Eastern Europe, part II

6 new films with 3 being co-productions. Here are the films in no particular order:


One of the major themes of part I of Eastern European cinema was the break down or collapse of a nation. Part II picks up from that theme and looks at issues of population displacement which result from a nation's economic breakdown.

Exile:

Officially when a nation is at war, only a select few are fighting for the cause; most ordinary citizens are caught in the cross-fire. And when everyday life becomes unbearable, some citizens are forced to make the difficult choice of leaving their homeland. If the thought of leaving is a tough decision, then the act is even harder. That's because there are only limited means by which a person can leave their country - illegal border crossing, a legal immigration, a temporary visa or a refugee status.

a) Illegal Border crossings:

The engaging film Spare Parts shows the perils of illegal border crossings. The film is shown from the perspective of two men who earn a living out of driving people across the Slovenian border. Slovenia shares a border with Italy and Croatia and as a result, acts as a perfect medium for such transfers. The border crossers are leaving their homes in Bosnia, Macedonia, Albania, Iran, Africa in the hopes of a better life in Italy or "Europe" as they refer to the promise land.

Whether it is a border crossing in Europe, Africa or North America, the means are the same. A network of contacts is setup, there is a transporter who delivers the people, a pick-up man on the the other side with lots of money changing hands. The movie tries to give a human face to the transporters and the people paying a fortune just to get to the other side. We see how a young driver is initiated into the business, how he is trained and eventually matures into being his own boss. But before the young driver is fully qualified, he is disgusted at the idea and even tries to quit. We see how ordinary humans are humiliated and forced to sell themselves just to get some food while in transit. And we even learn how some of these poor souls might end up being "spare parts" when they reach the Italian border -- the human beings transported are only needed for kidney or other body parts and have no value themselves.

What is more cruel? The horrors these people have to face just to cross the border or the circumstances that force normal educated humans to take such risks?

b) Legal Border crossings:

Once upon a time, Eastern European soccer players were not allowed to leave their country for Western European soccer teams. In some cases, age restrictions were placed. For example, in Bulgaria prior to 1990, soccer players could only leave after the age of 28. By then, most players would have lost the chance to play abroad. But all that changed after the collapse of the Berlin wall and break-up of the Eastern bloc of nations. The new political changes ensured that soccer players could leave freely. If soccer players could leave for better opportunities, then why not the regular office workers, doctors, engineers or other professionals?

The Bosnian co-production Armin shows how a father takes his teenage son across the border to Croatia for a movie audition. The father is quite proud of his son's acting and musical abilities and he is sure that his son will get the film part. The duo are from a small Bosnian village and are initially awed (the son more than the father) at the standard of life in Zagreb. But eventually, the two not only understand each other better but maintain their integrity before returning back home. Armin is a tender film that beautifully looks at the relationship between father and son while also highlighting the pride people have in their roots. In one scene, the father finds himself in the hotel lobby with a Turkish man who is watching a German soccer game on tv. The man is watching VFB Stuttgart play. The father points that everyone in his town only likes Bayern Munich. Why? Because of Hasan Salihamidzic, ofcourse! Hasan is probably the most famous Bosnian soccer player plying in his trade in one of the biggest clubs in Europe. Interestingly enough, Hasan was on the last flight that left Sarajevo (1992) the night before the newly formed nation of Bosnia-Herzegovina was forced into war. Hasan did return back to Bosnia via illegal border crossings before finally making a move to Germany. Even in Exile, he represents a symbol of joy and hope for his people back home.

Although Béla Tarr's The Prefab People is about a couple's relationship problems, it too features the concept of leaving one's home to earn a living abroad. In the movie, the husband wants to work on a two year contract in Romania because he will earn more money. The wife does not want him to leave because she needs him to help with their two children. But the husband points out that if he does not leave, then they won't be able to afford the basic luxuries of life (car, washing machine). The husband assures the wife that he will only go for two years but will return back. But in many other cases, people leave their home, wanting to return but decades go by and they are caught up in their everyday life. Yet, they can't ground themselves in their new adopted home because mentally they are rooted elsewhere. The German co-production Das Fräulein shows three women in different stages of Exile in Germany -- Ana is a young Bosnian girl who is convinced she is only in Germany for a temporary time; Mila is a Croatian woman who has been living for decades in Germany but is still reluctant to call it home and Ruza is a Serbian woman who has tried very hard to erase all memories of her past life and emotionless goes about running her restaurant. The three women's interactions with each other change each person and help them to get a better appreciation of life. Coolly shot in blue and green visuals, Das Fräulein is a simple movie about what happens to people when their lives are unexpectedly halted and they are forced to start afresh in an alien land.

