Reymonde Amsalem in "Lebanon" [2009 Israel, France, Germany]

Israeli director Samuel Moz used his personal experiences as soldier during the First Lebanon War to make the drama "Lebanon", a Franco-German-Israeli co-production. For a feature-film debut, this wasn't a bad effort at all, quite commendable as a matter of fact, and it deservedly won accolades at the Venice Film Festival that year. An honest attempt at portraying the general nastiness of war, it stops short of passing any judgement as to whether war is good, bad, or even a necessary evil.

Storyline:
It's the first day of war, and a solitary tank along with a small company of troops are despatched to 'clean up' a town already laid waste from an air raid. It is supposedly a walk in the park, but the tank crew have very little experience, particularly gunner Shmulik who has never fired in combat before, and is initiated into warfare in the most brutal way possible by facing up to his moral and ethical compulsions. Unfortunately for the greenhorn tank crew, things doesn't go according to plan, and they end up in hostile territory with no means of support, pray a couple of shady phalanges (Lebanese Christian rebels) to usher them to safety. Barring a couple of scenes, the entire film is shot from inside a tank, trying to give us a first-hand account of what it is like to man that cold and anonymous war machine with a seemingly indestructible exterior. "It's the man that's made of steel. The tank is only a piece of Iron", says a slogan in the tank cabin, which pretty much sums up what the story is trying to convey. The claustrophobic atmosphere and a series of unfortunate events strain crew discipline to the limit - will they 'steel' themselves to survive the ordeal, because if they don't, they are in danger of collapsing from within...

Technically the film is quite competent, and I especially liked the sound design that adds to the dramatic impact, whether it is the clanking of metals or the eerie robotic noise while manoeuvring the viewfinder. While some have slammed its lack of attention to detail, and questionable credibility, I don't think it really matters because the point of the film is not to relate historical events or tell a story surrounding its protagonists. It is to portray one of the dimensions of conflict - the ethical, and that it does admirably no matter what other people may think or nitpick over. This dimension should be experienced by everyone, and it is for that reason that this film is Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link
(a good deal going here)




Compilation: Reymonde Amsalem
This is a harrowing scene and must be seen in context. When a Lebanese Christian family including a five year old child is taken hostage by two insurgents, the commander orders Shmulik to blast the place regardless. After he does, the mother emerges from the debris as the lone survivor, and in her disoriented state is screaming for the whereabouts of her child, one the tank crew will soon learn has already been found dead. Around this time the mother's dress accidentally catches fire and the commander standing nearby tears it off, leaving her violated and ashamed, the same way as any invaded people. The scene ends disturbingly with her haunting gaze into the viewfinder/camera. The mother is very well portrayed by Reymonde Amsalem (listed as Reymond Amsalem in IMDB).



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Bien de Moor and others in "Code Blue" [Netherlands, Denmark 2011]

Talented Polish writer and director Urszula Antoniak impresses again in her second full-length feature, "Code Blue". It's an intense examination of loneliness and intimacy in the scale of Michael Haneke's "La Pianiste". I'm sure Ms. Antoniak would be pleased with that comparison because she made the film with a fraction of that budget and without a certain Isabelle Huppert, not to mention the class and experience of Haneke himself. The screenplay may be simpler, and the characters and surroundings working class, but her gritty film isn't any less accomplished.

Storyline:
Middle aged Marian is a dedicated nurse at a geriatric ward, offering solace and affection to elderly patients probably living out their final days. But being independent, single, and also lonely, she craves for some intimacy of her own. Her after work hours are invariably occupied with routine rituals, and in front of the TV, until she notices a neighbour living in her block of flats. She becomes vaguely infatuated, and he, an object of her fantasy. One night they're both witness to a rape in the nearby marshes. From that moment on, Marian's carefully-wrapped fantasy figure will develop cracks, from which will not only emerge the true nature of the mysterious neighbour, but also her own feelings of guilt, and her desperate longing to be loved...

This is a painful and relentlessly unforgiving character study that we would rather not face up to, but should. But despite the harsh scrutiny by the director, there is great sympathy (empathy even) for the protagonist, her human needs and condition. As a psychological character study it triumphs, and is aided by some minimalistic cinematography, meticulous direction, and a sincere and heartfelt performance from Belgian actress Bien de Moor who plays Marian. Painful and shocking as it may be to watch, Antoniak's 'adult' endeavour is definitely Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon.de Blu-ray Link




Compilation: Bien de Moor, Lone Rosenquist, and Lars Eidinger
Some of the scenes are positively shocking and explicit. Not recommended for juveniles.



