Category Archives: films

Film review – Mad Max: Fury Road

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Week 25, 2015
Joensuu, Finland

Title: Mad Max: Fury Road
Director: George Miller
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Dystopia
Year: 2015
Country: Australia / USA
IMDb: 8.6/10
Thesis: Fight for survival
Watched on 18.6.2015

Before I start with my review I acknowledge I was not ready to watch this movie. Let me clarify: I was invited to watch the film and I happily accepted. For an unknown reason I thought Mad Max was something related to cartoons.  I haven’t seen before a Mad Max film and I did not do my homework to check where I was heading to. So, of course I got a shock in the movie theater and later I read several reviews about the movie. This film apparently has not middle way, people love it or hate it.

In brief, the story of the movie is simple. A group of persons, mainly women, are running for their life across a dessert, while they are chased by a man (Immortan Joe) who “owns” them. All this happen in,  I would call, a dystopia. It is a desert world where people main concern and challenge is to to survive with not water.

The movie starts when people from Immortan Joe capture Max. For those who have seen previous movies of Mad Max, might know more about him. In my case, only for looking at this film, he is a lonely quiet fighter who, honestly, I have no clue how he survives.

Furiosa is the main actress of this film. She is a fighter and a determine woman, who believes, due to her memories, that is a green world out there.

The women in this world are, literally, cows. At least that is my impression. The Immortan Joe wants the fresh, virgin women, which are not that many, to have his children.

Most of the movie, if not all, is mainly action. The chasing starts few minutes after Max is trapped and Furiosa starts driving an AMAZING truck for a mission Immortan Joe send her. But once she on the road, she took a detour to the east to follow her plan. To reach the “green world” and change the destiny of the young women are traveling with her as incognito. As soon as the Immortan Joe noticed this, the movie’s pursue starts because all those women are his.

The women, including Max and Nux (a war boy warrior from the Immortan Joe’s fanatical army, who now is part of Furiosa team) managed to cross the dessert after A LOT of action, where Furiosa remember was her childhood land. Once they reach their destination, they realized they must be back to the original place. So, of them have to cross the desert again, so there is more action.

That would be the story of the movie. It is not a movie of dialogs. It is a movie of action, special effects and fighting. If you are in this type of mood and type of movie, unquestionably: Mad Max Fury Road is well done.

Personally, I like Furiosa’s truck, it is amazing. Her bionic arm was also interesting for me, and some landscapes were really immersive. The film plays with the visuals and sounds a lot. From the action, the “jumping warriors” were interesting. They were fighting from long sticks, and the band creating “heavy metal” music for the army of Immortan Joe was also attractive for me.

Directors look a whole experience, and in this film Miller pays attention to it. Even though I was not ready to watch it and try to close my eyes (and ears) at moment, because I was getting in the experience I was not prepare to have.  Need to watch it, now aware of the facts. 🙂 So, I think Miller did a good job on building the whole experience.

Despite there is not much dialog, there are two quotes I really like of the film:

1. Nux: “Oh what a day. What a lovely day! “
2. The other is between Dag and Toast:
Toast: What are you doing?
Dag: Pray:
Toast: to who?
Dag: anyone who is listening

Here the film’s trailer:

From this type of films, I wonder where the gasoline and bullets are produced? Maybe that would be another film.
So, if you are in the mood and you like this type of movies, I think it is a good movie!
Thank you for the invite!

Film review – The Never Ending Story

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Week 11, 2015
Joensuu, Finland

Title: The NeverEnding story
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Genre: Fantasy, Adventure
Year: 1984
Country: West Germany
IMDb: 7.4/10
Thesis: The power of the imagination
Watched on 13.3.2015

The first time I saw this movie, The Never Ending Story, was probably in 1984. I remember look at the film in a movie theater in its release in México City.  I recall, I just loved this film.  The movie truly touched me.

The narrative of  the Never Ending Story film is knitted upon two stories. One story focuses on the mythical land of Fantasia, which it is being destroyed by “the nothing”. The nothing is the consequence of people not using their fantasy any longer. Thus, the less humans use their fantasy the more Fantasia is destroyed by the nothing. Therefore Fantasia needs urgently a hero to safe this magical kingdom. The hero has to find, beyond the boundaries of Fantasia, a human child to safe Fantasia. 

