Cinema Outcasts » Foreign

Rudo y Cursi (Rough and Vulgar)

peter — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 20:48:37 +0000

I happen to admire Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna. Since their smashing debut Y Tu Mama Tambien, the Mexican actors have taken the world by storm. Along with Alfonso Cuarόn, del Toro and Iñárritu, (dubbed the three amigos) I believe that Spanish cinema is at the height of its game in the world cinema since the 1960’s. These guys know films and they have passion for it. Hollywood beckons.

With that being said, I was thrilled to get a chance to see the new project that these men embarked on Rudo y Cursi (Appropriately titled rough and vulgar). The film is directed by the brother of Alfonso, Carlos and we can see that his talent reflects off that of his brother’s. So instead of looking at this movie like I did with Y tu Mama Tambien, I really didn’t know much. The only thing I knew about the story was that Luna and Bernal played two men who rose up from nothing to something and then fell back down to nothing again. That was about it.

I had no expectations when I saw this movie and I think that helped. The movie starts out with two brothers/friends (as Luna and Bernal are real life friends after Y Tu Mama Tambien) trying to get out of the banana plantation that they worked at. Fate happens because fate always does. A man, who happens to be a scout for soccer players, has his car break down near the tiny village where Rudo and Cursi live. Upon seeing their skills as soccer players, he decides to offer them a gambling chance to win a tryout on one of the city teams.

The storyline is great because the characters are really developed… down to their closest family member (very reminiscent of Y Tu Mama Tambien). Rudo, played by Luna, is a competitive starved lunatic driven to become the best soccer player in the world. Cursi is the more sympathetic one desperately trying to use his soccer skills to move into a career in music. While at the top of their game, the brothers/friends make bad decisions that ultimately draw on their own fate in the end. Rudo becomes a cocaine riddled gambling addict, while Cursi falls for the girl who only wants to be with success.

The movie has its humor and it’s nice to see Bernal and Luna working together again (sort of like that old highschool reunion with someone you actually wanted to talk to). Overall, not a bad movie although not a terrific movie. The storyline falls flat because of the pacing of the film, there is just a which inhibits it from being fully compared to Y tu Mama Tambien. What I do like about the movie is that they focus on developing the characters and the appeal a character might have with the common day man. In essence, I look forward to seeing what this group of Mexican cineastes comes up with next.

La battaglia di Algeri (The Battle for Algiers)

peter — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 20:59:31 +0000

I loved this movie because of the realism that it portrayed with the guerilla conflict that had ensued during the 1940’s. Based on real events, the storyline is based in the French occupied city of Algiers. Algerians are treated as outcasts and the French soldiers desperately try to keep them in place. The beginning is mind blowing because we start out with the ending first. As the story continues, we begin to see the evolution of the revolution. The movie starts out small, and then progresses with each strike by either the French or the Algerians.

When the French cafes are bombed and destroyed, there is so much realism that the scene looks like it was caught on the nine o’clock news hour. These scenes are what heightened the story for me because they seemed very authentic and it helped create a tense moment. These tense moments between the realistic bombing sequences and the militia that France forces into the ghettos of Algiers were terribly captivating. All in all, this movie is a very intense and sweeping drama about the conflict and betrayals during a revolutionary time.

La haine (The Hate)

peter — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 18:48:11 +0000

Shot in black and white with superb camera angles, a great script, and a great cast. La Haine is a movie that was pretty revolutionary for its time. It predates anything that is happening in the ghettos’ of France today. Matthieu Kassovitz shows us why such a small little film can be so powerful and so effective. Vincent Cassel, Hubert Kounde, and Said Taghmaoui are terrific as three friends all from different backgrounds searching for the meaning of life. As we follow the characters throughout their neighborhood and into the more illustrious part of the city, we begin to realize how ill fated their lives actually are. Vincent Cassel’s character Vinz is a young punk desperately looking to further his hate against authority. Cassel represents the anger in life. Said (also the character Said in the movie) represents the little man looking to rise up to battle his own convictions; And Hubert, my favorite character, striving to obey the system, but because he’s driven over the edge, he develops his own hate in the end. Watch out for the acting by the 29 year old Cassel… It is phenomenal and uplifting. Thank you Frenchie for recommending this one!

The Seventh Seal

joseph — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 02:18:48 +0000

I have had a hard time picking a tenth film in our “Editor’s Choice” series (which may not have been that big of a deal, since I don’t remember when we decided to put a limit at 10 or if we’re still doing that). I was debating putting the Quay Brothers’ Institute Benjamenta here, which is a beautiful film but I wouldn’t know what to say about it, and anyways I think Ingmar Bergman should be recognized here. I almost wanted to list his later film Winter Light simply because of the devastating brilliance of the last line spoken in the film, which is so astonishingly anticlimactic it stays with you for a long time. I could even go with his more lighthearted Smiles of a Summer Night, which has a poetic rhythm mirroring the comedies of Shakespeare, or Trollflöjten which is a flawlessly cheeky-yet-faithful adaption of a Mozart’s Magic Flute Opera (though I decided to rule that out because it was made for Swedesh Television). The Seventh Seal is a great place to start with Bergman, an abstract, timeless classic that depicts a medieval knight’s battle with Death in the shape of an absurd game of chess. The absurdity of it is in the fact that everyone’s life is a game played with death that we will all eventually “lose,” it’s only a matter of when; we are all being strung along in an inescapable dance of death. Bergman is known for making depressing films — he has even admitted he can’t watch his own movies because they bring him down — but films that deal with hopelessness or existential despair can often reveal a sense of inner strength that is lacking in films with the so-called “Hollywood ending.” Bergman’s films deal with the anxieties and doubts that we all have, and he has the courage to say that there aren’t necessarily any easy answers, or angels to save us, but we are all in this same wayward ship, and sometimes telling this truth can be uplifting in it’s own way.