Scene Guide:

• Marian had been following her neighbour Konrad of late, and while watching one of the DVD's he'd just returned at a local library, decides to paint her door red. Unfortunately, I can't understand the significance of this scene. Marian is played by Bien de Moor.
• Marian and Konrad witness a rape in the neighbourhood. The victim is played by Lone Rosenquist, and German actor Lars Eidinger gives a restrained performance as the neighbour Konrad.
• The following morning, Marian decides to do something rather despicable, after collecting the condom thrown away by one of the rapists..!
• After an incident at the hospital...
• Marian and Konrad get introduced more formally at a party, after which she invites him to her flat. When Konrad decides to leave, she begs him to stay. This leads to an excruciating but riveting pass of play where both the characters are examined, warts and all. The dialogues are mostly in English, so you should be able to follow. The long scene contains some explicit and violent imagery.

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Tania Robledo & co in "El Garabato" [2008 Mexico]

One must appreciate Adolfo Martínez Solares for his resourcefulness - notwithstanding his credentials as writer and director, he produces his own films and even manages to rope in heavyweights like José Alonso and María Rojo (La Tarea, Esmeralda de Noche Vienes) to act in them, along with a generous smattering of some of the prettiest local starlets. For e.g., the cast credits for his 2008 crime drama, "El Garabato" lists the likes of Tania Robledo, Patricia Llaca, María Aura, Andrea García, and Mariana Ávila to name a few. That was enough to persuade me to buy the DVD (now we don't want anyone else to know that! :)) even if it was only gathering dust on my shelf for the past two years.

Storyline:
I'll be wasting my time with this - let's say it is about gangsters, sorry - politicians, corrupt police officers, molls, honey-traps, and you guessed it - journalists. And of course an innocent courier who gets caught in a mess because the person he was delivering to gets killed just before he arrives. To cut to the chase, innocent bloke is declared 'innocent', patches up with fiancée and starts living happily ever after.

This is like having the occasional greasy heart-clogging deep-fried meal - it's alright once in a while though (damn tasty too..!) :)

But if you want to gorge yourself silly, here's the DVD Link - however don't expect a high quality transfer - this one was definitely stamped with older television sets in mind.
Amazon DVD Link




Compilation:
Tania Robledo, María Aura, Andrea García, and Mariana Ávila
As hinted above, the DVD isn't of the greatest quality, and even my DVD player was unable to disguise some of the banding and interlacing. I couldn't bother spending too much time on it in any case - I had to compromise on some of the bust-level portrait shots - just don't look at their eyes too much - there are other interesting things to see anyway!



Scene Guide:

• Rodolfo spying on the neighbour's swimming pool, put to good use by a rather carefree Frida. Delectable Tania Robledo plays Frida.
• Well what do you know - dreams can come true even for our Rodolfo! :)
• A prison 'Conjugal' visit, paid by pistol-trigger smuggler Rebeca. The bad old dog is played by José Alonso, and Rebeca by María Aura, still looking the same since Y tú Mama Tambien.
• No nudity, but saucy scene as a eager Carolina makes retirement plans with her boss Daniel Buendia. Bejewelled Carolina is played by a sparkling Andrea García.
• The best of the lot - of Rodolfo's sojourn with fiancée María Luisa. Played by a rather cute and well proportioned Mariana Ávila. I kinda loved the song too even if it sticks in your lips for longer than it perhaps should.

I could easily 'kill' a Godard now..! ;)

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Scenes from Emir Kusturica's "Underground" [1995 Yugoslavia, France, Germany]

I'll start exploring Serbian cinema with a film from one of its famous directors, Emir Kusturica (Arizona Dream). His 1995 war drama "Underground" was critically acclaimed at Cannes and elsewhere, perhaps losing out on other major awards due to the political situation in erstwhile Yugoslavia. I admit I'm still a novice concerning his filmography, but hope to fill the gap as I get more acquainted with his body of work.

"Underground" however stands out with its unique storyline - uniquely placed because it couldn't possibly be applied to too many countries other than Yugoslavia. Here was a nation that had constantly changed hands and names like few in Europe, sometimes with each generation (Kusturica himself quotes in the DVD interview that each generation in his own family lived in a country with a different name). The drama spans five decades, from the second World War to the breakup of Yugoslavia, and is a tale of sex, arms trade, and more importantly deceit - both between people and by its political leaders. While it casts an astonishingly cynical view on this regard, there is also ample humanity even during the film's darker moments - it is a sincere plea by a director for the world to cast aside their negative opinion of a people, despite their apparently frequent preoccupation with war.

