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Reviews
Le fantôme de la liberté (1974)
How can anyone ask "what's the point of this film?"
The ability to acknowledge the absurd and question the norm is extremely important in societies. I don't think the point of this film is so much to learn something, but to unlearn a few things. I can't believe that Bunuel was able to create such vividly bizarre sequences that laugh in the face of conventions, and still manage to contain all those random sequences in one film that kept my interest for an hour and forty five minutes. What an incredible feat. I am certainly glad that there aren't too many Bunuels out there. I don't know how often I could watch films like "The Phantom of Liberty" before it got old and uninteresting, but I'm glad that there was someone out there to accomplish what Bunuel did. I would definitely say "The Phantom of Liberty" is very much a film worth watching at least once by everyone.
Yuki yukite, shingun (1987)
These guys make Michael Moore seem tame...and I LOVE it.
Every society needs a man like Okuzaki and a documentarian like Hara. Sure, Okuzaki is certainly flawed and a little bit crazy, but he did what he needed to do in pursuit of the truth so that we could learn from and atone for our mistakes. I watched this film in my History of International Cinema class and I was so pleasantly surprised beyond anything I had expected for the class. I definitely was not aware (and I know I'm not the only one) that cannibalism and those kinds of atrocities took place during WWII. Once again, I am awed by the power of film not only to entertain, but inform, educate, and shape society. I hope someone will make a film like this about the war in Iraq.
Idi i smotri (1985)
Films like this should be required material for every student at some point in their education.
Such an intense film. What struck me most when watching "Come and See" was that it really made me experience what it must be like to be surrounded by war; to have it in your own back yard. The last war that was fought actually IN the United States was the Civil War (us fighting ourselves nearly 150 years ago). Of course, how can we understand what it's like for people in Iraq when we come into their country and bomb their homes and kill innocent people (sometimes women and children) in the process? Unlike "Saving Private Ryan" and many other war films that use extensive choreographed battle sequences, "Come and See" manages to show the horrors of war without glorifying violence at the same time. Through the use of incredible young actors and devastating scenes that engage all the senses, "Come and See" causes the viewer to lose their own innocence and gradually question their own sanity as they share Florya's journey into the agonizing horrors of war. I can't imagine anyone seeing a film like this and still advocating unnecessary wars like the one in Iraq.
Fa yeung nin wah (2000)
Wait. You mean real love isn't always happily ever after?
Perhaps the only thing I could say bad about this film is that the subtitles were frustratingly awful. Of course, the film is stunningly gorgeous visually and musically. Wong Kar Wai is a really amazing director and his vision came across wonderfully. The style of this film is what makes it stand out, but what I loved was the story. I've been taking a History of International Film class which has made me even more painfully aware of how cliché and misleading American films can be. We grow up watching so many cliché movies about true love where we've come to EXPECT perfect "happily ever after" endings; it's no wonder the United States has such a high divorce rate and an overwhelming majority is deeply dissatisfied with their love lives. In "In the Mood for Love," when Mr. Chow(Tony Leung) whispers his secret in the hole in the wall, it is such a heartbreakingly beautiful way to end the film. I recently saw "500 Days of Summer" in the theater, and although I loved the movie, I was disappointed that even in an American movie that is the anti-"happily ever after" love story, they still couldn't resist clichés and the need to tie everything up in a nice little bow at the end. In real life, there are a million moments where something as simple as not taking a person's hand at the right moment can be the deciding factor on whether a relationship goes forward or not. The beautiful ambiguity of Mr. Chow and Mrs. Chan's relationship in "In the Mood for Love" has lingered with me long after the film ended and the lights went up; just a wonderfully true and heart-breaking film.
La otra conquista (1998)
Sometimes art is the best teacher
I don't want to give the impression that this film is purely a history lesson. It's actually one of the most entertaining and powerful films I've seen. But what struck me most was the passion that the filmmaker, Salvador Carrasco, had to make a film about this still controversial subject matter. "The Other Conquest" is, to me, a perfect example of how powerful the film medium can be. I've heard about the conquering of the aztecs from my father as well as in one history class or another, but it never really manifested itself as something I could understand and be effected by until I saw this film. I now have have the images that brought me to tears - the burning of the codex, the main character being whipped and his feet burned with a torch, and so on - seared into my memory forever. I truly believe that a film like this can change the way people see the world and have a lasting positive effect on society. I hope Salvador Carrasco, and other artists like him, continues to make movies.
Charlie Bartlett (2007)
A tribute to much better movies
Mix together Rushmore, Thumbsucker, and Ferris Bueller's Day Off, sprinkle in some odd classics but go real light on creativity and originality, and you got Charlie Bartlett. The movie is a mess. Lots of moments stolen from other "High School movies" but no clarity and the movie is completely ridiculous and unrealistic; moments like Charlie (and shortly after the whole school) going completely ape on what was supposedly a LOW dosage of ritalin were very frustrating. But most importantly, it is completely uninspired and surprisingly boring. You know there's something wrong when even Robert Downey Jr. is uninteresting in a character that made me wonder why he chose to do the movie in the first place. Moments like the musical tribute to Harold and Maude ("If You Want to Sing Out, Sing Out")just made me think: "Why am I watching this movie; I should be watching that one" which made it very hard to appreciate the few moments that were good.