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Kargaran mashghoole karand (Men At Work) (Director: Mani Haghighi, Iran, 2006): Kargaran mashghoole karand (Men At Work) begins with four middle-aged men driving home to catch an important football match on television. Three of them are talking and joking around while the other naps. He wakes up and bugs them until they finally pull over and allow him to make a pit-stop on the side of the road on the edge of a canyon. While they are stopped, they discover a tall, narrow rock formation sticking out of the ground. This film is about their attempts at trying to figure out how it got there, but ultimately how to knock it down.
It doesn’t sound like a very intriguing story, but somehow it is. And funny. The situation these men impose upon themselves can surely be a metaphor for any kind of obstacle that one may face in life, or it could really just be about how difficult it is to dislodge a big rock from the earth.
Through alternating moments of silence, comedic and almost slap-stick antics, emotional outbursts and acts of desperation, we learn of these mens’ relationships with women (two of which conveniently show up, join the challenge for a while, and then leave) and each other, but mainly we see how differently they each deal with this “problem.”
I have seen a few Iranian films from the past few years, and most of them are about women and their struggles within their culture. This film, however, may focus on the possibly neglected point of view of the men, and perhaps this is why the offensive rock is quite, well, phallic. Is this a commentary on the different attitudes that some Iranian men may have about their male-dominated society? If so, then how does one explain the relatively passive attitudes of the women who show up? (One can make a metaphor of anything, I suppose.)
In the end, after periods of working together and then literally giving up and leaving someone behind, the four friends learn that sometimes problems can solve themselves.
Tagged as:
DVD,
DVD Clubs,
Film Movement,
iran
Viva Cuba (Director: Juan Carlos Cremata Malberti, Cuba, 2005): Viva Cuba is a charming fairytale/road movie that submerges its political message in a very personal story of friendship and love. Jorgito and his tomboy friend Malu are on the cusp of adolescence, and their close friendship seems about to morph into something at once more serious and more frightening. It’s evident from the way they can be holding hands one minute and arguing violently the next. To make things worse, their families detest each other. Malu lives with her mother, a bitter woman whose family used to wield influence in the days before Castro’s revolution. Jorgito’s parents have moved to Havana from the countryside and are firm supporters of the government. Each mother admonishes her child for playing with an unsuitable playmate, but that only drives the pair closer together.
This Romeo and Juliet story really takes off when Malu’s mother decides to leave Cuba forever, to join her boyfriend in what we assume is America. In order to get permission to leave the country with Malu, she must get her estranged ex-husband to sign an exit authorization. Knowing this, Malu and Jorgito hatch a plan to appeal to his paternal love (or guilt) by traveling in person to see him. The problem is that Malu hasn’t seen her father since she was six, because he works as a lighthouse keeper at the other end of the country.
The two young protagonists hit the road by train, bus, and oxcart to reach their destination, but their constant squabbling threatens to ruin the plan. In the meantime, their worried families have seemingly reconciled in the desperate search for their missing children.
First and foremost, this is a beautifully-shot film, and the use of colour is often striking. The political message, such as it is, seems to ignore Castro completely; instead, it’s a shamelessly pro-Cuba film, highlighting both the island’s natural beauty as well as the fierce pride of its people in their cultural institutions. It’s not surprising that music plays a big part in the film.
It’s unclear whether the director was attempting to make a film aimed solely at children. There is certainly a sense of naïveté in the dialogue and the basic structure of the film, and there is never any real danger to these two kids on the run, but the ending seemed particularly grown-up and ambiguous, and made me reevaluate my initial impressions. Some critics have seen the film as an allegory depicting two sides to modern Cuban culture, but I don’t believe the intention was that obvious. I think the film gains resonance from refusing to be overt about its political opinions. Instead, it leaves the viewer to untangle his sympathies from the intersection of conflicting desires in a country that is changing, just not fast enough for some.
Note: Film Movement featured this film as their Year 5 Film 5.
(8/10)
Tagged as:
adolescence,
children,
cuba,
DVD,
DVD Clubs,
Film Movement,
road-movie
El Bola (Pellet) (Director: Achero Mañas, Spain, 2000): Pablo’s nickname is Pellet, hence the title of this film. I didn’t know anything about this film before popping it in the DVD player, so I had no idea what kind of a ride I was in for.
The ride was great. Performances are authentic and at times, appropriately subtle. The actual subject matter doesn’t arise until almost halfway through the film; a style that doesn’t always work, but definitely does here.
