Movies

4/19, Juno
My 15-year old called this movie sappy, but I thought it was snappy! Ellen Page made me want to be young again. She played the hip, edgy teen to the hilt. An entertaining movie about love, unwanted pregnancy, division of class, and teen life.

4/18, Becoming Jane

I love Jane Austen, and almost everything from the nineteenth century, although I’m not a fanatic. I wouldn’t be able to go throught this entire movie listing any historical inaccuracies or anacronisms like I can with That Seventies Show. I wanted Jane and Tom to get together and stay that way, but I knew from the outset it wasn’t going to happen. That’s how she became Jane!
Lush photography, beautiful acting. James McAvoy continues to be my favorite young actor.

The Last King of Scotland

Forest Whittaker and James McAvoy, playing the characters of Idi Amin and Dr. Nicholas Garrigan, act out the archetypal themes of thwarting the father, and the father devouring his son. Nicholas flees Scotland in rebellion against his own father, only to find a substitute father in the charismatic Idi Amin. The acting was right on the mark, totally believable.

The film also raises the question of the legacy of European colonization of Africa, and the responsibility Westerners have in the murders Amin carried out.

Does one leader rise to the top and cause the world to change, or do the masses give him their tacit permission to act? If Idi Amin hadn’t become the paranoid dictator of Uganda, would another man just like him have committed similar acts of brutality? Do the people push the man to the top, or does power start with the individual?

Psychologists who have studied group dynamics say that when groups of people are trained to be obedient, they easily accept the mandates of the group in power. The ruling class starts out slowly, becoming more brutal and evil as time goes on. This theory tries to explain, at least in part, what happened to the Jews in Nazi Germany.

The character of Dr. Garrigan is well thought out. Through the course of events in Uganda, he is forced to examine his own part in the killings. Because he wanted to please his new father figure, he ignored the signs of erratic behavior in Idi Amin. It took the innuendos of an outside person to help him see the truth.

None of us is innocent to the extent that we allow brutality to exist around us. We see murder, violence, starvation and torture in the news, yet we turn our backs.

Still, I believe that the only way to eliminate violence is in the practice of personal nonviolence. Eliminating angry outbursts and harsh words towards others is the first step. That’s where I am right now.

Watch The Last King of Scotland, for the acting, and for the questions it raises.

“Valentín”, by Alejandro Agresti.
This is another film that stars a fantastic child actor. So much wisdom from a young boy! I love movies with great acting, simple locations, a heart-felt story, and no special effects. Special effects are okay, I suppose, but nothing beats sensitive photography and sound editing. I found this one on Netflix.

“The Bicycle Thief”, director Vittorio De Sica.

I saw this movie over twenty years ago, and during that time lapse I invented a happy ending for it. In my memory, little Bruno finds the stolen bicycle for his poor father. That is not quite what happens. Of course the whole film is brilliant, but one of the scenes that stands out in my mind is when Bruno and his father throw caution to the wind and order wine and mozzarella bread in the restaurant. Bruno keeps eying the rich boy who’s eating with such fine manners with his large family. What a look the rich boy has on his face. The plot is simple and direct, the photography beautiful, the acting perfect.

“Mar adentro”, “The Sea Inside”, by Alejandro Amenábar.

Javier Bardem is one of my favorite actors. This is another movie with a simple, direct plot, superb acting, and a powerful message. I don’t know if I could ever love a person enough to help with the person’s suicide. I wish I could be brave enough, but I might be too selfish. Maybe if my loved one was suffering for too long I would be able to. It’s kind of like asking what you would do if you had been a non-Nazi German during WWII. Would you have have helped the Jews? We all want to say ‘yes, of course,’ but no one really knows until the moment arrives.

“La mala educación”, “The Bad Education”, by Pedro Almódovar. This movie was rated NC17, most likely because of the gay sex scenes, but I don’t think it deserved that rating. I’ve scene more graphic sex in rated R movies. I think this movie is about desire and ambition, and what people will do to fulfill one or the other, not caring about who will be hurt along the way.