Movie Review: Le Mepris 1963 (Contempt)

I'm here again to make some review about the film presented to us last week in our cinema class, Le Mepris. A french film based on the Italian novel Disprezzo (A Ghost at Noon), It is a story of a marriage that has come to an end just because the woman fell out of love.

In the start of the film, the couple Camille Javal and Paul Javal are both so in love to the point that they can sacrifice everything for each other but because of lots of misunderstandings because of the husband's job, problems between the couple started to rise. Paul Javal is a playwright who was hired to rewrite the script of Homer's Odyssey which is to be directed by Fritz Lang. His wife Camille is a very beautiful lady and he was so inlove with her husband but throughout the film she was expressing her hurt and change of heart. Paul had a slow grasp of the source of her contempt which is the main reason of their breakup.

It was a really nice film but I feel like there are some unnecessary scenes that were too long and it just made some parts of the film a bit boring and bland. There are also long pauses between the characters that I believe aren't that important to the film but nevertheless, the whole film was great. Camille's contempt was gracefully executed.

Movie review/Movie Recommendation: Letters From Iwo Jima

Konnichiwa! Let me introduce to you the film that made me admire so much the passion and determination of the Japanese people. A 2006 Hollywood film directed by the famous actor Clint Eastwood, Letters From Iwo Jima. To be very honest, I'm not really fond of watching war films but this movie is just too precious to ignore. It is totally a remarkable masterpiece. 

Letters From Iwo Jima is the second of Clint Eastwood's themed movies that retells the battle of Iwo Jima from the Japanese perspective. I still haven't got the chance to watch the first film or the companion piece entitled 'Flags of our Fathers' which portrays the same battle from the American perspective. I'd love to see the movie some other time in order to comprehend both viewpoints.

The film started months before the United States' invasion of the Japanese Island, Iwo Jima with the soldiers digging trenches on the beach. Particularly Private First Class Saigo, a teenage baker but got no choice to participate in the war despite his youth and his wife's pregnancy. While digging, he complains to his friend that the tiny island they're protecting wasn't even sacred at all and that they should just give it to the Americans so they can go home but one of the captain of the troup, Captain Tanida overheard them and started beating them for "conspiring with unpatriotic words".

At the same time, General Kuribayashi arrives to take command of the Japanese armed forces stationed in the island and begins the inspection of the island defenses and there he sees Saigo being beaten by Captain Tanida. He immediately ordered him to stop beating them and deny their lunch rations instead. And I'll never forget the line the General said after that. "A good captain uses his brain not just his whip". 

While General Kuribayashi was inspecting the troops, he realizes they've got everything wrong. He was certain about that since he has traveled and studied in America and knows what is going through their minds. He believes that they can't count on outside support anymore, the navy has been already defeated. And with that, Kuribayashi made them redo everything from scratch. They only have one thought in mind at that very moment, Iwo Jima MUST not fall because it is the last line of defense before the Americans attack the Japanese mainland. The emperor sends all their assets to Iwo Jima to prepare for the last-ditch defense of the mainland.

When the battle began, it was already very clear that Iwo Jima will not win against the Americans. They're outnumbered and the weapons they have weren't enough to beat the American army. There was a scene in the film where the Americans are already entering the shores of Iwo Jima and the beach is filled with marines. I was all like "whoa, this is just impossible".

(The scene where the Americans are landing on the shores of Iwo Jima)

Starting with this scene, they were already fighting for a losing battle. But they are at least aware that they're going to die soon. And from there you'll witness how they sacrificed everything for their country. General Kuribayashi even told his soldiers that you are a useless soldier if you are dead. He desperately convinces his troop to learn when to withdraw and survive. They have to at least kill 10 enemy soldiers before they die, it was such a motivation for them to fight more and show the Americans what they can do to protect their land.

There was a scene that made me really fascinated with Saigo. The captain of his troop, Captain Tanida have decided to kill themselves because he believes that escape is the coward's way and the only way left for them is to die with honor. But Saigo didn't follow them since he believes that it is much better for them to continue fighting until the end rather than killing themselves inside the cave without even doing anything. I find that scene truly epic and beautiful. Towards the end, Private Class Saigo encountered the General for the last time and ordered him to bury him where the enemy will never find his body. Kuribayashi shoots himself with his pistol which was a gift from an American officer and he made sure that he was still in the Japanese soil. Saigo was weeping while he drags the General's body away for burial. 

The movie ends with the archaeologists finding the letters Saigo has buried and those letters contains individual stories of heroism as the Japanese soldiers prepare to die.

