Central Station

Set in Brazil, a young boy tragically loses his mother in a horrific accident. The boy named Josué, is left on his own to fend for himself, he has no one around him to take care of him and the only living relatives he has live very far away and have no connection to him. The only person who has any idea of who this boy is and of his situation is a bitter older woman named Dora. Dora works at the local train station, she helps the illiterate write letters and mail them to people. Just before the accident Josué’s mother had Dora write a letter to Josué’s father. Dora witnesses the accident and decides to take the boy into her own hands. What may at first seem as a humane gesture turns into Dora selling the boy. Later after being guilted by her friend, Dora steals the boy back from the people she sold them to. She plans to take the boy on a bus that will take him where his father lives and leave him there.

Once they reach the buses final destination Dora plans to sneak of the bus and leave the boy with the bus driver so that she can wipe her hands clean of him. However, Josué leaves the bus and Dora spots him and decides, undesirably, she must help him get to his father now.  After a long journey full of stealing, haggling, and upsets; Dora finally helps Josué find the residence of his father. They discover that Josué has two older half brothers and that his father is a low life alcoholic who has been absent from his residence for some time.  Dora leaves Josué with his two capable and caring half brothers. She leaves on the bus and is left with a picture of Josué and her to always remember him.

All together this movie is one complete bore. It’s like listening to someone tell a story in 106 minutes, when in fact it could be told in 5. The characters are not appealing to begin with and remain that way throughout the film. Towards the end of the film I imagine the director hoped to make you feel sympathetic for these characters as they learn from each other and become more compassionate; trust me it doesn’t’ happen. Josué is nothing but a little brat plain and simple, and the heartless bitter old hag that goes by the name of Dora deserves to be lonely for the rest of her life. I guess what I’m trying to get across is that I recommend this movie to no one, and hope I have the pleasure of never viewing this film again.

Tsotsi

Set in the slums of South Africa, the film Tsotsi written and directed by Gavin Hood, shows us the life of a young hoodlum. A young man who goes by the name of Tsotsi, which means “thug,” lives a ruthless life of crime as the head of a small gang. Hardened by his tough life, Tsotsi seems to be heading down a bad path as he is shown stabbing a man in a robbery; striking one of his own gang members; and even degrading a crippled homeless gentleman. Continuing on his careless path he one night decides to highjack a car in a wealthy neighborhood. However, the owner of the vehicle resists his attempt to steal her car, and is shot in the stomach by Tsotsi. As Tsotsi speeds off in the car it comes to his attention that the woman left her baby in the back seat of the car. For whatever strange reason he decides to leave the car and take the baby back with him to the slums. As he develops the idea to take care of the child he forces a local mother, Miriam, by gun point to help him take care of the child. Eventually, after a series of events including Tsotsi returning to the home where he first stole the child and murdering one of his own gang members, Miriam becomes aware that Tsotsi stole the child and pleads with him to return it. Finally, the movie ends with a selfless Tsotsi, willingly returning the child to its parents and turning himself in the surrounding police.

Tsotsi, the story of a young man with a tough childhood striving to survive by any means possible. We watch as this cold; heartless individual is challenged by this child to develop a sense of sympathy and compassion; and in turn completely change his behavior all together.

I really enjoyed this film and highly recommend it to everyone. The storyline is really intriguing. In America today we see these movies about gangsters with hard lives that just seem more cliché than the next as it glorifies a criminal. Here is a film that really shows a young man with a hard life that struggles to survive. Tsotsi is not glorified nor meant to be a character the crowd is supposed to feel for. Yet, we can’t help but want for him to change his ways and succeed even though he’s nothing but a simple cold hearted criminal. The film is a must see for anyone who like the tough; street thug; gangster movie.

Dreams

Dreams is a vivid fantasy made in 1990, written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. Kurosawa, a Japanese film maker, made this film to express several dreams he himself has had. Essentially the film is eight artistically made films based of very intense and strange dreams. Each dream is so artistically made and well planned out that it gives the real feel of a dream state. As in real dreams, it leaves viewers with a slight confusion and unsettling uncertainty of what will happen next.  

