Sunday, January 28, 2018

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #4: BRAZIL

This entry is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week. 

Cidade de Deus (City of God) - 2002


RUNNING TIME: 135 Minutes

DIRECTORS:
Fernando Meirelles
Kátia Lund

WRITTEN BY:
Bráulio Mantovani
Paulo Lins (Novel)

STARRING
Alexandre Rodrigues
Leandro Firmino
Phellipe Haagensen



WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT: Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant, Vudu, iTunes etc.
Compared to some of the other movies I've watched for this blog, this film is fairly easy to find.

PLOT: Rocket, an aspiring photographer, narrates a series of interconnecting stories set in one of Rio de Janeiro's poorest neighborhoods. The events all lead up to a war between two opposing drug gangs. 



 (The actual film is a lot less 90's action movie than the trailer implies.)


MEMORABLE MOMENT: There are so many to choose from, but the first that comes to mind is the massacre at the Miami Motel. When we realize who perpetrated the killings (and the glee he took in the slaughter) we realize just how unhinged this character is.


  •  The movie is based on a novel inspired by the author's childhood.
  • Because the filmmakers didn't believe actors from middle class neighborhoods would look authentic, much of the film's cast were local kids from poor neighborhoods (many grew up in Cidade De Deus).
  • Help groups were set up to assist the young actors so they wouldn't have to continue living in poverty. The documentary City of God: 10 Years Later follows what has changed in their lives.

-The film was ranked No. 7 in Empire Magazine's "The 100 Best Films of World Cinema" and No. 6 in The Guardian's "The 25 Best Action and War Films of All Time."


One would think that a movie in which the setting is just as significant as the characters would begin with a helicopter shot of Rio de Janeiro's sprawling metropolis. However, the film opens from the point of view of a chicken about to become someone's meal.
In actuality, the film's first several images are of a knife being sharpened. These start as closeups but pull back enough so the audience sees the legs and feathers of dead chickens in the background. The flurry of images are accompanied by shots of a local band playing and a scared chicken staring onward, as if contemplating its fate.

What follows is a disorienting storm of images: carrots sliced, a dead chicken's severed head, sandaled feet dancing and more images of the band playing and the knife continuing to be sharpened. This is a place of celebration and death.

The chicken watches as her sisters are plucked and gutted. The band plays. Drinks are mixed. Kabobs sizzle on the grill. The chicken struggles with the string around her leg until she eventually escapes.

For the moment the chicken seems safe. Then a man notices her. Later in the film we learn that he is Li'l Zé, the antagonist (Leandro Firmino). Li'l Zé shouts the film's first line, which according to the subtitles is: "Fuck, the chicken's getting away! Go after that chicken, man!"

At his orders, a stampede of boys with guns chase after the animal as she runs through the back alleys. Only when the chase begins does the audience receive a clear view of the surrounding decrepit building and rubble-filled streets.

(For you animal lovers out there, the chicken does eventually escape.  In fact - spoiler alert! - she outlives many of the film's characters.)

 I didn't describe the film's opening seconds to turn you into a vegetarian (although if you are, good for you!) or to condemn the kids chasing after our feathered heroine (they have most likely spent much of their lives hungry). I described this scene because it was the perfect way to reveal the film's setting. I've never been to Rio de Janeiro and can't speak for the actual Cidade de Deus district, but the neighborhood portrayed in this film is a place where the characters (like the chicken) are trapped. Being caught up in the violence and poverty and possibly dying at a young age is a very true part of reality. At the same time, the audience also sees the characters playing sports, hanging out with friends, flirting and dancing at night clubs. Poverty and violence is not romanticized but as these opening shots suggest, their lives are filled with celebration and death.

It is no accident that this scenario opens a film that contains the deaths of dozens of children. Yes, they are children with guns in their hands, but they are caught up in the circumstance of poverty and desperation, the same way the chicken is caught up in the circumstance of becoming someone's meal.

