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Slumdog Millionaire (2008)
Slumdog Millionaire
I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It was very interesting. It starts with Jamal being tortured. The people torturing him are asking him how he knows all the answers for a game show on TV that he was participating in. The film goes along with each question on the game show. The question is asked then it goes to a flashback of Jamal's childhood. Through Jamal's crazy young life of stealing and living on the move with his brother, Salim, he gets all the answers to the questions. nobody has ever won before so the show host and the cops think that he is a cheat. This film I feel shows India well in two different stages. One is from when Jamal and his brother were kids. The other point of view is when Jamal is grown up and on the show.
Afghan Star (2009)
Good Documentary about Gender Equality
Afghan Star was a documentary that served the purpose of showing how the Afghan people live and what their culture does to them. The Afghan Star television show is similar to American Idol and other singing competition shows. This movie chooses to follow two women, in particular, Setara and Lema. Setara is the first of the two to get eliminated, and she is allowed a final performance. In this performance, she passionately sings and chooses to dance, which is forbidden in Islamic culture. The dancing in her performance brings her death threats and exclusion from her people. Setara really shows the struggles that many women go through in Afghanistan, and I think that is what this movie is really trying to portray. Gender equality in Afghanistan is one of the lowest in the world, which is definitely shown in this film. After Setara is eliminated, the focus of the documentary shifts to the final three contestants, Hameed, Rafi and Lema. These finalists are all from different tribes, and they all want Afghan unity. Since many Afghans watch this show, a plea for unity may actually be heard.
Lakposhtha parvaz mikonand (2004)
A Different View on the Iraq War
Review: I liked movie because it gave me a different perspective on Iraqi people and villages. American media portrays any country that the US is fighting with a negative light, and Iraq is subject to the propaganda. When you watch the war through the eyes of the Iraqi people in their home country, it really shows how much people struggle. There were so many mine and bombing victims, who were also mainly children, which is one example of how bad a war can be to a country. Limbless children are a very good way of showing the struggle that the Iraq Wars brought to their country. Another perspective that this movie gave me was the economic situation of some Iraqi towns. They were only able to buy one satellite even with everyone in their town giving money for it. The town that satellite lived in was very small and had few houses in it. Most of the people either lived in tents or inside the hollow shell of tanks. Overall, this movie gave me a Global Perspective on the struggles that Iraq went through during the Iraq War.
Omar (2013)
Great Movie about Israeli Occupation
I enjoyed this movie because it connected a political and war conflict with a simple love story. Omar was just a simple baker who loved a girl named Nadia who was a Israeli girl. Omar must climb the wall that separates the Palestinian territories from Israel. This movie grabbed my attention more than the other movies that we have watched in this class because of the realistic setting and how I knew about this political conflict in depth before watching the movie. Knowing about the conflict before watching the movie allowed me to go more in depth while watching it because I had knowledge in the subject. It allowed me to visually see this conflict rather than just reading about it. I had not previously watched many documentaries or movies about this conflict. I really enjoyed the story of Omar trying to fight for Palestinian freedom while trying to leave with Nadia. When Omar is captured, he is given the option to be an informant for the Israeli secret service. Omar needed to capture his friend, Tarek, because he lead the mission to kill an Israeli soldier. Omar is caught between wanting to leave with Nadia, and staying to help with the Israeli occupation. Overall, the story of Omar's troubles made for a very interesting movie that I enjoyed.
Paradise Now (2005)
Good Movie
I liked plot of this movie along with the action that was provided with the plot. The Palestinian point of view made this movie seem personable to the culture there. This gave me a different perspective on the Middle East, considering American media always portrays it in such a negative way. The action of this film was very intense, which kept me entertained. I liked Said and Khaled's quick transition from simple workers to suicide bombers. Khaled was very passionate about what he was doing, while Said did not seem to be as interested. When their mission does not work out, Said becomes very uninterested in the bombing. Seeing why these men were doing something that seems so irrational from their point of view really made me see more clearly why they suicide bomb. Bombing seemed like it was one of the only viable options for fighting the Israelis. It does not make sense to me, but it did allow me to cope with what they do and understand why they do it. Overall, this film did a very good job of showing me the Middle East from a different perspective, allowing me to understand what happens there more.
