DVD Mini Review - The Willow Tree

Majid Majidi's The Willow Tree is a wonderful film from Iran. It is about Youssef, who is a university professor. Youssef has been blind since he was a child. But that does not stop him from leading a full life. In addition to his job he has a loving wife Roya (Roya Taymourian) and daughter. And he also has many other supportive family members and friends.

But Youssef has another problem that might be more serious. So he is sent to Paris to find out what can be done. Luckily for him the problem is benign. And in Paris he has a cornea transplant that restores his sight. Naturally he is elated. But when he gets back to Iran things change. He always imagined things to be a certain way but they aren't as he pictured them. And this creates many problems for him. You wonder if he was better off blind.

I saw this film on DVD and highly recommend it. And, yes, you will find out the significance of The Willow Tree.

When Did You Last See Your Father and The Grocer's Son

I had the opportunity to see two films that dealt with father/son relationships. Of the two, When Did You Last See Your Father is the more complex. It is based on a book by Blake Morrison about his relationship with his father Arthur (I now want to read it). The film is directed by Arnand Tucker, who does a very good job. Arthur is played by the wonderful actor Jim Broadbent. Arthur is a doctor who never seems to understand his bookish son Blake. Arthur is a larger than life character and always shows up Blake. You can only imagine his disappointment when Blake decides to become a writer instead of a doctor. The film deals with the time when Arthur is dying and Blake wants to find out answers to some pressing questions as well as make amends. There are also flashbacks to many events in the lives of the two men. The adult Blake is well played by Colin Firth. The young Blake is played by Bradley Johnson and teenage Blake is played by Matthew Beard. The marvelous Juliet Stevenson plays Blake's put upon mother Kim. Gina McKee plays is good as Blake's wife Kathy and the Elaine Cassidy shines as the Morrison's former housekeeper Sandra. This is a terrific little film about a real family and my eyes welled up several times during the screening.

The Grocer's Son is another little gem of a film directed by Eric Guirado. The story is quite simple. Antoine (Nicolas Cazale) is a self centered young man living in the city. He has long escaped the rural life of his parents. But when his father (Daniel Duval) suffers a heart attack his mother (Jeanne Goupil) and brother Francois (Stephen Guerin-Tille) as him to take over his fathers route. His father has a large van that services elderly folks living in the rural countryside and cannot get around to the village to buy food and other supplies. At first he balks but then consents to do this. He takes along his love interest Claire (Clotilde Hesme) although at this point they are just friends. Antoine learns many things from these older folks and by the end of the film you see the change in him.

I highly recommend both films and urge people to see them in order to support independent films in these tough times.

DVD Mini Review - HBO Mini Series John Adams

I don't have HBO (but do have other cable) so I couldn't wait until John Adams was out on DVD. And I was not disappointed. Tom Hooper (Elizabeth I) has transformed David McCullough's book into one of the best historical films I have ever seen (okay it was on television but so what!!). I will make sure that I read McCullough's book in the not too distant future.

The story follows John Adams (Paul Giamatti) from his beginning of his career to his death. We actually get to see how the US was born. But this is not just a history lesson. It is a real love story between Adams and his wife Abigail (Laura Linney). It is not that things were always perfect between them but their love and respect for each other always overcame every obstacle. Abigail was his closest advisor and when he wrote to her he always referred to her as "my dearest friend." She was a feminist way before any of us was born.

All of the acting is marvelous and besides Giamatti and Linney we have - David Morse (George Washington), Stephen Dillane (Thomas Jefferson), Tom Wilkinson (Benjamin Franklin), Refus Sewell (Alexander Hamilton), Danny Huston (Samuel Adams), Sarah Polley (Nabby Adams) and Tom Hollander (King George III). What else can I say about the cast except wow!!

Adams was not a rich man and he didn't own slaves. He and Abigail were totally against that. He tried to prevent war and thought that it should be only used as a last resort. But he did put forth the awful Alien and Sedition act. He was much more complex than many of us would think. He just didn't get the "press" that Washington and Jefferson got.

Anyway, do to time constraints I can't write much more. I just urge you to rent this outstanding series about our second president and how he and our other founding fathers (and mothers) helped to form these United States. And afterwards think about how things are now. It will blow your mind!!

Take Out and Mongol

I want to write a few words about two films that I saw today. Time is always the problem so the reviews will be brief.

Take Out is a very good (but low budget) film about a Chinese take out delivery man.
The film is directed by Sean Baker and Shih-Chang Tsou. Charles Jang plays the lead Ming - a man who has a price on his head. Ming owes money to some loan sharks. He borrowed the money so he could pay back his family in China who paid for him to be smuggled illegally into the US. He has only 24 hours to get the money or else.

The film is very interesting because we get to see how a Chinese take out restaurant operates. I can only say that I have no desire to eat this food. It is not healthy.
But the presentation of the restaurant is very realistic. And so is the portrayal of the people that Ming delivers to. The film is set in NYC and I can tell you that these people do exist. The directors used hand held cameras and that truly heightened the experience. Take Out tells us a story that is happening everyday to people who most of us never even think about. Maybe it is time for us to be more aware of them and offer up some compassion.

