Category Archives: Movies

Film Festival 2020 – Part 3

Movies



At the 2014 Film Festival the documentary When I Walk was shown. This year we have a sequel to that show. The film director was diagnosed with Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis in 2006. His first movie captured his struggles in coming to terms with his disease and disabilities. This documentary details the breakdown of his marriage and his separation from his young son.

I can't say it was an "enjoyable" film but it certainly highlights the issues people living with disabilities face.



This was the show everyone was waiting for. The selection committee for the Festival usually pick winners but to have this screening the week after it won four Academy Awards was brilliant. In spite of a glitch at the first showing the organizers managed to get it back for two screenings. What starts out to be a comedy turns into something a bit more brutal.



The film tells the story of a young male dancer, Merab, hoping for a spot in the National Georgian Ensemble. When a newcomer arrives in the group what starts out as a competition between the two soon becomes a forbidden love story. The last dance shown on screen was incredible.

Film Festival 2020 – Part Two

Movies



As we drove to the movie I was thinking this might be a contender for my favourite movie. The scenery was beautiful, the acting was good. What it lacked, in my opinion, was a story.

We learn very early that Frankie's family have gathered for a family vacation. We also find out early in the story that Frankie is dying. I thought the big reveal to the family would be Frankie's illness but everyone already seemed to know. So I'm not sure what the point of the story was. The dysfunctional family weren't drawn any closer together and the long, very long, closing scene left me thinking maybe I missed something in the movie.


It was lovely to hear the Inuktitut language again. How can a vast expanse of snow and ice be so breathtaking? The humour and laughter of the characters, particularly the translator, were wonderful. The theme of the movie is an Anglican priest (who assures the Inuit that he is different from the Catholic priests) who is trying to persuade a group of hunters to move to a settlement. When persuasion doesn't work he tells them it is the law that they have to move.

Film Festival 2020 – Part One

Movies




We’ve never been disappointed in an Almodóvar film and this was no exception. The main character, Mallo played by Banderas, is an aging film director who is going back through his life and his relationships. I my opinion this should have been the film they started the festival with. Both the younger (Penelope Cruz) and older actors who played his mother were great, as was the young Mallo.

I have to say the movie was better than the book. I wondered if the movie would be done in a comedic style but it stuck very closely to the theme of a theory. While the book stated a few examples, the examples were much more effective with an actual speaker. There was a segment that concerned the behaviour of the RCMP in Canada; there are definitely some assholes in that organization. I found it interesting that one of the speakers compared the bad behaviour of toddlers (who can't be called assholes) to teenagers (when some strive to be an asshole). All is not lost though; in both the book and the movie it is suggested that we need to continue to stand up to assholes in order that the community around us will also see the need to standup and, even if we aren't able to change the asshole, we may be able to drown him out (statistically most assholes are men).

Little Women

Movies

I don’t know what year it was that I first read the book Little Women. I know that for many years as an adult I reread it at Christmas. At some point in the distant past I purchased the full set of Louisa May Alcott books, along with these figurines from the Franklin Mint.

As I watched the movie I kept thinking I liked the 1994 version better. I came home from the movie and watched the previous version on Netflix. There are things I like better about this newer version, and things I liked better about the older version.

I loved Winona Ryder as Jo in the older version, but Saoirse Ronan was equally as good. I preferred Emma Watson as the new Meg, although that may be because she is more familiar. I didn’t particularly like Amy or Beth in either version; maybe the next one will be more to my liking.

I liked Laurie better in the newer version but Mr. Brooke and Mr. Laurence were equal in my mind in both versions. Although Marmee was good in both versions I preferred Susan Sarandon in the older version. I liked Friedrich Bhaer much better in the older version.

One other thing I noticed between the two versions – in the older version Aunt March was Mr. March’s Aunt while in the newer version Aunt March (played very well by Meryl Streep) was Mr. March’s sister. That would account for the age differences in the two actresses.