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joshuamolson-1
Reviews
Gomgashtei dar Aragh (2002)
A lesson on the Kurdish culture.
I must say that this film really amazed me. Marooned in Iraq did not have the best cinematography, or acting. What really amazed me were the characters Bahman Ghobadi created. The Kurdish culture defies all expectations of people living in a war torn area with so much grief upon them. Mizra a famous Kurdish singer and his two talented musician sons Barat and Audeh go on a journey to find Mizra's ex-wife. The journey takes place on the Iran-Iraq border during Saddam Hussein's attack on the Kurds. During the journey the results of Hussein's terror is seen as a constant reminder of the hardships that the Kurds have to endure. Even with all the reminders the trio set out on their journey and on their way comfort many grief stricken Kurds with their wonderful music.
The music in the film is so amazing that without knowing the lyrics I still felt entranced and could easily understand why music of the like is so cherished in a place torn apart by war. When ever music is not being played, and dialog not being spoken, you can hear the sounds of bombs and jets in the background. This addition of background sound creates much more than a setting. The sounds seem to be integrated with the Kurdish way of life.
It seems unbelievable that people that have gone through so much still have the heart for music and comedy in their lives. The ending of the film is very bitter sweet to me. The director leaves much to be imagined by the viewer. I like to think that everyone got exactly what they were looking for, even though they were not expecting to find it on the journey.
There where two very powerful scenes in the movie for me. The first being when the children threw the paper airplanes off the cliff side and the second being Mizra stomping over the Iran-Iraq border. They both feel like its the Kurds way of saying they cannot be bound to the land, and they won't be oppressed.
I would recommend this movie to anyone with an open mind, interested in learning about the Kurds from the Kurds, and willing to read subtitles. I do caution however, that the ending is typical of a middle eastern films, so do not expect the closure that comes with most western films.
Bacheha-Ye aseman (1997)
Not so common social criticism
Before I ever set eyes on Children of Heaven I was told that it was an Iranian film that contained a clandestine layer of social criticism. While I watched I searched all over for signs that could help reveal this to me. Hidden symbolism of a corrupt and immoral power, purposeful ignorance, even Michael Moore. I could find none of these things. Now I knew it would be difficult considering that the movie was made to pass the conservative censoring that was in place to prevent such criticism from being displayed. I was beginning to think that all the talk of criticism was fabricated by imaginative literature teachers and film critics to make the movie more interesting. After reading others reviews of the movie on the Internet I found that I was not the only one who had difficulty in finding any hidden agenda in the movie. While this made me feel slightly better I knew I had to keep trying to find this movie beneath the movie.
It came to me after a second screening of the movie, the title itself is a glaring sarcastic criticism of Iran. Calling Ali and Zhara the Children of Heaven is like naming a movie about modern day Iraq Uneventful Peaceful and Stable Nation. The fact that this name passed censors means that the decision must have been in the hands of a prideful, and arrogant censor.
The title was not the only thing that stuck out at me the second time around. Comparing attitudes between the children and adults in the film you could see that the children when faced with a problem took it upon themselves to solve it, while circumventing any adult inclusion. To include their parents in the problem at hand would mean getting beat, and among other things adding to mounting problems. What was interesting was that the parents, unaware of their children's predicament, cared less about rectifying their problems than the children did about rectifying theirs. It is thought to tell if the children recognize this, and are working to become less like their parents to improve their condition in life, or their motivation is purely not to get beaten. Either way this situation opens up some pretty interesting thoughts on how Iran deals with their problems. Are setbacks, and problems the will of god and something that is meant to be, or are they the will of Iran and dealt with only under threat of punishment? Could the younger generations understand that problems are there to fix and pursue rather than mark down as a way of life?
Overall I thought the film was very entertaining without the social commentary, and became transformed into a very meaningful, and surprising piece with the commentary.
Twist à Popenguine (1994)
Great Story, Decent Movie
Writer/director Moussa Sene Absa shows how modern day(1994) Senegal reacts to having French and American culture thrust upon the native Wolof people, specifically in Popenguine. Absa does a great job of showing the struggle by focusing on two groups of teenagers each with their own idea of cool, and own take on these new cultures entering Senegal. While the groups each try to impress a group of girls with different techniques the townspeople struggle with the change they see in their youth. I think Absa dose a wonderful job showing the infiltration of French culture by using Mr. Benoit, a French school teacher who forbids the children from speaking their native language in his classroom.
Ca Twiste has an interesting story, and sometimes surprisingly good acting from untrained actors and actresses, but suffers from a slew of continuity problems. Lighting changes several times during some scenes, and costume can also be seen changing in a few cases. For someone who has a good grasp of subtitles and foreign movies, Ca Twiste was actually a pretty easy watch. There where some spots where the speaker was speaking so fast that the subtitles remained on screen for only a fraction of a second, not nearly long enough to read through.