Open Eyes

Incendies

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 17:56:00 +0000

The film opens at present day in Montreal with twins in their twenties, Jeanne and Simon Marwan, hearing the will of their mother Nawal Marwan, who has just passed away, from a notary Jean Lebel she’d worked for many years. Her last wish is for them to find their father and brother, to their bewilderment, because they thought their father dead and they never heard about having a brother.

At first, only Jeanne is willing to undertake the journey to an unnamed country in the Middle East (however, this clearly refers to Lebanon, where the author of the play himself was born at and escaped from) while Simon, questioning their mother’s sanity, refuses to embark on such a crazy quest.

Simultaneously, their mother’s story entwines with their research. An incredible story of a woman who is caught between the conflict of religious conflict between Muslims and Christians, especially the war in the country in the 1970s’ and 80s’.

What gives the story an extraordinary strength is exactly this comparison between the perceptions Jeanne and Simon who grew up in a free country versus the life, habits and ways of a nation in the middle of a raging conflict in a country so distant from their lives, especially – and this is apparent during the entire film – because Nawal has shared nothing of her past with their children.

This is portrayed during the twins encounter with the local tradition, especially at one moment, when Jeanne meets the villagers who could have known her father and is told by an elderly woman that “she is looking for her father, but is her mother she knows nothing about”. This exactly depicts the relation of the audience in the western world, who, unless they’ve lived in similar conditions, cannot relate to some of Nawal’s later radical actions and the endurance with which she accepts the imprisonment that follows.

This endurance of Nawal through the atrocities she is faced with during her life before the final escape to Canada is mind-blowing. Death, abuse, inhumane conditions and life-lasting rage are emotions Villeneuve has captured with a divine skill.

All pieces to the puzzle are gradually served to the audience (depends of how quickly you pick up on the clues) and the moment you realize what actually happened just stops your heartbeat for a second.

Like many of the critics, I would have thought this film would win the Oscar for the best foreign film. It has everything a film should have to be more than welcomed to the Hall of Fame and a message that clearly, is immortal.

Attenberg

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 19:55:00 +0000

Directed by Athina Rachel Tsangari

I saw this film at a KVIFF screening today and just have to sit down and write this bit about it. I think I’ve seen quite a bit, but this was a real “cinema extraordinaire”…

Like Dogtooth, which Tsangari coproduced, Attenberg is a clear criticism of contemporary Greece and the decay of values on a sample so precious to the Greek culture – a family.

Inspired by the BBC series studying the behavior of animals by David Attenborough, the film tries to do something similar, only the with people. Mispronunciation of the biologist’s name provides the title to the film.

The plot is quite simple and easy to get. Marina, a 23 year old is only just starting to experiment with her sexuality at the background of a deserted factory, a remnant of industrial Greece of the last century. Her father, who’s dying of cancer, only speaks of the procedure of having his body cremated elsewhere, as this is apparently a taboo in Greece. Marina’s experimenting her first sexual experience with her best friend Bella, who has apparently had her share already. Enter “Engineer”, a nameless character, who serves Marina almost like a human figurine for her first sexual experience.

Let the story begin. Hold on, but there’s no story here. Tsangari is not interested in her characters and their journey of how they got being what they are or where they’re going. Rather, she studies their character and she does so mercilessly.

She doesn’t stop before anything including stripping her characters (and their protagonists) naked, literary. Its not just their bodies we see naked, but also all their secret thoughts and feelings, lets them express everything on the screen for the voyeur-predator sitting in the audience, serving them blood-dripping raw.

To even deepen the animal-like impression the audience gets when seeing the four lead characters, Tsangari lets them act like real animals, and uses these sequences as intermission, sort of, in her film, giving it an even more bizarre impression.

The colors are very simple as well, the general greyness interrupted only by images of the monstrous factory nearby. Camera bets everything on stills having the pattern interrupted only by a moment when Marina and Bella play tennis and tensions between them escalate.

Overall, a very interesting film more likely to shock and make your head spin rather than bore you.

Herzog goes underground in 3D

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 12:30:00 +0000

I absolutely LOVED his Encounters at the End of The World. His narrating in English with a German accent is just so mystical that it goes perfectly with those remote and strange places he picks to film. It's sheer magic, absolutely breathtaking.

I can't wait to see his new documentary in 3D, I think it's actually the first time I am looking forward to see anything in 3D without the usual voice at the back of my head whispering "it's a waste of time and money". Not this one, folks!

3 Idiots

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 12:18:00 +0000

All I expected from this film was some light, easy fun, a simple “Bollywood inside”, but what these almost 3 hours got me was just so much more then that.

India’s best film of 2009 has indeed many things to be proud of. An excellent story-line made to inspire and break the chains the caste system binds Indian society with, the film follows how three students of engineering Rancho, Raju, and Farhan, wrestle with the education system. Rancho is the “cool guy” at school, talented, smart, but good-hearted, always ready to help is friends and fight against the system mainly based on middle-aged memorizing and success clichés.

Freely based on the best-selling novel 'Five Point Someone' by Chetan Bhagat, the film takes liberty to change the plot a bit to highlight other important issues troubling India such as poverty, raping people’s dreams for the sake of future income, the schools‘ monopoly on everything from the curricula to the testing methods, forced marriages, etc. etc. and does so in an entertaining way so typical for Bollywood (yes, there’s dancing, you’ll get to see men cry and women fight for love against their fathers will again, ladies).

On top of that, director Rajkumar Hirani proves he’s the master of his craft by pointing the camera exactly to what we want to see, keeping the flick consistent, even spicing it up with some sequences á la 1950’s footage. It never bores, never slows down, which is remarkable for its length.

I’m not an expert on Indian acting, but Aamir Khan’s (Rancho) performance is so convincing I was close to shedding a tear several times. He’s supported by other brilliant performances (of which Boman Irani’s “Virus” I found the least convincing, but still entertaining enough).

If you get a chance to watch this film, don’t miss it. It’s really worth it. Especially for those who are struggling to make it out there doing what they really love and not just follow any job the system serves them to do because, as the parents always say “that’s what you should do or you won’t earn enough to make a living”.

I won’t spoil it for you but from now on when I have doubts or feel a bit down, I’ll just keep telling myself that 'Aal Izz Well' and I know I will feel better instantly :)

happythankyoumoreplease

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:38:00 +0000

This definitely must be one of the best films I've ever seen. Storytelling just doesn't get any better than this.

Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and winner of the Audience Award at Sundance last year, I had my eye on this flick for quite some time already. But the result was so much more than I expected!

The story follows nine New York hipsters and opens with Sam (Josh Radnor), the loser-writer, on his way to an important meeting with a publisher when he crosses paths with young Rasheen, who gets separated from his foster family on subway.

While he struggles with the decision whether to "return" Rasheen to the system or not and suffer the legal consequences he meets Mississippi, a starting singer, whom he tries to have something deeper than the usual one-night stand.

The side story follows his friends Mary and Charlie, already in a serious relationship trying to figure out where they are at the moment, where they want to be as well as combat all the demons that go with it.

A brilliant connection between these two is Annie, Sam's best friend, whose ups and downs help to pull the story together and highlight some of the important messages of the plot.

