Under the Bombs [Lebanon, 2006]

This is, without a doubt, the most personal film for me in the project so far. Under the Bombs is set during and just after the 2006 Israeli bombing of Lebanon. First and foremost, I have a friend from college that lives in Beirut so I was worried for his and his family’s safety. Secondly, in the spring of 2006 I was starting to consider places to do internships for my master’s coursework and through said college friend, I was going to seriously try to do my internship in Beirut. The plan was to knock the internship out in about six to eight weeks: work four days a week and spend the other three taking trips throughout Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan and finishing things off with a trip to Armenia and/or Israel before heading back to the United States. And then the bombing happened.

Needless to say, being faced with possibility of being hit by missiles gives one a rather long pause when considering an internship in a place with a high potential for becoming a war zone. After thinking about it for a while, I abandoned the idea of the internship there because it just didn’t seem stable enough at the time to go. Turns out it would’ve been fine, but I think it was the right choice based on the information I had at the time. Anyway, on to the film…

Zeina and her family are Lebanese, but live in Dubai. She and her husband are divorcing and they’ve sent their son Karim back to their village in southern Lebanon to live with her sister while they sort out the messy details of their separation. Enter a bunch of Israeli missiles fired into civilian areas and Zeina heads back to Lebanon to find her sister and son since she can’t reach them via telephone. She has to enter the country via a circuitous route because of Israeli control of the airport and seaports. Once in Beirut she searches for a taxi driver to take her south, but no one will go citing how dangerous it is. Eventually her persistence pays off and a cabbie named Tony agrees to drive her after demanding an incredibly hefty fee for the trek. Zeina is incensed at the high fee, but as Tony tells her “I’m not risking my life for nothing.”

Needless to say, trying to find someone in the aftermath of repeated bombing is a difficult prospect. Infrastructure is decimated (they repeatedly come upon bombed out bridges and have to change routes), communications range from non-existent to undependable. Misinformation is everywhere. It’s utter chaos and Zeina feels like she’s on a wild goose chase. As they continue on through problem after problem after problem and misdirection after misdirection Tony begins to soften and becomes a helping hand and not merely a hired hand. I don’t want to spoil the ending, but it’s an incredibly moving road movie about two strangers drawn together by the most horrific of circumstances.

The incredible thing about this film is that it uses only two profession actors (Zeina and Tony) and was filmed during the war. This blurb from the film’s official site really sums up the urgency and gritty reality of the film:

Under the Bombs is a visceral expression of anger and pain from a Lebanese man who could no longer tolerate seeing his country ransacked by war. This war began on July 12th 2006. Ten days later, in the most precarious of circumstances, Phillipe Aractingi began shooting “under the bombs.” He only hired two actors. The rest of the characters in the film: refugees, journalists, soldiers, religious people, and militants all played their own roles. All of them, caught in the turmoil and the ruins of war-torn Lebanon. All living this new tragedy as an intimate part of themselves.

I’d strongly urge anyone to watch this film. It’s remarkable seeing the hell reigned down on a civilian population by war. It really hammers home the nightmarish toll civilians bear during wartime. Horrific and powerful stuff. I sincerely hope Lebanon is spared this nightmare in the future. It’s particularly hard watching this as an American knowing my country helps fund and/or arm these bombing campaigns.

TRAILER: UNDER THE BOMBS

Fish Tank [England, 2009]

I’ve not come up with any solid methodology for picking films for this project. Some of it’s been as simple as “The library has this movie from Uruguay” or “I like Arctic Monkeys and Alex Turnder did the soundtrack to Submarine so I’ll watch it.” Regarding Fish Tank, I literally knew nothing about it. I saw the case at the library and said to myself, “Criterion Collection? Made in England? Done.” I didn’t even bother reading the synopsis because I’ve only ever been disappointed by a handful of Criterion Collection movies. I didn’t bother reading the synopsis before I started watching it either. This was a particularly interesting movie to go into blindly.

It’s pretty obvious from the get-go that the film focuses on the life of Mia, a teenager in estate housing in England. As the film unfolds you discover she’s temperamental, prone to violent outbursts and has absolutely zero guidance from her layabout mother. It’s chaotic home life personified: kids run amok, no father in sight and a mother with a pissy attitude about everything who’s more interested in having her fun than she is in the welfare of her children. Dance seems to be the only thing Mia finds any solace in and she frequently breaks into an empty apartment in her housing block to dance and/or drink by herself with her headphones.