Mongol, directed by Sergei Bodrov, is a real epic. Earlier this year it was nominated for an Oscar in the Foreign Film category. It is the story of the early life of Genghis Khan. His birth name was Tamudjin. When he is a young boy he sees his father die of poisoning right in front of his eyes. At the age of nine he already has enemies. His life is one long fight. His father died on the way back from Tamudjin picking his future wife. He was supposed to pick one from a certain clan but immediately recognizes that Borte is the one for him when he and his people make a rest stop. Actually, Borte picks him.

But Tamudjin must overcome many obstacles before he and Borte are reunited. And even after that there are many trials including him being imprisoned and sold into slavery.

Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains) is a master filmmaker. The cinematography is spectacular. The acting is all top of the line. The older Tamudjin is played by Tadanobu Asano and the older Borte is played by Khulan Chuluun. The film shows us that while Genghis Khan might have been a tyrant who wanted to take over the world he also had principles. He is not painted as someone who is only evil. This is the first part of a trilogy about Khan and I look forward to parts two and three.

Of note - the film is very violent but it is much more than that (it is a real love story). I was wondering about the animals in the film but mention was made at the end of the film that no animals were harmed during the making of the film.

The Children of Huag Shi

Roger Spottiswoode's new film is a very good one. In fact, it is much better than the critics would lead you to believe.

It is the story of how one man, George Hogg, helped save over 60 children in war torn China in the 1930s. This was the time when the Japanese invaded China and killed so many people.

Hogg is played by the versatile Jonathan Rhys Meyers. He is a journalist who is just looking for a good story to bring back home to Britain. But when he gets to Nanking he finds out there is much more to life than that. Along the way he meets a helpful Communist soldier named Jack (Chow Yun-Fat), an American nurse Lee Pearson (Radha Mitchell) and a mysterious woman named Mrs. Wang who lends a hand. And of course there are the children (all male) who are war orphans.

The film gives us a chance to find out about an episode in world history that most of us know little. There are some scenes of graphic violence. But I must say that most of the film is quite breathtaking. I felt like I was actually in China. The acting was all fine and the directing is good. Hogg is considered a hero in China. The ending is poignant and I had tears in my eyes.

Again, I do not know why the critics do not like this film. But I recommend this film to those of you who like a story with meaning. Big screen is best because of the look of the film. But if you can't catch it on the big screen then make sure you add it to your DVD list.

Day Night Day Night & The Wedding Director

Due to time constraints and general tiredness I will give two short reviews of the above films.

I finally saw Julia Loktev's Day Night Day Night on DVD. It is a most interesting film. I wasn't sure if I would like it. It follows the last two days in the life of a young woman (Luisa Williams) who is preparing to become a suicide bomber. We don't know her name so the woman will be known as She. We don't know why She is doing this but we know it is quite a commitment on her part. We follow her in her hotel room as she bathes, brushes her teeth, eats, etc. We see how She is trained by members of the group on what to do. We don't know what this group stands for. But we do know that She is supposed to set off a bomb in the middle of Times Square. She has no accent and we can't link this group to any type of religion or politics.

I was riveted by the film. It was amazing to watch Williams face as she prepared for her mission. But when She is wandering around Times Square she finds out that there are many people who are kind. These are the people who would die by her hand.
So what does She do. See the film and find out.

The Wedding Director is the latest from Italian director Marco Bellocchio. New Yorker films decided to release the film with a few screenings at the Museum of Modern Art. That says a lot about the sad state of affairs for foreign films in the US if this film couldn't get a regular theatrical release. But the place was packed.

It is a terrific little film and it stars one of my favorite actors Sergio Castellitto. Castellitto plays a well known director named Franco Elica. Franco is trying to make a new film but is having some problems. So he leaves for Sicily. There is gets involved in filming actual weddings. A sharp tongued Prince (Sami Frey) asks Franco to film his daughter's wedding. The Prince has no qualms about telling Franco he never heard of him. Nevertheless, he accepts. But things don't go as planned. Franco and Princess Bona (Donatella Finocchiaro) fall in love.
All of the actors are spot on. Castellitto is wonderful and Frey relishes his turn as a cad. Finocchiaro is also very good and Gianni Cavina as a director named Smamma
is also terrific. The film has a wonderful way of mixing fantasy with reality. We have to figure out which is which.

The film deals with many things - including some truths about filmmakers and fame. It also deals with death. More than once we are told that in Italy the dead rule.
But the film is also very exuberant and I laughed quite a bit. I don't know if you will be able to see this film in theater but if you can't you should check it out when it comes out on DVD.

Recount

As regular cable is expensive enough I don't have HBO. So I was going to wait until Recount was on DVD to see it. Luckily, one of my neighbors taped it so I got to see it today.

Recount is a very well directed and well written film. It details what happened after the 2000 election. As everyone knows, the election was very close. And it took along time to find out who the "winner" was. But that whole thing was a scam.
As we can see from Recount Al Gore was the real winner. But the Supreme Court stopped the counting so he "lost." It is imperative that every vote be counted. And we won't even mention the 20,000 people who couldn't vote because their names were similar to people who were felons (I think that prisoners should be allowed to vote).

There are some wonderful actors in the cast - Kevin Spacey (Ron Klain), Bob Balaban (Ben Ginsberg), Ed Begley, Jr. (David Boies), Laura Dern (Katherine Harris), John Hurt (Warren Christopher), Dennis Leary (Michael Whouley), Tom Wilkinson (James Baker). I will not go into more about the film. Just make sure that you see it. It will make your blood boil. And don't think that this can't happen again (it just might have in Ohio in 2004)!