Wonders in the Dark is having their "Rest of Asia" film poll. The countries covered are South Korea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Mongolia, Tibet, Nepal, Indonesia, Cambodia, Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Laos, North Korea, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
There is a wealth of rich cinematic works from these countries and a Top 20 is not enough to do justice especially since it is easy to make a list consisting entirely of films from South Korea and Philippines. Lav Diaz could easily take over half of this list on his own. However, this list is a bit more inclusive and consists of films from 9 out of the possible 18 countries eligible for the poll.
Top 20 Films from the Rest of Asia Poll
1. Manila in the Claws of Light (1975, Philippines, Lino Brocka)
2. Tropical Malady (2004, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
3. The Housemaid (1960, South Korea, Kim Ki-young)
4. Memories of Murder (2003, South Korea, Bong Joon Ho)
5. Insiang (1976, Philippines, Lino Brocka)
6. Evolution of a Filipino Family (2004, Philippines, Lav Diaz)
7. Right Now, Wrong Then (2015, South Korea, Hong Sang-soo)
8. Tirador (Slingshot, 2007, Philippines, Brillante Mendoza)
9. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives (2010, Thailand, Apichatpong Weerasethakul)
10. Sepet (2004, Malaysia, Yasmin Ahmad)
11. Made in Bangladesh (2019, Bangladesh, Rubaiyat Hossain)
12. The Missing Picture (2013, Cambodia, Rithy Panh)
13. ILO ILO (2013, Singapore, Anthony Chen)
14. The Scent of Green Papaya (1993, Vietnam, Anh Hung Tran)
15. Between Two Worlds (2009, Sri Lanka, Vimukthi Jayasundara)
16. The Salt in our Waters (2020, Bangladesh, Rezwan Shahriar Sumit)
17. Burning (2018, South Korea, Lee Chang-dong)
18. Wonderful Town (2007, Thailand, Aditya Assarat)
19. From What is Before (2014, Philippines, Lav Diaz)
20. Woman on Fire Looks for Water (2009, Malaysia, Woo Ming Jin)
Top 20 via country breakdown:
Philippines: 5
South Korea: 4
Thailand: 3
Bangladesh: 2
Malaysia: 2
Singapore, Cambodia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka: 1
Pages
Saturday, September 03, 2022
Best Films from Rest of Asia Poll
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)
Sunday, July 10, 2022
Best Films from Africa and Middle East
Wonders in the Dark recently concluded a Best Films from Africa and Middle East poll. The inclusion of Iran, Israel and Turkey in this poll meant that the list is vastly different than the combined results of my previous Best films from Africa and Arab World list. Here is my submitted entry.
Top 20 films from Africa and Middle East.
1. Taste of Cherry (1997, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)
2. Touki Bouki (1973, Senegal, Djibril Diop Mambéty)
3. Crimson Gold (2003, Iran, Jafar Panahi)
4. The Time That Remains (2009, Palestine, Elia Sulieman)
5. Soleil Ô (1967, Mauritania, Med Hondo)
6. Timbuktu (2014, Mauritania, Abderrahmane Sissako)
7. Black Girl (1966, Senegal, Ousmane Sembene)
8. Once Upon a Time in Anatolia (2011, Turkey, Nuri Bilge Ceylan)
9. The House is Black (1963, Iran, Forugh Farrokhzad)
10. Chronicles of the Years of Fire (1975, Algeria, Mohammed Lakhdar-Hamina)
11. Close-Up (1990, Iran, Abbas Kiarostami)
12. A Man of Integrity (2017, Iran, Mohammad Rasoulof)
13. Return to Homs (2013, Syria, Talal Derki)
14. A Separation (2011, Iran, Asghar Farhadi)
15. Al-mummia (The Mummy, 1969, Egypt, Chadi Abdel Salam)
16. Cairo Station (1958, Egypt, Youssef Chahine)
17. Salt of This Sea (2007, Palestine, Annemarie Jacir)
18. Tilaï (The Law, 1990, Burkina Faso, Idrissa Ouedraogo)
19. The Little Wars (1982, Lebanon, Maroun Bagdadi)
20. Waltz with Bashir (2008, Israel, Ari Folman)
Note: I have listed the primary country only for the co-productions above.
Titles by country:
Iran: 6
Senegal: 2
Palestine: 2
Mauritania: 2
Egypt: 2
Turkey: 1
Algeria: 1
Syria: 1
Burkina Faso: 1
Lebanon: 1
Israel: 1
It isn't a surprise that Iran dominates this list with 6 titles given the strength of its cinema.
