If you have read any of my other blogs then it is pretty obvious that I love movies, but at the risk of sounding redundant I won't spew out a whole bunch of eloquent words and wax poetic about my love affair with movies. Still, as passionate as I am about films I have been trying to come up with some clever way to include several different films from all different genre's in one blog. Because I know that there are lots of underdog and unknown movies I have seen that I think everyone else should see, but when I create a list I normally like to keep them all in the same genre. So I thought maybe I could write a blog comparing movies to food and serve up a full course meal with dessert, you know like maybe starting off with some mindless entertainment movies as appetizers since there's not a lot of depth or substance, then on to the main course comparing medium rare steak to some dark and bloody movies. But it makes my head hurt trying to figure out how to compare James Cameron's Avatar to grilled shrimp appetizers, plus that is completely out of character for me and it's ridiculously cheesy…no pun intended, well maybe a little. Instead I will just for-go all the clever jazz and keep things simple.
So here is my collection of a few favorite and semi-favorite movies that you may or may not have seen in no specific order.
LEONERA (LION'S DEN)
When Julia (Martina Gusman) wakes up in her apartment in a semi-conscious and disoriented state, she's unaware of the messy and chaotic state her living room is in, or that she has blood on her face and in her hair. She goes to work like any other day, until she notices blood under her nails and the concerned look tells you that it's starting to come back. Something bad happened the night before. When she gets back home she finds her two male roommates Najuel and Ramiro (Rodrigo Santoro) lying in the hallway and kitchen covered in blood. When she calls the police she is in such a state of shock that she can't even move to open the door when they arrive, and while her roommate Najuel lies dead her other roommate Ramiro is rushed to the hospital in critical condition. And both are to be detained by the police until they can figure out what happened.
While being booked at the police station, it's revealed that Julia is two weeks pregnant and that she will have to raise the child behind bars until he or she reaches the age of four. When she is escorted to her cell and see's the children's toys lying around and a young boy running about the gravity of her situation sinks in and she starts beating her stomach with her fists. Over the next several months Julia develops a close friendship with fellow inmate and mother of four Marta (Laura García) which eventually turns into an intimate relationship. When Julia gives birth to a baby boy named Tomás, Marta takes Julia under her wing and helps her take care of her son. And in time Julia goes from a despondent inmate with a child, to a fiercely protective mother who's entire life is wrapped up in her son and would do anything to keep from being separated from him.
This Argentinian film isn't great, but it is well written and well executed with a compelling story. It's a dark and gritty character driven drama and a slow burn which are some of the qualities I like in a movie. I know foreign movies are not for everyone, I guess for a lot of people the idea of having to read the subtitles through the entire film is too exhausting. I was most impressed with Martina Gusman who played Julia, she did a killer job of portraying all the emotions her character went through during her incarceration. I am not sure if Argentinian prison's actually allow mothers to raise their children behind bars, but I am assuming so considering the fact that this movie is completely grounded in reality. While it does make sense to me in some ways, it just seems so strange compared to how things are here in the US, I think that is one of the reasons I like this movie so much because it is culturally different.
THE MAGDALENE SISTERS
Taking place in Ireland in 1964, the film begins with a young woman named Margaret (Anne-Marie Duff) who is raped by her cousin during a family wedding, her devout catholic father doesn't believe her and sends her away to live at the Magdalene Asylum. Then the story shifts to teen orphan Bernadette (Nora Jane Noone) who is witnessed by the priest over the orphanage as being too flirtatious and is also sent the the Magdalene Asylum, then lastly to Patricia (Dorothy Duffy) who gave birth to a child out of wedlock and is sent away to spare the family any shame. As Patricia's parents are leaving she begs them to let her keep her son and asks them to just look at how beautiful he is, but they walk away ashamed of their daughters' sins.
Once inside the Asylum, the three women are introduced to a hellish life through long hours of work in the laundry and torturous humiliation from the nuns who make them do things like strip naked while the nuns point and laugh at their so-called imperfections. The three girls try to adjust the best ways they know how, Margaret (the girl who was assaulted) befriends another girl who seems to be borderline mentally challenged and has trouble understanding some things while Bernadette (the teen orphan) becomes bitter and is determined to escape. And Patricia just wants to follow the rules in the hopes that she can get out soon to be reunited with her son.
