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.

Bacurau – One Fun Brazilian Genre Free For All

WARNING: SPOILERS

Bacurau is one fun genre film with a bunch of memorable cult action film characters on the level of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Predator or Song Kang-ho in Snowpiercer. Problem is, it builds up the cult vibe a bit too high, which leaves the ending doomed to underwhelm.

However, that’s not to say you shouldn’t watch this film. On the contrary, you should. It’s still exciting. Plus it presents a positive message (in a High Noon esque conflict with a lot of violence that I cannot advocate) of a diverse community in rural Brazil that comes together to stand up to attacks from local politicians and foreign interests. It’s an obvious allegory to a Brazil that has become increasingly polarized due to the rise of the Brazilian far right, led by President Jair Bolsonaro. It is interesting to see that this adaptation of The Most Dangerous Game arrived in the U.S. the same weekend as The Hunt, a U.S. adaptation of the same book, considering both countries are led by right-wing leaders.

Bacurau is the name of the fictional isolated town in the heart of Brazil where the film takes place. The town is a Brazilian copy of the towns you’d expect to see in an American western. It’s surrounded by dusty land and sparse vegetation, with only one road leading into the town. The same road all the town’s buildings are built on. The residents also represent a diverse range of backgrounds, like you’d expect to see on the American frontier (see First Cow), with black, white, and brown people, young and old, from a variety of professions. It’s almost a utopian community of the future, where everyone gets along and respects each other, or maybe it just feels utopian because communities like this are disappearing.

They’re rightly suspicious of and prepared for anything that tries to break their community. A couple stationed a mile outside of their town uses walkie-talkies to inform the DJ in town of any visitors, who then uses his speakers to pass their warnings onto everyone in town. Their lines of communication allow them to avoid interacting with the lying local politician and prepare themselves from the attacks of foreigners. They can survive by embracing outcasts and standing together in the face of danger.

There are even a few clues that the community has done this before. The town’s museum is full of memorabilia from countless rebellions against the government. The town’s residents encourage outsiders to visit the museum to show off their pride in their independence, and also warn them of what might happen if they don’t receive respect. In one of the last scenes, the museum curator asks the clean up crew to leave the mark of a bloodied hand on the wall to serve as another mark of their resistance. Their respect for their local museum indicates a respect for their history. Knowing their past, allows them to be better prepared for the future. In this case, their experience defending their town from the government and foreigners in the past has made them more wary of the same people today. It’s a lesson for everyone living today: know your history or fall victim to a cycle of racism and division that has been reborn in the rise of the prejudiced right-wing governments of the world.

If you liked Bacurau, director Kleber Mendonça Filho and co-director Juliano Dornelles handpicked an assortment of films that map the rich cinematic universe to which their inventive creation belong for the Lincoln Center in New York. Whilst the film series had to be cancelled due to Coronavirus, many of the films listed are available for streaming. Check out their program here or the link below, featuring works by John Carpenter, Sergio Corbucci, Eduardo Coutinho, and more.

https://www.filmlinc.org/series/mapping-bacurau/#films

Scheherazade, Tell Me A Story – Down With the Patriarchy

Scheherazade, Tell Me A Story Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Why Watch Scheherazade, Tell Me A Story?

If you like ‘real’ stories and storytelling
To see how entrenched the patriarchy can be (and is)
It’s an entertaining watch, because of it’s brilliant use of melodrama

From: Egypt, Africa
Watch: Trailer, Mubi, Prime Video, JustWatch
Next: After the Battle, The Insult, Saudi Runaway

The Lunchbox (India)

The Lunchbox Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

“Sometimes the wrong train gets you to the right station”

Are you looking for a great Indian film that isn’t a musical? Well here’s a good place to start. Ritesh Batra’s The Lunchbox is a beautiful celebration of Indian culture alongside a warning of the effects of rapid economic development. At the heart of the film is food; what it symbolises and how it can bring people together. For a trip to Mumbai, go watch The Lunchbox available on YouTube and (I think) Netflix – it’s also worth your money – click on the picture for a link to buy.

