"Texas in a Nutshell"

LONE STAR

Year: 1996
Country: United States
Language: English, Spanish
Number: 913
Director: John Sayles
Starring: Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Kris Kristofferson, Matthew McConaughey
Oscar nomination: Best Original Screenplay

If there's a genre named "Neo-Westerns". John Sayles' Lone Star is definitely among the classics that one should not miss. It's set in Rio County, Texas, where we follow Sheriff Sam Deeds (Chris Cooper) who thanks to two treasure hunters found a human skull and a sheriff batch that most likely belonged to the former sheriff Charlie Wade (Kris Kristofferson). A violent and racist sheriff who just disappeared decades ago. Sam's father, the late beloved Sheriff Buddy Deeds (Matthew McConaughey) was Wade's deputy who got fired because of his opposition towards Wade's intolerance towards Mexicans and black people. An intolerance that are still present unfortunately. This makes Sam's father a suspect. And Sam has to dig deep into his family secrets.

Lone Star is an extraordinary western film that dives deep into racial differences that are still very strong, and where Mexican immigration only becomes a bigger problem. But there's also the black people too. And we not only follow the sheriff, we also follow other people of different backgrounds dealing with these problems, like Pirar Cruz (Elizabeth Pena), Sam's Mexican high school girlfriend, who both were not allowed to be together. And we also follow the African-american Colonel Delmore Payne (Joe Morton) who's father, Otis (Ron Canada) felt the terror of sheriff Wade. There's even a town hall meeting that discuss how they shall teach history.

This is a great mystery film, with really dark secrets, family secrets that can destroy Sam's father's reputation as a legend. There's a pretty strong cast that are just perfect. Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Pena, Joe Morton, Ron Canada, Miriam Colon, Matthew McConaughey and specially Kris Kristofferson's performance was clearly the best. He's one of those characters you wanna see more of. Surely one of the toughest bad guys cinema have ever seen, with his Texan accent and his ice cold attitude. Overall, Lone Star is an excellent executed mystery film, with an issue that are still relevant today, and it also contains a certain David Lynch chill as well. Thumbs up.

Grade: A+

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"Bourgeoisie Filmmaking"

LA CAPTIVE

Year: 2000
Country: France/Belgium
Language: French
Number: 963
Director: Chantal Akerman
Starring: Stanislas Merhar, Sylvie Testud, Olivia Bonamy, Liliane Rovère

Chantal Akerman's La Captive is loosely based on Marcel Proust's novel La Prisonnière. It's the story about a wealthy man, Simon and his girlfriend Ariane, whom he suspects have an affair with another woman. Simon confronts her with this statement, but Ariane denies this, but Simon knows better and think it's best if they separate and not repress their feelings. But it isn't that easy at all.

Even though I haven't read any of Marcel Proust's work, this film is one of those film adaptions that you know too darn well never should have been made into a movie, because of all the things going on inside their heads. It's too long, it's too slow and some of the character's actions is just too sentimental and too bourgeoisie. But I did like the discussions, which were interesting, realistic and complex, just like in real life relationships. There's also some quite good sex scenes as well. But it was just too static, like a play or an "artistic" Antonioni film. Thumbs down.

Grade: C-

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"I'll Die For Mama"

  THE WALL

Original title: दीवार (Deewaar)

Year: 1975
Country: India
Language: Hindi
Number: 594
Director: Yash Chopra
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Shashi Kapoor, Nirupa Roy, Parveen Babi

The Indian classic Deewar is the story about a mother and her two children, Vijay and Ravi, who have no other choice then to leave their village to find a better life in the city of Mumbai. The life in Mumbai is tough. Their mother have to work hard for low wages, so does Vijay, in order to send his younger brother Ravi to school. The two brothers goes their separate ways. Vijay (Amitabh Bachchan) becomes a smuggler, while Ravi (Shashi Kapoor) becomes a policeman, who must take his brother down.

As in the US, India's youth was also rebelling against the old and corrupt government. While US actors like Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro reflected the angry youth in America, Amitabh Bachchan did exactly the same thing in India, where he was known as "the young angry man". And I must say, Bachchan kicks ass, with his laid back attitude, his lazy eyes, his hairy chest and baritone voice makes him one of the toughest bad boys of all time. And it's certainly one of his greatest performances and most emotional ones, with a great story about two brothers torn a part by society. A big thumbs up.

