Category: Movies

Among my friends in the Chlotrudis Society for Independent Film, WHISKY is not a little seen film as it was a Buried Treasure nominee at the 12th annual Awards Ceremony in 2006.  But among non-Chlotrudians, I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anyone who has heard of, much less seen this little film fromUruguay.  And that’s a shame, because it’s quite marvelous.

Jacob is the taciturn and solitary owner of a run-down sock factory, whose successful, younger brother, Hermán, is coming to visit from Brazil for the first time in years for their late mother’s Matzeivah ceremony (at which her tombstone will be unveiled).  Jacob asks Marta, his forewoman at the factory, if she will pose as his wife while his brother is in town.  With Hermán’s arrival it becomes clear that Jacob resents him for running off and becoming successful, while he cared for their mother in a nursing home rather than focusing on his own career.  Yet when Hermán asks Jacobo and Marta to accompany him on a visit to a seaside resort where they spent time as children, Marta is keen to go and Jacobo reluctantly agrees. During the holiday Marta and Herman grow closer. Jacobo remains cold and unemotional towards both the other characters and seems keen for the experience to end.

This charming film is short on dialogue and filled with subtle, black humor.  The characters manage to convey quite a bit despite their unexpressive faces and their minimal conversation.  Filmmakers Juan Pablo Rebella and Pablo Stoll crafted an endearing story that yields great rewards if the viewer can manage to stick with it long enough.  Sadly, Rebella committed suicide at age 32.

For fans of bleak foreign films that make you want to slit your wrists when you’re finished, don’t miss this hard-hitting, powerful film by Israeli director Keren Yedaya. Or is a hard worker. She collects discarded recyclable bottles, goes to school, and works washing dishes in her neighbor’s restaurant. She uses the money she collects from her bottle returns to buy food for her mother, who is just being released from a clinic. This mother-daughter family is struggling to make ends meet on the sporadic incomes of Or’s job. Oh, Or’s mother Ruthie works as well: as a prostitute, and while her work can occasionally bring in some money, Or is doing everything she can to get Ruthie to quit the business. She even goes so far as to find her mother a job cleaning the house of a wealthier (an slightly eccentric) mother of a friend. The problem is, while Ruthie loves her daughter, and realizes her chosen profession tears Or apart, she doesn’t really seem to want to stop. To complicate matters, Or is quite popular with the boys, and is pretty sexually active. Yedaya plainly shows us the difficulties life throws at these two women, and some of the joys as well. But it’s all short lived, as we can tell from the tone of the film. And the film spirals toward an inevitable conclusion despite possibilities that convince us that things might work out all right.

The talented actress Ronit Elkabetz is tragic and flawed as Ruthie. Young Dana Ivgy is heart breaking as Or, struggling mightily against forces beyond her ability to control. Yedaya bathes her film in realism, and many scenes seem so raw, naked and personal that I felt uncomfortable viewing them.

BEIJING BICYCLE is a startling film that begins as a charming, warm-hearted tale of a country boy struggling to cope with life in the big city of Beijing, and ends as a cynical, pointed look at today’s society, and the hardened values that are needed to survive. Guei is the central character, a young man, recently transplanted from the country, who finds work as a bicycle messenger. Just as he is about to pay-off his new bike, it is stolen. When he finds Jian, a school boy from the city, riding his bicycle things become very complicated. The bicycle is certainly a ubiquitous symbol in China, as they fill the streets and quickly become essential possessions for these two young men. The startling, and serious ending to this film really draws out the thought and discussion.

Director Xiaoshuai Wang has made several films since 2001’s BEIJING BICYCLE, but I have not seen any of them.  I would be curious to see some of his other films.  He does a remarkable job in this film making a compelling films whose central characters are difficult to relate to.  Lead actress Xun Zhou has starred in several Asian films including SUZHOU RIVER and BALZAC AND THE LITTLE CHINESE SEAMSTRESS