Change Your Image
grkracer35
Reviews
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Cartoons for Adults?
Yes, director Hayao Miyazaki gives us an excellent anime film without the children's themes and still keeps it entertaining. Miyazaki starts the film in an understandable situation for anyone who as ever moved in their life, immediately making the viewer wonder what next; which is an underlying theme to this film. Chihiro reluctantly follows her parents into the gateway to the spirit world where her parents become entranced by the food they found and Chihiro is lost in the spirit world upon the darkness of the night and his forced to sell her name, which becomes Sen, and is then forced to work in hopes of recovering her parents who had turned into pigs.
Chihiro is clearly the main character and simply steals the film. While this time lapse of this movie is about 3-5 days, to see her rapid growth in maturity is outstanding and Miyazaki clearly portrays this by putting her through several tests, but this film center's around much more than Chihiro and her struggle. Miyazaki's main purpose of this film was to show his criticism for today's society. From consumer greed to modern pollution, tradition vs. modernistic themes, Miyazaki covered his bases in this one. Not only is the animation simply outstanding, but all the characters are as well.
This film is great for anyone, it maybe too difficult for some children to follow as the themes run deep within the movie. It is sure to keep you entertained whether you are watching for fun or for social critique. If you do watch this movie, I suggest taking a moment to really understand the themes and recall what you have just watched.
Rashômon (1950)
Mystery/Drama: Who did it?
Director Akira Kurosawa of Rashomon, turned the short stories of "Rashomon" and "In a Grove" originally done by Ryunosuke Akutagawa, into a great, first of its kind, movie. What initially was a story about the failing morality of man; Kurosawa made a mystery/drama comparable to any modern movie or TV show making want to know who committed the crime. Given the differences in filming in Japan from Hollywood, this was an entertaining film while being educational.
Kurosawa gets your attention from the very beginning. From the monsoon rain, to the dilapidated gate, it all sets the mood for the film. Unfortunately, Kurosawa stresses the picturing of nature so much that it drags the movie out so much in some places; it takes the focus away from what is happening at that moment. Despite of these lengthy scenes, the movie still manages to remain entertaining through the story and the characters. The most entertaining character is by far the thief. From his creepy laugh and the most unexpected times and his poor sword skills keep the viewer intrigued as to how the movie will finish as well as keeping a small amount of humor. Akira Kurosawa did an excellent job of portraying each characters story by easily distinguishing the differences. These scenes make it really easy to end the movie the portrayal of good and bad in all men and most of all wondering who did it.
Overall the movie was very enjoyable even with the lengthy scenes of nature. Kurosawa's ability to keep the audience entertained with fairly short tale is outstanding. The movie follows more of the story "In a Grove" rather than "Rashomon" and it would have been interesting if Kurosawa could have finished movie more like the short story. This mystery/drama is sure to keep you interested if you are interested in classic Japanese culture or just looking for a classic film.
Gomgashtei dar Aragh (2002)
Poorly put Together
Director Bahman Ghobadi of Marooned in Iraq does a good job of showing the everyday life of the nomadic Kurds under the chaotic rule of Saddam Hussein but perhaps Ghobadi forgot he was making a movie not a documentary. Outside of the last thirty minutes, this movie is poorly put together. Missing subtitles, pointless scenes, unintentional humor, and random characters plague this film.
Within the first twenty minutes the entire plot is given away leaving the middle to be nothing but unintentional humor with a few bumps along the way. The overall seriousness of the film was cast aside by the humor of the not so bright Barat, and the bumbling Audeh. From Barat not being able to speak to women, and Audeh wanting a son so bad that he'll ask anyone for their hand in marriage, the subplot is almost meaningless. While this kept the movie moderately entertaining, the light hearted side of the film is forgotten once Mirza reaches the area in which Hanareh is supposed to be. The honest scenes of mass graves and weeping women are just all too surreal once it's on screen. It is these last scenes in the movie that really take it to another level and is completely unexpected with what the viewer is being shown throughout the earlier parts of the film.
