Pages

Showing posts with label Dardennes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dardennes. Show all posts

Thursday, July 28, 2022

Best Films from Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland

Doing a deep dive into a specific region or nation’s cinema often reveals blindspots and gaps in one’s knowledge. This proved to be case when compiling a list of top films from Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland for Wonders in the Dark’s “Rest of Europe” spotlight. The gaps again highlight the lack of viable legal options to see many classic films from these six nations. There are some exceptions though when it comes to older films from these regions such as Chantal Akerman’s 1975 film Jeanne Dielman and Paul Verhoeven’s 1973 Turkish Delight, both of which are easily available. The oldest film in this list is Michael Cacoyannis’s 1956 Greek film A Girl in Black and that isn’t a surprise because until the late 1990s, his films such as Stella (1955), Zorba the Greek (1964), Attila 74 (1975) were the most common Greek films available to rent on VHS tapes at my local video stores (yes those physical spaces). Next most common Greek films available were those of Theo Angelopoulos. Things changed after 2010 when newer Greek films became available due to works of New Greek cinema playing at most film festivals and finding distribution after their festival runs.

Top 15 films from “Rest of Europe” Poll: Austria, Belgium, Greece, Holland, Ireland, and Switzerland

1. Homo Sapiens (2016, Austria, Nikolaus Geyrhalter)
2. L’Enfant (2005, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
3. Jeanne Dielman, 23, quai du commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1975, Belgium, Chantal Akerman)
4. The Vanishing (1988, Holland, George Sluizer)
5. Rosetta (1999, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
6. Father and Daughter (2000, Holland, Michael Dudok de Wit)
7. Turkish Delight (1973, Holland, Paul Verhoeven)
8. A Girl in Black (1956, Greece, Michael Cacoyannis)
9. The Weeping Meadow (2004, Greece, Theo Angelopoulos)
10. Lourdes (2009, Austria, Jessica Hausner)
11. The Boat is Full (1981, Switzerland, Markus Imhoof)
12. In the Name of the Father (1993, Ireland, Jim Sheridan)
13. Revanche (2008, Austria, Götz Spielmann)
14. A Town Called Panic (2009, Belgium, Stéphane Aubier/Vincent Patar)
15. Dogtooth (2009, Greece, Yorgos Lanthimos)


Honourable mention:

Man Bites Dog (1992, Belgium, Rémy Belvaux/André Bonzel/Benoît Poelvoorde)

Wednesday, May 25, 2016

Euro 2016 Films

All the 11 films of the Euro 2016 Book + Film Spotlight have now been viewed and the top 3 are selected.

Starting 11

France: Dheepan (2015, Jacques Audiard)
Belgium: Two Days, One Night (2014, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)
Croatia: The High Sun (2015, Dalibor Matanic)
England: The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers (2015, Ben Rivers)
Germany: Phoenix (2014, Christian Petzold)
Italy: Lost and Beautiful (2015, Pietro Marcello)
Romania: Aferim! (2015, Radu Jude)
Russia: The Fool (2014, Yuriy Bykov)
Slovakia: Koza (2015, Ivan Ostrochovský)
Sweden: A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence (2014, Roy Andersson)
Ukraine: Maidan (2014, Sergey Loznitsa)

Top 3 films

1. The Fool (2014, Russia, Yuriy Bykov)


Yuriy Bykov cleverly uses a building’s collapse to explore larger moral and ethical issues around society. The closed door meetings between city officials show how corruption can take root in a society and impact citizens in their day to day existence. Even though the film is set in Russia, its topic is applicable to any city and shows how easy it is for those in power to cross the morality line.

2. Two Days, One Night (2014, Belgium, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)


Even by the high standard of the Dardenne brothers, TWO DAYS, ONE NIGHT is a staggering achievement. The film depicts moral and ethical questions that are always present when money is involved. And in Marion Cotillard, the brothers have found a perfect face to convey the range of emotions from desperation to despair and even a touch of hope.