Honestly, I just couldn't find any flaws in this picture. I can't for a second agree with the critics' complaints about it's excessive cheesiness, life doesn't work like that, the music's too much and so is the number of "high on emotion" scenes, where is the storyline, and other blah blah blah quasi-sophisticated film criticism. I don't buy that.

It was nice to see a film that tries to reflect what people my age go through, decisions they have to take as they see their moral standards collapse under the burden of the daily grayness – the only sure thing adult life has to offer.

Randor is a brilliant actor and, apparently, a very promising talent in screenwriting and directing. Casting was brilliant and so were the sets, editing and camera.

With the last frame, I just couldn't help but exhale the usual "aaaah", a sound that only comes very rarely with exceptional films, which Randor's directorial debut Happythankyoumoreplease definitely is.

Japanese film festival report

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:10:00 +0000

A little piece I wrote for Czech Position.

Eat Pray Love

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sun, 21 Nov 2010 13:29:00 +0000

Warning! Don't watch this film if you're in an emotional crisis! Danger of driving you to slash your wrists right after the credits roll!

Before I continue, I'd like to say I haven't read the book, so won't judge that or the experience its author went through. This review only focuses on the horrific filmmaking I've witnessed while watching this – well – joke of a film.

So what's wrong with Eat Pray Love? Rather, I have to ask what is NOT wrong with it. From the first frame to the last, I couldn't believe someone was really serious with releasing this piece of crap and be happy with their jobs. Screenplay, directing and editing suck so bad that even the fitting cinematography – Robertson really didn't have a choice here but follow the cheesy template of the entire film – can't save the day.

Roberts, Franco, Bardem.. guys.. I feel so sorry for you now to have agreed with participating on this charade. You must be devastated. Great actors such as you are, the director makes you look silly in every frame, turning your acting gifts into a charade one can hardly not laugh at.

The agony I felt when watching your characters weep constantly – I wonder if you haven't used up your lifetime share of tears by doing this film – was only replaced by pain during clichéd conversations and "deep revelations" by Liz.

The film has no heartbeat. Watching it wrestle its way to the end is like watching Roberts tortured by medieval instruments creating a mosaic of her best understanding, knowing, disturbed, moved, painful performances which actually remind a slide show from her audition tape rather than a concise piece of art.

The film has too much of everything. Won't give you one breather to actually absorb some of what the author of the book had gone through, rather, keeps hitting you constantly with cheesy, disorganized images of characters impossible to relate to in places that look as if they were cut out of a travel magazine.

Everybody's too nice, everything is too smooth, monotone, and disturbing, resembling the annoying sound signaling that a heart stopped beating.

Really, Murphy would do everyone a great favor to stay with TV Series of no real artistic value such as "Glee" and the others and stop wasting our time, the actors' and actresses' talent, and money that could have been invested in some other film that, because of Murphy, will now never be made and will end up "in the round drawer" aka the producer's garbage can.

Well done, Ryan, you're finally famous now. You've made it to film textbooks as a great example of how NOT to make a film.

Ink

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 21:22:00 +0000

It is definitely not every day that a film like Ink is made. Not even every month and I dare to say there are few of this kind every year. But when I consider the approach of its creators, I must say I'm not that surprised.

After reading an article in the Filmmaker Magazine about the unusual tolerance – joy even – the filmmakers expressed about this movie being pirated, I just had to see it. It is very unusual for filmmakers to openly point out the struggle indy films experience on the market these days – even the problems with getting paid by the already established bigger distribution companies – and go out of their way to make their film available to those who films are actually for.

The film is a celebration of creativity, fantasy, a neverending game of lights and filmmaking experimenting all wrapped into a story everyone understands and can relate to:

When Emma, a little girl, is taken at night by a creature called Ink, into a different world that exists paralel to what we can see and comprehend, a fight between good and evil unfolds for the girl's life, a result of which largely depends on the path her father chooses.

Apart from some of the weaker performances by some of the actors and actresses and the little slow of the pace in the second half, the film is just one big spectactle of what I call a filmmaking art.

I was so reminded of Aronofsky's The Fountain and Requiem for a Dream from the first till the last shot, which, surprisingly, did not bother me at all. On the other hand. I enjoyed how the story was told and that there was just the right amount of that imagery not to disrupt the overall impression of the film.

A great achievement for such a little budget.

Thumbs up, in all aspects.

Protektor

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 12:53:00 +0000

After reading so many praises on this film, I couldn't wait to see it and was really curious whether the Czech filmmaking has really gotten so much better.

The story follows a married couple of Emil (Marek Daniel), a radio reporter, and Hana (Jana Plodková), a top film actress, during the Protectorate and culminates during the Heydrich assassination. With the Germans slowly introducing the dark cloud of propaganda and national socialism on the country, Hana is forbidden to appear in front of the camera due to her Jewish origins. She slowly sinks into depression as Emil is trying to protect her by cooperating with the occupants. But as the new regime sinks its fangs deeper in the country and its people, their marriage doesn't stand unaffected..

However exciting the story might seem at the first look, on the second, I saw the bubble burst in front of my eyes. But despite most of the characters and their motifs are just a display of clichés used and overused by filmmakers depicting the terrible era of the last century in Europe, there are several slightly surprising moments in how the story shifts and develops. But still, it doesn't offer anything that would make you fall on your ass.

Again, as in most of Czech films, the plot is a likeable set of events, just enough to make a watchable film, but, unfortunately, still nothing that would strike, shock, disgust, or make you fall in love with.

On the other hand, what is amazing and best about this film is undisputably the camera. Huge credit for what this film ended up to be goes to the director and cinematographers who, and this is rare in Czech film, know most of the time where and how they want our eyes to be at which moment, at the same time making the spectacle a real pleasure to watch.

Unfortunately, where it goes bad is the pace and rythm. The flick runs smoothly from one shot to the next one, resembling the pace of polka rather than a tango, only occassionaly letting go to something a bit wilder, which, unfortunately still seems like a random hiccups rather than a good filmmaking.

What is definitely another downside (again) of this Czech-made piece is the acting. Unfortunately, Czech actors seem to have this block in them that prevents them to give the performance a bit more than what is required. That spice that makes the character extraordinary. As mentioned by a friend I went to see the film with and also by several reviewers elsewhere – acting is, again, soap opera-like. It's not enough just to ACT the part, you have to BE the part as well, with all its flaws and SHOW that to the camera. And please, don't try to make your character likable so much. Just do your job and leave the judging to someone else. I must say though that Jana Plodková gave her best and did try to reach for the stars and I enjoyed watching her on the screen. That was as close as it can be for me to a great acting.

If this film was made for TV, I would have appreciated it much more, but unfortunately, there is a lot more needed to capture my attention up there on the silver screen.

I don't really understand all the cheering from the CSFD.cz fans of the film. To me, it was a mediocre, nice flick to kill time with, but nothing flattering. And no, I'm not going to join the camp of those reviewers who gave it 9/10 just because "all makes sense and nicely fits together". Come on! Are we judging a disabled child here or what?

To me, I'm pleased that there's a Czech film out there that can do some parts of what's considered top notch filmmaking right. So all I'm saying is that I KNOW they can do better than this, right now, all I see is an exhausted sprinter trying to catch up at least with the majority of the crowd.

