White God (orig. Fehér Isten) [2014]

MPAA (UR would be PG-13)  The Guardian (4/5 Stars)  Irish Times (4/5 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
EuroCinema.org listing
HMDb listing*
Port.hu listing*

Irish Times (D. Clarke) review
TheGuardian.co.uk (P. Bradshaw) review
The Hollywood Reporter (S. Dalton) review
Variety (G. Lodge) review

White God (orig. Fehér Isten) [2014] [IMDb] [CEu] [HMDb]* [Pt.hu]* (directed and cowritten by  Kornél Mundruczó [IMDb] [CEu] [HMDb]* [Pt.hu] along with Viktória Petrányi [IMDb] [CEu] [HMDb]* [Pt.hu] and Kata Wéber [IMDb] [CEu] [HMDb]* [Pt.hu]) Cannes' 2014 Un Certain Regard award winning film from Hungary is certainly one of the most compelling if also disturbing films I've seen since beginning my blog four years ago.  Yes, like the 1960s era The Planet of the Apes films, the movie is an obvious parable about anti-Semitism / racism (of all kinds of stripes) that has plagued Central Europe for ages, BUT ... the targets of abuse in this film are ... DOGS, yes OFTEN CUTE AS CAN BE DOGS, but DOGS nonetheless.  And THAT will disturb a lot of people watching this film (as if a film series about "the rise of the APES" would somehow be less disturbing...).

Seriously I GET THE FILM.  I think it's certainly well intentioned and at times FUN (the screening as part of the 2015 - 18th Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center WAS PACKED WITH SMILING FROM EAR-TO-EAR mostly ART STUDENTS from the nearby Art Institute of Chicago of which the GSFC is part) ... BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT ... do I really want to entertain employing DOGS (as CUTE, CUTE, CUTE as they can be AT TIMES) TO SYMBOLIZE the TARGETS OF RACISM???  Dogs as a symbol are ... well, rather POLYVALENT.  Sigh ...

So how does this compelling if fairly disturbing film then play out?

Thirteen year old Lili (played by Zsófia Psotta [IMDb] [CEu] [HMDb]* [Pt.hu]), a child of divorce, is shunted-over by her mother to her father for the summer while she flies with her new beau to Australia on some several month long academic assignment over there.  Besides her backpack, Lili is transferred over to her father with two items of import -- her cute as can be Labrador Retriever mutt named Hagan and her trumpet.  Both play key roles in the film.

Her father appears in favor of her having taken-on a musical interest (she appears part of a student orchestra, so it gives her "something to do during the summer...").  However, her dog, Hagan, proves to be a bigger problem:

First, it seems that her father doesn't particularly like dogs to begin with.  Then, he lives in an apartment building where dogs aren't supposed to be present.  Finally, he goes through the roof when it appears that his EX-WIFE apparently hasn't paid-up the license fee for the dog.  Apparently dog license fees in Budapest are quite high and almost nobody chooses to pay them UNLESS they have a "pure bread" and ... Hagan's a mutt.  Further, he's a mutt THAT HIS EX "bought" for his daughter and THERE WAS NO WAY THAT HE WAS GOING TO PAY THE RATHER EXPENSIVE LICENSE FEE FOR A DOG THAT "REALLY WAS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF HIS EX-WIFE" ... THE ONE WHO'S NOW WITH HER "NEW GUY" ... SOMEWHERE OUT IN AUSTRALIA (!).

But there's his thirteen year old daughter Lili in his apartment with her "illegal dog" and his EX was _literally 10,000 miles away_ and, inevitably, a "nosey neighbor" _chooses_ to be "unhappy" about the presence of the dog.

What to do?  After a few days of harboring a dog that the other residents don't seem to want around, who at that moment ENCAPSULATED EVERYTHING that had infuriated him about his ex-wife, daughter or no daughter, he decides to _ditch the dog_, basically parking his car at a park (far away) one morning and leaving Hagan there.

This of course is quite upsetting to Lily, his thirteen year old, BUT he saw no other reasonable solution.  He didn't like the dog, the dog was even LESS LIKED by his dog-averse neighbors, and the DOG, Hagan, represented EVERYTHING THAT HE FOUND ANNOYING ABOUT HIS EX-WIFE, who arguably DUMPED him along with Lily at his doorstep while she flew-off with her new boyfriend to Australia!  Argh!

Well, that may be how Lily's father thought of Hagan, Lily's dog, but Hagan then had a life of his own ... and that's then the rest of the film ...