Japanese culture plays such a major part in this film. Each dream very effectively uses metaphoric tales and imagery to explain Japanese culture. For example, in the dreams such as Sunshine Through The Rain, and The Blizzard we see the use of Japanese folklore and the impact it holds on Japanese life. In Sunshine Through The Rain, focus is held on a young boy who chooses to ignore the warnings of his mother to stay home. In Japan there is a legend that states that when the sun shines through the rain the Kitsune have their weddings. In Japanese folklore, the Kitsune are believed to be a spirits or magical creatures who posses both the features of human beings and foxes. The boy defies the wishes of his mother and ventures into the forest. In the forest he witnesses what seems to be some kind of ritual dance held by the Kitsune; the boy is apparently spotted by the Kitsune. When the boy returns to his house his mother tells him that a fox had come by the house and left behind a knife that he must use to kill himself. The boy pleas with the mother as she insists he must leave and beg forgiveness from the Kitsune. The boy leaves in search of the Kitsune. The final scene shows the boy, apparently traveling on his search for the Kitsune, underneath a fantastic view of a beautiful rainbow over hills.

The major themes of this film fall into two categories: 1) very easy to understand 2) very hard to understand. Because the film is so heavily influenced of Japanese culture and themes it at some points is difficult to reveal the theme by someone who is not fully aware of the Japanese culture. This can at some points cause the film to seem overly bizarre and even cause a viewer to lose interest.

The film itself is an absolutely amazing concept. Each dream is a bizarre adventure that seems impossible to comprehend, as dreams usually are. This film is a great film, however I wouldn’t recommend to those without a love for the visual arts. This film in itself is a masterpiece in terms of its visual aspects. However, there is no real storyline to follow and can leave those with short attention spans lost and frustrated.

Talk to Her

“Talk to Her” is a 2002 Spanish film written and directed by Pedro Almodovar. The film is a dramatic film based off the lives of two men, Marco and Benigno. The first time these two men cross paths is at a theater, unaware of who each other are they don’t think much of it till Beningno recognizes Marco at the hospital. Marco is at the hospital to visit the love of his life, a woman named Lydia. Lydia is a famous matador who after being viciously gored by a bull is put into a coma.  Benigno is a nurse at the hospital and personal caretaker of a patient in a coma there named Alicia. Alicia is a beautiful young dance student who Benigno has known previously before the coma. Secretly Benigno has been in love with Alicia for a long time, even though he barely knows her.   We see both the story of Marco and Lydia as well as the story of Benigno and Alicia unfurl through a series of flashbacks. Eventually after these two men become acquainted they develop into very good friends and share their stories with each other.

After being informed by Lydia’s ex-lover that a month before her coma they reunited as lovers, Marco leaves the hospital and travels to Jordan for work. In Jordan, Marco is made aware that not only has Lydia past away in her coma but Alicia has been discovered to become pregnant in her coma. It is discovered that Benigno has raped her out of the far-fetched mindset that she feels the same way about him and they are together in love. Benigno is sent to jail where he develops the idea to escape jail and be reunited with Alicia. He tries to overdose of pills and be transferred to the hospital where she is, however his overdose turns fatal. Ironically, during childbirth Alicia wakes up out of her coma. Marco, who has come back to Spain, moves into Benigno’s old apartment across form Alicia’s. He eventually runs into Alicia at a show in a theatre. The end scene finishes with Marco and Alicia catching glances at each other and the words saying “Marco y Alicia,” possibly implying they will form some sort of relationship now.

Overall, I felt the film was very good and well made. The use of flashbacks really helped as to understand the characters on a deeper level.  Although some parts of the story I found very unusual and some of the imagery to be bizarre, I felt that the story was strong and was represented as best possible. The acting was very good, which was definitely needed for a film based so highly of human emotion and human psyche. I do recommend the to any of those looking to widen their range of film.