Movies, Music, and More

Alois Nebel, directed by Tomás Lunák

(In Czech, with English subtitles)

This animated drama, based on a series of Czech graphic novels, focuses on a quiet railway employee, who watches the shifting political landscape of his country in 1989, while being besieged by sorrowful and traumatic memories of events past. Throw into this a mysterious man who crosses into Czechoslovakia to commit a crime of vengeance. Who that man is and how he fits into Nebel’s life are the questions that swirl like the fog that envelops Nebel along the railroad tracks as he makes his quiet rounds.

The Big Picture, directed by Eric Lartigau

(In French, with English subtitles)

Paul is a successful Parisian attorney, happily married with two lovable and much loved children. All of this crashes in on him in a day. His law firm partner reveals to him that she is dying and needs to turn over the entire practice to him. His wife lets him know that she considers him a sell-out for forgoing his photography ambitions to embrace the less adventurous practice of law. And, oh, she just happens to be having an affair with an adventurous photojournalist friend. Finally, in a confrontation that spirals out of control, Paul accidentally kills Gregoire, the other man in the picture. Now he’s in for it. Paul contrives to fake his own death, assume Gregoire’s identity, and start over in a far and distant land, where his own photography skills blossom to levels of international fame. But can he continue to hide his secrets when the whole art world is about to see his works and his new name that doesn’t quite fit Gregoire’s description? The world is a much smaller place than some of us would like, Paul being one of those who might not enjoy the flattened earth of today.

English Vinglish, directed by Gauri Shinde

(In Hindi, with English subtitles)

Shashi is happily married in India, with two children, and a life of relative comfort, if restricted and confined by tradition. The feet of her husband and children are firmly planted in the modern world, but they’ve more or less neglected to help or encourage Shashi to join them there. With mild but hurtful distain, they address her dismissively and expect her to serve them hand and foot, but seldom bestow respect upon her as a wife and parent. Her husband patronizes her, while her kids tolerate her as best as they can. When she travels alone to New York to help her thoroughly modern and independent sister prepare for her niece’s wedding, Shashi seizes the opportunity to learn English in secret and become something of an equal within her family. But Shashi learns a lot more – what it is to be respected, how it feels to be an equal among men and women, and what it is like to accomplish something of profound significance, all on her own. Then her family comes to New York to join her, and her plans and dreams teeter on the cliff of disaster.

5 Broken Cameras, directed by Emad Burnat and Guy Davidi

(In Arabic and Hebrew, with English subtitles)

Emad Burnat is an ordinary Palestinian farmer, living in his village of Bilin on the West Bank, within a stone’s throw of an Israeli settlement. Israel is erecting its problematic security fence, not through the settlement but through Burnat’s village’s land. There go the olive groves, the pasture lands, and a way of life. Burnat and other villagers decide to protest nonviolently. This is a documentary of Burnat’s efforts to seek justice, recording the struggles of the people of Bilin, taken largely from footage he shot with his own cameras, most of which were destroyed in the course of the protests. This is also something of a family record of his young son growing up in an increasingly unjust and unsafe world.

The Gerber Syndrome, directed by Maxi DeJoie

(In Italian, with English subtitles)

This pseudodocumentary purports to reveal to the viewer facts about a contagious outbreak in Italy of frightening proportions, a disease that causes its victims to go berserk even as they suffer from raging fever, skin ruptures, profuse bleeding from mouth and nose, etc., and all sorts of other terrifying symptoms, too many for me to recall. Make no mistake: a gullible person might be swept into the story and find it believable…nah. But it’s still fun to watch as science fiction. I bet the extras had a great time playing their parts, especially when they rampaged about, attacking unsuspecting passersby, none of whom seemed to be the least bit wary of the dangers of staggering, bleeding crazy people.

The Other Son, directed by Lorraine Levy

(In French, Arabic, and Hebrew, with English subtitles)

Stories of babies switched at birth are many in literary and oral tradition, but typically the modern ones are played for comedy more than for drama. Not so The Other Son. Joseph and Yacine are two teens on the cusp of adulthood and independence, when they find out that through a mixup during an evacuation, they were switched as newborns in the hospital. Joseph, a Palestinian by birth, has been raised Jewish, while Yacine, with Israeli parents, has lived all his life with a Palestinian family on the West Bank. Now what are the parents to do? With the resilience of youth, the two young men find connections between each other, and each quickly respects the other’s humanity. In short, they understand the meaning of equality and justice. The parents, at least the fathers, are dismayed, angered, and anguished. The mothers take a more loving stand but find their hearts conflicted too. Levy is French in origin, and the movie feels more French than Middle Eastern, but the dilemma is still a universal one. While the young men understand that at least in part their dreams and ambitions have arisen from their birth parents, both also see the value of their family life in which they were raised, how both the nature of origins and the nurture of family have shaped them and enriched them.

A Royal Affair, directed by Nikolaj Arcel

(In Danish, with English subtitles)

When we think of Danish cinema, we most likely might consider the Dogma 95 movement of Lars von Trier and other directors. (HCPL’s only tentative representative here is Italian for Beginners.) Then along comes A Royal Affair, in complete contrast, a big, sweeping, grand historical drama, full of intrigue, lofty ideals, rich dialogue, beautiful costumes, and sound historical fact. It also received an Oscar nomination for Best Foreign Language Film. Johann Struensee is an 18th century German physician and political philosopher, who longs for the Age of Enlightenment to arrive on the borders of Denmark, as backward a country as ever there was one. When he becomes the personal physician to King Christian VII of Denmark, he sees his chance to create a better nation. Along the way, he also falls in love and has an affair with Queen Caroline, Christian’s wife. What results is a struggle between the powers that be, church and aristocracy, against that which might be, an enlighted monarchy. While Struensee (played by the formidable Mads Mikkelsen) effects his cherished changes through the work of King Christian, the aristocracy and church elders seek his downfall so that the nation might crawl back into its medieval hole. Make no mistake – tragedy grown out of historical truth could yield in time to a better world. The journey to that world might be a hard one though. Struensee could tell you that.

