Although in terms of books January was a very successful month, with many book tours and new authors and books discovered and reviewed, the movies chapter was relatively slower. Much slower as I preferred to use the times in-between books and family obligations less for screen time, for real time interactions with real people. However, there were some good discoveries in this respect that I am happy to share on my blog.
Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer - The State against Fritz Bauer directed by Lars Kraume
A continuation, with a different focus, of a topic addressed in a film I´ve watched in September, The Labyrinth of Silence, Der Staat gegen Fritz Bauer directed by the Canadian film director Lars Kraume features the brave judge Fritz Bauer who took upon himself the moral obligation to bring famous Nazi criminals to justice. Bauer, who committed suicide, is played by Burghart Klaußner who reproduced the dramatism of being a Jew in the post-war Germany whose appointed state representatives often were in a connivent relationship with the Nazi establishment. His betrayal and moral dilemma are grandiosly represented, hence the dramatism of his fate.
The Cyclist directed by Mohsen Makhmalbaf
In order to pay his sick wife hospital bills, Nasim, an Afghan refugee in Iran accepts to perform the task of running in circle without pause for seven days and nights in the ´´best circus in the Middle East´. The agony of poverty, Nasim´s and other´s refugees, is heartbreaking and so is the realism of the everyday life of those refugees. The sadness read into the eyes of the characters is stronger than any words and Mohsen Makhmalbaf - currently resident in London after fleeing Iran in 2005 - created a story that say more than any foreign policy report about what does it mean being a refugee, an Afghan refugee in Iran.
The Happiest Girl in the World directed by Radu Jude
Radu Jude is, as for now, my favorite Romanian film director and this month I had the chance to watch another film of him: The Happiest Girl in the World. A girl living in the Romanian countryside won a car at a TV competition launched by an obscure local beverage company. Accompanied by her parents - because a minor - she should spend a day shooting an advertising while happily smiling in her car. But it seems that her parents got another plan and in one movie day lasting less than two hours we are exposed to patriarchal parenting patterns. Although the movie can be placed in a certain Romanian post-communist mentality mindset, it actually suits very well any traditional parenting style, in Eastern Europe or anywhere else in the world.
Aya de Yopougon directed by Marguerite Abouet and Clément Oubrerie
Aya de Yopougon is based on a comic with the same name by the same authors, published originally in French. The animated movie is based in the Ivory Coast and features the relationships failures and everyday adventures in friendship of three young girls. In addition of offering insights into the everyday life of young people living in this African country, it also has a catchy story and some dynamic animations.
Suzanne directed by Mona Achache
In less than seven minutes, Mona Achache told a story hidden by silence of decades. The story of Suzanne Achache-Wiznitzer, who appears at the end of the story, whose father saved her from being killed by the Nazis by denying any connection with her. A story brought to life one generation after, but worth saying it, no matter how late.
Sheherazad by Nacer Khemir
The stories from the 1001 Nights played a great role in my childhood reading and as I am right now about to finish - and hopefully review soon - the new translated and annotated version by Yasmine Seale, watching the movie about Sheherazade by the Tunisian film director Nacer Khemir only prepared me for the literary interpretation of the Nights. It is the word against death, of women who shaped and re-told the Nights. The film has an interesting mixture between fragments of the Night explained, intercalated with elements of literary theory and cultural and civilizational information. A visual elegiac intermezzo of one of the most beautiful stories in the world.
Female Pleasure a documentary by Barbara Miller
Five women representing five different cultures are sharing their experiences with the normative obsession with woman sexuality and bodies. From Brooklyn to India, Japan, Italy and Germany and London, the film features women literally fighting for their right to be considered human beings entitled to love and pleasure. Particularly the representatives of India and Japan bring novel information about particular stories of individual women saying ´no´ to any infringement of their individuality.
The Cakemaker by Ofir Raul Graizer
The Cakemaker is an unusual love triangle. A caked-shared love on a journey from Berlin to Tel Aviv. Luckily, there is not one of those kitsch stories focused on the passports of the protagonists and the ´wow´ and ´don´t you see it is possible, there is a normalization despite all odds?´...It gently leaves all the extra ingredients to focus on the love story, turning into one of the best Berlin-Tel Aviv stories I´ve watched in a long time, as it explores love and loss and betrayal and heartbrokenness.
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