My August Movie Selection

Summer is almost over - at least here, in Berlin - and I tried to keep myself as busy as possible this August spending time outdoors and exercising. Although my TBR got slightly better, as I can easily read quietly on a bench while watching my son in the playground for hours, too many hours, my stuck of movies was relatively modest. I succeeded to watch some good, thoughtful movies, mostly in German, and I am happy to share my thoughts.

Reise nach Jerusalem directed by Lucia Chiarla

Source: anghor.de

I may confess that I´ve picked up the movie based on the title without any idea about what it is all about. In any case, I was expecting it to have something to do with Jerusalem which is not literally, but that ´Jerusalem´ seen as an expectation - but there is also a Jerusalem syndrome. 

Reise nach Jerusalem by Lucia Chiarla is the peculiar story of Alice, a 39-year old graduate of literature fighting to survive in Berlin as a mostly unemployed. She is the mother of all bad lucks and she is so typical for this city unfortunately. Feeling unfit professionally, living in a bubble of kitschy magic and grateful poverty is what I actually don´t like about this city which is otherwise great. The film offers a different view into a city which was labelled by a former mayor as ´poor but sexy´ which is far from it. Poverty is never sexy, comrades.

The Accidental Rebel (Nur ein Augenblick) directed by Randa Chahoud

Source: https://www.eastwest-distribution.com/

The Accidental Rebel by Randa Chahoud is probably my favorite film of the month. Directed by the Berlin-born Randa Chahoud created a very strong story played excellently by the actors, particularly Mehdi Maskar. Karim, a Syrian-born refugee living a carefree life in Germany, returns to Latakia hoping to save his brother caught in the anti-Assad movement. What he expected to be a short visit lasted for a couple of months as he is forced to fight on behalf of the resistance, during which he is becoming a father and his relationship with his lonely wife is put on trial. It is a movie about normal people forced by the game of circumstances to face extraordinary circumstance. This story will stay with me for a very long time.

The Reports on Sarah&Saleem directed by Muayad Alayan

Pertaining to the same topic - average humans under political circumstances - was my next watch: The Reports on Sarah&Saleem by the Palestinian film director Muayad Alayan. Inspired by true events, as almost everything that inspire arts in the Middle East, it is the story of an average affair that turned into a security threat. Saleem - Palestinian - and Sarah - Israeli Jew are having an affair, out of curiosity or/and boredom. But Sarah´s husband is a top military official in the Israeli Army and Saleem´s wife family is involved in various underground activities and their actions are putting into motion problems that are no more just an extra marital adventure. A special mention to the beautiful play of the Nazareth-born actress Maisa Abd Elhadi.  

Frau Stern directed by Anatol Schuster

Frau Stern by Anatol Schuster played by the late Ahuva Sommerfeld is a tragi-comical story about defying stereotypes of getting old. The film is at a great extent inspired by Sommerfeld´s own life experiences - among others, she also moved to the hipster Neukölln in her mid-70s - and is a gentle story about a woman who even may have enough of life, still wants to get the best of it, while hanging up with very young people and relieving the stress smoking weed.

Crossing the Bridge by Fatih Akin

I want more music into my life but as part of a greater society story which connects social changes with history and unique personalities of the musicians. Crossing the Bridge by Fatih Akin was an excellent choice in this respect as it features The Sound of Istanbul as one rarely encounter. It has nothing to do this sound with belly dancing - which is mostly of Egyptian origin and it is culturally appropriated by white people anyway those days - but reveals an impressive selection of bands and styles. Actually, Istanbul is a ´rock city´ and there is so much to learn about the sources of inspiration and uniqueness of the music movement in Turkey. 

Basmati Blues directed by Danny Baron

I am not ashamed to declare my love for Bollywood films - and romances, but Basmati Blues directed by Danny Baron has some trendy ecological touches which make it more eventful. While on a mission trying to introduce gennetically modified rice on a large scale in India, a young scientist is falling in love with a local guy who is against the plans of the big agricultural take over. It was a bit too longer for me, and it´s also a half musical but overall it´s an average entertaining film.

All Three of Us directed by Kheiron

Inspired by his father´s story, All Three of Us directed by the French-based Iran-born humorist Manoucher Tabib aka Kheiron has a lot of tragi-comical irony for life situations that are far from being funny. The film director´s father, Hibat Tabib was an active member of the Iranian communist party whose life was in danger both before and after the Shah. Fleeing clandestinelly the Iran after the mullah took over the country he settled in France with his wife and son, all of them trying to find their place in a new world. Is a funny story about being uprooted against your will and how to make the best of it, no matter when and where - including in prison.

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy directed by Tomas Alfredson

I am not a lover of John Le Carré - who inspired the movie - but I do appreciate an interesting Cold War spy story and this is what this movie is all about: finding a Russian mole on the top of the British intelligence. Well, it seems some Brits can never renounce their open love for Mother Russia... The film is elegant, diplomatic, secretive and well informed. It is rather neutral, not the usual bad boys versus good guys as during the peak of the Cold War, with a focus on the complexities of the allegiances and the multitude of interests at stake during those times.

That´s all for now, but my stack of films of September is already waiting for me. Can´t wait to share my next selection...