Eldorado

Belgium | 2008 | Dark Comedy | French w/ English Subtitles

I found this movie while browsing Amazon Prime. I think this is a great dark comedy. The director does a great job telling the story of a unique friendship born out of the oddest of circumstances. A drug addict currently on a short detox ends up developing a friendship with a lonely recluse. The two share a short adventure where you learn both men share similar pain. I really enjoyed how the movie was filmed. Location provided a great back drop for the film.

Watch it!

International Cinema: Metropolis restored

International Cinema: Metropolis restored:
When watching this movie I keep thinking about Batman and Gothom city. I think it is pretty amazing that the influence of German expression that was used in this movie is still replicated today. Did anybody else notice that robot Maria style has been copied by celebrities such as Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Fergie, and Nicki Minaj.

Imaging Argentina

This is a must see movie. It enlightens ones views of what was happening across the world in the dirty war of Argentina in the 1970's

Imaging Argentina

Imagining Argentina is a political thriller, with a love story at its heart, set in the historical time of the dirty war in Argentina during the 1970’s
This is a film about the strength of love that keeps families together, through even the most desperate of circumstances. It speaks against the horrors and injustices of dictatorships. It reminds us of the importance of freedom of thought and speech, something that was forgotten for a long time in Argentina. The honesty and reality of the film reflect the horrors that many people had to endure. Imagination becomes an essential tool of survival. And only through imagination could they change their world into a better one.

The Host

I was also impressed with this movie, although I do not think in my opinion the R rating for it was appropriate. The plot was good and there were many subplots that went along with the main plot. Even though it was an alligator, for some reason I kept thinking about it as being Godzilla. Maybe its just a little stereotyping?

The Host

As Andrea writes on her blog, I was very surprised at this Korean film. I truly enjoyed it, and also found the plot interesting. The scene were hundreds of bottles were being dumped in the river made my heart break. I was also a bit surprised at some of the comedy which made the film funny - even though I was not expecting it! The one thing that I found difficult to watch, was the depiction of the United States as a country with complete disregard for human life. I might be wrong or perhaps reading too much into this part of the plot, but it shows the influence that the war had in the minds of the writer, director and executives of the movie.  Even disliking that part of the plot I enjoyed the movie very much. Vivi.

Metropolis / The Time Machine

Metropolis reminds me, very much, of H.G. Well's novel The Time Machine; with the wealthy, elite, and lavish (Eloi) living above ground enjoying the fruits of the labor provided by the poor, down-trodden, and over worked (Morlocks) living below ground.

Being a silent film, not including the score, it's great to see how the actors deliver their messages to the audience without talking, or what the director wants you to gather. During the shift change scene in the beginning of the movie you can distinctly tell which workers are just coming onto their 10 hour shift and which ones are leaving, by the difference in their speed. The fresh workers are moving swiftly past their lumbering counterparts.

The physical identifiers between Maria and Robot Maria are great. Maria is fresh faced, soft movements and appears very delicate - almost angelic. Robot Maria has heavy makeup, rigid and almost grotesque movements, and tends to be more devilish in character.

The big steam explosion on the machine floor where Freder witnesses the death of the workers, and how quickly they are replaced, shows the audience that a workers life is nothing. There are others waiting in the wings to replace them. The value of a worker's life is also shown when Joh demands the workers be left alone to damage the Heart Machine, knowing that the worker's city will be flooded and that their children will be killed. The lives of worker children are equal to their parents, nothing, and can be used to teach their parents a lesson about trying to step out of their social standing. It can also be taken in a different direction, where it is the children who must suffer for the actions of their elders

The struggle with elitism

Isn't it interesting to see this illustration of the struggle between the working class and the elites?  We think of the 'one percent' being a current issue created through our contemporary global banking and wealth management systems, but the fact of the matter is that this schism has always existed. I wonder what the filmmaker's intent was- is this a cautionary tale, or a fable with easily identified good and evil characters?  The film was made just one short decade after the advent of communism in Russia, so I wonder if the religious undertones are speaking to that as well.  While these are great themes to explore, I can't help but think of what happened next in Germany and do find the depictions of the labor class especially disturbing when framed against the holocaust; particularly the scene with the workers being marched to their burning deaths. Overall, I think Lang depicts the dissatisfaction of the German people at the time quite well; the prophetic nature of the film speaks to us in hindsight; I wonder if it was received that way at the time, or simply viewed as a futuristic fantasy.