Saturday, June 04, 2022
John Abraham's Amma Ariyan
Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother, 1986, India, John Abraham)
My selection for the 6th AFOFF is inspired by Allan’s incredible ‘The Fish Obscuro’ section. I always used to look forward to see what film Allan would post about in this section. Often, the titles were discoveries for me as I hadn’t seen the film or had only heard about them. Allan also included how he saw the film (DVD2, DVD1, not on DVD) and that highlighted the lack of proper distribution for many films he was seeing. Over the last few years, we have had many more streaming options to see films yet distribution of many foreign films still remains a problem. Case in point, John Abraham’s 1986 film Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother).
Abraham’s name is vital when discussing India’s Parallel Cinema even though he only directed four features and tragically died at a young age of 49 in 1987. However, I hadn’t seen any of his four features and never came across a DVD/Blu-Ray of his films. That changed over the last 2 years when I finally saw his last film via the link posted below. Incidentally, Amma Ariyan also received a proper screening in 2021 via Bologna’s Il Cinema Ritrovato festival in a special section on Parallel cinema curated by Shivendra Singh Dungarpur, Cecilia Cenciarelli and Omar Ahmed.
On paper, the story of Amma Ariyan is simple but the brilliant execution is what makes this film stand apart. In the film, Purushan (Joy Mathew) is a young man on his way to Delhi to pursue a better future when he comes across a dead body that the police say is unidentified. Purushan can’t get over the sight of the dead body and feels the face is familiar. So he postpones his journey to Delhi and goes about trying to identify who the person is. His quest leads him to meet people from all walks of life, including musicians, theatre artists, who end up helping identify the deceased as Hari, a tabla player. Purushan wants to travel to Kochi (formerly Cochin) to inform Hari’s mother of his death. He is accompanied by all the different people who helped confirm Hari’s identity. Thus begins a road journey unlike any other where people who have nothing in common work together towards a common end goal.
The film’s structure consists of multiple flashbacks where each person sheds a little more light on Hari’s past and that helps piece together events that preluded Hari’s death. The story is set against the backdrop of the Naxalite movement in Kerala when police tortured and beat up youth. The details of the political ideologies and struggles aren’t spelled out but the omission of details works in the film’s favour as that lends the material a universal flavour. Multiple countries, including those in our contemporary times, have cases of police abusing their power and beating up innocent people based on differing political ideologies. In that sense, Amma Ariyan is powerfully relevant to our current world.
The community nature of the film also has relevance in our current world. In the film, all the people who help identify Hari form a community and drop everything to go inform Hari’s mother. They want to do their part in helping out in whatever manner they can and share the grief of Hari’s death. The film’s ending features an emotional walk of the group including the mother. Over the last few years, we have seen many movements where people from different backgrounds have come together to share in a common sense of loss. Even in social media retweets or reposts of a tragedy are one form of people sharing in someone’s loss.
Amma Ariyan (Report to Mother) floored me, emotionally and technically. Technically, the film stands apart from other Indian films I have seen. Renowned film scholar Dr. Omar Ahmed notes the non-Indian influences on the film:
With the extreme wide-angle shots, a liberated camera continually on the move and a quasi-documentary aesthetic, John’s style recalls the Latin American Third Cinema of the 1960s (especially Mikhail Kalatozov’s Soy Cuba) manifesting a creative hybridity in which indigenous film practices and modernist cultural sensibilities intersect with broader international influences. -- BFMAF
I can’t imagine how such a precious film did not get proper distribution earlier. For now, I hope more people can view this film and appreciate what it has to offer.
Friday, April 15, 2022
Top French Films of All Time
Coming up with a Best French Films of All Time list is not an easy task given the thousands of worthy films to choose from over a century.
