Eastern Europe, part I

The films, in order of viewing:









The beginning

What came first -- soccer or cinema? The answer from both a historical and personal perspective is soccer. There are recorded instances of soccer played in a professional and organized manner before the 1880's whereas, the first cinematic work is attributed to the Lumière brothers shorts in 1895. On a personal term, I had kicked a ball and played a crude form of soccer before I ever discovered movies. So it is not a surprize then that I first learned of Eastern Europe from soccer. While watching highlights of previous World Cups, I was first introduced to the magical Hungarian team of 1954, the strength of the Polish squad from 1982, the technical brilliance of the Soviets, the high-scoring Yugoslavian team of 1974 (a 9-0 rout over Zaire) & the dazzling skill of Romania's Gheorghe Hagi. The goals & the moves became part of my memory.

Memories:

Over time, our memories fragment. We can only recall certain events from the past. Sometimes, we can't even remember the past but only certain feelings an event caused in us. In the olden times, people told stories to keep the past alive. With the advent of video camera, people used them to record the images from their day to day lives. At the start of Lucian Pintilie's energetic madcap film The Oak we find Nela (played by Maia Morgenstern) doing just that. As her father is lying dead next to her, Nela is looking at old video footage of an apparent happy past with her father in communist Romania. It turns out her memories of her father were not in keeping with the truth. So she undertakes a journey of discovery & truth across the crumbling Romanian landscape while keeping her father's ashes in a coffee jar next to her. She comes across bizarre situations, is almost raped but finds a savior & friend in a kind doctor, Mitica (Razvan Vasilescu). Mitica is trapped in an absurd corrupt world and fights to keep his hospital running despite the ensuing madness around him. Watching his character, one can understand the insanity of the medical system in Cristi Puiu's brilliant film The Death of Mr. Lazarescu. In the end, both Nela and Mitica are outcasts in a crumbling nation -- a country which is finally lifting the veils of communism and is trying to rebuild itself. But before the rebuilding can take place, chaos and corruption run amok.

Collapse & break-up of a nation:

Soccer is a team sport and anyone who has ever played it knows that one person can't win the game alone. Even though at times, the headlines declares one person to be a hero but over a 90 minute game it takes a united effort to get a result. So it is essential that all 11 players work together. If a team is divided into various factions, then it is unlikely the team will succeed. A national soccer team is compromised of players who come from different regional clubs. More often that not, when it comes to the game, players get on with the job & ignore any regional problems. Sure sometimes, they might not pass the ball to a certain player but over a 90 minute period, things appear fine. The regional problems happen off field when the coaches are inclined to pick only some players from a certain region (the problem was common in the former Yugoslavia and Soviet republic where players were only picked from a select few clubs). And if a nation is on the verge of conflict, then a tiny spark can ignite the hatred and a team can easily be divided as nations are.

"A war is not a war until a brother has killed a brother" -- this is a memorable quote from Emir Kusturica's vibrant and pulsating film Underground which shows the break-up and collapse of Yugoslavia. Underground is divided into three stages -- The War (second world war), the Cold War and The War (1990 onwards). The film is seen from the eyes of two friends, Marko and Blacky. They start out fighting for a common cause but eventually go their separate ways -- Marko ends up being a profiteer working the black market for weapons and Blacky becomes the war hero fighting for his nation's independence. Backed by surrealist images and colorful characters (like the smart monkey who can handle a tank), this is a fascinating journey through a nation's mistakes and eventual decline. The film starts and ends with infectious music which lends a light mood to the dark tragedies that unfold. The final scene of the film involves all the main characters on a piece of land that breaks away from its surroundings and becomes an isolated island floating off. That is what literally happened to Yugoslavia, a nation that split apart and resulted in independent countries each with their own soccer teams. Even as the island is floating away, the music keeps on playing and Marko is still dancing. Marko's urge to dance no matter how gloomy his situation is an image that is hard to erase.

Isolation:

Once upon a time, I was fascinated by the powerful Red Star Belgrade team. They had some of the best players in the world and could play wonderful football. But all that changed when they reached the 1991 European Cup final against Marseille, another team which played vibrant football. For whatever reasons, both teams played the most boring final in history, ending 0-0 with Red Star winning on penalties. I thought the team was united. But as Jonathan Wilson points out in Behind the Curtain one member of the team, the brilliant Robert Prosinečki, might have found himself on the outside. While his team-mates were mostly Serbian, Prosinečki was Croatian. When Yugoslavia dissolved as a country, Prosinečki went to play for Croatia while his former team-mates started for Serbia.

Isolation can occur for various reasons -- society can ignore certain members because of religion, race or whatever reason they can come up with. Sometimes, a simple reason such a person's attitude is cause enough for isolation. András, the lead character in Béla Tarr's film The Outsider finds himself at odds with his local Hungarian society. András is a 20 something youngster who loves music, drifts from job to job, does not want to be committed in a relationship. What's wrong with that? Everything!! Especially if the society around you wants people to work for the common national good, then one person's indifference won't be tolerated. In Tarr's Budapest, men meet in cafes after a long day's hard work and discuss politics. If people in a factory are too efficient, they are asked to adhere to the normal working pace so that everyone gets paid the same. That is equivalent to asking a fast soccer player to slow down to keep in sync with his team's slow passes. Such a system can work for some people but for others, it is a problem. The only positive in András's life is the love for his music which keeps him happy.

The 11 year old boy in the Polish film Jestem is made an outsider to society because of circumstances. His mother does not have time for him as she is busy sleeping around and smoking away. As a result, the boy is left to fend for himself and live on the streets. No matter how hard he tries, he can't escape the taunts and insults of other boys. Forced to hide, he finds refuge in an abandoned ship across from a rich family's home. Even though the material is bleak with sad music haunting the screen, Jestem (I Am) is a beautifully shot film which echoes like a modern day Dickens novel set in Poland.

