drama

21

White Sun (Nepal)

White Sun Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

In White Sun, a Maoist rebel returns home to bury his Royalist father after peace has been reached in the Nepali Civil War. He comes face-to-face with a neighborhood that fought against him in the war. Will he be welcomed back or will old enemies and hatred be rekindled?

As usual only watch he first 40 secs of this trailer, unless you’re happy to venture into spoiler territory!

Why Watch White Sun?
  • To see a film from Nepal (a country not known for it’s films)
  • For an opportunity to learn about the Nepali Civil War (fought from 1996-2006) something that I didn’t know anything about!
  • See Nepal’s beautiful scenery and cultural diversity whilst learning a bit about Nepali customs and tradition as well!
  • It’s a comedy! But not just a comedy – you will learn a lot along the way
The Breakdown

The first thing you notice in White Sun is the beautiful scenery. It opens with a widescreen shot of mountainous hills with Himalayan peaks in the background. We can hear a radio playing in the background: a peace deal has been reached between the Maoists and the Royalists, putting an end to the 10 year Civil War.

In the next scene a Maoist rebel returns home from the city. He has come home after a long absence to bury his Royalist father. From the start he is neither welcomed by his family and former neighbors and does not seem too happy to be home. It is clear that the recent peace deals have not healed the wounds of the recent Civil War.

This village also hasn’t forgotten the caste system that the Maoists fought to eradicate. In this rural town, a young boy thinks he isn’t human (he thinks he’s a porter) and women pollute the dead (by simply touching them).

Conclusion

While relations between the returning Maoist and the traditional village folk festers, the children offer a vision for a peaceful future. This is a heart-warming but insightful film that explores the lasting effects of the Nepali Civil War.

 

 

22

Mustang (Turkey) – Sisterhood vs. the Turkish Patriarchy

Mustang Film Difficulty Ranking: 2

If you love coming-of-age films like I do then you will love this film. It has all the qualities of a classic family film but with a bit more grit. You’ll learn about the fierce patriarchy in Turkey and the freedom that girls lose when they become women. A nominee at Cannes and the Academy Awards go watch this – it’s on Amazon Prime.

As with most trailers, you’ll get spoilers after the first 30 secs.

Why Watch Mustang?
  • To experience what it is like growing up as a young girl in a patriarchy
  • It’s another great coming-of-age film (for more great coming of age films check out Colours of the Mountain, Kikujiro, or Girlhood)
  • If you have young kids or plan to have kids
  • Learn how important football is!
The Breakdown

“It’s like everything changed in the blink of an eye. One moment we were fine, then everything turned to shit”

In the blink of an eye, 5 sisters living in rural Turkey transformed from innocent kids into guardians of their families honour.

After school, instead of getting on the bus home, all of the sisters went to the beach with some of their fellow classmates. They all played together in the sea and had shoulder fights then stole some apples from a nearby orchard. A bunch of innocent fun. They are free.

But their freedom is curtailed by a gossiping neighbour who tells the girl’s grandma that they were rubbing their private parts on boys necks in the sea. And with that, their innocence is lost forever.

Conclusion

Mustang reminds me of the great kids films such as The Little Princess which keep you emotionally invested until the end of the film. However, this contains a bit more political weight. Director Deniz Gamze Erguven’s intention was to uncover to women issue in Turkey. A must watch!

 

 

23

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki (Finland)

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

“It’s nice that you’re modest, but we want a national champion”

Olli Maki is a Finish baker who happens to be a very talented boxer. He is training for the biggest boxing match of his career, a day that will be the ‘happiest day in his life’. But, a few weeks before the match, he falls in love. For an alternative to the typical macho boxing film watch this gorgeously shot film which won awards at Cannes!

Why Watch this Film?
  • It’s a feel good film – it will put a smile on your face 🙂
  • To learn what makes a successful sportsman and a happy person
  • If you’re tired of macho boxing films
  • Experience a Finnish wedding!
  • For some beautiful black and white cinematography. There’s one pretty epic shot of Olli Maki wading naked into a pristine lake like Hercules.
The Breakdown

The first thing you notice is the grainy black and white footage as Olli Maki walks down a train and takes a seat in an empty carriage. He sits alone and looks out of the window in the carriage door, his brow furrowed. Is he concerned? Nervous? Or just shy and introverted?

It turns out that he’s just a modest man from a humble background. He is the Finnish baker battling for the boxing world title. You can tell he’s a humble guy from the first 10 minutes of the film. His creaky car breaks down, so he cycles to the wedding he is in town for. He plays with the kids at the wedding instead of chatting with the adults. But most of all, his modesty is shown in his facial expressions. His furrowed brow, his wide eyed look, and his smiles make it easy for us to sympathise with him. And the actor pulls of the face perfectly throughout the film!

Also pay attention to the beautiful cinematography. The filmmakers use grainy black and white footage with a lot of hand held shots to make it look like a 60s home movie. This style heightens the film’s happy moments as we associate home movie footage with happy nostalgia (think kids playing, funny faces, and days out). The style also takes nothing away from Olli Maki’s modesty. In contrast to the vivid colours and strong lighting of a Rocky film, Olli Maki is not brought out of the film artificially.

Conclusion

The Happiest Day in the Life of Olli Maki is a welcome alternative to the many macho boxing films, such as Raging Bull and Rocky. Olli Maki will help you find what is important in your life. As a bonus, the film also explores class and patriotism in Finland whilst remaining an easy to watch feel-good film.