Dumped then in some Budapest park far from ANY familiar surroundings, and certainly far from Lily, Hagan eventually gives up trying to find his past owner (even as she keeps looking for him).  Eventually he runs into other stray dogs ... and eventually he and the other stray dogs get into trouble with local, Budapest, "Animal control" who attempt to round-up the dogs.

Hagan escapes the initial round-up by "Animal Control," but is then _sold_ by a local homeless person to some lowlife running a "dog fighting ring."  Poor Hagan ESCAPES that sadist only to be caught then for real by "Animal Control."  Yet, just before being Euthanized, he uses his acquired dog-fighting skills to make a quick break out of the dog pound, AND ... helps about a hundred other dogs flee pound as well.

SO ... "Dogs of Budapest UNITE, you have nothing to lose but your ... LEASHES ;-)"  Soon Hagan is at the forefront of a Budapest-wide dog rebellion ;-) and pretty much ALL those who would have mistreated those poor mutts ... start getting their due.

But what of 13-year-old Lily?  At the beginning of the summer ALL THAT SHE "REALLY HAD" was her dog Hagan (who was taken from her) ... and her trumpet.   Well, of course, she has to play a key role now ... ;-)

Again, a it's pretty cool film ... it's just a fair number of the scenes in the film will be unsettling / disturbing to a fair number of viewers.  And what is the film really about?  Is it "just about dogs?"  Or is it about a lot more than that?  And if it is about "more than just dogs" ... How comfortable are you really, that the film makers _chose_ to make _dogs_ even OFTEN CUTE DOGS represent THE TARGETS OF OPPRESSION AMONG US.

Again, this is one COMPELLING / THOUGHT-PROVOKING if also DISTURBING film!


Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser.

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Déjà Vu [2013]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Fr. Dennis (4 Stars)

IMDb listing
CineEuropa listing
Cinemagia.ro listing* 
 
Cosmopolitan.ro  review*
LiterNet.ro (A. Gorzo) review*
MaraleEcran.net  (I.M. Mares) review*
MediaFax.ro (A. Obretin) review*


Déjà Vu [2013] [IMDb] [CEu] [CM.ro]* (written and directed by Dan Chişu [IMDb] [CEu] [CM.ro]*) is a very clever film from Romania that played recently at the the 2015 - 18th Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago.

It's playfully inspired by director Ridley Scott's YouTube-inspired Life in a Day [2011] project in which Scott had asked people all across the world to video record their doings on a specific day, July 24, 2010, to then send the video to Scott and his team, who assembled the often quite poignant film out of the video received.

So the current film tells a "day in the life" story of sorts as well:  After several years of juggling his wife Valeria (played by Mirela Oprisor [IMDb] [CEu] [CM.ro]*) and mistress Tania (played by Ioana Flora [IMDb] [CM.ro]*) some sort of a Romanian (probably media) executive (played by director Dan Chişu [IMDb] [CEu] [CM.ro]* himself) decides _perhaps_ to "finally set things in order."

The film _made entirely_ with a camera mounted to the director's er "some sort of Romanian media executive's" head, BEGINS with the alarm-clock going off at 6 AM by the said Romanian media executive's bed at his (presumably Bucharest) home.  We see his hand reach-out to turn-off the alarm and him, like most of us would do, getting-up and out of bed and heading to the bathroom to relieve himself.  After doing so, he heads down to the kitchen...

... that's where we meet Tania, his mistress of 2-3 years.  It's the first time that she's spent the night at the media executive's home.  Before that they would presumably meet-up at hotels or at her place.  SO ... today is (from Tania's perspective) finally, "different."  But, it's ALSO "different" in ways that are unexpected (and not particularly pleasant) to her ... When _she_ first came down to the kitchen, before he did, she ... ran into / surprised his mother ....

Anyway, they eat breakfast, get dressed for the day ... And "the plan" is for the two of them to drive-out of city to the media exec's / his wife, Valeria's, "other place" by some water (a lake or a river) about an hour-or-two away. 

So they get into the car and drive.  Again, Readers remember that this entire movie is filmed using a camera mounted to the director's (some sort of media executive's) head.  So we view the conversation that ensues in the car from the perspective someone who's driving the car.  And let's face it, it's kind of a tense drive.  The media exec and his mistress, Tania, are going to confront his wife, Valeria, at the media exec/his wife, Valeria's, "other place" an hour-or-two outside of town.  And neither of the two is particularly sure how it's going to go.

