Yogi's Movie Consumption Blog

A young man is confronted with his mothers worsening debts. Things spiral out of control when she suddenly disappears. Most notable about the film for me was the insight into the Korean society - the filmmakers seem to suggest that basically everyone in Korea seems to live way over their means. The pressure on the son to get a "good life" in terms of owning an apartment of good size determines the happiness of his fiancee. The characters talk plainly about the subject of money to each other with a frankness that would not be seen in other societies. I wonder if this was a fiction or conversations can be that open in Korea. Something I've noticed recently in some Asian films with a similar style is a sort of liberation of the genre, I cannot really describe it any better. At any point during this film I expected it to turn funny, bloody, dramatic or simply weird. And to a very slight degree it really turns this or that direction. Maybe it was just me, but t...

A couple tries to get rid of a whole car filled with money in the Iranian highland. An amazing film and with a lot of humor. The first scene was hilarious in that it immediately immersed the audience in the tension and in the absurd humor of the whole film. After a while, though, the fun turns rather somber and sinister. The story is divided very noticeable into scenes - but even though the framework is highly visible the film works nevertheless. Especially the first scene was quite interestingly written. Haghighi has worked quite a bit on the balance in between the three actors - every 20 seconds or so somebody else has "control" of the situation. Establishing something like a "slapstick" drama - and it also turns quite physical at the end.

A tour guide, living in Yemen is slowly warming to the revolution in his country. McAllister's answer in the QA session was quite revealing: He builds his documentaries about specific characters he is looking for. There is a frankness in Keis' behavior that lets the filmmaker look at a pretty intimate level at the sarcastic tour guide, whose business is lost to the maelstrom of revolution, repression and kidnappings. I was quite impressed by the film, but after leaving the cinema I found myself thinking about too many unanswered questions. I had the feeling that the filmmaker had a really hard time to get Keis' transformation across in the editing room - he just plays it too cool - and had to resort to pretty shocking pictures and some rather cutcutcut editing. The film seems to end a bit abrupt after Keis inner change.  I was also wondering if the Khat that these people are endlessly chewing is some kind of 1984-ish downer to keep everybody happy, non-violent and ...

A single overworked mother of three kids close to poverty and a slightly demented father does the unthinkable This very simple told film was very delightful and it did what very few European films do that I have seen lately: there is still hope in humanity. The human condition is not only a sad but also a beautiful, powerful one. Seemingly effortlessly this story comes toward a much anticipated but nevertheless surprising ending. The actors were wonderful and totally believable. I was extremely happy that I saw this film first at the Berlinale. Everybody that I told the story in a few words were quite amazed: this must have been a dream to pitch.

 A taxi driver is faced with surgery and is forced to rethink his life. The film is extremely slow, but although I had difficulty of following in the beginning (due to sheer tiredness) the film got me by and by. In a society that has an incredible number of restrictions and some rather bizarre types of freedom when viewed with a Westerner's eyes I could really get a small glimpse into the torment of the main character. There were some nice ideas in how the character refuses to take any kind of responsibility for his behavior, his actions and how they might affect others.  There is also no big change in the way the lead perceives the world, more of a realization of his situation. I didn't feel the political allegory that reviewers have pointed out, but then I was not totally immersed in the topic. 

A young woman tries to experience love by going through an endless string of relationships while trying to keep her father's affections. The film has a chapter structure - something I really like, especially memorable in "Brownian Movement" last year. I did lose the over-arching character of the chapters here and wasn't quite sure what they are standing for. There were some really interesting scenes in the film, my favorites are the "shaving scene", the final scene and some inbetween. The energy in the audience during this particular screening was rather impatient with the film, and there were audible sighs when the film stretched on too long and another chapter title came up. Others told me about very positive reactions of the audience. Although I enjoyed Hannah Hoekstra's performance very much, I couldn't connect to her "thinking" moments - and there are many. Those started to feel more like a music video at points. Tendency in new...

The story of the three Brazilian brothers fighting to set up an Indian reservation in the Amazon jungle. This is definitively more of a biopic, or even a fictionalized documentary of the three brothers' lives. In grandiose imagery it recounts their struggle for the different indigenous tribes to get them a completely sealed off reservation in the middle of Brazil. This in itself is quite an extraordinary feat, and their story deserves to be told. The many things those brothers achieved was maybe a bit too much for a dramatization. In consequence some parts of the film have a very documentary feel towards them. I still couldn't quite connect to the personal motivation of the three main characters, there was some kind of invisible force driving them to their actions and I caught myself one or the other time looking for the reason behind that in the story. I was quite fascinated by Joao Miguel's performance within the confines of the script, seems like somebody to watch ...

Two child soldiers feel attracted to each other. The story was told straightforward with no specific surprises in the structure. The film lives off the beauty of the imagery and the acting of this wonderful little story. A lot of emotional engagement for me came through the extreme contrast of the very tender moments with the extremely brutal and violent scenes of the film (which I assume are pretty close to the real world). There are also some very haunting mystical moments, beautifully captured and displayed. The main actress was definitively great to watch and came across so naturally that I was quite astounded to learn the she wasn't able to read during the time of shooting. She has learned to since, though.