Music:

People need some distraction to balance the stress and nonsense of everyday life. Music serves as such a relaxation for some. András is able to find some harmony in his life by balancing his love for classical music with the new emerging Western music being ushered in Budapest clubs. Whenever the infectious music comes on in Kusturica's film Undergound, the characters forget their worries and let loose, dancing away their pain. In a similar manner, the bleak Romanian country side in the film The Oak is a little easier to navigate after some drinks and gypsy music.

Sins and a human life:

You can give them music, drink, soccer, love, art but still humans are not happy. They commit sins and despite knowing the consequences, can't help but being vain. So what is one to do? One can pass judgment or one can quietly observe their follies. The latter is the case with Kieslowski's 10 films of The Decalogue. All the films are set in the same Polish apartment complex with characters from one film appearing in another. The films range from dark to light, with the first film being one of the most tragic and the 10th film being the lightest. There is something for everyone's cinematic tastes to be found here with stories ranging from parental relationships, husband-wife affairs, coming of age story, incest, capital punishment, war crimes and obsessive hobbies.

There is no one-to-one relationship with one commandment in each film as sometimes multiple commandments are broken in one movie. But what is clear is the underlying issue of ethics and morality. In each film the characters are faced with choices -- they can act either according to their needs or to what society tells them to do. How they try to cope with their desires, urges and feelings while living in a regulated society forms a theme of most of the films.

The 10 films may be set in Poland but they are stripped of any national details and can be set in any nation around the world. As a result, The Decalogue is the most universal work of all the films seen and the one least likely to be studied as part of a nation's state.

Futbal & Cinema: Eastern Europe

In the next few weeks I will be undertaking an interesting experiment in studying Eastern European football & cinema. Of course, one can't easily lump the diverse and different Eastern European countries into one easy label -- nations such as Poland, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Czech Republic, Romania, etc have their own unique cultures and identities. But if one looks closer, one can find some common ground in their soccer & cinema -- traditionally all these nations have been technically advanced, disciplined and tactically organized when it came to the game. And their cinema has delivered beautiful realistic films about the human condition. This may be too much of a general analysis but I do plan to dig beneath the surface.

To help in this experiment, these are the tools employed:

1) Reading Materials:

Behind the Curtain: Football in Eastern Europe, written by Jonathan Wilson

This is a well written book which looks at the history of football in various Eastern European countries along with reasons behind the present state of things.

Post new wave cinema in the Soviet Union and eastern Europe

This book examines the history of cinema in the different nations and charts how the political movements helped advance or block each country's cinema. The book is upto date only up to the late 1980's (it was published in 1989).

So far both the above books have been very useful. Each has tried to show how the communist rule and its subsequent collapse influenced soccer and cinema. I have found some overlap in both books which seems to enforce each others ideas.

In addition, I will be relaying on Double lives, second chances : the cinema of Krzysztof Kieslowski by Annette Insdorf to help in getting an understanding of Kieslowski's work which I will be looking at in the Polish section.

2) Films:

One reason for picking Poland as a starting point was to finally watch Kieslowski's The Decalogue, a work that I have long overlooked. And as it turned out there was a Polish element in David Lynch's Inland Empire which I saw while in the middle of my Decalogue viewing so it seemed appropriate to kick things off with Poland.

Other nations whose films will be covered are Serbia, Hungary, Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Slovenia and Croatia. For now, I will not be pursuing any films from Ukraine or Czech Republic. Ideally I would like to get something from Bulgaria but so far I have not found anything. And the only Romanian film that I have ever seen is The Death of Mr. Lazarescu which was my favourite film of 2006. But I don't think I will be able to see any more films from that country until the fall.

Let the viewing begin......

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Following are links to the spotlight in 5 parts:

Part I -- Poland, Serbia, Romania, Hungary
Part II -- Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary, Bulgaria
Part III -- Ukraine, Serbia, Hungary
part IV -- Serbia, Romania, Hungary, Georgia, Russia, Czech Republic
part V -- Bosnia-Herzegovina, Former Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Hungary, Czech Republic, Latvia

The theatrical USA of von Trier

Manderlay (2005, Director Lars von Trier): Rating 7/10

This is the second installement of von Trier's USA Trilogy after 2003's Dogville. The same production style as Dogville is employed in that a theatrical set is used with chalk lines marking out different areas in an open set with no doors. Only this time around a minor special effect is used to mimic a sandstorm. While Dogville was an interesting 3 hour character study about how humans react to a stranger, Manderlay seems to be a forced effort. At a running time of 140 minutes, it is shorter than Dogville but feels twice as long.

The story continues off just after Dogville ended. Grace is en route through America after she has gotten the mob to kill all of Dogville's inhabitants. While she and her father are driving in Southern USA, she notices the use of slavery in the town of Manderlay. She is shocked to see such a situation because slavery was supposed to have been ended 60 years ago. Grace decides to stay in the town against her father's wishes because she believes she can make a difference and can lead the slaves to freedom. Just like in Dogville she goes through an adjusting phase but eventually earns the respect of the town folk. However, her trust is abused and she is taken advantage of sexually. She is angered and can't wait for her father to return so that she can destroy everyone in Manderlay. But unlike the first time around, she is on her own.

My biggest criticism of Dogville was the ending. I felt it was too easy for Grace to take her revenge by getting the mob to destroy the town. But after seeing Manderlay I understand von Trier's purpose in showing that. He wanted to show how there are some people who are keen to resort to violence to solve their problems rather than taking a different approach. This time around, Grace wants to destroy another town. However, a brief show of force convinces her father that Grace is capable to be left on her own. But that show of force was just a minor act of agression on her part. In the end, Grace is forced to flee the town running across the nation.

The final film in the trilogy is called Washington which might feature Grace ending up in the American capital and might be a fitting political end to a series that has featured topics of immigration (stranger coming to town) & slavery.