Pellet loiters around town with some of his misfit, daredevil peers and befriends the new kid at school, Alfredo. Alfredo provides Pellet with a simple camaraderie that Pellet seems to never have known before, and he is obviously needy for this kind of friendship. Still, he initially feels out of place in certain situations, such as spending time in Alfredo’s family environment; granted, Alfredo’s family environment may not be the most “normal”, but we soon see why Pellet is tentative.
The film touches indirectly on a lot of themes and situations that are not very developed, but I appreciate the realistic snapshot of time-and-place that this method provides; they also work to advance characters rather than plot. We never really get the story on some of the supporting characters but it ends up not really mattering; somehow the subtle oddities of certain people and events gives the film a “truth is stranger than fiction” sort of backdrop.
I was very impressed with the lead actor Juan José Ballesta, who played the title character at only thirteen years of age. I didn’t recognize him at first, but later realized that I saw him in person a couple of years ago at TIFF when he was in town to promote the film 7 vírgenes.
El Bola is a powerful film that deserves the many awards and nominations that it received. It is a moving story that is painful at times and heartwarming at others. It authenticates itself through its photography, characters, performances and sadly, the story itself. I think that Jay would consider this to be a “Jason Chu film”, so it’s no surprise that many moments of it recall Truffaut’s Les Quatre cents coups (The 400 Blows).
Note: Film Movement featured this film as their Year 1 Film 1. That’s right, it was their very first pick. As an added bonus, the film is on sale right now for half price, making it a bargain even for non-subscribers to Film Movement’s service.
Official site for the film (Spanish only)
Tagged as:
adolescence,
DVD,
DVD Clubs,
family,
Film Movement,
spain
The Bothersome Man (Den Brysomme mannen) (Director: Jens Lien, Norway/Iceland, 2006): “Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment – even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. He makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there is no way out.” I remember reading this synopsis in the programme guide at TIFF last year and wanting to see this film. Now, thanks to the folks at Film Movement, I can. Well, technically, I can’t, since Film Movement doesn’t offer subscriptions to Canadians, but they were nice enough to send me some films to review, and I’d encourage any of our American readers to check them out if you haven’t already. A new indie or foreign film every month for less than the price of two cinema tickets. Now, on to the film:
I’ve always been a fan of Nordic humour; dry and deadpan, as in the films of Aki Kaurismäki. Lien’s film is that, with a touch of Kafka thrown in. You see, Andreas arrives in the strange city after throwing himself in front of a subway train, and this extremely pleasant afterlife turns out to be hell, after all. Food is tasteless, there are no children, and everyone seems obsessed with decorating and furniture. Even sex is boring, though it seems easily available. In fact, everyone seems to go out of their way to make sure Andreas is happy. Only, he’s not. For all the polite kindness he finds, it seems that Andreas can’t find love. There is no real connection between anyone in this nether world. No conflict, granted, but no passion at all. All talk is small talk.
The only glimmer of hope comes when he discovers a crack in the wall of a new acquaintance’s apartment. Through the crack they hear music, and can smell wonderful scents. Is this a way back to the world of the living?
The clever thing about the film is that seen in a certain way, it could very well be a commentary on the real world, especially the Western world of banal social pleasantries and mindless consumerism, and in particular, the well-meaning socialist welfare states of Scandinavia. It’s a safe world (one unforgettable scene has Andreas trying to repeat his subway suicide, to no effect), but one without vitality.
Lien has carefully wrapped his sharp social criticism in a witty and at times absurd film that is equal parts horror and science fiction. Forget 28 Weeks Later. These are the scarier zombies.
Note: Film Movement featured this film as their Year 5 Film 3.
Official site for the film
(8/10)
Tagged as:
DVD,
DVD Clubs,
Film Movement,
iceland,
norway,
suicide
While I’m going on about films, I’d be crazy not to mention Ironweed Film Club. This is a monthly service, a bit similar to Film Movement (except they’ll actually deliver to Canada!), but the films are mostly documentaries with a progressive viewpoint. The price is US$14.95/month, and all the films I’ve received so far have been excellent and thought-provoking. Here are some of the films they’ve featured over the past few months:
The way I discovered them was while searching for a DVD of “The Education of Shelby Knox,” an amazing documentary I saw at Hot Docs in 2005. Another bonus is that even when some of these films are available on DVD elsewhere, Ironweed’s are almost always cheaper and often include bonus films.
FULL DISCLOSURE: If you click the Ironweed link above and sign up with them, I get a free month. But my desire to get lots of free months should tell you how much I really value a service like this. Please sign up!
Tagged as:
DVD,
DVD Clubs,
Film Movement,
Ironweed
