The Lives of Others

What a touching film.

This is was one of those Netflix movies that had been sitting on my t.v. stand for months. I was just never in the mood for a German language film set in the eighties in East Germany. And really - who ever is? I had even started it once, got about 45 minutes in, and fell asleep. High praise, I know.

But trust me, give it a shot. It really is lovely. Admittedly, it has a slow start and our protagonist takes some warming up to. But the plotting is so intricate, the character motivations so complex, it's well worth the watch.

I suspect it was on my Netflix queue in the first place because it won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film a few years back - and it was well deserved.

The story centers on a man in the Stasi, the State Police of East Germany who monitored all the rebellious thinkers back in the day. He's a master interrogator, he can spot a liar from a mile off, and he knows how to catch the guys on the other side. His transformation and the consequences of his choices are a delight to watch unfold.

Honestly, there is a lot of heart in this film despite what you might think in the first hour. If you aren't afraid of subtitles, I highly highly recommend The Lives of Others.

Let the Right One In (2008)

Let the Right One In is fantastic. If you haven't seen it - see it. Seriously. You won't be disappointed. But let me warn you - it's slowish and Swedish, two things most people don't typically love in movies. Nonetheless, it's a great story and Lina Leandersson is so fantastic, I went back and forth from IMDb so I could spell her name right for you. That's how good she is.

I've heard the American remake, Let Me In, is almost identical. I haven't seen it. I have seen the trailers and they make it look like a horror film. I would not call Let the Right One In a horror film. There's no slasher element, no copious amounts of gore. Don't get me wrong, there are some moments of horror and some moments of blood, but if you wanted me to place this in a genre, I would say it's a coming of age tale. Coming of age tales are my fave. And this one is brilliant.

From a plot perspective, it's subtle and seductive. It doesn't explain anything - it makes us watch - and I adore that about this film. It has the most creative ways of revealing the rules of being a vampire that I've ever come across. And it stands up to multiple viewings; always engaging, always entertaining.

I recommend this movie most ardently. It's foreign - don't forget that. It has its foreign sensibilities. But it's worth the languid pace, I promise.

The Son's Room (2001)

A happy tale The Son's Room was not. An Italian language film about a family that loses one of its members, this story is about guilt and acceptance. It's extremely simple in its structure and moves at a languid pace. The real knife cuts happen when the father imagines all the things he could have done differently the day his son died to prevent the accident. His wife is right when she says going down that path can only lead to madness. 

The story is mostly told from the father's perspective. And I suppose, to a degree, we wonder if his marriage will stick together. But the movie makes such an attempt at realism, we know from the beginning there will be no conclusions. This is a story that does not end, and this family, while changed forever, will continue on.

It's not the most unique film, nor the most exciting. I'm not sure exactly what about it earned it the Palm d'Or other than tragedy and sadness abound. I don't think I'm being harsh when I say it was just okay. It was exactly what you'd expect when you sit down to watch a story about a family that loses a son. 

Cache (2005)

Award winning director and Christopher Lee lookalike Michael Haneke (pronounced like the Hanukkah) came to my grad school while I was a student there. In preparation for his visit, we watched the original version of his film Funny Games (unfortunately for the world, there is a shot-for-shot English language remake done by Haneke himself). 108 minutes later, my entire MFA class wanted to run screaming through a plate glass window. Funny Games is intentionally mean spirited and manipulative. It's a commentary saying "Hey! You're a dumb member of the public!" It's terrible. So, since then, despite the glowing reputation Haneke has in the rest of the world and despite his film The White Ribbon being nominated for Best Foreign Film at the Oscars this past year, I've avoided his stuff like Swine Flu.

However, Cache had been sitting in my Netflix queue for ages. Due to my forgetfulness, Cache made it to the top of the queue and ended up in my mailbox. Thus, it had to be watched.

Happily, Cache was nothing like Funny Games. It had its foreign art house tendencies - super long shots, some naturalistic disengaged dialogue, vague insinuations about what's really going on, and no true conclusion. But the plot was engaging and I felt like I was seeing a part of the world I don't know. I know next to nothing about French/Algerian relations. This movie got me interested. And Juliette Binoche is one of the best actresses on the planet. I always enjoy seeing her.

The movie has a mystery type plot. A somewhat bored suburban family starts receiving tapes indicating that they're under surveillance. Eventually, drawings (like the one above) are included that pique the families suspicions about who is behind it all. It's hard to know who is in the right, whose side we should be on, and who, if anyone, is to blame for everything that transpires. It's interesting. It's defiantly worth seeing. I only wish Cache was the film they chose to show us before Mr. Haneke's visit. I wouldn't have had to waste my time shooting daggers at the man who had ruined 108 minutes of my life. See Cache. Run far far away from Funny Games.

Whatever You Say (2002)

Whatever You Say is French. The subtitlers can't seem to decide if it should be Whatever You Say or Anything You Say. I'm letting you know it exists out there as both so that you can avoid it.

