I am such a lazy movie watcher...Ever since I´ve temporarily cancelled my Netflix subscription - simply for time-related reasons - I´ve rarely been in the mood for a movie. And feeling very guilty about it. However, in the weeks of the last two months, I did my best to watch some good movies, few inspired by books I´ve liked once. Maybe it´s just a beginning for watching more...and more...And writing about it too...(Writing about movies is another writing challenge of mine for this strange year).
The Portrait of Dorian Gray directed by Oliver Parker convenes perfectly the Goth ambiance of Oscar Wilde´s writing. The curse of the permanent beauty and the easiness of corrupting the good human nature and turning it into a monster is translated into complex close ups and sophisticated interiors. Dorian Gray is very good played by Ben Barnes, but the other characters from the book/movie who are committed to pervert Dorian´s original good nature simply because they cannot stand his naive goodness, are equally important. It´s a strong game of strong characters which may look somber and heavy sometimes, but overall it is a good movie to watch.
Even though there were a couple of historical and factic objections about Selma, directed by Ava duVernay, the first black woman who won an award at Sundance Film Festival, the movie is really good played. It is inspired by the 1965 Selma to Montgomery voting right marches lead, among others, by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and was fully released on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the events. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is played by the very talented British-American actor David Oyelowo, which make it an unforgettable movie character. My favorite actor and character is Dr.´s wife, Coretta Scott King, played by the English TV actress Carmen Ejogo, who is the stronger character, the wife wisely supporting her husband, no matter his weaknesses and betrayals. Big historical figures do have weaknesses too.
Although maybe there are a lot of historical inaccuracies about this movie, it was a good decision to watch it, particularly in a year when Black Lives Matter movement turned in such a dramatic direction.
From the world of big historical figures and unforgettable literary characters, to the everyday life of everyday people. La graine et le mulet (translated into German blandly as Couscous mit Fisch) by the French-Tunesian film director is about the challenges and hardships of a Tunesian family in France. And, of course, their love for a well-cooked couscous a meal which has such a high community values because it brings all the members of the family together. Nothing philosophical about this movie, just simple lives and this is what I really loved about it.
Drum rolls...many many drum rolls for...The History of Love, based on a novel by Nicole Krauss and directed by the fantastic Radu Mihaileanu. The meeting between Mihaileanu visual storytelling skills and Nicole Krauss love for words is extraordinary. Maybe the actors are not always playing their best, but all together they really convene the big human question: How love lasts? How love is getting lost? I have no idea what the possible answers are yet...
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