The second story is in our “reality”. A boy named Basting is passing through a difficult period in his life. His mother just passed away, he is being bullied by some boys, he is not doing well at school and his imagination is his only scape from his reality. However, his father aims to bring him “back” to earth and insist to Basting to stop being in a fantasy world. After a conversation with his father about paying attention to real life, he was walking to school and start to be persecuted by some bullies. Basting hides from his bullies in a book store where the clerk introduced him to an “ancient story book” entitled Never Ending Story. He actually temps Basting to read the book. Finally, Basting “borrows” the book and reads it at his school’s attic. Once he started to read the book, he is drawn into the mythical land of Fantasia in which he is part of the story, he is the only one who can safe this mythical land.

The film knits these two stories: the one that belongs to the real life of Basting and the one belonging to Fantasia. The connection of these two stories is, in the film, through the imagination of Basting.

If one looks at the film with the eyes of someone who believes that one can actually change the fate of something the story connects with the viewer in a deep level. It gives you strength to believe, because the movie stresses the inner desire that individuals have to believe.

In its time, when I saw the film on the 80s, I sense the film so vivid. As I mentioned earlier, I just love it!

Looking the same film 30 years later, my memories prevail and got reinforce. I love the narrative of the film and it is one of my favorite movies. But as an adult, one perceives life differently than 30 years back. Perhaps my connection to the film nowadays is less emotional than the first time I saw in in the 80s being now more rational (how sad!).  After seen the film in 2015, I still like it and it still holds fond memories. The film moves  me, but I do not know if it is for the film or for my memories connected with the film.

Imagination and the capability to believe is something so important and difficult to keep.  Unquestionably, I must read the book which it is waiting for me. The reason of my less immersive experience might be in the technology.

Technologically talking, the film does not give me the impact as it did in the 80s. The technology is not impressive anymore. Well, in 30 years we had seen astonishing digital productions. What I found interesting, I am more impressed on the use of the camera and acting from some films of the 50s  (as the filmed I recently from Buñel, los olvidados) than the NeverEnding Story. How much the film message relies on the technology might deserve an analysis on its own. I skim through the review of  Tomas Caldwell related to the Never Ending Story and he also touches the technological aspect of the film.

Paradoxically, the reason why I came to see this movie again is because I need to gain inspiration on representations. Let me explain, we need to sketch destruction without weapons. Then I remember in this film Fantasia’s destruction was not through wars or weapons, instead it was though the “nothing”. Hence, I came to see  how the narrative was expressed visually within the movie. To see through my eyes again and not only through my memories.

I have fond memories and connection to the film from the 80s, which I cannot change. I wonder if the same connection would be made now if I was looking at the movie for first time. I do not know. However, from my personal point of view The Never Ending Story  is a film worth to watch, no for the “technology” (which for the 80s was very good) but to enjoy an expression of the power of the imagination within a film narrative. I beautiful story!

To finalize my post, a complete journey to the 80s with theme of the film by Limahl :

Also you can watch The NeverEnding Story film on line from ffilms.org address.

 

Film review – Los olvidados

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Week 10, 2015
Joensuu, Finland

Title: Los Olvidados
Director: Luis Buñel
Genre: Drama
Year: 1950
Country: Mexico
IMDb: 8.2/10
Thesis: life in the slums of Mexico city.
Watch on 28.2.2015

The film portraits the life of street kids in the 50s for a particular period. The film captures the life challenges of the people living in Mexico City slums. The “lack” of love and communication between these children and their parents and the harshness of their environment. It also portrays a myriad of emotions such as desire, love, anger, hope, fear, lust, revenge.

The narrative focuses on the life of Pedro a youngster that witness a murder of one of his friends and, without planning it, he is also accomplice. The murderer, Jaibo, is also his friend. They agree to do not say a word about this event, but all these happenings really disturb Pedro internally. Pedro has no-one to talk to about this, a tangible distance exists between him and his mother and he has an internal desire to be a “good” person, to be accepted by his mother and a society. However, his innocence, confusion of his young age and Jaibo, did not allow him to take the correct decisions on time. At the end of the film, he is killed by Jaibo and his body is dump at a garbage-cliff near by.

For me, the film is intense, strong, current and real. Unfortunately, I am not a film critic, so I cannot talk about the tecnik. However after watched the film I had been reading some other comments about it and information related to the film expressing that “los olvidados” is a master piece.

Surrealism is used as part of the film’s techniques of expression by Bruñel, according to some specialists. Unquestionably the film is powerful. At moments, I was not able to look a it. It hurt me! I was really immerse/connected to the story.  Others critics mention that this film utilizes elements of  neo-realism. From another perspective, to understand “los olvidados” one has to recognize Mexico in this era, and Francisco Carrillo Martín, doctor on Hispanic Studies, has written a comprehensive article about his .