Tuya de hun shi (2006)
Good Movie About Mongolia
I feel as though this movie is boring to watch if you want to watch a good movie, but it would be good if viewed as a documentary about Mongolian life. Nothing that happens in this movie is particularly interesting, but it does give you an opportunity to learn about Mongolian life, as well as the role that women play in society. This movie was heavily based around a nomadic Mongolian lifestyle, and showed the struggles that a woman like Tuya faced. Since Tuya's husband was disabled, she had to do most of the work around the house and with the livestock. This movie to me was fairly boring, but I found the aspects of Mongolian life fairly interesting to learn about. Overall I found this movie fairly enjoyable from a documentary aspect, but as a film it was fairly boring with bad acting. I would recommend this movie to somebody who wants to learn about Mongolia.
Xi you: Xiang mo pian (2013)
Great Movie about Buddhism
I liked the Buddhism aspects of this movie, it made it enjoyable to watch from a cultural aspect. The plot of the movie was pretty bland, generally ranging from fighting the next demon. The CGI demons in the movie were made fairly badly, but I did enjoy how they came from the bad behavior of those humans. The main character of the movie was the most interesting luckily, so that made this movie enjoyable to watch. He was trying to cleanse the demons rather than kill and capture them. I liked how he used a more peaceful, Buddhist like path to cleanse them through the 300 Nursery Rhymes. The love interest in this movie was fairly boring in my opinion and felt very forced and unnecessary. This movie at times was trying too hard to be funny, which made it just seem ridiculous and not needed. (ie: the fat lady jumping on the board) Overall I found this movie to be fairly enjoyable from a cultural perspective, but I did not enjoy it from a comedy perspective.
Qin ai de (2014)
Great, but Sad Movie
Dearest was a great, but depressing film which kept the viewer intrigued on what was going to happen throughout. The two main characters, the husband and wife, were constantly fighting while they had their son, but once he was kidnapped, they had to get along again in order to find him. This movie did a great job of sending the viewer on an emotional roller-coaster. A really touching and awkward scene was when they were in the missing child support group, and the wife mentioned that she saw Peng Peng running behind her car. I really sympathized for her in that moment, because I do not know the amount of guilt I would feel if I could have stopped my son from being kidnapped. Another aspect of this movie that I enjoyed was getting to know the abductor's wife. At first I hated her because she was part of the family that took Peng Peng, but as the movie progresses, you begin to realize that she is fairly innocent, and her husband was the only real bad guy in this situation. This movie left the viewer on a cliff for many of the topics which I wish were closed. The main topics that I wanted to see closed were whether the girl in the orphanage was adopted, if the main characters got remarried, and what happened to the abductor's wife's baby. Overall, I enjoyed this movie and it kept me engaged throughout.
Ajeossi (2010)
Great Action Film with an Intriguing Story
The Man from Nowhere was a great movie in my opinion, following a great story line that also included chaotic, yet easy to follow fight scenes. The backstory behind the main character was touching, but not so different to be unrelatable. CHA was a former special agent, so he uses his unique set of combat skills in order to save his neighbor who has been kidnapped. Since CHA's pregnant wife was killed because of his line of work, he always felt responsible. CHA feels the same way in this situation because he was not given the opportunity to raise a daughter before, so he wants to do so now. This film uses great cinematography, especially with the closeups of CHA's hand with the fingernail polish on it. Another aspect that I enjoyed about this movie was CHA's motive for fighting. At first he was just in it to save his neighbor and her mother. Once he finds out that they killed the mother and took her organs when he was set up, he decides that it is his mission to take out the organization behind it. Then when CHA realizes that the organization is using children as slaves to make and deliver drugs and stealing the organs of innocent people, he then makes it his mission to kill everyone involved in these crimes. Overall, this film provided an entertaining, tear-jerking, action packed roller-coaster that I would suggest to anyone willing to watch a foreign movie.
