Monsoon Wedding

Monsoon Wedding is a film directed by Mira Nira, the story revolves around the preparation of an arranged marriage and the family drama that ensues throughout the film. We get a closer look at several family members as many stories unfold during the preparation of the wedding. We first meet the father, Lait, who is overwhelmed by the cost of the wedding. Through his character we meet his wife. The wedding planner PK Dubey eventually falls in love with the family’s maid. Another character that the film focuses on is the bride’s unmarried cousin, Ria. She appears to be in her late 20’s early 30’s and being unmarried is odd in her culture. We eventually find out that her uncle molested her as a child. The bride’s brother is interested in cooking and dancing, which his fathers finds disappointing. The bride is torn between settling down into an arranged marriage and her affair with a married man. She decides to go with the arrange marriage, but wants to come clean to her future husband. He became angry and was torn on whether or not to marry her, but ultimately he valued her honesty and married her.
The film gave a closer look on the Indian culture. The film showed the importance of family. Everyone came from different places to come support the wedding. We get to see some of the Indian rituals performed on the bride and groom.
I thought Mira Nira did a great job with introducing some of the Indian cultures with Monsoon Wedding. All the different subplots made the movie interesting. I was surprised that the film did not get confusing with the amount of subplots that took place. The fact that the characters spoke both English and Hindu I think helped the film because the viewers don’t have to read subtitles throughout the entire movie. In the end, the wedding was very festive despite the rain, you just wanted to get up and dance along with the family.

Dreams

Dreams is a film based on the dreams of the films director, Akira Kurosawa. The film consists of eight of dreams that Kurosawa had throughout his life, beginning with childhood then adulthood. The first dream is titled Sunshine through the Rain, a young boy witnessed the marriage of fox in the woods on a day were there was sunshine and rain. The second dream, The Peach Orchard, the same boy is a little older. He encounters spirits of a chopped down preach tree orchard. The spirits are angry that someone destroyed their trees. The spirits notice the boy was angry too and performed a dance for him. The third dream was called The Blizzard. In the next dream, The Tunnel, a Japanese army officer travels through a dark tunnel. He is followed by the ghosts in his platoon he had led into battle. He tells the men how sorry he was then sends them back on their way. Crows, the fifth dream is about a painter who ends up in Vincent Van Gough painting and encounters crazy Vincent living inside his work. In the following dream, Mount Fuji in Red, the eruption of Mount Fuji occurs with several nuclear power plants. In the seventh dream, The Weeping Demon, a man encounters a demon that was once a human before the radiation mutated him. The final dream is Village of the Watermills; a man finds a village where he meets an old man. The old man tells him about his beliefs on how technology will destroy the world.

We get to explore human nature through Kurosawa dreams. Each dream had its own message, but all the dreams seem to focus on the good and bad of humans. Kurosawa made one message stand out the most which was how one should care about nature. The dreams Mount Fuji in Red and The Weeping Demon show how the destruction of nature leads to the destruction of humankind. He makes the message even clearer in the dream, Village of the Watermills, the people in that village treated nature well and was rewarded with long lives and happiness.

The film was very thought provoking, but did not leave a huge impact on me. The Dreams are dragged out far too long. The concept of using dreams throughout the film was astounding. One of my favorite scenes is in the dream Crows, when the man is running through the paintings, which was a great use of special effects. Another scene I liked is from The Tunnel, which is when the officer sends the men who are ghosts marching off to rest in peace. The film had gorgeous cinematography which compensated for the slow paced dreams. Overall I believe Dreams is an impressive film.

