Children Of Heaven

Children of Heaven is an Iranian film from 1997. It was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It has also achieved critical acclaim and other awards at the time of its release. This film has a very simplistic storyline and a short running time. Even with its very simple story the film never drags. This young boy, Ali, takes his sister’s shoes to be fixed, but on the way home stopping for vegetables, a blind trash collector unknowingly carries them away. They keep this hidden from their parents because his parents have no money to buy a new pair and they know if they tell them, they will get punished. They figure they can share Ali's sneakers. His sister wears them to school in the morning and runs to Ali on the other side of town at midday so he can attend afternoon classes. This gets Ali in trouble because he is late to class everyday. He then enters a footrace in hoping of getting the third prize of a new pair of sneakers and 2 weeks at a summer camp and other prizes, but he doesnt care about anything but the sneakers. He tells his sister that he will come in third. After a long foot race, he actually comes out in front and is very dissapointed.

A running theme of this film is the love shared between brother and sister. It’s rare to see a movie where siblings actually love and respect each other. Where one sibling goes out of his/her way to please the other one. Usually films show sibling rivalry or how they so different from each. This film showed a very touching relationship that makes an only child like myself, very envious. The things Ali did to please his sister was incredible. Begging to be included in the race and crying over his first place win was incredibl y unpretentious of him as he was doing all of that for his sister. This film showed a real touching relationship between the two siblings, which is probably the best thing about the film.

I was suprised at how much I enjoyed this film. After it was over, I just thought about for awhile and the more I thought about it, the more I liked it. It was a very well made film. The acting between the brother and sister was really great. The whole movie felt real and unscripted. The locations also proved to be essential to film as it gave the film real character. The story was incredible and I would probably buy this film if I saw it at a store for a good price. The footrace at the end of the film was really compelling. I got really into it and was rooting for Ali to get third place. This film is great for all ages and I’m surprised it is not more well known. The story was very touching and compelling. It is rare to see a film like this that lets it’s story be front and center.

Salaam Bombay!

Salaam Bombay! is an award winning Indian film from 1988. It was nominated for Best Foreign film at the Academy Awards. This film is about a boy, who struggles to maintain a life in the streets of Bombay. This boy was abandoned by his mother at a circus. After breaking his brother’s motorbike, he is told not to come home unless he has 500 rupees. Krishna gets a job with the circus in order to get the 500 rupees. After coming back from an errand, he sees the circus has packed up and traveled somewhere else. He then decides to use his last few rupees to travel to Bombay. This brings him to the life of an average street child living in Bombay. He is now living with pimps, street hustlers, drug addicts, and prostitutes. Where he has to fend for himself in order to survive as he finds out saving money in his surroundings will be incredibly hard to do.
The first thing I noticed about this film was its music. The music in the film was incredibly charming and it gave the film its own personality. I enjoyed the story and liked the way it ended even more. Over the course of the film he works odd jobs to feed himselg. The boy eventually makes the 500 rupees but it gets stolen by his junkie friend who he helped. He gets taken in by the police and but into a juvenile detention center after they apprehended him for breaking into an older man’s house to steal his things. He then escapes and is brought back into the world he just was in. In the film he falls in love with a young prostitute. At the very end, he stabs her pimp in the back and runs away with her. The way the film ends with the boy crying was very powerful. The fact that he doesn’t have the 500 rupees or any family or hope is very touching. It doesn’t welt that he could be wanted for stabbing the pimp. I liked how it didn’t have a happy ending but a more realistic one. The fact that nothing was really settled in the end made me appreciate what the film was all about.
A major theme in this film is survival. Krishna, the central character, spends the entire time in this film trying to survive admist all the drug pushers and street hustlers. He runs into many shady people in Bombay. Surviving in the streets of Bombay is not easy and Krishna learns that the hard way. The theme of survival can also apply to the character of Sola Saal, the young prostitute, who is treated very poorly by her pimp. It is not until the very end until she is saved from him by Krishna. Her life should be better from that point on, but Krishna’s survival is still up in the air.
The dedication at the end of the film to the children on the streets of Bombay was also a nice touch. There are probably many kids outthere who are in a similar situation that main character of this film was in. It was a very realistic film and things happen so natually. The children in the film, especially the main character, were very good actors. That’s why I felt it flowed so natually. I never once thought these were child actors. The film was very well made, acted, and directed. The film also feels like a documentary at the times probably due to its shots of Bombay. It feels like we are capturing something in reality at times. It was somewhat slow moving at times but the story was good and the ending made it worthwile.

