Joyeux Noël

Directed by Christian Carion

France, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium & Romania (2005)

Premiering at the Cannes Film Festival, Joyeux Noël was nominated for rewards at several major film industry competitions, such as the Academy Awards & Golden Globes of the United States, the British BAFTA Awards, and the French César Awards. The film is a European co-production based upon the true story of the Christmas truce that took place during World War I. 

From 1914 to 1918, the Great War was raging on in Europe, which saw many casualties and a change in how war was fought. In the early 1900s, nations were eager to go to war with their new technologies and assumed that battles would be battles between machinery.  Being the first modern war to use technologies such as army tanks, trenches, and mustard gas, over 16 million people, both soldiers and civilians, lost their lives. As a result, many soldiers returned home with scaring experiences to a public who didn't fully understand how the way war was fought changed. 

Lewis, Brühl, and Boon
in their roles as Scottish,
German, and French leaders

On the Western front during December 1914, the three forces who were fighting against each other, France, Germany, & Great Britain, agreed upon a ceasefire to celebrate Christmas Eve. This ceasefire brought together the officers and soldiers of opposing armies and allowed them to celebrate with football games, singing of Christmas carols, and to exchange stories and food items from their homelands. The story of the Christmas truce illustrates the very human side of war and how these competing nations could put aside their differences for celebration. Joyeux Noël tells this story with the talents of Diane Kruger, Guillame Canet, Benno Fürmann, Dany Boon, Gary Lewis, and Daniel Brühl, who can all be seen in many other great films.

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If You Like "Weekend at Bernie's", You Will Love...

Waking Ned Devine – United Kingdom/France (1998)

Waking Ned Devine is a hilarious movie that takes place in the Irish countryside. A lotto winner is announced in the town of Tully More, a town with just over 50 residents. It should be pretty easy to find out who won that lotto and then be extra nice to them so that they will give you some of the winnings, right? Think again.

As parties are thrown and schemes are created to figure out who the lotto winner could be, two friends and one of their wives successfully figure out who the winner is... It's Ned Devine! But the problem is that Ned is dead. And smart enough to write his name on the back of the winning ticket. So now how can anyone else claim the prize money? Simple: by pretending to be Ned Devine. And then getting the entire town to support your impersonation.  

Shot on the Isle of Man, this under-the-radar co-production is filled with many great moments and jokes, especially if you're a fan of British comedy. And if you're searching for it outside of North America, you'll find it under the title, Waking Ned.

Chungking Express

Directed by Kar Wai Wong

Hong Kong (1994)

Chungking Express takes place in the streets of Hong Kong in the 1990s. It tells the tales of two different love stories; in the first, a cop known as He Qiwu, deals with a breakup and falls for a mysterious drug dealer, and in the second, another cop known only as Cop 663, deals his breakup with a flight attendant while trying to win the affections of Faye, a counter girl at the Chungking Express. The two storylines don't necessarily intersect in a big reveal at the end of the movie, but they show how closely separated people actually are and how people's paths can just miss intersecting with each other.

One of my favorite things about the film is the dialogue. It is filled with many memorable lines that make you laugh or think but are not too painstakingly witty. For example, the mysterious woman that He Qiwi falls in love with (yes, she is so mysterious that she doesn't even have a name), always walks around wearing sunglasses and a raincoat, two very opposite pieces of clothing. She says, "I don't know when I started being so cautious. If I put on a raincoat, I wear sunglasses too. You never know if there's going to be rain or shine."
 

Several film reviewers & critics have compared this film to the French New Wave cinema era. Quentin Tarantino even liked the film so much that he was able to get Miramax to distribute it in the United States. Visually, the film is beautifully done, filled with lots of colors, filters, and visual effects, and all these features are not shown in an over-the-top, "I'm trying to be artsy" fashion. The storylines are not anything too unrealistic either, but show a day-in-the-life portrait without all the frills of a blockbuster movie.

Chungking Express is a very well-done portrait of Hong Kong in the 90s. And as a bonus feature, there is a great cover of The Cranberries' hit song, Dreams, once you make it all the way to the end.

If You Like Wes Anderson, You Will Love...

