Le Moulin Film Difficulty Ranking: 5

Watching Le Moulin is like walking round a great Taiwanese museum. All the interesting stuff is listed next to some intriguing artifacts from the period. You will come out of the film feeling like an expert on Taiwanese literature in the 20th century.

Why Watch Le Moulin?
  • If you want to see a proper art house film
  • To learn a contemporary history of Taiwanese literature, especially the influence of Surrealism (pretty specialist stuff)
  • See a documentary told through a range of artistic forms (paintings, poems, and of course film) reminiscent of Weerasethakul’s A Mysterious Object at Noon
  • Learn a bit about the history of Taiwan as well from the pre-war 1930s to the Kuomintang ruled 1950s
The Breakdown

Le Moulin starts with dice rolling on a board. Disorientating music plays as we watch four men with their heads and feet out of frame line up to be photographed. Next we see the picture crystalising on a piece of photo paper in it’s chemical bath.

The four men are part of a collective of Taiwanese poets that tried to establish a Taiwanese voice against the Japanese colonisers. You’ll follow their story from the early 1930s when Taiwan was occupied by Japan, through to the 1950s when Kuomintang declared martial law.

You will learn a lot about Taiwanese history and literature watching Le Moulin. However, the main attraction is it’s form. One minute you’re watching a re enactment of the collective and the next you are being shown incredible still pictures from the era and having poems read to you in full. You’ll even notice art work from Picasso, Cocteau, and Chaplin dotted around the film.

All in all it is a complete documentation of modern Taiwanese literature. It leaves no rock unturned.

Conclusion

The style and form sets Le Moulin apart. It weaves in photos, mementos, art, poetry, and reenactments to create what is effectively a museum exhibit on Taiwanese literature. A must for someone interested in how to use form in historic documentary films.

For a fictional film which also experiments with form, I’d recommend checking out Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Mysterious Object at Noon.

Ahlo from The Rocket

The Rocket Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you always like supporting the underdog, you’ll enjoy following ‘Little Balls’ in The Rocket. As he was born a twin, his family think he’s cursed and destined to bring bad luck to the family. What they don’t see is that he’s the future of their traditional way of life. The more they blame him, the more distant their link to their heritage becomes.

From: Laos, Asia
Watch: Trailer, Free on Vudu, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: Whale Rider, The Boy who Harnessed the Wind, The Eagle Huntress
Continue reading “The Rocket – Cheer for the Family Underdog”
Beyond the Clouds Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Are you looking for a big film for a bit of entertainment? With music, melodrama, and some epic shots? Look no further than Majid Majidi’s Beyond the Clouds. This Iranian director is one of the best at making great family films (check out Children of Heaven). Plus, if you liked Slumdog Millionaire (another great Mumbai film made by a foreigner) you’ll love this. It’s pure entertainment.

Image result for beyond the clouds

Why Watch Beyond the Clouds?
  • To be entertained! There’s big sweeping shots and beautiful colours! You’ll notice the echoes of Slumdog Millionaire
  • For the music composed by A R Rahman (it’s not a musical, but you’ll notice the Bollywood touch)
  • To learn to appreciate the NHS (and all other countries with public healthcare)
  •  See the melting pot of Indian diversity – in this film you’ll hear Hindi, Tamil, and bits of English
The Breakdown

Beyond the Clouds opens with a wide shot of a highway bridge in Mumbai. The camera tracks downwards to show us life under the highway. As Majid Majidi (the director) states, he wanted to get under the skin of the city, and right from the start he focuses on life that has escaped modernisation.

There’s a lot going on in each shot. We meet our protagonist walk-dancing along an empty path with his friend. They both hop on the back of a motorbike and zoom off down an empty straight road like cowboys riding towards the sunset. The sweeping camera movements and dance steps make it feel like you’re watching a big film. This is pure entertainment.

