Film Difficulty 4

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. You’re almost there, welcome to Film Difficulty 4.

Film Difficulty Ranking 4: These films demand full attention for long stretches of time, slowly draining your film stamina. However, these films can be incredibly rewarding, much like the feeling of finishing your last school exam after weeks/months of studying.

If you think you’re ready to take on some of the most challenging films from around the world, you’re almost there. Prepare yourself for films that are 7 hours long and others that demand every millisecond of your interpretative mind and a lot of post-film analysis. Then you’re ready to sit down and enjoy the heights of Film Difficulty Ranking 5.

Mardan (Iraq) – A Sombre Film Set in Kurdish Iraq

Mardan Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

Most of you know that Iraq has had one of the most traumatic modern histories. But when you think of why, you’d probably think of the Iraq War. So when I tell you this is a sombre Iraqi film you’d also probably think that it is about the Iraq War. But you’d be wrong. Unlike Ahlaam, Mardan is set in Kurdish Iraq, and follows the traumatic life of a border patrol guard.

Why Watch Mardan?

To see a Kurdish Iraqi film (for an Arabic Iraqi film, check out Ahlaam)
If you are up for a solemn (but well made) movie
To see the beautiful and wild mountain scenery of Iraq
For another story with a traumatic childhood (which reminded me of the Kosovan short film Shok)

The Breakdown

Mardan starts with an extreme close up of half a man’s face. The camera is focused on one of the man’s watery eyes. He is crying.

A traumatic flashback to his childhood shows us why he is crying. It should be an innocent memory of him and his brother playing by the river. But some military men raped and killed his brother, giving him a burden he has had to carry for his whole life.

Surprisingly, the introduction is the only place where the military is shown, apart from the border patrol. Instead, the film focuses on Mardan and how he deals with his harrowing childhood memory. He doesn’t seem like the nicest guy – he accepts bribes and appears pretty grumpy, but the film implies that his background is to blame for this.

His only shot at redemption is by helping a family find their relative. But don’t expect a Hollywood ending. This film is more about the journey and character development than any climactic ending.

Conclusion

Mardan is not the film you want to watch after a long day at work. It is solemn and does not offer any respite. It is a well made film, but you’d only want to watch it if you want to see a bit of life in Kurdish Iraq, some Iraqi scenery, or if you are into sombre films.

Androids Dream – A Low Budget Spanish Bladerunner

The deserted landscape of off-season Benidorm

Androids Dream Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

How would Bladerunner have looked if it had a minutely small budget?

Like Androids Dream.

From: Spain, Europe
Watch: Trailer, Mubi
Next: Bladerunner, High Rise, Logan's Run

Meteors – Martial Law in Kurdish Turkey

Meteors Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

What bad things happened in 2015? You may remember the Paris attacks, the Charleston Church shootings, or even the picture of the drowned Syrian boy lying face down on the beach. However, you probably didn’t hear about the Turkish crackdown on the Kurdish PKK. It seems like no professional cameramen were there to capture the events. However, just as in Silvered Waters, the public captured it all on their mobile phones.

From: Turkey, Asia
Watch: Trailer
Next: Silvered Water, Ahlaam, The Burmese Harp

Those Who Are Fine – The Bleak World of the Swiss Scammer

Those who are fine Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

If you like your films bleak and unfriendly, check out this shady film which stalks a phone scammer. There’s no bright colours, lighting, or friendly characters to make you feel at home. Those Who Are Fine is for those wanting to step into the lonely life of the phone scammer and the people they affect.

From: Switzerland, Europe
Watch: Trailer
Next: Wild Tales, Involuntary, Post Mortem

The Merchant of Four Seasons (Germany)

The Merchant of Four Seasons Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

For ‘real’ German cinema, look no further than here. For this is the New German Cinema of the 1960s-1980s, a cinema where commercial interests were kicked out of the window. In The Merchant of Four Seasons, you will see the real Germany of the 1950s in it’s grim glory. You’ll see everything commercial films won’t show you: class prejudices, domestic violence, and depression. Watch this film if you’re intrigued!

Why Watch The Merchant of Four Seasons?

You want to see the bleakness of humanity
To see something from the New Wave of German cinema (1970s) by one of it’s leaders: Fassbinder
Was life good in Germany in the 1950s?
For some 70s film cinematography: quick zooms and close ups

The Breakdown

The film starts with Hans (our protagonist) arriving home in the middle of the night. He has just come back from Africa where he spent 7 years with the French Foreign Legion. Instead of being pleased to see him, his mother tells him off for turning up in the middle of the night. She tells him “the good die young, and the bad always come back.” What a lovely mother! What has he done to deserve this?

We learn that Hans is a fruit salesman and doesn’t earn much money. However, before you start feeling sorry for him, he is an alcoholic and a wife beater as well. So much so, that his wife nearly leaves him after he comes back from the pub drunk and beats her. Is Hans a really bad guy or someone who has been forced down a bad path? The film argues both. West Germany in the 1950s looks bleak and without much opportunity, but Hans’ alcoholism and violent nature does not help him.

More important than Hans is the story of Irmgard, Hans’ wife. She is threatened and beaten by her husband, looks after the kid by herself, and is asked how much she costs when walking along the street. She is treated as a maid and a sexual object. Irmgard’s position as the ‘German woman’ of the 1950s shows the absence of equality and respect for women at the time.

Conclusion

Fassbinder’s portrait of post-war Germany is very negative. He doesn’t seem to think much of human nature and portrays life in West Germany as pretty grim. Both the protagonists are in positions they didn’t want to be in. For a gritty look at life in post-war Germany watch this. However, if you do not want to see class prejudices, domestic violence, infidelity, family discord, depression and self-destructive behaviour, watch something else.