Micmacs – France (2009)

If you've seen the French modern classic Amélie (with the true French title being Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain), you might have an idea of what to expect from this movie. If you have not, you can expect a quirky side of humor with some bizarre characters and situations much like any Wes Anderson movie.

Micmacs is the story of Bazil, a video store employee who is shot by a stray bullet one night on the job. He survives and decides to live life as everyday is his last, as the bullet was not removed from his skull, and it could kill him at any moment. While street performing, an onlooker sees Bazil and takes him to a junkyard, Tire-Larigot. There, he meets a whole group of outcasts with very bizarre talents and backgrounds, ranging from a contortionist and human cannon ball all the way to a guillotine survivor. Bazil decides that he wants to take revenge on the weapons company whose bullet hit him in the head (and whose weapons killed his father many years ago). His new friends refuse to let him live at Tire-Larigot if they cannot help him, and as the French translation of the title suggests, many shenanigans ensue.

Comedian Dany Boon as Bazil.

Clearly by the above description, this is not your typical movie. Very bizarre and quirky, it is not a drama by any means, but a very ironic tale. And while you watch this, you can ponder the following question: How do you bring down a weapons dealer when they have all the weapons?

Trainspotting

Directed by Danny Boyle

Scotland (United Kingdom) (1996)

 

The British Film Institute considers Trainspotting to be one of the top British films of all time, and it is probably the most-highly acclaimed film coming from the country of Scotland. (Scotland is a part of the island of Britain, and Britain is a state in the United Kingdom, making Scotland British by association even though it is considered its own country.) The cult classic revolves around the lives of heroin addicts in the late 1980s in Edinburgh. The title, Trainspotting, has nothing to do with watching trains (although there is a scene in the movie where the characters wait on a train platform, and there is a wallpaper print with trains all over it), but has to do with using heroin. A frequent user of heroin will have a series of spots that resemble train tracks on their arms from injecting the drug into their system. The movie is based on the novel of the same name written by Irvine Welsh.

Literally, trainspotting.

Trainspotting follows the life of Renton (Ewan McGregor) who is involved in the Scottish drug scene. All of Renton’s friends are fellow drug addicts, and they find themselves in lots of compromising situations while trying to get money to continue funding their addictions. Renton finally tries to get himself out of the drug scene but finds it difficult as he keeps associating with the same influential friends and remembering how good the high of the drugs feel. The film shows the many effects of the drug, both the highs and the lows, and the desperate actions the characters will take to continue their habit.

Trainspotting documents the increased drug epidemic in the 1980s Edinburgh neighborhood of Leith. Edinburgh was a popular haven for drugs, dating all the way back to the late 1600s, and in the 1800s, it was one of the world’s highest producers of opiates. Drug use was popular among the middle classes and those with money. The 1970s saw high rates of unemployment, and the 1980s brought in cheap heroin from Pakistan, making it easier for people with less money to purchase the drug. Because of the unemployment rates, people felt they had nothing to work towards, making drugs a more attractive time killer.* Edinburgh then not only saw a drug epidemic, but also a surge in communicable diseases such as hepatitis B & C, as well as HIV.**

Even though this movie is in English, I had to watch it with subtitles because of the heavy Scottish accent. It is not for the queasy of heart as some parts are pretty graphic, but it is a great commentary on the world of drug addiction. As a viewer of the movie, you feel like you are experiencing the constant high that these characters are going through. Part comedy, part drama, part crime film, it is a very well-crafted movie.

* http://www.theguardian.com/society/2009/aug/15/scotland-trainspotting-generation-dying-fact

** http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/home-news/the-fatal-legacy-of-a-nations-drug-use-epidemic.18619037

Infernal Affairs

Directed by Andrew Lau & Alan Mak (2002) 

Hong Kong

Infernal Affairs is the Hong Kong film that inspired Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning film, The Departed, so if you liked that one, it is only natural that you give this one a shot. Infernal Affairs is the classic story of a gangster and an undercover cop. But this time, there is a police mole in the gang and there is a gang mole in the police force. The question is, which one of them will discover the other one first?

