fiLmsToLoOkOutFoR •• Foreign Film Edition •• EMBRACE OF THE SERPENT [2015, COLUMBIA, VENEZUELA, ARGENTINA - Spanish, Portuguese, German, Catalan, Latin, Amazonian]
Inspired by the real-life journals of two explorers Theodor Koch-Grünberg and Richard Evans Schultes, Embrace The Serpent chronicles their journey traveling through the Colombian Amazon wilderness in search of the sacred and difficult-to-find psychedelic Yakruna plant, which could cure Theodor's chronic illness. Along this journey they form a life-affirming friendship with Karamakate, an Amazonian shaman and the last survivor of his people. Directed by Ciro Guerra, it is Columbia's entry for the Best Foreign Film category at the 88th Academy Awards
fiLmReviEw •• Foreign Film Edition •• A NAGY FÜZET (THE NOTEBOOK) [2013, HUNGARY - Hungarian]
Budapest-born director János Szász won Special Mention at both the Chicago and Haifa International Film Festivals in 2013 for his WWII-drama THE NOTEBOOK, which was also selected as the Hungarian entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 86th Academy Awards. Adapted from the celebrated 1986 novel Le Grand Cahier by Ágota Kristóf, the first in a trilogy which won her the European prize for French literature, The Notebook tells a haunting tale of the perils of wartime and the disintegration of innocence into ruthless impassivity and human induration.
Lászlo and András Gyémánt play a pair of thirteen year-old twins, jolted from the cradling of their parents' storge into a mélange of brutality, when their mother (Gyöngyvér Bognár) one day decides to take them to the dirt-poor countryside to be taken care by their grandmother (Piroska Molnar), as the Nazi occupation has made the city too perilous to live in. Instantaneously the twins know hell has just begun for them as their grandmother, known to locals as "the Witch", makes no bones about her abusive and alcoholic behavior, calling them “bastards” and locking them out until they complete their laborious chores.
Left without any news about their parents from then on, they only have a few parting words from their mother, telling them to continue learning and studying no matter what, and a notebook from their father (Ulrich Matthes), asking them to record every single thing that happens to them. And so their harrowing tale is told through their entries in their notebook, taking form in scrapbook scribblings, photos and pasted objects. Szász intends to deposit audience into the crumbling world of the twins, as we follow their journey facing the brutality of mankind during wartime.
It begins with the boys merely trying to live each day by holding on to their parents’ words close at heart, to continuously learn, study and capture everything in their notebook. Equipped with only the bible to study, they end up mastering the Ten Commandments and the rest of their lessons would have to come from real life experiences. Two coddled and empty vessels stranded amidst wartime’s desperation, their logics are constantly challenged and they start to steel themselves to the brutal new world through a series of disturbing methods. They still want to learn, but their lessons rapidly morph into survival skills mastered through an array of calculated afflictions which some will prove more disturbing than shocking.
A rather competent performance by both the Gyémánt brothers, they manage to tiptoe gracefully along the borders between bravery and savage, between callous and ruthless. Hedging their survival on the “new skills” they acquire, their journey intertwines with a string of strangers all proving to be more for the purpose of provoking rather than anything purposeful. That is my slight issue with the film. You’d be surprised with the number of lecherous souls they would encounter, from a harelip neighbor (Orsolya Toth), a pedophiliac Nazi officer (Ulrich Thomsen), to a corrupted priest (Péter Andorai) and finally a pro-Nazi maid who engages the boys in a bizarre masturbation scene.
There seems to be a central key note which remains rather overlooked based on the reviews that I’ve encountered of this film. In fact, it is to me evinced at the very beginning (a calming scene of the twins sleeping head to head like a conjoined twins), throughout as an undertone (they do everything together and even finish each other’s sentences), and finally the ending. I would interpret the almost deadly connection between the brothers as the pivotal message in what Szász is trying to deliver in this 1 hour 52 minutes drama. Culminating in a seemingly abrupt ending (argued by some as incomplete and unexplained), it makes perfect sense to me as it is actually the final lesson the twins are forcing themselves to learn, in their unrelenting quest for survival.
As painfully misogynistic as it sounds, "Bride Kidnapping" actually exists, in several parts of the world including several countries within Central Asia, Causasus and Africa. It basically means abduction of a woman by a man (usually with the help of relatives) for the purpose of marriage. This absurdity is embraced by some communities in the southern region of Ethiopia, known as "telefa", and one particular girl's harrowing real life experience not only inspired the 2014 film Difret, but became a landmark case that changed an age-old law in the country.