Though the characters in the story are fictional, the story itself is based on the true events of what young women went through in a time when religion dictated everything in such legalistic force that young rape victims could be sent away to spare the family any embarrassment. To make things worse were the cruel and hypocritical behaviors by the nuns. The film is based on a scandal that occurred in Ireland when 155 bodies were discovered at a Magdalene Asylum after the property was sold in 1993. And in 1999 Mary Norris, Josephine McCarthy and Mary-Jo McDonagh came forward and publicly told their stories about the physical, sexual, and psychological abuse they endured during their incarceration. This is certainly one of those movies that is difficult to watch and will probably leave you yelling and cursing at your television, the most heart wrenching thing about watching this movie is knowing that things like this actually happened to innocent young women.
Amélie
When Amélie was a child all she ever wanted was physical affection from her father, yet her rigid and cold parents were set in their routines which didn't leave much time for love and affection. So whenever her MD father would give her a physical check up she would get excited and her heart began to race from the thought of physical touch. But Amélie's father mistook this for a heart condition and declared her unfit for school, and so she was homeschooled and kept away from other children. In Amélie's world she would retreat into her own imagination and keep herself amused by asking silly questions about the world around her.
When she became an adult, Amélie was determined to get out of her parents cold and lifeless house. She moved to an apartment in the city and took a job as a waitress, and one night while watching television she discovers a loose board at the base of the floor and an old tin box hidden behind the wall. Ecstatic from what she finds, old toys and sports cards belonging to a young boy a long time ago, Amélie has a revolutionary idea. She will find the owner of the box and give it back to him, if he's moved by it she'll become a regular do-gooder…but if not, ah well!
The overall theme of the movie starts out with Amélie trying to do good things for other people but ends with her struggling to get over her shy ways and insecurities before the man of her dreams slips away. I am not really into comedies that much, let alone romantic comedies, but I just enjoyed all the elements of this film, it has a light, whimsical and off-beat humor. And the use of warm and vibrant colors give normal life in France a sort of dream like Marry Poppins atmosphere. I definitely liked all the characters, they are all fun, quirky, and easy to connect with…very fun and uplifting movie.
INK
In this fantasy thriller there are two invisible forces battling each other, the forces of light watch over people in their sleep and give them pleasant dreams. But the forces of darkness cast a shadow over people causing them to live their worst nightmares. When Allel (Jennifer Batter) leaves young Emma (Quinn Hunchar) with pleasant dreams, a dark and mysterious figure appears and causes Emma to lapse into a coma so that he can use that time to steal her soul. Abducting the subconscious part of Emma, the forces of light appear to try and stop him but are unable to when he makes his way through a portal with the girl.
Simultaneously, Emma's father John (Chris Kelly) is beginning to crack under the pressures at work, which are only compounded when he finds out that his daughter is in a coma. Feeling angry at his parents in law and guilty over the death of his wife and for not being the father he only wishes he had time to be, John buries himself into his work. But the two paths of John in the real world and Emma in the dream world are headed towards collision, and the forces of light have to make sure that the dark forces don't win John over or they might lose both John and Emma. More than just a science fiction/fantasy film, this is a very deep, dark, and poetic movie with plenty to say about the human soul and the human condition. It's an existential reflection at the lives of a few people that all of us can relate to on any number of levels. And the ending alone is worth watching, it is very powerful and emotionally gripping. Very very good movie.
THE MACHINIST
Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) suffers from chronic insomnia and hasn't slept for a year, and his physical and mental deterioration start to take it's toll. When Trevor begins acting very strange at work his co-workers, who were once his good friends, want nothing to do with him. The only people left in Trevor's life are a prostitute named Stevie (Jennifer Jason Leigh), and Marie (Aitana Sánchez-Gijón) a waitress at the diner inside the airport where Trevor goes for coffee. When he is not following his routine of visiting Stevie or Marie, Trevor occupies his time by obsessively cleaning his apartment with bleach or trying to fall asleep while reading books or watching television.
While on break, Trevor begins chatting with a fellow co-worker named Ivan(John Sharian) who he's never seen before. Curious about the new employee, Trevor gets distracted while helping Miller (Michael Ironside) work on a machine and accidentally starts the machine with Miller's hand caught inside. Miller loses his left arm in the accident, and after an inquiry with Trevor's bosses he claims to have been distracted by Ivan. But his employers inform him that there is no one named Ivan working at the factory. Convinced that Ivan is real, Trevor sets out to prove them wrong, but every time he tries his friends and co-workers either begin to worry about him or look at him like he's crazy. Simultaneously, an inexplicable series of post-it notes start showing up on his refrigerator door with the game hangman drawn on them, and each post it note gives another letter. Trevor becomes desperate and starts to lose his grip on reality when he thinks that someone is out to get him and is playing mind games with him. Accusing his friends and co-workers of being the culprits, Trevor begins to lose everyone around him while trying to figure out what's going on.
