LAST TRAIN HOME is a fascinating documentary about the eye opening mass holiday migration that nearly all of China takes at the same time--like what happens to a lessor degree in the Christmas holiday season in the US, but in China most factories close down for the two week period, and most everyone wants to go home to visit family since so many workers have left their families to find work in the city. Of course, there are never enough seats on the planes or trains to accommodate everyone at the same time, and this causes lots of emotional stress and a great expense of time and money just to spend what may end up to be a few days with their family. (If ever a country needed to space out their vacation time for workers, this is the one.) The film follows a family trying desperately to board an overcrowded train, and having to spend several days at a very packed train station waiting for room--it seems to be every man for himself. Then when they finally get to their destination, the stress of living apart takes it's toll, especially on the young kids, who resent living with grandparents apart from their parents. It's an emotional roller coaster of a film. Grade-----B
An action popcorn movie, easy to watch with some great moments by the actors including Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, Helen Mirren, John Malkovitch and Mary Louise Parker, the film R.E.D (which stands for Retired Extremely Dangerous) soon disappears from memory within hours after viewing. The setup has the FBI trying to terminate a retired agent (Willis), but of course he's too good for them in spite of the 25 to 1 odds. He sets out to recruit some other ex-agents to find out why this is happening and discovers that the corruption comes from very high up. The bullets fly, there's lots of running around the country, and far-fetched plotting. Forgettable fun.... Grade-----B-
Two-time Oscar winner Hillary Swank seems to do her best work playing down home, lower class characters (such as her winning performances in BOYS DON'T CRY and MILLION DOLLAR BABY) and she is the main attraction here. In CONVICTION, based on a true story, she spends nearly twenty years trying to free what she believes to be the unlawful incarceration of her beloved brother for murder, going so far as to become a lawyer during the process. It is an intriguing story, but the film making is routine, making it feel more like a quality made-for-TV drama than a theatrical release. The story and the actors keep you interested, however. Grade-----B-
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The following eight films were shown as part of the Seattle Lesbian and Gay Film Festival held last week at several theatres. Three of them I saw screened at SIFF last May. But since they may not get anymore of a release than festivals, I'm writing about them as possible DVD rental options, since most were quite good.
Beautifully filmed in a Peruvian coastal fishing village, the Spanish film UNDERTOW tells the story of a young married family man with a child on the way, but he also has a secret lover--a sensual male painter/artist who is viewed with suspicion by the locals. Half way through, the movie takes a surprising turn towards the supernatural, but manages to become a heartfelt and moving love story about tolerance, acceptance and the importance of loyalty. Grade----A-
Documenting the likable comedians and singers from New Zealand, THE TOPP TWINS: UNTOUCHABLE GIRLS tell the story of how twin girls born on a farm grew up to be the famous country/pop/folk singers and entertainers (and they yodel, too!) that they are today.
They are also fierce, but charming activists, fighting racism, sexism, global warming, nuclear proliferation and homophobia. And, yep, they are both lesbians, too. Delightful, funny and informative. Grade----A-
EYES WIDE OPEN (from Israel, in Hebrew with English subtitles) is a very thoughtful and intense drama set in Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox community. A butcher with a wife and children finds repressed homosexual feelings coming to the surface when he hires a handsome young outsider as his assistant. His happiness is quickly conflicted by the pressures of the insidious conformity that the community imposes on anyone who does not live according to the majority laws of their religion and responsibility. Beautifully acted and directed. Grade-----A-
SASHA (Germany/Croatia) is a young handsome teen living with his immigrant Croatian family in Cologne and trying to hide his sexuality from his girlfriend and parents, but when his sexy piano teacher announces that he is moving to Vienna, SASHA must make some big moves of his own. This comedy-drama is quite delightful as a wacky family farce, amusing romantic (mis) adventures, coming out drama, and showing the difficulties of trying to live someone elses dream. Grade-----B+
Oh, those Spanish twenty-somethings. A young man gets jealous of his ex-girlfriend's new boyfriend, so he decides to befriend the new boyfriend to stay close to his ex. Since she doesn't want him back, that is his PLAN B (from Argentina). The film moves very slowly as they get to know each other, and is surprisingly contemplative in it's theme of how carefully thin the line can be between homo and hetro sexual proclivities It also explores bi- and ambi- sexual natures in very subtle ways. It is interesting, but you will need a lot of patience to get through some of the long takes, some of which include gratuitous crouch shots. (It plays like the Spanish version of the French JEANNE DIELMAN. Or is could have been made by Ming-liang Tsai-- the director of GOODBYE DRAGON INN and THE HOLE and THE RIVER--but not as insightful or fascinating.) Grade----B-
From Tunisia and France comes a film called THE STRING, about a young man who returns after the death of his father, from France to his family estate in Tunisia. His well meaning mother (it's been a long time since we've seen Claudia Cardinale....she looked and seemed more like a grandmother than mother) wants him to marry but he has other plans, mainly the handsome handy man employed at the estate. It's exotic and watchable, as the family members struggle with tradition and change and open sexuality, but I wish it had a bigger punch to it. Grade-----B-
A DIFFERENT KIND OF LOVE (from Czech Republic) is a short 60 minutes, but quickly paced film (with too much herky-jerky camera movements for my taste) about a married woman's discovery of her gayness. Her husband is not too happy with her affair with another teacher at her school, and does and says a lot of typical mean things that we have seen before in other movies about infidelity---these things would have been said even if she was seeing a man instead of a woman. Perhaps that is what is so interesting about this film. The actors are quite natural and likable, and the tension between the characters feels real. Grade----B-
From the Bahamas comes CHILDREN OF GOD, an exotic and sumptuous-looking film of an interracial love between two men--an introverted white artist and a sexy, irresponsible black man, but their ethnic differences hardly matter in this ambitious but pointless, convoluted plot. Things get complicated when the black man's mother and his girlfriend (!) show up unannounced. There's also a sub plot where a preacher's wife is spear heading a political anti-gay crusade on the island--her own marriage is troubled by the preacher who has given her a venereal disease because he's on the "down-low." Not very subtle stuff here. Grade-----C
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On DVD this week was an eight hour BBC version of Charles Dickens MARTIN CHUZZELWIT (1994) with Paul Scofield and Tom Wilkenson. While not as delightful and eyeopening as the recently reviewed LITTLE DORRIT, this intriguing and in depth version was satisfying as drama and for it's cast of wacky, memorable characters. Every actor seemed to really capture something funny or unique about their character's personality. Grade------B+
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