Overall this film is fairly enjoyable with many problem areas such as editing, subtitles and overall meaning of the film. The first twenty and last thirty minutes are the only needed parts of film; the rest merely seems to be filler to create a whole film. The closing scenes will take your breath, but it still begs the question of whether it makes up for having to watch the not-so-worth-it middle parts. This film is far from anything Hollywood especially the ending and therefore I would not recommend this for the average American movie-goer. If anyone is interested in the life of Kurds or anyone living during the Iran-Iraq War, this film will certainly enlighten you.
Bacheha-Ye aseman (1997)
A Perfect Relationship
Children of Heaven with director Majid Majidi is a movie with an excellent portrayal of a relationship between a brother and sister. It is easy to see the compassion and love they have for one another. The movie immediately begins with the loss of Zahra's shoes with Ali at the blame. The rest of film follows Ali and Zahra on their adventures to find the shoes and living with only one pair shoes.
The things that Ali sacrifices and does in his relentless search for the shoes are very touching. His continued lateness to school, wearing wet shoes, and entering a 5KM run just to win a pair of shoes is amazing. Even with the lack of support from Zahra, Ali still trudges along to find those shoes. Since his family cannot afford another pair of shoes, Ali and Zahra must share Ali's shoes. Zahra must run from school to meet Ali to exchange the shoes and Ali must from there run across town to get to school. Ali even had to run in wet shoes after Zahra loses the shoe in a gutter. No matter how frustrated Zahra got or how tired he got, Ali did not waiver in this promise to find the shoes. The most heartwarming scene was during the race were Ali was beginning to fall behind and all he was thinking about was his continuing promise to find Zahra's shoes.
Outside of the overall themes, this film portrays a great brother-sister relationship between Ali and Zahra. Ali's persistence to find Zahra's shoes is very heartwarming. Beautiful frame and editing work by the director helps in every aspect of this movie. Overall it's a very pleasant movie with several touching moments.
The Gods Must Be Crazy (1980)
must be crazy...
The Gods Must Be Crazy is a very interesting film showing the adventures of Xi, a member of the Kalahari !Kung tribe, through various points of view. By showing the events through different perceptions, director Jamie Uys creates what seems to be unintentional humor by using stereotypes. The stereotypes that make this slapstick humor creates a great way for Uys to show the cultural differences between the Kalahari !Kung and Europeans.
The premise of this movie is following of Xi in his adventure to rid his people of the "evil thing" (a coke bottle). Throughout his journey, Xi runs into the characters of the other sub-stories, a clumsy scientist, a school teacher, and a terrorist. Jamie Uys shows several different stereotypes using these characters and their interactions. These stereotypes included the damsel in distress, the unsuspecting hero, and the failing bad guy. Seeing Xi's reactions to different scenarios is absolutely hilarious. His reactions to seeing the school teacher dressing, and his first encounter with a car a great example of the stereotypes that Uys uses to show these cultural differences.
The events that Jamie Uys has Xi go through seem to be ridiculous if not ignorant. Since most Europeans don't know much about Africa and its culture, one can only assume what this movie portrays is accurate. Uys adds to these stereotypes be having an Englishman voice over the !Kung language rather than subtitles giving a feel that !Kung are less superior than Europeans. I don't find this movie to be racist at all but rather an accurate portrayal of different cultures interactions with each other through different points of view. Jamie Uys does a great job of using this slapstick humor to show the stereotypes. Overall this was a very good movie. It did an accurate job showing typical stereotypes through the eyes of different cultures without being racist.
Twist à Popenguine (1994)
Colonization in Popenguine
Ca Twiste a Popenguine is a great movie that shows what it is like to live to present day Senegal, the people, the culture, and how they all perceive themselves. Beyond the poor editing and subtitles lies a wonderful tale of the difference in generations that Moussa Sene Absa describes as colonization. Although the two groups of children didn't like each other, the King's and the In's, they were both into American music and clothes. To the kids, they were just being themselves from what they have seen and heard, but the Elders; they were becoming westernized and saw as a threat to the Wolof tradition.
Moussa Sene Absa did an amazing job writing and directing Ca Twiste a Popenguine. For the low budget, nonprofessional actors/actresses, Absa created a great tale of what it is like to be in Senegal. This movie could be compared to any movie in the United States. It's just a bunch of kids trying to make money and having fun. They get in trouble and still defy their "elders" and continue to be mischievous by doing the same things over and over again. It's a fun movie but also a deeper meaning behind it.