Whale Rider (2002)
Mediocre Movie About Breaking Gender Norms
I did not like this film very much. This movie seemed to force a gender issue, where there was not a real need for one. I liked the concept of the whale rider, and how the Grandfather would raise the youth of the area into a whale rider. I thought the grandfather not allowing his daughter to train and practically banishing her was excessive. The grandfather was quick tempered and only wanted a grandson, so the entire movie was based around the grandfather's disliking of his daughter. In my opinion, this movie was too focused on the subject of the daughter not being the person that her grandfather wanted her to be, rather than it focusing on what she wanted. Some people could view this movie as a break from social and gender norms, but I saw it as a girl that couldn't do anything to break her gender norms until she risked her life to save the whales. Overall, this movie was not very enjoyable for me, mainly because of the dull plot and sub-par acting.
Merantau (2009)
Merantau Review
A boy named Yuda goes on an Indonesian traditional journey, called Merantau. He goes to a city, to go on his journey, trying to practice a martial arts style called silat. He finds a girl named Astri and a boy named Adit, who are siblings. Adit takes Yuda's wallet and tries to evade him, but Yuda eventually catches him in an alley. This is where Yuda first finds Astri. Astri is being whored out by a pimp, who is being ruled by a higher European pimp. Yuda beats up the pimp, freeing Astri from his confines. When Astri is kidnapped, Yuda goes on a mission, fighting bad guys to rescue her. There is a large human trafficking ring, that is being lead by the 2 Europeans, which Yuda takes down. When Yuda finally takes out all the human traffickers, the European stabs him with a metal pole, killing him. Astri wants to save him, but it is too far gone. Yuda gives Astri a necklace and tells her to take it to his family. Then Astri goes to Yuda's hometown, where she lives with Yuda's family with Adit.
This film was a very cheesy, Asian, martial arts film. The plot was very tacky, deriving back to a warrior saving the princess. Without a happy ending, the only good parts about this film were the funny fight scenes, with bad sound effects and ragdolls. Another enjoyable part about this movie were the poor lip syncing, especially on Astri.
Timbuktu (2014)
A Slow, but Eye Opening Movie
This film was rather slow paced, with hints of fast action and violence thrown into the mix. This film chose to show very stretched out scenes, for example, after Kidane kills Amadou, the scene where he walked across the water was very long. Even though it slightly bored me, it showed the struggle that Kidane had after he did such a difficult task. I enjoyed the eerie silences of the small Malian town. The camera pan overs of the town, while an Islamic Radicalist is telling the citizens what they cannot do according Jihad. It took me by surprise the things that the citizens could not do, including playing soccer and sitting in front of your house. Speaking of not being allowed to play soccer, some of the local boys play an imaginary game of soccer, where they played on a field, and played with a ball that was not actually there. I found this scene very powerful because I don't know what I would do if I were placed under such harsh rules such as these. Another part of this movie that was eye opening was the scene where Amadou killed the cow, GPS, just for walking in his nets. Since the nets were Amadou's way of life and production for his family, he felt justified to kill the sow for invading his life. In America, something like this would rarely ever happen, since there is a system of law that is meant to settle most disputes such as these out. Since there is not a system like that in Mali, they result to violence, which clearly did not work out well for both parties involved. If Amadou getting killed by Kidane was not bad enough, Kidane was killed by the Islamic Radicalists for killing another man. Overall, this movie showed me how strict the rules are in West Africa, and how horrible a certain group can be to the citizens in the area.
