April 2020 – The Film Ramble

The Golden Dream (2013): Available on BFI Player

April 27, 2020April 27, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Golden Dream, MexicoLeave a comment

I finally think I have my motivation back. Having not reviewed two very good films in Tomboy (on Prime) and The Burial of Kojo (on Netflix), I’m kind of relying on momentum to get me through this review of a pretty harrowing experience.

Focusing on the American/Mexican humanitarian crisis, the golden dream looks at three young Guatemalans Juan, Sara and Samuel going from Guatemala through Mexico all the way up to the USA. Juan wants to be the tough kid with the plan, the leader as it were. Sara has to hide her gender for her own safety and Samuel is rather chilled out but gets by in Guatemala by savenging rubbish heaps. Early on they meet Chauk, a young Indian who can’t speak Spanish, but understands their quest as well as they do. We start off relatively calmly as the director Diego Quemada-Diaz establishes these characters and their relationships. Juan doesn’t trust Chauk and feels animosity towards him as he’s been building up a friendship with Sara. At this point we don’t know whether Chauk knows Sarah is a woman.

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The Lavender Hill Mob (1951): Available on BBC iPlayer

April 12, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged 1950s, Lavender Hill MobLeave a comment

In my opinion, there are a few different types of old film. The first is the timeless classic, that no matter when its watched it retains everything great about it, think Singin’ In The Rain. The second is the once great film which doesn’t really add up as well today. Controversially, I put Citizen Kane in this bracket. It was just okay. The third type is charmingly old films which haven’t aged particularly well, but provide good fun, such as Titfield Thunderbolt. Then The Lavendar Hill Mob hits up this middle ground where it certainly inspired other films and is competent in what it does. However, in the years since other films have taken the formula and made it better.

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Amores Perros (2000): Available on Amazon Prime

April 12, 2020April 12, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Amores Perros, Foreign Film, Innaritu, MexicoLeave a comment

While the film was starting, a note came up. However, I didn’t read it as it was in Mexican and I was sorting out my subtitles. The note, it turns out, stated that “No dogs were harmed in the production of this film”. This is a rather big indicator that if you don’t like animal violence, Amores Perros may not be the film for you.For those who can deal with such imagery, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s debut film (before he went on to win Oscars for Birdman and Revenant), shows a gritty tale about crime in Mexico’s slums with great vigour.

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The Titfield Thunderbolt (1953): Available on BBC iPlayer

April 10, 2020April 10, 2020Posted in Feel Good, Film, ReviewTagged 1950s, Titfield Thunderbolt1 Comment

I was talking to Granny on the phone last weekend and we realised we didn’t have much to talk about. Her art groups were all cancelled and I was just working everyday, and there is only so much farming economics an individual can take. That is when I proposed an idea. I asked her to look at her TV pages and pick out a film for us to both go away and watch. After assuring her I didn’t mind how old the film was and that I just wanted to watch a film I hadn’t seen before, she settled on the Titfield Thunderbolt, a film I had never heard of. At the time of writing, I don’t even know if she stuck to her end of the bargain and watched it (I’m not spoiling it, she doesn’t have internet). However, I did my duty and what I found was a charming comedy film with everything you love about yesteryear.

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I Wish (2011): Available on All4

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Kore-Eda1 Comment

Hirokazu Kore-Eda is one of the most elegant voices in cinema. From Still Walking to Nobody Knows, his films all have one common theme: At the very centre of it, they are human. Each one provides a form of meditation. Whether we see a misfit family adopt an abandoned girl (Shoplifters) or three girls welcome their younger sister to their house (Our Little Sister), the slow pace and sporadically added “normal conversations which don’t move the story on” make each of his films quite meditative.

I Wish provides a new story where two brothers live far apart. The elder brother Koichi lives with his mother and Ryu, the younger brother lives with his father. They both live in different cities and Koichi wants for the family to be reunited more than anything. Ryu meanwhile is more indifferent, remembering how unhappy they all were together. His older brother considers this naive as Ryu uses his food he’s been planting as an excuse not to reunite his family and to cover his emotions.

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Once (2008): Available on Amazon Prime & BFI Player

April 5, 2020April 5, 2020Posted in ReviewTagged Glen Hansard, Independent Film, Marketa Irglova, OnceLeave a comment

I truly believe that its the simplicity of Once that makes it one of the most endearing films around. It’s a simple story where our guy (Glen Hansard) is a busker who does what he can to get by. He works in his dad’s vacuum repair shop, but his true passion is his guitar. In the day he plays covers, but at night, he plays his own songs. One evening, he plays and this attracts attention of girl (Marketa Irglova), a Czech immigrant who sells the big issue. While they start off with him being frosty, she gives him a chance.

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Brooklyn (2015): Available on Amazon Prime

April 4, 2020April 5, 2020Posted in ReviewTagged Brooklyn, Saoirse RonanLeave a comment

With cinemas closing their doors, now more than ever is a great chance to break down my ever expanding Netflix/Prime lists. Therefore, where better to start than with this underappreciated 2015 gem.

Ellis (Saorise Ronan) is a young woman working in a shop in County Wexford, but she wants more in her life. When her sister gets her the chance, she moves to Brooklyn. The first part of the film sees her on the boat, struggling as she makes her way across the Atlantic. However, once she meets a fellow immigrant who just came back to Ireland briefly, life becomes much easier. While a small thing, this early scene establishes a sense of community which carries on throughout.

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Feel Good Film #2: The Florida Project

April 1, 2020Posted in Film, ReviewTagged Florida ProjectLeave a comment

I was sat down debating whether to define The Florida Project as a feel good film. It portrays a bleak reality for a young mother and daughter. However, the way in which it finds light in the dark times with such humanity really provides an integrity and an honest feel good experience. Therefore, despite the fact I do cry at this film, it makes the list.

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