Short Review: The only mistakes the Germans make are the big ones.


Communism left a wake of nearly 100,000,000 people killed and we still have slack-jawed losers mincing around campuses with Che Guevara t-shirts claiming "real communism hasn't been tried yet". The communist ideal is inhuman – it rubs against the grain of human nature and simply does not work. It always has and always will lead to a heavy handed government brutally shoving its citizens into lockstep whenever it is tried. This film is one of the most frank attacks on this system.

Writer/Director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck provides an enthralling film about a lonely Stasti interrogator who gets wrapped up in the lives of a playwright and his actress girlfriend when he begins to spy on them for the government. The story is as engaging and thoughtful as any I have seen. I know of no one who has watched this film and hasn't been touched by the tormented lives of the characters. Looking beyond the politics of the film, this is simply a masterful character piece and that is where the film draws much of its power. With careful guidance by von Donnersmarck the characters slowly smother under the the heavy hand of their government. They each yearn to speak and think freely just as human beings were meant to live.

As much as I adored von Donnersmarck’s direction and script, the film really belongs to the actors. Ulrich Mühe who portrays Hauptmann Gerd Wiesler, the dyed in the wool Stasti officer, provides a masterful performance. He is at once a meek, confused man, conversely, he is also a powerful and cruel agent for the state. As the story progresses and his defenses begin to crumble, Mühe manages to expose the psychological distress of this man while not having much dialog. The fact that he doesn't speak much throughout the film makes Mühe’s performance more striking. To be able to draw the audience in, to be able to give such an emotional performance even though your character doesn't speak and essentially is an observer to the world around him is a remarkable feat.


Mühe’s work would have been for nothing without a strong supporting cast. Sebastian Koch and Martina Gedeck play the investigated playwright and his actress girlfriend. They are the subject’s of Wiesler’s occupation and obsession. They are tasked with fleshing out the narrative and visually carrying much of the film. While Wiesler is the center of the piece, the relationship between these two lovers is what energizes the entire film. Both actors offer a worthy counter weight to Mühe’s landmark performance.

The piece taken as a whole is clearly one of the best films of the 2000's. It is shocking that Hollywood ignored this film. Yes, it won Best Foreign Language at the Oscars – but no Best Actor, Best Director? Best Picture – this powerful movie is a thousand times better than The Departed which received all the attention in 2007. No Golden Globes. This film won no other American awards of note. Quite honestly, it is flabbergasting that this piece isn’t held in higher esteem. Regardless of Hollywood’s natural inclination to support criminal regimes – in particular communist ones – the sheer cinematic power of this film should have cut through all of that nonsense.

The next time you have some half-brained dimwit wetting their pants over how “oppressed” they feel, show them this film. Yes, there has been real oppression in the world and yes, there still is. Much of these political horror stories have come from movements of the left. Communism and its cousin socialism have destroyed more lives than any other human fantasy. This film not only indicts these political thoughts but also indicts those who still defend them.


Related Reviews:
German's Oppressing One Another
Der Untergang "Downfall" (2004)
Der Tunnel (2001)


Other Critic's Reviews:
FilmCritic.com
The Phantom Tollbooth



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Labels: film, Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck, foreign film, Martina Gedeck, movie review, Ulrich Mühe

A troupe of drama students in Japanese-occupied Shanghai during World War II conspire to assassinate Mr. Yee, a local Japanese-backed official. Wong Chia Chi (Wei Tang) fronts the troupe’s plot by befriending their Yee’s wife by pretending to be the young bride of a rich businessman. Wong Chia Chi is forced to give up her innocence in order to get close to Yee. Directed by Ang Lee, this movie holds up to the quality of his other works (Eat Drink Man Woman, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, The Ice Storm). Like his other films, this story careful unfolds as the characters are slowly drawn into dark, internal conflicts. Lee has a talent for pulling out understated performances from his actors. Here Wei Tang and Tony Leung Chiu Wai, as Mr. Yee, give quiet but powerful performances supported by a dialog rich text written by James Schamus (Ride with the Devil) and Hui-Ling Wang (Tortilla Soup). The dialog, particularly between Wong Chia Chi and Mrs. Yee and her friends is riveting even though the women are simply socializing and presumptively discussing frivolous topics. The undertones of their words combined with the careful direction from Lee makes even these quiet scenes something worth seeing.

Lee’s sense for theatrics is one of the more attractive parts of this production and his ability to weave complex character studies is plainly seen in this film. While some audience members may be thrown off by the sensual content of the film, if you’re not sensitive to adult topics, this movie is a great watch. I highly recommend it.


Related Reviews:
Ang Lee movies
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000)
Ride with the Devil (1999)


Other Critic's Reviews:
A Nutshell Review
Dear Cinema

Labels: Ang Lee, film, foreign film, movie review

A low level Parisian crook teams up with a leggy angel and all of his troubles are solved. Luc Besson is a wildly successful filmmaker and has a great eye but his stories are always so contrived. Even for him, this seems a bit posed.