Rebelle (2012)
A Powerful Women's Journey
Rebelle was a movie about how powerful a woman can be in the context of war. Komona was a little girl who lost her parents to Great Tiger's rebels at the age of 12. Great Tiger's rebels made Komona shoot both of her parents with an AK-47. This haunted Komona so much, that she saw the ghosts of her parents in her nightmares. After the rebels kidnapped Komona, they used her as a "war witch." The Rebels along with Komona continue to fight across the Democratic Republic of Congo, until the Magician and Komona decide to run away. The Magician, who is an albino who is believed to be someone who can perform witchcraft. The Magician asks Komono if she will marry him, and she says that he needs to get the mythical White Rooster, which is very rare. The plot than changes to Komona and the Magician travelling around to find the White Rooster, until they find somebody who knows where it it. The man who knows where the Rooster is drives them to a village where a group of albinos live. You can tell that the Magician feels more at home her, seeing that he is also albino. After they get the rooster they go the Magician's uncle, named the Butcher. The movie slows in pace until the Rebels of Great Tiger find them again, killing the Magician and kidnapping Komona again. The movie ends after Komona has a baby with the general of the Rebels, and then gets on hitch hikes onto a truck. I liked the progression of Komona as a character, especially when she went back to her home town and "buried" her parents.
Simshar (2014)
Shimshar: A Story of Survival
This movie was very eye opening. I had no idea the amount of immigrants that go from Africa to Europe, but this movie really showed me how often it does happen. I enjoyed how the movie had a two separate plot lines that lined up. The boat that had all the refugees was very interesting, especially when the Red Cross shows up. When Alex first got on the boat, he was very upset that he was made to stay there by the lieutenant, but over time, he learned about the struggles that the people went through, and coped with them. Any movie that shows a progression of a character over time is very interesting, and this movie was no different. The other plot line of the movie was based around the Shimshar ship. Simon, his father, and his son Theo went on a fishing trip, but it all went wrong when the freezer started an electrical fire. They then all get stranded on a raft, and have to survive for three days. This is when the lieutenant shows up, and helps Simon's friends to get a search party together. The lieutenant is not allowed to do this, so he gets punished, but the rescue crew finds Simon. The movie ends on a sad note though, because Theo and Simon's father both die. Overall, this movie summarized the struggles of the African immigrants and fishing in Malta.
Un homme qui crie (2010)
A Screaming Man
Adam is a swimming champion, who has spent his entire life at or in the pool. His son, Abdel, also loves to swim, seeing as his father raised him to be a swimmer. When the Chinese take control of the luxury hotel that Adam works at, the manager decides to make Abdel the the pool attendant instead of Adam. This crushes Adam, because he lives for the pool. During the time of this happening, a civil war is going on in Chad. The army comes to draft, and they choose to draft Abdel. Adam does nothing about it, because he wants his job of pool attendant back. When his one and only son is sent away to the war, Adam is eaten away by his guilt. Abdel later goes to the army camp to save his son, but Abdel is already on the brink of death. The director says that it was God's will to not save Abdel, because Adam did not try to save Abdel. Overall, this movie uses Adam's guilt to show that he regretted the decisions that he made as a father.
Kinyarwanda (2011)
re-eduKation
This film showed the good and bad times during the Rwandan Genocide. The film chose to leave out scenes of people dying, leaving the viewer to imagine the pain that the Rwandan people had to go through throughout the movie. This approach was somewhat confusing, because it made the genocide not seem as deadly as it actually was. "Kinyarwanda" decided to focus on the rehabilitation of the Hutu and Tutsi survivors after the genocide. This was shown through the re-eduKation camps. Previous men in the Hutu army had to apologize to the victims of the Tutsi deaths. One of the main characters, Jeanne, had her parents killed by a Hutu. It was a very powerful scene, mainly because of how sorry the man was, and how badly he wanted Jeanne to accept his apology. At first I was confused as to why the re-eduKation camp was in the movie, but the point of it was made very clear at the very end. It was made very clear that the Hutus wanted the Tutsi's forgiveness, because they were truly sorry for what they had done. Overall, this movie showed the brighter side of the Genocide, pertaining to the recovery and rehabilitation that occurred after the fact.