It is also no accident that the film's antagonist, a local drug lord, is the one who sends the mob of armed boys after the scared animal.

I don't mean this to be a navel-gazing post on symbolism ("It's like the bird represents the chickens in all of us, man!"). I'm simply saying that the filmmakers effectively used the tools of editing to weave together a series of images and sounds that tells us exactly what this movie is going to be about.

Sunday, January 21, 2018

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #3: MALI

This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week. 

BRIGHTNESS (YEELEN) - 1987



RUNNING TIME: 105 Minutes

DIRECTOR: Souleymane Cisse

WRITTEN BY: Souleymane Cisse

STARING:
Issiaka Kane
Aoua Sangare
Niamanto Sanogo






WHERE CAN YOU FIND IT: Netflix DVD. You can buy the DVD on Amazon but unfortunately it isn't streaming. I borrowed a copy from the Baltimore County Public library. Your library might also own a copy.

PLOT: Niankoro, a young man hunted by his sorcerer father, journeys to seek refuge with his uncle. On the way, Niankoro practices his own mystical abilities and finds the strength to face his father. 

MEMORABLE MOMENT: The final  confrontation between Niankoro and his father, Soma. The visuals are more symbolic than action packed. However, that makes the climax all the more dramatic. This scene is unforgettable for its images of utter destruction and eventual rebirth.

*I should note that the beginning of the film contains graphic images of animals (specifically chickens) being killed. I couldn't confirm that these scenes weren't simulated but they looked pretty real. Part of the purpose of this project is to step outside my comfort zone but people who are unsettled by such images might want to skip this movie or just fast forward through the first three minutes.



It goes without saying that Yeelen would be very different if it had been made in Hollywood.  While the film follows a hero on a magical quest, it has a slow pace (matching the pace of the character's society) and there are few special effects. The final battle is more like something designed by David Lynch than Peter Jackson.

Quite possibly the greatest difference between Yeelen and Hollywood films set in Africa is the total lack of Americans. Had this film been made in Hollywood, there would be at least one American and the audience would view the culture through his or her eyes (I am making a general statement, there may be exceptions). Yeelen's story exists to follow Niankoro on his journey and to present his world as it is, not to explain the setting or characters to the audience. In this way the film is unlike anything you would expect to see in American movie theaters. That being said, it is also filled with common symbols and archetypes found in countless myths and Hollywood cinema.

Yeelen (based on legends told by the Bambara people) is further evidence of how universal the world's stories are. While I am not familiar with Mali or its culture, it wasn't a struggle to pick up on familiar images and themes. For example, there is a magic spring in which our hero bathes and emerges "reborn," similar to a baptism or fountain of youth. There is a blind wise man who gives advice and is connected to the "other world," similar to countless prophets.  

The most glaring of these familiar archetypes is the conflict between father and son. Niankoro's father, Soma, pursues his son up until the film's climax. Similar generational conflicts can be found in the Arthurian legends, Greek  and Nordic myths as well as countless others. Modern cinema is also filled with similar struggles between heroes and their fathers. Of course one of the most famous of these is Star Wars.

Yeelen almost perfectly follows Joseph Campbell's outline of the hero's journey with the "Call to Adventure" (Niankoro has a vision of his father's murderous intentions and flees for the safety of his uncle's domain), a meeting with a mystical being/mentor (Niankoro encounters a hyena spirit in the desert who tells him that he is destined for great things), a series of trials/obstacles (our hero survives the wilderness and uses his mystical abilities to save a village), a return to face his enemy (Niankoro leaves the safety of his uncle's sanctuary to face his father) and at last death and rebirth.

Yeelen is a mystical movie with a tone, setting and culture very different from most found in mainstream American cinema. However, the symbols, archetypes and characters are universal. The film is just further proof that storytellers are still influenced by sources that have existed for countless generations.

Sunday, January 14, 2018

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #2: THE NETHERLANDS


This is a part of an ongoing project in which I watch one movie from a different country every week.

