the usual 2-line-per-film catch up format. One day I promise I’ll write a proper review or two…

Days of Glory (aka Indigènes) - at the Bradford Film Festival. Brilliant war film. Highly recommended. I seem to have picked a whole series of films about injustice recently.

Fast Food Nation - at the Bradford Film Festival. Very well acted and immensely enjoyable, non preachy, in spite of the prickly topic. I found some of the drama a bit… unlikely and I don’t really see what the “shock” is all in this film. I suppose it could be a shock for people who don’t know much about illegal immigrants or the food industry, but to me it seemed quite straightforward and not really controversial or biased. A fun film, well crafted.

Water - at the Bradford Film Festival. This film is beautiful and quite shocking at the same time, as it follows a child who is married then widowed and then left in a widow’s house to starve out of sight for the rest of her days… and the women around her, and how they struggle, accept and just go on day by day. The perspective from a child means obviously that a lot of questions can be asked and answered for us who are not familiar with the cultures of India, in a way that feels quite natural. The film happens in the 50s but the situation in the film is still happening today, and I felt quite low at the end for seeing not a comment of “this was made illegal in x” but a “this is still happening to thousands of women today”.

Catch a Fire - at the Bradford Film Festival. A black man in South Africa and his path to becoming a freedom fighter / terrorism. I just tend to go see anything Tim Robbins decides to play in -and there are extremely few actors I do that with- and I was not disappointed. The film manages to show a lot and say a lot without feeling too preachy, although I guess in the current world just making the viewer sympathetic with a terrorist is a very strong position I guess. It’s easy to be on the side of the “terrorist” in this film since today Apartheid is universally condemned as evil, but in the film you can see the white men, who are brutal, yes, but doing it out of fear for their families rather than to protect privileges. They clearly know Apartheid can’t last, but they will do everything to make sure people don’t kill their families and children in the process. One thing that the film clearly illustrates is that South Africa is a “miracle” - that they pulled off the transition is a credit to the leaders of the time and the south african people who did follow that path of reconciliation. The film is a good film, but it isn’t “easy”

Dry Season - at the Bradford Film Festival. Another african film, which kind of “meshes” with Catch a Fire’s end note. A young man is asked by his grandfather to go kill the man who killed his father during a civil war, after the government declares amnesty to all war crimes to try to stop the cycle of revenge. He gets to know the man and has very conflicting feelings as he begins to work for him and know him. A film of very few words but I found it still quite powerful and enjoyable to watch.

The Boss of it All - at the Bradford Film Festival. Weird absurd surreal highly self-referential and intellectual danish comedy. Quite over the top.

Tokyo Godfathers - rental. A quite “typical” anime about some bums who find a baby in a dumpster at christmas. Tackles a lot of rather tricky themes very deftly, and quite a fun watch.

Azumi - rental. Not sure what the fuss around the net is about, this was pretty, superficially clever and extremely predictable. Still, it was what you’d expect.

Elephant - rental. A fiction about a high school massacre. Quite controversial but very powerful, as it focuses on all the normality and makes you think and discuss afterwards.

Sunshine - rental. A good historical film about a jewish family in Hungary through several generations, and their good and bad fortunes.

Le Grand Voyage - rental. Surprise, another film to make you think and look at things from another one’s perspective. A teenager living in France has to drive his aging Father to Mecca for the pilgrimage. He really doesn’t want or care to go. Over the course of the film they travel, clash, learn to know each other, clash some more, meet people. All of it told with subtelty and humor and a lot of bittersweet touches.

The Three Burials Of Melquiades Estrada - rental. That was weirder than I expected. Tommy Lee Jones sure does borderline madness in a very scary manner.