Grade: A

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"An Orgy of Missed Opportunities"

THE TRAVELLING PLAYERS

Original title: Ο Θίασος (O Thiasos)
Year: 1975
Country: Greece
Language: Greek, German, English
Number: 604
Director: Theodoros Angelopoulos
Starring: Eva Kotamanidou, Aliki Georgouli, Vangelis Kazan, Stratos Pahis
Cannes: FIPRESCI Prize

Theodoros Angelopoulos' The Travelling Players tells the story about a bunch of theater performers during the period from 1939 to 1952 in which such big events as the German invasion, the partisan wars, and the Greek civil war between the US backed royalist forces against the communists. Although the players are in charge of all their plays, they cannot change the course of history, they themselves are just the audience. The Travelling Players is an interesting piece that covers most of the war period pretty well in sense of details delivered to us by both imagery and people talking directly into the camera, with all their stories about a constantly dynamic Greece.

But sadly enough, this film didn't appeal to me at all. It's too long, nearly four hours, and it doesn't actually cover the Civil War at all, which is very disappointing. And there's too many characters that we are suppose to recognize, considering there's few close-ups, thanks to all the long shots. Don't misunderstand me, I love long takes, but Angelopoulos could have made it more dynamic like Miklós Jancsó's war dramas. Overall, I kind of liked it, but it was simply too long and too theatrical. It is an orgy of missed opportunities. But I liked its political and cultural imagery enough to give this movie a marginal thumbs up.

Grade: C+

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"Black Magic"

YEELEN

Year: 1987
Country: Mali/Burkina Faso/France/West Germany/Japan
Language: Bambara, Fulah
Number: 757
Director: Souleymane Cissé
Starring: Issiaka Kane, Aoua Sangare, Niamanto Sanogo, Balla Moussa Keita
Cannes: Jury Prize, Prize of the Ecumenical Jury, Palm d'Or

Yeelen is based on an old Bambarian folklore that probably dates back all the way to the thirteenth century, where we follow a young wizard named Niankoro, who's father is also a wizard, an evil one that are coming after Niankoro to kill him. On his journey Niankoro sees all the tribes wars that are tearing the country apart. He even helps a king defeating his enemies, and the king offers Niankoro to stay, but Niankoro refuses, because he knows he have to meet his father, face to face, sooner or later.

Yeelen is a special film, and a very spiritual one indeed. But the best part is that it doesn't feel surreal. It feels more like an actual folklore. It's as artistic as a Parajanov film, with all its imagery and real magic. And there's a big climax in the end that is pretty amazing. but the film itself drags a little now and then, and sometimes it takes for ever to get to the point. But I liked it very much, and it's certainly a delightful rural film from Mali. Thumbs up.

Grade: B+

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"Unfair Wages"

THE CLAWS OF LIGHT

Original title: Maynila: Sa mga kuko ng liwanag
Year: 1975
Country: Philippines
Language: Tagalog
Number: 600
Director: Lino Brocka
Starring: Bembol Roco, Hilda Koronel, Lou Salvador Jr, Joonee Gamboa

 The Claws of Light is by many regarded as the best Filipino film ever made, and I can certainly see the reason why. It's the story about the twenty-one-year old man named Julio Madiaga, who used to be a simple fisherman in one of the rural provinces but has moved to the capital Manila in order to find his girlfriend who was promised a decent job and an education by one suspicious fat woman. Nobody knows where she is, and Julio's one goal in life is to find her. But in the meantime, he needs money for food, but the wages that he earns as a construction worker is just inhumane.

This is a strong emotional story. You just feel so bad for Julio, who are one of many living in this unfair world of low wages and social injustice. It's an everyday struggle to survive. The people Julio meets might be gone the next day. It's a social drama that show us the dark side of an industrialized society, with poor working conditions, which causes violence and prostitution, which Julio at one point is forced into as a male prostitute. It has the same dark tone as Scorsese's Taxi Driver, and Julio Madiaga is the Filipino Travis Bickle, who at one point simply can't take it anymore. A strong powerful drama with a strong political voice. Thumbs up.

Rating: A-

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