potatoes he had to put down the other items he was carrying and the garbage man mistakened his bag of shoes for a bag of garbage and threw it away with the trash.
Ali goes home without the shoes and tells his sister Zahra not to inform the mother for fear of getting in trouble. He promises to go back out and find them, however, he does not find them and makes a deal with his sister to share his pair of sneakers since luckily Zahra has school in the morning and Ali has school later on in the day.
After the first 2 days of Ali being late, the principal tells him that if he is late 1 more time he will be expelled. Ali is late every day even though he runs as fast as he can to school. The 3rd time he is caught again and told to go home and not to return without his father. Thank goodness Ali's teacher helps him out and explains to the principal that Ali is a good student who gets high marks.
Zahra notices her old shoes being worn by another girl at her school. She follows her home and comes back on another day with Ali to show him. Zahra eventually becomes friends with this girl after she drops a pen within her line of sight and the girl returns it the next day and they tell each other where they live.
Ali gets the chance to enter into a race at school for all 3rd and 4th graders, and he knows he can win since he has started running to school everyday to not be late. He discovers that the prizes are different for each place and the 3rd place prize is a pair of sneakers. The first and second place prizes are better for the individual but all Ali is concerned with is getting his sister a new pair of shoes so he plans to lose the 1st and 2nd place on purpose just to get 3rd to get the shoes and then trade them in for girls shoes.
The bad thing that happens during the race is that its so close. There are 3 people running neck and neck and Ali realizes that he has to stay in front of at least 1 of the people but since they are all next to each other he has to pass them all and winds up winning 1st place by accident. He is saddened by this since it means that he wont get shoes for his sister but at the end of the film there is a shot of the father and his bicycle and he is carrying 2 pairs of shoes, 1 pink and 1 white most likely for Ali and Zahra. By the time the credits roll, however, the father did not return home yet and Ali is just sitting alone soaking his blister laden feet in the pond.
This movie is a heck of a lot more exciting than i thought it could be regarding that its main plot deals with a 7 year old girl not having a pair of shoes. The drama seems like it will never end. FRom Zahra losing the one shoe in the stream to Ali getting knocked down near the end of the race, it seems like these characters could just not catch a break. And this is what makes the movie entertaining and worth watching. The 2 main child actors did a wonderful job displaying the emotions that a person would be dealing with in the same situation.
Ali goes home without the shoes and tells his sister Zahra not to inform the mother for fear of getting in trouble. He promises to go back out and find them, however, he does not find them and makes a deal with his sister to share his pair of sneakers since luckily Zahra has school in the morning and Ali has school later on in the day.
After the first 2 days of Ali being late, the principal tells him that if he is late 1 more time he will be expelled. Ali is late every day even though he runs as fast as he can to school. The 3rd time he is caught again and told to go home and not to return without his father. Thank goodness Ali's teacher helps him out and explains to the principal that Ali is a good student who gets high marks.
Zahra notices her old shoes being worn by another girl at her school. She follows her home and comes back on another day with Ali to show him. Zahra eventually becomes friends with this girl after she drops a pen within her line of sight and the girl returns it the next day and they tell each other where they live.
Ali gets the chance to enter into a race at school for all 3rd and 4th graders, and he knows he can win since he has started running to school everyday to not be late. He discovers that the prizes are different for each place and the 3rd place prize is a pair of sneakers. The first and second place prizes are better for the individual but all Ali is concerned with is getting his sister a new pair of shoes so he plans to lose the 1st and 2nd place on purpose just to get 3rd to get the shoes and then trade them in for girls shoes.
The bad thing that happens during the race is that its so close. There are 3 people running neck and neck and Ali realizes that he has to stay in front of at least 1 of the people but since they are all next to each other he has to pass them all and winds up winning 1st place by accident. He is saddened by this since it means that he wont get shoes for his sister but at the end of the film there is a shot of the father and his bicycle and he is carrying 2 pairs of shoes, 1 pink and 1 white most likely for Ali and Zahra. By the time the credits roll, however, the father did not return home yet and Ali is just sitting alone soaking his blister laden feet in the pond.
This movie is a heck of a lot more exciting than i thought it could be regarding that its main plot deals with a 7 year old girl not having a pair of shoes. The drama seems like it will never end. FRom Zahra losing the one shoe in the stream to Ali getting knocked down near the end of the race, it seems like these characters could just not catch a break. And this is what makes the movie entertaining and worth watching. The 2 main child actors did a wonderful job displaying the emotions that a person would be dealing with in the same situation.