Further, since they are heading to the media exec / his wife, Valeria's, "other place," this is a drive that the media exec has done MANY TIMES BEFORE ... with his wife sitting in the passenger seat (rather than, now, with his mistress...).  SO ... as he and his mistress, Tania, are heading over to this place to confront his wife, Valeria, HE INEVITABLY HAS FLASHBACKS _OF MAKING THE SAME JOURNEY_ WITH HIS WIFE, VALERIA, IN OTHER, PERHAPS COLD, BUT ALSO (PERHAPS) "HAPPIER TIMES."

So what happens when they reach "the other place" and confront the Media exec's wife?  I'm not going to tell you ;-) ...

What I do have to say is that this is a GREAT FILM about the messiness of adultery.  A "day in the life" ... yup, one heck of a day ...


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser.

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Amour Fou [2014]

MPAA (UR would be R)   Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
Film-Zeit.de listing*

aVoir-aLire.fr (E. Martin) review*
aVoir-aLire.fr (T. Baelen) review*
Critic.de (N. Klingler) review*
Kino-Zeit.de (B. Behn) review*
Sound On Sight (T. Poglajen) review
Way Too Indie (N. Grozdanovic) review


Amour Fou [2014] [IMDb] [FZ.de]* (written and directed by Jessica Hausner [IMDb] [FZ.de]*) is German period drama set in the very early 1800s largely at a country estate in Prussia somewhere outside of Berlin with the Napoleonic Wars / Controversies looming certainly in the background.  Think of it as a north German Downton Abbey [2010-] [wikip] [IMDb] set at the time of Jane Austen.   

The film played recently at the 2015 - 18th Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago.  Though as of the writing of this article it is not yet available for purchase/streaming in the United States, it is available in Europe through the Amazon Instant Video streaming service in the U.K.

From a technical, cinematographic and set design perspective this film is a wonder to behold.  Almost every single scene set, both indoors and out, looks as if it is playing-out in a "Dutch Master" period painting of the time.  The colors, the costuming are the highest quality.

What may disturb the American viewer especially a religious one would be the film's content.  No the issue here is _certainly_ not some sort of a presentation of "wild sexual excess."  LOL, far, far from it ;-).  This story is set in cold, damp, (Lutheran), Northern Germany (Prussia) of the early-1800s, about as "we don't think about these things" a time and place as one could imagine ;-). 

Instead, the film is largely about a very depressed 20 or 30 something year-old poet named Heinrich (interpreted magnificently by Christian Friedel [IMDb] [FZ.de]*) who, having _perhaps_ been "unlucky in love" (though honestly he might have come to the conclusion of "what's the point?" because he's arrived at the conclusion that life itself is largely pointless), has decided to look for some young woman out there TO DIE WITH HIM, that is, TO COMMIT SUICIDE WITH HIM. 

Again, I tell you folks, THE FILM IS ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFULLY MADE, EVERY SHOT COULD BE A BEAUTIFUL PAINTING, but it's ABOUT A REALLY DEPRESSING ARGUABLY NIHILIST SUBJECT.

But that then is almost certainly the movie's point: There was exquisite beauty in EVERY SINGLE FRAME in this film.  So why did this poet want to kill himself?  And really, WHY DID GERMAN ENLIGHTENED CULTURE OF THAT TIME BEGIN TO BE SO BROODING / NIHILISTIC?

And it is actually quite funny to hear the various figures in the film, mostly petty Prussian nobility of the time, worrying about the "Revolutionary ideas" (mostly of equality, even, gasp, gender equality) coming from France even as they ignore even humor this oddly depressed poet who's looking for some young German woman to kill himself with.

Does he find one?  Without much of a spoiler -- this is German film -- yes, though the circumstances and the rather strange "courtship" make the story.

Ultimately this is an exploration of then nominally Enlightened becoming Romantic European culture: Why did it lead to Depression / Death / and culminating with the two World Wars -- Murder?

Honestly, on the surface this is a very beautiful film.  But it seeks to penetrate that beautiful superficiality to try to get at "what went wrong."  Excellent!  Just excellent!