3. The Sky Trembles and the Earth is Afraid and the Two Eyes Are Not Brothers (2015, England, Ben Rivers)


This film’s long title, multi-layered structure and core story draws inspiration from Paul Bowles’ writing. The structure of the film is a nod to what Bowles managed in ‘A Hundred Camels in the Courtyard’ where Bowles found a common thread to link 4 completely different stories together. In the SKY TREMBLES, Ben Rivers has constructed a film which links together multiple works including a short story, a short film, some documentary footage and an art installation. All these works are seamlessly stitched together in a linear manner.

Rivers’ has managed this by alternating one aspect of Paul Bowles’ short story ‘A Distant Episode’. In the short story, the main character is a professor. In the film, the main character is a film director. This change allows Ben Rivers to find a common thread to link the different elements. This is because at the start of THE SKY TREMBLES, we see the filmmaker Oliver Laxe, scouting for locations in Morocco and attempting to complete a gruelling film shoot. The scenes we see are actual footage from Laxe's second feature MIMOSAS. And then at some point in THE SKY TREMBLES, Oliver Laxe stops shooting his film and steps into Paul Bowles story. What then follows is a series of remarkable events.

Final verdict on 11 films

Overall, a rich and diverse collection which highlights some of the best European cinema made over the last two years. Unfortunately, due to the timeline of the spotlight, there are no pure 2016 films but many of the 2015 films have had a cinematic release in 2016 or will do so in the upcoming months.

Top 5 Books

Monday, December 22, 2014

Best Films of 2014


Like most years, my end of the year list is highly dependent on film festivals which serve as an unofficial distribution model for a majority of foreign and independent movies. However, despite the best efforts of multiple local film festivals, there is still usually an average of a 1-2 year wait to see many foreign films after its Cannes premiere. For example, a few Cannes 2013 titles only appeared in local cinemas this year. A big reason for this delay is that film distribution still follows an outdated model where films are meant to get a theatrical release first before releasing online or on DVD. This release model ignores the reality that there are only a few North American cities with dedicated arthouse/indie cinemas to give these foreign films a proper theatrical run. That means if one does not live in New York or Toronto, then it is a long wait to legally see these festival films. This delay causes a year end list to continuously look back 1-2 years for a proper assessment. For example, this year’s theatrical releases proved that 2013 was an even better year than I had first thought. A full verdict on 2014 may only be properly gauged in the summer of 2015. The other impact of this delay is that local cinemas are not my prime source for catching some of the best global films. For example, only 5 films of the 22 films (23%) in this list got a regular theatrical run in the city. A majority of this list was composed due to the 8 film festivals I attended this year, with 7 local festivals and the 8th being Sundance. 4 of the films in this list were seen at Sundance, while a 5th title, Locke, also showed there. Such a high dependence on international film festivals to catch some of the best films in the world is not a financially feasible model. And local film festivals can’t always show the top festival films every year either. Still, I am grateful to have seen many worthy features and documentaries.

Here are the top 11 films seen in 2014:

1. Locke (UK/USA, Steven Knight)


Locke uses a car and a cellphone, two items that are essential to many people’s lives, to explore moral and ethical problems related to job, family and relationships. These topics are fashioned in a manner which forces the main character Ivan Locke (Tom Hardy) to step across a moral minefield, where each step could lead to a potential explosion. The entire film takes place with Locke driving in his car and as he continues on his route, his life slowly starts to collapse. That is ironic considering his job requires him to oversee solid structural foundations. In his job, Locke is surrounded by physically heavy objects enough to crush a human. Yet, in the film, he is crushed by words. As his character of Locke sinks further, Tom Hardy as an actor soars. Hardy delivers his dialogues with a high degree of composure and emotion. His voice is so precise that it makes one forget there are cuts in the film. There is also enough variation of the shots,  which allows the camera to creatively find as much space in a confined location as possible.  Overall, this is one heck of a ride!

