Coluna Claquete - March 29, 2016 - Movie of the Week: "The Five Senses"

 

Newton Ramalho

 

colunaclaquete@gmail.com - www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com - @colunaclaquete

 

Movie of the Week: "The Five Senses"

Considered the most intellectual of festivals for commercial films, the Cannes Film Festival, often awards hermetic films, of difficult acceptance for the general public. Titles like the Iranian "Taste of Cherry" or the French "Under the Sun of Satan", let the general public confused, because they have a different perspective from Hollywood standard.Other award-winning films divide opinions as "Apocalypse Now", "sex, lies and videotapes" or "Pulp Fiction".A film that has certainly added to this list is the Canadian "The Five Senses".

Fleeing the traditional presentation, "The Five Senses" is not just a single story, but six in a tangle of lives over a period of three days. What serves as a link between all of them is the disappearance of a little girl of three years, lost during a walk in the park.

The other characters have their personalities and expressions associated with the senses - hence the title. Rachel (Nadia Litz), an introverted teenager, feels guilty for her father's death.She is the only character who wears glasses, and who assumes the role of observer of the world, although living apart from it. For failing to look at the little girl, Rachel is responsible for her loss. On the other hand, she can perceive in a new friend, feelings and emotions, that even he had realized.

Ruth (Gabrielle Rose), Ruth's mother, is a professional masseuse, whose job consists by relieving the pain of others, with the touch of her hands.Despite this talent, after the death of her husband, she can not touch or be touched by anyone. Even the daughter is kept at a distance on a cold and formal relationship. When required to maintain close contact with the mother of the lost girl, she is forced to touch the real world.

Richard (Philippe Volter), the ophthalmologist who treats his neighbor Ruth, is losing his hearing, and make a list of sounds he wants to preserve in memory.Sounds like rain, music, a simple conversation, the voice of the estranged daughter, etc .. It is through a prostitute, whose daughter is deaf from birth, that he realizes that there is more than one way to hear things.

Robert (Daniel MacIvor) is a janitor who loves his job.In recent times, he meets all his former lovers, men and women, to prove his theory that love provides a special smell.Disappointed by not finding the smell that he demands among them, he discovers to be loved by others.

Finally, Rona (Mary Louise-Parker), a pastry chef who makes beautiful cakes and sweets, but does not care about the taste they have.Despite the sharp taste, she thinks that only the external appearance is enough to satisfy people, as her own relationships, which never go beyond the superficial. When Roberto, an Italian chef she had met in Europe, reappears in her life, Rona allowed herself to engage with emotions that she always had controlled.To complicate matters, hes mother is a cancer terminal ill, which causes her a sense of guilt by the distance kept between them.

The main characters - all with names beginning with "r" - are contained and introverted, full of problems, and stuck in their own worlds. The link between all the little girl Amy, who was part of the life of each of them, in some way, even if by the memory that her inspires. The cast is multinational: Mary Louise-Parker is American, Gabrielle Rose, Nadia Litz and Daniel MacIvor are Canadian, Philippe Volter is French and Marco Leonardi is Australian.All are experienced players and can give their characters the necessary emotional charge.

"The Five Senses" is not an easy assimilation film. It is a vision of the normal world, by an "abnormal" view, showing common situations in an exacerbated way. It's like a patchwork, seemingly unconnected, but that lead to reflection. It is worth watching, even if only to escape the hamburger-with-coke of Hollywood, at least occasionally.Experience.

 

Coluna Claquete - March 10, 2016 - Movies of the Week: "The Girl King" and "A Royal Affair"

 

Newton Ramalho

 

colunaclaquete@gmail.com - www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com - @colunaclaquete

 

 

Movies of the Week: "The Girl King" and "A Royal Affair"

It is quite possible that most regular movie consumers, used to Hollywood products, has no idea of ​​the brilliant production of European cinema, and in particular the Scandinavian one. It is remarkable the quality of Swedish, Norwegian and Danish films, among which I selected the titles "The Girl King" and "A Royal Affair".

The two films have in common portraying historical moments and important figures in their countries. These moments and these personalities have certainly reflected the gap that now exists when we compare the Scandinavian countries and the rest of the world.

"The Girl King" is a Swedish film, and the title character is the controversial Queen Christina, who ruled the country between 1632 and 1654.Cristina, played on screen by Malin Buska, took the throne at the age of six, as she was the official heir of Gustav II, who died in battle in the Thirty Years War. His father also expressed the wish that his daughter was raised and educated as a prince, which was met by Chancellor Axel Oxenstiena (Michael Nyqvist).

Cristina was anything but a conventional queen. Very intelligent and studious, he had remarkable aptitude for learning other languages, and a greed for philosophy, politics and the arts in general. On the other hand, she wore men's clothes, she loved horseback riding and other activities, in addition to maintaining a long relationship with the Countess Ebba Sparre (Sarah Gordon) and others women.

