Evil

The world is not a perfect place to live. For in every corner, there are lurking menaces. Even in places where supposedly there is safety, danger is silently waiting. In this 2003 Swedish drama film, Evil (Swedish: Ondskan) takes us into the life of fifteen-year old Erik Ponti and the evils he faces both in his home and in his school.

The movie is set in 1950s Sweden. Erik (portrayed by Andreas Wilson) is expelled from his school because of fighting. His mother sends him to a prestigious boarding school in the hope that Erik turns a new leaf, as well as for him to escape the beating of his sadistic stepfather. But Erik soon learns that behind the mask of prestige, the school hides a different form of evil, something more subtle and grimmer. From being the bully of his previous school, Erik has now become the prey.

A Separation

Everyone seeks justice. But when justice is viewed by different eyes, conflict occurs. With this conflict come pain, fears, and doubts. In this 2011 Iranian drama film, A Separation takes us into the lives of an Iranian middle-class couple and the complications that their separation and an impending case bring in.

The Loved Ones

March is the International Women’s Month, and so for the whole month, let’s look into the movies that highlight the strengths and triumphs of women. Let’s begin with this 2009 Australian comedy horror film which does not only reflect the prowess of a woman, but also the tragedy and brutality that her wrath can bring. Get ready for some mild gore and be up for The Loved Ones.

The Loved Ones begins with a vehicular accident on a road. Brent (played by Xavier Samuel) is driving with his father in the passenger seat. All of a sudden, a bloodied man appears on the middle of the road, and swerving to avoid hitting the man, Brent’s car crashes into a tree.

 

Samson and Delilah

Oftentimes, what is less speaks more. No dialogues, except when necessary. A small and novice cast. A rural setting, with scarce landscape and small neighborhood. However, it speaks a universal theme that touches everyone’s heart – love. And with this complicated journey towards true love and new life, Samson and Delilah takes us into a story that will urge us to reassess the things we value and cared about.

Rust and Bone

A city of love. Economic hardship. Family breakdown. Brutality. Sex. Healing. Romance. These are some of the elements that make up the 2012 French-Belgian romantic drama film Rust and Bone (French: De rouille et d’os).

The movie opens up with 5-year old Sam saying ”I’m hungry”, an analogy to the general theme of the film which speaks of needs and desires, and the urge to satisfy them. This speaks of a universal emotion, and instantly, audiences are drawn into this absurd and animalistic, yet haunting and haunting love story.

A Royal Affair

It’s February and it’s the love month. What better way to celebrate this month is to feature some essential movies about love. And most usually, when one defines love, one is talking about tragedy. These are the basic elements of the 2012 Danish film A Royal Affair (En kongelig affære).

Silver Linings Playbook

Silver Linings Playbook is an American romantic comedy-film adapted from the novel of the same title by Matthew Quick. Directed by David O. Russell, it stars Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver, and many others. The movie tells the story of two married people coping with their own disorders, only to find love with each other as they reexamine their lives and their relationships.

 

Plot. The movie opens with the discharge of Pat Solitano Jr. (played by Cooper), who has bipolar disorder, from a mental health facility. Against medical advice and without the knowledge of her husband Pat Sr. (De Niro), Dolores Solatano (Weaver) has approved the discharge of her son after eight months of treatment. Part of the condition of his release is that Pat stays with his parents in Philadelphia.

Read the rest of the review of Silver Lining Playbook.

Respiro

Respiro is a2002 award-winning Italian film. Written  and directed by Emanuele Crialese, the movie stars Valeria Golino, Vincenzo Amato and Francesoc Casisa. Respire means a “breath” in Italian language.

Plot. The film is the story of a wild- and free-spirited mother and her redemption as a human and as a person.