Labels: film, foreign film, Luc Besson, movie review

This is a very patient and intelligent ghost story. Sparse use of cheap horror theatrics, director Juan Antonio Bayona spends time developing characters and situations and allows the story to drive the spookiness. This film is more aligned with Poe inspired horror rather than the blunt Stephen King variety.

Consider this one if you're a fan of Guillermo del Toro. He is the producer of the film and his style is all over this production. It is has the same qualities as del Toro's The Devil's Backbone.


Related Reviews:
Guillermo del Toro movies
The Devil's Backbone (2001)
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)


Other Critic's Reviews:
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Mark Reviews Movies

Labels: film, foreign film, Guillermo Del Toro, horror, movie review

It is violent. It is brutal. It is very harsh. It is brilliant and I strongly recommend it. The trailer serves the film well and if the trailer sparks your interest you should track this down. Be warned, this is not a film for the mild there is rape, shootings, and all sorts of other criminality on display. The violence is in context and required to tell the story.

Labels: Alice Braga, foreign film, gangs, movie trailer

Labels: film, foreign film, movie review, Nimród Antal

Director: Joseph Cedar (Medurat Hashevet)
Screenwriters: Joseph Cedar, Ron Leshem
Actors: Oshri Cohen (Ha-Kochavim Shel Shlomi), Itay Tiran (Forgiveness)

Labels: foreign film, movie trailer, Oshri Cohen

Screenwriter: Elena Soarez (Redeemer)
Director: Paulo Morelli
Actors: Camila Monteiro, Rodrigo dos Santos, Jonathan Haagensen

Labels: foreign film, gangs, movie trailer

Labels: Belen Rueda, foreign film, Guillermo Del Toro, movie trailer

Short Review: Depressing, haunting, extremely hard to watch – loved it.


The box cover for this DVD boldly displays Roger Ebert’s announcement "One of the best films you’ll ever see!" Normally, I find Ebert’s taste in film to be lacking. He’s a bright enough guy but his political and social agenda are too obtuse for my political and social agenda to withstand. While his exclamation is a tad overdone, this is a very potent film on many levels. The acting alone is worth the price of admission. The actors are so strong, I often felt as if I were watching a documentary, not a film.

However, I do strongly advise you to see this movie. It is a harsh film about the trails of a young man named Rocket growing up in the toilet that is The City of God (found about fifteen miles outside of Rio de Janeiro.) The City of God is ironically named since if there were hell on Earth, it would be a place like this. We are shown this brutal world and its hellish soap opera in all of its lurid details. This film goes on for over two hours and I couldn’t keep my eyes from it. The richness of the story and the honesty in which the events are presented is brilliant. The structure of the film is masked by clever narrative tricks such as briefly introducing a character, only to tell us he will be more important later. This sets a character up when it is most convenient to the story. We then wait for the character’s reintroduction so we can find out about who they are. The narrator does this a few times and it works wonderfully. It gives exposition without being intrusive in addition to infusing the narration with a human flavor (he seems to get ahead of himself while telling the story and has to backtrack.)

The content of this film is hard to watch. I strongly warn you about this. Children are shot and killed. Women are raped. Men are gunned down. This is not for the faint of heart. It is a film for those who need a dose of realism. If nothing else, this film will make you feel gratitude for your station in life, if you do not live in a situation even close to the one presented in this film.


Cautions: As I mentioned, there's rape, beatings, shootings - a variety of violent acts. This is liberally mixed with sexual content and harsh language. This is a film for adults - discerning adults. None of the rough content is gratuitous however. This is an important distinction to make. It is a natural development of the plot and the environment. Violence is a part of the story because violence is a part of the lives of the characters - you can't have one without the other.


Worldview: The film doesn't take a strong theological stand but it did raise some issues, at least for me, when I viewed it.

Most Christian thinking (at least in the West) I describe as "suburban Christianity". This means ideas and concerns are developed from the point of view of a bunch of puffy suburbanites sitting comfortably and safely in their homes. Only the most affluent Christians would sit around and seriously discuss whether it is healthy to watch PG-13 Rated movies or not - we are so blessed to have such stupid concerns. While I have nothing against the Western middle class, it seems to me that much of our theology has been weakened by our casual lifestyles. Films such as this can wake us up from their comfy naps and remind us that the power of the Word is there for people in far dire circumstances, who seem to have nothing to save them. Hope - God - still lives in the darkest of places, no matter how deep the well we fall, his grace is still there.



Another Troubled Youth Movies:
Tsotsi (2005)


Other Critic's Reviews:
Film Critics United
ReelViews

Labels: film, foreign film, gangs, movie review