Deciphering Inland Empire

Inland Empire (2006, David Lynch): Rating 8/10

We see hazy images. Then two figures appear but their faces are blurred. They talk in some foreign language but the subtitles allude to the relationship between the man and the woman – customer and prostitute. The black and white film gives way to colour as the young prostitute awakes alone in a hotel room. She watches images flash on the tv in front of her – 3 adults in rabbit suits are engaged in mundane dialogue in a sitcom of sorts. Everytime when one of the women in the rabbit suit speaks some meaningless lines, one hears canned laughter from a non-existent audience.

We are thoroughly confused. But after a few more images, a narrative of sorts is finally formed – a linear story indicates that Laura Dern is playing a wealthy actress (Nikki) in anticipation of a big role. Her supposed neighbour tells Nikki that tomorrow she will get the role and what Nikki will be doing when she learns the news. And just like that, we jump a day advance in time. From that point on, we have left one time field and are moving in another time plane. It is about 30 minutes into the film that we learn the foreign language spoken at the start of the film is Polish and that is when things start to make sense. We might be able to link everything from the start of the film upto this point, but another time jump throws things into more confusion.

Worm holes, time travel, multiple characters, dreams, imagination, Lynch’s subconscious mind and Laura Dern’s magnificent face which stretches to whatever emotion is required of her. How does one begin to explain something that one does not understand? Put simply this movie feels like the essence of Mulholland Drive drugged with the time travel element from Lost Highway with a tiny dash of bizarre from Twin Peaks. It is complicated but never dull or boring. Yes it is inaccessible and makes Mulholland Drive look like a straight forward film. In Mulholland Drive drive, we could clearly draw a line between the dream and reality. But in Inland Empire we are dealing with multiple versions of dreams and reality which are further complicated by the aspect of time and space. Laura Dern appears to exist in both dream and real state in one space-time field (streets of Hollywood) while another version of her character appears in Poland working the streets. However, the young prostitute at the start of film might be the real character whose imagined life is being lived by Laura Dern.

Near the film’s end, the happy music and brightly lit images indicate that Laura Dern’s character is finally coming out of the wilderness back home. We also see two realities reduce to a single truth as Laura Dern’s character and the young prostitute merge into one. In addition, the film also starts unwinding from the different time planes back to a point of origin. But one can’t help wonder if there is single thread which connects all the images or we are dealing with separate abstract images? Given how the film was shot without a script, there is plenty of room for interpretation. A simple analysis I feel is that this is a movie which is like hyperlinks on the internet – we jump from one link to another and so on. Eventually, near the end of the movie, we are simply hitting the ‘back’ arrow on the browser and are returned to our starting page. Along the way, we find related links and stories but they are all different. Or the movie is reels projected across David Lynch’s mind acted out by Laura Dern whose face is a guide to what we should be looking for.

Either way, this is a tough film to judge. One can only react to it – like, dislike or confusion. There are plenty of scenes which demand a reaction, be it fear, tension, anger or even tranquility. I didn’t react with the same enthusiasm as I did for Mulholland Drive but overall I found Inland Empire to be an engaging and satisfying way to spend three hours. After the afternoon screening, it was strange to walk out into the sunlight and the dull real world!

The tangled commercial web of profits

Spider Man 3 (2007, Director Sam Raimi): Rating 5/10

They did it, they finally did it. It took them 3 tries but the studios finally turned one of the most introspective comic book heroes into a joke. And in doing so, they realized my fears from 5 years ago. Against all opinion, I didn't watch the first two Spider Man films in the theater. The trailers for the first film didn't impress me and I couldn't get over how they chose Tobey Maguire as the lead -- I was afraid they would ruin the Spider Man character that I loved so much. But thankfully common sense prevailed and in 2005, I rented the second film. I absolutely loved it (gave it a rating of 10/10) and went back and saw the first one as well. I even enjoyed the first one (rating of 8/10) but in both films, I highlighted the negative aspect as Kirsten Dunst -- terrible acting and well, just painfully annoying.

And then when I found out that the third movie would have Venom, I was excited. I always felt that the best Spider Man story involved Venom -- it was the ultimate test of Peter's inner strength. However, the trailers made me change my mind again. Too many villains and more focus on special effects. So with some hesitation, I walked into the third film. And sure enough, all the fears I had came true -- Tobey was made to look out of sorts, Dunst was terrible as usual, the story was pathetic, too many plot elements and not enough time dedicated to study Venom. And the only reason I think Sandman was selected because of the cool special effects. Otherwise, the film could have done without him.

Also, there are some many contrived elements in the film like the brain dead cheering crowds and Spidey flying past the American flag on his way to rescue MJ. The film is shown to be in the year 2005 yet there is not a single person with a digital camera or cell-phone camera to take a picture of Spidey as he is jumping mask-less across the city. The film includes musical themes from the old (bad) Spider Man cartoon. I think that is appropriate as this does feel like a B-movie. But my rant is just that, a rant. It does not matter. This movie has made plenty of money and the studios will create more pathetic efforts and keep making more money. Do they really care? It seems that every 2-3 years, all the sequel movies are getting dumbed down even further for a younger audience. The Matrix was an intelligent film released back in 1999. But when 4 years later the second and third films were released, they were converted into brain dead studio films or in the case of the second one, a hollow film with enough rambling to make it look intelligent for teenage boys. Likewise, the first Pirates film was fun but the second was unwatchable. I am sure all the big movies this summer will make tons of movies and as a result more and more stupid sequels will be made until the future of Mike Judge's Idiocracy is fully realized, a movie that didn't make it out to the theaters.

