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Meet Theeb and Hussein, two Bedoiun brothers living in the Arabian desert during the First World War. Their lives are relatively peaceful until an Englishman appears from the desert and drags them into the violence of the war.
From: Jordan, AsiaContinue reading “Theeb – Journey Back in Time in Jordan”
Watch: Trailer, Amazon Rent, Amazon Buy
Next: Lawrence of Arabia, Mimosas, Rabbit Proof Fence
Looking for teen thriller at the other end of the spectrum from the usual teen horror films? Try Bad Genius. It will conjure up those dreaded memories of sitting in exam rooms at school. And before you think, how can a film about exams be exciting, think again. These fun characters are big time cheaters and keep taking their tricks to the next level as the stakes get higher and higher.
Bad Genius starts with Lynn, a teenager applying to a top secondary school to take her final year exams. She’s got a load of trophies from all her academic achievements, but she knows her dad can’t afford to pay for the education at this new school. So, her Dad pays for it on the sly by hiding the payments he makes.
It’s inevitable that she finds out he is paying more than she expected (which she’s not happy about). But, more importantly, she finds out after she’s helped her best friend cheat in a maths exam. The perfect time to receive a proposition from her richer classmates: to help them cheat their school exams for a price. From then on, the stakes slowly get higher and higher.
What’s obvious from the start is the massive class divide between the kids at this scholarship school. Unfortunately, the poor, clever kids are exploited by the rich, lazy kids. Ultimately, this is the wealth privilege. As presented in this film, the rich will always make it out OK, whereas the lives of the underprivileged have to be absolutely speck free to get anywhere close to success.
If you’re looking for a thrill, watch Bad Genius. The story-line is tight, and the characters are fun, and just like the best magic shows, you’ll be enthralled by seeing how these kids managed to cheat the SAT exams.
Ever thought about going to Georgia? If you haven’t, you probably should (especially if you like hiking). In the meantime check out The Trader on Netflix. It will give you a 25 minute glimpse of life in a rural Georgian town connected to modernity by a ‘back of the van’ trader from the city.
First we’re introduced to Gela as he browses the stocks of various shops in the city he’s from. He’s looking for items to fill his van (his moving shop) before he drives into the country to sell them. As a trader, his aim is to pick any items his customers are likely to need or want, which he can then trade for a portion of the year’s latest potato crop.
It might sound simple, but it’s not. The village he drives to appears half deserted. The grey corrugated iron roofs match the grey skies and compliments the brown dirt ground. It doesn’t look like a place where you’d expect to make any sales. However, sure enough, a few residents and their kids gather round Gela and his shop (the back of his van) and start haggling with him for a few of his wares. After 2 days at the village, he ends up with a few kilos of potatoes to take home. Not a great crop.
But it could be worse, he could be one of the residents living in the remote village. He could be like the old man who regrets never getting an education. Or he could be like the young boy who has absolutely no idea of what he wants to be when he grows up, even after his mum prompts him to say ‘a journalist’. The place is completely devoid of dreams and full of regret.
Hard to say. Gela, the trader, is the only connection for this community to modernity. He is the only one who appears to make the trip to this remote village and give the population a market to sell their excess potatoes.
However, the market is tilted in his favour. The village community have to accept all the goods he brings to sell even if it is a load of useless rubbish. If they keep their excess potatoes they’ll only go rotten as it doesn’t look like they’ll have another opportunity to sell. Therefore they have to accept whatever Gela offers. So they’ll continue to buy second rate goods and as a result, their village never progresses as far as the contents of Gela’s van.
If a picture tells a thousand words, The Trader packs enough into it’s 25 minutes to constitute a few essays. Not because it’s complex, but because the dialogue and images so concisely document life in rural Georgia and the importance of one man, the trader.
If the rural town in this film struck you, I recommend checking out Kazakhstan’s The Wounded Angel, also set in a remote, hopeless town. If you’re into more arty film, there’s also Lav Diaz’s From What is Before which charts the effects of a dictatorship on a remote rural town in the Philippines.
Or, if you’re after more great documentaries, I strongly recommend you check out Makala. It follows the complete process of a charcoal maker from cutting down a tree 3 days walk from the nearest city to selling the final product (after walking for 3 days) in said city. It won Cannes Critic Week because it’s one of the most beautifully captured films you’ll ever see.
If you’re a boxing fan or simply a regular gym rat, you’ll be able to sympathise with Christ in Boxing Libreville. He’s a boxer who trains all day and works all night to try to become the best boxer in Gabon as the hope of a new political future builds in the background.
From: Gabon, Africa Watch: Trailer Next: Makala, The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki, Fruitvale StationContinue reading “Boxing Libreville – Boxing for Freedom in Gabon”
Want to truly get involved in a film? In Felicite you are given the story-line and a bit of character development before you are almost left to your own devices. Like the great works of literature, you’ll have to add your own interpretations to draw your own conclusions. Also, there’s one thing that this film has over the great works of literature: the music!
The film starts with Beya singing in a dusty bar in Kinshasa. The bar is small, the lighting is dim, and locals are clustered around tables drinking and catching up. As the locals drink and chat Beya puts crams everything into her voice. It’s like she’s trying everything to get everyone’s attention, to stand out in chaotic bar in a chaotic city.
Music is the driving force of Felicite. There’s the expressive, more free form music of the Kasai Allstars and Beya, and the structured symphony orchestra. The structured orchestral music signifies the moments of our lives that we cannot control: fate. It appears when Beya’s son is hospitalised and for other events out of her control. In contrast, the bluesy music of the Kasai Allstars signifies Beya’s response to fate. The melancholic emotion she puts into her singing is her acceptance of her fate and inability to control it.
The film is split into two parts. The first part is told in a classical format that all of us brought up on Hollywood films would recognise. You learn a bit about Beya, then her son is hospitalised, so she has to try and find money to pay for the treatment. It’s pretty familiar storytelling. In contrast, the second part is a lot more artistic and subjective. There’s some visions and dreams mixed into all the music. Unlike in part one where we can just accept what is shown to us, in part two we have to actively engage with the film and construct our own interpretations.
Felicite is a work of art. Not in the sense that all movies are works of art, but in the sense that it pushes the boundaries of film. It is a champion of creativity, and uses music, and art (through the visions and dreams) to create a much more unique film. Best of all, unlike a lot of films, you are expected to take part in the film making process and add your own meaning.
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