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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Inferno [2014]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Fr. Dennis (1 Star)

IMDb listing

Mladina.si (M. Štefančič) review*
Pogledi.si (M. Crnkovič) review*


Inferno [2014] (written and directed by Vinko Möderndorfer [en.wikip] [IMDb]) is an unabashedly neo-Communist Slovenian film that played recently at the 2015 - 18th Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago. The film may-or-may not reflect contemporary Slovenian realities but by invoking, appropriating and attempting to turn-on-their-heads iconic the anti-Communist protests of Poland's wildly popular Solidarity movement (within months of its founding, something like 10 million Poles, or 1/2 of Poland's adult population were members of Solidarity) and even more gallingly, the self-immolation of venerated Czech martyr Jan Palach in protest to the 1968 Soviet led invasion his country / MY PARENTS' COUNTRY ... and argues that all these protesters / MARTYRS "had it all wrong" and the Communists were actually the "good guys."

No thank you ... that story ended when the tanks rolled into Prague to crush its attempt to build "Socialism with a Human Face."  And look, as a Catholic, IN THIS REGARD CERTAINLY OF THE JOHN PAUL II STRIPE, even today Swedish (or even French) social democracy WILL ALWAYS BE FAR MORE ATTRACTIVE than either Savage Capitalism or Tito, Stalin, Brezhnev or Putin's own Restorationist Russia.

Yet to the film-maker here, as was typical of old-style Communist polemics, a "middle way" is not an option.  It's EITHER a Dickensonian (in this case a Dantean) horror or Tito / Stalin.  So ...

... Marko (played by Marco Bukvič) a factory worker in some Slovenian industrial town finally loses his cool and gets into an altercation with his boss named Drágan (played by Valter Drágan) breaking Drágan's arm.  Well, needless to say, Marko loses his job (this would happen anywhere in the world, even in the Paradises of Soviet or Yugoslav Communism).  YET ... and this MAY reflect Slovenian contemporary reality, though if it does, then it would make Slovenia operate under a system of rules that would more reflect realities of the Third World THAN OF THE EUROPEAN UNION OF WHICH IT IS A MEMBER ... since it was Marko's fault that he lost his job, he was ineligible for ANY SOCIAL ASSISTANCE.

I simply find that UNBELIEVABLE in the context of Europe and especially the European Union today.  Yet, EVEN IF IT WAS TRUE ... this is NOT CAUSE to IMMEDIATELY PULL OUT THE RED BANNERS and start singing "THE INTERNATIONALE" again ... it's cause to petition Brussels and again "the Swedes" to say ... "THIS IS EUROPE, TODAY (!).  WE DON'T DUMP PEOPLE, ENTIRE FAMILIES, OUT ONTO THE STREET WITH NO RECOURSE ANYMORE.  Heck that MAY still happen in the such "bastions of freedom and responsibility" such as the right wing states of Texas, Kentucky and Alabama in the United States.  BUT EUROPE (!), TODAY (!!).  NO!"

But the director argues that his is an accurate portrayal of Slovenian life TODAY ... and the rest of the horror movie follows:

Marco's family gets evicted from their cold, humble concrete dwelling (already without heat or power) in which they live.  Marco's wife (played by Madea Novák) SETS HERSELF ON FIRE in desperation / protest, with the 5 Euros worth of gasoline that she bought after prostituting herself to a patron in a nearby bar.  Their two cute as a button kids are THROWN OUT OF THE CATHOLIC SCHOOL THAT THEY ATTENDED (apparently there are no public ones ...) FOR NOT BEING ABLE TO PAY and eventually taken from their widowed father because he had no place left to keep them.

Yes, this would be Hell.  But is this reality in Slovenia today?  PERHAPS it is, I honestly would not know, but I would doubt it.   AND EVEN IF IT IS, IS THE ONLY ALTERNATIVE THEN A RESTORATION OF TITO / STALIN??

I don't think so.  Again, just ask the Swedes ...

And I would add one last thing: I think that it is UTTERLY COUNTER-PRODUCTIVE for COMMUNISTS to STUPIDLY TO PUT DOWN THE CHURCH (as is done SEVERAL TIMES IN THIS FILM).  Even PUTIN has learned that.  The default position of the Church is to care.  By STUPIDLY PUTTING US DOWN ... you remove AN OBVIOUS ALLY to fight the injustices that you say that you see. 