Rust and Bone, directed by Jacques Audiard

(In French, with English subtitles)

A love story about two damaged people, Rust and Bone displays at once brutality and tender sentiment. Stéphanie is a trainer at an aquarium/amusement park. Her orcas obey her every hand gesture, as easily as the Beast yields to Beauty, but when an accident results in her losing her legs, life changes horribly for her. The bright smile fades to a doleful gaze. That spark of enthusiasm for life dies. Ali is a rough and tumble guy, a bar bouncer and boxer, who together with his young son Sam escapes a disastrous marriage, landing in the same town as Stéphanie, where he stays with his working-class sister and family. Stéphanie has had a very brief encounter with Ali previous to her accident and takes a chance on calling him, hoping maybe for a strong guy to push her wheelchair or just someone to talk to. The relationship that grows between them is hardly one of pity. Both are forlorn figures, and that commonality infoms their actions and movements together. Peripheral to that, but always present, is little Sam, perhaps the most damaged of the three, and when he is most in need of his father’s strength, Ali, regardless of everything, must decide what to do, what to sacrifice to save that which is most beloved. If you are interested in seeing more films directed by Audiard, try A Prophet, also owned by HCPL.

Time of My Life, directed by Nic Balthazar

(In Dutch, with English subtitles)

Based on a real person, Mario Verstraete, and a real movement, the right to die with dignity, Time of My Life takes us on a journey with Mario, beginning with his days of youthful and vigorous strength, protesting the nuclear arms race, engaging in trivia games with his pals, hanging out with his two best friends, Thomas and Lynn, laughing, and loving life. His successful journey as the years pass comes to an abrupt halt when he is diagnosed with an aggressive form of MS. Mario knows from day one that he does not want to wither away and suffer the indignities that ill health bestows so generously on us. He would rather die, and he takes that up as his cause. As the Netherlands has just passed a law to allow assisted suicide, Mario presses for similar legislation in Belgium. It isn’t just lawmakers who need convincing though. Mario’s friends and family aren’t keen on the idea of his dying with assistance. But as they see his increased sufferings, his diminished world, and his mounting humiliations and indignities, they soften their views to meet his needs. Sad but uplifting in a way, Time of My Life also has its moments of humor to temper the pathos.

Dangerous Liaisons, directed by Hur Jin-ho

(In Mandarin, with English subtitles)

Two beautiful, wealthy, powerful people in 1930′s Shanghai suffer from the ennui that only the beautiful, wealthy and powerful can suffer. Xie Yifan, the strikenly handsome playboy of the Orient and the ravishingly beautiful Mo Jieyu are something of best friends, although one wonders how two such cold people can be friends at all. Nevertheless, they are a match in wealth, wit, and boredom. When Miss Mo, as she’s called, urges Xie to seduce the young, vulnerable Beibei, betrothed to another powerbroker, it is for revenge and amusement. Xie has his eyes on Du Fenyu, an equally vulnerable widow. Bets are placed, and the stakes are high. But Xie and Miss Mo might find out that playing with the heart brings with it dangers that can be devastating. I had seen Stephen Frears’s film version years ago and had not thought I’d enjoy a remake in 20th century China, but the film is at once striking and moving and worth the watch.

Even the Rain, directed by Icíar Bollaín

(In Spanish and Quechua, with English subtitles)

A film being made in Bolivia about the exploitation of the indigenous people by Columbus and a real-life drama known as the Bolivian Water War merge as two film makers pull together their project on a shoe-string budget. They try to save pennies while they themselves exploit their extras, played by indigenous locals. Sebastián is the film director, sensitive to the script and the purpose of the film, while the producer, Costa, is thinking of ways to keep the wages of the extras as low as possible, Enter Daniel, not only as it turns out an excellent actor but also a leader in the demonstrations going on in the water war – a very real event that occurred when the people of Bolivia rose up against the privatization of their water supply by multinationals. The people will be forbidden to gather even the rain, as Daniel points out, in astonishment. Sebastián struggles to keep his actors from getting arrested as they demonstrate against the outrageous developments in the water war, while Costa learns a lesson or two in what it means to live in a Third World country. Worth seeing if just for the performance of Juan Carlos Aduviri, who plays Daniel.

Heleno, directed by José Henrique Fonesca

(In Portuguese, with English subtitles)

Heleno de Freitas was a champion Brazilian soccer player in the 1940′s, admired by his legions of fans and adored by women. This biopic shows us his last ten or so years, when his ego (as big as a house) makes him an impossible teammate; and his selfishness and ruthless infidelity, a curse to women. But it is his encroaching dementia due to syphilis that leads to his ultimate downfall. Beautifully shot in black and white, this film reminds us that melodrama can occur in real life, not just in fiction.

Les Intouchables, directed by Olivier Nakache and Eric Tolendan

(In French, with English subtitles)

Despite its smashing success in France, Les Intouchables has roused only cautious and reserved praise from U.S. critics. Their reservations stem from the obvious racial stereotyping. Nevertheless, the film is based on fact: an aristocrat becomes paralyzed from the neck down due to an accident, and a hired aide lifts him out of his ennui through sheer force of life and spirit. Philippe has led a life of luxury and action. But his very fulfilled life comes to a grinding halt when he suffers a broken neck in a hang gliding accident. Along comes Driss, an African who really just wants someone to sign off on his employment form to prove he’s looking for work. Philippe challenges him to take the job and run with it. Driss accepts, once he sees the fancy car that Philippe no longer can drive. Paired with Driss, Philippe does get to ride around in his sports car again, and even engage in high speed chases, smoke marijuana, enjoy cool rock music, and generally live again. Driss brings joy to an injured man’s life, and if there is something of stereotyping here, it helps that Driss is such a cool guy to begin with.