2. Return to Homs (Syria/Germany, Talal Derki)


Return to Homs is an embodiment of ‘Direct Cinema’, a cinematic movement which requires filmmakers to record events unfiltered and as they unfold in real time. In order to capture these raw events, Talal Derki and his crew put their lives on the line. After the Syrian revolution started in 2011, the government shut down the border to all media. Derki and his crew risked their lives to shoot this footage and in many cases, their footage is the only source of truth. As a result, this is more than just a film. It is a living breathing digital document of what happened in Syria when the world was not looking. By the time the world started looking, it was too late. The events in this film are not pleasant but since the film was completed, things have gotten worse. The events in the film are isolated to civil war but in the last few years, terrorism driven by external forces have made things worse in Syria. Return to Homs is one of the most relevant films to have been made in the last few years and is essential to understand why urban warfare is messy and complicated.

3. Enemy (Canada/Spain, Denis Villeneuve)


Enemy transports Jose Saramago’s novel The Double to a David Cronenberg landscape and enhances the material with references to Kafka, George Orwell and Alfred Hitchcock. As a result, this is a film that oozes with symbolism and is packed with delightful little clues and details which leads one through a tangled web of mystery.

4. Memphis (USA, Tim Sutton)


Tim Sutton’s Memphis is a beautiful contemplative film that depicts the fine line between genius and madness. The real coup of the film is casting Willis Earl Beal for the lead. His presence ensures that there are many moments where the film blurs the line between fiction and autobiography. The film shows a successful music artist who is in an envious position where he holds the keys to the kingdom. The problem is that the artist is no longer interested in the kingdom. Witnessing his journey as he drifts across the mystical city of Memphis, peppered with the haunting music of “Too Dry to Cry”, makes for a shattering experience.

5. Under the Skin (UK/USA/Switzerland, Jonathan Glazer)


Locke compressed life into 90 minutes while Under the Skin manages to distill the essence of men in just a few minutes. In the film, it is a woman who is behind the wheel. She cruises the streets of Glasgow looking for able men to prey on. The female is able to assess her subjects with a few glances and extract enough information with few words that allows her to make a quick decision. The sequences where she leads the victims to their final steps are remarkably filmed with an unforgettable score that stays long in the memory after the final credits.

6. Two Days, One Night (Belgium/France/Italy, Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne)


Even by the high standard of the Dardenne brothers, Two Days, One Night is a staggering achievement. The film depicts moral and ethical questions that are always present when money is involved. And in Marion Cotillard, the brothers have found a perfect face to convey the range of emotions from desperation to despair and even a touch of hope.

7. The Grand Budapest Hotel (USA/Germany/UK, Wes Anderson)


When the trailer for The Grand Budapest Hotel first appeared, it looked like a best of Wes Anderson reel, a collection of moments that looked new yet contained his signature. However, the trailer was only an appetizer while the film is the main course and sweet dessert rolled into one memorable experience. The film is a joy to behold, from the sets to the witty dialogue to the pleasant cameos that are sprinkled throughout the film.

8. Welcome to New York (USA, Abel Ferrara)


Welcome to New York charts the entire course of Abel Ferrara’s film style while also presenting a work that threatens to blur the line between reality and fiction. The initial 20 minutes feel like early Ferrara with exhaustive sexual exploits before the film switches gears into a vérité style that on first glance feels at odds with his cinema. However, a jail sequence reveals Ferrara’s hand where he distills the essence of his King of New York in a remarkable jail sequence. In the dialogue-less scene, Gérard Depardieu’s character of Devereaux and the other inmates assess each other, trying to determine who is the the king of the jungle. In the film’s final third, a redemption aspect crops up, without which no Ferrara film would be complete. Depardieu has put in an astonishing performance where he lays it all out in front of the camera. Even though his character faces humiliation, there are a few moments when Devereaux addresses the camera, shattering the fourth wall and tossing judgements back to the audience.

9. Li’l Quinquin (France, Bruno Dumont)


At multiple points in Li’l Quinquin, it is hard to believe that this is a Bruno Dumont directed work as his films don’t exactly invoke humor. Yet there is plenty of humor and sharp observations about French town life shown without any barriers. The film’s biggest pleasure comes from the presence of Bernard Pruvost, whose Commandant Van der Weyden is a cross between Clouseau and Tati’s Mr. Hulot. Li’l Quinquin also shows an auteur variation of True Detective.

