Archive for the ‘Film’ Category

Dancer in the Dark (2000)

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1

Feb
24

I’ve been wanting to see Dancer in the Dark for a long time and I must say I wasn’t at all disappointed. Lars von Trier, Björk, Catherine Deneuve, good music and a heart breaking story – a pretty good combination. Also, the documentary-style appearance makes you feel more close to the characters, which is something I really like in movies.

The story follows an European woman – Salma (Björk) who moved in the United States hoping to raise money for an operation that could save her son from a life of darkness. Between her jobs, taking care of her son and the illness that would eventually make her blind, she finds time for drama classes and daydreaming. Unfortunately, all her struggle is about to be destroyed by the man who is renting her a trailer near his family’s house.

It’s actually kind of an ordinary story, if you stop to think about it for a moment – a poor woman trying to save up money for her son, someone trying to steal that money and death. But Lars von Trier managed to turn that into an amazing musical drama. You can actually almost feel the poor woman’s pain and despair, especially in the end. It was quite a nice end really, not nice in a happy ending kind of way, but more in a theatrical way.

Selma: You like the movies, don’t you?
Bill Houston: I love the movies. I just love the musicals.
Selma: But isn’t it annoying when they do the last song in the films?
Bill Houston: Why?
Selma: Because you just know when it goes really big… and the camera goes like out of the roof… and you just know it’s going to end. I hate that. I would leave just after the next to last song… and the film would just go on forever.

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Secretary (2002)

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None

Jan
18

directed by Steven Shainberg

Since the book I am reading now has more than 700 pages and my reading time is limited and I felt like writing something here, I thought I’d try to write about one of my favorite movies.

Secretary is a story about an unconventional love between Lee Holloway (Maggie Gyllenhaal) and her boss, E. Edward Grey (James Spader). After being released from a mental institution, Lee gets back to her dysfunctional family and starts trying to have a normal life. After a difficult beginning caused by her alcoholic father, she manages to get a job as a secretary at Mr Grey’s law firm. At first, her lack of experience and social awkwardness seems to bother Mr Grey, but after a while we realize that he is attracted by her submissive behavior.

We witness the start of a relationship between the two characters. Many would describe it as weird or way out there, but who are we to decide what’s weird and what’s not. People act the best way they can at any given moment. I think I wrote about “normal” before, but even if I didn’t, I don’t really feel like blabbering about some things most people wouldn’t care about. So, back to our story. I really like a phrase used to describe the synopsis on the movie’s official site :

The tender beauty of two people coming slowly together in a mutually quirky and unconventional harmony is captured perfectly.

I’m not going to try to put that in any different way.

After a while, Lee gets fired because of Edward’s shame in what he was feeling and doing. Pressured by her family and boyfriend she accepts the latter’s marriage proposal. But, just before the wedding, she runs away to Mr Grey’s office and declares her love to him by sitting on his desk chair for three days without moving. That’s quite a love declaration, right?

He finally comes after her and they live happily ever after. The End :)

This is a preview of Secretary (2002). Read more.

Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain(2001)

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4

Jan
10

directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Sometimes I like watching a movie I’ve seen years back because I am curious to find out if I still like it. So, today I decided to watch Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain. And yes, I still like it :)

Amélie grew up in a rather cold family environment. Her mother died when she was little and her father touched her only for the monthly check-ups. She didn’t have friends and her only dream was to make enough money so she could leave their home and live by herself.

After many years, we find her working as a waitress and living alone in the city. One day, after finding an old box filled with memories she decides to find the owner and return the mystery box. That was the day when Amélie found her destiny. From that day on she started planning and scheming to help people around her. It would be nice if more people would do nice things for others, try to help them in any way they can, wouldn’t it?

In the middle of her adventure she falls in love with a guy named Nino (Mathieu Kassovitz), who is working at a sex shop/video store and a ghost train in the amusement park. She decides to play a little “hide-and-seek” game with Nino instead of just meeting face to face, but they end up together eventually :)

You know, I wonder, are there people who actually do that? Play little games like that to get someone’s attention? Maybe they are, who knows.

It’s funny, romantic and a bit weird. I love the colors and images. I like Amelie’s character, though I really like the actress that plays her too – Audrey Tatou. She has this pretty, innocent face that makes her look adorable. I also like Nino’s hobby – collecting thrown away photos from photo boots and putting them all together in a catalog. I always found observing people as interesting – looking at their faces, gestures, listening to their voice and looking at their photos.

Memorable scenes:

Narrator: Amélie still seeks solitude. She amuses herself with silly questions about the world below, such as “How many people are having an orgasm right now?”
[scenes of various orgasms taking place]
Amélie: Fifteen.

This is a preview of Le fabuleux destin d’Amélie Poulain(2001). Read more.

Stardust (2007)

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None

Jan
03

directed by Matthew Vaughn

While I was visiting my parents for Christmas I decided to take a break from computers and internet, so I had nothing else to do but read and watch TV. That being said, on Christmas day I watched Stardust. They usually air happy movies and this one fits right into this category. It has everything they could fit into an easy-to-watch, happy-ending, fantasy movie.

