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Why We Fight (2005)
It's all going the wrong way for the US
The movie by Eugene Jarecki concentrates on explaining how does the "military - industrial complex" in America work nowadays and how the web of connections between arms making corporation executives and the government turns a democracy into a "war democracy".
This movie cannot avoid comparisons to M. Moore's "Fahrneheit 9/11" but Jarecki does a great job of not trying to show off and avoiding making a zealot of himself (which is Moore's trademark). A lot of facts, a lot of documents and a lot of proof which give a picture of how "capitalism plainly wins (...) against democracy" make "Why we fight" a highly enjoyable document that makes you think about the system of the American administration and the decision-making process within.
A must-see for anyone interested in contemporary politics and international relations.
My score 9/10.
Dzien swira (2002)
Absolutely outstanding!
If you're looking for a comedy to spend some time laughing you've got the wrong movie. This one isn't funny and if there scenes to laugh about it's not because they're "funny" but because they're true.
"The Day of the Wacko" is about one day taken from a life of a underpaid, depressed, Polish language teacher in Warsaw. But it's also about getting old and tired of life that seemed so happy and nice at first and then turned into a total disaster - a disaster that a lot of people getting old (not only in Poland) experience. Another movie about Adas Miauczynski is true to the bone, it tries to picture the confrontation between the idealist dreams that all of us had while being young with reality that, often, is depressing and sad. And it does..."The Day of the Wacko" also makes a few points about us, Polish people (or rather people in general), that we often try to hide or make them go away in our minds. I believe each and every person after watching the movie will feel that this it's, even in a flash, about themselves.
The screenplay, and directing is really good, but the movie would be poor if not for some excellent acting by Marek Kondrat as Adas Miauczynski - he's not excellent, he's absolutely wonderful as a man that considers himself as the lowest of the low. In my opinion this is one of the most universal Polish movies ever made (at least after 1989) and anyone interested in Polish cinema should take a while to see it.
10/10
Wuthering Heights (1992)
This is what you get when you mess with love...
An absolutely classical love story by Emily Bronte filmed by Peter Kosminsky who did an excellent job not only by capturing the whole essence of the story but also by picturing the XVII/XVIII century England really well.
The main story is about three generations that occupied an estate called the Wuthering Heights. The film begins as Mr Earnshaw, father of two - Cathy and Hindley, brings a gypsy orphan from his trip to Liverpool. He names the boy Heathcliff and introduces him as a member of the family. Unfortunately after his death Hindley, who was never fond of Heathcliff, gets to be head of the Earnshaw family and Heathcliff starts his new life as a servant. Meanwhile both Heathcliff, and Cathy draw closer and closer to each other.
This movie has got all the things that weren't there in "Pride & Prejudice" (the one with Keira). First of all - it's not boring although it stays true to the original story it tells. I am not a fan of either J. Austen or E. Bronte, and I consider both books (Wuthering and Pride) dull but after being filmed "Wuthering Heights", as a story, seems far from dull to me. Furthermore, the casting is really what sets these films in two different worlds - R. Fiennes and J. Binoche are excellent whereas, even if Macfayden seems OK as Darcy, then Keira is there either because she's British or pretty (defineteley not because she's a good actress). And the last thing that seems to be "Wuthering Heights'" advantage, at least in my opinion, love and romance are not the main points of the movie - it's rather about revenge and prejudice, while "Pride & Prejudice" is a lot more about costumes, Georgian age and romance. "Wuthering Heights" are a lot more deep and complex but that's an advantage for those who would like to see something more than a simple love story.
One of the greatest love stories for me 9/10
Fucking Åmål (1998)
Not another teen movie...definitely
Lukas Moodyson did a great job and created a love story that is not only deeply romantic but also clever with its social message. Agnes and Elin are two girls living in a Swedish town of Amal, a town that is too small for either of them. Agnes is the sad, friendless, lost one and Elin is the beautiful, popular one. What Elin doesn't know is that Agnes is in love with her, but one silly Elin's joke changes the girls' lives completely. Seems like a clichéd teenage love story - fortunately it's not one of them. Moodyson tries to picture the problems of tolerance and stereotypes in modern Sweden, a country that seems to be one of the most tolerant and open in Europe. And he makes a point that homosexual people are still far from being accepted - at least in f****** Amal. Elin's dream of going to Stockholm is a dream of leaving a town where everyone knows each other and anything "unnormal" is a subject of gossip for years to come. Elin wants to be herself, but she also wants to be accepted by the community - and as a teenager she needs both these things badly. Tolerance is nothing without acceptance is, in my opinion, the main point of this movie.
F**** Amal's advantage is acting by two, young Swedish actresses - A. Dahlstroem and R. Liljeberg - a really good performance by both of them. Where does Moodyson get all these girls? (Lilja 4-ever for example). F***** Amal is a nice love story that gets a social message through - 8/10 in my scale.
Popiól i diament (1958)
A masterpiece that should never be forgotten
First, I've read a book by Jerzy Andrzejewski and then I've seen the movie. After that, I never went back to the book. It was not because it was bad, quite the contrary - it was very good. But the movie by Andrzej Wajda is definitely a masterpiece of Polish movie-making. The main plot of the movie revolves around Maciek Chelmicki, a young idealist who fought against the Germans and then turned to fight against the Communists. He is sent to kill Szczuka, one of The Party's middle rank administrators, by the Polish underground.That's the plot. The movie itself is about a lot of important things, common to all people (but I believe the Polish people will find a few of them more emotionally binding):
1. Nothing is black or white, everything is just a shade of gray
2. Is death, no matter how you try to justify it, senseless?
3. Is it better to live, while on your knees or die standing straight? Or maybe it's better to try to live standing straight?
4. That sometimes it's not war that is hell, it's living through war and trying to live a normal life that is a lot harder (thank God I do not know if it is so)
Wajda's movie doesn't give direct answers to any of these questions - each person may watch the movie from a different point of view and get to a totally different conclusion. But even if you're not into psychological movies about war, or noir-movies (and Popiol i Diament is definitely a sort of a noir-movie) it's worth watching for just one scene - the burning vodka glasses at the bar - Cybulski at his best.
And lastly - the motto of the movie (and of the book as well):
"Will ash and chaos be left in the end, that follows a storm into abyss Or may a diamond be found in the ash, a dawn of an everlasting victory"
Cyprian Kamil Norwid
PS: I hope Mr Norwid will not turn in his grave at the quality of my translation but that part of a poem by CK Norwid sums up the movie really well.
Xian si jue (1983)
A great martial arts movie with a touch of philosophy
The first few Hongkong produced, martial arts movies I've seen were so exotic and so different that I was really astounded simply because they were new to me. Then after watching a few more, and a few more again they started to really be really boring - a hero, some ninjas, more ninjas, even more ninjas, and of course the final showdown with an evil and ugly black character. This movie is slightly different - this time the bias is put on the confrontation of mentalities rather than practical skills. Once a year a great duel is held and two champions - one from China and one from Japan meet. Their duel decides which school of fighting (or rather style) is superior. "Duel to the death" is a great movie to observe (for a non-Chinese or a non-Japanese at least) the subtle differences between the two cultures. On the other hand, this movie is far from being a psychological one, there are a lot of sword fights and a lot of ninjas but the subtle addition of a little bit of philosophy (?) makes the difference. And last but not least, the ending scene is one worth seeing over and over again! Two thumbs up!