Post by unanimous on Feb 12, 2012 10:50:04 GMT 3
You have to imdb or check them out in wiki to find out what they are about - otherwise i'd tell you the entire story and then you'll hunt me down! Not only are these movies made of good quality, tight editing, notable cinematographies, creative directing, awesome storytelling...but they also broaden your views on their culture, share without telling you what to do, and leaves you thinking about it long after you've seen the films, leaves you wondering about the thin line between silliness and genius. Notable too are the characters and actors in these films. they are neither hysterical nor melodramatic, just comes out naturally - really not a pain to watch, but just some kind of awesome. Well, okay that guy from persian cats kinda too excitable and talked too fast for my liking, but meh...it's okay, i'l let that pass!
1. About Elly - by Ashgar Farhadi
About Elly is the first iranian film i braved to watch courtesy of Doha Tribeca Film Festival. This movie is quite impressive if it's your first time to actually see an iranian film. have to admit, i dont know much about iran then and what little i knew are not that reliable either. Plus, while i was in iran, i was supposed to be on a plane that crashed and the only thing that saved me is oversleeping, and i saw this guy bang his head against a concrete pillar i heard a sickening cracking sound!ouch! Anyways, this film almost felt like a good one-act play and when i saw it, it's been years since ive seen one, and cant remember the last time that ive seen a film so 'simple' yet compelling.
2. No one knows about Persian Cats - by Bahman Gobadi
No one knows about persian cats is a brave film, literally. People who were involved in this film risked the wrath of Iran and i think its director even got jailed for it. Courtesy again of Doha Tribeca Film Festival from the same year, it made me aware of the kind of youth i thought did not exist in middle east - this is before arab spring by the way. but as some of its artists said, it has nothing to do with politics or religion, they just want to play music! it is that basic and humane, from the mouths of not-so-babes anymore.
3. Waltz with Bashir - by Ari Folman
Waltz with Bashir is the only one in this list that is comic bookish, documentary type, making the when they switch to real people even the more powerful, makes you feel trapped with the horror of it all, that you realize that you've been lullled by the drawings and even the jarring soundtracks, but yeah these are real people and horrors have been committed.
4. Ajami - by Scandar Copti
Ajami reminds me of Coen brothers films. you know how in the end you feel like...gahhh that's sooo silly and avoidable! and funny in a self-deprecating kind of way. im sorry but i thought that was what the movie was for me, miscommunication. ive not read a review of this film before or after ive seen it, but it was really quite good. i was already tired of films told in: (dramatic voice) different lives all coming together in one pivotal intersection! but i did not mind it in this film at all. coz really each of the character's stories were more powerful than the the cliched way of how it was told. it was nicely told is what i would say, after all it's not the directors fault ive gotten tired of this way of story telling in highschool when i was obsessed with sidney sheldon books; then they did it in so many other movies in and around the era of Crash and the backlash and the...never mind! Needless to say, you know that feeling you get after seeing a curve your enthusiasm episode...when the credits start rolling in you laugh out loud and wonder at how silly and at the same time unforgettable it is? yeah i am easily over come by larry david...but not in a creepy kind of way!helllloooooooo!!!ewww! go watch ajami!
5. The Separation - by Ashgar Farhadi
The separation is all and more that its reviews say it is. The director has a distinctive way of telling his story, but this time around, i like how the women were characterized, shown with strength and compassion and bad judgment without malice, within their religious and political boundaries. women of character and strength and folly. Even the stoical or the hysterical struggling-to-be-honorable male characters are both flawed, and i know, i'll say it again,humane! you know, like if you're in that situation too...what ifs! Movies and characters that does this for me, makes you look at people not just in two dimensions, good or bad kind of way. when people struggle with the shady parts, thats when the audience stand back and think and not just offer pronouncements and call for lynch mob or piety. Thats what the directors editing, writing and characterizations of its players in the movie achieved with this film. before i saw this film, i caught an interview of the director on bbc. the guy from talking movie mentioned something about the political implications of the film...he meant that it's a political statement because there's the woman who wants to leave the country (paraphrase paraphrase) and i like the directors diplomatic answer, coz seriously, after watching the film and i remembered what that guy asked, it made me roll my eyes i got dizzy! The director replied something like, to people living outside iran i suppose that is what they'll see, but to the people in iran it is a social issue, a situation that people can live in, it's not just political, it's 'basic people' problem - is how i understand his reply and i agree
of course there's also the threat of getting imprisoned for that director, but still, if you watch this movie with the acceptance that people are not necessarily alike, that different does not necessarily mean you are better or lesser than them, you'd get to know people in a more basic sense. human beings just like you. of course i draw the line on rapists and pedophiles, really i just cant with those groups!
so yeah, if you're looking to a different kind of film from another country that you're used to, you're here and want to see what they have in films, these five are worth checking out.
