Film Difficulty 3

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 3.

Film Difficulty Ranking 3: More of a challenge for those familiar with foreign films. Level 3 is like a mix between an intriguing European mime artist and your most interesting and demanding school teacher.

If you’ve mastered these films, move onto Film Difficulty Ranking 4.

101

Batuque (Cape Verde) – Hear the Music that Defines a Nation

Batuque Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Do you want to go to Cape Verde? Whilst you won’t see the lush beaches in this film, you’ll hear the sounds and soul of the island. Plus you’ll have an amazing Batuque band to tour you around! For a trip to Cape Verde for the price of lunch, watch this film here (Amazon).

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Why Watch Batuque?

It’s the best way to experience Cape Verde without paying for a flight
If you love music
To learn about Cape Verdean history
Meet some of Batuque’s biggest stars

The Breakdown

The film starts with a Batuque band called Raiz di Tambarina playing at a local wedding. All the band members are dressed in white for the occasion and sit in an almost complete circle with a dancer in the middle. They keep the percussion and the vocals going whilst the lead vocalist (hidden in the circle) leads them in their call and response style singing.

As you’ll see, Batuque is alive and well in Cape Verde. However, it’s had a troubled history. Under colonial times in the 1800s the Portuguese attempted to eradicate all forms of black culture. As a result, Batuque was outlawed so ‘honest hardworking folk would not be misled.’ These backwards laws weren’t overruled until the 1970s when independence was finally granted. Raiz di Tambarina (the band in the film) are an example of how intertwined the genre is with Cape Verdean culture. The band, like many of the Batuque stars today, started whilst under prohibition, and like the genre, have outlived it’s persecution.

In addition to the music and history of Batuque, this documentary also shows us life in Cape Verde by following the band members as they go about their day jobs. One of them buys fish from the port to sell inland whilst another is a truck driver. At one point in the film, whilst at the fish market, a group forms spontaneously and starts singing and drumming Batuque with anything ready to hand. The spontaneity shows how ingrained Batuque is into the culture of Cape Verde. It has survived slavery and colonisation and is now a celebrated part of Cape Verde.

Conclusion & What to Watch Next

Batuque is more than a film about Batuque music. Instead, it uses Batuque music to tell the story of Cape Verde: it’s history, people, and culture. You’ll hear the music that defines the nation, before you meet the people behind it and follow them at their ‘day-jobs’. Batuque is an arm-chair traveler’s guide to Cape Verde.

For another musical exploration, go visit the sound of the Democratic Republic of Congo courtesy of the Kasai Allstars. It took home the Best Picture at the African film awards in 2017 and won the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival. Read more here and go watch it here (Amazon).

Or, if you’re interested in seeing more creative ways of telling the history of a nation, check out The Missing Picture. It tells the story of a Cambodian family looking for a missing picture of their relative lost in the Cambodian genocide. Read more here or go watch it here (Amazon).

102

Daughter in Law – Alone in the Desert Waiting for A Soldier to Return

Daughter in Law Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Why Watch Daughter in Law?

Feel the isolation of living alone in the Turkmen desert with your father in law.
Grasp onto the last threads of hope with a young woman dreaming of her husband returning from war.
For a ritualistic transcendental film from Soviet Turkmenistan.

From: Turkmenistan, Asia
Watch: YouTube, IMDb
Next: When the Tenth Month Comes, Uski Roti, Beatriz's War

103

Edge of the Knife – A Living Haida Legend

Edge of the Knife Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

If you’re a horror fan or someone who loves languages, check out this film. Edge of the Knife offers horror fans something different and film fans an opportunity to see the first film shot with a Haida cast, speaking Haida, on Haida land.

From: Canada, North America
Watch: Trailer, Buy on Amazon
Next: Antichrist, The Revenant, Tanna

104

It’s All Good – Crisis in Modern Venezuela

It’s All Good Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

If you think the healthcare system in the U.S. is bad, watch this film to learn about the health crisis in Venezuela. In It’s All Good you’ll meet two patients, an activist medicine smuggler, a doctor in training, and a pharmacist trying to stay afloat. They’re all trying to survive in a country where there is no medicine.

From: Venezuela, South America
Watch: Trailer, Rent on Amazon
Next: La Soledad, Theatre of War, Little Dieter Needs to Fly

105

The Great Warrior Skanderbeg (Albania)

The Great Warrior Skanderbeg Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Ever wanted to see an epic film from Albania? Image result for great warrior skanderbeg Here’s your chance. In the spirit of the epic Soviet films from Sergei Eisenstein, The Great Warrior Skanderbeg does not disappoint. Yes, there are heavily stereotyped characters and a lot of nationalism, but there is also epic battles and even arm wrestling. If you’re up for watching something epic with an epic action movie character (think Conan the Barbarian) this one is for you. You can even watch it here on YouTube!

Why Watch Skanderbeg?

To see the most Albanian film not made by an Albanian
Learn about Albania’s most famous historical character (perhaps the first Albanian?)
You just finished Ben Hur and want to see something equally epic
For all the rivalries – watch the Skanderbeg face off against the Turks, the Venetians, and the Serbians!

The Breakdown

‘The Greatest Warrior of Albania’ flashes across the screen as some doors open to reveal an incredible view of a mountain valley. This film is about the myth of Skanderbeg, a myth which has constructed Skanderbeg as a national hero of Albania. As a result there is a lot of nationalist ‘propaganda’ which is not surprising considering that this is a co-production between the Soviet Union and Albania from the 1950s.

So how is it nationalist? It’s nationalist because Skanderbeg is depicted as a figure who united all the rival groups living under the Turks and Venetians as ‘Albanians.’ It’s nationalist because Albanian culture is shown throughout; there’s an Albanian wedding, Albanian Christianity, and Albanian costume.

What’s more is that the early story structure is almost identical to the story of Moses. Both Skanderbeg and Moses are princes of their future rivals, Skanderbeg serves the Turks while Moses serves Egypt. Secondly, they both receive a ‘call to action’ which leads Skanderbeg to betray the Turks and Moses to betray Egypt in favour of their people. They both become national leaders and demand liberty from the powers they formerly served. Skanderbeg becomes a leader of Albania, whilst Moses led the Israelites. Of course they both end up in epic climactic battles!

Conclusion

The Great Warrior Skanderbeg won prizes at Cannes after it’s release in the 1950s. Despite the unapologetic nationalism, it is an epic film. It has some epic battles with huge casts which are reminiscent of the master of epic film, Sergei Eisenstein (see Alexander Nevsky or Battleship Potemkin). You’ll also learn a fair bit about Albanian history and it’s relationships with the Italian Kingdoms, the Turks, and Serbians. Just ignore the overly stereotyped characters!