Storyline:
Blacky and Marko are best friends, communist party workers, and crooks involved in racketeering and anything else that can fetch them a fast buck. Blacky has a mistress named Natalija, a leading stage actress, one that Marko secretly covets. When Belgrade gets bombed by Germany, Marko arranges for a group of party men and their families to take refuge in a large underground bunker, including the injured Blacky. He also gets them to manufacture weapons to supply the partisans fighting the Nazis. Marko becomes the only person to sneak in and out of the bunker to conduct this trade and bring in food and supplies for those inside. He uses Blacky's isolation to persuade Natalija to live with him in the luxury villa right on top of the bunker. But when the war ends, he doesn't pass on the news to those underground, letting them think that their country is still at war. He also manages to convince Blacky that Marshal Tito himself had asked him to lie low for a while, for the 'final push'. Years pass - until an accident forces inmates to wander outside, but for them, it appears the war is still on...

This film was in my Amazon Wishlist for quite a while, which was placed purely based on its reputation - I had to wait for my DVD before I could watch it for the first time. The film starts off as a comedy reminiscent of a Fellini (one could find several comparisons in theme and treatment), but becomes sinister with thinly veiled humour as the film progresses. But it is the final half hour of the film where it becomes exquisitely poetic, rich in metaphors, in the style of a Bergman or Tarkovsky. I know it is silly of me to split a work into pieces for analysis, but since my knowledge of Balkan culture in general (with the exception of Greece) is still at its infancy, I have to find other reference points. Apart from the direction, meticulous production design and art direction, I was also impressed with the soundtrack and the performances by its main cast. This is an intense, lively, and memorable piece of art, and I'm actually glad to have kick-started Eastern European cinema with this film. Needless to say, it is Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link




Compilation: Ljiljana Jovanovic and Mirjana Jokovic
There is only a single nude scene in the entire film - a funny one at the very beginning when Marko spends a night with a prostitute only to be interrupted by the Germans. The prostitute is played by Ljiljana Jovanovic. I've also inserted a brief scene of a slightly older Marko with Natalija. Natalija is played by a sweet looking Mirjana Jokovic.



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Emmanuelle Béart in "Les Égarés" [2003 France]

For all its originality and haunting imagery, the wartime drama "Les Égarés" [Eng. Title: Strayed] from André Téchiné remains one of his most underrated films. Much like a summer storm - it is idyllic one moment and nasty another, we won't know how the film is going to end until the last few frames. From a Louis Malle style pace, it swings to the other extreme where events are rushed through, but they will nevertheless linger in your mind long after - there is a clear intention in the seeming chaos.

Storyline:
Set in 1940 when France is invaded by Germany, we watch newly widowed Odile and her two young children Philippe and Cathy in a slow-moving convoy of refugees heading south. They are in their own motorcar, and hoping they're on the road to safety - until they get strafed by a German plane (this is a very well shot scene). Out of nowhere a youth with sheared-off hair appears and ushers them to safety in the woods just as their car is blown apart. After a night's sleep in the open "like animals", the youth, Yvan discovers an abandoned villa and takes the family to live there. He also forages from a nearby abandoned village and hunts rabbits to provide food for the family, in the process becoming the de facto man of the house. Odile and the children cope remarkably well, considering their grief, loss and displacement, and a strange tranquil descends upon the house when the world outside is in utter chaos. During this time Yvan also clumsily proposes to Odile. But there's a feeling of unease that this tranquillity couldn't last for ever, and it doesn't. Their first 'threat' comes in the form of two French soldiers returning from the war, who decide to stay in the villa for the night. Yvan, fearing that they've come to capture him, refuses to return home. We are now provided a hint about the mysterious Yvan, is he escaping from law? But Odile handles the soldiers deftly on her own, and just when they'd seen them off, another threat arrives, after France had fallen to Germany...

I cannot quite praise this accomplished film enough - right from the direction and cinematography to the performances by the main cast - Emmanuelle Béart is particularly magnificent as the complex and charming Odile, and a young Gaspard Ulliel impresses as the impetuous yet resourceful and well-intentioned Yvan. This film is without doubt a classic, and Highly Recommended Viewing..!

Amazon DVD Link




Compilation: Emmanuel Béart and Gaspard Ulliel



Scene Guide:

• Odile is in the bath after they've turned squatters in an abandoned villa. Odile is played by the talented and beautiful Emmanuelle Béart.
• This is a remarkable sex scene where a lot is revealed implicitly. When Odile and Yvan have sex for the first time, it is in the open - their sexual tension had been building up over a period, which is all let loose when the unwelcome guests - a couple of retreating French soldiers, decide to leave. Not only will we learn Yvan has never seen a woman naked before, but also this is not his first sexual intercourse either - after he asks Odile permission for taking her from behind, the way he's used to! :)

Off-topic: After one more Ms. Béart film review, it will be time for the blog's very own Emmanuelle Béart tribute compilation. ;)

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