The Return:

Naturally, sometimes after a period of exile, a person does make a return.

In La Traductrice Marina lives happily with her daughter Ira in Geneva. But things were not always good for Marina. More than a decade ago, she fled Moscow with her then 7 year old Ira because life in Russia was too dangerous. The romantic exile period is over when Ira becomes a translator for a Russian mafia boss arrested in Geneva. Ira got the job thanks to a family friend, who has his own reasons for hiring her. During the course of the trial, Ira learns some truths about her past and eventually travels to Moscow to unravel the mystery. In the end, Ira is smart enough to handle the truth her mother was protecting her from and mature enough to make the right decisions.

Home is where the heart is...

War and jobs are not the only reasons people leave their homes. Sometimes, people leave their home just to escape from a relationship or their family.

The Prefab people begins with the husband walking out on his wife and kid. She is upset at him wanting to leave her just like and take off. As it is, he does no work around the house and does not help his wife in any chores. He just wants to spend time with his friends, read the paper, watch tv and drink. Eventually, the two of them patch up and go on. And then a job opportunity in Romania comes up. That coupled with his unhappiness is enough reason for the husband to leave again.

The Bulgarian film Christmas Tree Upside Down is a collection of 6 different shorts forcibly held together by a loose common thread. The first short titled The Calf begins with a Bulgarian woman returning after life in New York. Even though she come back home, she can't help recall about the good life abroad. So if it was so good there, then why did she leave? Simple answer -- she needed to get away from her husband.

In the second short, Wooden Angel, a young girl runs away from her home because she is unmarried & 5 months pregnant. The family wants nothing to do with the baby so she arrives in the city hoping for a change. In another of the shorts, we are introduced to a family of gypsies. These people have no fixed home and move from one locale to another. They speak in a language that none of the locals understand and even the audience is left in the dark to their words (there are no subtitles for their dialogues). Yet, they find comfort in each other as they drift from village to city. Singing and dancing....

And the music plays on....

Once again, the gypsy music is in the air. Both The Prefab people & Christmas Tree Upside Down start with infectious gypsy band music. The Bulgarian film starts with a Christmas tree being chopped down. The tree is to be transported across the country to the capital Sofia. Along the way, we are shown 6 shorts -- The Calf, Wooden Angel, Socrates, The Sailboat, The Boar & the Drum. The title of each short represents an ornament that will be put on the tree in the end. The interlude between each short is connected by vibrant gypsy music which informs us when the next segment is about to start. In the end, the tree is set-up with fireworks lighting up the sky.

Fade to black. Cue gypsy music........

Ocean gets knocked Up

Okay, Danny Ocean does not get knocked up. He simply manages to knock his enemies down, yet again.

Ocean's Thirteen (2007, Directed by Steven Soderbergh): Rating 7.5/10

Dec 17, 2001. That was the day when I saw Ocean's Eleven. I still remember the date because of how things unfolded that evening. I was not having a good day when I decided to escape the chilly winter winds to watch the film. I throughly enjoyed watching the movie and felt a little bit better when I left the cinema. An hour later, I got some very good news -- my first ever film criticism article was published online. A bad day ended on a great note. Date & film stored in memory!

As much as I loved the first film, I didn't want to rush to see Ocean's Twelve. I happened to be in Madrid when the second film was released in December 2004. A giant billboard of the film greeted visitors to one of Madrid's busiest shopping districts. I must have crossed the billboard several times in my few days stay there and I was still not inclined to see the movie. But that changed. After a wild New Year's in Madrid's main square, I spent New Year's day relaxing and lounging around Madrid. On Saturday evening (Jan 1, 2005), I decided to catch Alejandro Amenábar's The Sea Inside at one of the theaters. But as I had expected, not a single theater had English subtitles for the Spanish film. Then to my surprize I discovered that all the major theaters were playing Hollywood films dubbed in Spanish! But my guidebook and a few locals informed me that there existed a few theaters which had the Hollywood films in original English but with Spanish subtitles. I finally found one such cinema off the main roads and decided to try my luck with the second installment of Danny Ocean's adventures. Except when I went up to buy the ticket, I told the cute Spanish girl at the box office that I wanted a ticket for Ocean's Eleven. She smiled and gave me the correct ticket for Ocean's Twelve.