Training Day (2001, Director Antoine Fuqua): Rating 7.5/10

Good cop, bad cop. A question of ethics and morality. Just when the good and bad are clearly defined, a grayish meter is shown which indicates that in order to fight crime, pure good can't survive against pure evil. And then suddenly, the tables are turned again and we do realize the gray scale was an illusion -- it is pure evil vs good. Seconds before good is wiped out for sure, a previous act of goodness saves him. Even though this act might feel like a contrived element, it could be seen as an example of the power of Karma -- if one commits even one act of good, it will lead to a favourable outcome. In most cases, it takes decades for Karma to act but since everything in this film is squeezed into one action packed day, even Karma has to act fast. In end, the film is powered by Denzel Washington's stellar performance. The background music is very good as it eludes to the danger lurking around the corner. But the movie is longer than it should be (almost 2 hours) and contains some typical cop movie elements (good cop that can't be killed).

Taiwanese Cinema, take two

It has been over a year since I first shed a spotlight on Taiwanese Cinema. Back then I wanted to focus on Hou Hsiao-hsien & Tsai Ming-liang, two acclaimed directors whose work had been unknown to me. In the end I discovered the accolades were indeed worthy -- both HHH and Tsai are two of the best film directors in the world right now. This time around I decided to visit works by these directors along with another bright name in Taiwanese cinema -- Edward Yang. Yang along with Hou is considered part of the first New Wave of Taiwanese cinema. I will start with his award-winning 2000 film Yi Yi and attempt to work backwards to his early collaborations with Hou.
But for starters, the 1992 debut effort from Tsai Ming-liang:

Rebels of the Neon God: Rating 9.5/10

One movie is never enough to give an insight into a director’s arsenal but sometimes it provides a tiny glimpse into what he has to offer. However, in order to make a full assessment, it is essential to watch all of a director's work from the start. Most of the times watching a director's work in chronological sequence is a luxury. We often see a movie by a director and if we like it, we pursue his/her older works. Such was the case with me. I jumped aboard Tsai Ming-liang's cinematic journey midway in 2001 with What Time is it there. That time his hero, Kang Hsiao (played by Lee Kang-sheng) was trying to make a living selling watches. His father had passed away and his mother was trying to get the father's spirit to return. In 2005, Kang was trying to make a living working as porn actor in The Wayward Cloud. But Kang's story started with Rebels of the Neon God and has continued for another 14 years. And in 2006, Kang returned to Tsai's birth land Malaysia in I Don't Want to Sleep Alone, a film I can't wait to see. This effort was the first time Tsai turned the lens back on his native country and away from Taipei.

It is hard to believe that Rebels of the Neon God was Tsai's first full length feature because it is such a well developed film. The story involves Kang Hsiao and his efforts to drop out of high school and spend hours in the arcade. One day while he is in father's taxi, a young man on a motorcyle smashes his dad's mirror. Kang follows the motorcyle guy and his girlfriend around and eventually takes his revenge in a simple yet cruel manner. The film is amazingly shot with not much dialogue yet one does need too many words to understand Kang's emotions and feelings. Each shot is framed & lit so well that we can sit back and peacefully observe Kang's teenage angst, curiousity & even boredom.

Because I have seen The Wayward Cloud, I couldn't help read too much into a harmless scene around the 16 minute mark in Rebels... In this scene, Kang and his father buy and eat watermelon from a roadside vendor. Kang's father gives his son a few extra pieces and tells him to eat them all. 13 years later in the The Wayward Cloud Kang is still eating watermelons but this time the watermelon is used as a prop in the porn movie.

So far, I have enjoyed each Tsai Ming-liang and Lee Kang-sheng collaboration seperately but watching all them one after another will be a real treat. But I have to make that journey, one movie at a time...

From an epic to a disaster..

Colour me Kubrick (2005, Director Brian Cook): Rating 4.5/10

John Malkovich plays Alan Conway, a real life person who went around conning people into believing he was Stanley Kubrick. Conway somehow convinced plenty of people that he was the famous director and was able to get free drinks and hotel rooms paid. Along the way, he made false promises to people, crushed their fragile egos and broke their hearts. Is that all he did? Well if this film is any indication, that's all there is to the story. So this utterly boring & muddled film recycles the same con over and over after the first 10 minutes -- only the victims change along with Conway's accent. The film is too confused to decide if it wants to be a full blown farce, a character study or even a mocumentary. The music from Clockwork Orange and 2001 is thrown in for good measure but it amounts to nothing. Even at 1 hour 21 minutes, it feels too long and boring. Painful watching!!!

An Epic to top all epics...

The Mahabharata (1989, Director Peter Brook): Rating 9/10

There is no story like the The Mahabharata!! The poem’s incredible length is well know (longer than the two Greek epics The Iliad and The Odyssey combined). But it is the well known characters and immense knowledge that stands out from this epic work -- the tales of Arjun, Krishna, Draupadi, the family feud of Pandavs vs Kauravs and the message of the Bhagavad Gita are known to every Indian. But how many people outside of India know about this tale? The Greek classics and The Bible are still know around the world but works such as The Ramayana and The Mahabharata are largely ignored. Even though this story about family rivalry and the lessons about war are applicable to any culture around the world. But until this multi-nation collaboration, this work would have been restricted to India alone.

In 1988, B.R Chopra & Ravi Chopra’s tv series Mahabharat was a huge success in India. When the tv series was on, the streets were empty; you would be hard pressed to find a soul not in front of a tv. Yet this work was in Hindi and acted by Indian actors, so it was limited to Indian audiences. But Peter Brook’s approach is unique. He has assembled an international cast from a plethora of nations -- India, Japan, Italy, Senegal, Algeria, England, Germany, France, Poland, U.S, to name a few. All the actors speak in English with their original accents. As a result, this removes the work from an Indian namespace and makes it accessible to a universal audience. Brook’s has filmed Jean-Claude Carrière’s adaptation into a staggering 5 hour 25 minute film. The work covers all the major elements of the story and cleverly integrates the writer, Vyasa, into the story as well. That is similar to having Homer show up in a film adaptation of The Odyssey. The different actors enhance the film with their own accent and acting style, as a result, the film is never dull. Truly an epic viewing!!!