The English title for this film is not the Cantonese title, The Unceasing Path. Infernal Affairs was chosen for the English title because the corruption in the police force is an internal affair. The original Cantonese title references the lowest level of hell in Buddhism, so the word infernal plays on that. If you try to look up the movie Internal Affairs, you will have a little trouble finding this title. 

Hollywood has the Walk of Fame,
and Hong Kong has the Avenue
of Stars with this statue of Bruce Lee.
(nexusholidays.com)

This movie is one of the successful examples of the many films that are being produced in Hong Kong. Hong Kong has become a hub for film production due to its geographic location. The cinema is popular with nearby Asian nations, and because there are so many great stories being featured in their cinema, Hong Kong films are gaining popularity in countries like the United States. More and more recognition is being paid to Hong Kong films on the international circuit, and Hollywood has their eyes set on remaking a lot of these movies for their own market. In many cases, film fans want to see the original film, allowing them to find great foreign movies like this one. This was the first film from Hong Kong I have seen, and I know I will be looking for more. No wonder Hong Kong’s film industry made $26 million USD from film exports in 2012.

If you like this title, also be sure to check out the two sequels, Infernal Affairs 2 & Infernal Affairs 3. I haven't gotten a chance to view them, but if they are anything like Infernal Affairs, they will be worth a watch.

Bonus Material: If you have seen The Departed, look out for the Boston Red Sox hat in one of Infernal Affairs' scenes. Is it just a coincidence that The Departed was set in Boston?

If You Like "Escape from Alcatraz" or "The Rock", You Will Love...

Le Trou (The Hole) – France (1960)

Le Trou is the French grand-père of Escape from Alcatraz and great grand-père of The Rock. It takes place inside a Parisian prison in 1947 where cellmates are trying to plan an escape. Whether or not they successfully make it out of the prison, you will have to find out for yourself. But this movie is now included on my top twenty-five list of all time.

My favorite thing about this movie is the minimalism. While there isn’t too much dialogue and absolutely no CGI or special effects, I sat in suspense the entire time I was watching this, wondering if the inmates would be caught as they explored the inner workings of the prison. As a viewer, you feel like you are right there with them, except for the fact you are lucky enough to be eating from a bowl of popcorn on your couch.

For Your Consideration... 2014 Cannes Film Festival

One of the larger film fests in the film fest circuit and the most prestigious, the Cannes International Film Festival, wrapped up this past weekend. The Turkish film, Winter Sleep, took the prestigious Palm d'Or award. The second place award, also known as the Grand Prix or Grand Prize, went to the Italian film, The Wonders. And in third place there was a tie between a Canadian and a French film, Xavier Dolan's Mommy and Jean-Luc Goddard's Goodbye to Language. The Cannes Film Festival usually highlights European films, so there is a good chance that these will be available soon to watch from home and will probably show up in many other film festivals around the world.

The stars of Red Army featuring Captain Slava Fetisov
who became a two-time NHL Stanley Cup winner.
Photo: wildbunch.biz

There is one Cannes movie that particularly caught my eye called Red Army, and it is especially appropriate now that hockey's Stanley Cup Finals are about to start. Red Army is a Russian documentary about the Soviet hockey team during the 1970s and 80s. This documentary features many of the team's stars discussing hockey, as well as the social and political issues surrounding that time period. This film sounds like a great pairing with the American film, Miracle, that features the American hockey team that went on to win the gold medal in the 1980 Olympic Games for all you hockey fans out there.

If You Like "The Pursuit of Happyness", You Will Love...

Children of Heaven – Iran (1997)

Children of Heaven is one of those movies that has always popped up when I've looked up Iranian film, so I decided to give it a chance. The story focuses on the story of two children from a low income family in Tehran. Ali is on a family errand, buying vegetables and also picking up his sister's, Zahra's, fixed shoes. Before he can get home, Ali loses the shoes and is scared of getting in trouble for doing so, so he tells Zahra that she can wear his sneakers to school, hurry back home, and then he will quick put them on and get to school himself.


The storyline sounds kind of simple, and it is. The film follows the tradition of Italy's The Bicycle Thief as Zahra keeps seeing her lost shoes but can't get them back. It also shows how this sibling pair sticks together to keep each other out of trouble until they can a way to replace the shoes. And this film, unlike so many others, is perfectly fit for a G-rated family night.