The Kid with a Bike, directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

(In French, with English subtitles)

Cyril has a lot to feel angry about. HIs father has abandoned him, although Cyril won’t admit to that. His father has also sold his prized possession – his bike. He is now a ward of the state. He has only himself in this world, one forlorn eleven-year-old. Then he bumps into Samantha, literally, a woman with her own grounded life, who recognizes immediately that Cyril needs an advocate in this big lonely world. She becomes his foster parent, helps him find his ne’er-do-well father, comforts Cyril when it’s clear Dad couldn’t care less about his son, and gets him his bike when it’s stolen. The bike is Cyril’s escape, leading him to freedom, danger, happiness, and even to his father in that futile attempt to reunite, but is it enough to connect him to family? Samantha with her enormous heart and strength will do whatever it takes to pull him into a real life of family and connection. The Dardennes also directed La Promesse, which HCPL owns.

Little White Lies, directed by Guillaume Canet

(In French, with English subtitles)

Try going on vacation every year with your same best friends, except as time passes, you realize that you are not certain you like them very much. So we find a group of pals who have joined Max and his wife Vero for an annual lengthy stay at their shore home. Their friend Ludo will not be joining them this year, since he has suffered a horrible accident and is lying comatose in the hospital. The friends tell themselves he’d really rather they go to the beach than linger in his hospital room, and off they go, only occasionally wondering how he is faring. So while they bicker and annoy each other over glasses of wine and leisurely summer outings, the turmoil underneath it all roils, not just in stale friendships but in the underlying tragedy of Ludo. Canet’s study in friendship is worth a look, even if the film is a little on the long side. Canet also directed Tell No One, a mystery that still resonates with me after a viewing a couple of years ago.

Me, Too, directed by Álvaro Pastor and Antonio Naharro

(In Spanish, with English subtitles)

Remarkable performances by both Pablo Pineda and Lola Dueñas lift this from the sappy to real drama. Pineda, who despite his Down syndrome has earned a university degree, plays Daniel, himself a college graduate, who longs to fit into a world beyond one where he has been defined by a damaged chromosome. Along comes Laura, who herself seems damaged in her own earthy, flamboyant and iconoclastic way. When the two meet, an odd friendship of misfits emerges, with the two of them helping each other along to the next stage in life.

The Thieves, directed by Chou Dong-hoon

(In Korean, with English subtitles)

Ok, here’s a Friday night movie for you. You know the kind: one that will keep you entertained when you are too tired to think after a week of work, a film that gives you lots of action and a plot probably too complicated to follow, but certainly not necessary to understand in order to enjoy the story. This one involves a jewel heist with rival gangs forged together in order to succeed in their quest. Macao Park and the beautiful and daring Pepsi, once an item but now apart with some degree of bitterness, pull together their forces to steal a priceless diamond. With intrigue, betrayal, plot and counterplot, it keeps you on edge just to think about it. The action alone should draw a fan base, particularly the rappelling around skyscrapers. That Pepsi sure can swings five hundred feet up in the air!

After the Banquet, directed by Kim Yun-Cheol

(In Korean, with English subtitles)

Seven friends, all former university students, gather together to celebrate the nuptuals of two of the group. An eighth friend is missing, however, with no word from her as to why she isn’t there. After the wedding banquet, the friends join together for an intimate dinner together to reminisce. And here they get walloped by a surprise: Mi-rae, the teenaged daughter of the missing friend, arrives to announce that her mother is dead, and she now wishes to find her father, one of the four men present. Of course, immediate suspicion falls on her boyfriend from their university days, but it’s rather more complicated than that. Two of the other guys may just as likely be Mi-rae’s father. As the evening rolls on into the next following days, more is revealed of the mystery, as well as the value of enduring friendship and the ties of family.

Beloved, directed by Christophe Honoré 

(In French, with English subtitles)

This romantic comedy that is something of a musical as well begins when Madeleine as a young adult steals a pair of glamorous shoes that sets her in a direction she had never before considered. Mistaken for a prostitute, she falls into the role, finding along the way a Czech physician husband and a daughter, Vera. Years later, Madeleine is divorced from Jaromil and remarried; Vera is a grown woman now, with her own issues; and Jaromil may or may not be back in the picture. An all-star cast of European familiars (Catherine Deneuve, Chiara Mastroianni, Milos Foreman, Louis Garrel, and American actor Paul Schneider) works to lift the movie from silly to occasionally poignant. It perhaps covers too many years and involves too many songs, but fans of French romantic comedies will find this confection just right. Christophe Honoré also directed Making Plans for Lena, owned by HCPL.

Elena, directed by Andrey Zvyagintsev 

(In Russian, with English subtitles)

Elena is a middle-aged woman in a nearly loveless marriage to the much wealthier Vladimir. Both have disfunctional children from previous marriages, and both see the disparity in their social stations and income. While Vladimir’s daughter is a drug-user (only on weekends, as she puts it), Elena’s son is an alcoholic lout, sponging off his mother and Vladimir for extra bucks. Her grandson, Sasha, is nearly as bad, joining in mindless brawls just for kicks. But Sasha is about to be drafted in the militay. If he can get some money together, he can go to college and avoid that nasty fate, even if he’s not exactly college material. Vladimir firmly states that Sasha is on his own, and makes the point even clearer when he signals that he wants to rewrite his will and leave Elena not with a full inheritance but with an annuity. Elena needs to consider alternatives…and they could be life-changing.

Farewell, My Queen, directed by Benoit Jacquot

(In French, with English subtitles)

On the morning of July 14, 1789, Sidonie, the serving woman whose job it is to read to Queen Marie Antoinette, awakens to no more an irritation than mosquito bites on her arm. So begins an increasingly frightening day at Versailles, when the inevitable is denied and the obvious pushed aside as much as possible by servants and nobility alike. Sidonie is a nobody, as even she will readily admit, but she is forced into the intrigue of the downfall of royals and nobles alike, as much as any lord or lady. She adores the queen and will do anything for her, but when she is asked to disguise herself as a noblewoman, so better to effect the escape of a favorite of the queen, she must ponder her own possible fate in this ruse. For a more contemporary setting in a movie by Jacquot, try À Tout de Suite.