Film Festival Galore - Fall 2009

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 15:33:00 +0000

Being a film festival junkie I was surprised to see the number of festivals going on in the Czech Republic this fall. Some are well known, some are new to me, so just to be able to keep a better track about these let me have a look at them here and recommend a few not to be missed.

Film festivals in Prague:

The 1st annual festival on camera Film Festival Ostrava, Der Film and Ekofilm fests are already gone for now so let me just wonder again over this year's Ekofilm winning picture directed by a 14-year old Tomáš Daněk called Marťan Spasitel (Martian Saviour) and the Garbage Warrior winning the grand prize. You can still catch echoes of the festival in theatres around the country.

The 7th annual Prague Indian Film Festival is on at the Světozor cinema 12 – 18 October and is showing films of various genres accompanied by an exhibition also at Světozor. Don't miss the Bollywood party at the PM Club (Trojická 10, Prague 2) on 17 October. Also, if you take part on the best photo competition, you might end up with more than just bollywood rhythms this year – you can win two flight tickets to Bombay!

Al Film on at Aero only 20 – 23 October will present films of an Egyptian director Youssef Chahine, films from the Slovak festival Far Near East, films capturing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and the contemporary Arabic cinema.

If you're a fan of more commercial fun and love advertisement campaigns, you shouldn't miss the one-day event only happening in Palace Cinemas in Prague 23 October and Brno 30 October - Noc Reklamožroutů or night for the ad junkies.

After this night, you won't have to leave the comfy chairs of Palace Cinemas just yet. Stay tuned for the "best of blockbuster in 2009" at the Palace Cinemas Festival, so if you've missed any of the international film hits you can still catch it in Prague 5 – 11 November and Brno 12 – 18 November.

Mezipatra, a film festival whose name signifies a space "between floors", is a festival not only for gay, lesbian, trans- and bisexuals, but for everyone who does not agree with the given boundaries defining roles of genders and sexual orientation. At its 10th anniversary, the festival has lot to offer. For a special preview on the festival and comments by Aleš Rumpel, the festival director, be on the lookout for the 10th issue of the Prague Monitor Magazine available from 15 October on the newsstands in the Prague centre, or Prague Airport. You can catch the festival in Brno from 23 – 31 October, in Prague 2 – 8 November. Also don't miss online films of winning pictures from previous years and short films as well available online here.

Tired of sitting at the cinema or looking for some inspiration for new dance moves? Then the Festival of dance rhythms is the right one for you this fall. From 13 till 15 November in Světozor, you can indulge in the world of the dance on the silver screen.

And what better could follow the dance spirit than some inspiration of the French. In Prague, Brno, České Budějovice, Hradec Králové, Olomouc, Ostrava, Pardubice, and Plzeň, the French Film Festival will launch on the 19th November and will go on until the 25th November.

Asia – exotic land for us Europeans and that's exactly where you can stop by before Xmas shopping in Aero or Světozor in Prague where you can let yourself be inspired by the Far and Near East at the Film Asia Festival going on between 3 – 6 December for the fifth time already.

For those of you wanting to venture out of Prague or living out of the main capital, here is a selection of interesting film festivals:

Ota Hofman's film and television festival for children
13 – 16 October – Ostrov (near Karlovy Vary)
All screenings are in Czech and prepared with close cooperation with children and youth. The fest also offers theatre plays, workshops and other activities for kids.

Music in film
23 – 25 October – Bystřice pod Hostýnem

Jihlava International Documentary Film Festival
27 October – 1 November
Biggest documentary film event of the year. Program and films to be screened this year are already up here

Femina Film – films made by women or about women
5th annual festival will focus on women professionals of various professions
5 – 9 November – Ústí nad Labem

Juniorfest
2nd film festival for children and the youth
8 – 11 November – Horšovský Týn

Russian Film Seminar
13 – 15 November – Veselí nad Moravou

British Film Seminar
3 – 6 December – Uherské Hradiště

Festival of Film Animation
10 – 13 December – Olomouc

Enjoy!

Ein Augenblick Freiheit

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sun, 04 Oct 2009 12:34:00 +0000

I was thrilled to see that this film has made it to theatres in the Czech Republic where more people will be able to see it apart from the KVIFF aficionados.

One of the rare films that is made only once in a while, a unique combination of human suffering under a dictatorial regime, hope to escape and live in freedom, struggle to remain courageous, meaning of family, desire to find love, but most of all, lack of understanding and desire of the world outside to help those who have managed to escape a cruel regime and their only desire is to live in freedom.

The story evolves around a family of an Iranian political activist, his young wife and their son, two children and two friends who are trying to take them to their parents already in Austria, and an older and younger man.

All these stories follow the same fate of refugees from Iran via the mountains to Ankara, Turkey, where they are waiting for a UN refugee status and a country that will accept them. While they wait they live at a filthy pension always beware of the Iranian secret police and trying to cling to their hope.

What distinguishes this film from others is the sensitive portrayal of the characters and the range of the things that drive them, wittingly knitted together by a plot that combines the most serious moments with those that make you smile, all time keeping the story believable.

At 110 minutes length the story will have your attention the whole time and will cling to you strongly long after you've left the cinema.

One of the best films this year that tells the story of so those who make it from Iran to freedom, and those who don't, and finally those, who do to enjoy it just for a moment.

District 9

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 16:54:00 +0000

When I saw the wide selection of sci-fi films coming up this year (District 9, Avatar, 9, etc) I rolled my eyes and had first thoughts of a blockbuster apocalypse coming soon (especially after I saw the rising popularity of the latest Tarantino flick). But nevertheless, I rolled my sleeves high up as we say in here, in the Czech lands and gave it a shot.

What a great surprise it was though! A refreshing breeze of fresh air, creativity, beautiful camera, intelligent combination of genres! All that just grabbed me within the first minutes and I held on right till the end. Wow.

Shot in a documentary/news report/home camera style, it never lets you off the hook and always has your eyes on the screen in expectation of what happens next.

The story follows Wikus van der Merwe (does this name have any significance whatsoever I wonder?) leading a team that carries out a forced relocation of alien refuge camp in Johannesburg called District 9. The aliens, nicknamed "The Prawns" indeed resemble the sea animals, love cat food, and don't look like much at first.

When exposed to an unknown gas/liquid found in one of the prawns homes, Wikus finds himself closer to the aliens than he'd ever like to be and discovers himself doing things that he'd never do.

The simple story gives just the right amount of information not to spoil the experience and viewing pleasure of the high-tech sci-fi technology and leaves just the right room for the study of the alien species, which of course are one of the main things that keep your eyes glued to the screen, only to still leave enough space for the in and out transformation of Wikus from zero to hero.

Great entertainment, real pleasure to watch, and offers some food for thought as well when it's location and treatment of the "prawns" is clearly referring to Apartheid.

9 out of 10.

"Inglorious" Inglourious Basterds

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sun, 06 Sep 2009 21:05:00 +0000

I had a chance to watch Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds and unfortunately I must say I am joining the camp of those who weren't exactly falling head over heals for the film.

Judging from the great opening scene, which was one of the rate bright moments of the film, I was just expecting more. Unfortunately, apart from several scarce moments when the film is almost enjoyable, this hope was left unfulfilled.