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams

Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is a Japanese film from 1990. Akira Kurosawa's Dreams is exactly what the title tells you. This film is simply one man’s dreams. Dreams he has had over his life. This is film is basically eight short films, with some overlaps in characters and plot. Most of the stories deal with man's relationship with his environment.
A running theme throughout all the stories seemed to be identity. The first story, Sunshine Through The Rain, is about acting against the cultural barrier. The boy acts out against his mother. He is destroying what the world that he was raised with. This ostracizes him from his previous identity. In the second story, The Peach Orchard, the dolls’ culture was put to an end by the boy's family when they destroyed the peach trees. They made the decision to go against their traditions and separate themselves from their culture. With this act, the child is denied a his identity and is forced to live with that now. With Mount Fuji in Red and The Weeping Demon, Akira Kurosawa, depicts the world as a nuclear wasteland. This world is now inhabited by cannibalistic demons. They are now the main people who live on Earth. Kurosawa comes into this world not knowing where he is or why or what now. The identities of mankind have been stolen and now changed into demons. In the last story, Village of the Watermills, a boy is faced with the option of suicide or eternal searching after witnessing the fox wedding. He is left with no choice but to find a new identity. This basically says trying to recreate a new identity is a bad idea. Instead, keeping your original cultural and born identity is necessary in having a strong, meaningful existence.
This film was quite different than most films I’ve seen before. I enjoyed the fact it was very original and very nice to look at. Some of the visuals in this movie are insanely different. The scene with the man going inside Van Gogh’s paintings was incredible. I enjoyed watching the darker dreams the most in this film. The Tunnel and Mount Fiji in Red seemed like very short Twilight Zone episodes. The Tunnel’s story about a man encountering the ghosts of an army platoon he was responsible for killing was intriguing. Why did Akira Kurosawa even have a dream like that? I didn’t enjoy The Weeping Demon because I felt it was a bit redundant after pretty much knowing that was how everything was going to turn out after the nuclear explosions. Crows and Mount Fiji in Red definitely felt like the most realistic dreams for me. Realistic in the sense of Akira Kurosawa actually having those dreams. I’ve had dreams similar to those two in terms of how they looked and what I was experiencing. Some dreams were better than others but that didn’t really stop my enjoyment of the film. Despite whether you liked the film or not, Akira Kurosawa did a very commendable job. The film was very original and I hope to see that people will make more films like this that are daring and creative.

The Eye

The Eye is a 2002 horror film from Hong Kong. The film is about a woman, Mun, who has been blind since the age 2, getting and eye transplant. She enjoys the transplant at first, but not for long as she starts seeing ghosts that foretell deaths. She goes on a trip with her doctor to track down the donor of the corneas. She is told that the previous owner was looked down on as a witch for seeing death. She warns everyone about a huge disaster but no one believes her. The disaster kills tons of people and feeling guilty, she kills herself. Her spirit possesses Mun until her mother rescues her and they make up. Mun feels a bit better until she sees ghosts while stuck in traffic. The traffic was caused by a huge tanker that had been tipped over and now Mun is in a similar situation that her donor was in. She knows that a disaster is about to happen but no one is responsive to her. The tanker explodes and a piece of glass goes into her eye. Mun is now blind again and doesn’t mind not seeing anymore. She says she has seen all that she was meant to see.

A theme in this film is not to mess with the way things were intended to be. In this film we see that Mun only achieves true happiness once she is blind again. She says at the end of the film that she saw all that she was meant to see. After getting the cornea transplant, she realizes she got into more than she bargained for. After seeing all these haunting visions, having vision is now more of a hassle than actually not seeing anything.

The Eye had an intriguing story with a good ending but I felt there wasn’t enough story in the film. It was nearly 100 minutes but the story could easily have been a highly entertaining 30 minute episode of The Twilight Zone. I felt things were padded out or went slower because they needed to fill time for a feature length film. Basically the first hour of the movie is Mun seeing visions of dead people over and over again. The most entertaining scene was probably the end featuring the explosion of the tanker. It was obvious that no one would pay any attention to her and that they would all perish considering that basically happened to the other girl. I liked how the ending wasn’t a typical horror movie ending. There was nothing screaming sequel, even though they made 2 more films after this one. The fact that she was now happy being blind after going through all that peril was interesting to see. The film was decent enough but I wanted something more. The scene with the dead man in the elevator was entertaining, however, I wanted more thrills, instead of scenes relying on high volume music to make you jump. The whole troubled ghost needing to be put to rest idea was a bit lame. The film was alright but considering its potential, it could have been better.

Shanghai Triad

Shanghai Triad is a Chinese film from 1995. It takes place over seven days in the 1930s. The story begins as a boy, Shuisheng is a sent to work as a servant for a mob boss. He then gets assigned to serve Jinbao, a singer and the girlfriend of the mob boss. Shuisheng becomes the only person she can talk to openly. As his relationship with her is not motivated by power or greed. The whole film basically just chronicles Shuisheng's arrival to work for the Boss, his conflicted emotions for Jinbao , an attempt to kill the mob bass, Tang, and then fleeing to an island safe house.
A running theme of this film was the dangers of the condition of China. It is clearly ruined by dangerous, powerful, greedy men. They will pretty much kill anyone in their way or anyone who knows too much about their operation. Jinbao tells Shuisheng to start a shop and get out of Shanghai as soon as possible. She knows it’s no good and the people in her life are dangerous. After going to the safehouse, the film ends with a return to Shanghai. Shuisheng might be stuck there as he gets to see first hand what Jinbao was talking about in the beginning.