THE VANISHING (SPOORLOOS) - 1988


RUNNING TIME: 107 Minutes

DIRECTOR: George Sluizer

WRITTEN BY: Tim Krabbé (Screenplay and Novel)


STARING:





WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT: Netflix DVD. Amazon Instant. 
I borrowed a copy from the Baltimore County Public library.  It's a part of the Criterion collection. 

PLOT: While on vacation, a young Dutch couple, Rex and Saskia, stop at a service station where Saskia goes missing. Three years later, a man approaches Rex and claims to be her abductor.
 



MEMORABLE MOMENT: The moment when Rex realizes what happened to Saskia will haunt you for days. I can't bring myself to give it away here, though, not even after a "Spoiler" warning. 

Instead I'll have to go with the montage in which we see Raymond, a seemingly mild-mannered family man, fail again and again at finding an acceptable victim. The sequence somehow manages to be both comical and horrifying.


  •  The Vanishing was adapted from the novella The Golden Egg by Dutch Journalist and chess champion Tim Krabbé, who also received screenplay credit. Supposedly, he got the idea from an article about a woman who vanished. Fortunately the woman had simply boarded the wrong bus and was reunited with her family.
  • While The Vanishing  is the Dutch entry here, the film was disqualified as the Dutch submission for the Academy Awards because there was too much French dialogue. 
  • According to IMDB, Stanley Kubrick stated that The Vanishing  was the most terrifying film he had ever seen. 
  • In 1993, George Sluizer directed an American remake of his film staring Jeff Bridges, Kiefter Sutherland and Sandra Bullock. It bombed in the box office and was criticized for tacking on a happy ending.



The Vanishing is a thriller that starts off by telling the audience everything they want to know. There is no mystery regarding who the villain is or how he plans to commit the crime. Early in in the film we learn that Raymond Lemorne (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) is a wealthy family man who owns a remote piece of property where (it is heavily implied) he plans to take his victims. We even see Raymond use chloroform on himself and record how long the affects last. Everything is spelled out except for what happened to Saskia (Johanna ter Steege).

The film follows Rex (Gene Bervoets), who is searching for his missing lover. I have nothing against Rex as a character (although one has to wonder if he and Saskia would have remained together if she hadn’t been abducted), but he acts more as a guide than a hero, leading the audience down a path at the end of which we discover her fate.

The most intriguing portions of The Vanishing follow Raymond as he attempts to commit his crime, the way a determined student might attempt to complete a challenging school project.

Raymond isn’t Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter or Heath Ledger’s Joker. The audience never sees these other villains plan their crimes or struggle with the execution. To us they were born master criminals.

Imagine if a good portion of Saw was devoted to us watching Jigsaw construct his traps. We’d see him go to Home Depot, buy the chains and power tools, test his razor blades and barbed wire, become frustrated (and embarrassed) when they don’t work, and try again and again and again until everything was perfect. While he would be less god-like, he would appear more human and in a very unsettling way he would be more relatable.

Unlike Hannibal or the Joker, Raymond doesn’t succeed the first time or the second or even the tenth. Even though his crimes are less elaborate, he has to rehearse and later learn to improvise. It would be as if we saw Freddy Krueger practicing his one-liners in the mirror.

Raymond reminds me the most of Breaking Bad’s Walter White. Not just because they are both family men with beards and short hair but because they start out as intelligent but inept. The audience spends much of the story watching them struggle. They are both villains who start off out of their depths, but we see them become more effective until they are master criminals.

Had Raymond’s crimes been as iconic as Lecter’s or as gimmicky as The Joker’s, we might almost like him, the way we "like" other classic villains. However, the atrocities Raymond commits are much more realistic. One could imagine an outwardly peaceful man actually performing these horrors, and that makes him all the more terrifying.

Next week's country: Mali. 

