Sunday, August 12, 2007
Foreign film weekend
I was alone this weekend, and for the most part, I spent it catch up on office work. But as an indulgence, I decided to splurge on foreign films. I chose four, and the helpful woman behind the video store counter told me there was a special - 6 for $15, so I picked up 2 Hollywood films to round it out. So, two long days later, I found that I’d chosen 6 winners:
The Story of the Weeping Camel (National Geographic) - a lovely story. No sex, violence, “action” - just a straight-up story about how a camel that rejects its colt is brought round by a violin serenade. English subtitles.
Water (Deepa Mehta) - Marvellous film about the lives of widows in India in the 1930s, about the time Ghandi is released from prison. I watched the subtitled version before I realized that the second DVD had an English version - not dubbed, but filmed simultaneously in English. I think I preferred watching it in Hindi.
Talk to Her (Aldo Almodovar) - Twisted plot but presented, as Almodovar generally does, in a human and interesting way.
Free Zone (Amos Gitai) - Great film about an Israeli, a Jordanian, and a Jewish-American ... but wait, the Israeli is from Europe via Auschwitz, the Jordanian is a Palestinian Israeli, and the American comes to Israel to be told that she’s not really Jewish. And when they end up in the Free Zone to conduct some business, they seem compelled to play out an age-old dynamic. Excellent acting.
Broken Flowers (Jim Jarmusch) - Of all the movies, I thought this one a big gimmicky - it could have been more. But I enjoyed it as a film to watch while multitasking - it was perfect to turn my attention to while waiting for content to upload a very slow website.
Proof (John Madden) - Excellent film. It was disconcerting, but that was the point, being taken on the same ride as the protagonist. It would have been even better if the ending hadn’t been quite so formulaic, but it is a Hollywood film, so I wasn’t expecting anything that deviated from the norm.
Seeing has how nothing has been on television for weeks, this has been a welcome treat. Now it’s nose to the grindstone again.