Phantom Pain, directed by Matthias Emcke

(In German, with English subtitles)

Many would consider Marc a slacker. He works at odd jobs, drinks a lot, proves to be totally unreliable even when it comes to picking up his young daughter from school, and is a disaster in relationships with women. But his virtues shine. He is a great storyteller; he knows how to live simply and modestly with no extravegance; he has a remarkable level of kindnes; and his dreams are admirable – he just wants to ride his bicycle along some of the most difficult routes of the Tour de France. When he loses his leg in a horrific traffic accident, even that bit of his life seems over. But in addition to his other virtues, he possesses a tenacity of life that could be the key to helping him adjust direction and move on.

Tai Chi Zero, directed by Stephen Fung

(In Mandarin, with English subtitles)

Described as steam punk kung-fu, Tai Chi Zero provides entertainment where I didn’t expect it. I have to admit it doesn’t matter too much about the plot here, since the action, romance, humor, and adventure will keep a viewer absorbed. Yang Lu Chan finds himself in the role of defender of a village that faces imminent danger from an unscrupulous railroad tycoon, who sees the villagers as just one more obstacle in the way of his goal for extending the rail line. But there’s just one thing besides Yang standing in the way: the entire village, from the youngest to the oldest, knows a kind of superb tai chi fighting that could tip the scales here in this battle for a village and for a way of life.

Les Visiteurs du Soir, directed by Marcel Carné

(In French, with English subtitles)

Gilles and Dominique are on a mission. They have been tasked by Satan himself to visit the castle of the Baron Hughes and take away at least one person each, to increase the devil’s downfallen. So on a beautiful spring day in 1485, the two envoys arrive at Baron Hughes’s castle. When the Baron invites Gilles and Dominique over the threshold, it is an innocent enough mistake, an act of hospitality during a day of celebration. Anne, the daughter of the widowed Baron, is about to marry Renaud, even as she harbors many reservations in this arrangement. What happens next, as the envoys attempt to carry out their task, is of even greater consequence for Gilles and Dominique than they might expect. While Dominique, really a woman disguised as a man, toys with the pompous and arrogant Renaud, Gilles falls in love with Anne. To complicate matters, since the mischief-making is turning topsy-turvey, the devil himself shows up to set things aright. Will true love triumph over evil? Not likely, but this fairy tale of a story is told in a form that reflects style – with eloquent costuming, haunting camera shots, and soft, seductive black and white film. If you like this film, you may want to try Carné’s ravishing Children of Paradise, also owned by HCPL.

The Well Digger’s Daughter, directed by Daniel Auteuil

(In French, with English subtitles)

Patricia is the beautiful daughter of Pascal, a humble widowed well digger. After she falls in love with the grocer’s son, Jacques, a huge step up socially, she risks all for her lover and becomes pregnant. Jacque’s parents are appalled, and Patricia is sent off in disgrace to live with an aunt. Pascal is deeply disappointed in his daughter, but underneath his gruffness and pragmatism, he cares deeply for her and her five other sisters. What holds a family together? What heals a family in crisis? What is it that binds it with such strength that the biggest disgrace to one family can become perhaps its strongest link? For Pascal it will take one look, one lingering glance, to set his priorities in the right direction. 

Amarcord, directed by Frederico Fellini

(In Italian, with English subtitles)

In 1930′s fascist Italy lives a young boy in a village both charming and somewhat isolated from the growing dangers around it. Titta is on the edge of adolescence, and even though in many ways still a child, he is not immune from the bellicosity and arrogance of the local fascists. He also senses that this too shall pass. What will endure, though, is the collection of characters in his town, bathed in eccentricity, hope, longing, and love for their village and their way of life. This film is at least semi-autobiographical and has both a sense of historical realism and that surreal touch that only Fellini can add to a story. HCPL owns many of Fellini’s films on DVD. Try a few of the classics: Fellini’s 8 1/2, La Strada, Nights of Cabiria, I Vitelloni, The White Sheik, La Dolce Vita, and many more.

The Blue Angel, directed by Josef von Sternberg

(In German, with English subtitles)

This older DVD (1930) has been in the HCPL system for a while, but it might be easy to miss, lacking the glamour of color or the glitz of 3-D. Ahh, but it does have something very special – Marlene Dietrich, who plays the vamp Lola-Lola, to Emil Jennings’ staid and respectable Herr Professor Rath. Lola performs at the Blue Angel, singing in her signiture deep, alluring voice. She has captured the hearts of several young men who attend the local gymnasium, or high school, where the quiet, unassuming Professor Rath teaches. When he visits the Blue Angel to chastise Lola and warn her off his young charges, he need take only one look to be smitten enough to give it all up – the years of scholarship and respectability – all for his beloved Lola. This is a story of a downfall, but certainly not the downfall of our Lola. She’s a woman who will land on her feet no matter what. But what of Herr Professor? An intoxicating classic!

Corpo Celeste, directed by Alice Rohrwacher

(In Italian, with English subtitles)

Marta, about to step into adolescence, has returned to Italy from a lengthy stay abroad in Switzerland and finds her only social life to be her instructional classes for Confirmation in the local Catholic Church. While she learns of the Catholic teachings of the sufferings of Christ and of Christian charity, she also learns of a real world where Christian teachings seem to be thrown out the window for the sake of ambition or convenience. She must embark on her own spiritual journey of discovery to find that so sought-after depth of understanding of the world around her.

Hermano, directed by Marcel Rasquin

(In Spanish, with English subtitles)

Again another movie focused on soccer as a way out of poverty, Hermano tells the story of two brothers, or rather two young men raised as brothers, since Daniel years earlier was rescued as an infant from a trash heap by Julio’s mother. Julio and Daniel grow up together, equally loved, equally cared for, but also in equal poverty. They both play splendid soccer and have a shot at playing before the scouts for the big leagues. Daniel studies hard and really tries to climb out of his poverty the hard way, while Julio slides easily into gang life. But when Daniel witnesses the accidental death of their mother by a gang member, he must make some very difficult decisions about what to reveal and what to keep hidden from the revenge-filled Julio.