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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The Kid (orig. El Niño) [2014]

MPAA (UR would be R)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmAffinity.com/es listing*
SensaCine.com listing*

ACCIONCine.es (M.J. Payán) review*
CineParaLeer.com (M.A. Huerta Floriano) review*
FotoGramas.es (J. Pons) review*


The Kid (orig. El Niño) [2014]  [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]* (directed and screenplay cowritten by Daniel Monzón [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]* along with Jorge Guerricaechevarría  [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) is a critically acclaimed / multiple Goya (Spanish) / Gaudi (Catalan) Award-winning crime drama from Spain that played recently at the 2015 - 18th Chicago European Union Film Festival held at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago.  Though as of the writing of this article, not yet available for purchase/streaming in the United States, it is available in Europe through the Amazon Instant Video streaming service in the U.K.

The film is set at the southern tip of Spain / Iberian Peninsula at the Strait of Gibraltar (separating Europe from Africa by a span of only 10 miles) where three sovereign jurisdictions come into close contact -- Spain and its port of Algeciras, the U.K. at Gibraltar and then across the strait, Morocco, with a Spanish Gibraltar-like possession of Ceuta on the Moroccan (African) side of the strait as well.

That SO MANY political entities with VERY DIFFERENT OUTLOOKS regarding history, governance, law and even religion -- Spain historically über-Catholic and since the 1800s following a Napoleonic Code approach toward the Law, the UK since the Reformation famously historically Defender of the Protestant faith and following a much older (but IMHO more organic / flexible) Common Law approach to the Law and the Kingdom of Morocco historically Muslim and leaning necessarily toward a Islam influenced understanding of Law -- exist IN SUCH CLOSE PROXIMITY and AND AT THE POINT OF CLOSEST CONTACT BETWEEN TWO ENTIRE CONTINENTS / (ARGUABLY) CIVILIZATIONS makes the region absolutely IDEAL GROUND FOR TALES OF INTRIGUE AND SMUGGLING. 

Hence the historical / political backdrop to the film ... and, IMHO, the film generally does not disappoint.

The film really tells two perhaps even three stories that become increasingly intertwined as the film progresses:

The first involves a team of Spanish federal police officers -- Jesús (played by Luis Tosar [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*), Eva (played by Bárbara Lennie [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) and Sergio (played by Eduard Fernández [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*), based in the Spanish Port City of Algeciras tasked, already for over two years, to break-up a cocaine smuggling operation from Latin America that they find is actually being masterminded by a ring of Russian - Kosovar Albanian mafiosi.  They are frustrated because becomes is clear to them that the smugglers here are playing-off police / port officials at the two jurisdictions Gibraltar (U.K.) - Algeciras (Spain) against each other, fainting toward one port / jurisdiction and then delivering through the other.  And it appears that cooperation in anti-smuggling operations between the two jurisdictions is poor to nil, compromised certainly by lingering mutual suspicion (even though both the U.K. and Spain are in the E.U.), and then, when one's talking about drug smuggling ... certainly money. 

The second story involves two twenty something Spanish "good ole boy" buddies -- Niño (played by Jesús Castro [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) and Compi (played by Jesús Carroza [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) who get it into their heads that it'd be "really cool" to buy a "beach side bar" out there on the Southwestern tip of Spain.  Niño's (lit. "the kid") even scouted out a place on a still presently secluded beach some miles outside of town.  All they need is 250K Euro for a down-payment and it's theirs.

But how to get 250K?  Well Niño's something of a daredevil, having driven his jet-ski recently CLEAR ACROSS THE STRAIT to Morocco thinking it "way cool" to pick-up a small rock (note that Gibraltar is nicknamed "The Rock") "a small piece of Africa" and bring it back with him to show-off to friends back in Spain.  Niño also "has a connection" with Halil (played magnificently by Saed Chatiby [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) a late-teen/early 20-something Moroccan immigrant working in a local "Felafel Stand" AND HE can "hook them up" with his uncle Rachid (played by Moussa Maaskri [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) who's the local "hashish smuggling" king-pin.  Honestly, "what could go wrong with this plan? :-) Volunteer to make a few runs (Niño initially thinking JUST USING HIS JET SKI) and they'd be "in like Flynn" "basking in the glory" of owning A GREAT BEACH SIDE BAR "just outside of town" with "all the babes there for their picking."  (That even Compi actually is already living with a long-time girlfriend (played by Inma Perez [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) doesn't seem to detract from Niño's dream ...).

Well Halil does introduce Niño and Compi to his uncle Rachid.  Halil, who knows better, is scared.  Rachid sees two morons, eyes-rolling even explaining to Niño that jet skis would be ridiculously small potatoes for his operation.  He uses speedboats which race across the strait at times when, coordinated with spotters, the smugglers know that Spanish police/customs helicopters are on the ground, refueling.