The most amazing thing about this movie is the lengths Christian Bale went to in order to capture the emaciated look of his character, that is true method acting. I hear he actually dropped down to 120 lbs (54 kg) by only eating an apple or can of tuna and drinking black unsweetened coffee. In my opinion the movie has a strong Hitchcock style to it, it's a great mystery thriller that doesn't give away too much too soon so as not to spoil the twist ending. The lighting and atmosphere, along with the music, gives the movie a dark and somewhat creepy feel.
WINTER'S BONE
17 year old Ree Dolly (Jennifer Lawrence) has had to drop out of school to take on the burden of looking after her young siblings and catatonic mother in her father's absence. But when the sheriff pays her a visit with a warrant for her fathers arrest after not showing up to his court trial, Ree is given the news that she may lose her house which was put up as bond after her fathers arrest. Now Ree has to track down her dad and get him to show up to trial so she can save her house and take care of her family. But in order to find him she has to put her own life at risk by confronting her shady and dangerous family members which are all mixed up in meth labs. When no one will talk and warns her to back off she doesn't listen, forcing them all to keep her quiet. Even if it means killing her.
I was hesitant to include this one since I haven't read the book yet, but I just had to add it because this is one of my favorite movies. I have been so impressed with Jennifer Lawrence ever since I saw her in Lori Petty's Poker house. This gritty and dark drama has a strong noir style to it with Lawrence being forced to take on a role as detective in a way to track down her missing father and save her house. Taking place in the Ozarks, the atmosphere of the film was an amazing and realistic portrayal of the criminal underworld with run down houses and beautiful landscapes. The storyline was seamless and flowed very well, with some killer performances from Jennifer Lawrence, John Hawkes, and Dale Dickey.
RABBIT-PROOF FENCE
Three mixed race aboriginal girls Molly (Everlyn Sampi), Daisy (Tianna Sansbury), and Gracie (Laura Monaghan) living in Western Australia during the 1930′s are taken from their mother and grandmother and are forced to live at a re-education camp with other mixed race girls nearly 2,000 miles away from their home. Under the guidance of A.O Neville (Kenneth Branagh), the mixed race children are looked at as having no place in either the white man's world or among their own people. The self proclaimed "protector" see's it as his duty to take the children from their homes and re-educate them for their own good. But Molly refuses to conform and runs away from the camp with her sister Daisy and their cousin Gracie, the story follows the girl's long journey back home while being followed by the notorious tracker Moodoo (David Gulpilil) who always finds runaway kids. The girls however manage to elude their tracker and find help along the way from unlikely people who cross their path, and they discover that the route back to their home can be found by following a rabbit proof fence that spans the entire country.
The film is based on the true story of Molly, Daisy, and Gracie who escaped the school, were forced back and then escaped again. The story of the three girls represent the children who have been called "The Stolen Generation". It is definitely a slow burn with not much dialogue between the girls as they make their journey back home, but the acting was very good considering how young the girls were to have portrayed some very emotional scenes. I heard that some critics and historians criticized the movie by calling in inaccurate, I don't know about all that but I think it did a good job of showing a small part of the girls lives and their determination to get back to their families.
ONCE
The interesting thing about this film is that the two lead protagonists have no names, in the credits they are listed as "Guy" (Glen Hansard) and "Girl" (Markéta Irglová). When guy meets girl out on the street one night while busking (performing music in public places), she is impressed with his guitar skills and strikes up a conversation with him. When she finds out he works at a vacuum repair shop with his dad she thinks it's her lucky day because her vacuum is broken. The next day the girl shows up dragging her vacuum through the streets while the guy is busking, a little annoyed by her persistence to fix her vacuum, the guy calls it a day and heads back to the repair shop with her. The two eventually becomes friends, and guy discovers that she is a very talented piano player. After some time the guy comes up with a plan to buy some studio time to record an album so that he can become a professional musician, and he asks her to help him by playing the piano. As they become closer friends it looks like there might be some romance developing between them, but with the guy still heartbroken over his girlfriend cheating on him and the girl separated from her husband, their baggage seems to be getting in the way of that happening.
If you like music and enjoy melancholy indie drama's then you need to check this one out. Actual Musicians Glen Hansard (The Frames) and Markéta Irglová gave some killer acting performances. This film is categorized as a musical, but this is a very modern and moody musical with some amazing songs and one of the best soundtracks I have heard. On top of that is the fact that it was filmed in Ireland so the scenery is amazing. The plot doesn't follow the crowd in the typical guy meets girl, they fall in love story. It is more grounded in reality and deals mostly with the bitterness and heartache from the guy's and girl's past that has caused them to give up in many ways, but their friendship helps them both heal from their old wounds.
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