Dreams
Dreams is a 1990 film by Akira Kurosawa that is based on actual dreams of the director at different times in his life. There is a total of 8 different dreams depicted throughout the film and one of them has a cameo from the famous American director Marin Scorsese.
The first dream is entitle Sunshine Through the Rain. A small boy is told by his mother to not go into the woods because at this time the foxes would be marrying at this time. He does not listen and hides behind a big tree and watches the slow procession. The foxes see the boy and he runs away. When he returns home his mother tells him they were looking for him and he must now either kill himself or go ask for forgiveness. The boy walks towards where they live.
The next dream is The Peach Orchard in which another young boy is the main character. Dolls are usually spread around during the blossoming time and this time the dolls come to life and the boy witnesses them dance.
Another dream is the Tunnel where on soldier is walking by himself and gets to a tunnel. A dog comes out the tunnel and barks alot while looking mean. A dead soldier appears and tells the guy that he wishes he was dead. Then a big group of dead soldiers appear and the alive man feels extremely guilty and realizes that war is not a good thing.
The next dream is Crows which has Martin Scorsese playing Vincent Van Gogh. This dream follows an art student who talks to Van Gogh then its interesting because he walks through several differnt famous paintings.
Mount Fuji in Red describes what could happen with the worlds large technically advanced nuclear weapons if they were used on a large scale and people would die from radiation and other bad things.
The Weeping Demon is pretty much a follow up to the aftermath of a nuclear attack many years down the road. There are Demons which are essentially mutated humans in the future who have become cannibals since all the earth is destroyed and cannot sutain plant life.
The last dream is Village of the Watermills which has a man travel to a village that has many watermills. The townspeople have decided to go back to a more environmentally friendly power source rather than a more convienient one. The film ends with a funeral procession where the people are celebrating the death of an old woman instead of mourning it.
This film shows many of the personal beliefs and feelings of its director Akira Kurosawa. This must have been a movie that Kurosawa felt was important for people to see. The Crows dream is one of the most beautifully filmed scenes that i have ever seen in a movie. I also like the weeping demon dream because it had gigantic dandelions and talked about hairy fish, 2 faced hares, and one eyed birds.
The first dream is entitle Sunshine Through the Rain. A small boy is told by his mother to not go into the woods because at this time the foxes would be marrying at this time. He does not listen and hides behind a big tree and watches the slow procession. The foxes see the boy and he runs away. When he returns home his mother tells him they were looking for him and he must now either kill himself or go ask for forgiveness. The boy walks towards where they live.
The next dream is The Peach Orchard in which another young boy is the main character. Dolls are usually spread around during the blossoming time and this time the dolls come to life and the boy witnesses them dance.
Another dream is the Tunnel where on soldier is walking by himself and gets to a tunnel. A dog comes out the tunnel and barks alot while looking mean. A dead soldier appears and tells the guy that he wishes he was dead. Then a big group of dead soldiers appear and the alive man feels extremely guilty and realizes that war is not a good thing.
The next dream is Crows which has Martin Scorsese playing Vincent Van Gogh. This dream follows an art student who talks to Van Gogh then its interesting because he walks through several differnt famous paintings.
Mount Fuji in Red describes what could happen with the worlds large technically advanced nuclear weapons if they were used on a large scale and people would die from radiation and other bad things.
The Weeping Demon is pretty much a follow up to the aftermath of a nuclear attack many years down the road. There are Demons which are essentially mutated humans in the future who have become cannibals since all the earth is destroyed and cannot sutain plant life.
The last dream is Village of the Watermills which has a man travel to a village that has many watermills. The townspeople have decided to go back to a more environmentally friendly power source rather than a more convienient one. The film ends with a funeral procession where the people are celebrating the death of an old woman instead of mourning it.
This film shows many of the personal beliefs and feelings of its director Akira Kurosawa. This must have been a movie that Kurosawa felt was important for people to see. The Crows dream is one of the most beautifully filmed scenes that i have ever seen in a movie. I also like the weeping demon dream because it had gigantic dandelions and talked about hairy fish, 2 faced hares, and one eyed birds.
The Eye
The Eye is a 2002 East Asian horror film by the Pang Brothers. The plot concerns itself with a 20 year old girl who has been blind since the age of 2 that recently undergoes a eye transplant to be able to see. At first it "looks" as if all has gone well as the girl is able to see and is happy about it. But then she starts to see things that nobody else can see, the spirits of those who had died and have unfinished business.