Yet Rachid is impressed with Niño's 20-something bravado.  So he decides to give Niño, Campi "a try" at running a shipment with one of his (Rachid's) speedboat one night.  Niño's kinda crestfallen / pissed off when he finds that "the shipment" that he was tasked to deliver turned out to be packages of _sand_ rather than hashish but Halil calms him down reminding him that his uncle wanted to make sure that he and Compi were up to the task (of running a shipment across the Strait) before he'd entrust them with a cargo worth the trouble.

Niño and Compi "pass" (more or less) this test and so become "runners" for in this Moroccan hash-smuggling operation (still actually considered "small time" / "not worth the trouble to bust" (unless they became really craven or stupid...) by Spanish police officials like the group led by Jesús described above.

This then involves Niño and Compi (as well as viewers of the film) into the third story playing-out in the film: that of the lives and challenges of Moroccans living on both sides of the Strait.

In the course of the film, Niño falls in love with Halil's sister Anina (played magnificently by Mariam Bachir [IMDb] [FAes]* [SC]*) who wears a Muslim head-scarf in Morocco, is comfortable in shedding it once she's is in the Spanish possession Ceuta still on the African side of the Strait and proves ultimately capable, if reluctantly, of falling in love with and (parents take note) sleeping with Niño on a secluded beach on the Spanish side of the Strait.  She's the same person, though capable of adapting to three different sets of cultural mores.  And truth be told, it's clear that she DOESN'T particularly like the overly libertine mores of Spain today, where young women ARE EXPECTED TO GO TOPLESS or even NUDE on the beach and similarly EXPECTED TO HOP INTO BED when their boyfriends beckon.... Interesting, huh?  Indeed, when one thinks about it, the Islamic headscarf seems a lot less intrusive to women's dignity then the _expectations_ of toplessness and even full nudity on Europe's beaches today ...

Anyway it is ANINA who reminds Niño that a life of crime doesn't exactly have a future.  Yet Niño is Niño and ... "Niño has a dream..."  So much has ensue ...

The story that ensues becomes a very interesting / pointed story ... and on several levels.  Yes, clearly the continued "special status" of Gibraltar is shown as an irritant Spanish sensibilities as well as an impediment to law enforcement operations (how true that actually is, an American like me could only guess).  However, there's ALSO a rather interesting (and sympathetic) portrayal of the Moroccan community in Southern Spain and the possibility that it could teach contemporary Spaniards a thing or two about morality (and _not just_ sexual morality but ALSO with regard to entering into criminal activity).

In any case, it makes for a very interesting film, and a great film to show early in the course of this annual European Union Film Festival that's organized every year at the Gene Siskel Film Center here in Chicago.  Good job folks!   Good job!


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

<< 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! :-) >>

A la Mala [2015]

MPAA (PG-13)  ChicagoTribune (2 Stars)  CinePremiere.mx (3 Stars)  Fr. Dennis (3 1/2 Stars)

IMDb listing
FilmAffinity.com/es listing*

ChicagoTribune (R. Moore) review
CinePremiere (M. Salinas) review*
Excelsior.com.mx (A. Ruiz Villanueva) review*
Noticine.com (G. Espinosa Gaubeca) review*

LaOpinion.com coverage* 
Telemundo coverage*
Univision coverage*
Vivelohoy.com coverage*


A la Mala [2015] [IMDb] [FAes]*(directed by Pedro Pablo Ibarra [IMDb] [FAes]* screenplay by Issa López [IMDb] [FAes]* and Ari Rosen [IMDb] [FAes]*) is a fun Spanish language (English subtitled) Mexican romantic comedy of a "kinder gentler" / "more family friendly" Pretty Woman [1990] vein.  (The language, if one knows Spanish, is significantly cruder than the English subtitles would indicate. However, the central protagonist Maria Laura, "Mala" for short (played magnificently by Aislinn Derbez [IMDb] [FAes]*), was _not_  a "hooker" (though at various times in the film, she'd come pretty darn close), while let's face it, that's exactly what Julia Robert's character in Pretty Woman [1990] began that story as).

