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.

Cries and Whispers (Sweden) – A Brutal Family Drama

Cries and Whispers Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

This is the ultimate malfunctioning family. One of the three sisters is dying, but the other two are preoccupied with their own lives. Watch this amazingly coloured film if you are looking for a brutal family drama. It’s not for the faint hearted!

Here’s three reasons to watch along with the film’s eerie soundtrack

Why Watch Cries and Whispers?

This is brutal family drama Shakespearean style
If you want to see a bit more from celebrated Swedish director Ingmar Bergman outside his big three (Seventh Seal, Persona, and Wild Strawberries)
For another exploration of life and death (this exploration is far more disturbing than Bergman’s Wild Strawberries)
To see some more beautiful colours (just as you just saw in Jude’s Scarred Hearts)

The Breakdown

The film starts with the colour red. The only other thing we can perceive is the chimes of a small bell. Next, we see shots of statues and trees in what looks like a misty churchyard. After a few cuts, the misty churchyard fades into redness.

The red themes continue into the films beautiful red and white pictures (see below).

Image result for ingmar bergman cries and whispers — Vivid red and white palette used in Cries and Whispers

The colour grades are beautifully vivid, but why does Bergman use red and white? Well as put by Bergman below, the red represents the soul. You will notice that the red fades as the film progresses – along with the souls of the characters.

“Cries and Whispers is an exploration of the soul, and ever since childhood, I have imagined the soul to be a damp membrane in varying shades of red”

Another thing that fades as the film progresses is time. From the start you’ll hear the chimes of bells and clocks ticking. You’ll even see shots of clock faces that break up the film narrative. However, just like the fading of the vivid reds (that represent the soul), the images and sounds of time will fade. Agnes, and the other characters, are losing their time on earth.

Conclusion

Cries and Whispers is another dark Bergman film to satisfy your inner demons. It explores life and death and finds emptiness in one of the most vividly coloured sets I’ve seen. Watch this one after you’ve seen Wild Strawberries, Seventh Seal, and Persona to expand your film knowledge of the fantastic Ingmar Bergman.

After the Rehearsal (Sweden) – Bergman vs. Your Mind

After the Rehearsal Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

Bergman is back on FilmRoot to play with your mind. What initially seems like an ordinary conversation between two characters becomes something that you start doubting. See if you can gauge whether the characters are acting or just having a regular conversation. Top marks to anyone that can decipher it!

Image result for after the rehearsal

Why Watch After the Rehearsal?

For more Ingmar Bergman! We’ve already looked at Persona and Cries and Whispers so here’s more from the Swedish maestro!
If you love the theatre – this one has plenty of Strindberg references and even looks like a play
You love character focused dramas
It’s another film that messes with you (like in Persona and Mulholland Drive)

The Breakdown

After the Rehearsal starts with a shot of the floor which works its way across a carpet, up to a desk to show a man’s head lying on the desk. He is lingering on the stage set after the rehearsal to reflect. His narrative voice kicks in with an inner monologue reminiscent of Bergman’s opening to Wild Strawberries.

The man’s inner monologue is interrupted by an actress returning to the set to collect something she left behind. The man wants to carry on thinking, and whilst he politely greets the actress with his voice, his inner voice shouts at her to go away.

Unfortunately for him (and for the sake of entertainment) the young actress does not go away and they start talking. They talk about life and the future and other things. However, the manner they both show emotions and talk to each other becomes more and more unclear to us. Are the acting? Is the actress a figment of the man’s imagination? Or are they just chatting?

Conclusion

Bergman always likes to play with his audience (most notably in Persona) and he does it again here. In this film, he blurs the lines between life and acting. He even hints that the actress could just be a figment of the man’s imagination. What a trickster! This one is another classic Bergman to play with your head!

I recommend checking out the ‘Breaking Down Bergman’ YouTube channel after you’ve seen this film to find out more. Link here.

Dog Lady (Argentina) – Life on the Fringe of Society

Dog Lady Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

Firstly, let me clarify that I had no expectations of Dog Lady before I started watching it. But luckily the message it carries is a great one. The present only gives clues of the past. Just because we can see people in the present doesn’t mean we know their past.

Image result for dog lady film

Why Watch Dog Lady?

If you can watch dogs all day and never get bored
You’re interested to see how someone can make a film about a dog lady
You’re not sure what a dog lady is
To explore the meaning of life

The Breakdown

A middle aged woman is walking through a forest at dawn. It’s still pretty dark, but through the trees you can see a woman followed by a pack of 5 or 6 dogs. You only see her and the dogs through the branches as if we are spying on her. She takes out a slingshot and tries to hunt some food. This is our Dog Lady!

So what is a middle aged woman doing hunting for food in a forest in the early hours of the morning? Judging by her dirty clothes, encampment near the forest, and dog friends she must be homeless. But luckily the film doesn’t let us hold that prejudice.

We never learn about the past life of our nameless dog lady. Even though there are clues where she has come from (which you’ll see from her visit to the city) the director never gives us a past to give us a definite answer. Because of this, she remains anonymous and foreign to us, and someone who can be easily categorised. But as with all homeless people, there is always something you cannot see from simply looking at them.

Conclusion

Dog Lady never gives away enough about it’s protagonist for us to really understand who they are. Instead, the anonymity of our protagonist makes her a symbol of the homeless in Argentina and the world. We only see clues as to why she is living this way but never the full truth. Just because we see the present doesn’t mean we know the past.

Manila – Welcome to the Dark Side of the City

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

Tony Manero (Chile) – Meet One Of the Craziest Characters on Film

Tony Manero Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

Want to meet one of the craziest characters on film? Watch Tony Manero! It features an unpredictable madman that reminds me of both Begbie from Trainspotting and Anton Chigurgh from No Country for Old Men. He’s unpredictable and unnerving just like the brutal regime of Pinochet that he lives in.

Why Watch Tony Manero?

Meet an absolute nutjob that reminded me of Begbie from Trainspotting
Experience how strange and surreal life was under the Pinochet dictatorship
If you like your comedies very dark
To get to know director Pablo Larrain’s roots (he’s the guy that directed Jackie and Neruda)

The Breakdown

Image result for saturday night fever Tony Manero opens with our anonymous middle aged male lead trying to get on a game show. He introduces himself as ‘Tony Manero’ and gets told by the producer to come back next week.

You may be thinking – who is Tony Manero? Well, he’s the guy in the poster on the left, the character that John Travolta plays in Saturday Night Fever. In this Chilean film, the main character idolises Tony Manero. He wants to be him. And I don’t mean that lightly… he really wants to be him.

This anonymous Tony Manero imposter makes this film. He’s a complete nutcase that will do anything to try and become Tony Manero. He goes mad when his local cinema stops playing Saturday Night fever and he gets even madder later on in the film.

Larrain (the director) doesn’t present us with a reason why his lead character is so crazy, but he does leave some clues. The clues are snippets of Pinochet’s interference in daily Chilean life, such as police shooting a guy walking with revolutionary posters. We can only assume that the brutal dictatorship has created this crazy Tony Manero wannabe.

Image result for tony manero film

Conclusion

Check out Tony Manero if you want to meet one of the craziest characters you will see on screen. The main character is pretty anonymous, unpredictable, and unnerving. He’s not a guy that you want to meet. Watch this film to get to know him from a distance.