I rented this because Guillaume Canet is the star (and writer and director - oof) and I enjoy looking at him. He's dreamy. I dig his vibe. But I do not dig his writing. This movie isn't anything. It's not really bad bad like Swingers bad. But it's not emotionally engaging in any way. Protagonist Bastien (Guillaume) is a dick. And he doesn't change. The plot shifts tones three times from dramaish to comedy to dark creepy weridness. There's some animation randomly thrown in for good measure. And an ending that settles nothing and means less.

In that picture, he's like "Wha? You didn't like my film? I'm French." I wouldn't waste your time with this one, kids. If you want to gaze lovingly at Guillaume and feel jealous of Marion Cotillard, go watch Love Me if You Dare. It's charming.

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (2009)

This movie.

I've heard people rave and rave and rave.

I've read this review at The Playlist where they loathed it. Shredding it in true pretentious Playlist fashion. (Love you, Playlist...)

I'm definitely somewhere in the middle. It's over long and there are some debatably unnecessary character building tangents. But I enjoyed the movie. I was entertained, and the title character was unlike any character I've seen before.

She is a hard core, pierced, motorcycle riding, computer hacker that no one should mess with. She sleeps with men and women and she keeps her thoughts and feelings to herself. She's the movie. She's what's unique about it. The Playlist was not a fan of a sequence in the first half hour or so where she gets revenge against an (overly) evil probation officer. I was on her side with that revenge. And I was shocked. I think this sequence does what it's intended to - it tells us what she's like and if you don't like it (or her), stop watching now.

It's true that all of the characters apart from her are fairly cookie cutter. I would argue that with her character being so different from what we're used to seeing, it's not unreasonable for the author (or screenwriter) to keep the rest of the cast fairly understandable.

The plot is a plot. It's not genius. It's not absurd. Mysteries aren't typically my bag. They tend to be either obvious or so ridiculously complex that no movie goer could play along. I'm never going to be particularly interested in the mystery itself if only because I know the ending will (almost) never live up to the twists of the plot along the way. (Shutter Island is the first movie in a very long time where I found the ending to be as cool as the journey). This movie had Lisbeth, and I was content to watch her be sort of awesome.

This movie gets talked about. For that reason alone, I would recommend it. Nothing drives me crazier than people with strong opinions about movies they haven't seen (or books they haven't read or musicians they haven't heard). It's an entertaining watch. It's got some graphic sex stuff so beware of that. But The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is a cool chick and I look forward to seeing the sequel.

The Class (2008)

The Class was fantastic. A slice of life film, The Class has been described as part fiction, part documentary. Apparently, actors in the traditional sense were not used. Rather, all the characters in the film are versions of their real life counterparts.

The film focuses on one year in the classroom of a tough Paris nieghborhood. The personalities of the students are incredibly diverse and real. And the teacher, played by François Bégaudeau, is not some bleeding heart idealist trying to save the world by teaching the children. He's a real man - doing his best and making mistakes. Plot wise, the stories are slightly episodic and not every character gets a true conclusion. It is, as I'd imagine, reflective of life as a teacher. Students come in, you do your best, and then they're gone, perhaps never to be heard from again. What happens to them beyond your classroom is out of your control and often completely unknown.

This movie has a lot of charm and, as with most foregin language films I enjoy, I only wish I could watch it without subtitles. It's often clear that more is being said than what subtitles are able to translate. However, these subtitles were well done, navigating the complications of translating what's being said in a French class.

I'd recommend this film to anyone, although as is evidnced by the Netflix viewer comments, not everyone will enjoy it. It's a well made, unqiue film and I'm very pleased to have seen it. It's available to watch instantly on Netflix - by the way.

The Pillow Book (1996)

The Pillow Book was Weirdy McWeirderson. Practically the definition of a foreign film - it's about this girl whose father used to write on her face every birthday. She fetishizes this to such an obsessive extent that she searches for fantastic calligraphers to sleep with. The film is broken up by readings from a Pillow Book - which seems to be a diary - of an ancient woman with ties to our protagonists family (I think). Then, Ewan McGregor shows up and is naked a lot, and there's a revenge plot against her father's ex-publisher, and she has lots of sex with naked Ewan McGregor and then it ends tragically (and strangely).

It was weird. But - it wasn't bad. It had some fantastically enthralling romance scenes between her and Ewan McGregor and there were moments when the story managed some clarity and ingenuity. I wish there was a slightly stronger structure - only slightly - it could still be foreign filmy and amoeba-like - but it needed more time with its story (because it had one, it just didn't hang around it all that often) and less time with her sexual exploits and calligrapher searches.

It was interesting. Weird. Unlike pretty much anything else I've seen and that's always enough for me to recommend something. But I doubt this film will ever be a topic of conversation at some cocktail party where you'll feel left out if you miss it. If you like foreign films where they're all erotic and like "nakedness is awesome because we're foreign and we're not scared of our sexuality (but we are sorta against violence)" you might enjoy The Pillow Book.