Quadrophenia (1979)

peter — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:39:06 +0000

The ending thirty minutes of this movie are worth the watch alone. The Who’s music plays formulaically with the lead actor (Jimmy) as he rides his scooter over the edge of the British Isle’s. Each motion that the character takes on his bike and each scene goes so well with the music that you feel the same emotion that the lead character Jimmy is feeling. His heart wrenching depression makes you cringe at the very sight of him and makes you feel for yourself.

The rest of the movie is about teenage angst. Jimmy revels at the chance for revolution (or maybe just some good ol’ rocker bashing). His obsession over the pretty girl is what drives this movie. As Jimmy and his hood of Mods build up for the big get together in Brighton Beach, we can feel the story turning. The mod versus rocker riot is something that we will probably never see in movies again, and it is very enjoyable to watch. The timing to it is amazing and the riot seems so authentic (watch for glimpses of Sting).

The end of the film is a great climax. Jimmy’s denial of his obsession with Steph becomes his own personal salvation as he rides off into oblivion. A very enjoyable film, especially for the rebellious youths of today and yesterday.

The Wind that Shakes the Barley

peter — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:26:19 +0000

I believe that Ken Loach’s filmmaking style is what Hollywood should start looking at and try to imitate. This movie’s design shows how effective a movie can be without CGI animated effects and over the top camera angles. It also shows how Hollywood has become so enamored with stylistic directors.

By shooting the actors with a wide angle long lense, Loach allows his actors to move in comfort without the stringent use of the camera mark. This along with the natural realism of his shooting style, the actors are now allowed to act off one another which helps create a more compelling scene. The reason that I like and respect Loach’s technique is because the movie doesn’t seem amateurish at all.

The storyline sticks to a beginning middle and an end and it is quite refreshing. Cillian Murphy (28 Days Later, Batman Begins, and Sunshine) plays the lead Damien O’donovan, outcast, doctor and partial leader of the guerilla movement that took place in Ireland during the 1920’s. His brother Teddy O’donovan (Padraic Delany) heads the guerilla warfare group and eventually trades sides to become a British Confidant (after the treaty of 1920). In the beginning of the story, Murphey is torn and confident that he is going to leave Ireland for more medical practice; however, the influence of his brother Teddy pulls him back. Murphy soon realizes that he is a part of Ireland and that he has to fight for the democracy that the Irish want and believe.

The near perfect script continues to build on the trust of the brothers and climaxes to their doomed ultimate decision in the end. I believe that the ending is the most satisfying in the movie.

Afghan Star

lefrenchie — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:44:13 +0000

Afghan Star is a British documentary who narrates the first season of the Afghan version of American Idol; it follows a few contestants along this competition, which is so much more than we would expect. Over here, the show has become an over marketed corporate money making monster, whereas in Afghanistan, it truly is a vector of freedom and reconciliation amongst the tribes of the country.. It also gives a lighthearted vision of the country that seems to be trying to start again from where they were before the wars and the ruling of the Talibans. From a family discussing about who is their favorite contestant and why they are so great, to the trouble of a female contestant sentenced to death by the mullahs for dancing on television with her face not covered, this documentary is mind shattering for anyone who can take a step back from our Western Culture and try to comprehend what happened there.

Home

lefrenchie — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 22:54:31 +0000

Yann Arthus-Bertrand is reknown for his book Earth viewed from the Sky, and Home is no less and no more than the film version of his book. It is superb imagery that remind us that our Home is really a beautiful place. The big problem with this documentary is that like many of its environmental friends; it’s voiced by a Glenn Close preaching for the whole length of the movie about, how living in the city is bad, etc… Truly annoying especially when you think that the every single shot has been taken from an helicopter, which I believe has a certain carbon footprint… But’s be nice; if you really would like to enjoy Home the best is to buy it on dvd or bluray, put it on, turn the sound of your tv off, and put Radiohead’s Amnesiac album on your city player and just enjoy the beauty of our planet while listening to good music.

Crazy Love (1897)

joseph — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:44:26 +0000

Charles Bukowski has said that this was the best performance of his “Henry Chinaski” character yet, which shows that Bukowski’s stories translate just fine in other parts of the world. This three-act Belgian film is taken from Bukowski’s various short stories and novels and tells the story of a young man’s gradual descent from bashful romantic to self-destructive alcoholic pervert, and the story is told with the grim sense of humor and honesty that is found in the Bukowski brand. This is a great movie to watch alone, with a twelve pack of beer, or with a few bottles of wine and your favorite whore on those loneliest of nights.

Rashomon

joseph — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:14:54 +0000

It may be debatable which is the best Kurosawa film, but this one is my personal favorite. It’s a work of bold, abstract beauty that questions reality by consensus. A rape and murder mystery is told and re-told from different perspectives (we even get a version of the story as told by the spirit of the murdered man, via medium). Each person has a completely different version of what occurred, and the mystery is never really “solved.” We are left doubting that any of the actors were telling the “true” version of what happened. Man is revealed as a creature who’s self-image is guarded jealously against a cold reality, which causes a Monk to nearly despair against the whole of mankind, until, in the midst of the fog in a desolate town in feudal Japan, a glimmer of hope is found.