Sof Shavua B'Tel Aviv (For My Father)

I admit, I fail to understand religious violence.  I don't get wanting to blow up strangers because they believe differently about God than me.  I know that, historically, Christians have not been exempt from perpetration of violence.  I am troubled by periods of history in which Christians killed or oppressed others and defended it theologically.  And I have always been more troubled by the passages in the Old Testament in which God commands the Israelites to kill their enemies, including women, children, and livestock.

I supposed the same kind of desire for purity in the land that drove the Israelites is what drives the modern Islamicist to want to kill Jews in Israel.  In For My Father (I'm pretty sure the Hebrew title is literally Weekend in Tel Aviv), Tarek doesn't completely buy into the Islamist desire to eradicate the Jews from Israel.  But some friendly neighborhood Muslim terrorists have some dirt on Tarek's father, and promise that by blowing himself up in the marketplace in Tel Aviv, Tarek can restore his father's honor.  Again, this middle eastern notion of honor escapes me.  But Tarek reluctantly accepts their offer.

The good news/bad news is that the switch which would ignite the explosives Tarek is wearing fails.  He flees the marketplace and happens upon an electronic repair shop run by a friendly Jew, who agrees to order a replacement.  Since it's Friday afternoon, and Sabbath is about to begin, he tells Tarek he can't get it until Sunday morning.

With some time to kill, Tarek befriends the shop keeper and his wife.  He repairs their roof in exchange for a meal and a place to sleep.  He also befriends the pretty young shopkeeper across the street, a Jewish girl estranged from her Orthodox Jewish family.  Given the weekend to have second thoughts about blowing people up, he--well, I don't want to give away the ending.

I am trying to think about how I might view this movie were I a Muslim or a Jew living in Israel.  I have a feeling they would say the story is much too simplistic, that such chance meetings and ready friendships between Muslims and Jews are all too rare.  But I also have a feeling that if I were to wander into any given neighborhood in Tel Aviv, I would find plenty of Jews who would, as the shopkeeper did, extend hospitality and friendship to a stranger, Muslim or not.  I am alsosure I would find Muslims who detest the expression of their faith that calls for young men to blow themselves up.

This movie is moving, well-made, and presents a thought-provoking window into a modern yet ancient clash of culture and religion.  Another valuable offering from Film Movement, it's worth your time.

As the Psalmist wrote, "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem" and Tel Aviv and every other city and town where Muslim, Jew, and Christian live together.

Bottom line, 3 stars.

La Ciudad (The City)

I don't know if there is a more immigrant-rich city in the U.S. than New York, the setting David Riker chose to portray the lives of immigrants in the U.S.  La Ciudad draws the viewer into a very authentic-feeling snapshot of several immigrants as they try to make their way in America.  I am so glad I took time to watch the "making of" featurette on the DVD.  In it, Riker discussed his desire to cast the movie not with professional actors, but with actual immigrants.  We see him canvassing day laborers and interviewing women leaving a garment factory, recruiting them to be in the film.  He interviewed immigrants to get their perspective on the immigrant life, spending 5 years researching for the film.

The movie is a series of unrelated vignettes, tied together by photography sessions in a small studio.  The segments are just long enough for us to get to know the characters and understand where they're coming from, but short enough that we're left wishing we knew more about them and the resolution to their problems.  We gain intimate access to their lives, reading the day laborer's letter from his wife back in Mexico, joining a joyful quinceanera celebration, listening as the puppeteer reads to his daughter in the back of the car they live in.  We wonder, Does the young man find his new love again?  Does the little girl get enrolled in a school, even though she and her dad have no address?  Do the garment workers finally get paid? 

Filmed in black and white, the film has a timeless quality to it.  I would almost view this as a documentary of immigrant life, which happens to follow the stories of a few individuals.  Even thought it is a fictional film, I have no question that the stories so artfully told in La Ciudad have been told many times before, on many street corners in many cities, in many languages.

Bottom line, 3 stars.

Un Dia de Suerte (A Lucky Day)

I like a movie that gives a genuine feeling of life in a foreign place.  Since I'll probably never get to Argentina, and even if I get there I'd probably be relegated to touristy areas, I enjoyed the street-level view of Buenos Aires in Un Dia de Suerte.  As a cultural artifact, this movie is somewhat interesting, focusing on the lives of some poor young people trying to eke out a living during that country's economic crisis.  It was filmed against the background of the 2001 riots, giving it a gritty reality, and hinting at the broader economic issues the characters were facing.

