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Kray (2010)
Kray (Aleksey Uchitel) - 2010
Ignat is a Soviet veteran who arrives in a remote village to be responsible for the railway line. Treated as a war hero, it awakens the hatred and admiration of those who reside there, foreigners who have the "opportunity" to work for Mother Russia. Formerly a machinist, now he can not touch the locomotives because of his frequent convulsions. This fact is what awaken the first uncomfortable situation upon your arrival.
Thus Ignat takes over the main locomotive, causing the silent fury of his former machinist - one of the strangers in the village. Motivated by this event, Elsa breaks with her boyfriend, the machinist, and seduces Ignat. When questioned, she responds that she needs a real man to take care of her and that Ignat has proved himself better in two situations about his former companion, which puts him as a stronger man.
The climate in the village, more like a forced labor camp, gets worse. Ignat awakens fear as it imposes itself. By putting a locomotive in its maximum effort, it ends up damaging it and causing the locals to get injured - the fuse for Ignat to reach the end of the rails.
These rails lead to a river and what was left of a bridge. Just as he finds an old abandoned powerful locomotive, because of the broken bridge. Ignat focuses on recovering the train and ends up meeting a savage savage who does not speak his language. The discovery of this girl causes discomfort in the village as Ignat tries to help her. Together they will face the challenge of trying to get the train to work, finding a way to reestablish the bridge and face the village's fury.
The photography and the direction are okay, they fulfill their role and they hit on some good passages. The performances also follow this line, do not compromise and at one time or another crown with good performances. The script is original and approaches intelligently, it sins to be losing a bit in the middle of the story and almost recovers.
Kray is a film that portrays a delicate moment in Russia, a time when locomotives were worth more than people and people were disposable or untouchable, without the middle ground. The war hero is put in check as a critique of exacerbated nationalism and the magic that surrounds Stalin's sympathizers. The Soviet lobotomy is cruel and imposing. Movie that ends up being interesting by its novelty, without sounding with strangeness.
Hamaca paraguaya (2006)
Hamaca Paraguaya is a very important film for two reasons
The film begins with the couple sitting in a hammock and discussing about the barking that does not stop. Candida can not bear to hear the dog anymore, Ramón explains that in reality she is a bitch and that she needs to understand. Without agreement, the subject turns to the son and the War of the Chaco, again the pair does not understand. Ramon insists he heard birds fly and this is a sign of rain, Candida thinks her husband is hearing things. This whole sequence takes place in the first fifteen minutes of film.
After that, Ramón cuts off a bit of cane and recalls the conversation he had with his son, when he had warned that he would go to war. Initially without agreeing, Ramón accepts throughout the conversation to the point that in the end encourage the son to play his role, which is to defend his country. Cut to Candida, who remembers the same situation, but in the case she talking to her son, Máximo. He announces that he goes to the battlefield and he gets in a mixture of (in) conformed feelings.
Hamaca Paraguaya is a very important film for two reasons, the first is a sigh of life in the almost nonexistent Paraguayan cinematography, which was 28 years without producing a long. The second is its technical and aesthetic relevance to those who study film in their theory and technique or are spectators of the art film. But as I said before in the page, the idea is to give an impression closer to the common than specific.
The film is deliberately slow, because slow is understood to be very slow. The movement practically does not exist on the scene and it does not exist in the camera, which is always fixed - perhaps to faithfully portray the reality proposed there, a Paraguayan champion life of the 1930s. The dialogues are not deep but bring depth to the feelings. Here is another more interesting point on the technical side, which is actually the absence of dialogues on the scene - they are inserted in a displaced way and give the impression of being always memories.
Biyeolhan geori (2006)
The movie does not gush blood or feelings, his biggest bet is on human relations and the limit to conquer what is desired.
Kim Byung-doo is the eldest son of his family, with two more brothers and a sick mother, their responsibility to provide for their livelihoods and health pressure more and more. For some time involved in the local mafia, our protagonist even reached a certain success, being the head of a subgroup. But that's not financially enough, Kim lives a life as good as or worse than people his age, and the prospect of growing up in the mafia shrinks to the point that his "supervisor" is a chupim and fears to put him in a more relevant role.
While this is taking place, his classmates make a reunion. There he reviews his high school passion and also an old friend, now a young filmmaker. This school reunion will draw two more points from the story, the relationship with Hyun-ju and the resumption of friendship with Min-ho.
Throughout history, the Mafia president suffers with a small problem and scale Kim to solve it. The solution involves the murder of a prestigious prosecutor. The young gangster takes care of the service and immediately suffers an existential crisis. He begins to weigh his poor family, his old love that does not sympathize with being a thug and the very fact of killing an innocent person. Distraught, Kim goes to Hyun-ju's house, which readily offers a friendly shoulder.
Hyun-ju managed to produce some things, but nothing relevant. He has been working on a screenplay for a long time, demonstrating the life of gangsters. Its versions are discarded in sequence, lack truth in the text, according to the producer. The friend's shoulder resolves to appropriate Kim's confidences and rewrite his final script in a new outfit.
The death of the promoter and the final script brings problems for all involved directly and splashes in the others. Despite the existence of many films about the genre, Biyeolhan geori surprises by treating the subject in another way, with originality and script that interconnects all the subplots with harmony. As typical of Korean cinema, the photograph is beautiful and well marks the efficient direction of the film. Unlike his countrymen, the film does not gush blood or feelings, his biggest bet is on human relations and the limit to conquer what is desired.
Kini & Adams (1997)
Extremely human film and an excellent opportunity to get to know African cinema
Kini and Adams are longtime friends and live as small farmers in a poor rural village. For five years they fix an old broken car. Every time a traveling salesman passes through the city, the pair buy a beacon, again a door and so they clean the car.
The motivation to fix a detonated car would be enough, but they are motivated by something much bigger: they want to go to the big city and open a fleet of taxis. Adams is the most enthusiastic, kind-hearted guy who does not see the time of the dream come true. Kini is also focused on the job, but his feet are on the ground because his wife does not like the idea very much.
At the beginning of the film there is a small reflection in the air: Kini tells his wife that he wants to know the world, she asks rhetorically if the world is not there. The two soon change the subject, but I find the suggestion interesting, since the perception of the world is relative, Kini thinks that there is much more in other places, already his wife understands that it is her world there.
Following, a great work takes place near the village and hires local men. The pair soon see the chance to earn some money and anticipate the repair of the car. It starts everything in order, good salary and the friends working together. The tone begins to change when Kini is promoted to be master of works and falls in thanks of the chief contractor. Adams does not get well and is bothering as Kini changes behavior, now as in charge of friend.
The friendship of the two begins to be proved and the film gets more drawn to the drama. Until then, the story is almost all comedy, with very funny friends and situations being resolved (or not) with great joy. The entry of the money into their lives and the involvement of Adams with a prostitute make things more tense.
The photography of the film is excellent and enjoy with praise the natural light. Although we see very little about the country, it is still enough to appreciate beautiful landscapes. The direction found personality in initiating the film of funny form and to harden as the plot develops. Extremely human film and an excellent opportunity to get to know African cinema.