10. Gett: The Trial of Viviane Amsalem (Israel/Germany/France, Ronit Elkabetz/Shlomi Elkabetz)


The opening minutes of the film recall A Separation but very quickly the film dives into Kafkaesque territory with endless rounds of court appearances related to a divorce proceeding. There is some humour at first but matters takes on a darker shade when the couple's private life is examined. Then gradually, everyone around the couple is sucked in and is indirectly put on trial, including the two opposing lawyers. Gett is packed with impressive performances and acute observations about how a law can impact citizens.

11. Joy of Man’s Desiring (Canada, Denis Côté)

Denis Côté is back with a visually mesmerizing and intriguing documentary that explores the factory workplace. The film starts off with some dialogue that indicates a fictional narrative but this is a documentary that examines machinery and their operators. Constantly engaging, the film is pure cinematic bliss. By a strange cosmic fate, this film premiered just a few months before Micheal Glawogger passed away. Glawogger’s Workingman’s Death shows the dangerous and messy jobs some people do to earn a living. Meanwhile, Côté spends a good deal of time showing machinery in a clean environment where workers go daily to earn money. The jobs are not as dangerous as those that Glawogger’s covers but it is clear that the machines in Côté’s film won’t tire like the humans. The workers will eventually be physically and mentally beaten down, thereby making them loosely related to those in Glawogger’s film.

11 Honorable mentions in alphabetical order:

Ankhon Dekhi (India, Rajat Kapoor)
Blue Ruin (USA/France, Jeremy Saulnier) 
Child’s Pose (Romania, Calin Peter Netzer)
Dear Albert (UK, Nick Hamer)
The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas (Greece/Czech Republic, Elina Psikou)
Force Majeure (Sweden/France/Norway, Ruben Östlund)
Goodbye to Language 3D (Switzerland, Jean-Luc Godard)
Haider (India, Vishal Bhardwaj)
Lajwanti (India, Pushpendra Singh)
The Overnighters (USA, Jesse Moss)
Stray Dogs (Taiwan/France, Tsai Ming-liang)

Dear Albert is another example of ‘Direct Cinema’ as the film observes people who are trying to rid of their addiction. Nick Hamer has made an excellent decision by limiting details of the subjects’ substance abuse. This makes the film a universal study about why it is difficult for people to break their habits and change themselves. And when some manage to make a change, the film shows that it is easy to fall back into old habits. It may sound cliched but this is a film that has the potential to change one’s life.

The Eternal Return of Antonis Paraskevas is one of the best films of the New Greek Cinema Wave and is the definitive film about Greece’s economic downfall. The film uses the main character’s plight to reflect how the rest of Europe treated Greece. First there was love and admiration but when things got bad, hatred and isolation. In addition, the film is enhanced with a huge nod towards The Shining.

Pushpendra Singh’s debut feature Lajwanti (or The Honor Keeper) is an eye-popping digital painting that belongs in an art gallery along with Tsai Ming-liang’s Stray Dogs. One can clearly see the influence of Amit Dutta and Mani Kaul in Singh’s film but he has also exerted his own unique voice. In order to capture authenticity about village life in the Thar Desert (Rajasthan), Singh has used local non-actors to play themselves. This blurs the line between documentary and fiction. The story is tweaked enough to be timeless with a touch of folk mythology. It is one of the most creative films to have emerged from India this year.

Saturday, December 31, 2011

Best Films of 2011

It is always hard to put together an end of the year list when one does not have reasonable access to films from around the world. In previous years, I was fortunate to see many worthy cinematic gems thanks to film festivals such as CIFF, VIFF and Rotterdam. Of course, depending on single screenings at film festivals as a primary source for foreign cinema is never a viable option because of the cost and effort involved in attending multiple film festivals. So when the number of film festival offerings dropped in 2011, so did my access to foreign cinema. Thankfully, the year was not a complete washout and I still managed to catch a decent number of worthwhile films. As usual, the list features older titles that I could only see this year theatrically or on DVD.