I won't go into detail of explaining the main characters and the plot and the topic, cause you've already read that elsewhere or even saw the film yourself. Rather, I'll explain what I mean.

The plot. I can't help it but on my way back home and while I was thinking about the film, I was reminded of this Czech story about a cat and a dog who are a making a cake together. In a desperate attempt to make the cake as best as possible, they throw in bunch of things including a duck's head and hard candy and hope for the best. Of course, the result is obviously bad. I mean, sure I understand it's hard to cut 6 hours of material enough to make 3 features, but why to necessarily try to include everything in the film? Or, if you really have to, why don't just use stronger glue?

Luckily, there is the opening scene, and some fifteen minutes at the end of the film that are there for some exciting development that actually make some sense and you can honestly enjoy yourself (apart from several of those scenes that have Waltz in them).

As for the filmmaking. Camera is mediocre, it is neither the beautiful film noir 1940's style, nor a spaghetti western and the feeble attempts to copy them are just weak, while the contemporary camera has just several light moments that I've counted. Editing: this is perhaps the biggest weakness of the film that being owed perhaps to a complete lack of self-criticism on Tarantino's part needed to let some scenes just go for the sake of the entire movie. There are too many blank scenes that just don't help the pace at all; despite they indeed, are an indisputable tribute to the great works of those filmmakers Tarantino admires. However, while I share the admiration in many of such spots, they're just not strong enough to mean anything in the whole context and yup, somebody please just give me scissors...

Acting is also mediocre, apart from the brilliant performance of Christoph Waltz as the "Jew hunter" Hans Landa, a spineless Nazi perfectionist, who takes his role as something that he does the best, as he explains at the beginning of the film, and indeed, Waltz keeps a constant performance throughout the entire film. His time on the screen is the only time (apart from the closing scene) that almost gives you the shivers and Tarantino can thank Waltz for saving his film from being a total disappointment. Oscar nomination is awaiting him for sure.

So, well, enough said from my end about Inglourious Basterds, a film that, well, isn't just that glorious.

However, in a recent string of comments on FB I suggested I was the exception when not really loving the film. Well, that of course referred to that particular string of comments.

For more detailed reviews that I agree with, you can go here, here, and here.

Sin Nombre

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 16:19:00 +0000

With all the talk being focused on Inglorious Basterds, I'd like to rip the chain of hypnotic attention for a bit and write this note on a film that was one of the most closely watched works at the KVIFF this year, Sin Nombre, playing in a theatre near you now as well.

I saw the film after the festival at one of the Šary Vary screenings, which I think are fabulous by the way. The audience at both cinemas, Světozor and Aero, are mainly KVIFF returnees who didn't catch all the titles they wanted to at Vary, and refuse to go back to their normal lives yet, sipping beer before, during and after the screenings, trying to keep some of the Vary feeling.. But, back to the film now..

Directed by the young talent Cary Fukunaga, a winner of the Sundance Film Festival Directing award, the film focuses on a combination of issues in South America, from involvement of kids and teenagers in Mexican gangs to what it takes for those who decide to leave South and Central America and seek greener pastures in the U.S.

The story follows two main characters, Casper and Sayra, played by lesser-known actors Edgar Flores and Paulina Gaitan. While Casper is the member of the feared gang Mara Salvatrucha, his faith connects him with Sayra, a Honduran emigrant that travels with her father and uncle together with the other emigrants on a freight train to the U.S.

On this journey together, as Casper tries to escape his faith and Sayra to meet hers, the main characters are slowly blending together, complete each other through their diversity, while they have to face the rough side of life in today's Mexico.

As a result, the film has a gripping, disturbing, moving sour-sweet blend to it, and is exactly the type of the film where it's unpredictability, natural change of pace, and lots of eye candy in the scenery, makes you part of the story until the credits role, making you beg for more inside.

Fukunaga's film feels so real not only thanks to his time spent in Mexico and his first hand experience with both, emigrants and immigrants he met before and while shooting the film, his cast of actual members of the Mara gang, perfect editing and combination of locations and the effort he took while filming to get the best out of his actors ("apart from beating them", he joked at Vary), makes the film one of the best feature debuts I've ever seen.

So after you've satisfied your cravings with Tarantino's latest flick, go and check out Sin Nombre for some sincere directing. It's totally worth your while believe me.

Resurrecting the Champ

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 17:28:00 +0000

As promised, here goes the blog on Rod Lurie's earlier film, Resurrecting the Champ. To quote the imdb: a film based on a true story, that was based on a lie.

This Lurie's earlier film also focusing on the journalist's dilemma is another piece I'd like to recommend to you. As I've expected, the story following a young journalist at the beginning of his career Erik Kernan Jr. (Josh Harnett) who one day accidentally meets a homeless ex-boxer (Samuel L. Jackson) and sets out to write a story about him that he believes will be his breakthrough to the top and the surprises he encounters along the way, about himself and others, is beautifully portrayed.

Kernan, as well as Jackson's character meet, it seems, only to fulfill the dream for each other at the beginning, while at the end, they find out they are both driven by the same handicaps given to them in their childhood.

Though I felt the performances of the leading actors could have been better, I sure appreciated the screen-writing and since the film was inspired by a true story, I was also impressed by the way the film depicts the thin line a journalist walks every day, a line between staying objective and the never-ending hunt for the best scoop or report.

I have to say it again, Lurie's onto something with his filmmaking and we'll hear 'bout him soon again!

Nothing But The Truth

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sun, 23 Aug 2009 15:26:00 +0000

Kate Beckinsale, Vera Farmiga, Alan Alda, Matt Dilon. Such great cast alone was enough "quality stamp" for me to get me intersted and thinking this must be an interesting film. I must say Nothing But The Truth has exceeded my expectations many times over.

Based on a true story, the basic plot line has close focus on a reporter of a Washington D.C. major newspaper Rachel Armstrong (Kate Beckinsale) who after writing an article on the US president's actions revealing the identity of a secret CIA agent Erica Van Doren (Vera Farmiga) is being pressured to reveal her secret source by the government in such ways she could never have imagined.

The story flows flawlessly, picks up nicely and slowly drags you into a twist of controversial emotions, drawing the characters with all their pros and cons and letting you slowly get acquainted with their moral inner fights.

Beckinsale and Farmiga have a great energy between them that will have you forget you're watching a movie and catch your breath at the few scenes at which they confront each other. Alda, as usual is a brilliant defendor of humanity and freedom. Dilon's take on the "hyenous prosecutor" is so tremendously real will all aspects of belief in his work it's simply scary.

Written, directed and produced by Rod Lurie, who's previous success was also a film Resurrecting The Champ which I have yet to see – will write about it in a comment below this when I do.

Alik Sakharov great DoP work on this film shows every muscle moving on the actors' faces, which underlines the great work of the actors.

This film definitely proves Lurie knows what he's doing out there and I'll definitely have my eye on his future work.

Vršovice buzz

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:55:00 +0000

There's nothing like crushing at your favorite joint long past midnight after you've had a rough day or just feel like a friendly face bringing you beers after you've seen the best movie ever that moved your gut around and really pushed your sense of reality further.