The historical period shown in the film was of extreme religious intolerance, with great influence of churches on governments and citizens, and one of the adverse effects was the Thirty Years' War between Catholic and Protestant countries, with huge loss of life and resources for all of them.

Being the daughter of a defender of Protestantism in the war, Cristina caused scandal when she abdicate in 1654 and converted to Catholicism. She spent her remaining years in Rome, becoming the leader of the musical life and local theater.

The film "The Girl King" directed by Mika Kaurismäki, made a historical reading free of prejudices of Cristina of Sweden, bringing to life this character so controversial, but which greatly contributed to modernize her country and do it emerge from obscurantism that was commonplace at the time.

The other film, "A Royal Affair" ( "En Kongelig Affære"), is told from the point of view of Caroline Mathilde (Alicia Vikander), a young English princess who became Queen of Denmark and Norway after marrying King Christian VII (Mikkel Boe Folsgaard).

If an arranged marriage - a common practice at the time - had its own difficulties, their was more complicated by the influence of real stepmother, who dreamed of the crown to his son, and the emotional instability of the king himself.

During a trip to Europe this instability has reached worrying levels, and two Swedish nobles in disgrace, Rantzau (Thomas W. Gabrielsson) and Brandt (Cyron Melville) proposed to provincial doctor Johann Friedrich Struensee (Mads Mikkelsen) applying to become king's doctor. They would present the young mand, and if Struensee were successful, they would use his influence to make them return to danish capital.

Struensee encouraged the king to improve the relationship with his wife, and as the queen knew well that it was Struensee who was behind these improvements, she began to take interest by the young doctor. This interest quickly turned into attraction; in January 1770, Struensee became entitled to have a room for him at the royal palace and in the spring of 1770, he was the queen's lover. When he could manage a successful vaccine to the Crown Prince in May of that year, their influence further increased.

In 1770, the king began to increasingly isolate himself and became less and less influential because of his mental state. Caroline Mathilde, so far ignored by royal court, became the center of attention.She began to gain new confidence and showed herself in public on horseback and dressed in men's clothes.

Taking advantage of the new power that Caroline had in court, Struensee began to rule by the king, dismissing the old board that ruled the country. It had began the Age of Struensee, when during sixteen months Denmark has undergone changes considered unthinkable until then, such as the prohibition of torture in prisons, rights for farmers and reducing the noble privileges.

These darings that contradicted both the nobility as the church, besides the queen's behavior become a laughingstock among the common people, led to a coup d'etat when the king was obliged to order the arrest and subsequent execution of Struensee.

Denmark again plunged into obscurantism, from where only would emerge through the son of Caroline and Christia, years after Struensee's death.

This film is interesting by showing a seething time, where the rule of the nobility and the church was questioned by the Enlightenment, among which included Struensee, and it would have its great reflection on the French Revolution, a few years after the events shown here.

Although the exquisite season reconstitution of work and costumes, the highlight of the film is the performance of the cast, a result of the direction of Nikolaj Arcel. But the soul of the film is the young actress Alicia Vikander, whose talent was recognized this year with the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress in "The Danish Girl".

"A Royal Affair" can be timeless by showing how in the struggle for power the least important is the good of the people, or the good values ​​and virtues. The one who has the power don't want to lose it, even if, for this, uses means or resources of the lowest nature, such as slander and defamation.

 

Coluna Claquete - March 15th, 2016 - Movie of the week: "Remember"

 

Newton Ramalho

 

colunaclaquete@gmail.com - www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com - @colunaclaquete

 

Movie of the Week: "Remember"

Hardly any event of human history will have generated so much hate as the Second World War, not only by the number of actors involved as the number of direct or indirect victims, all motivated by greed and justified by intolerance. Some of these aspects are portrayed in the magnificent Atom Egoyan's film "Remember".

The begining of story leads us to other films that explore the world of the elderly, such as "Coccoon," "Grumpy Old Men," "The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel," "The Bucket List", "All Together" and many others.

In a residence for seniors, Zev (Christopher Plummer suffers from senile dementia, and can not even remember that his wife died recently of cancer.Zev's support comes from his friend Max (Martin Landau), in spite of his fragile health condition, living with a balloon of oxygen and a wheelchair.

After the last day of the Jewish ritual of mourning for his wife, Max receives from Zev instructions what to do from then on. With all Max's guidances in a detailed letter, Zev must leave on a final mission in search of a former Nazi officer of Aschwitz camp, where both were prisoners.

Even with recent memory deficiency and the difficulties of age, Zev flees the senior center with the help of Max. Its mission is to identify and kill the former Nazi who hides under the name of Rudy Kurlander.The problem is that there are four German immigrants with this name in the United States and Canada, and Zev have to recognize the true former officer - and kill him.