Himalaya (1999, Director Eric Valli): Rating 8/10

This is a visually stunning tale about traditions and the cultural way of life in the Dolpo area of Nepal. On the surface the story is about the salt trade but at the core, it is a tale about the clash of cultural ideals – old traditions vs new ideas. To film this against the difficult terrain of the majestic mountains is an immense achievement. On top of that, the film crew have managed to capture the beautiful landscape with all the sights and sounds. The story is good but the visuals are the real attraction of this film.

Brazilian Cinema

Spotlight on Brazilian Cinema, part two

Lower City (2005, Director Sérgio Machado, co-writer Karim Ainouz): Rating 7.5/10

I am fast becoming a fan of Karim Ainouz's writing style. Cinema, Aspirins and Vultures was my favourite film of 2005 and even though Behind the Sun(2001) was flawed, it had moments of rich emotion. The trailers for Lower City seemed to make clear what the film was about -- two friends are shown to fall for the same woman, plenty of raw sex and some scenes of robbery and physical violence. And true to the trailers, the film is exactly what it appears. The first sex scene arrives at the 3 minute mark of the film. At the start of the film, we see Karinna (Alice Braga) dressing up and heading downstairs to a local shop. There she asks the shop-keeper if she knows anyone who can give her a ride out of town. Two young men (Deco played by Lázaro Ramos and Naldinho played by Wagner Moura) standing in the corner tell her that they can give her a lift on their boat. While negotiating the price with her, they eye her up and down and say that she can pay the rest by you know what. She understands and a minute or so later, Naldinho is having his way with her on the boat. And right after him, Deco steps up to score. Right from the outset, Karinna is smart enough to understand that she will come in between these childhood friends and that the two will eventually kill each other over her. To her credit, she tries to get away but is always drawn towards them. Very little words are spoken in this duration and none need to be -- the pictures tell it all.

Pixote (1981, Director Hector Babenco): Rating 9/10

Half-way through watching this film, I felt it reminded me of Carandiru, the 2003 gritty Brazilian prison drama film. As it turns out, Babenco directed both these films so the similarity was understandable. In a sense, Carandiru is an extension of the work that Babenco started with Pixote. In this 1981 film, he focuses on the poor Brazilian youth of São Paulo. He shows that how sometimes these kids are grabbed by the police on the slightest pretext and housed in reformatories. All these kids are less 18 years of age and that is the key. Because if the kids are under 18, no matter what crime they commit, they won't be thrown in prison but sent to a reformatory. So certain people abuse this loop hole by getting the children to commit drug trafficking, theft and even murder.

Pixote is not an easy film to watch. It is not afraid to show the disgusting side of crime and poverty that most films often cover-up. While watching this movie, it is easy to understand how some of the kinds will land up in the jails in Carandiru. The main character of Pixote is a 10 year old boy who gradually loses his innocence as the film progresses. This film was made long before the recent Brazilian youth crime films and it predicts the horror that is shown in City of God, Bus 174 and Carandiru.

After two films, onto a book.........

Garrincha, written by Ruy Castro

Plenty of non-soccer fans have heard of Pele but how many have heard of Garrincha? Plenty of myths surround Garrincha and his ability. I often heard he was better than Pele and the limited black and white footage I saw of his goals and moves seemed to confirm that. But it was a truly eye-opening experience to read this fascinating book by Ruy Castro. Castro has done an amazing amount of research for this book and honestly, it is truly one of the best books I have read in a very long time!

The cliched phrase of "truth is sometimes stranger than fiction" seemed to apply to Garrincha. Right from his birth, he defied belief. He was born with two defective legs -- both legs were bent, one outward and the other inward. On top of that, one leg was shorter than the other (by one inch) and he even had a hip problem. Doctors didn't give him much chance to walk, let alone run. But run he did and he became one of the best dribblers the game has known. Unfortunately, that is where the romantic side of his life ends. Everything else about him is so tragic and miserable that you feel no fiction writer could make this stuff up.

-- Garrincha had a weakness for alcohol and woman. He count not resist either and while he was not drunk, he was screwing (or doing both together). In fact, sex was the only exercise he used to keep himself fit. He never went to gym and played the game however he felt it. He is believed to have fathered atleast 14 recorded children with 5 different women.
-- He was naive and simple-minded and other people took advantage of that. He was constantly under-paid by his club and later in life, he was sucked dry by a greedy lawyer who tried to steal any money that Garrincha earned.
-- Throughout his career, friends and people tried to get him back on his feet by creating jobs for him. But the lure of alcohol always was stronger.
-- A man who led Brazil to two World Cup trophies died in a manner one does not associate with such heroes. On the other hand, Pele's fame went from strength to strength. Both were heroes to the world in that 1958 World Cup but Pele went to become a global icon, while Garrincha disappeared into the dust of the earth.
-- By the end of his life, he was depending on organizations and even the Brazilian football federation on keeping him alive and paying his hospital bills.

One can argue that the pattern of Garrincha's destruction is the same followed by other people who found over-night wealth and blew it all away. But Garrincha's case is different. He didn't care for money. And when he played, he didn't want to be a hero and score the most goals. For him dribbling was his only joy. His team-mates often got mad at him for not passing the ball enough, but they didn't realize that for him playing tricks with the ball was the highest form of pleasure.

But no matter how many mistakes he made and how many affairs he had, some people were always ready to forgive him. In fact, people blamed his marriage problems on the other woman who was hated more than Garrincha. Part of the love that people had for him might be attributed to his poor background. Castro does a good job in starting the book at a point when the local natives were tortured and abused by the colonials. The start of the book feels like something out of the Brazil that Werner Herzog showed in Cobra Verde -- plantation owners who exploited the locals.