Favorites roughly in order of preference

1) Le Quattro Volte (2010, Italy co-production, Michelangelo Frammartino)


Michelangelo Frammartino’s remarkable film uses an unnamed town in Calabria as an observatory to examine the metaphysical circle of life. Depicting such metaphysical topics is not an easy task, but Frammartino pulls this off with considerable ease, plenty of humour, tender emotions and a pinch of mystery.

2) Do Dooni Chaar (2010, India, Habib Faisal)


Habib Faisal’s directorial debut astutely depicts the struggles of a middle class family in Delhi. The Duggals may be fictional characters but one can easily find reflections of their characters in virtually every Delhi colony. Filmed entirely on location, Do Dooni Chaar is absolutely charming and features two excellent performances from Rishi Kapoor and Neetu Singh. The film only got a limited release in 2010 but thankfully a DVD release in 2011 means the film can be seen by a larger audience.

3) Drive (USA, Nicolas Winding Refn)


Drive perfectly adapts James Sallis’ book while carving out a distinct identity of its own. Like Driver's car, the film is easily able to shift gears and speed up when needed and slow down in a few sequences. On top of that, the film is enhanced with a visual and musical style that evokes the cinema of Michael Mann with a pinch of David Lynch.

4) A Separation (Iran, Asghar Farhadi)

In discussing a conflict in his actuality film A Married Couple, the late Allan King remarked that viewers often projected their feelings on the screen and took sides with one of the characters. King’s words come to mind when watching the conflict in A Separation, a film that refuses to take sides with either of the characters. Some calculated editing and the distance maintained by the camera in a few scenes means that viewers are forced to believe everything they see on face value whereas in reality, the truth is hidden in between the cuts. A truly remarkable film that starts off with a divorce hearing but then moves in a much richer direction by observing humans in their moments of fear, stress and anxiety.

5) Dhobi Ghat (India, Kiran Rao)

Dhobi Ghat pays a beautiful and poetic tribute to Mumbai by exploring the emotional state of four characters. The script shrinks the vast and chaotic city down to the microscopic level of these four characters so that they can be observed in tight quarters. Each character has their own set of complex problems and Kiran Rao lets the actors brilliant expressions and body language form a guide to their inner feelings. Throughout the film, the four actors appear to be living their parts as opposed to acting out scripted lines.

6) Another Year (2010, UK, Mike Leigh)

A happily married couple serve as a sponge to absorb the misery of their friends. The film shows that some people are predisposed to always emit a negative energy while there are a few who are strong enough to withstand all the unhappiness around them.

7) Nostalgia for the Light (2010, Chile co-production, Patricio Guzmán)

Just as rays of light are delayed in their arrival to our planet, horrors of the past sometimes take a long time before they are unearthed. Patricio Guzmán’s emotional and meditative film manages to connect exploration of the stars with truths buried in the ground.

8) Aurora (2010, Romania co-production, Cristi Puiu)

Viorel’s (Cristi Puiu) disenchantment and frustration with society around him continues to build until he acts out in a burst of violence. However, the film is not concerned with the consequences of his actions but is more interested in his behavior prior to and after his violent act. Aurora is a fascinating character study that is packed with plenty of dark humor and features a remarkable climax that dives into the same rabbit hole that consumed Mr. Lazarescu (The Death of Mister Lazarescu) and Cristi (Police, Adjective).

9) The Kid With a Bike (Belgium co-production, Jean-Pierre Dardenne/Luc Dardenne)

The film’s non-stop energy is personified by the young lead character who is able to take all the kicks and roll with the punches. A truly magnificent film but then again one would not expect any less from the Dardennes.