Aberash Berkele was only fourteen when she was abducted by a group of men on horses while she was returning home from school. Captured and beaten, she was brought to a hut to be raped by one of them, and told that he would be her husband. Berkele managed to steal their gun as she attempted to run away. Whilst her abductor and his men gave chase, she pulled the trigger and was put on trial for the murder of her abductor. This plundering of innocence and humanity has been translated into the silver screens by producer Mehret Mandefro and writer-director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, with Angelina Jolie signing on as the executive producer with the hope to raise awareness on telefa.
In Difret, we see Hirut Assefa (Tizita Hagere) as the bright fourteen year-old daughter of poor farmers in rural Ethiopia, who has ambitions in her pursuit of an education, which is uncommon for girls in those parts. The trajectory of Difret and Hirut's fate pretty much follow closely of the real story, and soon the family of the demised abductor Tadele (Girma Teshome) is racking up support from the villagers to have her executed for murder, and buried with him. Succumbing to her wretched fate, hope finds its way when Hirut is rescued by Meaza Ashenafi (Meron Getnet), a lawyer helming Andinet Women Lawyers Association, advocating for women’s rights. This is a case where the gravity of injustice outweighs the film's narrative. Mehari chooses to "tell" in great lengths as compared to "show", giving the film a semi docudrama appeal instead of allowing more expressive interpretations of the plot. I would have preferred the latter. No doubt at several junctures the narrative does come off slightly punctuated, but all in all an adequate film. Audience will still be able to appreciate Difret's message, and I particularly liked the development of Meaza and Hirut's bond.
Today, Berkele is a mother of a ten year-old son, and works for Harmee, an NGO that aims to eliminate violence against women in Arsii. Her high profiled case managed to make an immediate impact, reducing the abduction cases in Arsii to none for five good years. Sadly, the cases are crawling back to a reported seven to eight cases annually in the past recent years. Meaza on the other hand continues with her devotion in protecting the rights of Ethiopian women and was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005. Difret has won in Sundance, Montreal, Amsterdam and Berlin film festivals.
fiLmReviEw •• Foreign Film Edition •• EINE WEN IGG, DR DÄLLEBACH KARI (SOMEONE LIKE ME) [2012, SWITZERLAND - German]
Xavier Koller caught our attention when his film Journey Of Hope won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film in 1990, chronicling the touching tale of how a single postcard inspires a Turkish Alevi family to attempt emigrating to Switzerland illegally. Someone Like Me is his next big achievement in 2012 which received one win and five other nominations at the Swiss Film Prize (Oscar-equivalent for Switzerland), including Best Film. The film is based on the life Dällebach Kari, Switzerland's famous figure who is an inwardly torn hero born with a cleft palate, and his tragic love story.
When Kari is born in Bern in the late 1800's, the doctor coldly tells his mother that he should be drowned because of his harelip - that way, the family would have one child less to provide for. Instead, Kari is brought up filled with tender love, and at the same time mollycoddled by his protective mother because of his imperfections. Kari however grows up to be a bright, charismatic man who aspires to have his own barber salon one day. And when he finally does, you would find his salon constantly swarmed with men queueing up for his service; not because of his exceptional skills with his hands, but it was his quick-witted and cheeky jokes that keep them entertained. Kari's charms one day lands him with Annemarie, a beautiful young woman from a middle-class family. Not only does she wants to dance with him at a party when they first meet, shocking her friends who all see nothing but his disfigurement, she's instantly smitten with his fragile and endearing personality. What starts off seemingly as a fairy-tale (finally) for Kari soon falls apart when their relationship is challenged by Annemarie's parents.
Koller was first intrigued to make this film because he found the fact that Dällebach Kari was born with a physical flaw yet chose to be a barber, confronted by mirrors in the salon all day, very fascinating. The Oscar-winning director shared, "If I'm telling the story, I want to do it in a way that it goes under the skin, in a way that it shows the locations, such as Bern, in a light that you've may never have seen before. Basically, you should forget that it is a historical film, it should be a story that we can relate to it today too." And he did it with flying colors. What swept me off about this film is how its simplicity and guileless approach capture every important aspect of the story just right, making the period drama so relatable it's heart-rending. Kari's affectionate relationship with his mother is really moving to watch. With a magnetic score by Balz Bachmann, audience is taken back to the nineteenth and twentieth century Bern, whilst witnessing an honest and endearing romance.
The film's triumph is finally sealed with a strong cast, led by Nils Althaus and Hanspeter Müller-Drossaart, playing the young and old Kari, with Carla Juri as Annemarie which won her Swiss Film Prize for Best Actress.
fiLmReviEw •• Foreign Film Edition •• DEAD MAN TALKING [2012, Belgium & France - French]
Directors who are attempting to do genre mash-ups (and fail miserably) should watch Dead Man Talking. This 2012 Belgian comedy-drama film premiered at the Festival International du Film Francophone de Namur on September 29, 2012 and has garnered accolades including eight Magritte Award nominations (winning Best Production Design) and Best Foreign Film nomination at the 39th César Awards. It may be his first full-length film, but Belgian director Patrick Ridremont manages to co-write and even play the lead in this comedy-drama. An audacious attempt, may not be entirely well received by all but I’m in awe.