You’ll also be led by Majidi’s use of colours and darkness. When Amir visits his sister, she recounts all her traumas from the shadowed darkness of her bedroom. She has been ignored, emphasised by the darkness she is left in. Likewise the white sheets left to dry outside the busy clothes washers are a perfect symbol of innocence. Innocence that is fated to be stained…

Conclusion

This is why you go to watch films on the big screen. It has the wide sweeping shots, vivid colours, music, and plenty of melodrama. Yes, there’s a little cheesiness, but not enough to put you off. If you want to be entertained for a few hours, you can’t much go wrong watching Beyond the Clouds.

Scene from Manila by Rays Martin

Manila Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

If you’re looking for a dark portrayal of life in Manila, you’ve come to the right place. In Manila there’s social problems, political corruption, and injustice hidden behind the tropes of the Hollywood noir genre. You’ll meet a few characters of the city, but the focus is always on the city of Manila and its sounds, sights, and life.

From: Philippines, Asia
Watch: Trailer, Amazon Prime, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: From What is Before, Miles Ahead, Manila by Night
Continue reading “Manila – Welcome to the Dark Side of the City”
The Eagle Huntress Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

For beautiful scenery, eagles, and sexism check out The Eagle Huntress. It’s the closest you’ll get to a real life version of How to Train Your Dragon. Plus you can watch it here on Amazon (free with Prime).

Image result for eagle huntress

Why Watch The Eagle Huntress?
  • If you love good documentaries
  • Experience nomadic life in Mongolia – complete with freezing winters
  • Learn how to catch, train, and hunt with an Eagle
  • To see a 13 year old girl beat a bunch of old men
The Breakdown

The Eagle Huntress starts with a montage of epic scenery shots. There’s the stunning snow capped mountains, the endless salt flats, and beautiful valleys. It’s a perfect opening for Mongolian tourism. However, one thing you might notice from the opening is the lack of humans and wildlife. Whilst it’s beautiful, this area isn’t made for human life. Winter temperatures often drop to -40 degrees Fahrenheit. The brutal landscape provides the perfect setting to demonstrate the strength of Aisholpan and her father.

Anyone that lives as a nomad in Mongolia has got to be pretty hardy. Therefore if any girl can train an eagle to compete against the men in the local tournament, it has got to be this girl who grew up in the bitter cold countryside watching her father train them.

You’ll be with her every step of the way to the eagle festival. First, you’ll see her father rebelliously train her up with his own eagle. Secondly, you’ll see him take her into the mountains to catch an eaglet of her own (not the best advertisement of animal rights). Then she manages to get her grandfather’s blessing to train her own eagle before she eventually enters the eagle competition. If you ever wanted to own your own bird of prey, here’s your chance to experience it.

Documentary or Drama?

Whilst this film looks like a documentary, it definitely plays up the gender narrative. Every time Aisholpan takes a new step with training the eagle the film cuts to a montage of old Mongolian/Kazakh men saying that a women’s place is in the kitchen.

The grumpy old men are edited into the film to highlight how Aisholpan is not welcome in this male-only tradition. However, none of the people she comes into contact with on camera with her eagle seem offended that she’s training an eagle (the judges of the festival, her grandfather, the other competitors). Instead, all of the controversy comes from shots edited into the documentary narrative. The director uses these shots to dramatise her ‘against-all-odds’ story.

In addition, the pop-idol style music that plays whenever Aisholpan overcomes an obstacle in her training and the English narration from Daisy Ridley take you out of the documentary intimacy and add to the drama. Whilst this is a documentary, it’s editing, music, and narration add unnecessary dramatic tension to the film which ultimately holds you back from fully immersing yourself in the film, whilst also making it feel more manufactured.

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

Don’t be put off from watching this documentary based on the documentary or drama debate above as the narrative is still great (I just thought it was dramatised unnecessarily). Plus, The Eagle Huntress is worth watching for the incredible footage alone – some parts feel like another episode of Planet Earth.

If you love the girl-power vibe then I strongly recommend you check out both The Little Girl who Sold the Sun and Wadjda. The Little Girl who Sold the Sun features a young Senegalese girl who tries selling a local newspaper to support her blind mother. Wadjda features a young Saudi Arabian girl who fights for her right to ride a bicycle in a patriarchal society.

Or if you want to see another film where someone struggles to become something they want against all odds, check out The Orator. It features a little person from Samoa who is bullied by all the regular sized locals.