I'm thinking wooden chairs and tables, enough space to stretch your arms without touching the person at the table next to you, some air-conditioning making the smoke you blow out of your cigarette in deep thought off your face, dimmer light, Pilsner, Bernard or Svijany, or even a decent glass of a top-notch Moravian wine, some nakládaný hermelín (google this if you need to) and most of all, close to home so that you know that even if you live in Vršovice, you can still make it home without having to spend time in a taxi thinking about what best conversation to strike up with the driver.

Unfortunately, through my year-plus life in upper Vršovice, my friends and I weren't able to find such a place.

What you get is a rough reality of various restaurants like Fama, Neklid, or the pizza place just down the street close to Vršovické náměstí, what is it called again?..that, though they serve decent food and even offer the luxury of a summer terrace in the summer, still force you to smell the food being cooked for the other guests and then kick you out just when it gets dark. Then, past half past ten, all that awaits you is a wide selection of non-stop hernas that will welcome you with their dazzling light from the slot machines and cheesy MTV videos that offend your view any way you look.

Don't get me wrong, I love the "hood". I've lived in Žižkov, Old Town, even Ďáblice or Jižní Město where the choice is close to nothing, so I've tasted it all, but being this close to the city buzz, I still feel that Vršovice should have a place where one can have a decent beer or wine past 11 any day of the week and won't have to put up with numerous mutations of rainbow colors that offend your eyes and Britney Spears yelling her new hit-to-be in your ear.

Of course there's still Nano café, a small family-like place that will put up with you until as late as midnight on occassions (if the staff is having a party of their own going on meanwhile, that is), but of course, you have to be lucky to catch them at that sort of a mood.

So, my point of writing this blog is perhaps this. I'm calling onto all of you entrepreneurial types who are looking for a new idea to spark your interest. Please, please, please, go and look around Vršovice and if you see a "space for rent" on one of the main streets, open up a bar there that will welcome all those desperate late night owls such as myself and my friends and give us a space where we can spend hours on end talking without kicking us out before we've run out of topics to talk about.

We'll be there till the cash runs out, I can promise you that.

KVIFF echoes

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:52:00 +0000

I've just been to the Karlovy Vary film fest twice and I was absolutely taken by it every time. I love the atmosphere there, I love that so many people are joined together by their love of independent film. I love the way how these thousands of people tolerate each other in the large numbers. Damn, I'm not exactly what you'd call a "crowd person", but I can't say half a word against all these people. They don't stand on their heads during that week. Oh no. They patiently wait for their tickets, share the tickets with strangers if they can't get into a film, they patiently wait in the long lines for beer, toilette, halušky and the other junk food they sell in front of Hotel Thermal and even patiently wait with the others for their films they might or might not get to see at the last minute. Heck, I was there a whole week this year and must say that I haven't felt "surrounded" by crowds all that much.

After coming back with the same sort of euphoria the fest always leaves me with, I finally had a chance to read some of the stuff the fellow bloggers wrote about it. And I was expecting to find some sort of what I just wrote above, truth be told.

But no. After I read a couple of the "insightful" comments about the fest, I was totally disappointed, puzzled and then angry.

Here are a couple of them for you:

- first of all, the selection of the films wasn't worth much as usual (especially for the main competition) and the rest of the films from Cannes or Berlin were simply not enough, not bringing all that these fests have to offer
- why the fuck isn't the festival bringing better films for a hundred-million crown budget?
- why the heck there's no coffee machine in front of Thermal for the people waiting in the lines to see their movie?
- the fest is just for politicians and so on who just come for the feast at the Pupp without giving a damn about the fest
- let's cancel the entire charade and give the money to social benefits instead
- lines for the tickets – too long, hunt for the tickets – almost impossible if you don't wake up at four and get them early in the morning
- and my favourite one: Who the heck does John Malkovich think he is by daring to ask the crowds how many people saw his film versus how many saw the Transformers? A pseudo intellectual we think we are Mr. Malkovich, eh?

Of course there is much more – just try to visit some of the blogs of those "entrusted" with the job for the fest or "indy" cinema critics. Or even go the fest's facebook page, there's a true feast of these for you right there.

Well, I sat down and thought about all these complaints for a minute and then I suddenly felt this rush of anger in me and hence the need to sit down and write to you about it.

First of all, dear naysayers and KVIFF haters – STAY AT HOME NEXT YEAR! You'll make some room for people who actually want to be there and like the fest and because you sit in their seat they don't get to see films they'd like to see. They'll certainly appreciate it.

Second of all, the festival's been working freely for some mere twenty years now, so give it a break! You can't really compare it to Cannes or Berlin now can you? If you don't know what I mean, get some info about the fest's history. For all I know, the competition offered some rare pieces of work and great movies this year, Angel at Sea being my favourite and for all I can say, a great choice of the jury. You go pick up a camera and try to shoot a film, let's see how well you'll do. This is for all of you "pseudo critics" as my work colleague calls you.

Feasts at the Pupp? Oh, come on, don't get all jealous now :) Buy yourself some frozen shrimps in Albert, some caviar and some bubbly stuff, it'll make feel better – that's the next time your social benefits arrive, I mean.

Missing coffee machines? Well, write to the organisers and suggest it to them. Or make it happen yourself if you're so goddamn worried about it. Nobody stopping ya!

And finally – the tickets. A tough one, eh? Well, you try to pack your bag and go to your beloved Cannes or Berlin without any sort of accreditation and try to get to all those great films you'd like to see. Good luck. Don't you think it's great that so many people get to see those great films in such a cozy atmosphere, wearing jeans and sneakers, for so little money, get to talk to the world's most respected filmmakers (Master Classes) and watch the red carpet arrivals while sipping a beer at the Thermal's terrace? Good luck finding that elsewhere.

All I can say is that my heart always jumps seeing the packed screening halls and the passion for film coming from so many people. Yeah, you're not the only one loving good films, tough s**t.

And finally, John Malkovich has a right to ask the audience anything he wants. This was a democracy the last time I checked and after you do just a tenth of what he's done in his life, you can congratulate yourself.

So there. I said it.

By the way, in case you didn't know, KVIFF is also known as the world's most laidback festival. So, just grab a beer and relax. It's all gonna be there for you to bitch about next year again ;)

KVIFF

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:40:00 +0000

This year I had the great opportunity to report for the Prague Daily Monitor from the central Europe's most laidback festival, also the so-called "backpackers' festival".

This year's festival hosted such stars as John Malkovich, Antonio Banderas, Isabelle Huppert, or Miloš Forman.

I've also predicted the best film to win the Grand Prix Crystal Globe award, which, as it turned out, was the right guess.

Check out the daily reports here, there's also a slideshow of the best KVIFF had to offer, pics were taken by Martin Mráz.

For a report that takes you behind the scenes of the fest and interview with the award-winning documetarist Marko Škop, fetch the latest issue of the Prague Monitor Magazine. Out now.

One World 2009

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 20:42:00 +0000

Promises should be kept so despite months later, I still feel I need to post this – if not for you, than just for my future record.

So here it goes, a brief summary of the excellent documentaries I saw this year at the One World Festival and the impression they had on me.

This year's main two focuses for the films I selected (though this was not entirely intentional) were South America and Africa again (one can never see enough to understand Africa, IMHO).