So what then was "Mala" (and yes, part of the humor in the film was that "Mala" in Spanish means "The Evil One")?    Well she was a struggling actress too smart, too talented and too honest for her own good.  Forced to audition for various commercial spots, this eminently "Method trained" SERIOUS actress would REPEATEDLY ARGUE (just as Dustin Hoffman's famously "impossible" character in Tootsie [1982]) with the directors/producers and clients of said commercials, telling them that they were asking her to do things that were ridiculous or simply impossible:

"How can I seriously be 'bouncy, happy and free' selling A TAMPON PRODUCT.  I'M A WOMAN.  I KNOW ABOUT THESE THINGS, NO ONE IS EVER 'bouncy, happy and free' while MENSTRUATING" ;-).

In another commercial, for a Tequila company, she's asked to ... in a short, short black dress, sit on the lap of a certainly 'guapo' guy, smiling, with one arm around him pouring said tequila into a glass held in her other hand while looking simultaneously seductively at him AND AT THE CAMERA while he has his hand on her knee/thigh. Practically falling down from this absurd position, she finally slams down the glass/tequila saying: "YOU NEED A GYMNAST FOR THIS PART, NOT AN ACTRESS."  To which the casting agent replies: "And that's why we're looking for a professional."  WHICH, OF COURSE, ONLY GETS HER GOING: "Professional, eh?  WE'LL I SPENT FOUR YEARS IN THE CONSERVATORY, THREE SUMMER WORKSHOPS ON "THE METHOD,"  TWO SEMESTERS OF TEXT ANALYSIS ALONE (!!)" ... "But you misunderstand, we're NOT looking for Meryl Streep, we're looking for someone with curves and a smile who can take direction..."

"ARGH!!", she storms out.  And seeing the Tequila company president's car in the reserved parking space in the lot, she pulls out a large stick pin from her purse, PUNCTURES all four of his tires and writes with lipstick on his windshield "A gift from Meryl ..."

When Tequila company prez, Santiago (played by Mauricio Ochmann [IMDb] [FAes]*) and his (quite gay, but above all, just concerned for his welfare) aide Álvaro (played by Juan Diego Covarrubias [IMDb] [FAes]*) come to the car, shaking-his-head, Álvaro asks Santiago, "What is it that you do to all these women, that they respond to you in this way?"

But returning to our intrepid if exasperated protagonist Maria Laura... when rent comes due and she has no means to pay it, her American expat room-mate Kika (played by Papile Aurora [IMDb] [FAes]*) who's become increasingly convinced (actually by Maria Laura as well as their mutual (and also actor) friend Pablo (played by Luis Arietta [IMDb] [FAes]*)) that her heart-throb Mexican boyfriend was almost certainly cheating on her, tells MaLa: "Listen, I'll cover the rent for you this month if you do this for me: Sometime, when I'm out of the picture, hit-on my boyfriend... yes, you're good looking, hit-on my boyfriend ... and then tell me if he hits-on you back.  That way I'll finally know that he's capable of cheating on me." "You want ME to hit-on YOUR BOYFRIEND?"  "Yes, for your portion of this month's rent."

With no other option, MaLa takes her up on the job.  Since this was her roommate's boyfriend, so she kinda knew where he hung out.  And so one day, soon, she just happened to "run into him" in a Mexico City equivalent of a Starbucks where he'd go, and ... after spilling some coffee, having something in her eye, and some brooding "pleace help me" talk about how "LONELY it is to be in such a BIG, BIG city so, so faaaarrr from home ..." well Kika's boyfriend "makes his move," slipping closer to her, putting his arm around her  ... AND ...   BUSTED!   That's all Maria Laura needed. She quickly drew away. "Oh, MaLa you misunderstand me... I didn't mean anything by it," he tries to defend himself.  "Yeah, right."   Job done for put-upon, lied-to roommate.

Maria Laura reports her findings to Kika, and Kika dumps her scoundrel (in Spanish cabr...) of a boyfriend, pays MaLa's rent AND KIKA GOES ON TO RECOMMEND MALA's "SERVICES" TO OTHER FRIENDS.  Soon MaLa's "fame" makes it to Facebook and Twitter.  And she has a job ... NOT necessarily one that she wanted, but it literally "paid the rent."