The Eye

The Eye is a supernatural thriller from directors Danny and Oxide Pang. In the film a blind girl named Mun, receives a cornea transplant. Mun is happy to have her vision back; Mun’s happiness turns to fear when she begins to see ghostly figures which foreshadow sudden deaths. She tells the doctors nephew about the strange things she has been seeing through the new eyes. The two of them go to Thailand to find out about the donor; Ling. Mun learns that Ling had similar visions. Mun also learns that Ling peers would look down on her. Ling had a vision that a huge disaster would occur and tried to evacuate the village; no one listen to her and hundreds of people were killed by an explosion. Ling hanged herself after the tragedy. As Mun spends the night in Ling’s old room she is possessed by Ling and makes her hang herself. Hearing Ling’s cries for help, her mother rescued her and the two come to peace. Ling spirit leaves Mun’s body. On the trip back home Mun and Dr.Wah are stuck in a traffic jam. Ling notices hundreds of black figures descend and realizes that a horrific tragedy is about to take place if she doesn’t try to stop it. She tries to get people out their cars but fails. The tanker that was causing the traffic jam leaks out gas which ignites into a huge explosion. During the explosion pieces of glass goes into her eyes causing her to go blind once again.

The films message appears to be that a person should not try and alter their fate because the end results might be worst then what they started with. Mun had a horrific experience after her transplant. At one point she pretended to be blind, which showed that she wished she hadn’t gone through with the transplant. Luckily for her, she ends up blind again when she is the most happiest.

I think the concept of Mun facing similar experiences Ling went through made the film interesting. The directors did a great job presenting the supernatural. The dead man in the elevator is one of the best scenes in the movie. A lot of the scenes were eye-opening, for instance, when the man showed Mun, the stapler after her transplant. Due to her blindness in the past, she couldn’t recognize the stapler. She could only recognize things by touching them. One other thing I thought was cool is when Mun is looking at the picture of herself and the little girl she doesn’t recognize herself. That’s when we then find out she has been seeing the image of the donor the whole time. The world is a beautiful place, even if there are bad things in it. Mun faces that realization in a supernatural way which makes the film unique.

Shanghai Triad

Shanghai Triad is a classic gangster film directed by Zhang Yimou in 1995. The film takes place in Shanghai, over the course of seven days in the 1930s. We see the film through the eyes of Shuisheng, a young boy, who has just arrived from the countryside. His Uncle Liu sent for him, to work as a servant for Jinabo, a singer and girlfriend of the Boss, Tang. Jinabo cheats on Tang with one of his men named Song. Only after a couple of days of being in Shanghai, Shuisheng witnessed a rival gang attack between the Boss and a rival boss, Fat Yu. Shuisheng uncle is killed in the fight. Tang decides to relocate for a while to a small island with his men, Jinabo and Shuisheng. Jinabo makes an acquaintance with a woman named Cuihau, who has a daughter that reminds Jinabo of her own childhood. Coming in contact with the woman results in Cuihau’s death along with her lover, Tang has them killed. Tang tells Jinabo she should’ve been involved with Cuihau, claiming she is responsible for their death. On the last day, Song arrives to the island. During a game, Tang confronts Song about working for his rival Fat Yu. Tang’s people kill Song’s men and buried him alive. Tang also killed Jinabo for betraying him. Before she is killed, Tang informs her that Cuihau’s daughter will be the new Jinabo when she gets older. The final scene of the film ends with Shuisheng tied upside down on a ship as it sails back to Shanghai with Tang and Cuihau daughter aboard.

The film gave a closer look at the underworld violence. It showed how corrupted people were for power. The film also touches on innocence. It showed how the lives of innocent people get taken away by these mobsters. Jinabo tells Shuisheng that she was born in the countryside as well; but we see how she allowed the fast life of Shanghai to corrupt her innocence. Shuisheng an innocent boy who gets put into a dangerous environment unwillingly, he witnessed such cruel things anyone rarely ever sees, let alone a child.

I personally thought Shanghai Triad is a good movie. Usually with gangster movies the gangsters are portrayed as cool individuals, but this film focused more on the people that were getting hurt by them. Even though this film wasn’t very violent, the events that took place in a criminal underworld were presented well.

