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Reviews
Once Were Warriors (1994)
A genuine rawness
Once Were Warriors, directed by Lee Tamahori, is a depressing film to watch. The movie is an adaptation of Alan Duff's novel but screenplay was written by Riwia Brown, a female, which is interesting to note since the film ends up having a strong feminine voice to it. For one, the story ends up being told from a woman's (Beth) perspective. The cinematography by Driver is also very expressive and there's much to analyze from just one scene. The opening scene where we see the billboard resembles that scene of perfection but then as we zoom out we get reality. We've seen this scene many times before in other movies like What's Cooking. However, the real impact of the film came with Grace's rape and thus suicide. It is truly tragic because poverty is not what is keeping this Maori family from being able to move on, it's the loss of cultural identity and really education/guidance. The last thing I admired about this movie is the violence. The violence is not gratuitous and serves its purpose. It is straightforward and natural even to the point that it is uncomfortable to watch, but the rawness of it is fresh and rather liberating. Rena Owen (who plays Beth) and Temuera Morrison (who plays Jake the muss) deliver a commendable and rather impressive performance (especially for Morrison, who is used to playing the "good doctor" roles).
White Dog (1982)
a counterintuitive portrayal of racism
White Dog is not a racist film. Samuel Fuller's (the director) intention was not to make a racist film. So why was this movie deemed racist? It was banned in the US and only recently released on DVD. Fuller, accustomed to making B-movies with not much of a "good reputation" thought he could get away with his "radical" messages because he had more freedom to do so. I think the people who thought of this movie as racist only thought so because it's about a white dog attacking black people. However, that's just a tag line; really it's about a racist trainer who brainwashes a dog to attack black people and how a black trainer tries to re-teach the dog not to. In the end the trainer is victorious. Some, who still think the film is racist, might interpret the ending as confirming racism. For a dog, race is just black and white, but the movie said a lot about racism in human society, and the possibilities of re-conditioning. Fuller's movie might not be the greatest film about racism but it very cleverly portrays racism through the medium of a dog—neutral in thought.
La battaglia di Algeri (1966)
"Terrorism is useful as a start. But then, the people themselves must act."
Battle of Algiers, a film by Gillo Pontecorvo (who is interestingly an Italian director, not Algerian), was originally a controversial film when first released in America due to the negative connections people would draw to Vietnam. What's really amusing is the fact that years afterward, President Bush actually held a screening of this movie in the Pentagon. Bush completely distorted the message of this film and saw it as some sort of manual as to how to defeat the terrorists (oh boy...) I really admired the visual storytelling element of the film, which had a very documentary style to it. All the "war" scenes looks like actual footages. I also really liked how Pontecorvo set up the character of Ali La Pointe. The first scene we get of him is this guy running away from the police. He trips on the foot of a wisecrack French guy and Ali has a choice, to keep running to avoid getting caught by the police or to teach the French guy a lesson. Ali punches the French guy in the face. There's no dialogue, no long introduction, just a simple scene and right away we know what kind of guy Ali is. Another interesting point I realized while watching the film was that usually in film where a group of people are conquered by another, the conquered group is usually somehow culturally/socially converted and integrated into society but the Algerians were completely segregated. There wasn't even an attempt to "moralize" the "savages." I think that's why we get the term of the kasbahs.
Los olvidados (1950)
The forgotten ones...
Directed by Luis Bunuel, Los Olvidados is a powerful film that gives voice to the troubled youth living in the slums of Mexico. The movie is very tragic and has a grim undertone but truly shines in its visual deliverance. Bunuel, also known as the father of surrealism, shows unconventional, thought-provoking, and even shocking scenes tied into the neorealist genre. One of such memorable examples is the dream sequence scene where we find so many metaphorical aspects. Another scene that stuck with me is the scene when Pedro throws an egg at the camera, which could be said as a sort of "in-your-face confrontation. What makes this film really tragic is the fact that the youth living in the slums really have no way out of poverty and so must resort to "troubling" behaviors to survive. Jaibo, for example, takes away everything from Pedro who ends up dying a liar, in the eyes of the director of the correctional school. Just when we think hope (the director) enters Pedro's life, we find out that a life of poverty and trouble (Jaibo) is inescapable for him. Overall, the film is visually compelling and the story, bittersweet. I enjoyed watching the film and believe it was deserving of the Golden Palm at Cannes. I feel like watching it again could even further my analysis and appreciation for the film.
La otra conquista (1998)
what they never taught us in high school...
La Otra Conquista is a brilliant film directed by Salvador Carrasco. It's rare to find a film like this where it tells the other side of the story, in this case of the Aztecs. Carrasco does not however bore us with a historical documentary styled drama but paints a very honest picture of the conquest. We feel so powerfully about this film because the message is so universal. Whatever background (nationality, race, culture, ideology, etc.) you come from, we have all experience some sort of "conquest", and we have all raised some kind of resistance to such conquest. Topiltzin, the protagonist embodies this resistance and we feel an immediate connection to him. It was very interesting that the actor casted for Topiltzin was actually a dancer and casted for that very reason. It was a risky but very brave choice for Carrasco to cast Damian Delgado as the protagonist rather than a "brand name" actor. Delgado does deliver a memorable performance especially for a first-time actor. One thing I felt that did not quite work was the dialogue. I don't know if it was just the translation, but sometimes I felt the dialogue was very didactic and slow. I do however understand that the reason for this was probably because most of the story was told through the imagery and mise en scene of the scenes. Maybe Carrasco wanted to redirect the attention from what's being said to what's being shown. Overall, the film is beautifully shot, especially on such a tight budget. Carrasco actually commented that the scenes showing the Aztec ruins is actually smack in the center of a very urban city, but the cinematographer was able to cleverly conceal the anachronistic elements behind the ruins. Carrasco also commented that the scenes showing the inside of the ruins were actually shot few years apart but through the flawless editing of the film, it's undetectable.