This 1972 film, co-written and directed by Conrad Rooks, is based upon Herman Hesse's 1922 novel of the same title. The story follows a young Brahman's son in India as he goes out into the world and seeks his own path of enlightenment. Sticking very closely to the original manuscript, the movie lovingly depicts Siddartha's transformation from a wandering forest Samana, an ascetic; to a merchant's apprentice who is very much in love with Kamala, a courtesean; then to his transformation from this city life to that of a ferryman living on a great river.
Siddhartha is accompanied by his longtime friend and shadow Govinda, who later leaves Siddhartha's side to follow the Buddha after seeing the him speak in person. It reminded me of Ben-Hur in the way the film took place during a time when a great leader (Jesus) walked the land, but centered around a different character.
An interview with Conrad Rook, the movie's writer.
In his first full length movie since Mulholland Drive in 2001, writer/director David Lynch takes us back to Hollywood with all of its emotional glitter and gore and delivers Inland Empire. Laura Dern is Nikki Grace, an actress who falls in love with her co-star, Justin Theroux, and descends into madness as she finds it harder and harder to discriminate between reality and the movie they are filming. Laura Dern's performance is absolutely riveting from beginning to end; she is both mysterious and very accessible as she leads the viewer through her increasing desperation.
Animation can be so predictable at times. Beautifully drawn characters dancing across the screen and singing about their true loves is pretty much a given. Not so in Sylvain Chomet's Les Triplets de Belleville. In fact, some of the characters are downright ugly - and I mean the protagonists. Ingeniously caricatured, the people in this amazingly artistic anime walk around totally representational of the emotional feelings they generate. This French film needs few words to accurately tell the complex story of a lonely boy, his dog, and his grandmother.
Somehow, in the seven years since its release date, Love's a Bitch (its international title) has escaped my viewing pleasure until this summer. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's gritty, fast paced Mexican drama received critical acclaim at the time of it's release, including an Academy award nomination for Best Foreign language film in 2001. I think that it meets the criteria for another review; after all, it is a foreign film and far less popular and accessible than Inarritu's recent film, Babel. Written by Guillermo Arriaga Jordan, Amores Perro depicts three people, strangers to each other, living in Mexico City. He braids their lives together throughout the film, creating a very real, more than slightly disturbing look at urban life and love.
Gael Garcia Bernal plays Octavio, a young man looking for extra money and helplessly in love with his brother's wife. His aggressive dog, Cofi, proves his strength and stamina on the street and soon Octavio finds himself in the underworld of dogfighting. The cinematography and sense of immediacy present in the filming is so great that, as I watched the dogs destroy each other during the fights, I was so disturbed I wanted to cover my puppy, Eowyn's, ears.
This is an award-winning documentary by producer, director and cinematographer Tom Piozet. Filmed over a period of ten years and nine trips to Tibet, Piozet is able to tell the story of this land using the land and people themselves, giving the viewer a firsthand experience of life in Tibet and the changes that have occurred these past decades since the Chinese invasion. Complete with over 30 interviews – including the 14th Dalai Lama, former political prisoners, professor of Indo-Tibetan studies Robert Thurman, Chinese government spokespersons, monks and villagers – the viewer has the opportunity to hear many versions of what has happened to Tibet, and why. Piozet truly takes us inside Tibet in all of its beauty; the landscape at the top of the world is unbelievable. His cinematography is awe-inspiring. This is the first time that I was able to get a feel for what Tibet really is and how life works there. Seeing the creation of the art, the festivals, the monastic life, and the simple life of the villagers emotionally engaged me to such a degree that the changes brought upon the Tibetan way of life by the Chinese government had a more profound effect on me – as is Piozet’s intent, no doubt. I remember a few years ago the “Free Tibet” movement consisted of fairly large rock-n-roll fundraisers and bumper stickers; recently it hasn’t gotten much publicity. I think, unfortunately, the impact of this movie could have been much larger had it been released earlier; however, I do believe it is important that it’s available now. As a visual, musical documentation experience this film is unparalleled. The beauty of the monastic society and the ideology of a civilization so focused on enlightenment is still hard for me to fully understand as an American. This film simply conveys the tragedy of one society attempting to liberate another society from what it sees as oppression, but perhaps simply cannot comprehend. I recommend this film to anyone who has global interests, or spiritual interests, or humanitarian interests or even self-interests. I have no doubt that whoever you are, the struggle these people face will resonate with you, and so will their beauty.
This 1972 film, co-written and directed by Conrad Rooks, is based upon Herman Hesse's 1922 novel of the same title. The story follows a young Brahman's son in India as he goes out into the world and seeks his own path of enlightenment. Sticking very closely to the original manuscript, the movie lovingly depicts Siddartha's transformation from a wandering forest Samana, an ascetic; to a merchant's apprentice who is very much in love with Kamala, a courtesean; then to his transformation from this city life to that of a ferryman living on a great river. 
In his first full length movie since Mulholland Drive in 2001, writer/director David Lynch takes us back to Hollywood with all of its emotional glitter and gore and delivers Inland Empire. Laura Dern is Nikki Grace, an actress who falls in love with her co-star, Justin Theroux, and descends into madness as she finds it harder and harder to discriminate between reality and the movie they are filming. Laura Dern's performance is absolutely riveting from beginning to end; she is both mysterious and very accessible as she leads the viewer through her increasing desperation.
Animation can be so predictable at times. Beautifully drawn characters dancing across the screen and singing about their true loves is pretty much a given. Not so in Sylvain Chomet's Les Triplets de Belleville. In fact, some of the characters are downright ugly - and I mean the protagonists. Ingeniously caricatured, the people in this amazingly artistic anime walk around totally representational of the emotional feelings they generate. This French film needs few words to accurately tell the complex story of a lonely boy, his dog, and his grandmother.
Somehow, in the seven years since its release date, Love's a Bitch (its international title) has escaped my viewing pleasure until this summer. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's gritty, fast paced Mexican drama received critical acclaim at the time of it's release, including an Academy award nomination for Best Foreign language film in 2001. I think that it meets the criteria for another review; after all, it is a foreign film and far less popular and accessible than Inarritu's recent film, Babel. Written by Guillermo Arriaga Jordan, Amores Perro depicts three people, strangers to each other, living in Mexico City. He braids their lives together throughout the film, creating a very real, more than slightly disturbing look at urban life and love.