For me, as a Mexican ex-pat who just watched the film, it created me an impact. The story of the “los Olvidados”  is so current, and it might be lived nowadays by hundreds of children  in the Mexico.  The stage might have changed because now we live in the XXI century, but all those elements that the film narrate (desire, love, anger, hope, fear, lust, revenge) of people living under poverty line are current, in my personal point of view.  One can immerse in Buñuel’s narrative and connect and feel the story, a story draw in the 50s and also lived in the second decade of 2000s. In my case, after watching “los olvidados” a serie feelings and questions emerged.

Concurring with the words of Alfonso Mejía (Pedro in the “los olvidados”), in the reportage below he mentions: “Now we have more problems than earlier”. He cannot be further away from the truth, and as a generation we have to address them.

There is much to do!

Film review – Ikiru

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Week 9, 2015
Joensuu, Finland

Title: Ikiru
Director: Akira Kurosawa
Genre: Drama
Year: 1952
Country: Japan
IMDb: 8.3/10
Thesis: the meaning of life.
Watch on 28.2.2015

A bureaucratic worker in Japan whose name is Kanji Watanabe discovers he has cancer and only few months left of life. He is shocked with the news, but he has no-one to talk about it. His wife is dead and, apparently, his son and daughter-in-law only care about his money. After knowing he is dying, Watanabe attempts to find a meaning of his life, acknowledging that he has not been living it and now he has not time left.

In his search of meaning, he meets in a bar an eccentric novelist. With him Watanabe explores the night life in Tokio. However, this mundane activities does not make him feel better. Later, he interacts with a subordinate, who is full of life. It is while interacting with her, when she tells him that he should find his purpose in life. In this dinner with his subordinate, the last one he has with her, Watanabe realizes that might not be too late for him to accomplish something valuable before his life ends. He remember a stagnant project, due to bureaucracy, to transform a mosquito infested city area into a children’s playground. Watanabe works hard to achieve the creation of this park and the night before its inauguration he dies. In his funeral, the story unfolds to understand if Watanabe knew about his sickness or not.

Watanabe - Film Ikiru

Watanabe – Film Ikiru – Photo source

Personally, the film is a jewel. The story and how the film is shoot helps you to immerse in the situation. The actor Watanabe, Takashi Shimura, does a wonderful work showing pain and despair.  He acts so well the living without living.

Even that the narrative of the film takes place in Japan during the 50s. I attempt to say the message and even some of the bureaucracy life style events in the movie are current, even 63 years later. Therefore, the film is a current one, perhaps filmed with “old” technology.

For those who do not like “slow” films, this movie might be difficult. However its tempo, in my opinion, immerse you in the narrative and its message. The film invites you to think, across different scenes, about the meaning for life offering distinctive messages, for example:

  • life is brief
    (this sentence is from the song Gondola no Uta which was written in 1915 and it is a central song in the film)
  • I can’t afford to hate anyone. I don’t have that kind of time.

Ikiro is a film, which I highly recommend to watch. If you want to look at it online, at the Dailymotion, you can find it:

Korea adventure – day #16 & 30: Korean movie night

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Week 31
Suwon, Korea

Oh my!
Oh my!

I am very delayed on my postings.
Time passes so QUICKLY!
After this attempt to blog my time in Korea, I stress my respect for those who blog daily. It is NOT an easy task. Anyway, let’s start to catch up somehow.

One of the main activities that took most of my time while I have been in here is polishing my lectures, lecturing and grading. I post about this main activity will come, as I am very proud of my students. Other pursuit in this time has been to catch up with some writing, in which as we know I am “slow” but advancing 🙂 Thus, most of the korean events reported in here, are mainly the social-discovery happenings.

During the summer school we have two movie nights at the video conference room of the Yulgok Hall. In each one of the movie sessions we were so spoiled with snacks and drinks.

snacks and beverage for the movie

snacks and beverage for the movie

sitting arrangement

sitting arrangement

The movie on July 16th : The thieves.

This film is good! Now that I am exposed a little bit to the region, I think I enjoy the movie even more.  It is an action movie and the story has interesting twists.  Here the trailer to make you craving:

The movie on July 30th :  The Berlin File

This movie has a complex however interesting storyline. However if one does not follow carefully what is happening one can get lost easily. On the other hand if you follow the storyline, the movie is keeps you constantly wondering. It is also an action movie with a lot of shooting. Yeap, this film confirms that I did not  born to be a double agent!  Here trailer:

Summarising:
Watch out for Korean films because they are good!