Foreign
The Celebration. Rated 'R'. Warning: Very Disturbing. This is a Danish film. It uses jumpy camera shots to give the viewer a sense of its chaos. The storyline: A birthday celebration for this family patriarch. As with all parties, things don't go as planned. Small stuff at first, but as the movie progresses, you discover the hidden agendas of those who seem the most stable at first. Family secrets revealed or charged. Unspoken topics . . . spoken. Not a recommended movie for your Hollywood movie fans. Will not walk away feeling very chipper.
I enjoyed this movie because it stirred and disturbed me. I look for that in a movie. Does this movie make me feel? . . . not just lovey dovey or happy emotions. I want to be disturbed and challenged. I want to be changed. I recommend this movie to the adventurous spirit or the art house fan.
To Live. Rated 'NR'. This movie stars one of my favorite actresses, Gong Li. She is phenomenal in this movie. The movie takes you from 1940s China into the 1960s. It's about a peasant Chinese family trying to overcome the pressures of poverty and the Chinese communism regime. Gong Li's character, her husband, and two children experience many hardships and setbacks throughout the movie, but in the end pull strength in their ability to just live. It sounds simple, but the profound art of living is an artistry. The film was initially banned in China, as was Gong Li and her co-star for two years. This is certainly one of my all-time favorites, beyond a doubt.
Antonia's Line. Rated 'R'. Here's a summary from Amazon.com.:
"To a small Dutch town filled with characters known by such names as Crooked Finger, Loony Lips, and the Mad Madonna, Antonia returns with her daughter Danielle after 20 years away. Covering the next 40 years, Antonia's Line looks at the matriarch and her offspring, stretching out to her great-granddaughter, Sarah. A whimsical story with fairy-tale conventions, this movie deals with the cyclical nature of time as well as the strength of women. While this is not just a "woman's movie," men are regulated to the background in a story that tells of women breaking free of traditional roles. Surprisingly, this movie achieves a light-hearted tone while tackling serious subjects: small-town prejudices, rape, and suicide. Yet the drama's comedic heart shines through as Antonia collects a rather odd assortment of people, outsiders who become part of her extended family."
I enjoyed this movie when I saw it years ago. I saw it when it was in the movie theatres in '96. I love this movie because it is able to achieve what I so desperately try to do in my own shows, mix humor with tragedy. There are plenty of people who have a difficult time doing this, because it causes an internal conflict for them. It doesn't for me. I love when I talk about suicide in my show and have people crying then in the next instance laughing their guts off. It's a rush. It was C.S. Lewis who, after losing his wife to cancer, said, "The pain I feel now is a part of the happiness I felt then [when she was alive]." But not all people can grasp or embrace this concept. I have a good friend who was befuddled as to why I would wish prayers and laughter upon another friend of mine who had just lost her grandmother. This good friend of mine couldn't understand how wishing laughter would not be perceived as disrespectful. What he couldn't understand was that the memories that we have of a loved one, the laughter, the smiles, the tears, the journey are all a part of the sadness we feel when death arrives. Antonia's line achieves great levity in the face of sadness, because emotions such as happiness and sadness are not polar opposites but are knitted colors of a beautiful mosaic, reflecting the spectrum of human emotions. Antonia's line gracefully tells its story in this manner.
Well, that's it for now. I will review and recommend some more movies another time.
peace.
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