January 2010 Vol. 4, No. 1
The Foreign Films New to View newsletter is a monthly publication designed to keep you up to date on some of HCPL’s latest foreign films on DVD. The selections in this newsletter are just a sample of the rich variety of films available to you through your library.
Chinese Odyssey
2002, directed by Jeffrey Lau
(In Cantonese, with English subtitles)
This could be a Shakespearean comedy, set in the Ming Dynasty, with a young emperor and his sister in disguise as a man, of course, slipping off into the countryside, getting separated, falling in love with probably inappropriate people, and then spending the rest of the film sorting things out. Will the princess fall in love with the town bully, despite her disguise as a man and his boorish ways? Will she see his better attributes? Will the emperor fall for the bully’s sister, who also occasionally dresses like a man? And to top it off, the royal guards are in hot pursuit, sent by their mother, to retrieve the two young people and restore them to their rightful, if rather boring, places.
A Christmas Tale
directed by Arnaud Desplechin
(In French, with English subtitles)
Ah, home for the holidays. What could be more delightful? Or in the case of a holiday movie, what could be more miserable? However, Desplechin brings to us a family in this holiday tale that is as complex as it is disfunctional and delightful to watch. Junon (Catherine Deneuve) is the matriarch of the clan, She has been diagnosed with leukemia and is in need of a blood donor for a procedure that could either save her or hasten her death. It’s all a gamble, and she must look to her unruly offspring for help here, an uncertain prospect at best. Her alcoholic son, chronically depressed daughter, and Nietzsche-quoting husband, along with a suicidal nephew and various other members of the family all make for a merry bunch. Yet Desplechin makes the watching of this film delightful, as humor does flit through the scenes, with a touch of nostalgia for a time long past, when at least the illusion of a happy family blossomed in old movies and song.
Death in the Garden
directed by Louis Buñuel
(In Spanish, with English subtitles)
Set in the jungles of South America, this film brings together several characters, who find themselves retreating into the jungle after a rebellion in their country, where they encounter their fates. The jungle, the titular garden, presents images of the real and the surreal, as well as some philosophical questions of faith and politics, as survival becomes increasingly problematic for the refugees.
The Investigation Must Go On
directed by Marek Rozenbaum
(In Hebrew, with English subtitles)
A police officer investigates a burglary and cannot decide if the crime was committed by a singer, the singer’s wife, or his mistress. More than the puzzle of the crime, however, the officer feels pressure to crack the case to prove his own worth as a member of the force.
Lemon Tree
directed by Eran Riklis
(In Hebrew, with English subtitles)
Salma, a Palestinian widow, owns a grove of lemon trees, next to which Navon, the Israeli defense minister, has built a house. Overnight, her grove has become off-limits for security reasons and is to be uprooted. Salma begins a defiant campaign to save the grove, while forming a bond with Mira, Navon’s long-suffering wife. This story is drawn from a real event. Riklis also directed The Syrian Bride.