Three Colors: Blue

Three Colors is a trilogy of three films directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski. The three films: Three Colors: Blue, Three Colors: White and Three Colors: Red is the colors on the French flag. The story of each film is based on the French Revolutionary ideals: liberty, equality, fraternity. In the film Blue, a woman named Julie is the lone survivor in a car accident that killed her husband, a famous composer, and their young daughter. Julie attempts to start over and doesn’t want to deal with anything from her past. But she contacts her husband’s friend Oliver, who has feelings for her. The two of them end up sleeping together, but Julie no longer wants anything to do with him afterwards. Oliver wants to complete the unfinished composition Julie’s husband left. Later in the film, Julie discovers that her husband had a mistress that is pregnant with his child. She gives the house she’d lived in with her husband to the mistress and unborn child. We learn Julie composed some of her husband’s work. In the end, she decides to finish her husband’s piece, which will bring her the credit she deserved. She also goes back to Oliver and tries to work things out.

The main focus of this film is liberty. Julie is set free in the beginning of the film by losing her family. She didn’t want to be involved with anything or anyone no longer. She feels she will gain freedom by having nothing and losing everything. She slowly realizes this isn’t the way to go about things. She starts to allow people back into her life. The film later shows we can’t reach liberty if a person is free from all the ties to life.

I thought the film was very entertaining. The film had some interesting camera shots from the outset of the movie with the camera under the car. Another shot was when the camera was focuses on Julie’s eye in the hospital; you can see the doctor reflecting off her pupil. The classic music used throughout the film was very different and nice. I think the film is such a success due to Juliette Binoche, who played Julie. She made you feel the emptiness of Julie’s character. In the end, the film showed the search for liberty can be changed by our own will.

Strawberry and Chocolate

The film Strawberry and Chocolate takes place in Havana, Cuba. David is a student and a communist whose personal life has not been going to well; his girlfriend left him to marry another man. One day, David stops by a park to get some ice cream, where he meets Diego. David believes Diego is a homosexual because he chose to eat strawberry ice cream, when chocolate was available. David appears not to like Diego’s open criticism of Castro’s regime. Diego has his eyes set on David and invites him back to his apartment. David accepts the invitation. Later in the film David’s friend Miguel is convinced that Diego is dangerous to the Communist cause and tells David to spy on him. As David and Diego spend more time together, David finds Diego to be intriguing and enjoys spending time with him. David eventually falls in love with Diego’s friend Nancy and tells his friend Miguel he will no longer spy on Diego.

Strawberry and Chocolate, explores the theme of intolerance within the Cuban society. The film points out a problem, that people are not able to accept others who are different from ourselves. The film shows that views need to change and portrays it through David’s character. At first David is put off by Diego’s flamboyant ways, but in the end David is fascinated by Diego.

The film showed how one’s sexual orientation can effect their options in society. Even though the messages were presented clearly, I didn’t really care much for the film. I think the reason being is a majority of the film takes place in Diego’s apartment along with many long conversations.

Yi Yi

Yi Yi is a Taiwanese film directed by Edward Young. The film is about the struggles a man name NJ and his family faces. The film is seen through three points of view; the father NJ, his son Yang-Yang, and the daughter Ting-Ting. NJ lives with his wife Min-Min, and two kids in a nice high-rise building. His mother-in-law has a stroke, goes into a coma. The family takes turns talking to her. One day, NJ came home and found his wife crying stating she has nothing to tell her mother. Min-Min feels her life is lacking so she joins a religious retreat. Soon after, NJ runs into his first love who is now married as well. NJ’s computer company is on the fence whether or not to work with a well known game designer. NJ meets up with his first love again; they flirt but do not commit infidelity. While all of this is going on Ting-Ting, blames herself for her grandmothers a coma. She begins to explore new things as all teenagers do. Yang-yang tries to find out the truth about adulthood.

