The stars of Red Army featuring Captain Slava Fetisov who became a two-time NHL Stanley Cup winner. Photo: wildbunch.biz |
A what-to-watch foreign film guide for movie fans who would rather watch their movies than read them.
Friday, May 30, 2014
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
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.
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.
Wednesday, May 14, 2014
Z
Directed by Costa-Gavras (1969)
Algeria & France
Z is a Franco-Algerian co-production that was produced not even ten years after Algeria’s independence from France. The movie was based on the novel of the same name and directed by a Greek expat, Costa-Gavras. The story is based on true events, but takes place in a fictionalized world.
These policemen look a little 1984 to me... |
"Any resemblance to real events, persons living or dead is not a coincidence. It is INTENTIONAL." |
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
For Your Consideration... Bollywood
After a brief vacation hiatus (to Iceland, not to India, but a
movie from that country will be profiled in a future post), I wanted to
talk about Bollywood, especially that now all of you have had a chance
to see the movie, 3 Idiots. Bollywood is a pretty unique film
industry for many reasons... not only is it one of the largest national
film industries in the world (if not the largest), but most of the
movies feature song and dance, and if they don't, then it doesn't feel
like a Bollywood film.
Bollywood is the nickname of the Indian film industry.
Bollywood, unlike Hollywood, isn't an actual place you can visit, but
rather a name that sums up the country's industry (so don't pack your
bags just yet). Most Bollywood movies have a formula, and they revolve
around themes involving as forbidden love, education, marriage,
difference in values between generations, and terrorism & violence.
While these central ideas are visited over and over again, the songs,
dances, and actors are what keep people coming back to see different
movies with similar plot lines.The moral of the story is that if you like (or even dislike) Baz Luhrmann (yes, the guy who told you to wear sunscreen), you will most likely love Bollywood.
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