Top 30 French Films roughly in order of preference:
1. Pickpocket (1959, Robert Bresson)
2. Le ballon rouge (The Red Balloon, 1956, Albert Lamorisse)
3. La règle du jeu (The Rules of the Game, 1939, Jean Renoir)
4. Le Trou (1960, Jacques Becker)
5. Playtime (1967, Jacques Tati)
6. Le samouraï (1967, Jean-Pierre Melville)
7. Les quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows, 1959, François Truffaut)
8. Ascenseur pour l’échafaud (Elevator to the Gallows, 1958, Louis Malle)
9. Le salaire de la peur (The Wages of Fear, 1953, Henri-Georges Clouzot)
10. Cléo de 5 à 7 (Cléo from 5 to 7, 1962, Agnès Varda)
11. Orphée (Orpheus, 1950, Jean Cocteau)
12. L’Age D’or (1930, Luis Buñuel)
13. L’Intrus (2004, Claire Denis)
14. L’armée des ombres (Army of Shadows, 1969, Jean-Pierre Melville)
15. L’Argent (1983, Robert Bresson)
16. À bout de souffle (Breathless, 1960, Jean-Luc Godard)
17. Beau Travail (1999, Claire Denis)
18. Du rififi chez les hommes (Rififi, 1955, Jules Dassin)
19. La passion de Jeanne d’Arc (The Passion of Joan of Arc, 1928, Carl Theodor Dreyer)
20. Que le bête meure (The Beast Must Die, 1969, Claude Chabrol)
21. Touchez pas au grisbi (Hands off the Loot!, 1954, Jacques Becker)
22. Hiroshima mon Amour (1959, Alain Resnais)
23. Vivre Sa Vie (My Life to Live, 1962, Jean-Luc Godard)
24. Les Vampires (1915, Louis Feuillade)
25. Holy Motors (2012, Leos Carax)
26. L’année dernière à Marienbad (Last Year at Marienbad, 1961, Alain Resnais)
27. La Jetée (1962, Chris Marker)
28. Paris nous appartient (Paris Belongs to Us, 1961, Jacques Rivette)
29. La maman et la putain (The Mother and the Whore, 1973, Jean Eustache)
30. Le genou de Claire (Claire’s Knee, 1970, Eric Rohmer)
Friday, February 18, 2022
Top Scandinavian Films of All Time
Wonders in the Dark is having a top 20 Scandinavian films poll. The list of countries also includes Iceland, so in essence, it is a Nordic countries poll. That means the film output will primarily be from 5 countries - Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland. One day, I hope to see films from Faroe Islands and Greenland.
As Sam Juliano pointed out, the challenge is restricting the number of Ingmar Bergman films for this list. I could have slotted half of this list with Bergman films. Instead, I restricted that number to 5 Bergman films or 25% of this list. In addition, I also managed to keep Lars von Trier entries to just 3 films.
Top 20 Scandinavian films of all time list:
1. The Seventh Seal (1957, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
2. The Emigrants / The New Land (1971/1972, Sweden, Jan Troell)
3. Babette’s Feast (1987, Denmark, Gabriel Axel)
4. Ordet (1955, Denmark, Carl Theodor Dryer)
5. The Phantom Carriage (1921, Sweden, Victor Sjöström)
6. Wild Strawberries (1957, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
7. The Celebration (1998, Denmark, Thomas Vinterberg)
8. Songs from the Second Floor (2000, Sweden, Roy Andersson)
9. A Winter Light (1963, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
10. Dancer in the Dark (2000, Denmark, Lars von Trier)
11. The Man Without a Past (2002, Finland co-production, Aki Kaurismäki)
12. Shame (1968, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
13. Scenes from a Marriage (1973, Sweden, Ingmar Bergman)
14. Breaking the Waves (1996, Denmark, Lars von Trier)
15. Pusher (1996, Denmark, Nicolas Winding Refn)
16. Children / Parents (2006/2007, Iceland, Ragnar Bragason)
17. Show Me Love (1998, Sweden, Lukas Moodysson)
18. Force Majeure (2014, Sweden, Ruben Östlund)
19. Pelle the Conqueror (1987, Denmark/Sweden, Bille August)
20. Steam of Life (2010, Finland, Joonas Berghäll/Mika Hotakainen)
Films from different countries:
There are 22 films for the 20 spots.
Sweden (11): The Emigrants and The New Land count as one entry
Denmark (7)
Finland (2)
Iceland (2): Children and Parents count as one spot
Unfortunately, no film from Norway made the cut.
Wednesday, February 02, 2022
Best Films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan
Wonders in the Dark is having a poll to determine the best 15 films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.
It is tough to narrow down just 15 films from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan especially since they all have a rich history of cinema going back almost a century to the 1920s-early 1930s. On top of that, there are many diverse genre films from this part of the world making it challenging to pit one film style against another. Ultimately, I opted for the following 15 films.