This book highlights all the cliches and myths one associates with the images of Brazil -- futbol, sex, poverty, politics, corruption, carnival. But more than the cliches, this is a engaging look at the life of a flawed man. Full credit for the wonder that this book is goes to Ruy Castro and the English translator, Andrew Downie.

Full title: Garrincha, the triumph and tragedy of Brazil's forgotten footballing hero

Brazilian Genius

Milan is a long way from São Paulo. But on a rainy Wednesday night, it was the man from São Paulo who showed his class and led the Italian team to a Champions League final in Athens against Liverpool.

For the last few years, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (or Kaká) has been one of the best players in the world. However, his intelligent play and clever positioning has often been dwarfed by the tricks and jigs of Ronaldinho. Ronaldinho may have finally scored his bicycle kick goal for Barcelona this year but he is clearly a shadow of his former self. Instead, Kaká has added a spark of genius into an aging Milan team badly in need of inspiration. His two goals against Manchester United last week were perfect examples of his immense talent -- the first was a precise shot placed at the end of a pacy clever run and the second was pure genius, where Kaká made a goal out of nothing. He headed, flicked and headed the ball again past a stagnant Manchester defense to score with such ease. And on Wednesday night, he scored again with a precise left shot but this time he volleyed the ball into the bottom corner of the net.

The above picture is a beautiful shot. I have no idea who took it but I found it on Soccernet's photo gallery . Kaká always looks up to the heavens after he scores a goal but the lighting in this shot makes it more special. Because it appears this time that the heavenly light seems to be shining back down on him. Poetic!

French Film Festival

I finally made the trip out to the second oldest movie theatre in Alberta for the annual Cinemagine film festival. I was only able to attend one of the three days and catch only 3 of the total 8 films shown. Of the remaining 5 films that I missed, I had only seen the charming Congorama. This beautiful 1912 theatre was a perfect venue to enjoy three films on a beautiful Sunday and was worth a 3 hour drive (round trip).

Je vous trouve très beau (2005, France, Director Isabelle Mergault):

It was a good thing that I read the story beforehand because as it turned out this French film had no English subtitles even though it was advertised as having them. Apparently, there are no prints in Canada with English subtitles. Still, besides missing some of jokes, I managed to get the essence of the story. An aging farmer finds himself to be more lonely after his wife dies in a bizarre accident. In order to find a companion, Aymé tries to get help from a marriage agency. The marriage agency specializes in Romanian brides and the colorful agent drags Aymé to Romania. He manages to pick out the simple beauty Elena because of her honesty. All the other girls kept telling him that he was very beautiful and were more keen to head for the wild Parisian life (for them France was all about Paris and Moulin Rouge).

It is a cute romantic comedy about how these two different people find comfort with each other. Since I didn’t get most of the dialogues, I focused more on the actor’s expressions. Both the leads acted perfectly and their precise expressions carried the movie. Well worth watching and after a while, I forgot I could not understand the language.

Ma fille, mon ange (2007, Canada, Director Alexis Durand-Brault): Rating 9/10

A very interesting film that ended up being the best watch of the day. The film starts off in flashback from a murder scene leading up to the crime itself. We get the story from the perspective of the two people in question – the father and daughter. The father likes to visit porn sites and on a particular visit, he is shocked to see a video of his 19 year old daughter on the site. His daughter is not doing anything in the video clip but she announces that her premier action video will be shown live in a few days time. Confused and distraught, the father heads to Montreal to bring his sweet daughter home.

Now, the murder mystery is slowly unfolded and we are given enough clues as to guess what really transpired. But what makes the film so powerful is the story of the daughter landing into the porn business. The film shows how sometimes even smart girls can fall into a trap and be seduced by money and power. There are some moments of dry humour as the story also shows how the online porn business is more sophisticated than people think and in some cases, it manages to exploit legal loop holes.

Guide de la petite vengeance (2006, Canada, Director Jean-François Pouliot): Rating 8.5/10

On first glance this appeared to be another film about a disgruntled employee taking revenge on his evil boss, a la Swimming with the Sharks. But this film is an unexpected pleasure. Bernard’s life is falling apart because of his cruel manipulative boss, Mr. Vendôme. One day, he comes across Robert, an ex-employee who was driven insane by Vendôme as well. As it turns out, Bernard took over Robert’s job. Robert helps Bernard see the light and urges him to take revenge. Together, the two plot a perfect crime. But there are plenty of surprises that Bernard had not taken into account, especially Robert’s real identity.

This is a fun filled film which is a real treat to watch. The biggest surprise that this film threw is something not related to the movie itself. As the last twist in the final scene was about to be shown, the film caught fire and one could see the reel being burned on screen. I had never seen a film catch on fire in a theatre before and because I had seen the Grindhouse a few days ago, I was able to recognize the symptoms. So I have to admit that some use came out of seeing Rodriguez’s Planet Terror after all. To quote a line from that film: "At some point in your life, you find a use for every useless talent you have." Well I have to say that all those useless talents from Planet Terror certainly made me understand the events of a Québécois film in a 1912 theatre in a historic old town!

Royale with cheese @ the Grindhouse

Planet Terror (2007, Director Robert Rodriguez): Rating 6/10

The trailers tantalize with the images of Rose McGowan and her machine gun leg. However, there is almost 80 minutes of film before the prized shot of Rose McGowan’s CGI leg acting as both a rocket-launcher and machine gun. Rodriguez has some fresh ideas here – machine gun leg, bio-chemical addicts, soldiers exposed to chemical radiations in the battle field of Afghanistan. Also, the missing reel was a funny element in the film, especially since it hid the legend of El Ray. But overall, this feature is more along the lines of disasters that Spy Kids 3-D and Once Upon a Time in Mexico were. Yawn. Was there no one else who could have been picked for this film other than Rose McGowan? She had an important role in this feature but she was the worst actor by far.

