Film E-Club
A place to share our best experiences, recommendations and reflections together; and a list to remember them by.
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- DirectorCésar Augusto AcevedoStarsHaimer LealHilda RuizEdison RaigosaAfter having left a long time ago, a humble country sugar cane worker returns home to meet his grandson and deal with the hardships his family has been put into.Rinus: This is Columbian Acevedo’s first film effort and it belongs to what’s known as the “slow cinema” genre. It is a devastating story of a Columbian family, living and working in the sugar plantations, trying to keep together and to hold on in their dwelling which becomes more and more unlivable because of the raging of unbridled capitalism.
- DirectorRichard AyoadeStarsJesse EisenbergMia WasikowskaWallace ShawnThe unenviable life of a government-agency clerk takes a horrific turn with the arrival of a new co-worker who is both his exact physical double and his opposite otherwise--he's a confident, charismatic ladies' man.Rinus: This is Richard Ayoade’s second film (after Submarine). It is based on a novella of Fyodor Dostoevsky. It is the story of Simon, a clerk in a government agency, introvert, struck by loneliness and emptiness. One day his working place is turned upside down by a new worker who is his doppelganger, but in every way his opposite. The torment within Simon’s soul is visible in every frame. It does not make it less interesting that a good part of the Fox family is involved in this film (Richard is the son-in-law of James and Mary Fox).
Dan: For me the movie was a bit creepy in a sort of hypnotizing way. Although strange and bizarre, I was drawn in to the movie by the story it seemed to be telling. It offers multiple interpretations, but for me it was about reconciling or hating one's self, or how to deal with our own faults, our way of being, our strengths and shortcomings. The ending was for me totally unexpected!
I enjoyed the fact that in some way it seemed to be a movie with an intense presence of the Fox family, with short roles by James Fox and his daughter Lydia Ayoade, and his son Robin listed also as one of the producers. - DirectorCarlos ReygadasStarsCornelio WallMiriam ToewsMaria PankratzIn a Mennonite community in Mexico, a father's faith is tested when he falls in love with a new woman.Rinus: The story about a family man in a Mennonite community in Mexico, who falls in love with another woman, betraying his good and faithful wife. It is a story of people all doing their best. Once again, it is slow cinema, but beautifully filmed and deeply engaging. In some ways it borrows from Dreyer’s film “Ordet”. How do you deal with the realities of life lived between the sunrise (opening scene of 8 minute long shot) and the sunset (ending scene)?
- DirectorFernando León de AranoaStarsBenicio Del ToroTim RobbinsOlga KurylenkoA group of aid workers work to resolve a crisis in an armed conflict zone.Diane: A Perfect Day is the story of a group of aid workers in the Working in a war zone. It deals with the pressures and difficulties in life at all levels: internationally and on a person level. It challenges you to think through what's most important.
- DirectorBrad AndersonStarsChristian BaleJennifer Jason LeighAitana Sánchez-GijónAn industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.Diane: The Machinist (2004) by Brad Anderson which is the story of an ordinary machinist who for some reason is falling apart. The inner tension and the rising fear shows how detrimental unshared pain can be.
- DirectorGrímur HákonarsonStarsSigurður SigurjónssonTheodór JúlíussonCharlotte BøvingIn a remote Icelandic farming valley, two brothers who haven't spoken in 40 years have to come together in order to save what's dearest to them - their sheep.Tim: It was the most deadpan Scandinavian film I think I’ve ever seen and I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to be laughing or despairing at what unfolded. It was a kind of comi-tragedy about two brothers who live next door to one another but because of new circumstances must talk to one another again (for the first time in 40 years). It was really good… and then the last scene came and blew me away completely taking the whole film to level of power and beauty totally unexpected.
Rinus: The two brothers are so Nordic in their ways of being hardened by nature, of stubbornness and reticence! It is made up of harsh nature, hard work and self-imposed isolation. Like in the north of Sweden: communication is always slow and only the absolutely necessary. It is not what you use your energy for. This film is not about action, nor about intense dialogue. This slow-paced film allows you to truly be with the characters, to see what they see.
It is a story about the most essential thing in your existence. Mortal danger to the most essential thing in life can bridge longstanding gaps and overcome separation. For them it is the sheep. If that is endangered, life will fall apart. It is ultimately the sheep that brings the brothers together after 40 years having not spoken with one another. The end is moving and risky in the sense of leaving us different options. What happened? Did they die in each other's arms, having come together and made peace through this crisis? Or did they survive, regaining harmony and saving the herd from total annihilation?
Another element to comment is the typical Scandinavian humor. The whole idea of the film is not just tragic. It has this dry, stiff, somewhat clumpsy humor that leads your thoughts to other directors like Finnish Aki Kaurismäki, Swedish Roy Andersson and Norwegian Bent Hamer.
Diane: I thoroughly enjoyed it and as Tim said that he didn't know if he should laugh or cry. It reminded me of The Straight story where the two brothers are distanced physically and emotionally. But here we meet two brothers that are in close physical proximity but the emotional distance is huge. This 'closeness' only accentuates the emotional distance. Something in their family history caused a split for we see a photo of them as young boys and they appear to have enjoyed each others' company.