I have to say that if I had not seen the second film in Europe, I would not have enjoyed it as much. The film started off with amazing music from the Gotan Project followed by a few European stop-overs. And you could hear laughter when a reference to Madrid's Prado museum was made in the movie. It was fun watching my first ever film in an European cinema, even though it was a Hollywood film.

Now since the third film returns back to Las Vegas where the first film was set, it was appropriate that I returned back to the same cinema where I started my love affair with this classy series. So it is good to see that Ocean's Thirteen still has the cool look and feel from the first film. Familiar elements such as the clever dialogues, peaceful visuals (blue and orange), Rusty (Brad Pitt) casually eating or holding a coffee cup while talking intelligently, the gang taking smart pokes at their rivals (or towards each other) are all there. The movie is plain fun to watch. But is there a point in even trying to ensure if there are any plot mistakes? Because everything is all smoke and mirrors. We are given just enough to get our interest, a little sophistication is thrown in to make the crime look impossible and then casually, everything goes smoothly according to plan.

It is seriously fun to watch characters with so much disposable income that they can plan a revenge robbery for 6+ months in a town where everyone knows everyone and all the criminals try to behave in a gentlemanly fashion. And if someone does not act appropriately, an honor revenge has to be performed! No police, no guns, no bullets, no blood but just smooth talk, some wine, a little seduction and a smart smile. Walk in and causally stroll out with the money. Nothing to it. All so easy. Want a $36 million drill? No problem! Want to start a revolution in a dice-making factory in Mexico? Once again, no problem!

At the end of a day, the three films are a guilty pleasure. Cool, relaxed fun. The style of the first film was a refreshing change from the usual gun happy heist films. But this relaxed style and clever dialogue seemed a little bit over-smart and over the top in parts of Ocean's Thirteen; it all felt like a cliche, something one expected from the characters. The same pattern appears in other directors and films as well -- what at first seems revolutionary gets tired after repeated usage. A little change does not hurt every now and then. Which is what the second film attempted with mixed results. So what now? Will Danny Ocean be back? I have to admit I wouldn't mind another adventure.

Knocked Up (2006, Director Judd Apatow): Rating 8/10

Boy sees girl. Girl takes a liking to boy. After a lot of drinks, the two have a one-night stand which results in pregnancy. What happens next? Things get complicated. The jokes get limited, the stress and frustration grow. But it is to the credit of the filmmakers that the drama does not choke the tender comedy out. The film carefully balances relationship issues plus the stresses of pregnancy in a smooth easy manner. The anger is handled delicately while giving the two lead characters, Ben & Alison, (Seth Rogen & Katherine Heigl) enough freedom to act their feelings out; it is nice to see that neither male or female is made to look like a villain.

The overall story might not be anything new but it is still entertaining to watch. Also it is a positive to see good screen time given to other characters. Each character is quirky and has his/her unique personality. When each character is acting insane or stupid, either Ben or Allison is always present in the frame. This prevents the sidekicks from being seen as mere stereotypes or caricatures but instead we see them as individuals whose interactions are essential to the personality of Ben and Alison. A lot of interesting characters but my two favourites were Paul Rudd's character Pete (a husband who is getting suffocated in his marriage and finds creative ways to keep his sanity) and the jealous employee/superior in Alison's office who tries to be nice but you can clearly see her malicious feelings.

Copa America Film Festival

While juggling the Eastern European Cinema spotlight, I will also have a Copa America film festival to coincide with the 2007 Copa America soccer tournament starting on June 26. The soccer tournament has 12 competing countries (10 South American nations + Mexico & USA) so I will a total of 12 films, one movie for each country.

The Rules

First Round:


The scoring is a bit more complicated from the Quarter Finals up to the Final.

Second Round:


The Films & Groups:
Group A:

Group B:

Group C:


I didn't have a specific criteria or genre for the film picks. In the cases of Uruguay, Ecuador & Bolivia I didn't have much of a choice because I could only find one film from those countries. Unfortunately, I still don't have a film from Paraguay. My best bet would be the 2006 film Paraguayan Hammock but so far I can't find any trace of the film. I will set July 5th to be the final cut-off date to find a film from Paraguay because that is the date when the group stages end in Copa America.

Overall, I am thrilled with all the picks. The entries cover a diverse range with a Mexican revolution film from 1934, a classic Hitchcock flick, political charged movies, film festival award winners and a couple of commercial hits. It will be fun to pit these different films against each other.

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.