Enter Connor (played by Michael Fassbender), mom’s new love interest. He’s good looking, affable, serene and employed. Despite it being her mom’s new man, Mia instantly develops a crush on him and it’s easy enough to dismiss as a schoolgirl crush. Before too long though, it become apparent the crush is mutual despite the age difference and there we have the central conflict of the movie. He’s good for Mia and encourages her to pursue her dreams, but then things go too far and the household turns chaotic again. The chaos extends well beyond the household actually and all hell kind of breaks loose in everyone’s lives. The more the movie goes along the more you can tell it’s going to get more and more messed up. That being said, it was compelling and impossible to look away from and it’s not hard to imagine why this film picked up a ton of awards at various festivals and ceremonies. Definitely one to watch.

Submarine [Wales, 2010]

This is perhaps one of those times where I’ve stretched the definition of a movie belonging to a certain place. The director is English as are most of the actors, but it’s set in Wales and the main character is Welsh (as is the actor who portrays him) so I’m going to count it. I picked this movie solely because of its soundtrack. There is some scoring, but I’m referring to the songs written by Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys. I’m a huge fan of the band and I heard the soundtrack way before seeing the film and after listening to the songs for quite some time, I figured I might as well watch the movie they’re associated with.

Submarine is a quirky, coming of age comedy that gives more than a passing nod to Wes Anderson. Oliver Tate, the 15 year old protagonist strikes me as somewhere between Holden Caufield and Rushmore’s Max Fischer, but is mostly more sympathetic than either of those characters. Oliver is incredibly self-aware and fancies himself as much more clever and aware of the ways of the world than his cruder, more immature classmates. Most people can probably see their teenage selves in Oliver.

Oliver’s world is turned upside down by what appears to be his parents’ crumbling marriage and his desire to lose his virginity before his sixteenth birthday. He thinks he’s got it all figured out when it comes to helping his parents mend their marriage, but it’s almost cringe-worthy at times the way he frankly approaches both of them. He also envisions himself as incredibly suave when wooing his girlfriend, but he’s really just a naive, well-meaning but ultimately clueless goofball

It’s well above average as far as coming of age films go, but it’s by no means essential cinema (the soundtrack is great though.) There are some incredibly funny moments though and one of my favorites was just after the opening credits right before the film started. This appeared on the screen in print:

My Dear Americans, The film you are about to see is a biopic of my life. The events take place, not so long ago, in a proud land called Wales. Wales is next to England, a country you pretend to treat as an equal. My homeland has produced Catherine Zeta-Jones, Tom Jones and some other people. You have not yet invaded my country and for this I thank you. Submarine is an important film. Watch it with respect. Fond regards from your protagonist, Oliver Tate.

Worth watching, but nothing life changing by any stretch of the imagination.

TRAILER: Submarine

Animal Kingdom [Australia, 2010]

For whatever reason, choosing movies in my native language has been difficult. I assume this is partially due to the fact that the amount of movies readily available to me from the United States, Canada, England, Australia, New Zealand, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, etc. are infinitely greater than just about everywhere else combined. I read a couple of reviews of Animal Kingdom that looked pretty good and it had Guy Pearce in it, who I really liked in The Proposition, so I decided to give it a try.

The basic setup is that the mother of 17-year old Joshua (or “J” as he’s referred to most commonly in the film) has just overdosed on heroin. J’s mother was estranged from the rest of her family, but not having anyone else to turn to, J. gets in touch with his grandmother. J’s extended family agrees to take him in, but they’re anything but ordinary. They are, in fact, the Codys, a Melbourne crime family. At the point J moves in with them, the family’s business is crumbling and they’re exploring moving into legitimate ventures and leaving the life of crime. Baz, the criminal’s voice of reason, is murdered by the police though and this is when all hell breaks loose. Pope, the family’s most unstable member asserts his strong personality and things just go from bad to worse under his leadership. Before Pope took over, J was mostly a bystander or passive observer of the family’s activities, but Pope draws him into the action. As the police crack down on them even harder, Sgt. Leckie (Guy Pearce) believes he can rescue J from the life of crime and get him to testify against the family in court.