At first, the girl doesn't realize that the people she is seeing are not alive. She is not used to seeing so the ghosts seem normal to her. She starts to realize there is something fishy going on when the young boy who keeps asking for his report card is discovered to be dead by the girl. This girl also has been going to a psychiatrist to help her deal with any mental troubles that accompany having the gift of sight after not having it for 18 years. She tells him the stories of seeing the dead people and such other things. The doctor believes her and the 2 travel to check out where the eyes came from to get a better handle on the situation.
They go to the area in Northern Thailand where the eyes came from. The ask the village doctor questions about the type of person the girl was who used to have the eyes. They found out the girls name was Ling and she reported the same type of troubles that are happening now. They go find out where Ling lived and talk to her mother. They find out that Ling had hung herself due to no one in town believing her when she told them about a huge explosion that was going to kill many. And now Lings spirit re-enacts her death every night until her mother forgives her an d comes and saves Mun who this time did the enactment since she was there.
Now that Mun knows the origin of the eyes that she has she travels back home. There is a traffic jam in the street Mun can see many spirits roaming the street, which means that a big catastrophe is close to happening. Mun gets out of the bus and tries to warn all of the drivers and passengers in the cars. Dr. Wah saves Mun from death after the explosion happens but pieces of glass still stab her in the eyes leaving her blind again.
At the end of the movie she chooses not to get a new set of eyes because of what she saw the last time. She just decides to stay blind and keep her love interest Dr. Wah. The special effects in this film were pretty good with the ghosts and things moving and explosions. I got scared a few times due to the sound and creepy images.
At first, the girl doesn't realize that the people she is seeing are not alive. She is not used to seeing so the ghosts seem normal to her. She starts to realize there is something fishy going on when the young boy who keeps asking for his report card is discovered to be dead by the girl. This girl also has been going to a psychiatrist to help her deal with any mental troubles that accompany having the gift of sight after not having it for 18 years. She tells him the stories of seeing the dead people and such other things. The doctor believes her and the 2 travel to check out where the eyes came from to get a better handle on the situation.
They go to the area in Northern Thailand where the eyes came from. The ask the village doctor questions about the type of person the girl was who used to have the eyes. They found out the girls name was Ling and she reported the same type of troubles that are happening now. They go find out where Ling lived and talk to her mother. They find out that Ling had hung herself due to no one in town believing her when she told them about a huge explosion that was going to kill many. And now Lings spirit re-enacts her death every night until her mother forgives her an d comes and saves Mun who this time did the enactment since she was there.
Now that Mun knows the origin of the eyes that she has she travels back home. There is a traffic jam in the street Mun can see many spirits roaming the street, which means that a big catastrophe is close to happening. Mun gets out of the bus and tries to warn all of the drivers and passengers in the cars. Dr. Wah saves Mun from death after the explosion happens but pieces of glass still stab her in the eyes leaving her blind again.
At the end of the movie she chooses not to get a new set of eyes because of what she saw the last time. She just decides to stay blind and keep her love interest Dr. Wah. The special effects in this film were pretty good with the ghosts and things moving and explosions. I got scared a few times due to the sound and creepy images.
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Shanghai Triad
Shanhai Triad is a 1995 Chinese film. This was directed by Zhang Yimou and stars Gong Li. The setting is in the 1930s in the criminal underworld of Shanghai. The main plot revolves a young boy named Shuisheng who has been chosen from his village to become the servant for Xiao Jingbao who is the current girlfriend of the main crime boss Tang. Xia Jinbao is the most beautiful woman around and often sings songs on stage at the coolest club in Shanghai.
Shuisheng's uncle is in charge of teaching the ropes of how things work in the city as opposed to what he is used to in his village. Shuisheng gets nervous alot and makes several mistakes throughout the movie such as dropping things and not moving fast enough or answering questions. Shuisheng hears noises one night and goes to see whats going on and sees several men fighting and and stabbing each other and then dragging the dead bodies inside to a bath area. Shuisheng follows the men to discover that his uncle is one of the men who got stabbed and is now dead.
This movie had some interesting scenes. The part where Shuisheng follows the blood trail to find his dead uncle is an intense scene. And at the end where we see everything upside down from Shuishengs point of view is a nice idea. Shanghai Triad did a good job of showing what life was like in Shanghai at the time. Im sure alot of murders and gangster type business happened very often and this film displayed that.
