Reviews

An Auschwitz-Birkenau survivor returns to the camp sixty-years later. The story follows her visit, her reactions, her mood swings.

Documentary or fiction? Marceline Loridan-Ivens--herself a death camp survivor--directs a harrowing autobiographical story in which the fictional blends with the environment, and memories of the past are still very vivid, not through flashbacks, but through the viewer's own imagination. Filmed at Auschwitz-Birkenau, the film is a touching performance by Anouk Aimée. Her reactions (she had not prepared the part but let herself react to the situations) are disturbing, but in a positive way. As Myriam confronts the ghosts of her past, she is caught between her will to remember, and her will to forget, navigating to and fro fron reason to near-insanity. The variations of her mood are contrasted to the stability of Oskar (remarkably well played by August Diehl), a young German photographer, grandson of an SS.

Disturbing, harrowing, and painful at times, "La Petite Prairie aux Bouleaux" (The Birch Tree Meadow, or Birkenau in German) is a touching film. Through its simplicity, it manages to deal with a delicate subject with concern and honesty.

Please note Jeanne Moreau's contribution in the writing team, and also Zbigniew Zamachowski's appearance as Gutek.

After China and Vietnam, it is now Korea's turn to export its film industry globally. Chunhyang is a refreshing poetic film, with fantastic scenery. Im Kwon-taek, Korea's leading director, conveys a message of love and hope by adapting a popular pansori to the screen. The pansori is performed by Cho Sang-hyun and Kim Myung-hwan: the voice and drum blend into the beautiful scenery.

At first, the uninitiated (e.g. myself) may be shocked by the continuous singing and beats; some may even be put off by it. However, once you get used to this most peculiar type of performance, you can start concentrating on the film itself. The film itself is more of a complement to the pansori. By diverging at times from the lyrics, the scenes add a further dimension to the story by providing the environment in which the story takes place. The direction is fantastic, the scenery even more. Every frame could be a masterpiece of photography. The plot delves into the traditional issues of love, faithfulness, hatred, desire, etc... without becoming too stereotypical.

See it to discover Korean art and music. See it with an open mind, as a cultural event. The rhythm and singing may put you off at first, but it is the combination of the pictures and the poetic singing that makes the beauty of this beautiful film.

Amelie Poulain is a nice feel-good movie: love, romance, luck, sweetness and justice are all combined to produce a sweet story. The direction is good, and the color tones are splendid. Unfortunately, it lacks depth and contrast, and is too predictable. I would recommend seeing it for the pleasant mood of the film: a happy dream, anti-"Delicatessen". It is a refreshing film, but I believe it is far from being exceptional.

Li Yang, China's most notorious motivational speaker, teaches English throughout China in a most peculiar way. He does it the "Crazy English" way.

The documentary bearing the same name as his teaching method follows Li Yang around China while he teaches ordinary American-English phrases to groups massed in squares, streets and parks, and even troops massed on the Great Wall.

Zhang Yuan's "Crazy English" presents a new type of Chinese nationalism, and not in a pejorative way. He and Li Yang openly encourage the export of Chinese culture, stating that by learning the language of the West, you can penetrate the Western World. Overall, the political tone is similar to Zhang's "Seventeen years", neither pro-, nor anti-Beijing. What may be perceived as slight tones of propaganda lacks political involvement. The type of nationalism presented here is uniquely cultural and linguistic, and encourages the Chinese to be proud of their culture and language. Formerly-banned Zhang produces a mixture of comedy, information and school lessons that will appeal to both Chinese and Anglo-Saxon audiences. "Be crazy every minute, everyday, everywhere!"

Some bad vampires, some really bad vampires, the beautiful girl, the best friend who dies and a super-hero dressed in black overcoming his only flaw: the stereotypical super-hero movie, and nothing much else to add.

However, in its genre, it is excellent. As I went to see it wanting to watch a plain action movie that didn't involve too much thinking, I wasn't at all disappointed. There are some violent gory scenes, but its all part of the film. Overall, it isn't pretentious and doesn't try to convey any philosophical or moral message. It's just action, action and action... and very good music, if you're in that mood.

4/10 as a movie, but 9/10 as an action movie!