1. About Elly - by Ashgar Farhadi
About Elly is the first iranian film i braved to watch courtesy of Doha Tribeca Film Festival. This movie is quite impressive if it's your first time to actually see an iranian film. have to admit, i dont know much about iran then and what little i knew are not that reliable either. Plus, while i was in iran, i was supposed to be on a plane that crashed and the only thing that saved me is oversleeping, and i saw this guy bang his head against a concrete pillar i heard a sickening cracking sound!ouch! Anyways, this film almost felt like a good one-act play and when i saw it, it's been years since ive seen one, and cant remember the last time that ive seen a film so 'simple' yet compelling.
2. No one knows about Persian Cats - by Bahman Gobadi
No one knows about persian cats is a brave film, literally. People who were involved in this film risked the wrath of Iran and i think its director even got jailed for it. Courtesy again of Doha Tribeca Film Festival from the same year, it made me aware of the kind of youth i thought did not exist in middle east - this is before arab spring by the way. but as some of its artists said, it has nothing to do with politics or religion, they just want to play music! it is that basic and humane, from the mouths of not-so-babes anymore.
3. Waltz with Bashir - by Ari Folman
Waltz with Bashir is the only one in this list that is comic bookish, documentary type, making the when they switch to real people even the more powerful, makes you feel trapped with the horror of it all, that you realize that you've been lullled by the drawings and even the jarring soundtracks, but yeah these are real people and horrors have been committed.
4. Ajami - by Scandar Copti
Ajami reminds me of Coen brothers films. you know how in the end you feel like...gahhh that's sooo silly and avoidable! and funny in a self-deprecating kind of way. im sorry but i thought that was what the movie was for me, miscommunication. ive not read a review of this film before or after ive seen it, but it was really quite good. i was already tired of films told in: (dramatic voice) different lives all coming together in one pivotal intersection! but i did not mind it in this film at all. coz really each of the character's stories were more powerful than the the cliched way of how it was told. it was nicely told is what i would say, after all it's not the directors fault ive gotten tired of this way of story telling in highschool when i was obsessed with sidney sheldon books; then they did it in so many other movies in and around the era of Crash and the backlash and the...never mind! Needless to say, you know that feeling you get after seeing a curve your enthusiasm episode...when the credits start rolling in you laugh out loud and wonder at how silly and at the same time unforgettable it is? yeah i am easily over come by larry david...but not in a creepy kind of way!helllloooooooo!!!ewww! go watch ajami!
5. The Separation - by Ashgar Farhadi
The separation is all and more that its reviews say it is. The director has a distinctive way of telling his story, but this time around, i like how the women were characterized, shown with strength and compassion and bad judgment without malice, within their religious and political boundaries. women of character and strength and folly. Even the stoical or the hysterical struggling-to-be-honorable male characters are both flawed, and i know, i'll say it again,humane! you know, like if you're in that situation too...what ifs! Movies and characters that does this for me, makes you look at people not just in two dimensions, good or bad kind of way. when people struggle with the shady parts, thats when the audience stand back and think and not just offer pronouncements and call for lynch mob or piety. Thats what the directors editing, writing and characterizations of its players in the movie achieved with this film. before i saw this film, i caught an interview of the director on bbc. the guy from talking movie mentioned something about the political implications of the film...he meant that it's a political statement because there's the woman who wants to leave the country (paraphrase paraphrase) and i like the directors diplomatic answer, coz seriously, after watching the film and i remembered what that guy asked, it made me roll my eyes i got dizzy! The director replied something like, to people living outside iran i suppose that is what they'll see, but to the people in iran it is a social issue, a situation that people can live in, it's not just political, it's 'basic people' problem - is how i understand his reply and i agree
of course there's also the threat of getting imprisoned for that director, but still, if you watch this movie with the acceptance that people are not necessarily alike, that different does not necessarily mean you are better or lesser than them, you'd get to know people in a more basic sense. human beings just like you. of course i draw the line on rapists and pedophiles, really i just cant with those groups!so yeah, if you're looking to a different kind of film from another country that you're used to, you're here and want to see what they have in films, these five are worth checking out.