Friday, July 27, 2007

DREAMS (2005, MOHAMED AL DARADJI, A+++++)

FILMS SEEN ON THURSDAY 26 JULY 2007

1.DREAMS (2005, Mohamed Al Daradji, Iraq, A++++++++++)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0854114/
This film is also an unblinking look at hell. I think this film might not be aesthetically great. It lacks the harmony or the smooth flow often found in Iranian films. But for a country like Iraq, I think this kind of imperfection suits this film very well. The weak point of this film is really the strong point. What I love in this film is the fact that it really portrays its own country, portrays the madness, the injustice, the sad fate, the struggle, the rough lives of its own people.

As for now, this film is my third most favorite film in this festival, behind CRY IN SILENCE and LOOK OF LOVE.

After seeing DREAMS, I think it would be good if someone saw four films successively as follows:

1.1 BEAUFORT
1.2 DREAMS
1.3 THE MARK OF CAIN
1.4 CRY IN SILENCE

If these four films are shown together in a program, this program might be called A JOURNEY INTO HELL.


2.MANORO (2006, Brillante Mendoza, Philippines, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0922499/
For more information about MANORO, please read:
http://oggsmoggs.blogspot.com/2006/11/manoro-2006.html

I like the face of the leading actress of this film very much. This film makes me feel as if I was walking alongside the characters.

The look of this film is another thing that I like. It seems so different from other films. The film looks as if it was made 30 years ago.


3.BEAUFORT (2007, Joseph Cedar, Israel, A+)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0758732/
I like the tension in this film very much. I think this dramatic anti-war film is somehow as tense as some sci-fi films such as ALIEN. The soundtrack is very good.


4.WHITE PALMS (2006, Szabolcs Hajdu, Hungary, A+/A)
http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117929623.html?categoryid=31&cs=1
This film has many things that are unpredictable for me.



Some photos from BEAUFORT
http://outnow.ch/Media/Img/2007/Beaufort/

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1386/905992489_8b74e530f3_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1250/905992437_20432d6e85_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1426/905992413_206b20cd44_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1309/905992407_6fc1aa5e36_o.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1162/905992333_ddeb6d4ab8_b.jpg













1 comment:

celinejulie said...

One thing that I like about CRY IN SILENCE is that the girl is not an innocent victim in the end. That makes the film more complex, not just pure evil versus pure innocence. I think that if I were in her place, I would not do it. I might just run away from home. But if I were the jury in her case, I would judge her “not guilty”. I think that what the girl did in the end really makes me “think” about the film afterwards. If the girl is just an innocent victim and the film ends with the triumph of pure innocence, this film would not make me think as much as this. I like that the film makes me feel “ambiguous” about what the girl did. Films which make me feel “ambiguous” tend to stay in my memory for a long time.