I would say this was a decent film. As a gangster film, it isn’t like the rest. There isn’t a whole lot of violence and it deals mostly with the character of a young boy. Shuisheng is used to represent the audience. Everything that takes place is seen through the eyes of Shuisheng. There are first person camera shots where we see events open up from the perspective of Shuisheng. It is as if the audience is in his position as we are finding out everything going on the same time he does. I felt the boy who played Shuisheng was a little emotionless in is acting. Everyone else was pretty good and natural. However, the boy was a little stiff. I liked the growing relationship between Jinbao and Shuisheng and Jinbao’s relationship with the young girl, Ajiao. I also enjoyed the ending of the film as it held my interest and it wasn’t particularly happy. The film then ends with Shuisheng tied to the sails of the ship as it sails back to Shanghai. The silver coins that Jinbao gave him to start a shop and get away from Shanghai have fell out of his pocket and into the ocean. The mob boss thinks tying him up upside down like training a dog. Ajiao will be brought up to be the next Jinbao. The future doesn’t look too bright for both Jinbao and Ajiao. I feel like there could be another film showing us what happened to these characters 20 years later.

Yi Yi

Yi Yi is an award filming Taiwanese film from 2000. Yi Yi is about the Jiang family seen through three different perspectives. The father NJ, the son Yang-Yang, and the daughter, Ting-Ting. The starts with a wedding and ends with a funeral. In between the wedding and the funeral we see a birth, an attempted suicide, and a murder. This film shows all areas of human life and struggle. The film basically shows us the emotional struggles of a Taiwanese family seen though three generations. The film switches back and forth of the stories from those three different characters.

A running theme in this film is life and the existence of people and the complications that come with it. On the day of the wedding, two major events occur. NJ runs into his first love from thirty years ago and he is faced with some unfinished business. His first love wants to know why he left her waiting for some long. Later on in the film they flirt with each other, when she meets him on his business trip in Japan. However, NJ runs into complications that kept them apart for so long, however now he has a wife and children in the mix. The other major event that occurred that day was the stroke of NJ’s wife’s mother. NJ’s wife then tries to find a spiritual enlightenment after this. As the film stays true to its themes throughout, it is also firmly based in reality. As in real life, there are tears, tragedy, laughs, and love. The film is true to that in every way.

I felt the film was too long and slow. I believe there is an entertaining film somewhere in Yi Yi. I enjoyed some of the humor but there wasn’t enough. The scene with the teacher mistaking a balloon for a condom was entertaining. Also, I felt there were two funny things within the opening scene that had me anticipating a meaningful film with lots of humor. The first thing we see in the film is a groom picking his nose. I had to rewind the film to make sure that was in fact what I just saw. Then about three minutes later, a guy puts a picture of the bride and groom up upside down and doesn’t even know. For whatever reason, I thought that was a bit humorous. I did in fact laugh at that. Maybe I was being a little generous. For a near three hour film, the humor in life should have been more prevalent. I also felt the use of filming through glass to be a bit odd. It happened a lot during the film as we see the characters speak through their reflection of a window. The film had many vibrant colors in a lot of the shots. I believe this film showed a nice representation of Taiwanese life and the culture. I also enjoyed the instrumental music that started off the film and played in other scenes. It reminded me of instrumental music you would hear in movies of the late 80’s. However, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. Sometimes I enjoy slow moving films about life. Because some of the time I can relate to it, or there is witty humor, or it has an interesting story or a struggle. It wasn’t a poorly made film or anything, the film just didn’t entertain me as a whole.

Three Colors: Blue

Three Colors: Blue is a highly acclaimed French film from 1993. The film is about a woman who loses her husband and daughter in a car accident and how she deals with the pain. She initially wanted to kill herself while recovering in the hospital. But she later decides to dissociate herself from anything of her past life. Julie tries to live a new life that is free of grief, love, commitments, and anything resembling a social life. She tries to live a quiet, lonely, solemn life with no one in it.

The theme of this film is liberty. Liberty in this film has a lot to do with emotional freedom. Julie wants to live a life completely alone without any friends or anyone in her life as if she doesn’t exist. The problem with that is people keep entering Julie’s life. She befriends a prostitute that lives downstairs from her, she falls in love with her husband’s friend, and helps her late husband’s mistress who is carrying her late husband’s child. After seeing these people in her life care for her and need her, she has a realization. These people give Julie a reason for living and she is now ready to start a new chapter in her life. In Julie’s search for liberty, she learns lessons from her mother is institutionalized. As her mother represents the liberty Julie is trying to achieve. As the film goes on, Julie reestablishes her connection to her past life and her search for liberty ends.

This film was very well made. The acting and directing was spot on. However, I felt the film was a bit too high brow for my tastes. I felt I was looking at art instead of a movie and therefore I wasn’t that entertained. I appreciate what the director was trying to accomplish but it just didn’t appeal to me. I think the director wanted the audience to pay attention to nearly everything going onscreen for it will all come together in the end. If you miss apart of it, you probably will be lost in the story. Something that bothered me was the classical music that came in and out of the film with strange fade ins and fade outs. I was a little of sick of this ten second piece of classical music that would just come out of nowhere. I liked the story though but felt it was told in a slow, boring way. While it was very artistic, it just didn’t entertain me enough to recommend