About Some Foreign Movies

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Withing the last few days I watched 5 foreign movies through Netflix instant watching feature. All of them were filmed by different directors, performed on different languages, and left different impressions.

1. C.R.A.Z.Y. — a truly touching movie from Quebec province of Canada. It is one of the best dramas that I’ve watched recently. It tells a story of a boy, who had a hard time excepting himself the way he was, and of his family. I would definitely recommend this movie!

2. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress — this Chinese movie tells a story of two young men who in 1971 were sent to a small mountain village for re-education. I enjoyed watching this movie too. First of all, it was really weird to see a world where foreign books were illegal. Second, it was also strange to see how different was the life of the villagers of that small place — as if they lived in a different century.

3. A Peck on the Cheek — a Sri Lankan movie about a little girl named Amudha, who as an infant was abandoned by her Tamil mother and adopted by Indian parents. I know that this should not have come as unpleasant news for me, but before this movie I had no idea that there is a civil war going on an off on Sri Lanka from 1983. The movie is a bit too melodramatic for my taste, but the story itself isn’t bad.

4. Machuca — a Chilean movie, which tells a story of two boys from different backgrounds who tried to be friends in an unstable political climate of 1973 Chile. I like the movie, although I’m sure that it evokes much stronger emotional response from the people who lived though those times. I think that the director picked a very good perspective — that of a little boy — to show the grim reality of inequality.

5. The Tiger and the Snow — this Italian movie was a disappointment for me. As much as I like Benigni’s Life is Beatiful , as much his Attilio de Giovanni annoyed me.

There is one more foreign movie I want to mention — The Lives of Others. Danya and I watched it some time ago. It is a German movie telling a story of a Stasi agent who was watching a famous GDR writer. It is really good and definitely worth watching!