Hospitalité, directed by Koji Fukada

(In Japanese, with English subtitles)

Kobayashi is an unassuming man running a small printing shop in Tokyo, living above his shop with his wife, daughter, and divorced sister . It is a small, cramped world, but it holds some security and stability for him and his family. Along comes Kagawa, who may or may not be the son of an old family acquaintance, who may or may not be married to a woman who may or may not be Brazilian or European or whatever. He insinuates himself into the family, and in what rolls between comedy and tragedy, the story takes off from there. Who is Kagawa and just what is his game? Kobayashi can only gasp and gawk and wonder in his befuddled way.

Inspector Nardone, directed by Fabrizio Costa

(In Italian, with English subtitles)

Il commissario Mario Nardone has recently arrived in Milan from Naples, where he finds corruption, mystery, and romance. Having already been banished from the Naples police force for his work against corruption, he does not endear himself to his new boss, the police commissioner, when he jumps right into an investigation of the commissioner’s dear friend, Barone. Never daunted, Nardone assembles a crack team of like-minded detectives, and off they go to eliminate crime in postwar Italy. Based on a true-life police inspector, Nardone brings integrity to the Milanese police and entertaining mystery to the viewing audience in this set of DVDs, originally a TV series.

La Promesse, directed by Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne

(In French, with English subtitles)

Fifteen-year-old Igor lives with his father, Roger, whose occupation seems to be not much more than exploiting undocumented aliens in Europe. While Roger is a schemer and is nearly heartless in his efforts to make money off of desperate people, his son has some doubts. When a young woman from Burkino Faso and her baby arrive to join her husband, Igor takes a liking to her. But then her husband dies in an accident, and Roger tries to hide the body and the truth from her. Igor begins then to understand the nature of evil and to question whether he wants to be part of it all. The brothers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne also directed Lorna’s Silence and L’Enfant, owned by HCPL.

17 Girls, directed by Delphine Coulin

(In French, with English subtitles)

Camille is a high school student in the rather shabby, working-class city of Lorient in France. When she finds out that she is pregnant, her posse of friends finds it intriguing and at least something a little bit exciting in their otherwise dull teenaged lives. They make a pact to become pregnant together and raise their children in any fashion they can as long as it’s not as they were raised. They will live communally and work together to bring up their tiny charges. Well, they are teens, after all, and their lives are a bit on the dull side, so this is a big deal. So big that in all, seventeen girls fall into line in this misadventure. With humor and some sorrow, the movie leads us along as the girls face their realities of being mothers. This story is loosely based on a real event that occurred in Massachusetts in 2008.

Aarakshan, directed by Prakash Jha

(In Hindi, with English subtitles)

Prabhakar Anand is an educator of the highest integrity. He believes that at least some spaces in the prestigious college, STM, should be reserved for students of the lower castes, normally not available to them. But a corrupt minister won’t have it, and besides, he wants his wayward nephew to get a spot in the school. The conflict is set, but the complications are many as well, with Dr. Anand’s daughter falling for a guy out of her caste, an alternative school being established by Dr. Anand, a Supreme Court case pending, and much more. Oh, and there are the usual, although appropriate and sometimes moving, Bollywood song and dance numbers as well. Jha also directed Raajneeti: Politics – and Beyond, available through HCPL.

Bonsai, directed by Cristian Jimenez

(In Spanish, with English subtitles)

Who’s read Proust? Not Julio. When his class is asked that question, he only half-heartedly raises his liar’s hand. But Proust leads to a relationship Julio has with Emilia, a serious, brooding young woman, who may in fact have actually read Proust. The two of them strike up a relationship that revolves around literature, Schubert’s lieder, and punk rock. Shift forward eight years. The relationship has been long over; Julio is now an aspiring writer, who works in a bookstore and tutors on the side. Although he’s lost touch with Emilia, can he ever forget his first true love? As his memories of Emilia come forward, he begins to write their tale, and the narrative shifts back eight years once more. It is not hard to keep the movie times straight, nor where the story is going, despite the two intertwined tales from past and present. When Julio has a chance to reconnect with Emilia in the present, he hesitates, and that hesitation brings an irrevocable shift to the relationship. Memories of the past may be more enduring than the present possibilities.

Empire of Silver, directed by Christina Yao

(In Mandarin, with English subtitles)

China in1899 was a place of turbulence, violence, revolution, and suffering. Third Master, the son of one of the wealthiest banking families in the land, is not as interested as he should be in stepping in for his father and assuming his role as the next family leader. But events will force him to face a future of struggle and acceptance of his proper place and the responsibility that goes along with that. Based on historical events, epic in scale, this film has it all: battle, conflict, romance, intrigue, in short, something for everyone. I might warn viewers that this disc would not play on my DVD player but would on my computer. See if it works on yours.

Extraterrestrial, directed by Nacho Vigalondo

(In Spanish, with English subtitles)

This begins like many a comedy: a young man awakens in an unfamiliar bed, with a beautiful woman making coffee in the other room. But who is she? That’s only part of the story. Julio isn’t sure what he did the night before, where he is, how he got to this place, and who the beautiful woman is. All that becomes almost meaningless when he and Julia (“Just a coincidence!”) discover that the city – no, the entire country – no, the entire world has been invaded by extraterrestrials. With giant flying saucers hovering over the city, Julio thinks he has enough troubles. Then Julia’s boyfriend shows up. And Julia’s neurotic neighbor is lingering around the apartment as well. Then Julio realizes he is in love with Julia. How in the world will Julio untangle himself from this mess? Vigalondo also directed Timecrimes, owned by HCPL.

Free Men, directed by Ismael Ferroukhi

(In French, with English subtitles)

Another movie that explores the French resistance during World War II, Free Men approaches the heroics from a different angle, that of Algerian immigrants in France. Younes, a young Algerian black marketeer, doesn’t take up anyone’s cause but his own, until the police hire him to look out for anything that might raise an alert in his mosque. And it is true that the Algerian population is perhaps doing a tad more than praying in their mosques. For example, they might be hiding Jews, now being jailed and deported by the French government. Based at least in part on real people and real events, Free Men also tells the story of anticipated rewards not fulfilled, since the Algerians in the Resistance thought that perhaps their dangerous work for freedom during the war might result in Algeria’s own freedom after the war. Alas, that would happen only after a bloody war for liberation.