Tang notices that Shuisheng has the look of revenge in his eye and decides to escape the now dangerous Shanghai for a couple days and go hide in one of the tranquil villages so no one can attempt to kill him again. He already looks injured and holds his midsection and moves slowly.
Tang, Shuisheng, Xiao, and a few bodyguards go off to hide in a small village. Xaio meets a young girl who is stunningly beautiful. She asks her if she knows how to sing and they sing together for a moment. Xaio goes to the girls mother and asks if she can take her and raise her. The mother says no but then the guards who had been watching Xiao go and kill the womans mother and her fiance and take the girl.
Shuisheng sees two guys approach from a rival gang and listens to them discuss how they are going to try and kill Xaio. Shuisheng runs and tells Tang that there are men coming who want to kill Xaio. Tang then reveals that he knows that peoople are probably coming and that was his plan the whole time. He knew that Xaio was cheating on him and was gonna kill her himself. He also reveals that he never even got injured and had been faking it the entire time in order to fool his rivals. He then has Xaio killed along with the traitors.
The movie ends with Tang and the beautiful young girl on a boat heading back to Shanghai. Shuisheng is also there hanging upside down to teach him a lesson. So the little girl will most likely become Tangs new girlfriend and this cycle will go around and repeat itself until Tang is dead.
Shuisheng's uncle is in charge of teaching the ropes of how things work in the city as opposed to what he is used to in his village. Shuisheng gets nervous alot and makes several mistakes throughout the movie such as dropping things and not moving fast enough or answering questions. Shuisheng hears noises one night and goes to see whats going on and sees several men fighting and and stabbing each other and then dragging the dead bodies inside to a bath area. Shuisheng follows the men to discover that his uncle is one of the men who got stabbed and is now dead.
This movie had some interesting scenes. The part where Shuisheng follows the blood trail to find his dead uncle is an intense scene. And at the end where we see everything upside down from Shuishengs point of view is a nice idea. Shanghai Triad did a good job of showing what life was like in Shanghai at the time. Im sure alot of murders and gangster type business happened very often and this film displayed that.
Tang notices that Shuisheng has the look of revenge in his eye and decides to escape the now dangerous Shanghai for a couple days and go hide in one of the tranquil villages so no one can attempt to kill him again. He already looks injured and holds his midsection and moves slowly.
Tang, Shuisheng, Xiao, and a few bodyguards go off to hide in a small village. Xaio meets a young girl who is stunningly beautiful. She asks her if she knows how to sing and they sing together for a moment. Xaio goes to the girls mother and asks if she can take her and raise her. The mother says no but then the guards who had been watching Xiao go and kill the womans mother and her fiance and take the girl.
Shuisheng sees two guys approach from a rival gang and listens to them discuss how they are going to try and kill Xaio. Shuisheng runs and tells Tang that there are men coming who want to kill Xaio. Tang then reveals that he knows that peoople are probably coming and that was his plan the whole time. He knew that Xaio was cheating on him and was gonna kill her himself. He also reveals that he never even got injured and had been faking it the entire time in order to fool his rivals. He then has Xaio killed along with the traitors.
The movie ends with Tang and the beautiful young girl on a boat heading back to Shanghai. Shuisheng is also there hanging upside down to teach him a lesson. So the little girl will most likely become Tangs new girlfriend and this cycle will go around and repeat itself until Tang is dead.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Talk to Her
Talk to her is a Spanish film made in 2002 by Pedro Almodovar and stars Javier Camara and Dario Grandenetti. Alicia is played by Leonar Watling. Benigno is a hospital nurse who gains a crush on a girl that he meets in the street close to his apartment. She is a student at a dance studio, Alicia. Alicia drops her wallet one day and Benigno picks it up, chases her down and returns it to her. Then she walks away and he continues following her to see where she goes. She went into her fathers place who happens to be a physchiatrist to Benigno makes an appointment so that he could go up there and possibly run into Alicia again to talk to her or ask her for a date.
Benigo has his one appointment with the doctor and then Alicia gets into an accident and winds up in a coma in the very same hospital that Benigno works at. Benigno also happens to work with coma patients and those who are paralyzed and cleans and feeds them and stuff. He used to take care of his mother when he was a younger boy so is used to this type of work.
Beningo becomes friends with a man named Marco whose girlfriend is also in a coma at the same hospital. She was a bullfighter and lost her latest fight and is now in the coma. Benigno talks to Marco about how he saw him recently at the theatre and how they have something in common now, the love for a woman who is in a coma.