These brothers not only take care of sheep but even resemble them! The film is titled Rams which makes me think that the two brothers are included in this category! - DirectorAndrew HaighStarsCharlotte RamplingTom CourtenayGeraldine JamesA married couple preparing to celebrate their wedding anniversary receives shattering news that promises to forever change the course of their lives.Tim: Beth and I watched this together and found it incredibly moving. After 5 minutes it felt like we had known the characters for the 45 years of their marriage. Then comes a revelation that force the couple to reevaluate their entire life together (even though the revelation is related to their past before they knew each other). The film touched on questions about our relationships and memories that were too profound to be put into scripted dialogue (we were stunned by how much was acted without words). Again, a quite stunning final scene that brought a rich humanness into the story and left us moved.
Diane: A look at a marriage, 45 years down the road that has been based on deep secrets. But revealing them so many years later only asks the question, how well can you really know someone if they don't let you in? The consequences of a secret life, the truth usually comes out! - DirectorLenny AbrahamsonStarsBrie LarsonJacob TremblaySean BridgersA little boy is held captive in a room with his mother since his birth, so he has never known the world outside.Tim: This film deserves every bit of publicity and awards buzz. Though the premise of kidnap and child-rearing in a garden shed is horrific, the film steered clear of exploitation and brutality and focused entirely on the mother-son relationship and their discovery of life together. It’s not a spoiler that the escape happens about a third of the way through and the film is more interested in who these people are and how they are to come to terms with ‘real’ life. From the first moments my heart was in a vice grip and it didn’t let up until about a week after. And yet, the film richly affirms life and relationships and is all the stronger for its dark context. I went to watch Frank (2014) by the same director… I won’t even try and explain it but similar themes about human dignity and a search for what life is meant to be about came through. Both stunning.
Diane: It was interesting how the mother manages to create a full world for her son there in that room alone. But what was even equally interesting to me was later when she and her son escape, someone questions her and wonders if she had been selfish to have kept her son with her all those years. Couldn't she have convinced her captor to leave her son as a newborn at the hospital to be adopted and then possibly have a normal life. It is then, when she begins to doubt her motives, that she crumbles emotionally. It is as if she sees that she has used her son to help her cope her fate. She has been a victim and possibly an agent... - DirectorIcíar BollaínStarsGael García BernalLuis TosarKarra ElejaldeAs a director and his crew shoot a controversial film about Christopher Columbus in Cochabamba, Bolivia, local people rise up against plans to privatize the water supply.Andrzej: Not so poetic and beautiful but very interesting – southern American perspective on the contemporary issues. A film crew arrived to Bolivia to make a film about, closer to reality, picture of Columbus in southern America only to be confronted with issues which didn`t change as much as we wish they will. Now it`s a time to make a real life choices by different people from the crew.
Tim: Last night I was able to watch Even The Rain by Icíar Bollaín (2010). It is number 9 on our list, recommended by Andrzej.
The film weaves together three stories - a film crew in Bolivia; the story they are filming (attempting to tell the story of Christopher Columbus’ landings in South America from an indigenous perspective); and the struggles of the indigenous peoples in the present day as they fight for a right to their own water supply against a multinational corporation. In so doing, the film forces us to reflect how little things have changed for the indigenous people over the past five hundred years. Although the film crew want to tell their story, the process of the filming seems equally exploitative of the local population - an irony not lost on some cast members.
Even The Rain skilfully wove the threads together and left me reeling at the injustice globalised Westerners seemingly carelessly inflict on those who have no option but to submit (this point is made powerfully in the film that is being made within this film). And yet the value and dignity of human beings, whatever their culture or class, stares you down unflinchingly. In one attempted ‘filmed’ scene the director encourages the indigenous women to walk into the water as if to drown their babies. Of course the scene will be faked, but the mothers cannot imagine even pretending to carry out such an act. They refuse. The director, consumed by his film (“the film is the most important thing” he says earlier) has to face up to a bigger reality: “some things are more important than your film”. Warmly recommended and a great discussion piece. - DirectorJuliano Ribeiro SalgadoWim WendersStarsSebastião SalgadoWim WendersLélia Wanick SalgadoThe life and work of photographer Sebastião Salgado, who has spent forty years documenting societies in hidden corners of the world.Andrzej, Ju, Tim: I personally thought it amazing, capturing the dignity and depravity of our humanness so beautifully
- DirectorDamien ChazelleStarsMiles TellerJ.K. SimmonsMelissa BenoistA promising young drummer enrolls at a cut-throat music conservatory where his dreams of greatness are mentored by an instructor who will stop at nothing to realize a student's potential.Andrzej: Fantastic for teachers and students. What is the most effective environment for developing your talent?
- DirectorMalik BendjelloulStarsRodriguezStephen 'Sugar' SegermanDennis CoffeyTwo South Africans set out to discover what happened to their unlikely musical hero, the mysterious 1970s rock n roller, Rodriguez.Andrzej: I didn`t have a weak discussion after this film. Wisdom on a screen!