So let's get straight into it:

Focus on South America:

The first film I saw is called "Because We Were Born" and it focuses on the life of children in a small Brazilian village connected to the big city only by a busy highway. Depicting the limited choice these children have living in a total poverty and their dreams, if they have any, was a real eye-opener.

Sipping on my coke, seated at one of the Kino Ponrepo's comfortable threatre-style chairs I slowly sank into the familiar feeling which the One World Festival surely brings out in you if you keep your mind open – a feeling of total nonsense of so many of our miniscule daily problems we so persistantly dwell on and the need to take whatever spare energy we have and try to make the world a better place for the people with less fortune as to the conditions they were born into. Cause, as Mr. Obama would say, yes indeed, we can make a difference.

These children have only two choices – to continue farming which really consists of having a little field and couple of farm animals to tend after or try to make it to the bigger world at the local gas station where they help out often just for small coins or some food. Often, they go hungry all day and just end up stealing leftovers at the gas station's fastfood place.

The boys' biggest focus is to stay away from drugs and live a normal life making money to support themselves, while at the same time battling mood swings which often bring out the question of suicide. When you consider the boys being less than 15 years old, those are some tough thoughts to have and decisions to make at that age..

--

Another film I saw from this section was "Oblivion" (El Olvido) – a film by a Peruvian director living in the Netherlands, Heddy Honigmann, a director also present at the debate after the film, which tells the story of the Peruvian changes of the political scene from an interesting point of view – the bar tenders and street entertainers. The story focuses mainly on the frequency with which the Peruvian presidents change and how it affects the country.

Corruption, assassinations, civil wars, poverty, and instability are the daily bread of Peruvians as well. Despite the film does not bring any major breakthroughs on views of the country and does not reveal anything of the country's political background it offers an interesting point of view from the country's "street folk".

--

Quite a educational piece was "Crude". An award-winning documentary about the Chevron-Texaso case and the struggle of a small law company trying to win a lawsuit against this oil giant and force them to take responsibility for the ecologic catastrophe they left behind when drilling oil in the Ecuador Amazon rainforest, leaving behind open or poorly sanitized oil pit holes, near or on top of – yes, you heard me, on top of – which people live and suffer from severe illnesses such as cancer, leukemia, or severe skin problems as a result.

Amazing documentary, amazing story, which has so much reminded me of the courageous fight of David against Goliath combined with a sprinkle of Erin Brockowich. Amazing how a few can move mountains to help total strangers at a country far away from their ordinary world...

To close this section I will mention one of the short films I saw "Cocais, the Reinvented Town", a vibrant short film depicting life in a Brazilian psychiatric clinic, in a non-traditional, almost psychedelic way, which so much reminds of Felini's films. What is normal and what isn't? Where do you draw the borderline? Those, I felt were the two questions I was trying to answer when watching this short.

--

Focus on Africa:

The Black Continent. The most wonderful and most troubled one of all. A continent with highest concentration of natural resources, poverty, civil wars, natural beauty and wonders, human purity and complexity. A continent of the forgotten extremes. Every year I am intrigued to uncover a bit of this hidden truth behind Africa, to understand more. And this year was no different.

Pale Peko Bantu

I just had to return to Congo. After seeing the film that has turned my guts upside down and entirely changed my perception of the African civil war last year, I went back to discover more about the country.

This film is a story about its hero, Isaac.

"Heroes don't die in Western films," Isaac says to open the film, "and I am the hero of this one. So let me tell you my story...."
We follow a story of a young boy in Congo working at cobalt mine, where he daily digs dirt with a shovel together with his mates, fills it in old rugs for the women to wash it off in the near stream in search for cobalt. Not his dream job if you ask him, just a way to earn enough money to pay for the university.

Perhaps these excepts from the conversation among the men digging site will give you the idea of the film's main focus...

"Don't look at the camera, guys! Ts.. don't mind them, they've never seen a white guy before.."
"Hey, Isaac, this guy will go back to wherever he came from and show how ridiculous we are digging mud here! Why did you bring him out here?"
"Let him film whatever he wants.... hey.. do you have some money, white guy?"
"What are we beggars now? Behave man! We don't want the while people in Europe to think we're beggars."
"Why not? They will only laugh at us... Those people in Europe who will see us digging here like this..."
"You know, cobalt comes back to us in the form of these old phones man.. those phone companies, they sell here just the types they would never sell in Europe or America, they just sell them here.. and the network.. you just have to stand at one place or the signal gets lost.. I called the company and they told me to clean my phone, that it was full of dust and that's why I couldn't get any reception!"

So you thought these poor Africans, they don't have a clue what's happening in the world? The life they lead compared to that we do? Well.. this film will prove you wrong. And more.

When the mud is cleaned and all what's left is the stones that contain cobalt, ready to be sold, the workers don't have much of an option who to sell it to. There is only one buyer who sets the prices. Incredibly hard work that hardly pays for food in the end, so some of the workers choose to sell the product on the black market in the bigger towns, where it pays better. However, there are risks of loosing the product along the way.

A young boy loosing a pay for month's hard work. All dreams disappear. But there are more dangerous sites to work at, promising better luck..

In Western movies you don't see it's hero die. Never. Well, the fate was not so kind to Isaac..

The director has just finished Pale Peko Bantu II, he returned to Congo to follow a story of the citizens of Kolwezi who are trying to reconstruct the town.

--

Victoria Terminus

Congo again, this time at the capital, Kinshasa. A team of female boxers trying to push their way through against all odds. Each one of them have their story of being mistreated by men, having a rapist's child, beaten and humiliated, though even more shocking is the fact that by now, you catch yourself not being shocked anymore. This is just normal for Congo you catch yourself thinking...

--

Slaves

I've never seen an animated film to be so real. So excellent that you forget it's animation. Depicting a story of two Sudanese siblings whose parents were murdered and they are taken as slaves in the rebel camp. Forced to kill at a young age. Deprived of any basic human needs including food and water. Tied up at night. Kept in the dark for days. Managing to escape a deadly fate in the end, but marked for life. Never to forget.

--

A White Substance

The name of the document does not refer to snow as you might think, but of infections many of the women raped in Congo experience. But not just that. This documentary goes behind the scenes of what you first see and looks for explanations of the terrible behaviour towards women Congo has been known for thanks to several courageous directors.

One of the most shocking things this short reveals is how even the UN soldiers who are in Congo to protect the locals engage in sex with minors in exchange for food or money...

--

Focus on Tibet

Undercover in Tibet

This film depicts a journey of Tash Despa, who returns to Tibet after 10 years to report on the terrible opression of the region by China.

Always scared of the military presence, the film is a shot in extreme conditions – everything must be kept secret, the witnesses that agree to talk on the camera are either scared to death that the Chinese soldiers are going to come and kill them and their families or are in such a state that they almost seem nothing worse can happen to them than what the soldiers have already done.

There is 1 policeman per every 20 Tibetans. Many of the locals have undergone forced sterilisations and torture. Monasteries were shut down and the nomadic Tibetans forced to live in ghettos (here I was really wondering – many people in the hall sympathize with the Tibetans without realising the resemblance to the restrictions forced onto the Roma in Europe over centuries and the inevitable outcome we see now.. amazing).