Best Films from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
1. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
2. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
3. Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
4. Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
5. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Taiwan, Ang Lee)
6. Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)
7. Spring in a Small Town (1948, China, Fei Mu)
8. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, China, Zhang Yimou)
9. West of the Tracks (2002, China, Wang Bing)
10. What Time is It There? (2001, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
11. Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
12. Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong, Andrew Lau/Alan Mak)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
14. Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)
15. Ash is Purest White (2018, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
One surprising aspect of this list was finding out that I included 5 films from the Year 2000. That means 1/3 of all the films in this list came from one year. The stellar quality of these 5 films does indicate that 2000 was a strong year for Hong Kong, Taiwan and China.
In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)
In the Mood for Love is one of Wong Kar-wai’s most iconic films. Yi Yi is considered one of Edward Yang’s best films while Jia Zhang-ke’s second feature, Platform, helped propel his name globally. Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon certainly established a new found love for wuxia in the West. Wen Jiang’s powerful 2nd feature Devils on the Doorstep got plenty of attention after it won the Grand Jury prize at Cannes 2000.
[Updated List, May 11, 2022]
Best Films from China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
1. In the Mood for Love (2000, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
2. Yi Yi: A One and a Two (2000, Taiwan, Edward Yang)
3. Flowers of Shanghai (1998, Taiwan, Hou Hsiao-Hsien)
4. Platform (2000, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
5. Boat People (1982, Hong Kong, Ann Hui)
6. Eat Drink Man Woman (1994, Taiwan, Ang Lee)
7. Election (2005, Hong Kong, Johnnie To)
8. Raise the Red Lantern (1991, China, Zhang Yimou)
9. West of the Tracks (2002, China, Wang Bing)
10. What Time is It There? (2001, Taiwan, Tsai Ming-liang)
11. Chungking Express (1994, Hong Kong, Wong Kar-wai)
12. Infernal Affairs (2002, Hong Kong, Andrew Lau/Alan Mak)
13. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000, Taiwan/Hong Kong/China, Ang Lee)
14. Devils on the Doorstep (2000, China, Wen Jiang)
15. Ash is Purest White (2018, China, Jia Zhang-ke)
16. Spring in a Small Town (1948, China, Fei Mu)
Thursday, December 16, 2021
Best of Former Soviet Bloc films
Wonders in the Dark is having a “Former Soviet Bloc” film polling. The films can either be classics prior to the break-up of U.S.S.R or new contemporary works. That makes this a tough decision but here is my vote for the top 20 films.
1. Dekalog (1989/90, Poland, Krzysztof Kieslowski)
2. Underground (1995, Yugoslavia, Emir Kusturica)
3. Satantango (1994, Hungary, Béla Tarr)
4. Closely Watched Trains (1966, Czechoslovakia, Jirí Menzel)
5. Ashes and Diamonds (1958, Poland, Andrzej Wajda)
6. Man Is Not A Bird (1965, Yugoslavia, Dusan Makavejev)
7. The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005, Romania, Cristi Puiu)
8. My Joy (2010, Ukraine, Sergey Loznitsa)
9. Revenge (1989, Kazakhstan, Ermek Shinarbaev)
10. Loves of a Blond (1965, Czechoslovakia, Milos Forman)
11. Daisies (1966, Czechoslovakia, Vera Chytilová)
12. Ikarie XB1 (1963, Czechoslovakia, Jindrich Polák)
13. 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (2007, Romania, Cristian Mungiu)
14. Innocence Unprotected (1968, Yugoslavia, Dusan Makavejev)
15. Police, Adjective (2009, Romania, Corneliu Porumboiu)
16. Werckmeister Harmonies (2000, Hungary, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
17. I Do Not Care If We Go Down In History As Barbarians (2018, Romania, Radu Jude)
18. The Turin Horse (2011, Hungary, Béla Tarr/Ágnes Hranitzky)
19. Mirage (2004, Macedonia, Svetozar Ristovski)
20. Cabaret Balkan (1998, Yugoslavia, Goran Paskaljevic)
Thursday, November 04, 2021
Best Canadian Films of All Time
Wonders in the Dark is running a Best Canadian film poll where each participant is required to submit their top 15 Canadian films.
My Top 15 Canadian Films of All time
1. One Day in the Life of Noah Piugattuk (2019, Zacharias Kunuk)
The film documents a historical encounter in 1961 Baffin Island between a Canadian government agent and the Inuit leader Noah Piugattuk. The agent wants Piugattuk to send kids from the Inuit communities to schools in a city/town. The film shows a conversation with no violence but it is clear that the next encounter will involve force. Given the recent discovery of children’s remains buried around residential schools in Canada, it is clear that the implications of a ‘friendly conversation’ in Kunuk’s film extended beyond the confines of Baffin island and tragically impacted all parts of Canada.