The Trailers

Almost all the trailers are funny and worth watching. All the directors seem to get the essence of the Grindhouse as trailers for their non-existent films are packed with gore and clichés.

Death Proof (2007, Director Quentin Tarantino): Rating 9/10

This is vintage Tarantino, which means plenty of clever and over-smart blah blah in the film. All the clever dialogues in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction seemed fresh. But after the extended mundane dialogue near the end of Kill Bill 2 I seemed to tire of the over-smartness. Yes, Mr. Tarantino you love movies. I get it! Yes you want to flaunt your love for old movies and get your characters to go on and on about some scenes from such films. Anyway, this feature is far more superior to the first one. The acting spotlight is stolen by kiwi stuntwoman Zoe Bell. In every scene, Zoe exudes energy and is constantly in character even when the camera is not directly on her. Tarantino also revisits a scene from the movie that made him famous -- Reservoir Dogs. The diner conversation with the 4 women and the camera angle was right out of the opening shots of that 1992 film which gave him fame.

Overall: The missing reel element in both films was a neat idea. However, the reel being on fire and faked film scratches feel like forced elements. I think if this film was to be improved then maybe Rodriguez’s effort should be reduced to a 20-25 min short film, all the fake trailers should be kept and Tarantino’s effort might need 5 minutes trimmed off it.

Brazilian Cinema

Spotlight on Brazilian Cinema, part 1

Ah Brazil. Copacabana beach, Sun, Sand, Futbol, Samba, Carnivale, Dance, Music, Sugar Loaf mountain. Just some of the exotic symbols of Brazil that come to mind.


eTravelPhotos.com

However, in recent years (thanks to films and documentaries) other images of Brazil have been given attention -- favelas and the poverty. There are now even organized tours which give photo happy tourists a glimpse of life on the other side of society. And in the last few years, Brazil's government & economic quirks have ensured international economists and journalists keep Brazil in mind when churning out articles. But no matter what negative image is painted on Brazil, its futbol continues to excite and thrill. As an added bonus, in recent years its cinema has also produced some vintage displays of color, energy, emotion and plenty of passion. So in order to explore some Brazilian symbols, cliches and truths, I decided to shed a spotlight on Brazilian cinema with 5 works. Here is part one:

Chronically Unfeasible (2000, Director Sergio Bianchi): Rating 7.5/10

I could not have picked a better start to examining Brazilian life than this docu-drama by Sergio Bianchi. Bianchi examines the common problems that plague Brazil, such as poverty, attitudes of the rich, immigration, class differences and crime. This is neither a documentary nor a scripted film. Instead, we get to see staged version of the truth. As Bianchi points out, if he showed us the truth, then some viewers might find the images too offensive or others might take it as fiction. So Bianchi finds a middle ground -- he shows us some footage of 'real' events in various regions of Brazil and then goes on to shoot some staged scenes which highlight everyday problems that occur in that area. The result is a humorous meditation on human behaviour.

The film starts out in a restaurant where four rich people are busy blaming the problem of the country on the poor while having their expensive wine. Subsequent scenes show the professions of these four people and their behaviour with the common folk. A few other characters are added along the way to enhance the class differences between the rich and the poor. Besides class differences, regional hatred is displayed -- the North Easterners think the Southerners are to blame, the Southerners blame the North and so on. Bianchi shows that in some parts of Brazil, people are kept poor and given just enough music to be happy. While in another region, the rich unhappily live in Suburbs built on top of land tainted with blood of the natives.

A constant debate throughout the film is also regarding the merit of working. Some believe that work is necessary for man while others claim that man is being oppressed everytime he works. In a hilarious sequence, a labour union head oppresses and enslaves his people while asking them to conduct demonstrations against the oppression these people face from their employers. Overall, a very good place to start a spotlight on Brazil. Plenty of discussion points in this film.

Black Orpheus (1959, Director Marcel Camus): Rating 8/10

The energy, rhythm and joy of the Carnivale takes center stage in this re-telling of the classic love story between Orpheus and Eurydice. Right from the opening scenes, we are thrown into a pulsating & energetic Rio. The chaos of the festival is a backdrop to the tragic love story where death is always lurking for Eurydice around the corner. This is certainly an imaginative recreation of Orpheus's love for Eurydice and is completely different from Jean Cocteau's sublime 1950 film Orphée.

Hot Spoof

Hot Fuzz (2007, Director Edgar Wright): Rating 9/10

This spoof on adrenaline movies ends up being an adrenaline rush itself. Just pure fun! Hot Fuzz wisely incorporates concepts & scenes from multiple Hollywood flicks into a humorous story about crime in a small town British village. Overall, the concept of crime & small town cops reminded me of the hilarious Swedish film Kopps but Hot Fuzz is a different film. Kopps was a comedy where small town policemen commit crime in order to save their jobs. While Hot Fuzz is a spoof and the crime committed in the film is just another borrowed element beautifully woven into the story. On one hand, one can enjoy this movie by itself. On the other hand, it is also enjoyable to watch the jabs taken at other movies. For example, camera angles and action scenes from Bad Boys and a dramatic music beat from the The Matrix. The acting is spot-on with delightful cameos by Steve Coogan, Stephen Merchant & Bill Nighy. Time well spent!!

French vs German cinema, 2nd leg

A few weeks ago (March 25), my 1st leg of French vs German cinema featured 3 German films and 2 French ones. So it was appropriate that the return leg would have 3 French films and 2 German titles. Only one director was common over the two legs -- Werner Herzog. And like last time around, his movie was another volatile combination with Klaus Kinski.

Cobra Verde (1987, Director Werner Herzog): Rating 10/10

I knew nothing about Klaus Kinski and Herzog's collaborations until I saw the wonderful Aguirre. On the DVD commentary for that film, Herzog indicated the difficulty & challenges he had directing Kinski. The setting for that 1972 film was the Amazon and it was interesting to watch Kinski turn into a savage. So when I heard that Herzog put Kinski in the middle of Africa, well that sounded too good to pass up. And as it turns out, I got a bonus treat -- in Cobra Verde before Kinski lands up on the Western African coast, he starts out in hot and exotic Brazil.