The movie is about the currents of life. The characters in the film all face situations that can happen any where in the world. Yi Yi showed the ups and downs of one’s daily life. The film touched on a lot of areas of human existence.

Unfortunately, I didn’t enjoy this film. I felt this movie was dragged out and very dull. Several scenes were shots of characters thinking, for example, when NJ was by the ocean as the sun was going down. A lot of the time the camera would stay outside of the place the characters were in which threw me off. There was barley any action scenes in this film. The movie is relatable because everyone goes through crisis in their lifetime. Maybe if the crisis the characters were going through were more devastating the film might have been better. Another thing that annoyed me about this film was certain scenes were misleading. When Yang-Yang jumped into the pool I thought he drowned, you heard him make a funny noise and the camera never showed him resurface. Later on he comes home with his clothes soaked and actually happened to him.

Talk To Her

Talk to Her is a film written and directed by Pedro Almodovar. The film explores the friendship of two men, Benigno and Marco. The two men first cross paths at a dance. Benigno would overlook a dance studio off his balcony and would watch a student named Alicia. Benigno and Marco happen to meet again at a clinic where Benigno works. Benigno discovers Alicia has been admitted to his clinic in a coma; he ends up taking care of her and falls in love with her. Marco was at the clinic visiting his girlfriend Lydia, a matador, who is also in a coma after being gored by a bull. Marco leaves Lydia when her former lover informs him the two of them got back together before the accident happen. Over time, Benigno and Marco become good friends, both caring for women who cannot return their affection.

The main focus appears to be tragedy. By the end of the film something tragic happens to each character. Benigno takes his own life thinking he would connect with Alicia. Lydia dies while on a coma. When Alicia was in a coma she was raped, which results to giving birth to a still born. Out of all the characters, Marco seems to end up with the worst scenario. He finds out the woman he has been seeing had been dating someone else behind his back. Then he loses her and his close friend Benigno as well.

I thought the film was outstanding. The twist was totally crazy, Benigno being accused of raping Alicia, was the last thing I seen coming. The film brings light to the situations people in a coma are put in. The film gave me a closer look on the daily things patients in a coma have to go through that I never would’ve thought of. I thought it was interesting how the play at the end of the film, resembled what happen in the film. In the play when someone died, a ballerina rises from their body. In the film when Benigno dies, Alicia rises by going through her rehabilitation. The film was well worth watching.

Amores Perros

Amores Perros was the debut film from director Alexando Gonzales Inarritu. The film tells the tales of three people who have their lives altered because of a car crash and their love for dogs. In the first story, the characters involved are Octavio and Susanna. Octavio falls in love with his sister-in-law Susanna. The two of them want to run away together, but do not have the money to do so. Octavio becomes involved with dog fighting and uses his dog, Cofi. Octavio puts his dog in one last dog fight before he was suppose to take off with Susanna. During the fight the rival owner shoots Cofi, Octavio retaliates by stabbing him. A car chase ensues which results into the car crash that introduces the other two stories in the film. In the second story, a model named Valeria is dating a married man named Daniel. Daniel leaves his family to live with her. Soon after, Valeria loses her leg due to the car accident caused by Octavio. The last story is about the character El Chivo. He is a vagrant, who is trying to contact his daughter. Chivo is hired by a man to assassinate his business partner. While following the target he witnesses the car crash. He takes Octavio’s dog from the scene that was left for dead and nursed Cofi back to health.

The message I took away from Amores Perros, is an example of what happens when one blindly follows their heart. All the characters appear to follow their hearts, and don’t think about the consequences. Each character ended up facing consequences for blindly following their hearts. In the end Octavio doesn’t get the girl or the money. Valeria nearly loses her dog in the floor boards of her new apartment with the married man. She appears to regret moving in with him. Daniel appears to regret leaving his family. Chivo loses the only the family (the dogs) he has by taking in Cofi, who later kills all his dogs. Chivo also regrets abandoning his daughter and tries to face her.