We have our hero, a pretty girl, witches, evil princes, good people trying to help our hero and of course true love. The story is about a fallen star, that is actually a beautiful young woman, not your usual rock/meteorite formation, and the love story between her and a young man from an English village. Our happy couple goes through a lot of adventures, being chased by evil witches that read into animal guts and evil princes that want to be king, but in the end they get married and live happily ever after.

What can I say, it’s a nice fairytale, sometimes funny, but not quite my favorite kind of movie. I know i am too cynical, but the whole true love/live happily ever after thing is a bit cheesy. It did remind me though of all the stories and poems I used to read when I was growing up.

A philosopher once asked, “Are we human because we gaze at the stars, or do we gaze at them because we are human?” Pointless, really… ”Do the stars gaze back?” Now that’s a question.

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Inglourious Basterds(2009)

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1

Oct
04

                                 directed by Quentin Tarantino

inglourious3

No, I didn’t spell it wrong, this is how Tarantino chose to name his latest movie.

Inglourious Basterds is a bloody parody of World War II. A team of American Jews, lead by Lt. Aldo Raine (Brad Pitt), are on a killing spree in a Nazi occupied France. They are killing and scalping German soldiers and, together with an actress, Bridget von Hammersmark (Diane Kruger), they plan the murder of all the head German officers, including Hitler, at a movie premiere. Their plan gets intersected with the actions of a Jewish woman, named Shosanna (Melanie Laurent). She owns the cinema where the premiere is going to take place and has planned on burning everything to the ground during the movie as a revenge for her family, who was killed by Germans soldiers.

Col. Hand Landa(Christoph Waltz), the Jew Hunter, is the most interesting character of the movie. The dialogues he takes part of are always filled with a subtle humor and intelligent remarks and reflections. He ends up helping with the mass murder of all the important German personalities and officers in exchange for American citizenship.

I didn’t quite like Brad Pitt with that really thick southern american accent and the hillbilly personality is not something that fits him all that well. But i can’t say his character wasn’t a bit funny, especially when trying to speak italian with that accent.

Overall this is what you would expect from Tarantino… explicit violence, a lot of blood, sarcastic remarks, parody, a bit of dark humor, though I wasn’t all that impressed. I thought he dragged some parts of the story way too much and at times i found it slightly boring. I did like the subject and some of the subtle sarcastic remarks, mostly made by Hans Landa.

And one more thing i liked is that, at the end, everybody dies, well almost everyone, but still, you’d think that at least Hitler would escape.

A few quotes:

Lt. Aldo Raine: You probably heard we ain’t in the prisoner-takin’ business; we in the killin’ Nazi business. And cousin, Business is a-boomin’.

Col. Hans Landa: What a tremendously hostile world that a rat must endure. Yet not only does he survive, he thrives. Because our little foe has an instinct for survival and preservation second to none… And that Monsieur is what a Jew shares with a rat.

This is a preview of Inglourious Basterds(2009). Read more.

The Squid and the Whale (2005)

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None

Sep
03

                                         directed by Noah Baumbach

the_squid_and_the_whale_on_josh_and_joshA semi-autobiographical story about divorce and the effect it has on children. We are in Brooklyn, in the 1980s, where Bernard Berkman (Jeff Daniels), once a great writer, and his wife Joan (Laura Linney ) are going through a divorce. They have two sons, Frank (Owen Kline) and Walt (Jesse Eisenberg) who are having a hard time dealing with the separation and joint custody. The youngest, Frank, takes his mother’s side while Walt is being influenced by his father. Focused mostly on teaching, Bernard starts a romance – if you can call it that – with one of his students when she moves in to his new place because her lease has expired.

I’ve always said that parents can mess up their children and this movie is a very good example. Walt starts becoming more and more like his father, thinking he is superior to the “philistines” and Frank starts developing language and behavior not suited for a 12 year old.

Bernard’s behavior really gets to me. Ok, you have been a successful writer and yes you are smarter than most people and you are able to do and understand things the majority of people can’t, but that doesn’t give you the right to judge others and treat them like they are inferior to you. And I won’t even get started with the example he gives to his sons. I’m not saying the divorce and behavior of the two boys are all his fault, the mother did have several affairs during the years and she is not being a good example for the kids either.

It is sad to see how a child’s life is being modeled after his parents’ actions and behavior. That’s why they call it drama i guess.

Quote:

Walt Berkman: It’s like… we were pals then… we’d do things together… we’d look at the knight armor at the Met. The scary fish at the Natural History Museum. I was always afraid of the squid and whale fighting. I can only look at it with my hands in front of my face.