Hotel Rwanda (2004)
Hotel Rwanda
Hotel Rwanda was a very inspirational movie. I knew little about the Rwandan Genocide, so this opened my eyes to the horrors did ensued during the 1990's. It was heartbreaking to see how much the UN wanted to help, but they could not do anything. Paul was an amazing character, who did everything he could to help as many people as he could. He would bribe people, risking his life in the process, and the fact that he held over 1000 refugees in his hotel was amazing. It pained me to see the army treat Paul and his people like dirt, not even attempting to help with the thousands upon thousands of Hutu murders. The armies came, but they arrived to tell the people that they could not help. Most of the Tutsis did nothing to deserve this hate, but they still received the full force of the genocide. On the other hand, some Hutus also did nothing to be involved in the genocide, but they were still blamed for the murders of the Tutsis. It was very good to see that the Hutu General was sent to a war crimes prison after the genocide, because what he did was horrible. No group of people should be mercilessly wiped out, no matter what happened in the past.
Voces inocentes (2004)
War Never Changes
Innocent Voices was an emotional roller coaster, being able to transition from joyous, to chaotic, to sad in an instant. The civil war was a great central theme of the movie, being able to provide chaos, sadness of death, sadness of children being taken, and also the aspect of choosing the rebellion or the army. One scene in particular that shifted in emotion very quickly was when Chava was pretending to drive a bus, and was going to his Christina Maria's house. The movie was always in a very happy point when Chava or his friends were pretending to drive a bus, but when Chava arrived at Christina's house, all happiness ended. He saw her house ramshackled by the war, then went inside to see her dress on the floor, torn to shreds. This scene was a real tear jerker, and allowed me to really sympathize with Chava and understand the hardships of war. Another time where the mood of the movie would shift very quickly was during one of the dinner scenes in the house. Chava's little sister farted, and they all started laughing and calling her "farty sister". This was such a happy-go-lucky part of the movie, but the second the bullets started to riddle the house, the mood changed instantly. Chava's little brother began to scream, everyone got under the bed, and Chava put the mattress up. The movie gets so intense and chaotic so fast, it almost makes it seem real. Overall, this movie does a great job of depicting a regular family in a war torn environment.
Cidade de Deus (2002)
La Ciudad del Diablo
Everything about this movie was great, from the acting, to the camera shots, and the plot in general. I really enjoyed how the movie was told in the POV of Rocket, but also told every main characters story individually. One of my favorite parts of the movie was where they first found Knockout Ned on the bus, but then Rocket narrated that "It wasn't time to talk about him yet. Another interesting part of this movie was watching the City of God evolve over the years. The city started as a dusty little town, but then evolved into a full on favela. Another key evolution in this movie was Lil' Ze's rise to power. He started off as a wannabe from the slums, and eventually became the most powerful gang leader in the City of God. A very powerful scene was the montage of Lil' Ze killing people. The POV of the camera was of the person on the ground being shot, and it showed Lil' Ze above you, holding a gun. Every time the gun would go off, the scene would change, and every time the scene would change, Lil' Ze would keep getting older and older. Overall, the use of Point of View and camera angles in this movie really helped to enhance the symbolism and gang violence in this movie.
Hermano (2010)
The Balance Between Soccer and Brotherly Love
Hermano had a range of emotions, that enticed the viewer, keeping him or her glued to the screen. This movie was very soccer centered, starring Julio and Daniel, two brothers on the same soccer team. Daniel was saved by Julio and his mother when he was a baby. Julio found Daniel as a baby, crying in the garbage, and he called him "Gato", because he thought he was a cat. Basically, Julio and his mother saved Daniel's life. One major theme in this movie was family and brotherly love. Daniel and Julio have been playing for the same soccer team for their entire life, so they have great chemistry on the field. This is the main reason for a soccer club like Caracas FC having scouts at their games. The scout sees how good Julio and Daniel play, and allows them to go to a tryout.This is actually when the movie goes downhill though, because Julio and Daniel's mother gets shot by the goalkeeper Max. This messes up the opportunity of the boys going to the tryouts, because the also have to take care of their mother's funeral. It was very hard for Julio and Daniel to find a balance between soccer and their family life.