Grazia is married to shy fisherman Pietro and a mother of three sons. The family lives on a small peaceful fishing village on the island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean Sea. Behind her jovial personality, Grazia is suffering from manic depressive behavior. Her moods are swinging. Sometimes, she would swim naked on the beach; at times, she would be laughing hysterically; and at other times, she would sulk in bed. Her condition is not a secret to the whole village and to the adult members of her extended family. Occasionally, they think of sending her to a facility in Northern Italy.

Read the full movie review.

Monsieur Lazhar

Monsieur Lazhar is a 2011 Canadian French language drama film. It was directed by Philippe Falardeau and the story was developed by Evelyne de la Cheneliere. It starred Mohamed Fellag as Monsieur Lazhar, the lead role. It was Canada’s official entry to the 84th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film in 2011 but lost to Iran’s “A Separation.”

Plot. The film is the story of Bashir Lazhar, an Algerian immigrant to Canada who became a schoolteacher for a short while.

The movie opens with a scene in an elementary school in Montreal, Canada. A teacher has just hanged herself on her classroom. The incident sends a great trauma to the students who experience nightmares during the night. Later, Bashir Lazhar applies for the vacant job and is then quickly hired. Unknown to everybody, Lazhar is also recovering from a personal tragedy.

Read full review of Monsieur Lazhar.

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

 

The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (French: Le Scaphandre et le Papillon) is a 2007 French biographical drama film based on a memoir of the same name by Jean-Dominique Bauby. Directed by Julian Schnabel, the film starred Mathieu Amalric as Bauby. It was distributed internationally by Miramax Films.

Plot. The movie depicts Jean-Dominique Bauby’s life after suffering a massive stroke on December 8, 1995 (at age 43) and how he communicated and established his memoir just by blinking his left eyelid.

 

The first forty minutes or so of the film is told from the main character’s first person perspective. It opens with Bauby, or Jean-Do as his friends call him, wakes up from his three-week coma in a hospital in Berck-sur-Mer, France. The neurologist announces that Bauby has locked-in syndrome, an extremely rare case in which the patient is aware and awake but cannot move or communicate verbally due to complete paralysis of nearly all voluntary muscles in the body except for the eyes. In this part of the movie, viewers primarily hear Bauby’s thoughts, as if he is speaking but nobody is hearing him.

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Downfall

Downfall (or “Der Untergang”) is a 2004 German/Italian/Austrian film. It is based on many books: Inside Hitler’s Bunker (by Joachim Fest), Inside the Third Reich (by Albert Speer), Until the Final Hour (by Traudl Junge, one of Hitler’s secretaries), Hitler’s Last Days: An Eye-Witness Account (by Gerhardt Boldt), and many others. The film is in German and Russian language. Distributed by Constantin Film, the movie is directed by Oliver Hirschbiegel.

 

Plot. The film depicts the final ten days of Adolf Hitler’s reign of Nazi Germany in 1945, seen through the eye of a woman.

The movie begins with a scene in 1942. A group of German secretaries are presented to Adolf Hitler at the Wolf’s Lair in East Prussia. After some tests, 22-year old Traudl Humps (now Traudl Junge) is selected to be one of Hitler’s personal secretaries.

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Himala

Himala (“Miracle”) is a Filipino film directed by the late Philippine National Artist Ishmael Bernal in 1982. Written by multi-award winner screenwriter Ricky Lee, the movie is based on a true incident of a teenage girl in Cabra Island in the province of Occidental Mindoro between 1966 and 1967. The movie’s heroine is played by Philippine superstar Nora Aunor whose portrayal of Elsa is considered by most Filipino critics as the best of her career.

 

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Movies Based on the Novels by Nicholas Sparks

Nicholas Sparks is one of the best contemporary romance novelists. Currently, he has sixteen novels on print, all bestsellers and translated into different languages. Only sixteen novels, and yet, he is widely recognized as a great writer of stories about love, loss, and hope. He has an amazing writing style, with each word weighing heavily on the reader’s heart. He also spares them the burden of reading several pages of predictable plot that can only be expressed in few words.

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