- DirectorIsabel CoixetStarsPatricia ClarksonBen KingsleyGrace GummerAs her marriage dissolves, a Manhattan writer takes driving lessons from a Sikh instructor with his own marriage troubles. In each other's company they find the courage to get back on the road and the strength to take the wheel.Diane: An easy film to watch about people who have to decide to overcome issues that they had previously avoided. Maturing vs. dependence.
- DirectorMu FeiStarsChaoming CuiWei LiYu ShiA lonely housewife finds her monotonous life altered when her childhood sweetheart returns to town.Rinus: "This film is consequently voted the best Chinese-language film of all time. This is a film to fall in love with. It is a powerful, subtle emotional drama, with beautiful picture. It tells the story of a couple in a provincial town in 1948 right after the war. They live in a run-down house, damaged by Japanese bombing, which they cannot afford to repair. He is sick, depressed and has emotionally retreated from his beautiful wife. The visit of his old childhood friend, now a dynamic and likable doctor in a western-style suit, delights him. He does not know that this friend was a former lover of his wife. Feelings are stirred up between them, but are oppressed by fear and guilt. The rest is a study in subtlety in glances, smiles, briefly holding hands. And for some reason these relationships and events are nourished and maybe connected by walks on the ruined city wall.
- DirectorZhangke JiaStarsTao ZhaoTaishen ChengJue JingAn exploration on the impact of urbanization and globalization on a traditional culture.Rinus: "It was interesting to contrast [Spring in a Small Town with “The World” by Zhangke Jia from 2004, which gives a glimpse into China’s modernization. Zhangke Jia has become one of my favorite contemporary Chinese directors with films like Platform, Still Life and A Touch of Sin. The film is an emotional journey into modern China, and gives glimpses of how modernization and urbanization affect its people. It gives a good discussion about the rapid changes in the Chinese society, about what is lost and what is gained. This film possibly offers small insights into the China that Kyle is encountering now!
- DirectorRobert GuédiguianStarsAriane AscarideJean-Pierre DarroussinGérard MeylanA union pensioner and his wife are robbed, but find that merely getting the assailants brought to justice is not enough for their consciences.
- DirectorLenny AbrahamsonStarsMichael FassbenderDomhnall GleesonMaggie GyllenhaalJon, a young wanna-be musician, discovers he's bitten off more than he can chew when he joins an eccentric pop band led by the mysterious and enigmatic Frank.
- DirectorJúlia MuratStarsSonia GuedesLisa FáveroLuis SerraEach citizen of Jotuomba plays an integral role in village life. Madalena is responsible for baking bread; each morning she stacks her rolls as Antonio prepares the coffee. The two share a morning ritual of arguments and insults, followed by an amicable cup of coffee on the bench outside Antonio's shop. At midday the church bells ring, summoning the villagers to mass. In the early evening, they all share a meal together. And so life proceeds in Jotuomba, the days languidly drifting into one another. The only variations seem to be in the weather. One day Rita arrives looking for a place to stay. She came upon the village while traveling through the valley, following the unused railroad tracks. She is a photographer, intent on capturing the village's special allure. Initially reticent, the townsfolk gradually open up to her, sharing their stories and allowing themselves to be photographed. Rita is comfortable with technologies old and new, and Madalena teaches her to knead dough by the light of an oil lamp. Only the village priest continues to find Rita's presence worrisome, especially when she begins asking about the locked cemetery.
- DirectorStephen FrearsStarsJudi DenchSteve CooganSophie Kennedy ClarkA world-weary political journalist picks up the story of a woman's search for her son, who was taken away from her decades ago after she became pregnant and was forced to live in a convent.
- DirectorLionel JeffriesStarsDinah SheridanBernard CribbinsWilliam MervynAfter the enforced absence of their father, three children move with their mother to Yorkshire, where during their adventures they attempt to discover the reason for his disappearance.
- DirectorYimou ZhangStarsZiyi ZhangHonglei SunHao ZhengPrompted by the death of his father and the grief of his mother, a man recalls the story of how they met in flashback.
- DirectorCesc GayStarsRicardo DarínJavier CámaraDolores FonziJulián receives an unexpected visit from his friend Tomás, who lives in Canada. The two men, accompanied by Julián's faithful dog, Truman, will share emotional and surprising moments prompted by Julián's complicated situation.
- DirectorJulio MedemStarsPenélope CruzLuis TosarAsier EtxeandiaIn the aftermath of a tragedy a woman, Magda, reacts with a surge of newfound life that engulfs her circle of family and friends.
- DirectorSusanne BierStarsMads MikkelsenSidse Babett KnudsenRolf LassgårdA manager of an orphanage in India is sent to Copenhagen, Denmark, where he discovers a life-altering family secret.
- DirectorSatyajit RayStarsKanu BannerjeeKaruna BannerjeeSubir BanerjeeImpoverished priest Harihar Ray, dreaming of a better life for himself and his family, leaves his rural Bengal village in search of work.