Why Watch The Lunchbox?

You don’t like musicals, but you want to see a great Indian film.
To see the amazing lunch-box service system in action
Meet ‘Auntie’ the go-to lady for all your questions – also a character that we don’t even see
For Irrfan Khan on top form (you may recognise him from Jurassic World, Life of Pi, Slumdog Millionaire, or Talvar which was reviewed here earlier).

The Breakdown

The Lunchbox starts with a montage of Mumbai. Director, Ritesh Batra, shows us the trains, shoes cleaners, and cars before stopping at the house of Ila. Ila is fussing over her young daughter before she goes to school, telling her be careful. Her daughter disappears and she goes straight to her cooking. She tastes the contents of one of the pots and figures it is missing something. A basket appears at the window with a pot of spices, lowered down by ‘Auntie’. Ila adds the spices and readies the food for collection.

The lunch box prepared by Ila travels through the incredible lunch box system and ends on the desk of Saajan (played by Irrfan Khan) who is seduced by the amazing smells of this unexpected lunchbox.

Food is central to the narrative of this film and also shows us a lot about each of the characters. At home, Saajan eats heated up food from a plastic bag. In comparison with the fresh cooked meals that a family next door eats, his plastic meals are a symbol of his loneliness.

Food also symbolises class. Shaikh, an orphan who becomes Saajan’s apprentice, always brings in two pieces of fruit for lunch, usually two bananas. In comparison with the lunch box that Saajan can afford, a banana is a lunch for the lower class.

In addition, The Lunchbox does not hide the stress of life in Mumbai. Each of the main characters has experienced the death or absence of family. On the news, we hear of a mother jumping off the top of a tall building with her daughter to escape life. Ila blames it on the government that prioritises the GDP over happiness. The country has got caught up striving for a greater economy and forgotten about the importance of happiness.

Conclusion

The Lunchbox cleverly shows the current state of life in Mumbai through a romantic tribute to the lunchbox system. In doing so, it shows us a lot of Indian life: the food, the people, the transport, and relationships. It also subtly depicts the burdens that the Indian people are carrying as the country develops rapidly. This reminded me a lot of the Chinese film A Touch of Sin, which shows the strain of economic growth on people in China. However, in contrast to A Touch of Sin, The Lunchbox is much more upbeat and has plenty to celebrate.

The Road Home (China) – Fall in Love with Zhang Yimou’s China

The Road Home Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Are you looking for a love story that will warm your heart? Or are you looking to explore rural China and all it’s customs and culture? Either way, check out The Road Home, a beautiful love story set in rural China directed by Zhang Yimou. Currently available to watch here on Amazon (for rent)

Why Watch The Road Home?

If you’re in the mood for a romantic love story
You’re a fan of Zhang Yimou’s martial arts films (Hero, House of Flying Daggers) and you want to see him explore something different
To learn about customs (and superstitions) in rural China
See how different school is in this film

The Breakdown

The first part of The Road Home is shot in the present day in dull black and white. Luo Yusheng arrives at his family home in rural China having traveled from his home in the city. His father has just died, and he’s come home to keep his mum company and sort out the funeral arrangements.

Tradition says you need to carry the dead all the way home whilst shouting out ‘this is the way home’ to remind them how to return. Yusheng’s mum is adamant that he must honor this tradition for their father. However, this tradition has rarely been carried out since the Cultural Revolution in the 60s and 70s. Whilst he’s figuring out what to do with his father’s body, the narrative switches to the story of Lusheng’s parents romantic courtship which has become a legend in their hometown.

Is this film a challenge to the state of Communism in China?

On the surface, The Road Home appears to be a regular love story. But, if you pay a bit more attention, you’ll see an underlying critique of the state of Communism in China.

In The Road Home, Zhang Yimou critiques the loss of culture. You’ll hear this first when the mayor says that the traditional burial mentioned above has not been done since the Cultural Revolution (a subtle jab against the Cultural Revolution for taking away part of Chinese Culture). But, more obviously the critique is present in the film’s portrayal of the past.

