Journey: Whether it’s the journey or the destination, films to transport you and shift your perspective
One of my favorite films as a kid, this one follows the journey of three aboriginal kids escaping the internment camp they were placed in to try and return home.
From: Australia, AustralasiaContinue reading “Rabbit Proof Fence – Institutionalized Racism in Australia”
Watch: Trailer, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon
Next: Whale Rider, Another Country, Tanna
In The Flying Circus, four lads from Kosovo receive an invitation from the Albanian National Theatre to put on their latest play for their festival. Problem is, to get there, they need to cross two borders illegally. They have to escape Serbian occupied Kosovo, sneak through Monetenegro, before crossing illegally into Albania.
It’s a funny ‘based on a true story’ escape/road trip film set in a divided Balkans. It manages to convey the seriousness of their journey, but lightened with humour. The only unnecessary addition to the film is the cliched holiday relationship between one of the actors and a woman from Tirana. It just feels too quick, underdeveloped, and unnecessary.
The humour comes from the strange situations and people the four actors stumble into and how they deal with them. For example, there’s the threatening episode when the Kosovars traveling from Kosovo are all threatened by a trio of skinheads in a restaurant. One of the skinheads brings out a gun to which one of the four actors smashes his hands on two glasses (as he saw in a movie earlier). It turns a threatening situation into something absurd to laugh at. In these comedic moments you almost forget that they’re on the run and their lives are under threat.
The Flying Circus also offers a glimpse of life as a Kosovar in the Balkans. At home there are routine ID checks of ethnic Albanians and officials speaking Serbian instead of the local Albanian. This sets up what they’re due to face later on. On the road, they face further checks – made by grumpy officials speaking Serbian, and they’re threatened by a local in Montenegro. All the signs show that the Kosovars are looked down upon both at home and abroad. This doesn’t change when they make it to Albania either, where the officials are corrupt and inept.
Overall, The Flying Journey is a fun journey, on a similar level to Taika Waititi’s Hunt for the Wilderpeople. It’s got funny characters, humor in unlikely situations, and a happy-ish ending.
If you’re thinking Cuestion de Fe is a B-movie action flick, you’d be wrong. Whilst it does contain all the elements above, Cuestion de Fe is more of a fun, easy going road trip film. If you’re up for joining a drunk artist, a hanger-on, and a hustler in their bright pink truck to travel across Bolivia, this film is for you. You can watch the film here on Vimeo (Spanish only).
Meet Domingo. He’s a craftsman who’s an expert at making statues of Catholic saints. But, he’s also a drunkard who uses his statues to barter for bottles of spirits at the bar next door.
One evening, a big drug boss from the Yungas (a region in the shadow of the Andes perfect from coca growing) pays Domingo’s local bar a visit. He wants Domingo to make him an exact replica of the Virgin featured in a local church. What’s more, he wants Domingo to deliver the statue to his town deep in the Yungas (a few days drive from them) within 12 days! Of course, it sounds impossible. But Domingo is the only person who could do it, and this drug boss is offering 80 million Bolivianos.
80 million Bolivianos is a very big sum of money, so of course Domingo says yes. He immediately gets to work with his friend and recruit a local hustler who offers to drive them to the Yungas. With the logistics sorted, can they make the statue and transport it in time?
Like a lot of movies, Cuestion de Fe doesn’t pass the Bechdel test (that a film has to 1. have at least two women, 2. that talk to each other 3. about something other than a man). But, whilst you may not notice it, the subjugation of women in Cuestion de Fe isn’t great. There are only around 5 women in the film, all with minute roles. Here are the most memorable women in this film:
In short, Cuestion de Fe does not show any independent women, they all rely on the male characters. In addition, the men don’t respect them or show them love.
When you contrast how the women are portrayed to the statue of the virgin that Domingo lovingly creates and looks after, I’d say that statues are treated better than the women in this film.
Cuestion de Fe truly is a fun movie to watch if you can either find a subtitled version or are quite good at Spanish. You’ll get to travel across Bolivia with a hilarious trio of oddballs, what more can you want!?
For more great road trip films you should check out:
If you want to see a great film about life in post-genocide Rwanda then watch Munyurangabo. The production quality isn’t great and there’s a lot of singing that pops up now and then, but the dialogue is simple and waterproof. It doesn’t offer you much at the start, but it slowly reveals more and more as the film progresses until you realise you’re watching a much deeper film than you thought.
From: Rwanda, AfricaContinue reading “Munyurangabo – Post-War Rwanda through the Eyes of Friends”
Watch: Trailer, Rent on Amazon, Buy on Amazon, Tubi, Kanopy
Next: Hotel Rwanda, Look of Silence, Sleepwalking Land
If you’re looking for a misty mystery built around the reputation of an attractive independent woman in Bhutan you’ve come to the right place. You’ll join a policeman sent to a small town in the mountains to uncover a murder mystery. The main suspect? A ‘flirtatious demoness’ who is said to possess magical powers. Honeygiver Among the Dogs promises dreams, eerie music, tranquil landscape, and a mystical plot which keeps you guessing.
From: Bhutan, AsiaContinue reading “Honeygiver Among the Dogs – How Society Creates a Witch”
Watch: Trailer, JustWatch
Trailer: White Sun, Spoor, Golden Kingdom
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