Film Difficulty 2

To help you ease your way into our world, we have devised a the film difficulty ranking system to rate the difficulty of each film reviewed on our site. The easiest to watch films (the Rom-Coms and Superhero flicks that you watch anyway) will have a rating of 1. Foreign language films automatically add one point, as do black and white films, and films with strange and hard to follow plots. Welcome to Film Difficulty 2.

Film Difficulty Ranking 2: These films are perfect introductions to those new to foreign films. These one’s may have subtitles, or be in black and white, but these films are all easy to follow and enjoy.

For the next step, check out Film Difficulty Ranking 3.

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Can anyone ever be above the law? Well this film argues that there are already people who are above the law. It points the finger squarely at the police department of Italy in the 1960s/70s. However, before you get the idea that this film is just a political slow-boiler, read on. This film is a crime thriller like no other. You will be on the edge of your seat repeatedly asking yourself why. Why is no one condemning him? Answer: he’s too damn powerful.

Why Watch Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion?

To find out if there can ever be anyone above the law
It won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film in 1970
For a glimpse of Italian society in the late 1960s/early 1970s; a period of violent student/worker uprisings amidst social and political conflict that came to be known as the “years of lead.”
If you like a great satire – one of the best ways to critique

The Breakdown

Quick cutting and camera movement introduce us to a police inspector walking along a black fence. The camera follows his movement and his eyes as he looks up to a lady in an apartment window. They obviously know each other, as their faces are match cut looking at each other. He opens the gate, walks up the stairs, and enters her apartment. “How are you going to kill me this time?” she asks him playfully. “I’m going to slit your throat” he replies sincerely. And sure enough, after brief foreplay and sex, he slits her throat.

The murderer methodically arranges his own crime scene, takes two bottles of champagne, and drives off. He calmly drives to the police station, jumps out of the car and starts to celebrate his promotion. He walks into the office, orders someone to get glasses and sits down at his new desk with a big map of the city behind him. It is obvious that he is in a position of huge power. That he is in a position that is above suspicion.

The director, Elio Petri, shows us how power is divided in Italy. The powerful hold control of the media, the public, and the police. The police inspector holds power over all three of these. Each one refuses to follow the clues he gives them. Instead they all follow him blindly, or, in the case of the public, represented by the tin-smith, they renounce their testimony out of fear, as if the inspector is a king, and they are worried of being accused of treason by incriminating him. The film is a parable of the corrupt police force that victimised students and labourers, and put themselves above the law.

Conclusion

In his portrayal of the police inspector, Petri exposes the corruption in the Italian police force. He shows the authoritarian position that the police inspector has and shows that they control everything. The media publish what the police give them, the public are too scared to stand up to the police, and his colleagues are too ‘stupid’ to follow the clues he leaves.

The tension in the film doesn’t come from us asking when he is going to get caught, but how far other people go to vindicate him.

Kikujiro (Japan)

Click the poster to buy the DVD and open up Japan!

Kikujiro Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Want to experience Japan without paying the expensive flight tickets? Then watch Kikujiro. You’ll travel the cities and country of Japan with little Masao and Kikujiro and do things that probably aren’t in the guide books, like betting on bike races and having fun at a local fair. You’ll also get a beautiful soundtrack from Joe Hisaishi to go with it all!

Why Watch Kikujiro?

If you like coming-of-age films or road trip movies! This one is inspired by The Wizard of Oz!
For some cool camera shots. Look out for one shot from the inside of a glass, and another shot from a car hub-cab.
For another Kitano classic (check out his gangster flick Hana-bi for something different)
It’s a postcard tour of Japan – watch this if you want to go to Japan!

The Breakdown

Kikujiro starts with a slow motion shot of a young boy running across a pedestrian bridge. He is smiling and is wearing a backpack with little wings attached to it. The camera follows him as he runs from one side of the bridge to the other.

The young boy, Masao, is described as a ‘gloomy kid.’ His parents left him when he was a baby and he has grown up with his grandmother ever since. You start to feel sorry for him as soon as his school finishes for the summer holidays. He runs home by himself, he lets himself into the house by himself, and eats a plate of food left for him on the table by himself. He’s all alone with no parents. The next morning, he walks to football practice but the instructor tells him that the session is cancelled because of the summer vacation. He plays by himself for a bit before going home. Poor Masao! He just wants a friend!

He doesn’t get a friend, but one of his grandmother’s friends (Kikujiro) reluctantly takes him to find his mum. Their journey takes us through a diverse range of life in Japan. First, Kikujiro takes Masao to the cycle races as a good luck totem for his betting. After he strikes a bit of luck, we are taken into a strip club and a Japanese diner. Later we are taken to a local fair, a hotel resort, and even end up at a bus stop in the country which is reminiscent of the bus stop in My Neighbour Totoro. Watch Kikujiro to experience Japan!