Whilst the present is shot in a dull black and white, the past is shot in vibrant colour. The colour reflects the emotion and hope embedded in the past, when the Communist Revolution was still young. In contrast the dull black and white of the present symbolises how the hope and optimism of the Communist Revolution has disintegrated and has taken culture and emotion with it.

Image result for the road home film

Conclusion & What To Watch Next

The Road Home is a beautiful love story set in rural China. Luckily for all of you who don’t want to settle for pure cheesy romance, there’s much more to this film than initially meets the eye. Because if you look carefully, you’ll see the subtle critique of the direction of Chinese Communism.

If you want more romance, click here to explore all the films under in our Love film category.

Or if you’re looking for more Chinese film, head over to our Chinese film page. We recommend checking out A Touch of Sin for a more brutal depiction of life in contemporary China.

Vai – A Tribute to the Indigenous Women of the Pacific Islands

Vai Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

Why Watch Vai?

For a collection of 8 short films set across the Pacific Islands
See a shared indigenous Pacific Islander experience
It’s a powerful feminist tribute, featuring 8 women, and directed by 9

From: Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand, Niue, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Australasia
Watch: Trailer, Amazon Prime, Tubi, JustWatch
Next: Whale Rider, Boyhood, The Orator

a collection of short films

Vai is a collection of eight short films made by 9 women which takes place across seven different countries (Fiji, Tonga, Solomon Islands, New Zealand, Kuki Airani, Samoa, and Niue). The titular character, Vai, is played by eight different indigenous women aging from 6 to 80.

Another interesting thing to note before watching is that ‘Vai’ translates as ‘water’ in each of the countries named above. Water is an integral part of the story. It surrounds each of the islands, which isolates each community, making traveling between islands harder. It’s ability to provide food is threatened as companies infringe on and overfish in traditional fishing waters. Drinking water is also rare and hoarded by the privileged. Most importantly, it gives life, both spiritually (as in the final short) and physically.

“We sweat and cry salt water, so we know that the ocean is really in our blood”
Teresia Teaiwa

A Common Indigenous Experience

Vai’s journey is played by 8 different indigenous actresses across 7 different countries and 8 different ages. In the first short, Vai is a 6 year old girl in Fiji, and the film progresses until the final short shows her as an 80 year old woman in Aeotara (New Zealand). By shooting Vai’s journey with different actresses across different countries, Vai creates a common indigenous Pacific Islander experience.

One common theme is the cycle of leaving and returning. In the first three shorts, Vai lives without her mother or father, as they’ve been forced to travel to New Zealand to try and provide for their family. In the fourth, Vai has already left Samoa and is studying in New Zealand. The final four films feature an older Vai that has returned to home. She returns and has to relearn the traditional ways she has forgotten. Whilst she regains her community, her younger relatives leave their homes just as she did, repeating the cycle of coming and going.

(Insert analogy comparing the coming and going of the people and tradition to the coming and going of the sea tides).

A Life Well Lived

The Pacific Islander experience may be new to some viewers, however, the experience of life is much more universal. It’s scope reminded me a little bit of Linklater’s Boyhood, except here the scope is much larger. Instead of focusing on a child from 8 years old to 18, Vai follows a woman across a whole lifetime. In doing so it encapsulates the entire experience of life in 90 minutes. When you’re watching Vai as an 80 year old, the memories of the shorts of Vai as a 6 and 13 year old are still clear in your head which allows us to enter Vai’s old age with a greater understanding of where she came from. These are memories that we often lose touch of once we hit adulthood in our own lives. Showing it all in one film lets us see life repeating itself and allows us to better empathize with Vai as an older woman.

What to Watch Next

If you’re after more indigenous stories from the Pacific Islands, check out Whale Rider, The Orator, Waru, or even Tanna. For too crossover films you could also check out Hunt for the Wilderpeople and Rabbit Proof Fence.

Or, if you’re looking for more films which follow a single character across different ages, I’d strongly recommend checking out Boyhood and Moonlight. They’re two great U.S. films about growing up.