Tahs Despa was present and was so kind to answer questions after the screening. When asked what we can do to support Tibet, he thanked for all the efforts already done and called for boycot of Chinese products.

--

Focus on the Roma:

City of the Roma

This one was a real eye opener and I have mentioned it to several of my friends who come up to me all the time and ask me why to I "defend" the Roma. I don't "defend" them I say, I am just trying to see the entire issue from more sides than just from the effects that we see on the entire development of relations with the Roma over the centuries in Europe.

A strange thing this issue really is and the more I talk about it with the people around me, the more I am finding out how controversial the issue really is and how complicated it will be to untie the bundle of happenings, feelings, emotions, and hatred that has developed over the centuries. But that is for another blog entry.

This documentary depicts life of Sliven, one of the Romani ghettos in Bulgaria. The forced ghettoisation of the Roma in one place away from the town, the life of its own that the town has and the effort the locals take to keep the Roma separate from the schools and work in the town. This was one of the most interesting movies I saw at the festival this year. And really, if you get a chance to see it again elsewhere, you shouldn't miss it.

--

Other documentaries worth mentioning were:

Shorts:

Tile Mail

A wonderfully editted and cut piece about a Brazilian man in Lisbon and his love for the classic art of azulejos – traditional Portuguese tiles. Nice to watch, entertaining.

Roz a Joshua

A story about a homeless mother setting to make a better life for herself and reunite with her son once. Sweet, touching short.

Features:

The Age of Stupid

A rather kitsch documentary on global warming and a possible scenario on the Blue Planet in the future. Interesting, but lacks originality.

99% Honest

I thought this film was just amazing. A rocking tale of a band compiled of 4 immigrants to Norway. All four are different and come from different parts of the world but have two things that connect them – their love for hip hop and the hardships they have left behind in their countries.

12

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 16:13:00 +0000

Actually, I hadn't noticed this film until it came into the theaters here a couple weeks ago, but as soon as I read more about it, I felt a need to see it.

First of all, I was interested in seeing how Mikhalkov managed to depict the characters of the current Russia as promised in the description of the film. Second, having the accused boy be from Chechnya, I felt the picture had a possibility for a lot of depth in depicting of the Russia-Chechen dispute and relationship between the people and countries in general together with the mood taken from both sides of the borders. And last but not least, having watched the 1957 film "12 Angry Men" just before that, I was looking forward to see some wonderful performances from the jurors.

I must say the film fulfilled all the above and much more. Mikhalkov has indeed managed to make a film that will pin you to your seat, make you follow every word, blink, or raise of an eyebrow of the actors, pay attention to the hidden and not so hidden messages, will disgust and touch you at the same time and, indeed, will take you to the Russia of the early 21st century.

The moral question as portrayed in the original story is displayed and discussed in many levels as well, the tension gradually increasing as the film goes on and forcing you to think about what is indeed right and wrong in todays' world.

Apart from all the above, the piece contains some beautiful cinematography and the actors' performances are just beyond description.

I would definitely recommend it to everyone interested not only in a wonderful piece of artwork and Mikhalkov's mirror of Putin's Russia (and Putin's Russia it still remains even now IMHO) but is also interested in being taken to situations unimaginable for us, living our "fast food" lives and forced into giving it a longer thought then we manage to in our usual working days.

Three tips before you do so though:

- try to find some time to see it as soon as possible if you're in the CR - because since it's not your "usual blockbuster entertainment" it might disappear from the theatres soon and it's very much worth watching on the big screen (believe me, I went to see in on Saturday night and there were only 5 (!!!) of us there;
- watch the original 1957 film before you go (and it is easily available online btw. and it is great to compare the development of the characters and the plot)
- pay a special attention to the last couple of minutes of the film - you will know what I'm talking about when it comes to it. If not, you might miss an important point.

Tribute to: Hayao Miyazaki

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 18:05:00 +0000

The first time I've seen Mononoke-hime (Princess Mononoke) I was really taken by how a cartoon movie can contain such a range of artistic craft and imagination while at the same time convey a message about how humans deal with nature as well as their instant greed vs. how much of good can just one human being do.

Then I just couldn't help it, but go and see his other much respected films such Tenku no shiro Rapyuta (Castle in the Sky) and Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (Spirited Away).

All of these wonderful movies, despite being done in a cartoon-fairytale style do not follow the pattern of this style at all. They contain much more than just that. They will bring you to places you have always wanted to be taken to as a child - fantasy lands full of creatures so far from human nature, not only in their looks but also their character, which sometimes you just have to leave in your mind as uncomprehensible; lands that only a child's mind would consider "normal".

Yet, Miyazaki is going farther than that. In each of his movies, he teaches a lesson. Lesson adults know deep in their minds and souls is correct, but have long forgotten about. Lesson which combines it all together. Respect to the "other kind" whatever that may represent, the right thing to do, the inner gut we as adults have so forgotten and exchanged for other things such as worries about wealth, profession, "respect" (i.e. in society), etc.

Maybe that is why Miyazaki's heroes are always children.

His films teach us an important lesson about "our" (adult's) world and the long-forgotten values we used to have when we were so much younger. Perhaps we should pay a lot more attention to the messages he wishes to convey in his films than we really do at present..

No wonder his Gake no ue no Ponyo (Ponyo on Cliff by the Sea) was considered by some as the hot favourite for the Golden Lion at this year's Venice Film Festival. I have not seen this movie yet, but for sure, Miyazaki's take on the "Little Mermaid" story has - again - got a lot to throw in our adult faces to wake up for in those 100 minutes.

Can't wait to see it. You should too. You won't regret it.

US radicalism

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 14:54:00 +0000

Having just recently seen a great documentary Jesus Camp followed by several YouTube videos from the speeches of the two presidential election candidates (especially the Mr. McCain ones, they rule) and their histerical supporters I couldn't resist but think about the radicalism US is capable of creating.

It is not just the religion (man, there's nothing wrong with faith, but I just can't stand the radical God preaching and histerical following of Jesus - just watch Jesus Camp and you'll see what I mean!), but it seems to be everything in the country has to be the biggest and greatest and most fantastic.

Let me just name couple of examples here - it's the most bombastic election campaigns, most expensive movies, biggest hamburgers (when will they get to add a 4th XXL layer to those yummies I wonder?), widest and whitest smiles, highest number of invaded countries (I believe they even beat good ol' GB and France now), and man, I could go on and on here. I bet they are biting their fingers now for having been beaten by China in the number of Olympic medals ;)

But joking aside.

This approach might very well wrok when it comes in drops and used according to the prescription but as it seems some Americans just won't listen to their doctors and drink the drug in gallons in a "get rich and most bombastic quick manner".

No wonder Europe gets so many of US and North America emigrants (the trend has changed guys, now the North Americans flee to Europe rather than vice-versa) in order to search for normality and some breathing air. Unfortunately, some of them are just so convinced to spread the radicalism to our relaxed European lands and cling to being bombastic at any cost.

Oh well, what shall we do? They have saved our ass in WWII, so we can just as well do them a favour and provide a safe haven for them now, even though they make a little mess..

Luckily, they still have us, citizens of the other parts of the world to remind them they should not be taking themselves too seriously :)

Tribute to: Georges Melies

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 19:08:00 +0000

Opening a book of the 50 greatest directors I got recently, I bumped into Georges Melies and his work, which is one of the first artwork in the film history.