Actually, the person who portrayed Private First Class Saigo was non other than the lead vocalist of the popular Japanese boyband Arashi, Ninomiya Kazunari. When I started being a fan, I found out that he was part of a hollywood film (well not just a part, but he's one of the leading roles :D) I immediately downloaded the whole thing and everything was just wonderful. It was a heartbreaking, touching and beautiful story of a battle that will make you realize that for your country everything is worth fighting for. 

                 

          

You can watch the full trailer here

                                          

Movie Review: Un Chien Andalou (An Andalusian Dog, 1929)

We were able to see this 16-minute silent surrealist film entitled 'Un Chien Andalou' in our Cinema class last week. When the movie started, it was quite hard to understand because it seemed like the scenes are not related to each other at all. The time frame keeps on jumping to another time frame, and the flow of the whole story is not that clear to me. When a scenes comes up, I would be like "what happened? what's going to happen now?". There are a lot of actions in the movie that surely had meanings but I wasn't able to catch those up.

I find it difficult to understand the film because it feels like the film makes no sense at all not in a bad way though.  Everything going on with the film were dream-like and I think that it allows the audience to analyze the meaning behind it. The infamous razor eye slicing made me cringe, it was very disturbing and at the same time questionable because I really wasn't able to understand why it became like that.

Maybe because I am more exposed to films that has dialogue and everything that is why I find it hard to understand a film that is silent all throughout but nevertheless, I'm still convinced that this film is one of the most surreal film that was ever made in the film history.

You can watch the full movie HERE. :)

Movie Review: Trainspotting

During our cinema class, we are able to get to see the movie “Trainspotting” starring Ewan McGregor as a drug dealer with his other friends. It is a black comedy/drama film that deals with substance abuse. In some western countries, using drugs for their personal satisfaction is just normal but in fact, they don’t consider what the result might be. According to the articles I have read about substance abuse, once you get addicted to it, it’s hard to stop. You won’t be able to control yourself anymore because the drug is already attached to your system. In this movie,  Mark Renton along with his friends Spud and Sick boy are addicted to heroin. Heroin is a highly addictive drug derived from morphine, which is obtained from the opium poppy. It is a “downer” or depressant that affects the brain's pleasure. They used heroin to satisfy their needs and to heal their emotional wounds. 
      
The movie had lots of great shots. We have discussed the different camera shots in this class and some of the examples are from this movie. I am so impressed on how they handled the different camera angles to emphasize each scene and for the viewers to appreciate the movie more. It’s very realistic, you can tell already what they are up to just with the dialogue and the way they speak. The facial expressions and how the actors portray their roles are superb. The close up shots that are seen in the movie, they emphasized the feeling of a person that is under influenced of substance abuse. The treatment of the whole film is quite ridiculous but the sound effects during the scenes made it so real like you’re really watching a bunch of kids wasting their life injecting heroin to their system. The close up shots are job well done because as an audience, I was able to tell the feelings of each character. I am so impressed with the whole film’s cinematography.  The way they focus each characters and the tracking shots are truly an art.

Watching Trainspotting is like a wakeup call to everyone who are using drugs and for those who wants to use heroin. In this movie, they will be able to witness what terrible things might happen to them when they use drugs. The character Mark Renton was able to escape from the horrible world of using drugs because he realized that there are more important things that he should be doing, he was able to overcome his addiction because he really wanted to change his self for the sake of his health and of course his family. He probably realized that he doesn’t want to die the same way his friends did. His other friend Tommy died because of the complications in his body due to substance abuse. It serves as a wakeup call for him to be a better person.  This movie might not be widely accepted because of the superb amount of violence and sexual scenes but it is inspiring for those people who want to change for the better and escape from the world of drug addiction.

I find the ending of Trainspotting very interesting and at the same time very crucial. When Mark Renton met up again with his friends because of Tommy’s passing, they started hanging out together again. They started drinking just like before Mark stopped doing drugs. That time Sick Boy suggested a heroin transaction but needs Mark to supply the initial £4,000. After they purchased the heroin, Renton injects himself with a sample to test its purity. The four were able to sell the heroin for £16,000. Early in the morning, Mark took all the money from Begbie’s arms and left the room where they were all sleeping. Spud saw him leave but he didn’t say anything at all. While Mark was walking away with the money, he vows that he will live a stable and traditional life just like the ordinary people then the next scene was Spud finding the £2,000 Renton has left for him.

It was a very nice touch of the ending, it makes people realize that if you want to change for the better you are very free to do it as long as you have the will and determination to escape from your dark side. Everyone has a second chance, even third, fourth, fifth and so on. You just have to believe and trust yourself that you can surpass and overcome everything as long as you’re aware that you are in the right path.