New-to-me movies watched in March

March was an interesting movie watching month, since I participated in a challenge on Letterboxd, called March Around the World – 30 Films from 30 Countries. I only made it to ten films because of how packed the month was for me, but it was a great experience stretching the horizons of what I normally watch.

Challenge Movies:
1. Violeta Went to Heaven / Violeta se fue a los cielos (2011, Chile)
2. The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec / Les aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010, France)
3. English Vinglish (2012, India)
4. Circumstance (2011, Iran)
5. Cure (1997, Japan)
6. Caramel (2007, Lebanon)
7. The Red Chapel / Kim Jong-Il’s Comedy Club (2009, documentary, North Korea/Denmark)
8. Wadjda (2012, Saudi Arabia)
9. Tsotsi (2005, South Africa)
10. The Devil’s Backbone /El espinazo del diablo (2001, Spain)

Non-Challenge Movies:
11. Oculus (2013)

REVIEWS:

1. Violeta Went to Heaven / Violeta se fue a los cielos (2011, Chile)

Sharing the story of Chilean singer, poet, folklorist, and visual artist Violeta Barra, this biopic draws away from simplicity, jumping back and forth through her life, placing moments one on top of another, layered with music and silence and a beautiful tapestry of her life. Violeta Barra is revealed to be just as complexly human, at times charming, selfish, passionate, intelligent, and indifferent, and Francisca Gavilán does an amazing job revealing these layers of character to the audience.

This movie is beautiful and heartbreaking, sometimes bringing me to laugh, sometimes making me cry. After watching I found myself immediately wanting to find out more about this amazing woman by reading a biography and downloading her amazing music.

2. The Extraordinary Adventures of Adèle Blanc-Sec / Les aventures extraordinaires d’Adèle Blanc-Sec (2010, France)

Adèle Blanc-Sec, a feisty, no nonsense reporter and adventure seeker in 19th century France faces seances, levitation, Pterodactyls, mummies, inept police officers, and bumbling great white hunters.

This movie is utterly ridiculous. It’s also fantastically fun.

3. English Vinglish (2012, India)

Tired of being subtly and not so subtly criticized and mocked for her inability to speak English by her husband and teenage daughter (both of whom I wanted to smack upside the head), Shanshi decides to secretly take English classes while visiting her sister in. New York.

While a simple and sentimental storyline that wraps up with a perfectly poised bow, the movie provides a lot of fun characters. I loved the English class with characters from various backgrounds, who find a common ground through learning English. They become a kind of family, delighting in each other’s stories.

I would call this a cottons candy, or perhaps more accurately a ladoo (an Indian sweet), movie — a lovely little treat.

4. Circumstance (2011, Iran)

Two young women explore their love for each other while rebelling against the strictures of their lives in Tehran, Iran. The story doesn’t so much focus on the specific risks of being gay in Iran, but looks more broadly at the way the society constrains its citizens, most specifically women. There’s a sense of danger present even as they feel the most free, the impression that they are always being watched and judged.

The filming is beautiful and stylish, though sometimes the dream sequences were a little confusing and a bit too much like Gucci commercials. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the subtly, the way the director let the characters and moments unfold without levying judgment upon them. The characters, even the antagonists, are shown to be human instead of just villains.

A really good debut from Maryam Keshavarz and I’ll look forward to seeing more of her work.

5. Cure (1997, Japan)

An interesting thriller about a strange series of murders, in which multiple killers carve an X into someone’s throat with no clear reason why. I might have liked this more if everything connected better for me. I didn’t really understand everything, because things were unsaid. I like ambiguity to a degree, but could have stood a little more clarity here.

6. Caramel (2007, Lebanon)

The story follows the lives of four women who work in a beauty salon and the life of a the woman who works as a seamstress next door. All a bit too meandering for me, as it took 45 minutes to connect with the characters and then it felt like it went nowhere.

The most interesting part was learning that “caramel” is a kind of waxing paste made of boiled sugar, lemon, and water used in beauty salons in the region.

7. The Red Chapel / Kim Jong-Il’s Comedy Club (2009, documentary, North Korea/Denmark)

Two Danish Korean comedians, along with their manager, travel to North Korea in order to perform in the country’s National Theater. The aim of the trip is to discreetly reveal the disturbing nature of this totalitarian dictatorship, while also subtly poking fun at the regime in performing the comedy sketch routine. However, their routine is quickly picked apart and replaced by a routine that suites the party line.

A main focus in the movie is the younger comedian, Jacob, who is handicapped and describes himself as a spastic. The North Korean government, it is asserted hoped, to use him as propaganda in order to counteract reports that disabled people in the country are killed at birth. Meanwhile, it is Jacob who is able to speak most freely about his feelings, because the government censors who reviewed the tapes each night would be unlikely to be able translate his Danish, due to his speech impediment. Not only is Jacob vocal about his feelings, but he shows a great insight into the situation and compassion for the North Korean people he meets.

The movie is at first unsettling but slightly humorous and moves into being vaguely terrifying. Maybe not the best put together documentary I’ve seen, but well worth a watch.

8. Wadjda (2012, Saudi Arabia)

Wadjda is a spunky young girl growing up in Saudi Arabia. All he wants is to buy a bicycle, even though only boys are supposed to ride them and it’s considered indecent for a girl to do so. In order to get the money for the bike she wants, she joins a Koran competition.

An adorable movie and really well done. It’s fun and funny. The girl who plays Wadjda is wonderful, as are the rest of the actors. It tries to be really authentic while showing the ways women and girls are pushing past the boundaries of the restrictions on them. And I love that is shows a different point of view than the stereotypes of Saudis presented in western culture.

This is the first movie to be entirely filmed in Saudi Arabia and is the first film directed by a female Saudi director. Learning this I had to watch the behind the scenes doc, which showed some of the challenges of working with a half German, half Saudi crew within the country. Fascinating in itself.

This movie was a gem and I would watch more films by Haifaa Al-Mansour in a heartbeat.

9. Tsotsi (2005, South Africa)

The movie seemed to stylish and slick, and Tsotsi’s motivations never seemed clear to me. Why would a thief and would-be gangster want to keep a baby he couldn’t really care for anyway? It wasn’t clear to me. I kept thinking, “Why would you do that?” over and over.

Plus the ending (or either of the alternate endings) was not great. Meh.

10. The Devil’s Backbone /El espinazo del diablo (2001, Spain)

I have consistently enjoyed, if not LOVED, everything Guillermo del Toro has directed, so it was no surprise to me that The Devil’s Backbone was fantastic. Set during the Spanish Civil War, the story follows 12-year-old Carlos, who enters a boy’s orphanage that is full of secrets.

Beautifully shot with gorgeous imagery. In particular, the vision of the unexploded bomb in the center of the school courtyard is powerful.

What I love about this is that the ghost story, although creepy and well done, there’s so much more to it than that. The story has layers. The characters are interesting; they have depth.

Loved it.

11. Oculus (2013)

Sometimes confusing and not all that scary, but more interesting than I thought it would be with an interesting layering of the past and the present in a circular storyline.