Marco finds out that his girlfriend was cheating on him and gets upset to the point where he decides he should stop visiting so oftern. Benigno tells Marco how he met Alicia and talks to her everyday and loves her but never got to tell her. Marco leaves to take care of business but trys to keep in touch with Benigno. Marco finds out that Benigno gets arrested for raping Alicia and getting her pregnant while on the job.
Marco goes to investigate if Alicia is still alive and if the pregnancy went through or if their was complications while Benigno sits in jail. Marco discovers thtat the baby did not survive but that Alicia had woken up from her coma. Marco does not tell Benigno that Alicia is no longer in a coma for fear of what Benigno might do knowing that his love is out and about and he is stuck in jail.
Benigno still kills himself anyway. Marco takes Benginos apartment and follows Alicia around. The movie ends with Marco sitting two row ahead of Alicia in a theatre, turning around smiling and then turning back around.
This movie had a strange scene in it where the man had an shrinking problem and then walked into the(proportionate to him) giant womans vagina. I thought this scene standed out as the wierdest part of the film. The overall story was quite good and i could sympathize with Benigno and wished something more positive could have happened for him in the end. If he had known that Alicia was still alive and no longer in a coma then he probably would have still had the will to live.
Benigo has his one appointment with the doctor and then Alicia gets into an accident and winds up in a coma in the very same hospital that Benigno works at. Benigno also happens to work with coma patients and those who are paralyzed and cleans and feeds them and stuff. He used to take care of his mother when he was a younger boy so is used to this type of work.
Beningo becomes friends with a man named Marco whose girlfriend is also in a coma at the same hospital. She was a bullfighter and lost her latest fight and is now in the coma. Benigno talks to Marco about how he saw him recently at the theatre and how they have something in common now, the love for a woman who is in a coma.
Marco finds out that his girlfriend was cheating on him and gets upset to the point where he decides he should stop visiting so oftern. Benigno tells Marco how he met Alicia and talks to her everyday and loves her but never got to tell her. Marco leaves to take care of business but trys to keep in touch with Benigno. Marco finds out that Benigno gets arrested for raping Alicia and getting her pregnant while on the job.
Marco goes to investigate if Alicia is still alive and if the pregnancy went through or if their was complications while Benigno sits in jail. Marco discovers thtat the baby did not survive but that Alicia had woken up from her coma. Marco does not tell Benigno that Alicia is no longer in a coma for fear of what Benigno might do knowing that his love is out and about and he is stuck in jail.
Benigno still kills himself anyway. Marco takes Benginos apartment and follows Alicia around. The movie ends with Marco sitting two row ahead of Alicia in a theatre, turning around smiling and then turning back around.
This movie had a strange scene in it where the man had an shrinking problem and then walked into the(proportionate to him) giant womans vagina. I thought this scene standed out as the wierdest part of the film. The overall story was quite good and i could sympathize with Benigno and wished something more positive could have happened for him in the end. If he had known that Alicia was still alive and no longer in a coma then he probably would have still had the will to live.
Bleu
Bleu is a french movie from 1993 that stars Juliette Binoche. It starts off with a family of 3(husband, wife and child) driving down a road that crash into a tree after it is revealed that the brake lines are leaking fluid. So when it came to a turn the car did not slow down and rammed right into a tree. A boy witnesses the event and runs over to see if he can help.
The only survivor is the woman, Julie who is played by Binoche. She wakes up to learn that her family is dead. She tries to commit suicide while in the hospital but cannot swallow the pills. Now has to live alone and start life over again pretty much. Julies husband was a successful composer of music so he had earned wealth. They lived in a large house and had a good deal of money. The house was out by itself in a secluded area.
Julie decides to sell everything in the house and then the house itself so she can get rid of the past memories and try to move on. She moves into an apartment in the city witihout telling anyone that she knows. Julie becomes friends with an exotic dancer that lives in her building. They provide moral support for each other.
A man from Julies past comes looking for her. His name is Oliver. He is in love with Julie and he also suspects that she had wrote the work of her husbands unfinished composition that celebrates the unity of europe. Oliver wants Julie to help finish the composition and for her to be his lover. Julie at first does not accept the offer.
But then Julie finds out that her husband was having an affair and that the mistress got pregnant. Julie decides that she wants to meet this woman. She does in a bathroom. Julie stops the sale of her house and gives it to this woman so she will have a place to raise her husbands child since it was technically his house and he is responsible for that child since its his.