The performanaces weren't bad, but I couldn't get into the characters or the story.  Elsa, the female lead, is pining for her Italian boyfriend with whom she had a brief romance when he was visiting Buenos Aires.  She is trying to earn money to move to Italy to be with him.  Even though she has a hard time making a living--the best laughs come from the scenes of her passing out samples of various products on the street--she has a close circle of friends, and a boy who is crazy about her.  But she is blind to what she has going for her in B.A., placing all her hopes on the faraway boy, who has probably forgotten all about her.

Elsa longing to be somewhere else.

I have always known people who were never happy where they are, always pining for someplace bigger and better.  Elsa is one of those.  We never find out if she finds happiness in Sicily, but I suspect if she finds a new circle of friends there, she'll learn that they have the same discontent that she has.  While watching this movie, I was pining for something better, too, so I can't really blame her.  Not a very good movie, but saved by the cultural, historical perspective.

Bottom line, 2 stars.

G.I. Joe: Rise of the Cobra

I do enjoy some of the foreign and art house films I have been watching lately, but every now and then a mindless action movie is fun. When I was a kid, I had the 12" G.I. Joe doll.  When I pulled the string, it gave name, rank, and serial number.  After that, I don't remember watching the cartoons or playing with the later action figures.  If I had, I probably would have loved this new G.I. Joe movie. 

I won't say it wasn't a fun movie.  There was lots of cartoonish action, some impossible but cool settings--like the military base hidden in the middle of the desert and the bad guys' lair under the polar ice cap--and gung-ho good guys.  As is the norm with this type of movie, the special effects were pretty spectacular.  The best scene was the chase through Paris.  The good guys wore accelerator suits which gave them the speed of a car and strength of a machine.  They chased the bad guys, who drove a Hummer armed to the teeth.  The creativity and freshness of ths scene made the movie for me.

Yeah, lots of explosions in this movie.

This is one that the fans will love, the action movie fan will think is OK and then forget it, and the non-action movie fan will be heading for the door.

Bottom line, 2 stars.

DeUsynlige (Troubled Water)

I almost hesitate to write a review of this movie.  On the one hand, I know a movie glutton's shallow comments can't do it justice; on the other hand, I want to say "Watch this movie!" without giving anything away.  It's not like there's some big surprise at the end, a la The Sixth Sense, it's just that the emotional punch might be lessened if you're waiting for it.  No, that's not even right.  It's not an emotional punch, but it is an emotional journey.

I should tell you this is a Norwegian film, so if you don't like watching a movie with subtitles, you'll be disappointed, but you'll be missing out.  Jan Thomas made a terrible decision as a young man that resulted in the death of a child.  After serving his time, he landed a job as a church organist.  (He had a lot of time to practice behind bars!)  By chance, the child's mom, a teacher in town, recognizes him at the church, and becomes obsessed with exposing his crime.

So we get to know the family of the child who died, and share in their grief.  And we get to know Jan, who grieves in a different way, but with whom we can sympathize.  How many times might you have been close to losing your own child through some random act or event?  How many times as an unthinking teen (or careless adult) could you have caused the death of a child?  Think about those stories we hear every year: a toddler drowning in the backyard pool, a child killed by the accidental discharge of a gun, a child run over in the driveway by a car driven by a family member.  The list goes on.  Troubled Water put me in both of those places, drawing me into the emotions of both sides.

Could you ever forgive your child's killer?  Malicious, careless, or accidental, would you ever be able to forgive the responsible person?  Could you ever forgive yourself if you were responsible for a child's death?   The child's mother struggles with forgiveness.  Jan tries to move on and rebuild his life.  He and the church's pastor fall in love (initially only the church administrator is aware of Jan's past).  But the arrival of the child's mother on the scene changes all that.

It is fitting that Jan finds refuge in a church.  (By the way, the organ music in the movie is great.)  Here he gains a sense of forgiveness.  I thought of refuge cities in the Old Testament, where someone who had accidentally killed another could find safety from vengeful family members.  Although at first he expresses skepticism and even disbelief, he eventually takes communion.  I interpreted that moment as his acceptance of God's forgiveness and a step toward forgiving himself.