Zev travels a long journey from New York, to Ohio, Ontario, Idaho and Nevada.At each stage of the journey the old man find many difficulties, but also people who try help in the best way.

In his quest for revenge, he also discovers that different people were involved in the conflict, which had little or nothing to do with him, as the soldier who fought for Germany but knew nothing of the extermination camps, other victims as well as Jews, as homosexuals, Gypsies, Communists or Jehovah's Witnesses.

Zev also finds that there are young Nazis also consumed by prejudice and hatred, living and acting in the said greater democratic nation.His journey will end only when he finds the real criminal, and commits the ultimate act of justice.

In addition to the great script of Benjamin August, the safe direction of Egyptian Atom Egoyan leads to perfection a team of magnificent bastions of Hollywood: Christopher Plummer, the eternal Captain Von Trapp in "The Sound of Music", Martin Landau, and Jürgen Prochnow.

Many details are displayed without great emphasis, all refering to the Second War, as the closed train wagons that carried the prisoners to the camps, the speakers that transmitted the orders, the sounds of a quarry, like the cannos and bombs, and the music of Wagner, ever associated with Nazism.

The film is provocative, showing how easy is to purchase weapons in the United States, and the strange feeling of security guard remembering his first gun (and not question why a nonagenarian was armed), or even the neo-Nazi who retains a SS uniform by his father's nostalgia.

Although it has been criticized not favorably, "Remember" is a beautiful exercise of questioning about life and human acts, and what is important or not.

There is no doubt that one of the goals of the film is exactly arouse discussions about the Holocaust - not only Jews, but many other victims - besides the mischief that hatred and intolerance have caused and continue to cause to humanity.

However, there is a subtle question that is bothering like a splinter in the finger: your beliefs are true, or just something that other people want you to believe?

Political, media, religious fanatics, multinationals and other agents use disinformation and slander to create a parallel universe and induce people to do what they want.  This has never been as real as what is happening today, in Brazil, the United States, and possibly the rest of the world.

Coluna Claquete - March, 7th 2016 - Movie of the week: "Concussion"

 

Newton Ramalho

 

colunaclaquete@gmail.com – www.colunaclaquete.blogspot.com  - @colunaclaquete

 

Movie of the Week: "Concussion"

 

After the Oscar emotions, it's time to check out the premieres of the weekend. Among the many titles to choose from, one that caught my attention was the drama based on true events, "Concussion".

The film goes around an sport that is poorly known among us Brazilians, the football. Known in Brazil as American football is a sport practiced with the hands, and where there is a lot of physical contact between players.
When making the autopsy of a former football player, neuropathologist Bennet Omalu (Will Smith) found it odd the lack of visible causes for the severe case of depression and hallucinations that led to the death of the athlete. Diligent and hardworking, Omalu made a serious research, paying some tests by himself, and found out some severe trauma in the brain of the player.
Nigerian by birth, Omalu knew nothing of football, like most foreigners, and he was shocked to find out how the players were routinely subjected to severe shocks to the head and neck, and that would inevitably lead to future physical and psychological traumas.
By further research, he discovered that other well known athletes had also died tragically and presenting behavioral disorders.
When publishing the study in a scientific journal, Omalu suffered a strong reaction from the powerful NFL, National Football League, organization that led a business that moved billions of dollars by year, business that was threatened by this study.

Just to create a parallel, imagine if someone in Brazil claimed that our soccer caused deformities in the feet of thirty percent of its practitioners, for example! With the corruption that reigns in our sport, the complainant could even be dead!
The political pressure from NFL was so strong that the head of Omalu, Cyryl Wecht (Albert Brooks), received several charges of federal crimes, and even the Nigerian doctor was threatened with deportation if he had not a permanent job.
Omalu had just married the immigrant Prema Mutiso (Gugu Mbatha-Raw), that was in full pregnancy. Because of the pressure they suffered, Prema suffers lost her baby, and the couple was forced to give up the dream of their new house, having to move to some corner of California.
The unique and unlikely help came from Julian Bailes (Alec Baldwin), a former doctor of the NFL, and who accompanied the life of several athletes who ended their lives tragically.
The turnaround came after the suicide of former athlete Dave Duerson (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), which belonged to the NFL leaders committee. Before dying, he left a note acknowledging the truth of Omalu studies.
Will Smith is quite different from the usual, almost unrecognizable in his characterization of one man dedicated to the profession, maintaining the perfect boundary between the foreigner who had difficulty mastering the language, and the stereotype of the usual immigrant.

The film's story would be interesting if it was just fiction, but it becomes more painful to see that, in the real world, financial and political interests are more important than the safety and well being of those involved.
"Concussion" is an interesting movie that shows how intolerance is often a weapon used by the powerful, always to protect own interests.