10) Melancholia (Denmark co-production, Lars von Trier)

The end of the world sequence naturally grabs all the attention but the film’s dramatic core lies in the wedding dinner where sharp jabs are traded. These honest verbal punches echo The Celebration and Rachel Getting Married but the words in Melancholia pack more venom and are meant to break the other person down. Justine (Kirsten Dunst) desperately tries to make things work but deep down she knows that some celestial bodies are meant to collide and destroy each other.

11) The Tree of Life (USA, Terrence Malick)

A perfect symphony of camera movements and background score elevates one family’s tale into a much grander scale. The camera continuously zips around the characters, hovers over them, dives down low or swings from a corner in the room. The camera even moves back in time where it patiently captures the big bang and peers into the future as well.

12) Flowers of Evil (2010, France, David Dusa)

David Dusa’s remarkable debut feature is one of the most relevant films to have emerged in recent years. It is a rare film that depicts the revolutions of change taking place around the world by smartly incorporating social media such as facebook, twitter and youtube within the film’s framework. The film also features a groovy background score and makes great use of Shantel’s Disko Boy song.

Note: I was part of the three person jury that awarded this best film in the Mavericks category at the Calgary International Film Festival.

13) The Whisperer in the Darkness (USA, Sean Branney)

Sean Branney’s perfect adaptation of H.P Lovecraft’s short story remarkably recreates the look and feel of 1930’s cinema. The entirely black and white film uses the background score to maintain tension and suspense throughout. In fact, the tension does not let up until the 90th minute when a few moments of rest are allowed before the film heads towards a pulsating finale.

This film was also in the Mavericks Competition at CIFF.

14) Alamar (2009, Mexico, Pedro González-Rubio)

A tranquil and beautiful film about a father’s journey with his son. This is a perfect example of a film that proves that one does not need 3D to have an immersive cinematic experience.

15) Meek’s Cutoff (2010, USA, Kelly Reichardt)

The setting may be 1845 but at its core Meek’s Cutoff is a contemporary film about a journey through an unknown and potentially dangerous landscape. How much faith should be placed on a stranger? If this was such an easy question to answer, then the world would indeed have been a better place.

16) Attenberg (2010, Greece, Athina Rachel Tsangari)

A warm and tender film that puts a spin on a conventional coming-of-age tale by featuring honest communication between a father and daughter.

17) Kill List (UK, Ben Wheatley)

Ben Wheatley’s film packs quite a powerful punch and increases the tension and violence as it races along at a riveting pace. One remarkable aspect of the film is that it keeps quite a few pieces off the screen thereby allowing the audience to fill in their own version of events related to the characters background and even to origins of the cult group. It is tempting to talk about the hunchback but it is best viewers are left to encounter him on their own terms.

18) The Turin Horse (Hungary co-production, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)

Béla Tarr crafts his unique end of the world scenario with a few bare essentials -- an old man, obedient daughter, rebel horse, untrustworthy visitors, an angry wind, potato, bucket, well, table, chair and a window. The film features an array of reverse and sideway shots that manage to open up space in a confined house setting.

19) Buried (2010, Spain/USA/France, Rodrigo Cortés)

Buried proves that in the hands of a talented director a bare bones scenario of a man buried in a coffin can make for an engaging film.

20) The Desert of Forbidden Art (2010, Russia/USA/Uzbekistan, Tchavdar Georgiev/Amanda Pope)

The Desert of Forbidden Art is a living breathing digital work of art that gives new life to paintings that are tucked away from the world. The two directors continue the work of the documentary’s subject Igor Savitsky in showcasing art to the modern world via the medium of cinema.



Honorable Mentions, in no particular order

Undertow (2009, Peru co-production, Javier Fuentes-León)

Senna (2010, UK, Asif Kapadia)

Martha Marcy May Marlene (USA, Sean Durkin)

Of Gods and Men (2010, France, Xavier Beauvois)

We Have to Talk About Kevin (UK, Lynne Ramsay)

The Ides of March (USA, George Clooney)

Shor in the City (India, Krishna D.K, Raj Nidimoru)

Blue Valentine (2010, USA, Derek Cianfrance)

Red Riding Trilogy (2009, UK, Julian Jarrold/James Marsh/Anand Tucker)



Some other notable performances/moments

The entire cast of Margin Call are fascinating to watch although Jeremy Irons steals the show with a character that oozes evil and power.