(The religious message of the movie was powerful, with one caveat.  The church is a place of forgiveness and fresh beginnings, as evidenced by the fact that the pastor has a child, although she never married.  She and Jan talk about that, but then as their relationship develops, they hop in the sack!  OK, I can see the pastor moving on after unwise decisions as a college student, and I'm all for a God of second chances, but I would expect that she might have a bit higher standard of sexual morality after years in the pulpit.  Just a thought.)

Don't waste your time with the next Hollywood blockbuster you're planning to rent.  Rent this instead.

Bottom line, 3 1/2 stars.

By the way, this is another movie from Film Movement.  I'm pretty impressed with the selections I've seen of theirs.

A Thousand Years of Good Prayers

This is a sweet, funny, moving film.  I'm not sure I'd classify it as a comedy, but it's not a tear-jerker chick flick.  It's a movie for parents, husbands, wives, adult children.  There are a few laugh out loud moments, but mostly the humor comes from Mr Shi's experiences absorbing American life.

Mr. Shi (Henry O) has come to the U.S. from China to visit his daughter, who works at an American university and has recently divorced.  Appalled that she's not eating well, he cooks her traditional Chinese meals, causing me to crave Chinese food.  Mostly, though, he wants to get her to marry again.  Their interactions, and the revelations about her marriage's failure, as well as revelations about his marriage, provide the drama for A Thousand Years.  Shi's days spent learning about America while his daughter is at work provide the humor.

Shi frequents a local park, where he strikes up a friendship with another grandparent.  He meets Madam (we never learn her real name) at a park bench every day.  Madam, an Iranian, speaks Farsi, with a few scattered words of English, while Shi speaks Chinese, with a little English.  Their conversations, and the friendship they strke across their linguistic and cultural barriers, is entertaining yet touching.

On one occasion, a pair of Mormon missionaries drop by.  The portrayal of their earnest attempts to convey their beliefs, in spite of Shi's lack of understanding, does not mock their mission, yet seems to convery a sense of laughable humility.  It also gives occasion for Shi to defend his core belief in communism while acknowledging its failures: "Communist no bad. . . .Communist in bad hand."  Shi says, "Workers in the world, come together.  You free.  You have world.  You know who said this?"  They don't.  Shi replies, "Marx.  Engels."  Revealing either their ignorance or their lack of understanding through his accent, one of the missionaries asks, "Is he a Chinese wise man?"

The title comes from a Chinese proverb: "It takes 300 years of prayers to cross a river with someone.  It takes 3000 years of prayers to share a pillow with someone."  By extension, it takes a lot of prayer for a father and daughter to live together.  This movie is a beautiful reminder to approach our relationships, especially with our family, with prayer, humility, sacrifice, and a good sense of humor.  Highly recommended!

Bottom line, 3 stars.

El Violin (The Violin)

In El Violin, we meet Don Plutarco, a violinist, and his son and grandson, to whom he has passed a musical gift.  When they're not scratching out a living on the side of some little hill at a tiny village in the Mexican or Central American countryside, they go into town to play their instruments for passersby.  But they're not just simple street musicians or peasant farmers; they're rebels, involved in a resistance movement against the oppressive government.  One day while they were away in town, the oppression came to their village in a military wave of destruction, rape, and murder.

Using his musical gifts and playing on his elderly, simple appearance, Plutarco infiltrates the occupying troops at the village in an attempt to aid the rebels.  Angel Tavira, a professional violinist, puts on a great performance as Plutarco.  In fact, he won the Best Actor award at Cannes in 2005 for this performance.  In the movie, he straps the bow to the stump of his right hand.  I thought this was part of the character, which helped him seem more helpless to the army.  But he is missing that hand in real life, and has played like that for years.

El Violin is simply shot in stark black and white, giving it a classic feel.  The pacing is slower than your typical war/action movie, which this story certainly could lend itself to, but the focus is more on the characters than the actors.  This is a good little movie, thoroughly enjoyable with great performances, but not super memorable.

Bottom line, 2 1/2 stars.

One additional note: this move is part of the Film Movement series, which works sort of like the Book of the Month club, where they send a new movie each month.  These are independent, foreign, and/or low-budget films, which have typically not been released in theaters but have played at festivals to acclaim.  The Fort Worth Library has a bunch of them, so you'll get to hear about more of them here in the near future.