Julie sleeps with Oliver and reconsiders helping him finish the compostion. Oliver then points out that people will then suspect that Julie had written all of her husbands other works and that he should just finish it on his own. The movie ends with the song being played and images of the people that Julie has affected throughout the story.
The main theme of this movie was liberty and the emotional freedom that Julie became endowed with after losing her family. She then became free to do whatever she pleased. She would used to have to make decisions based on the good of her family but not anymore. I thought this film was interesting and showed accurately what a person would go through if there life was turned upside down in a manner such as this with the loss of a family. A lot of the color blue was in this movie (as the title should hint) and i felt it was the appropriate color since a person in this situation would probably be feeling blue, or sad.
The only survivor is the woman, Julie who is played by Binoche. She wakes up to learn that her family is dead. She tries to commit suicide while in the hospital but cannot swallow the pills. Now has to live alone and start life over again pretty much. Julies husband was a successful composer of music so he had earned wealth. They lived in a large house and had a good deal of money. The house was out by itself in a secluded area.
Julie decides to sell everything in the house and then the house itself so she can get rid of the past memories and try to move on. She moves into an apartment in the city witihout telling anyone that she knows. Julie becomes friends with an exotic dancer that lives in her building. They provide moral support for each other.
A man from Julies past comes looking for her. His name is Oliver. He is in love with Julie and he also suspects that she had wrote the work of her husbands unfinished composition that celebrates the unity of europe. Oliver wants Julie to help finish the composition and for her to be his lover. Julie at first does not accept the offer.
But then Julie finds out that her husband was having an affair and that the mistress got pregnant. Julie decides that she wants to meet this woman. She does in a bathroom. Julie stops the sale of her house and gives it to this woman so she will have a place to raise her husbands child since it was technically his house and he is responsible for that child since its his.
Julie sleeps with Oliver and reconsiders helping him finish the compostion. Oliver then points out that people will then suspect that Julie had written all of her husbands other works and that he should just finish it on his own. The movie ends with the song being played and images of the people that Julie has affected throughout the story.
The main theme of this movie was liberty and the emotional freedom that Julie became endowed with after losing her family. She then became free to do whatever she pleased. She would used to have to make decisions based on the good of her family but not anymore. I thought this film was interesting and showed accurately what a person would go through if there life was turned upside down in a manner such as this with the loss of a family. A lot of the color blue was in this movie (as the title should hint) and i felt it was the appropriate color since a person in this situation would probably be feeling blue, or sad.
Strawberry and Chocolate
Strawberry and Chocolate is a Cuban film that was released in the US in 1995. Its main plot deals with a gay man Diego, who becomes friends with straight male student David. The 2 meet each other one day while eating ice cream outside. Diegos other friend dares him to see if he can have sex with David. So Diego trys to trick David by telling him he has photos of him in his apartment and if he wants them back that he will have to come over sometime to get them.
David goes to the home of Diego and asks for the pictures. He is hesistant to enter because he can sense that Deigo is gay and doesnt want to give him the wrong idea. Deigo keeps pulling out lies and gets David to fall a little bit deeper into his trap every couple of minutes. First he gets him to walk into the apartment, then to sit down for a minute, then he gets his shirt off by spilling tea on it "by accident" and saying its going to stain if you dont take it off right away.
Diego reveals to David that the way for him to win the bet was to put Davids shirt on the clothesline out the window to prove that he did the deed. But Deigo also confesses that he does love him and wants to become lovers. David has no interest in this and wanted to leave and never come back. But in addition to tea , David saw that Diego had other things that were banned in Cuba such as whiskey, certain art, and books.
David tells one his friends back at the university that a gay man tried to trick him and that he had banned materials. His friend tells him that maybe he should go back over there to get more evidence and clues toee if he is a revolutionary and to get him in trouble or report it to the authorities.
After hanging out with Deigo several times, David actually becomes friends with him and enjoys spending time with him. Another close friend of Deigos is Nancy, an older woman who has a crush on David also. David admits to Diego that he is a virgin and Diego sets up a date between Nacy and David and she takes his virginity.
In the end David sympathizes with Deigo and is his friend. He tells his other school buddy that there is nothing to worry about and the movie ends back at the ice cream parlor where the 2 men met. This movie was filmed well and had good production values. I read online that it was the only movie in Cuba, for the year, that was financed by the government.
David goes to the home of Diego and asks for the pictures. He is hesistant to enter because he can sense that Deigo is gay and doesnt want to give him the wrong idea. Deigo keeps pulling out lies and gets David to fall a little bit deeper into his trap every couple of minutes. First he gets him to walk into the apartment, then to sit down for a minute, then he gets his shirt off by spilling tea on it "by accident" and saying its going to stain if you dont take it off right away.
