2018 Southeast European Film Festival - Los Angeles

Of the films that recently played at the 2018 Southeast European Film Festival - Los Angeles, I was able to view and review the following:

Men Don't Cry (orig. Muškarci ne plaču) [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD] (directed and cowritten by Alen Drljević [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD] along with Zoran Solomun [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD]), is a BOSNIAN, SLOVENIAN, CROATIAN and GERMAN fictionalized psychodrama, set in a hotel by a (former?) ski resort outside of Sarajevo, telling the story of a group of veterans from all sides of the 1990s Bosnian Conflict [wikip] who twenty years after war's end entered (or were entered...) into a therapy program to finally confront the psychological scars that the war had left on each of them.

And yes, all "tough" men, all from a part of the world that values "toughness," and then certainly further _hardened by life_ and especially said War many initially question their being there, and one even leaves.  Yet the Slovenian psychologist (played by Sebastian Cavazza [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD]) tells the men: "You are here because as awful as the War that you experienced twenty years ago, that was indeed _twenty years ago_, and you haven't been able to truly return from the war.  Your loved ones would like you to finally come home again."  

The rest of the story follows, with some truly heartrending stories being told, stories that really do not flinch from the horror that the War, one which included of course, Massacres / "Ethnic Cleansing," and told from the perspectives of victims, perpetrators and even simple (if-not-for-would-otherwise-be) bystanders.

Any veteran of any war would completely understand this film.  Further, I may in fact use this film in the future as part of a Men's Retreat on Reconciliation, because no matter what demons we may carry, the folks in this film carried ones big enough to open-up just about any heart.  A simply outstanding if at times hair-raising film -- 4+ Stars

The Miner (orig. Rudar) [2017] [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD] (written and directed by Hanna Antonina Wojcik Slak [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD]) is a SLOVENIAN / GERMAN historical drama tells the story of Alija a random Bosnian-born (Muslim...) Slovenian miner (played by Leon Lućev [IMDb] [CEu] [CSFD]) who just as the world was focused on excavations of the mass graves of Bosnian Muslims shot (by Serbs) outside of Srebrenica during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, was sent by his boss to investigate a long closed mine-shaft at the outskirts of the mine -- somewhere near the Italian, Austrian, Slovenian, Croatian border (Slovenia is small...) -- at which he worked, and discovers ... a mass grave there from the 1940s.  Who were the victims?  And did anybody want to know?   Indeed, it becomes pretty clear that _everybody_ from his boss, to the (Slovenian) authorities, to his own wife wanted him to just shut-up / keep quiet about what he had found.  "Based on true events" ... based on true events indeed (the 20th century history of former Yugoslavia runs like an almost unending horror).  Excellent / very sad film - 4 Stars.

Comic Sans [2018] [IMDb] [CEu] (directed and cowritten by Nevio Marasović [IMDb] [CEu] along with Rakan Rushaidat [IMDb] and Janko Popović Volarić [IMDb]) is a CROATIAN (romantic?) comedy of sorts about Alan (played by Janko Popović Volarić [IMDb] [CEu]), a late 30-something / 40-something Zagreb-based commercial artist (a Croatian Ad-man) who having lived a hard-drinking / cocaine infused "dulce vita" for ... way, way too long ... was discovering that pretty much every woman that he ever was interested in (or had been interested in him) had, well, ... "moved on" ;-). 

So what we witness is a veritable _parade_ of often quite funny / painful "definitely approaching middle age" rejections at the hands of exasperated women who in different ways but repeatedly tell him: "Look you never wanted to grow up, well ... what did you really expect?"  Even his mother tells him essentially: "I told you so" ;-).  But at least he comes to understand his more "traditionally bohemian" artist dad Bruno (played by Zlatko Burić [IMDb]) who he had previously looked-down-upon as a loser / neerdowell.  Okay, at least Alan had a (high paying) job, but ... there appears to be more than one dimension to ... "being responsible" ;-) -- 3 1/2 Stars


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>

Overboard [2018]

MPAA (PG-13)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  RogerEbert.com (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (C)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. McAleer) review
Los Angeles Times (K. Walsh) review
RogerEbert.com (S. Wloszczyna) review
AVClub (K. Rife) review


Overboard [2018] (directed and screenplay cowritten by Rob Greenberg along with Bob Fisher, story by Leslie Dixon) is a fun remake of the Kurt Russell / Goldie Hawn starring 1987 film, IMHO _better_ / more credible than the original.

Kate Sullivan (played by Anna Faris), a harried 30-something widow from a rural coastal Oregon hamlet named Elk Cove with three cute-as-a-button daughters, and working two jobs and even as she's oh so close to graduating from nursing school is insulted / dissed by a super-rich late-30 to early 40-something, "never grewup 'cause he never had to," Mexican playboy named Leonardo Montenegro (played by Eugenio Derbez), the pampered only son of the 3rd richest man in the world. She had been sent by the cleaning service that she worked for to clean one of the carpets in Leo's yacht's carpet after "an accident" at the end of a debauched party he had been hosting.  After cleaning his carpet, Leo decides that he's not going to pay her (because she wouldn't bring him a drink, even though she wasn't a waitress, but rather there to clean his stupid  carpet).  When she refuses to get off the boat until he pays her, he throws her as well as her (service's) $3000 carpet cleaner into the water and ... has his crew sail the boat away.

Well, poetic justice comes when that night, drunk (from drinking too much champagne) he falls off his yacht and washs up, with amnesia, on-shore.  Soon he's on the local television news "Does anyone know this man?"

Kate's BFF Theresa (played by Eva Longoria) comes us up with a plan for payback -- have Kate arrive at the hospital to reclaim "her husband."  Theresa's husband (played by Mel Rodriguez), a local construction contractor would give him a manual labor construction job and Kate would be able to take the month off from her two jobs to study for her nursing exam. ;-)

And so Kate Sullivan arrives at the hospital with "documents" and photo-shopped photos "proving" that that Leo(nardo) was her husband.  But wait how could such a Mexican-looking man speaking with a Mexican accent possibly have the name Sullivan?  Well ... she explains to him / his doctors that his great grandfather had been one of the Irish immigrants who escaping poverty / the potato famine had emigrated to Mexico and as a member of the (in Mexico famed) San Patricio Battalion had fought for Mexico (and against the United States) during the 1846-48 Mexican-American War.

When she brings Leo to her home, she also explains to him that the three daughters they have (who look a lot like her but not at all like him) were "his" as well, even though because he "was sterile" _they had to use a sprem donor to create them_ :-).  "Don't worry honey, they're just as much yours as they are mine because _you've_ been helping to raise them."  And, though he had previously never worked a day of his life, she enjoys sending him to work as part of Theresa's husband's heavily Mexican immigrant construction crew.  And ... the rest of the story follows ... ;-)

Leo actually _adapts_ quite well to his role of being a responsible working class husband / father.  Of course, the lie can not be maintained indefinitely and Kate has to come clean, but by then Leo has fallen for both Kate and especially the kids and so he does face a legitimate dilemma of which life to embrace or return to. 

All in all it was a fun film and the repeated "turnabout" theme with the Rich Person being Mexican and the struggling one being (North) American was also honestly fun as well.  And the film's overall message -- that work and responsible living is good for us -- would certainly make both Saint Joseph and St. John Paul II proud.  So overall Good Job!


<< NOTE - Do you like what you've been reading here?  If you do then consider giving a small donation to this Blog (sugg. $6 _non-recurring_) _every so often_ to continue/further its operation.  To donate just CLICK HERE.  Thank you! :-) >>