The Makioka Sisters, directed by Kon Ichikawa

(In Japanese, with English subtitles)

While war rages overseas for the Japanese in 1938, life is sedate in Osaka for the four Makioka sisters. Prosperous and beautiful, from a well-connected and respectable family, they lead lives of quiet leisure. While two are married, custom dictates that the third should marry before the rebellious youngest takes a husband. But Yukiko hesitates at each prospective husband presented to her. What makes her hold back? Is it the scandal much earlier in their lives when the youngest sister tried to elope with her lover? But as the story unfolds and as we become more drawn into their lives, we begin to understand just what Yukiko wants in a husband. This film was made in 1983, but it is a classic that begs to be viewed again and again to soothe the soul and calm the mind. HCPL also owns Ichikawa’s Fires on the Plain, which offers a far different view of the Japanese at war.

A Separation, directed by Asghar Farhadi

(In Persian, with English subtitles)

A kind of domestic drama taking place in a strict theocracy, A Separation has conflicts and complications that nearly sweep viewers off their feet. Nader and Simin live in Iran, but Simin wants to go to another country, along with their adolescent daughter, Termeh, in order to find a much better life. Nader feels he must stay behind to care for his father, who has Alzheimer’s. While he cannot stop Simin from leaving, he can prevent her from taking Termeh. Simin goes to stay with her mother while time ticks away before her visa application expires. With Simin gone from the house, Nader hires Razieh, a deeply religious young woman, to care for his father while he goes to work, but like any number of home health aides here, she has issues: a long commute by bus, a young child to tote along, a disapproving husband, religious qualms about caring for another man, and much more. She is also pregnant, which Nader may or may not know. The old father tends to wander the neighborhood and needs constant care and vigilance, so when Nader finds him tied to a bed and no one in the house one day, he is furious with the caregiver. After a bit of a scuffle, Razieh falls and that night miscarries. Then her unemployed husband finds out that she’s had a job and what sort of job it is, and even more complications ensue, with court appearances, revelations, disappointments, awakenings, and ultimately a cliff-hanger of a resolution. All is not well in a society driven by rigid religious strictures, coupled with vast inequalities in gender and class. Farhadi also directed Fireworks Wednesday, owned by HCPL.

Shaolin, directed by Benny Chan

(In Mandarin, with English subtitles)

General Hou is a very bad man. He has felt no compunction in violating a sacred Buddhist temple, and committing other nasty crimes and sins. But when he finds himself in a serious pinch, he sees the error of his ways and ironically seeks refuge in the very temple where earlier he mocked and roughed up monks. Now he needs to discipline himself and the monks to fight forces of greater evil. With lots of action scenes and some humor as well, mostly supplied by the character played by Jackie Chan, this will provide a little bit of Chinese history as well as a lot of martial arts fights and feats.

Le Combat dans l Ile, directed by Alain Cavalier

(In French, with English subtitles)

Clément is active in a small but lethal rightwing terrorist group in early 1960′s France. His wife, Anne, while remaining ignorant of his true interests, nevertheless suspects that evil is afoot and warns her husband to stop his association with the dour leader of the terrorists. When Clément finds himself betrayed, he and Anne flee to the country cottage of his friend Paul. But matters become more complicated when, again, against Anne’s pleas, Clément seeks revenge on the one who betrayed him. In stark black and white, the film captures the chill and isolation that enemies of society must feel and embrace, while the scenes in the country stress both that isolation as well as the warmth and security that connection, something Clément doesn’t understand, brings to people of a higher moral standard. Jean-Louis Trintignant, who plays Clément, also stars in The Conformist, directed by Bernardo Bertolucci, which HCPL owns.

Footnote, directed by Joseph Cedar

(In Hebrew, with English subtitles)

Eliezer Shkolnik is a Talmudic scholar, who works quietly and tenaciously in the archives and stacks of libraries, searching through texts and tomes for obscure fragments of information. He has done this all his working life, and he remains a man in obscurity but for mention in one footnote in a scholarly text published years before. His son, Uriel, is also a scholar, but a highly successful one, published, admired by his students and peers, the winner of awards, honored several times over. Does this evoke pride in Eliezer? No, on the contrary. He seethes with envy and resentment. So when Eliezer gets word that he’s to be awarded the Israel Award, the highest in the land, we wonder if this will appease his damaged soul. Not so. Comedy and tragedy mingle freely in this film, and laughs from viewers might be followed swiftly by sorrow at the bitterness of a man, lost in his Casaubonian research, and blind to what really matters in a person’s life. Cedar also directed the award-winning Beaufort, which HCPL owns.

In Darkness, directed by Agnieszka Holland

(In Polish, with English subtitles)

Lvov, Poland, 1942. Germans and Ukrainians occupy the war-torn and war-weary city. Nazis openly murder Jews. Leopold Socha continues to inspect the sewers of the city and do a little thieving on the side. When he discovers a group of Jews huddling in the sewers, he decides to thieve from them as well, to make a little extra money from desperate people. The group is as diverse as it gets: a wealthy couple, some children, a drug addict, an adulterer and his mistress, and more. They fight, struggle to survive, occasionally laugh, make love. Socha will protect them, hide them, and take money from them, until they are of no use to him. But Socha then begins to change from an apathetic money-seeker, ready to take full advantage of terrified people, to a man who feels pride in saving people from certain death. Based on a true story, In Darkness explores more than what life was like during that nightmare in history. It also looks at people in their flawed humanity as they rise above or fall below expectations, in short, as they emerge as humans. Other titles of Agnieszka Holland’s work may be found in unusual places in the HCPL collection, in episodes of The Wire, Treme, and the children’s DVD The Secret Garden.