Una noche (2012)
The 90 Mile River
I always knew that a large amount of Cubans migrated to Miami over the "90 Mile River", but I never knew how hard it was to leave everything behind. On top of this, the characters in the movie, Elio and Raul go through many hardships while collecting items for their travels. Both characters get in trouble with the law in one way or another. One day, Raul is giving his mother medicine for her AIDS. Since Raul's mother is a prostitute, he walks in on her pleasing a tourist, when the tourist sees Raul, he tries to chase him out the door. The tourist trips and hits his eye on a piece of metal. The tourist goes to the cops and falsely causes Raul of stabbing his eye, and punishment for assaulting a tourist is prison. This makes Raul go on the run for the rest of the movie, always evading the cops. Elio gets in trouble when he steals meat for their journey on the boat. Both Elio and Raul work in a kitchen together, so Elio goes there to steal the meat. The guards catch Elio running away, so he is also running from the police. This really shows the struggles that Cubans have to go through in order to leave the country.
También la lluvia (2010)
The Power of Yaku
I think that Even the Rain was a very inspirational film. It educated the viewer about Christopher Columbus and Bartolomé Las Casas. I enjoyed this film because the water crisis in Bolivia correlated with the Spanish Conquering of the Natives. The Bolivian revolt, led by Daniel, started because the government of Bolivia wanted to increase the taxes on water because it was too cheap to obtain. This triggered the Bolivians because they do not make enough money to afford a tax raise on water. Daniel, who is a rebellious person by nature, leads the revolts, and also plays a major role in the movie that Sebastión and Costa are filming. Daniel ends up getting beaten up, and arrested, nearly ruining the entire movie production. Later in this film, Costa realizes how important the water or "yaku" crisis is to the local Bolivians. It was very impactful to see Costa evolve during this film. He started off as a rude character, who didn't care about the local Bolivians or the Native Americans. But by the end of the movie, he was willing to risk his life for the Daniel's daughter, Belén. Another theme of this movie was how the characters of the movie, like Christopher Columbus and Las Casas. have different views on how to treat the Bolivians, correlating with their roles in the movie. For example, a Las Casas supported the Native Americans, which meant that he also supported the Bolivians. Columbus on the other hand, was the conqueror of the Natives, so he did not really care about the Bolivian Water Crisis throughout the movie. This was proved at the dinner when all the characters talked about "Yaku" or water and their roles in the movie. Overall, this film really opened my eyes to all of the prejudice, and lack of common, daily resources in Central and South America.
Sin nombre (2009)
From an Innocent Boy to Cold Blooded Killer
Sin Nombre was a very eye opening film. The film immerses you in the Mexican gang culture through the story of a La Mara gang member named Willy, or Él Casper. If a viewer is unaware of what goes on in a gang, this movie definitely shows them. Él Casper recruits a young child named Benito, later named Smiley, into La Mara. Smiley's grandmother does not want Casper to take her grandson, but he does anyways. This definitely shows how much power the gangs have in Mexican culture. Smiley goes through many tough experiences to join the gang, including getting beaten for 13 seconds by the gang members and having to kill a member of the opposing Chavala gang. This was what really showed me the struggles that a child and family can go through due to the gangs. Another surprising part was at the end of the movie, when Smiley was ordered to kill Casper. He was ordered to kill Casper because during a train robbing mission, Casper killed the second leader of La Mara, named Lil' Mago. Casper was getting revenge because Lil' Mago tried to rape his girlfriend, Martha Marlen, and when she resisted, he killed her. If it was an American movie, Smiley would have not been able to kill Casper, and he would have gotten away, but instead Smiley shoots Casper after exclaiming, "Mara por vida." This means Mara for life, proving how quickly a small child's life changed after joining the gang. Overall, this movie showed how gangs can ruin the lives of Mexicans.