24

Tabu

Tabu Film Difficulty Ranking: 4

Are you up for seeing one of the most interesting and unique films of the 21st century? Here’s Tabu. It will introduce you to life in Lisbon and life in the old Portuguese colonies of Africa. It will also get you trying to figure out the film’s meaning whilst you are lulled by the gorgeous black and white cinematography. The best thing to do is to sit back, relax, and let Miguel Gomes tell you this story.

Why Watch Tabu?
  • It’s one of the greatest Portuguese films of the 21st Century
  • For a completely different take on colonisation to Embrace of the Serpent
  • To hear an awesome soundtrack (and a goofy band picture shoot)
  • Learn about saudade: a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone that one loves. Moreover, it often carries a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might never return
The Breakdown

A Portuguese explorer wanders the African wilderness looking for something. He stares into the abyss whilst Africans carry his belongings past him. From the soothing voice of the narrator and the tingling piano we learn that the explorer is searching for an end. Not the end of the world, but an end to his life after his wife died back in Portugal. To end his life, he throws himself into a swamp as prey for the crocodiles. Ever since that moment, locals see apparitions of a woman sitting beside a sad looking crocodile.

Tabu is broken into two parts, following the introduction. The first part, titled ‘A Lost Paradise’ follows a middle aged activist called Pilar. She lives alone in an apartment in Lisbon. The only thing she looked forward to was a visit from a young Polish girl, however, at the airport the girl rejects her whilst posing as someone else. Her only friends are her old neighbour Aurora and Aurora’s assistant, Santa. Pilar is captured perfectly in one shot of her looking out across Lisbon from her balcony at night. Because of the darkness, she merges into the darkness and the city she looks at, connecting her loneliness and melancholy to the city she lives in. Both are full of melancholy and looking for definition.

The second part is titled ‘Paradise’ and focuses on Aurora’s years in Africa. ‘Paradise’ is filmed without dialogue. Instead the director, Gomes, opts for a narrator. Because of this, the whole section becomes a nostalgic ode to the past. It shows saudade (definition in the bullet points above) for the colonial times, a time when Aurora was free to define her life, in contrast to Pilar’s vague life in Lisbon. Whilst Tabu celebrates the freedom of living in a colony, it does not condone colonialism. Instead it offers a critique of the state of contemporary Portuguese society, that it still looks back to an imperial past for self definition.

Conclusion

Tabu is the perfect representation of saudade in film. It offers a nostalgic look at Portuguese colonialism whilst critiquing it. Watch this gem alongside the beautiful Colombian Embrace of the Serpent for an exploration of European colonisation.

(For the more advanced film viewer, I’d also recommend pairing either Elegy to the Visitor from the Revolution or the 7.5 hour Melancholia by Filipino Lav Diaz with the above)

25

Ixcanul (Guatemala) – Witness the Power of the Volcano

Ixcanul Film Difficulty Ranking: 3

In Ixcanul, the volcano is a reminder of the power that nature holds over our lives. Follow Maria as she tries to find a way to escape from her rural community and the looming presence of the volcano.

Why Watch Ixcanul?
  • Hear some Kaqchikel – there’s a lot of people in Central America who don’t speak Spanish
  • To spend some time in rural Guatemala
  • Arguably a great feminist film
  • Feel the constant presence of the volcano
The Breakdown

Ixcanul starts with a close up of a teenage girl’s face. Her mum appears behind her and starts tidying her hair, cleaning her face, and tying her colourful head band. Maria (the teenage girl) looks blankly at the camera. It’s clear that she’s being prepared for something that’s out of her control. Is she getting married? Whatever it is, she seems too stunned to care.

The next scene flashes back to the two of them feeding rum to some pigs to make them horny. The girl waits around and watches the pigs as they copulate. It’s clear she’s bored. The only things she does at home is help her mum with the cooking and care for their livestock. Therefore it’s not a surprise that she finds another teenager that works nearby to have sex with.

The only problem is that her parents have just promised her hand in marriage to their boss. He’s the reason why they’re living in their house with the things they own as he’s the one renting it to them. So when her mum finds out Maria is pregnant she tells her off for ‘not counting her moons’ and puts together a plan to try and get rid of the baby.

The Power of the Volcano

Whilst the volcano never erupts, it’s power is always felt through the film. In every shot of the landscape, it looms in the background as if it is controlling their lives. In a way it is.

It is the wall that is blocking them from prosperity. On their side of the volcano, there is nothing, just barren land and boredom. But on the other side there is the United States and Guatemala City which both promise a better life. Just look at Maria’s fiance who travels to see them once every few weeks. He comes from the other side of the volcano and owns a car, the house Maria and her family live in, and is able to speak Spanish. He is obviously from the same part of Guatemala as her (as he also speaks Kaqchikel), and therefore the same lifestyle, but he has managed to find prosperity by venturing past the volcano.

Image result for ixcanul

Conclusion and What to Watch Next

Ixcanul has great cinematography and strong female characters ensnared by the power of the volcano. It is the blockade between their barren farm and a better life as on the other side is the city and the influence of the U.S. Can they make it to the other side?

If you want to see another film about a young kid/teenager trying to break the monotony of their life, check out Wadjda. It’s a coming-of-age story of a young girl in Saudi Arabia who is desperate to ride a bike, despite all the pressures on her to become a woman.

Or if you want to see more films about young adults trying to find a better life, check out:

  • Makala – a documentary about a young man trying to transport a bike load of charcoal across arid landscape to be able to buy a new roof for his house.
  • City of God – the heart-racing action film about a few kids trying to escape the favelas of Rio de Janeiro.
  • Beijing Bicycle – the story of a teenager struggling to make a bit of change as a bicycle delivery boy in Beijing.