Saturday, November 27, 2010

White Ribbon

The story is about life in a German village just before the first World War narrated by a school teacher who fell in love with the baron's maid. Besides the baron, the village also has a doctor, a midwife, a steward, a priest and a group of school children.

Liked the nice black and white cinematography and how the director depicted the human psychology within the village! Great acting by the priest's children! The priest reminded me of the step father in Bergman's "Fanny and Alexander".

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Push

The story is about how a group of people with special powers fought back against the authorities who made use of them. Movers, Pushers and Bleeders act like the strike force to attack the enemy physically and psychologically. Watchers and Sniffs provide both long term and short term intelligence. Wipers, Shifters, Shadows and Stitchers help to protect critical information and to heal oneself.

Liked the catchy names given to categorize the special powers! The special effects were good! Also thought that the rivalry between the two Watcher girls was interesting!

Internet Movie Database Link

Saturday, November 20, 2010

When We Leave

The story is about how a woman left her abusive husband in Turkey and brought her son to stay with her parents in Germany. They welcomed her initially but eventually felt ashamed by her.

Only realized that this film was based on true events after watching the film. Great acting by the actress! Liked the detailed depiction of her relationship with her husband, her family and her friends!

Internet Movie Database Link

Friday, November 19, 2010

The Heiress

This is a film adaptation of Henry James's novel "Washington Square". The story is about how a naive doctor's daughter is wooed by an unemployed handsome young man who is after her money.

Great acting by the lead actress! She looked believable as both the shy young lady and the confident heiress that she later became! The maid also looked quite pretty and had a cute voice!

Internet Movie Database Link

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

The Outlaw and His Wife

The story is about how an outlaw escaped from jail to work for a rich widow who fell in love with him and followed him to live in the mountains when the authorities came to their door.

Liked the nice Scandinavian scenery and the use of flashbacks towards the end! The inter-titles had a lot of words for a silent film though.

Internet Movie Database Link

Monday, November 15, 2010

Blind Beast

The story is about how a blind sculptor abducted a pretty young woman to be his model and how they fell in love with each other.

Liked the voice over narration and the psychological game played by the model with the sculptor and his mother in her attempt to escape! The visual effects and sound effects were very good too!

Internet Movie Database Link

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Soul Kitchen

This is a comedy about the transformation of a restaurant called "Soul Kitchen" from an ordinary eating place to a gourmet paradise filled with a hip crowd and nice music.

Liked the good sense of humor by the director and the great teamwork displayed by the family and friends of the restaurant owner!

Internet Movie Database Link

The Housemaid

This is a remake of Kim Ki-Young's 1960 film with the same title. The original film can be watched for free here. The story is about what happened after a housemaid got pregnant by the master of the house. The wife had a young daughter and was pregnant with twins at the same time.

Liked the nice soundtrack and beautiful choreography of the sex sequences of this film but the original film was more exciting in terms of the suspense and thriller portion! Half expected the old maid's son would play a part in the maid's revenge but was disappointed.

Internet Movie Database Link

Mouchette

The story is about how the life of a young girl named Mouchette with a dying mother and an alcoholic father changed after she got involved in the conflict between a poacher and a rural policeman.

Liked the opening scene that summarized the whole film! Great acting and excellent mud slinging skills by Mouchette! The ending sequence made a lot more sense to me now as I have seen the clip in another film prior to this.

Internet Movie Database Link

Sunday, November 07, 2010

Melo

The story is adapted from a play about how a wife had an affair with her husband's friend and its consequences.

Great acting by Sabine Azema who played the wife! The dialogue was very well written and helped to flesh out the psychology of each character!

Internet Movie Database Link

Saturday, November 06, 2010

Son of Babylon

The story is about how a boy went on a journey with his grandmother to search for his father who went missing during the Iraq war.

Liked the interesting journey and the beautiful scenery but the boy was really annoying for crying out to his grandmother for every small little thing.

Internet Movie Database Link

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Every Man For Himself

The story is about how a man, his wife, his lover and a prostitute are inter-related. Each of them are reflecting upon their present situation and are looking for a change in their lives.

Liked the innovative slow motion technique and the nice soundtrack! Didn't really like the explicit political messages though.

Internet Movie Database Link