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Showing posts with label award-winning film. Show all posts
Showing posts with label award-winning film. Show all posts
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.
Respiro is a2002 award-winning Italian film. Writtenand 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.
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.
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.
Paradise Now (Arabic: الجنّةالآن) is a 2005 Palestinian film directed by Hany Abu-Assad. It revolves around the story of two friends, both Palestinian men, who plans to launch a suicide attack in Tel Aviv, Israel.
Plot. Said and Khaled are childhood friends living in Nablus and working as mechanics. One day, they are instructed by their “resistance group” (unidentified in the film) that the two of them would instigate a suicide attack the next day. That night, the pair records videos bidding their loved ones goodbye and venerating their cause.
The next day, they bathed, shaved their heads and dressed suits to look like Israelis, with a cover story that they are going to attend a wedding. Both men are strapped with an explosive belt which can only be removed without detonating by the handlers. Accordingly, the bombs are to be detonated at a military check point in Israel.
Said and Khaled are about to cross the Israeli border when the guards see them. They flee with Khaled returning to their handlers and Said running away. The explosive belt is removed from Khaled, and consequently, he is tasked to find Said before the day ends.
Meanwhile, Said roams around the Israeli territory. At one point, he considers detonating the bomb in a passenger bus but decides against it when he sees a child aboard. It has become like “soul searching” moment for Said as the movie reveals his reasons for taking part in the suicide bombing.
Soon, Khaled finds Said lying on his father’s grave. The pair returns to their handlers and Said convinces them that the attack must continue. Hence, they both travel back to Tel Aviv and successfully enter inside Israel. However, Khaled changes his mind and decides to cancel the attack. Said tricks him into agreeing with him but he actually sends Khaled back outside Israel.
In the final scene, Said embarks a bus carrying Israeli soldiers and civilians. The film zooms in on his eyes and the scene suddenly turns white. It is left to the audience to interpret whether Said explodes the bomb or not.
Commentary. Great movies can make us understand the characters, no matter how complicated they might be. They can make us feel for them, though it does not necessarily mean grieving or cheering for them. In the end, we can make good judgment of the characters and of their decisions and actions. One such great film is Paradise Now.
Paradise Now is a thrilling eye-opening attempt to understand the heart and mind of suicide bombers. The movie takes us to the lives of two friends who are driven by love, desperation, hatred, shame, and vengeance to commit the most heinous act. They are not portrayed as heartless and evil murderers; instead, the movie humanizes them, that they also have doubts, anxieties and fears just like any person. They have morale and principles; yet, their emotions have overruled their wise judgment that they resort to glorify a murderous plan. Yes, audiences would understand the characters after watching the film and the open end solicits various interpretations. Along with these, audience will sympathize, forgive, or hate the characters.
Aside from its psychological aspect, Paradise Now is also political and religious as it depicts a chaotic and dark setting. It takes us outside and inside Israel, two worlds opposing in lifestyle and economy, yet similar in being filled with tension and sadness. The movie gives us a picture of the struggles that Palestine and Israel must face each day. It does not suggest a solution to this strife. But having effectively given audience the feel and view of what is life like there, it has successfully educated, influenced and opened up their hearts.
Paradise Now is full of suspenseful moments, and the slight humor and short love story in the film puts balance and believability in it. As in life, no matter how difficult and lonely it may be, we always find means to draw inspirations and happiness from the people and things around us.
Reception. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie a rating of 89%. It won several awards including the 63rd Golden Globe Award’s Best Foreign Language Film. It was also nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category in the Academy Award.
Rating. Five stars out of five for this movie. Paradise Now is truly an instant classic.
Still in celebration of the International Women’s Month, let us look back at this French film about an extraordinary woman who strives to change the lives of the people around her for the better, yet failing at her own solitary life. Relive “Amelie”.
Amelie is a 2001 romantic comedy film co-produced between companies in France and Germany. Its original French title is “Le Fabuleux Destin d’ Amelie Poulain” which means “The Fabulous Destiny of Amelie Poulain”. It is directed by Jean-Pierre Jeunet who also wrote the story along with Guillaume Laurant.
The movie is about a French waitress named Amelie Poulain who had grown up isolated from other children. Subsequently, she has developed an unusually active imagination to mask her loneliness. On August 31, 1997, Amelie, shocked by the news of Princess Diana’s death, drops a bottle cap that knocks into a bathroom wall tile and loosens it. Behind the tile, she finds an old metal box that contains memorabilia by a boy who hid it decades earlier. Fascinated by her find, she vows to find the boy which she successfully does, and the boy, who has then become a man, is moved to tears by the long-forgotten childhood memories and resolves to reconcile with his estranged family. Amelie is pleased with the positive effect of her act, and from that moment on, she decides to do good in the lives of others. Amelie becomes a secret matchmaker and guardian angel. To her co-workers at the local café in Montmarte… To her withdrawn father… To her neighbors… And even to strangers… But who shall look after her? When will she have the courage to overcome her own shyness and inferiority? When will she finally find the right love?
Amelie is a light comedy film. It is certainly not hilarious, and comedy is made simple, giving audience smiles and light chuckles throughout the movie. But beyond the comedy, the movie is certainly not shallow for it explores human kindness and strife in a funny way. It portrays a common trait to everyone – that is to attempt or persuade change to others, or possibly the world, yet failing to correct our own weaknesses. Theme is depicted in an everyday life, so scenes are raw, natural and believable, giving audience the feel of an ordinary urban neighborhood.
There are many symbolisms in the film. For example, Amelie fulfills his father’s dream of travelling the world by sending his garden gnome to an air-hostess who takes snapshots of it posing with landmarks from all over the world. Another is the copied painting where the painter can not quite capture the excluded look of the girl drinking a glass of water. For the painter, that girl comes to represent Amelie and her lonely life.
The movie ends satisfactorily for me. Amelie has accomplished her self-willed missions, and she herself finds the things that make her truly happy.
The movie cast has done well, too. The lead actress, Audrey Tautou, is perfect for the role, though she was not originally the first choice for it. She is pretty without being too beautiful, and comic without being foolish. She has wonderful expressions, especially the sparkle in her eyes. Since then, she has done many great foreign films like “A Very Long Engagement” and “Coco Before Chanel”.
The movie has been well received. It is one of many movie bloggers’ favorites. It was selected by The New York Times as one of “The Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made.” The film was a huge commercial success too, becoming one of the top-grossing foreign language films in the world along with Taiwan’s “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon”, China’s “Hero” and Mexico’s “Pan’s Labyrinth”. It was nominated for several awards including five for the Academy Awards. In 2001, it won several awards at the European Film Awards, including the Best Film Award.
Though Amelie is not of my personal favorites (simply because this is not my type of movie), it is certainly one of the most unforgettable, lovable and enjoyable films in the recent age.