I won’t reveal any more details about it, but suffice it to say the film is full of unpredictable twists. One review I read described the film as one that “repulses you even as it draws you in” and I’d say that’s a pretty apt description. Some of the behavior of these guys is so reprehensible that it nearly defies description, but the story’s so compelling that you couldn’t possibly look away. This was the first full-length feature by writer/director David Michôd and if Animal Kingdom is any indication, we have much to look forward to with his future films.

TRAILER: Animal Kingdom

Illégal [Belgium, 2010]

Tania and her son Ivan are illegal Russian immigrants in Belgium. Tania, a former French teacher, is adamant that Ivan only speak French in public in order to help blend in better. On Ivan’s birthday, they’re riding on the bus and he begins speaking to his mother in Russian. She quickly censures him, but he pushes back saying she’s too paranoid and can’t they please just relax and speak Russian on his birthday. The disembark from the bus and are having a laugh and a chat in Russian when they’re stopped by the police to “check her papers.” They try to make a run for it but the police apprehend her while Ivan manages to escape.

She’s put in a detention center for illegal immigrants where she can be held up to five months. The time begins to wear on her rather quickly though and she makes some less than ideal decisions that rapidly make her dilemma incredibly more difficult than it already is. I don’t want to give too much about the movie away, but it’s pretty heartbreaking because it’s not hard to imagine that this kind of stuff goes on all the time in Europe, the United States, Canada, etc.

I’m certainly not naive enough to think we can have completely open borders, but it’s hard to watch someone who’s just trying to make a decent living for their family turned away and treated like an animal (or worse) merely because of where they were born (in this film, Tania and other immigrants work cleaning hotels.) Definitely not easy to watch at times because of what goes on, but it was an above average film, thought provoking and definitely worth watching.

TRAILER: Illégal

Hospitalité [Japan, 2010]

Writer/Director Koji Fukada has constructed a bizarre, dark, farcical comedy in Hospitalité. Four people live in the workshop/apartment combo of the Kobayashi printing company. One day, Kagawa shows up claiming to be the son of a man that financially invested in Kobayashi’s father’s printing company that he’s inherited. Kobayashi, though a combination of a sense of duty and Kagawa’s incredibly dynamic personality agrees to take him on as a part-time employee. Kagawa is masterful in taking a mile when given an inch and before long he’s wormed his way into Kobayashi’s spare bedroom. Without telling the Kobayashi’s he’s even married, his Brazilian wife moves into the house and the new international couple sets to completely upending the seeming normalcy of the Kobayashi household.

Kagawa, played expertly by Kanji Furutachi, begins to manipulate the various members of the Kobayashi family…exposing their pasts and shortcomings and using their secrets against each other for his own benefit. The film takes swipes at xenophobia in Japan and “polite society” in general. It’s absurdist humor and over the top delivery are perhaps just what was needed to deal with themes that would be difficult to bring up in a more straight ahead fashion. I felt like it kind of took a dip at the end and dragged a little bit, but was overall a fun little film.

The Time That Remains [Palestine, 2009]

Elia Suleiman’s The Time That Remains is drastically different than any other film I’ve seen dealing with the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. There’s no overt vitriol nor is there a sentimental “we can all be one big shiny, happy family” tone. Furthermore, Suleiman offers no simple solutions to the problem. There is, however, a cool sense of detachment in the storytelling and a deadpan sense of humor that makes the message of the film more powerful than if it had relied on more dramatic emotions.

Primarily set in Nazareth, the film begins in 1948 with the city surrendering to Israeli forces. The primary character in the early part of the film is Suleiman’s father, Fuad, played wonderfully by Saleh Bakri. Fuad is detained, beaten and left for dead by the Israeli army and that really kind of sets the tone for the film. Fuad was initially quite defiant but eventually becomes more resigned to his fate and that of his family and the Palestinians in general. It shows the little hassles of life, like Fuad and his friend repeatedly getting harassed by the Israeli army for simply going fishing. The focus eventually shifts to Fuad’s son, Elia (the filmmaker.) I’m not familiar with Suleiman’s life story, but the film is based upon Fuad’s diaries and the letters of his mother (there are quite a few scenes of her writing letters) as well as his personal experiences living in Israel as a Palestinian.

The film comes off as powerful meditation on Palestinian life in Israel. It deals with heavy themes and gives the viewer much to ponder, but it doesn’t do it in a way that’s preachy or heavy-handed. It is the first of Suleiman’s films that I’ve seen, but it definitely won’t be the last.