Saturday, January 6, 2018

52 MOVIES FROM 52 COUNTRIES - #1: INDIA


This is my first entry for a project in which I watch 52 movies from 52 countries in one year.  


When I got the idea to watch fifty-two movies from fifty-two countries throughout 2018, I knew I'd have to start with India.

Indian cinema is the world’s largest film industry. According to multiple sources, the country produces over a thousand movies a year (some sites put that average closer to two thousand). 

So choosing which movie I'd watch was a challenge in upon itself. My choice wasn’t necessarily meant to “represent” the country or sum up its history (try finding a movie that “sums up” America). I simply wanted a fantastic, memorable film.

In the end I chose...



BÃHUBALI: THE BEGINNING (2015)


RUNNING TIME: 159 Minutes

DIRECTOR: S.S. Rajamouli

WRITTEN BY: Vijayendra Prasad (Story)
S.S. Rajomouli (Screenplay)
C.H. Vijay Kumar (Telugu dialogue)
Ajay Kumar (Telugu dialogue)

Madhan Karky (Tamil dialogue - the version I watched)

Manoj Muntashir (Hindi dialogue)


 STARING: Prabhas

WHERE YOU CAN FIND IT: Netflix Instant, Amazon Instant.   

PLOT: An infant found drowning in a river grows up to be Shivudu, a free-spirited boy who spends his days exploring the surrounding mountains. When Shivudu becomes a man, he leaves his home and discovers he is connected to a vast kingdom ruled by a psychotic warlord.



MEMORABLE MOMENT: An insane musical number in which our hero (Prabhas) climbs an impossibly tall waterfall in pursuit of a woman covered in blue butterflies.


 ABOUT THE MOVIE:
  • The most expensive film ever made in India. 
  • The first of two movies filmed simultaneously. The sequel Bãhubali: The Conclusion was released in 2017.
  •   Has an animated television series which is a part of the franchise.






Bãhubali (also spelled Baahubali) shares many similarities to blockbusters from around the world. There are familiar mythic archetypes (the baby found in the river, the beautiful female warrior who refuses love until she meets our hero, the protagonist with a violent/mysterious past).           
        

However it would be impossible to mistake this movie for a Hollywood blockbuster. As one might expect from Indian cinema, Bãhubali has considerably more song and dance numbers than The Lord of the Rings or 300.

 (Although LOTR does have the one)


Also, despite the epic battle sequence at the film’s climax, Bãhubali’s tone (especially in the first half) feels lighter than many American blockbusters. Granted the most recent Star Wars and Avengers movies are filled with a self-aware tongue-in-cheek humor, but the gaudy musical numbers and the gorgeous settings bring an ethereal tone to much of (although not all of) the film. Overall, the special effects and sets are used to make this movie as beautiful as it is epic.

Then there is the treatment of animals. Not only does the movie open with a statement that no animals were harmed during the making of the film, but whenever an animal appears to be in danger, the letters “CGI” flash in the lower left-hand corner, assuring viewers that the water buffalo or the horses being killed are just pixels on the screen. Most Hollywood movies are so desperate to look real (even when the computer effects are cruddy) they would never consider such a disclaimer. 

I chose Bãhubali for its overwhelmingly grand scale both in terms of plot as well as production. Not only was it the most expensive Indian film ever made, it shattered box office records and was met with almost universal critical acclaim.  
 
Part of me wanted to go for an older, “classic Bollywood” movie. Bãhubali is a beautiful film but it definitely has that recognizable international blockbuster feel to it (just watch the trailer above). Despite the song and dance numbers, there are sections that could almost be mistaken for scenes from Hollywood fantasy films. One could argue that maybe I should have gone for a film unlike anything I’d find in an American Cineplex. (Bãhubali was literally playing in a movie theater ten minutes from my house.) With this in mind, I might write a couple “bonus posts” throughout the year, touching on other Indian films (I'll probably do the same for countries like France, Japan and Korea).

Feel free to leave suggestions.