A death row somewhere in a country with no name. Forty year-old William Lamers (Ridremont), condemned to death by lethal injection, finds himself at lost when he is asked if he has any last words. He is neither prepared nor bothered to protest, but you can tell he's definitely not at peace. He hesitated, then decides to talk about his life.By law, he is allowed to make a last statement but the law does not specify how long it can last. What seems to be another formality of the process in this decrepit prison, soon becomes a lengthy emotional roller-coaster for prison director Karl Raven (François Berléand) and guard Julius Lopez (Denis MPunga). As he narrates the monologue of his life, Lamers suddenly realizes that it will be his last ticket to stay alive for yet another day. This filibuster of telling his story to stay alive, quickly erupts into a political stunt engulfed in a media frenzy.
What an idea. Spinning a modern tale of Sheherazade, with a gutsy take by Ridremont in juggling comedy with drama. In the Arabic myth of One Thousand And One Nights, a king finds out one day that his first wife has been unfaithful to him, and he decides to marry a new virgin each day, only to behead the previous day's wife, so that she would not have a chance to be unfaithful. When the vizier's daughter Scheherazade is forced to be the next bride, she decides to beguile the king by telling him stories, only to stop in the middle of each night, so that she can survive another day to continue with her stories. Such is weaved into a modern fairy tale with a twist. When I say comedy and drama, you will get a good dose of each, carried out in fluid sequences with admirable dexterity by Ridremont. In this case, Lamers life story moves us as we follow his poignant trajectory back into his abusive childhood. As he shares his story each day, you will find yourself rooting for his survival. And when he is finally at peace and ready, you will be the one who's not. Raven and Lopez both have their own share of woe as well, as they are forced to confront their ghosts whilst they attempt their very best to execute the sentence and move on with their lives.
Dead Man Talking also strives in its cast, with just a few taking the main roles but yet such a colorful concoction of geniality, acridity, humor & noxiousness. Apart from Ridremont, Berléand and Mpunga, the rest of the cast's (Virginie Efira, Christian Marin, Jean-Luc Couchard and Olivier Leborgne) performances are all on the ball.
For those who wonder about the last name, yes Oona Chaplin is the granddaughter of the iconic Charlie Chaplin. Some may have seen her in HBO's Game Of Thrones, Quantum of Solace (2008) and The Longest Ride (2015). Chaplin takes on the leading role in Pau Teixidor's Spanish psychological horror thriller Purgatorio (Purgatory) which debuted in the official selection at the Festival de Málaga. It is the first feature length film for director Teixidor and is written by Luis Moreno and Sergio G. Sanchez (The Orphanage 2007).
Purgatorio begins with Marta (Chaplin) moving into an almost empty new apartment with her husband (Andrew Gertrúdix), in hope to start anew as they both grieve for the loss of their child. Act 1 basically introduces us to the newly constructed apartment, where its almost empty and lifeless presence is used as the premise of the story's suspense. Lifts aptly not working, entire building's lights on motion-sensor where it goes pitched dark. With several overstretched sequences, some may argue that the plot dawdles quite a bit for the first part, making the film seemed like a low-event script thinly spread over its running time.
Act 2 of Purgatorio takes a brusk twist as someone knocks on the door one night when Marta is home alone. It turns out to be one of the very few neighbors in the building (Ana Fernández) desperately asking Marta to look after her son Daniel (Sergi Mendez) while she rushes to the hospital after receiving news that her husband has just been in an accident. Marta is loath to oblige but eventually agrees. What seems to be just a reluctant act of kindness soon proves to be the biggest mistake for Martha as she quickly learns of Daniel's splitting transition from a brat to an unsettling and impetuous stranger, prone to bringing violence into her new home. There's no hiding of Daniel's perilous nature, but somehow you just couldn't put your finger to his intentions. The mourning mother is thrown into a sick game of guessing and hide-and-seek whilst she continues to be haunted by glimpses and memories of her son. The suspense soon takes another jolt as Daniel announces that there is another boy hiding in the house, whom only he can see.
Both the leading casts Chaplin and Mendez give a commendable performance, making full use of the constrained environment. As lean as the story offers, get ready for a double-barrelled twist. The plot does suffer several unevenly paced stretches but nothing grave in my opinion. One of the better films I've encountered in the horror genre.