I thought this film was spectacular. It’s crazy how the main characters have an impact on each others lives, but never met. My favorite story of the film was Octovio’s. His story had a lot of action scenes. The dog fighting scenes looked extremely real. I would recommend this movie to anyone.

The Battle of Algiers

Gillo Prontecorvo’s 1966 black and white film The Battle of Algiers, is based on the events that took place during the 1954-1962 Algerian War of Independence against France rule. The film showed several flashbacks, presented as the memories of the character Ali, a leading member of the Algerian Front de Liberation Nationale (FLN). Ali was a thief who joined the secretive organization in order to help rid the Casbah of corruption associated with the colonial government. The film showed the rebels' struggle and the increasingly extreme measures taken by the French government, what soon becomes a nationwide revolt. After the flashback, Ali and the last of the FLN leaders are killed, but people stilled continued to riot, leading to the declaration of Algerian independence in 1962.

I think the purpose of this film was to show what people are capable of during war and how one must be alert at all times. The film showed the guerrilla tactics both sides used during the war. The Algerians plotted several clever terrorist attacks against the police, which were not only done by men, but by women and children as well. The French torture scenes against the Algerians were pretty extreme.

I thought the film was interesting. I think the film might have been better if the subtitles were clearer. Not being able to see the sub titles takes away from the film a bit. The film reminded me of the saying “Don’t judge a book by its cover”, because the French could’ve stopped some of the attacks, had they gone by that saying. When the people were being searched at the French checkpoints, the French didn’t check everyone. If the person appeared to have that western style, the cops would let them pass without searching them. This is where the French made some of their fatal mistakes. I think the scene with the woman transforming themselves into Western style fashion to transport the bombs through the checkpoints to their targets was brilliant. I also liked the scenes when the Algerian people would strike without warning and then blend back into a crowd of people. Scenes such as those made the film appealing.

Tsotsi

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The film Tsotsi is directed by Gavin Hood and takes place in a Soweto slum, near Johannesburg, South Africa. Tsotsi is also the nick name of the main character in the film, which means gangster. He is the leader of a small gang. One day, he steals a car from a woman. While driving the car he discovers a baby in the back seat. He takes the valuable items in the car and takes the baby as well. The film shows Tsotsi trying to raise the child and in doing so he becomes a different person.

I believe this film is trying to expose that much hasn’t change in South Africa. The film highlighted that poverty, crime and AIDS are still major issues in Africa. Tsotsi character faces each issue during the film. Tsotsi lives in a little shack; he takes the baby to his old home which was construction pipes where kids were living in at the moment. Tsotsi is involved with crime because he steals in order to survive. The last issue is shown in one of Tsotsi flashbacks. He was watching his mother die of AIDS when he was a little boy, this is also where we find out his real name is David.

Overall, I think Tsotsi is a great film. In the beginning of the film my impression of Tsotsi is that he is a dangerous and heartless thug; especially after I witnessed his gang kill a man as they robbed him. Then afterwards when his friend Boston confronts Tsotsi about the man they murder, Tsotsi goes off on his friend and beats him up badly. At this point I was disgusted with Tsotsi; I was hoping something bad would happen to him. After Tsotsi took the baby he found in the car he stole I began to feel different about him. He could’ve abandoned the baby or even killed it. I liked the fact that Tsotsi didn’t make a drastic change as soon as he found the baby for instance, when Tsotsi held the women at gunpoint making her breastfeed the baby. Even though he is committing an unjust act I wasn’t that upset about his actions because he was doing it for the baby. Tsotsi not having such a drastic change right away and still resorting to his old ways made the film more believable. I couldn’t believe I was sympathizing with a thug that has helped murder someone and nearly killed two other people. The flashbacks of his childhood and his progression of becoming a better person in the film aided to why I felt sympathetic for him. At the end of the movie when Tsotsi returned the baby back to his parents I felt that represented him starting his life over as a new person.