Leaving, directed by Catherine Corsini

(In French, with English subtitles)

This is a familiar story. Plenty like it are found in both book and film. Wife meets guy – usually some sort of handyman – you know, dark, nice looking, earthy, etc., a foil to the more staid husband. Wife and guy have an affair. Disaster looms. The problem with this sort of story is that seldom is there a strong reason for wife to leave husband, break marriage vows, and immerse herself in heedless passion. In this case, Suzanne seems to have a pleasant enough if perhaps a bit dull life. Married to Samuel, a successful physician, she has two lovely and, I might add, well-behaved teenagers (the realism is slipping away even before the affair begins), and is just about to embark on a rewarding second career, when she meets Ivan, a handsome Catalan (said handyman). It isn’t quite love at first sight, but when circumstances thrust Suzanne and Ivan together, and they always do, the two fall hopelessly and passionately in love. You can guess the rest: beautiful, writhing bodies, distress at home, hurt feelings from the betrayal and then from the lack of understanding on Samuel’s part when Suzanne wants to leave, and so on and so forth. Still, the scenery is lovely, and that includes the countryside of Southern France as well as that of Suzanne and Ivan, even if tragedy lingers on the edges of the story.

Le Havre, directed by Aki Kaurismaki

(In French, with English subtitles)

Lisa Schwarzbaum, a critic from Entertainment Weekly, calls Le Havre a fairy tale. It is. But it’s a pleasant one, not really with any evil wizards or stepmothers, although there is one nasty neighbor. Marcel Marx is a shoeshine man, who lives a very ordinary life, a bit hand-to-mouth, but pleasing enough. He and his wife Arletty seem blissfully happy, in fact. But after Arletty falls ill, dangerously so, and begins a long stay in the hospital, Marcel finds a desperate young stowaway from Africa, Idrissa, who is just trying to find his family currently in Europe and start a new life. It seems he’s taken a wrong turn and instead of arriving in the UK, he’s here in France, on the lam, as the police hunt for him. Marcel must now keep Idrissa out of sight, find a way to unite him with his family, and tend to Arletty. Fortunately, his little network of neighbors and friends just might be able to help out here. Kaurismäki also directed The Man Without a Past, owned by HCPL, and for some bizarre Finnish fun, try his documentary Leningrad Cowboys: Total Balalaika Show.

Making Plans for Lena, directed by Christophe Honore

(In French, with English subtitles)

Lena is not happy. She travels to Brittany to join her family for something of a vacation, and wouldn’t you know it? Her happy brother’s annoyingly happy girlfriend is also visiting, her perpetually unhappy sister is still unhappy, her parents are not backing her up as she hoped they would over ex-husband issues, and her ex-husband is going to be there as well. Can it get worse? While some might find the back and forth annoying or tedious, others will find pleasure in this complex family whose issues with the world and life give us some perspective of what it means to be on the edge of fulfillment frustratingly out of reach.

What’s Your Raashee? directed by Ashutosh Gowariker

(In Hindi, with English subtitles)

Ashutosh Gowariker is known for his epic-length movies. (He also directed Lagaan Lagana and Jodhaa Akbar, owned by HCPL.) So it may not be a surprise to find that What’s Your Raashee? will give you a full afternoon or evening of viewing pleasure at well over three hours in length. This plot, after all, needs some time for the full telling of the light-hearted tale. Yogesh needs a bride. It’s really for money – if he marries, he will receive an inheritance – but he wants to remain cautious in whom he chooses to marry. So he plans to date a woman from each astrological sign. Well, that gives us twelve stories right there, not to mention the framing device. Each woman presents a possibility for love, but Yogesh is mighty particular in his choice. You will find lots of song and dance routines here, in the best Bollywood fashion.

Yumurta, directed by Semih Kaplanoglu

(In Turkish, with English subtitles)

In narrative time, this is the third story in a trilogy, preceded by Bal and Sut, both owned by HCPL. Now-published poet Yusuf returns home after his mother’s death, to honor her in a final ritual sacrifice of a lamb. Despite its familiar hominess, the house where he was raised offers him few feelings of attachment. But it is here in his childhood home that he finds his distant cousin Ayla, whom he has not met before. Ayla has been a companion to his mother for the past several years, and despite his mother’s absense now, she seems comfortable in this home. Yusuf gradually begins to understand the importance of family and connection. His poetic soul might just yearn for some grounded companionship whom someone like Ayla can provide.

Vol. 6, No. 8
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. Use the sign-up box above to have this newsletter sent directly to your e-mail every month, with new, recommended movies for you to view. See Foreign Films Archive.

Big Deal on Madonna Street, directed by Mario Monicelli
(In Italian, with English subtitles)

It may sound like a cliché now – bumbling petty thieves attempt a break-in and meet every mishap possible – but in 1958, Big Deal on Madonna Street was probably the first of its kind. The cast includes Marcello Mastroianni and Claudia Cardinale, just on the threshold of becoming stars, blossoming in their talents. The criminal gang zeroes in on a pawn shop with a safe that will be a piece of cake opening. So the friends think, but the reality of the heist includes an almost epic journey from the street to the apartment next door, through courtyards, across roof tops, and finally into the neighboring house, where the problems get even worse. The heist-goes-wrong plot is fresh and riotous in this early Monicelli.

The First Beautiful Thing, directed by Paolo Virzì
(In Italian, with English subtitles)

Valeria must use strong persuasion to get brother Bruno to visit their dying mother, Anna. He hasn’t seen her in years and doesn’t particularly want to do so. She hasn’t led the most virtuous life, in his eyes. Who has? But Bruno doesn’t see his own severe transgressions in quite the same light. His range from being a curmudgeon to having a serious drug habit. In fact, one great lesson he needs to learn is, “Like mother, like son.” Through a series of well-paced flashbacks, viewers follow the young Bruno and Valeria from the time Anna leaves her overbearing and abusive husband, through her many travails as she tries in her inept way to hold her little family together. In the young Bruno’s eyes, she is a source of constant embarrassment, but he fails to see that she has always had plenty of love for her children. That love persists to the present, when reconciliation is so important between mother and son. The movie contains some rich surprises and elicits a few laughs and tears, as the audience travels with Anna, the young Bruno, and Valeria in their journey through life. Paolo Virzi also driected Caterina in the Big City, owned by HCPL.