Diego reveals to David that the way for him to win the bet was to put Davids shirt on the clothesline out the window to prove that he did the deed. But Deigo also confesses that he does love him and wants to become lovers. David has no interest in this and wanted to leave and never come back. But in addition to tea , David saw that Diego had other things that were banned in Cuba such as whiskey, certain art, and books.
David tells one his friends back at the university that a gay man tried to trick him and that he had banned materials. His friend tells him that maybe he should go back over there to get more evidence and clues toee if he is a revolutionary and to get him in trouble or report it to the authorities.
After hanging out with Deigo several times, David actually becomes friends with him and enjoys spending time with him. Another close friend of Deigos is Nancy, an older woman who has a crush on David also. David admits to Diego that he is a virgin and Diego sets up a date between Nacy and David and she takes his virginity.
In the end David sympathizes with Deigo and is his friend. He tells his other school buddy that there is nothing to worry about and the movie ends back at the ice cream parlor where the 2 men met. This movie was filmed well and had good production values. I read online that it was the only movie in Cuba, for the year, that was financed by the government.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Amorres Perros
Amorres Perros, or "Love's a Bitch" is a Mexican film that was made in the year 2000. It reminds me of the movie Pulp Fiction because both of these films have interconnecting stories. This movie is set in Mexico City. All three stories are connected by the same car crash.
Octavio and Susana is the first story that is in the movie. It is about a young man Octavio who lives at home with his mother, his brother, Ramiro, and his brothers girlfriend, Susana. His older brother is mean to Susana even though they have been together for awhile and have had a baby together.
Octavios brother also has a dog that he doesn't care for that well and always gets let out with no one watching him to roam the streets. Ramiro has a job working in a grocery store during the day and then goes out and robs convenience stores at night. One day Susana comes home and lets out the dog. It wanders the streets over to where some people have dog fights and one owner of a fighting dog cant calm his dog down so he sets his dog to fight what he thought was just a wandering stray. One of his friends knew the dog belonged to Octavio so after the dogs fought, Cofi, Ramiros dog wins and the rival dog owner gets mad and brings Cofi back to the house. Octavio comes outside and the rival owner tells him that Ramiro should owe him a dog since he killed his money maker. Octavio and his friend come up with the idea to try out Cofi in dog fights for money since he defeated one of the better dogs out there. They do this and start to make lots of money.
Octavio continues to watch Ramiro treat Susana poorly and tells her that he wants her to run away with him to Warez to start a new life and open a store. She tells him its not a good idea but he gives her money after each of his wins anyway so that she will be able to take care of her baby. One day she disappears with Ramiro and all the money that she had. Octavio wants to have one more fight for big money and get out of town. When both dogs are put into the pit the rival owner shoots Cofi and the bets are off. Octavio is angered and stabs the rival and runs to his car to get out of the area. This is how he crashes his car and gets hurt.
He crashes in a famous model and the accident puts her in a wheelchair. They go to the second story which is called Daniel and Valeria. Valeria is the model who just got signed to do the Enchant ad campaign and has been romantically involved with Daniel who is involved in her business somehow. They recently moved into an apartment together after Daniel seperated from his wife. Valeria has a dog and he gets stuck into a hole underneath the wooden floor. She cannot do a good job to look for the dog because she is in a wheelchair now. But she can hear the dog make noises as if its in pain every now and then. She eventually commits suicide after her agent calls her and tells her she lost the Enchant deal since she cant travel and promote.
The 3rd and final story is "El Chivo and Maru" and is about an old hitman who kills people when the money is right. He is sort of a bum living in an abandoned building with several stray dogs that he finds in the street. He gets approached to do a "job" and accepts for a high fee. While tracking his victim he witnesses the car accident involving Valeria and Octavio. He approaches the car and takes Octavios money and his dog Cofi. Cofi is not dead only injured from the gunshot wound. the hitman patches up Cofi and continues to work on killing his victim. When the hitman comes home, he finds all his dogs dead except for Cofi. This is because Cofi was trained to fight other dogs. El Chivo is very upset about this as the dogs were his only friends. But he presses on and kidnaps his victim, interogates him and finds out he is the half brother of the client so he then kidnaps the client and chains them both to a wall with a gun in between them to decide their fate. Chivo sells both business mans cars and cleans himself up. He breaks into his daughters house and leaves her a large some of money and leaves.