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Jeux d’enfants (2003)

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2

Aug
11

              directed by Yann Samuell

affiche_Jeux_d_enfants_2002_2Julien (Guillaume Canet) and Sophie (Marion Cotillard) meet as children, while Julien’s mother is ill, and start playing a game based on a present from his mom – a brightly colored candy box. Their game starts as a kids’ adventure where they dare each other to do silly little things, but as they grow older, their game becomes more serious and they start getting in trouble and having to pay for their actions.

After not seeing each other for 4 years, Julien and Sophie meet again as adults and start playing the game again, a game that only seems to be hiding the love between these two people that are meant for each other.Even if they hurt themselves and the people around them, they can’t stop playing the game, it becomes an obsession they cannot live without.

I saw this film a while back, I’ve seen it two times actually and i liked it because it is a mixture of love, games, life and it keeps surprising the viewer with its unexpected turnarounds and intense moments.

Quote from the film:

Julien: Il y a que trois choses que tu ne m’as pas demandé de faire, que je regrette et j’aurais été cap…
Sophie: Genre ?
Julien: Manger des fourmis, insulter les chômeurs qui sortent de l’ANPE… t’aimer comme un fou.

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High Art (1998)

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None

Aug
03

                directed by Lisa Cholodenko

high-artA story about love and art, photography to be more specific. Syd (Radha Mitchell) is what you might call a normal 24 year old woman, working as an assistant editor at a successful photography magazine and living with her boyfriend James (Gabriel Mann). But all that will change when a leak through the ceiling brings her to the door of neighbor Lucy(Ally Sheedy ), a retired photographer and drug addict, living with her german girlfriend Greta(Patricia Clarkson).
Slowly, Syd becomes part of Lucy’s life and they fall in love with each other while working on an feature for the magazine.
It’s easy to imagine what’s going to happen next, Syd’s boyfriends leaves, Lucy breaks up with Greta, the photos come out great and they’re being published in the magazine… all is great except for one thing.

What, did you think I’ll give away the ending? :)

Quote:

Lucy: They wanted me to examine my life. I mean, this is it. It’s about you right now. I’m thinking about you.

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Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)

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None

Jul
25

meandyou written and directed by Miranda July

Christine (played by Miranda July), a modern artist and Eldercab driver, and Richard (played by John Hawkes), a recently separated shoe salesman, father of two boys, are trying to connect into a contemporary society. That would be the “main subject of interest”. But Me and You and Everyone We Know is much more than that. It is a unique story about human interaction in a society that forces us to be “normal”. But what is this “normal”? Who decided what “normal” should be like? Did you ever think about how your actions would affect someone else’s life? Have you ever wondered how people are trying to interact with each other and how they are trying to find someone who would understand them and make them happy? That is what this film is all about. It is a beautiful projection of reality seen through the eyes of an artist.

They say this film makes you feel enlightened or improved. I wouldn’t say i feel enlightened … or improved, but it definitely made me see what connection means in today’s society and how one’s life can be changed just by following your heart, speaking your thoughts out loud and acting on impulses.

A quote from the film:

I don’t want to have to do this living. I just walk around. I want to be swept off my feet, you know? I want my children to have magical powers. I am prepared for amazing things to happen. I can handle it.

I know this is not related to the title of the post, but it is one of Miranda July’s short films and it is all about human interaction, which brings it closer to what I was talking about.

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The Reader (2008)

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3

Jul
19

The Reader         directed by Stephen Daldry

I watched The Reader a few months ago on a flight. It seemed like a very good movie, so I decided to watch it again today to pay more attention to details ( no matter how comfortable the flight is, you can’t watch a movie carefully, especially when you keep falling asleep :) ).

The action starts in Berlin, 1958. A 15 year old boy(Michael Berg, played by David Kross) starts an intense romance with a 36 year old woman(Hanna Schmitz, played by Kate Winslet) after she helps him get home one day, when he feels sick. After a summer of love, passion and reading, Hanna leaves without any warning or explanations.
Their paths cross again, eight years later at the trial of six former guards at Auschwitz, where Hanna is being accused of the murder of 300 women. Being a law student at the time, Michael finds himself torn between reason and feelings, trying to decide if he should help Hanna by disclosing a piece of information he holds about her. He decides not to and Hanna is being sentenced to life in prison.
Years later, after divorcing his wife, middle aged Michael (played by Ralph Fiennes) starts sending Hanna tapes with recordings of him reading several books. In the course of the 20 years spent in prison, Hanna teaches herself how to read an write with the help of those tapes, but when the time comes for her release she commits suicide, leaving all her money to one of the survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camps.

I’ve never considered Kate Winslet a good actress, but I must say that her performance in The Reader was amazing, it fits the story like a glove and makes you almost feel the character’s inner struggle.

To wrap things up, The Reader is one of the most emotional movies I’ve seen lately. It is the perfect combination of love and reality.

I’m not frightened. I’m not frightened of anything. The more I suffer, the more I love. Danger will only increase my love. It will sharpen it, forgive its vice. I will be the only angel you need. You will leave life even more beautiful than you entered it. Heaven will take you back and look at you and say: Only one thing can make a soul complete and that thing is love.

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