Conclusion

Just like The Wizard of Oz, Masao comes across a rabble of people from different walks of life. They all allow Masao to escape his loneliness for the summer holidays. Kikujiro shows the versatility of director Kitano as he ranges from Yakuza gangster film Hana-bi to this endearing coming-of-age film.

Shok (Kosovo)

Shok Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Whilst in Kosovo, I asked a Kosovan what Kosovan film I should watch. He told me to watch Shok. If you don’t know much about the Kosovan War, or anything at all, go spend 21 minutes watching this film. You’ll learn a lot.

Why Watch Shok?

To learn about the war crimes committed in the Kosovo War (contentiously not termed a genocide because the aim was forced migration rather than destruction of ethnic Albanians).
It’s a film from Kosovo – so you’ll be able to tick off Kosovo from your film checklist
Shok is only 21 minutes long – shorter than your favorite TV shows
If you love all coming-of-age films

The Breakdown

Shok starts with a shot of the Kosovan hills in autumn. A Mercedes drives towards the camera and stops in front of a bike lying on the ground. Two guys hop out the vehicle. The driver tells the other to move the bike and get back in the car, however the passenger tells him to drive on without him.

As the passenger picks up the bike and cycles down the road, the film flashes back to the 1990s during the Kosovo War. You see the war through two boy’s friendship. Firstly, they are told off for being out after curfew. Secondly, when Oki stays over you can see images of Serbian tanks on the TV – the news reader tells us that many have been massacred. These are the signs that life is not normal for these two boys despite their joyous friendship.

However, the filmmaker leaves plenty of clues that things are not going to end well. Firstly there’s the first scene – why does this man get out of the car to ride a bike along an empty road? Secondly the director sews together a few scenes with apocalyptic images in monochrome. One of them is of a bike laying on the road, wheels spinning. The other shows a swing swinging on it’s own. Both are ominous signs that signify the ultimate forced migration of Albanians out of their land.

Conclusion

Shok is a powerful short film that will show you the war crimes that took place in the Kosovo War. It packs as much into 21 minutes as a feature film would in 100, without feeling rushed. Shok was the first Oscar nomination from Kosovo and is well worth 21 minutes of your time. Go find it on iTunes or online now!

As for more films which explore life living in a conflict and under occupation, I’d check out Omar and Ajami which both explore the Israel-Palestine conflict.

The Red Turtle (Netherlands)

The Red Turtle Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you’re a fan of Studio Ghibli or struggling to answer some of life’s big questions, you should check out this film. It is a beautiful animation that explores some of the biggest philosophical debates. Who are we? What is the meaning of life and death? And what is beauty? Go ahead and watch Michael Dudok de Wit’s animation, birthed when Studio Ghibli sent him a letter out of the blue asking if he wanted to make a film!

Why Watch the Red Turtle?

You want to see a European Studio Ghibli film from Michael Dudok de Wit, complete with magical realism and beautiful animation
To hear an excellent soundtrack composed by a former doctor (it’s never too late to do what you love)
If you love the idea of being stuck on a desert island (Robinson Crusoe was the inspiration for this film)
Watch and question who you are really are if you were to be stuck on a desert island

The Breakdown

The film starts with a night time storm in the ocean. A man struggles to stay afloat as huge waves swirl and crash around him. He spots his dinghy but as he swims towards it, a wave crashes on top of it, breaking it into driftwood.

There are no colours in this opening scene. All of the night time scenes are shot in black and white. Later, on the island, the night sky shines with a beautiful mat of stars. The monochrome nights appear more real than the heavily lighted night scenes we are used to. They contain what the director calls ‘beauty in subtlety.’ There are no bright colours or heavy lighting similar to the Hollywood films we are used to. In fact the first appearance of the red turtle is the first moment in which red appears on screen. The director’s subtle palette is reminiscent of Studio Ghibli (see Tale of Princess Kaguya) and Japanese art in general. It is from these influences that the director found beauty in subtlety, used in this film.

The film is also a tale of life and death, similar to the circle of life in Lion King. You see animals on the island full of life in one scene and then dead and being fed on in the next. The film’s cyclical view of time and narrative (another Eastern inspiration) contrasts with the traditional Western linear narrative. It gives the story a certain timelessness (are the characters dead or in a dream?). It also questions the meaning of life – why do we so desperately strive for goals when nature and time are cyclical? (see more on linear vs. cyclical time here).

Conclusion

The Red Turtle is a beautiful animation that on the surface is a story about a man stranded on a desert island. However, on further analysis, it’s subtle techniques and cyclical narrative reveal questions about the meaning of life and time. With only nature to keep you company, you find out who you really are.

Run Lola Run – An Adrenaline Rush in Berlin

Imagine a German nightclub blasting techno music. Imagine a German nightclub blasting techno music whilst drinking Red Bull. Imagine a German nightclub blasting techno music whilst drinking Red Bull and dancing the running man. You’re now getting close to the adrenaline rush of Run Lola Run.

Run Lola Run Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

From: Germany, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: Trainspotting, Vertigo, Crystal Swan