The Hedgehog, directed by Mona Achache
(In French, with English subtitles)

Renée Michel is a concierge in Paris, a lowly position for a lowly woman – older, lacking in wealth and beauty, just a frumpy, invisible person, like so many people who take care of matters for the wealthy. She may perform her caretaker tasks in a perfunctory manner, but in her real life, the life she loves, she reads books, teaches herself about the world, and gains wisdom missing in the wealthy people around her. Paloma, a young resident in Renée’s building, is a girl considering suicide on her next birthday, just weeks away, but first she wants to document her family, the source of her contention, by videotaping them. Paloma’s determination to end her life loses some inertia when she witnesses an enigmatic exchange between Renée and Monsieur Ozu, a new tenant. M. Ozu finishes Renée’s quote from Anna Karenina. And so a firm friendship develops among the three. While it will take more than friendship to jar Paloma from her ennui, this remains a story of connection and realization, as three people find a bond that celebrates the true riches of life. The movie is based on Muriel Barbery’s novel The Elegance of the Hedgehog.

My Afternoons with Margueritte, directed by Jean Becker
(In French, with English subtitles)

Germain has always been bullied for who he is: a big, slow, good-natured slob of a guy. If he were a female character, he’d be totally unloved, but since Germain is played by Gérard Depardieu, he manages to have, if nothing else, a much younger, very attractive girlfriend. Be that as it may in this pleasant if unrealistic movie, he has a mother who doesn’t love him much, if at all. So when while in a park one day he meets Margueritte, an aged pensioner who reads Camus and likes pigeons, a friendship begins. Here at last is the mother and teacher Germain never had. Even his beloved Annette, young, lithe thing that she is, can’t fill his need for a loving and nurturing mother. Despite the sentimentality of the film, viewers may enjoy the genuine warmth that radiates from the story. And Margueritte is a complete delight as she pulls from the more dense Germain an understanding of the great questions of life found in the works of Albert Camus and Romain Gary.

Norwegian Wood, directed by Tran Anh Hung
(In Japanese, with English subtitles)

Based on the novel of the same title by Haruki Murakami, this film explores the young, passionate love between two students, Toru and Naoko, in Tokyo in the turbulent 1960′s. They share a tragedy in the death of a young man, Toru’s best friend and Naoko’s lover. The suicide of Kizuki has devastated both of them. When they turn to each other for comfort, the solace seems only to send the beautiful Naoko into a deeper chasm of despair. Confinded to an asylum in the countryside, she occasionally sees Toru, but any hope he has of pulling her out of her depression seems to evaporate each time he departs for Tokyo. Flirting with Toru is the willful and vibrant Midori, a survivor of hardship as well, whose determination to overcome obstacles is the antithesis to Naoko’s descent into madness in the face of tragedy. Tran Anh Hung directed The Scent of Green Papaya, also owned by HCPL.

Once Upon a Time in Anatolia, directed by Nuri Bilge Ceylan
(In Turkish, with English subtitles)

Ah, now here is a movie for those who may long for the esoteric: a Turkish police procedural that focuses more on the detectives who are unraveling the case before them than on the crime itself, with questions of good and evil, betrayal and repentence, the purpose and meaning of life itself permeating the long night of investigation. The film opens with a small caravan of vehicles traveling on a lonely road in the barren landscape of the highlands of Anatolia. The occupants include a police chief and his driver, a prosecutor, a physician, some soldiers, aides with shovels, a transcriber, and finally two suspects in a murder case. They are looking for a buried body, the victim of the crime in question. Since the murderers were drunk at the time that they hid the body, they can’t be certain where it lies now in the vast landscape. So the journey continues, and as it does, we learn more of the characters, who they are, what they feel, how they behave. The surface story of crime and justice takes on deeper meanings as the men search a desolate land for a body. If you like Nuri Bilge Ceylan, try these other DVDs owned by HCPL: Distant, Climates, and Three Monkeys.

Tomboy, directed by Celine Sciamma
(In French, with English subtitles)

Laure is a young child who wants to run and tumble and play soccer, but to do that she needs to be one of the young guys. So she calls herself Mikael, when she moves to a new neighborhood and meets lots of friends. Unfortunatley, Lisa starts to like her, in that 10-year-old way, feeling some innocent and quiet urges to give Mikael a kiss. In a movie about children who want the freedom to play and carry on, despite society’s senseless gender restrictions, Mikael wants no part of being a Laure. Her heroic masquerade may lead to the inevitable sorrow that comes with a mask removed, but children are pretty resilient creatures, finding ways to pick themselves back up, dust themselves off, and move on. Sciamma also directed Water Lilies, another film about young girls.

The July edition of the Foreign Films New to View newsletter has been published! Follow the link below to access the newsletter.

Just a reminder – going forward, the Foreign Films New to View newsletter will be published at the following address:

http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/harford/web/nl_23.html

Please subscribe to the newsletter at the above address to receive it in your e-mail each month. We’ll post a note to this blog when the newsletter is published each month, but the best way to view and receive the latest and greatest info on Foreign Films at HCPL will be at the above address. Thanks!

The June edition of the Foreign Films New to View newsletter has been published! Follow the link below to access the newsletter.

Just a reminder – going forward, the Foreign Films New to View newsletter will be published at the following address:

http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/harford/web/nl_23.html

Please subscribe to the newsletter at the above address to receive it in your e-mail each month. We’ll post a note to this blog when the newsletter is published each month, but the best way to view and receive the latest and greatest info on Foreign Films at HCPL will be at the above address. Thanks!

The May edition of the Foreign Films New to View newsletter has been published! Follow the link below to access the newsletter.

Just a reminder – going forward, the Foreign Films New to View newsletter will be published at the following address:
http://www.supportlibrary.com/nl/users/harford/web/nl_23.html

Please subscribe to the newsletter at the above address to receive it in your e-mail each month. We’ll post a note to this blog when the newsletter is published each month, but the best way to view and receive the latest and greatest info on Foreign Films at HCPL will be at the above address. Thanks!