But MaLa, a _professional actress_ after all took even _this job_ seriously.  She knew she couldn't just walk around looking the same as she trapped one boyfriend, fiance, husband, or otherwise "novio" after another of her clients.  Her picture / face would certainly soon make the rounds on Twitter, Instagram, etc.  So she had to make herself up, put on a different wig, different hairstyle, etc each time.  She also had to STUDY HER "TARGETS."  So that SERIOUS "Method Acting" background proved quite useful to her ;-)

But she also STILL WANTED to get A "REAL" ACTING JOB ... And she finally scores one, as a central protagonist "who comes down with cancer" on an upcoming telenovella ... (Interestingly, the average length of a telenovella is about 6-18 months, so that time could actually cover quite well the arc of someone's cancer treatments ... in whatever direction the producers wished to take the story).

HOWEVER, MaLa's soon-to-be producer, Patricia (played by Daniela Schmidt [IMDb] [FAes]*), tells her that in order to get the job, she'll have to do "one last job of her old kind" for her.  That is, Patricia tells MaLa that she (Patricia) wanted her (MaLa) to get her (Patricia's) ex-boyfriend to fall in love with her (MaLa) and then for MaLa to dump him.  "But this is much more than I've ever been asked to do.  My customers have simply asked me to check if their boyfriends or husbands would hit on me.  You're asking me to do far more than that ..."  "You're an actress, a very talented actress, you can do this ... and if you can't ... you won't get the job here."

So, reluctantly ..., MaLa takes on the job.  Guess who Patricia's ex was? ;-) ... the rest of the movie follows ;-)

This is one very, very fun / funny rom-com ;-)


* Reasonably good (sense) translations of non-English webpages can be found by viewing them through Google's Chrome browser. 

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The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2015]

MPAA (PG)  CNS/USCCB (A-III)  ChicagoTribune (2 1/2 Stars)  RE.com (1 1/2 Stars)  AVClub (B-)  Fr. Dennis (3 Stars)

IMDb listing
CNS/USCCB (J. Mulderig) review
ChicagoTribune (M. Phillips) review
RogerEbert.com (C. Lemire) review
AVClub (A.A. Dowd) review

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel [2015] (directed by John Madden screenplay by Ol Parker) is, like most sequels, perhaps "not as good" as the first film [2011] and the CNS/USCCB reviewer John Mulderig is right that there are some morally troubling aspects to the film -- the Seniors portrayed in this film are a randy bunch, a fair number of the characters seemingly spending most of their "golden years" "hopping from bed to bed."  I know that, as in the case of most romcoms, there's a Beach Boys' "Wouldn't it be nice?" quality to this.   However, it does get kinda silly and the PG rating for the film should be at minimum PG-13.

That said, those readers who enjoyed the first film [2011] will probably enjoy this one as the entire cast of the first film minus Tom Wilkinson (whose character died at the end of the first film) are back plus with the addition of a new character played by Richard Gere.

The film begins with ever wide-eyed, ever enthusiastic Best Exotic Marigold Hotel entrepreneur / proprietor Sonny Kapuur (played by Dev Patel) and one of his original tenants, the once (and if one's honest about it, still) quite dour Muriel Donnelly (played magnificently by Maggie Smith), who despite her initial fears and even racism came to (finally) blossom out there in India (after 40 years of working as a domestic servant back in England), and who Sonny _came to hire_ as his assistant manager of the hotel, meeting with a couple of potential American investors in hopes that they would finance an expansion to the said "Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel."

The meeting, in San Diego (giving the characters, one young, wide-eyed energetic/sincere Indian the other "old-school" English, a chance to be shown as quite different "fish," but still "out of water")  goes well but there will still be "a need to inspect operations at the existing hotel."

That then sets up the rest of the story.  When silver haired American Guy Chambers (played by Richard Gere) shows up at the door of the (original) hotel, well Sonny IMMEDIATELY ASSUMES that this is "the secret inspector" he was expecting and we, the viewers, are left, of course, cringing for him because it's SO OBVIOUS that he could be wrong.

In the meantime, one almost needs "a score card" to keep track of who's got a crush on whom, who's going out with whom and who's sleeping with whom.  But I suppose, if one takes this in the above mentioned "day-dreamy", "wouldn't it be nice?" sort of a way, it is kinda fun to watch.

Western viewers are also treated to a lovely Indian or at least Bollywood wedding between Sonny and his fiancee Suianna (played by Tina Desai) and it is IMHO truly a LOVELY AND HAPPY SIGHT TO BEHOLD.  Honestly, any Westerner bringing home an Indian fiance/e could honestly refer his/her older relatives to this movie, and I'm positive it would melt them.

In that regard -- of promoting a "better understanding between peoples" -- it's hard to imagine (at least on the Western side) a better film than this.

Good job!


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