And, putting youtube to the test, I tried to find his work.

Well, hands down to youtube - this one was quite a catch!

Voyage dans la lune - A trip to the moon

Makes one realize how far film has gone in 100 years!

One World Part II

noreply@blogger.com (HG) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 15:43:00 +0000

Let me begin the second part of this journey with Africa. One of the most beautiful and troubled continents.

War/Dance

This wonderful and touching documentary tells a story of kids from the Patongo school, situated in the north of Uganda, attended by children belonging to the Acholi tribe. The Acholis have been hunted and killed for over 20 years by the rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army and were forced to live in camps guarded by soldiers.

Every year, a national music competition takes place in Kampala, the capital of Uganda, with over 20,000 schools participate. Patongo, being a very poor school with almost no money, has almost zero chances to score in the competition.

However, focusing on the stories of three children in their early teens, who have experienced the most terrible atrocities during their young lives already from seeing their parents killed to being kidnapped and forced to kill by the rebels, the documentary shows that through an amazing drive and love for music, the kids from the Patongo school train very hard to win the competition.

The film shows how important music is in the lives of these children and how it has the ability to heal the worst inner wounds caused by the war.

War/Dance is one of the most moving films I've seen in a long time, it will make you weep, believe me. Especially when the children get on the stage to dance their traditional dance Bwola, which take take huge pride in. That sequence was just godly.

Moving right along to:

Darfur Now

Hearing so much about this film, I was expecting tons from it. However, sadly, I must agree to some extent with this comment I saw on imdb:

"...However while good, its too over produced for my tastes (fancy camera tricks make photos pop, a new agey score, picture perfect cinematography) and I had the unfortunate feeling it was made by well off Americans to make them feel better rather than to actually help solve the problem..."

When I compare this documentary to Lisa Jackson's brave endeavour to help women in Congo, I found myself thinking that this movie has really been made sort of to show how the Americans "help" the poor and the in need. Plus the entire storyline of the film really followed the typical "American-dream/from-zero-to-hero" structure.

Plus, something that was said the documentary made me think of the following:

Based on what was said in the film as well as the fact that wikipedia describes one of the reasons for the conflict as:
The combination of decades of drought, desertification, and overpopulation are among the causes of the Darfur conflict, because the Baggara nomads searching for water have to take their livestock further south, to land mainly occupied by non-Arab farming communities,

plus the fact that Sudan's geography really looks like this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Sudan_sat.jpg

And since:
On September 9, 2004, the United States Secretary of State Colin Powell termed the Darfur conflict a "genocide", claiming it as the worst humanitarian crisis of the 21st century.

And:
http://www.globalpolicy.org/security/issues/sudan/2005/0615oil.htm

Another tidbit to all this is naturally the fact that the Sudanese government is Islamic and the Janjaweed militia, who are said to be hired by the Sudanese government, are also the ones who are said to be the most cruel killers in Darfur.

I'll give you even one more:

In the film, one of the six characters who are being followed is Pablo Recalde, whose main aim is to mobilize UN convoys and deliver food to the north of Darfur as a means of decreasing the violent attacks from the north.

So now, you might get the picture of what's been going through my head after I've added all these pieces together.

Sweet US foreign policy... Long live the Bush administration. All hail, all hail..

And since we started with this topic, let's move right on to

Taxi to the dark side

Academy Award winning documentary, which indeed casts light on one of the most discussed affairs of the Bush administration.

The movie depicts the US army torture methods in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo, through stories of several of the victims of torture, as well as soldiers serving in the prisons.

If you thought that you knew everything about this issue and you've got it pretty much all set, I bet that you'll still be taken by surprise with this movie. Since it goes even further than telling the stories of the victims. It actually shows that the tortures have not in many of the cases happened accidentally and have not been caused by the soldiers' loss of connection with reality (despite this was a factor as well), but have been planned and ordered by the Bush administration intentionally.

Not only that, but it also depicts how the US government found a way around the Geneva Convention, which set the way how prisoner's of war should be treated, in order to still be able to conduct the most terrible ways of torture.

Totally recommend watching this documentary, it'll add a few bits and pieces to your whole picture of the Bush administration inner workings.

Let's stay in Asia in war for a bit longer and let me tell you a story of the city of

Nanking

Think China, 1937; Schindler's list; 300,000 dead in six weeks – that was the Nanking massacre.

This documentary follows a story of 22 Westerners who stayed in the city during the massacre, establishing a Safety zone for the Chinese to shield them from the Japanese army, saving thousands of Chinese.

With authentic shots from the time it is the most terrifying film I've seen at the festival and indeed makes you realize what people were/are capable of during wars.

Just watch these pictures. I don't think they need much more commentary..

http://prion.bchs.uh.edu/~zzhang/1/Nanking_Massacre/warning.html

India, Pakistan, ten years later and

The Lighting Testimonies

This documentary by independent Indian filmmaker Amar Kanwar depicts the violence on women in India and Pakistan during the 1947 partition of India and creation of Pakistan.

Despite the violence started back then, it lasts even until now and Kanwar has tried to capture the history of the 50 years of violence on women, never spoken of.

He does that through a style which I've never seen before, the film flows in a very slow mode, telling you the history of the region and stories of the women and their families through silent on-screen explanations.

These three things have stuck with me the strongest:

- the fact that in 1949 a definition of an "abducted person" has been defined by both, the India and Pakistan, and the women who were abducted were ordered to be returned back to their home country, even using force, often having to leave their families and children behind

- the film shows a story of a woman activist, who together with her husband wrote and acts in a play showing the brutal rapes and treatment on Indian women. In one of the scenes, the woman stands naked in front of the rapist. The authorities and the audience, however, condemn her and the play for this act, saying a woman can never show her naked body in public, totally ignoring the theme and topic of the play

- during the war, young girls were often told by their own parents to kill themselves if they see the soldiers from the other army. One of the stories also tells a story of a young girl, whose father and brother tried to strangle her with her own shawl before the soldiers were supposed to come. They were trying during the entire night, finally giving up in the morning. The girl survived.

Despite the strong topic, the documentary's slow mode and the fact that it lasts almost two hours made half of the audience leave during the screening – I've never seen that before and after that again.

For a sample of the unique filmmaking, have a look at this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djp1Nk--0L8&feature=related

The last but not least documentary of the festival we saw was

Jerusalem Is Proud To Present

In 2006, the Open House society in Jerusalem was to organize the World Pride parade for gays and lesbians.

This documentary follows the journey and difficulties the Open House members were facing from the fundamentalist Jewish, Christian, and Muslim churches in Jerusalem, who did everything in their power to stop the parade, claiming it would defile the Holy City.

They even went to so far to claim that the bombings of Israel which occurred before the march on the Open House, saying that this is the punishment.

One of the most shocking moments in the film are the seeing the Rabbi actually prey in front of the Wailing Wall for forgiveness for preparations of the parade and the riots which are provoked by the Orthodox Jewish Rabbi, which last through one night in front of the house of the Open House, when even the lives of the members are at stake.

That, folks, is was my One World this year. Hope you got as much out of the tour as I did.