2. The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open (2019, Kathleen Hepburn/Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers)
3. A Married Couple (1969, Allan King)
4. Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner (2001, Zacharias Kunuk)
5. Les Orders (1974, Michel Brault)
6. The Barbarian Invasions (2003, Denys Arcand)
7. The Sweet Hereafter (1997, Atom Egoyan)
8. Montreal Main (1972, Frank Vitale)
9. Incendies (2010, Denis Villeneuve)
10. Fire (1996, Deepa Mehta)
11. The Red Violin (1998, François Girard)
12. Vic + Flo Saw a Bear (2013, Denis Côté)
13. Videodrome (1983, David Cronenberg)
14. Mon Oncle Antoine (1971, Claude Jutra)
15. The Forbidden Room (2015, Guy Maddin)
Honourable Mentions:
I Killed My Mother (2009, Xavier Dolan)
My Winnipeg (2007, Guy Maddin)
The World Before Her (2012, Nisha Pahuja)
Waydowntown (2000, Gary Burns)
Sunday, June 09, 2019
Allan Fish Online Film Festival
An investigation is conducted to uncover the real reasons for this building's collapse. However, there is a lack of interest in the city council to determine why the building wall collapsed. Only one councilman accuses his fellow colleagues of having "dirty hands" regarding the land dealings. This results in one of the film's lasting images where all the councilmen shout "our hands are clean" and wave their 'clean' hands at the honest councilman.
The film gives a fly-on-the-wall perspective to the audience and at times it feels like we are being led into a secret world about how politics really works. As per the production notes, Rosi got some of the city councilmen to play themselves in the movie. That adds a bit more to the realism of the heated council scenes. The core discussions and fighting between different sides can be extrapolated to our world and can explain why different political parties can never find a common ground and why some issues never get resolved.
Saturday, June 09, 2018
Allan Fish Online Film Festival 2018
At a running time of just 68 minutes, Aristotle’s Plot packs a lot of ideas and memorable dialogues about the meaning of cinema. The story features two characters on opposing side of the cinematic debate, a local gangster who consumes only Hollywood action films and a struggling independent filmmaker who wants people to care about African cinema. The gangster goes by the name of Cinema because he claims “he has watched 10,000” films. His rival is a filmmaker named Essomba Tourneur (E.T for short) who prefers to be called a Cineaste. The difference in view between the two is shown early in the film after Cinema claims to have seen 10,000 films, E.T counters and asks “oh yes, but how many of them were African?”. To which Cinema replies “very few” before going on to add that he doesn’t think much of African films. That debate about the worth of African cinema is repeated on a few occasions and highlights that locals flock to Hollywood films but stay away from African cinema. Even a local policeman claims to have never seen a single African film but is aware of Hollywood stars.
Cinema and his gang hang out at Cinema Africa where they watch non-stop Hollywood action films. Inspired by those action films and characters, his gang members have names such as Bruce Lee, Cobra, Nikita, Schwarzenegger and Van Damme. E.T is dismayed that locals identify more with Hollywood than local culture or stories. With assistance from the police, E.T is able to wrestle Cinema Africa away from the gang and starts showing local African films. As it turns out, his showing of African films doesn’t find many interested people and one screening only has a single person turn-out. Upset at the loss of their Cinema Africa, Cinema and his gang have grand plans of creating their own new Cinema. However, they still long for those action films they used to see and attempt to regain their old Cinema Africa resulting in a final stand-off.
The entire film is one long running joke which doesn’t spare both commercial and artistic cinema; the film pokes fun at commercial cinema and its endless sequels or characters who can’t be killed and even takes a few jabs at the pace of events in some artistic films. As a result, there are many lasting images and dialogues which linger long in the memory. Perhaps, one of the most memorable images is watching E.T cart reels of his film in a shopping cart.
Saturday, May 13, 2017
Allan Fish Online Film Festival
Wednesday, September 28, 2016
IKARIE XB 1
Note: cross-published on Wonders in the Dark as part of the Sci-fi countdown.
Monday, August 01, 2016
The Truman Show
Monday, July 18, 2016
District 9
Note: this is cross-published on Wonders in the Dark website as part of their Top 100 Sci-fi films countdown.