anotheranon: (Default)
anotheranon ([personal profile] anotheranon) wrote2006-10-22 10:22 pm
Entry tags:

movie reviews

Extensive hand-sewing has given me the chance to catch up on a couple of films I've been sitting on:

I had to see Lost in La Mancha as a life-long Monty Python/Terry Gilliam fan. Gilliam's repeated problems making the film parallel the obstacles faced by "Don Quixote"; in the end Gilliam realizes it's not going to happen despite his sheer will to make the thing, rather the way Quixote regains his sanity at the end :P

I enjoyed it because it was fun to see the "artist at work" and the sheer number of things that go wrong is comical (rained out sets, sets with jets flying over head, injury of lead actor, inability to get any actors for most of pre-production). Good to know Gilliam got some mileage out of what he did shoot in the form of this movie (Depp fan alert - he was going to be in this, and is still tied to any future production).

Fire - beautiful and subtle drama about two traditional Indian sisters-in-law who fall in love with each other (fairly good review at the link). Visually beautiful, but also very quiet, you can almost see how the character chafe in the roles of traditional, dutiful wives and daughter-in-laws. In particular, I think the characters complement each other perfectly, I can see the appeal of someone like Sita (young, playful, constantly butting heads with authority) to someone like Radha (older, serious, suffers her lot in silence).

It's less about the lesbian relationship and more about bucking tradition in general - parts of it might read as irrelevant to western viewers but, then, modern Europe/America is far, far less traditional than it used to be (I think this is why the Bollywood remake of "Pride and Prejudice" worked so well - the roles of women in modern India are more like those during Jane Austen's time - but I'm digressing).

[identity profile] jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com 2006-10-23 02:53 am (UTC)(link)
YAY!!!!! You finally got to see a Deepa Mehta film! (hopefully the other two films in the Elements trilogy, "Earth" and "Water" are on your to-view list ... they're both as powerful as "Fire" is)

[identity profile] anotheranon.livejournal.com 2006-10-23 03:10 am (UTC)(link)
If the other two are that good, I think I will :)

[identity profile] jlsjlsjls.livejournal.com 2006-10-23 03:38 am (UTC)(link)
They are that good, if not better. :-)

I love Fire...

[identity profile] shemhazai.livejournal.com 2006-10-23 03:55 am (UTC)(link)
Truly amazing movie. I like that it wasn't "about" the relationship between the two women; it was more that the relationship fit into the greater theme of individual fulfillment vs. fulfilling your duty. When is following your dreams worth hurting the ones you love? I've always been fascinated by that theme; must be why I like asian films so much, like "Women from the Lake of Scented Souls". You would like that one too, I think.

[identity profile] tommdroid.livejournal.com 2006-10-23 11:18 am (UTC)(link)
*Takes notes*

[identity profile] zen4me.livejournal.com 2006-10-23 11:24 am (UTC)(link)
arrgh..I keep wanting to see Fire! An ex-girlfriend recommended it a couple years back and I've never been able to find it to rent (I refuse to join NetFlix just to see this movie)