No other person could have played the role of the bandit Cobra Verde as Kinski does. I am not sure that Kinski is playing the role -- he might be acting out his inner demons. The raw anger and emotions that he displays really make this film a riveting watch. Even though this is not a perfect film, it is a visual treat. The film starts out in Brazil when the slave trade was in full swing. Kinski plays a bandit who is feared by the locals. In fact, he may be the only white man that makes the locals stop in their tracks. Tired of his wild behaviour, the men in power hatch a plan to eliminate him -- they decide to send him to Africa to get some slaves. The rich business men have heard a rumour that no white man has survived the Benin king's wrath. So they decide to send Verde to his doom. But as expected, not only does Verde survive, he gains the king's trust and is elevated to power after the king is disposed in a bloodless coup.

There is a lot of sadness and muted anger simmering beneath the surface of Verde and this film. Both emotions are also evoked in the audience by the objective display of the slave trade. Only at the end of the movie do we see Verde give his opinion on human slavery. But until that point, we get to see the cruelty humans inflicted on others. Like in Aguirre, there are plenty of improvised scenes. The Benin and Ghanian locals acted out their customs and rituals while Herzog and his camera-man Viktor Ruzicka captured them. Even though the film is not strong on narrative, its real strength lies with its visual images of Brazil, Africa and Kinski. The last scene where Verde is trying with all his power to pull the boat out to sea is another one of those magical moments that Herzog seems to capture -- Verde is powerless and his inability to move the boat even one inch puts his life and situation in perspective.

I really wish that a movie could have been made which had featured Cobra Verde face to face with Brando's Kurtz!

Betty Blue (1986, Director Jean-Jacques Beineix): Rating 8.5/10

Sometimes we cross the same streets everyday and brush past the same people. Yet, we don't stop to give a second thought to some of those people. Movies can suffer the same fate sometimes. I walked by the DVD of Betty Blue on numerous occasions but never thought of picking it up. A recent recommendation made me give this film a go and I am fortunate for that. I truly relished being lost in the world of Betty and Zorg for almost 3 hours.

The film starts out with a raw sex scene but the scenes after that are very un-French -- cowboy hat, pick-up truck, beach-houses and brightly lit surroundings. In fact, the bright lighting threw me off the most. Most French films are often shot in Parisian suburbs where the bright light is often blocked. But not in this one this one. Even after the film moves to Paris (around the 40th minute mark), the couple settle in a detached house as opposed to an apartment. Another un-French like move. In fact, the film can be described as having shades of Verhoeven's Turkish Delight with an American cinematic beating heart at its core.

Betty wants to be a free soul and is frustrated with the restrictions around her. She is on the verge of giving up on Zorg when she stumbles onto his diaries. She reads through all of them and is convinced that Zorg is a great writer. She makes it her goal to get him published. But when that does not happen, she is crushed. After that, any happiness that comes Betty's way gets taken away. Or so she thinks. She is a restless person and lives on the edge of misery and ecstacy. Zorg is very patient with her and tries his best to take care of her needs. It is clear that the film is heading towards a sad ending and we are given some clues to Betty's irrational behaviour. At 3 hours, the movie is about 40 minutes too long but I still found it a rewarding watch.

My life to Live (1962, Director Jean-Luc Godard): Rating 9/10

In 12 chapters, we see Nana's life dreams slowly dissolve. She came to Paris to become an actresses but eventually finds herself earning money as a prostitute. The strongest aspect of this film is its cinematography. Godard knows exactly what he wants to show and where the camera should be. Examples:
-- When we first meet Nana in a cafe, we don't see her face. Instead, the camera shows the back of her head. Eventually, the mirror at the left hand side of the cafe shows us her face. We can see both her face and the back of her head, along with the dangling cigarette in her hand. Simple yet effective shot.
-- The scenes where Nana becomes a prostitute are shot uniquely. We don't see any sex shots but instead we see the mechanics of the business. The camera focuses on the money changing hands, a man's hand placed on Nana's bare shoulder and the cold emotionless embraces that Nana has to make.
-- The best segment in the film has to be when Nana is dancing in the pool hall. As she dances around the bar, the camera freely follows her. We see a happy side of Nana but also, we can see how she is trying to entice a man. The camera work here is pure pleasure.
Quite a film!!!

The Disenchanted (1990, Director Benoît Jacquot): Rating 7.5/10

This film makes a perfect double with the above Godard movie. Like My Life to Live, we see a female life in flux. This time however, it is a 17 year old girl, Beth. Beth wants to be free (a la Betty Blue) but she is pulled in different directions by the people in her life -- boys and men want her; Beth's mom wants her daughter to follow in her footsteps and become a prostitute. Beth's mom is ill and can't satisfy her sugar daddy. So Beth has to take her mom's place to ensure the family continues to get a pay cheque. But unlike in Betty Blue and Nana in My Life to Live, Beth does run away to freedom. At 75 minutes running time, this is a concise work.

Destiny (1921, Director Fritz Lang): Rating 7.5/10

Even though this film was shot and made in 1921, it is still an entertaining watch. We can see how experimentation with lighting and editing produce some fascinating effects such as showing ghosts, people walking through walls, a flying carpet and some other magical feats. The story features how a woman who wants to rescue her fiancee from the clutches of Death. Death is shown to be a compassionate understanding man who makes gives the woman four chances to save her love. In the first three chances, she has to save the life of one person from three different parts of the world -- Turkey, Austria and China. Each story has its pros and cons (and stereotypes, it is 1921 after all). Quite entertaining for the most part. It is amazing that moving images with some title cards can still make for absorbing cinema whereas special effects and plenty of dialogue make for annoying noise!