Category: Non-English Film

Posted on | No Comments |

Please Vote for Me (2007)

Who knew that a grade 3 class monitor election in China would have so many parallels to larger national elections, but here we go. There’s the obnoxious, loud-mouthed candidate who creates strife between the other candidates to court chaos. Another candidate buys votes through special class trips and gifts. The third is over her head and not made for the cutthroat competition of school elections. It’s of course a popularity contest where more focus is centered on the competitors’ faults than actual qualifications of the candidates. The parents are all happy to encourage it along and the teacher who set the whole thing up, including picking the nominees, seems all too amused by the whole thing.

Posted on | No Comments |

School for Postmen (1946)/Forza Bastia (1978)/Evening Classes (1967)

I’m not sure why I checked out the disc of Tati shorts over the other two feature films I haven’t seen yet, but I think it might have been because of this short. There are a lot of cute sketches here from the training of the postmen in order to cut 25 minutes off their routes to the delivery of the various letters. It’s interesting to see Tati as a character other than Monsieur Hulot and I’m looking forward to seeing the feature length Jour de Fête.

I also watched two other shorts in the set. Forza Bastia was the only other short directed by Tati. It is entirely just footage of soccer fans before, during, and immediately after a 1978 match that ends in a tie. It had been shelved until 2002 and I’m not sure why anyone felt the need to dig it out. I admit to fastforwarding the footage. The other, Evening Classes, was filmed at the time of Playtime. Directed by one of the assistant directors of that film, this waivers between being a comedic sketch of Tati teaching an acting class and him actually teaching comedic techniques.

Posted on | No Comments |

Orpheus (1950)

This modern retelling of the Orpheus and Eurydice myth was somewhat difficult for me to get into at first. Once I decided to ride with it, it enveloped me and kept me enthralled. Somewhat defying explanation, Orpheus is a French poet, married to the beautiful Eurydice, whose life becomes entwined with the Princess and other travelers from the other side, finding himself falling in love with one of them while another falls for Eurydice. The entire film is surreal and dream-like and rather French, especially in the effects that are utilized as various characters commute between the two worlds.  Romance

Posted on | No Comments |

Persepolis (2007)

This is a faithful adaptation, both visually and in story, of the Persepolis graphic novels, depicting the early life of its writer Marjane Satrapi, growing up in a rapidly changing Iran and later Austria. Other than the chance to see the story told in animated form, there wasn’t much new added to the story that could not be gotten from reading the books. I do recommend either option, especially for anyone interested in seeing one woman’s experiences growing up during and after the Islamic Revolution.

Oscar Nomination: Best Animated Feature Film of the Year

Posted on | No Comments |

Ponyo (2008)

I have no idea why it took me this long to watch this film. The titular character is a fish of sorts who lives underwater with her father and numerous similar looking sisters. After sneaking off during a family outing, she finds herself on land, luckily rescued by a young boy named Sosuke. The rest of the film deals with Ponyo’s desire to live on land and the love she and Sosuke share for each other. The landscapes are so incredibly beautiful in this film that it’s worth watching just to see them, but the story is also incredibly sweet and touching as well, definitely among Miyazaki’s best.

Posted on | No Comments |

Kon-Tiki (2012)

I checked this out thinking it was the 1950 Oscar winning documentary. Little did I know that there was a more recent Oscar nominated feature film with the same title on the same subject. Thor Heyerdahl grabbed four other guys, built a raft, and decided to travel across the Pacific Ocean to prove that Norwegians populated Polynesia after getting kicked out of Peru. That whole concept feels a bit too yay white colonialism to me, particularly since the theory of a westerly migration is completely false and Thor had no idea what he was doing, not even knowing how to swim. Getting passed all that, it is really beautifully filmed with smooth CGI’ed animals and quite a bit of fraternal bonding. The stakes don’t feel particularly high, especially knowing that the documentary exists, but I’m still looking forward to seeing that film to compare the real life footage to this dramatization.

Oscar Nomination: Best Foreign Language Film of the Year

Posted on | No Comments |

Summer with Monika (1953)

Young adults Monika and Harry meet, fall in love, and run away on his father’s boat together for the summer. When summer is over, reality takes over in predictable and unfortunate ways for the two. Perhaps I’m too old for this type of movie, but I couldn’t get swept away the young love or even in the beautiful Swedish cinematography because I was just waiting for that foot to drop. While Harry is somewhat sympathetic, Monika both before and after their idyllic summer romance comes across as an entitled brat. Reading about Bergman’s relationship with his young actress and Woody Allen’s love for the film unfortunately adds an icky shade across the whole thing as well.

Posted on | No Comments |

La Dolce Vita (1960)

Grappling with what to write about this, I recognize that I probably don’t understand the great majority of what the film is trying to say. Marcello Mastroianni is a journalist who is always searching for the next thing: the next big story, the next woman who excites him, the next thing that’ll bring him the best that life has to offer. Told in episodes that proceed over the course of some portion of time, he ages and progresses on this journey, using the males in his life as inspiration and caution. Every day with potential leads to an exciting, electric night that turns into the grey reality of morning. I love watching Mastroianni move, there’s a cool European smoothness, but also a bit of self-deprecation in the way he hunches his shoulders as if he’s hoping these things will just come to him. Anita Ekberg’s fountain scene is iconic for so many reasons, she exuberates with those best parts of life, fully engrossing in everything life has to offer.

Oscar Win: Best Costume Design, Black-and-White

Oscar Nominations: Best Director; Best Writing, Story and Screenplay – Written Directly for the Screen; Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Black-and-White

Posted on | No Comments |

Fill the Void (2012)

An intriguing view into the lives of the Tel Aviv Haredi Jewish community, this film tells the story of a young woman who is looking forward to marrying and all the new wonders she and her future spouse will discover together. Unfortunately that fantasy is shaken when her older sister dies in childbirth and she is encouraged instead to marry her sister’s widower. Written and directed by the first Haredi Jewish woman to direct a film, it treats the culture matter-of-factly, not as strange or even extraordinarily different from any other. The director herself compares the story to a Jane Austen novel and indeed, the women in both circumstances are guided by strict rules of decorum but still find love and happiness in their communities.  Romance

Posted on | No Comments |

Mon Oncle (1958)

While I didn’t find this quite as delightful as PlayTime or Trafic, there are still some wonderful visuals in this Tati outing. Monsieur Hulot’s nephew prefers spending time with his playful uncle rather than with his upwardly mobile parents in their ultra modern home. The house provides plenty of gags: a fish fountain that’s only turned on for the right kind of guests, large round upstairs windows that look like eyes, uncomfortable furniture constantly needing to be moved to the various zones, and garden paths that follow no logical direction. The film isn’t just stuck in the modern either, there is plenty to be experience in Hulot’s unimproved neighborhood and at the plastics factory where his sister’s husband gets him a job. I actually watched both the English and German versions of the film and discovered that the dialogue falls to the wayside when you don’t have to pay attention to subtitles and the film becomes just visual. It results in two very different experiences.

Oscar Win: Best Foreign Language Film

Scroll to Top