Jimmy Shergill does a commendable job of portraying a prince who is striving to hold onto power despite having no money in Saheb Biwi Aur Gangster.

Just like in last year’s Ishqiya, Vidya Balan once again upstages her male counterparts in The Dirty Picture.

The opening moments of Hugo prove that in the hands of an auteur 3D can be a breathtaking experience rather than a loud explosive mess.

Monday, October 29, 2007

October Film Wrap-up

October was supposed to be a relaxed month in terms of film viewing after all the film festival movies that I saw between Sept 20-Oct 4. But as it turned out, the third week of October ended up being pretty crazy in terms of film viewings -- 15 movies in 5 days with 7 movies watched in one day. I certainly had no intentions of putting myself through this ordeal but things ended up that way. While I talked about some of those 15 movies in previous posts, the following six were left out.

  • The Son (2002, Belgium/France, Directors Jean-Pierre & Luc Dardenne): Rating 9.5/10
  • Fists in the Pocket (1965, Italy, Director Marco Bellocchio): Rating 8.5/10
  • Japón (2002, Mexico/Germany/Netherlands/Spain, Director Carlos Reygadas): Rating 8/10
  • Chocolat (1988, France/West Germany/Cameroon, Director Claire Denis): Rating 8/10
  • Transylvania (2006, France, Director Tony Gatlif): Rating 7.5/10
  • Electra, My Love (1970, Hungary, Director Miklós Jancsó)

    Revenge and pain: There is something so simple but brilliant about the Dardenne brothers films. The verite style allows one to focus on only the relevant details and shut everything else out. The Son is another highly infectious movie to watch, although the topic of revenge is handled quite differently from other films.

    Family problems: Fists in the Pocket is Marco Bellocchio's dark and un-relentless film which looks at the complicated relationships within a religious Italian family. It is not a surprize that this film caused such a sensation in Italy back in 1965 because the movie shows absolute cruelty and no remorse in how a man plots to kill his family. But the movie is not just about murder but includes topics of incest and religious defiance. And to think this was Bellocchio's debut feature!

    A Journey:

    Carlos Reygadas's Japón is a simple tale of a man's journey across the Mexican landscape. The man is tired of the city life and just wants to escape the noise and chaos. But he finds that he still can't shut off his desires despite being away from civilization. The best thing about this movie is the imaginative camera angles, especially during the final sequence when the camera slowly turns around 360 degrees and allows us to fully soak in every surrounding detail.

    I have a huge admiration for Tony Gatlif and his depiction of journey tales spiced with gypsy music. Both Exils (2004) and Gadjo dilo (1997) were such movies and as it turns out even Transylvania contains such elements. In fact, both Transylvania and Gadjo dilo have a lot in common. In Gadjo dilo, Stéphane (Romain Duris) heads to Romania to track a gypsy singer he once heard on a cassette. In Transylvania, a pregnant woman (Zingarina played by Asia Argento) heads to Romania as well to find a gypsy singer who is the father of her child. In both films, the main characters find themselves enchanted with the Romanian way of life and find happiness only when they give themselves up fully to a different culture.

    Exile in Africa: I do believe that some movies lose their luster when viewed in a different decade than when they were made. Claire Denis's Chocolat is a decent movie but watching it in 2007 hardly has any impact as opposed to maybe watching it back in 1988. The movie is set in Cameroon on the eve of World War II and shows the daily relations and tensions between the French and the local Africans. The movie handles some issues in a very careful and subtle manner, especially regarding the inter-racial sexual tension and the brewing revolution. There are plenty of beautiful camera movements but over the years plenty of movies have depicted Africa in a better manner.

    A staged greek play: I was really eager to watch Miklós Jancsó's Electra, My Love. But unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this Greek tragedy too much. Even though the sets are impressive and certain aspects of how the camera freely flows from one set of characters to another are interesting, I was not a fan of this effort.