The production value of this movie was very good. It said that no animals were harmed during the filming of this movie but with the editing they definately made it look and sound like the dogs were in vicious fights and mauling each other.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
The Battle for Algiers
The Battle for Algiers is a 1966 film produced in black and white with white colored subtitles for English viewing. This made it hard to understand and read since the letters were white and some of the background was white so it would blur the lettering. But this is a mute point as it was intended for viewing in its own language. So anyway, the film was directed by Gillo Pontecorvo and is a war film based on the Algerian War in Northern Africa.
This film deals with the harsh realities of war. This particular war focused on the French foreign legion facing off against the Algierians who are seeking their Independence. The French use torture tactics to gain intelligence to help them plan their attacks. They are criticized for using torture but defend themselves by saying something along the lines of the fact that it is very important to get the information quickly otherwise the opposing group will have already moved out and relocated making it difficult to plan an effective attack. Which is true.
The National Liberation Front (NLF) send three women with bombs to two bars and the Air France office in the European quarter, killing many people. They offset the torture techniques with these suicide bombings. The Algerians finally achieve their Independence by 1962.
This is the true story of realistic events that actually happened. This film recreated all of the events that happened of course and I looked it up according to an article it said that it was advertised in America as having "not one foot" of newsreel used. The director was going for a documentary feel when producing the movie. I think it worked as most of the scenes with many extras involved seemed to be real. The rioting and chaos that was happening looked like it was taken from a real riot and just used for this film. This is the reason that this film is held in high regard and awarded with praise by being nominated for Academy Awards and winning the Venice Film Festival.
I agree from watching this film that it must have been a chore to produce especially dealing with all the extras to be able to get them to all run the same way at the right time. When there is a crowd as large as the ones in this film there has to be time when some of the people didnt hear the directions properly and waited too long or went the wrong way or something. I wonder how much, if anything that the extras got paid in order to be in this film. I think I remember that you said that they used real soldiers for some of it so maybe they were just following orders from their superiors and got no extra pay for the film.
Tsotsi
Tsotsi is a film by Gavin Hood made in 2005. Its story revolves around the main character, whose nickname is "Tsotsi" which means thug. Tsotsi is an orphan who grew up on the streets of Africa. He is in a gang with 3 friends: Butcher, Aap, and Boston. In order to get money these young men go around and either mug people, steal cars(which Tsotsi cant drive good) and kill people. They have only recently started killing people which some of the boys are against and give their opinion to Tsotsi and he gets mad and storms off to go do "jobs" by himself.
Tsotsi goes to a rich neighborhood to wait to steal a car or break into a house and rob it. He sees a car pull up to its front gate and the female driver gets out to be able to hit the buzzer to open the gate. Tsotsi sees this woman as an easy target and approaches her with a gun, threatens her and gets in the drivers seat. What Tsotsi doesnt realize is that there is a baby in the rear seat so the woman trys to approach the car to make him aware to take the child out of the car. When she does this, Tsotsi takes this as an aggresive action and shoots the woman.
Now Tsotsi is on the run from the law along with a baby that needs attention to be fed and sheltered. He crashes the car on the way home from the robbery since he is not a good driver. Tsotsi has no money to pay for baby supplies so he follows a woman from town who does have a baby to her home and holds her at gunpoint and orders her to breast feed the baby and wash him. This woman tells Tsotsi that it is probably best if he just leaves the baby with her since he is not fit to be a father and its not his own child and he carries it around in a paper shopping bag.
By the end of the film, Tsotsi determines that he should return the baby to its parents so he goes back to the house where he stole the car and used the intercom to alert the people that he was going to leave the child at the gate. Tsotsi goes to walk away but the child begins to cry and Tsotsi doesnt have the heart to leave the baby crying so he picks him up to comfort him. Tsotsi takes too long and the police show up. Tsotsi hands the baby over to the father and the police order him to put his hands up and the film ends.
I thought this film did a good job to show how life was like in the Soweto slums. It shows how Aids is a major problem in that area and how it affects many young people by leaving them parentless to roam the streets as confused uneducated gangsters that have to try to survive anyway that they can. The living conditions of the slums was very harsh. Its strange to see that some areas are very modernized with gated communities and then not too far away there are villages filled with those who live in shacks and low quality housing. I liked the music that way in this film. It was interesting to see that they had hip hop music from over there so modern technology is present over in Africa but its not widespread I guess.
Monday, June 29, 2009
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