Foreign Films
(12/22/00)
Over
the years, foreign (in this sense meaning made in a country other than America)
films have obtained an almost negative reputation among the less imaginative
groups of American moviegoers. They've
been accused of being boring, or pretentious, or laden with quick-moving and
impossible-to-read subtitles. Not only
is this stereotype incredibly narrow-minded and needlessly Amerocentric, it
also leads us to miss a lot of really great movies just because we dismiss them
out of hand. So, the purpose of this
column is to give you an overview of three "foreign films" you may
have missed, and encourage you to expand your filmic horizons just the tiniest
bit.
First
off we have "Lola rennt" ("Run Lola Run"). Coming to us from Germany, this brief (only
about 75 minutes!) film portrays a day in the life of young, orange-haired Lola
(Franka Potente). When her boyfriend Manni
gets on the wrong side of some crime lords by losing a ridiculously huge sum of
money, he does the only thing he can think of by calling Lola and asking for
her help. The catch is, Manni only has
20 minutes to get the money back. With
no real plan in mind, Lola takes off running--and so does this film, to
excellent effect.
Moving
almost in realtime, "Run Lola Run" never lets up once in terms of
pacing or excitement, and breaks out tons of cool little moments and nifty
conceits along the way. The filmmakers
cover the same 20 minutes three different times, making slight changes with
each "do-over"--a fascinating idea which allows the movie to explore
how the tiniest change in Lola's route can make all the difference to the
outcome of her mission. That's not to
say they focus only on Lola; some of the more interesting bits of the movie
happen when it takes a slight detour to peek into the lives of the people Lola
passes along the way. One word of
warning, though: Don't go to this movie expecting a serious, realistic, tense
feel. You need to be willing to accept
Lola's nearly superhuman powers to shatter glass with her screams and even slow
down and stop time! Add excellent
acting by all involved, a techno soundtrack that gets your heart rate up, and
mounds upon mounds of gorgeous images and cool camera tricks, and you have a
fun, evocative movie that shouldn't disappoint anyone who goes to see it. If you've never seen a foreign film before,
this would be an excellent way to get started.
The Verdict: Who said "subtitled" had to equal
"boring?" 4 out of 5.
Looking
for something that's just the opposite of "Run Lola Run"--gritty,
serious, and even ugly at times? Take a
theatrical journey to Scotland and grab a copy of "Trainspotting." Based on the book of the same name, this rather
picaresque movie follows the lives of a number of heroin addicts in Edinburgh
as they get high, get in trouble, and try to get clean. "Trainspotting" is a small
masterpiece of mood and tone--from the beautifully written opening monologue to
the equally dazzling ending sequence, and through every dark and dirty frame in
between, the filmmakers do an astonishing job of drawing the viewer into the seedier
side of life and the darkest corners of a junkie's world. Often darkly humorous and always shocking,
"Trainspotting" grabbed my attention right away and refused to let
go, no matter how much I sometimes wanted to look away. It's also notable for introducing Ewan
McGregor to the world, and he's excellent as Renton, the narrator who spends
most of the movie trying to quit...I won't ruin things for you by saying
whether or not he's successful.
However,
I also must say that "Trainspotting" is not easy to
watch. It's packed with disturbing and
often disgusting imagery, including a dead and decomposing baby and enough
up-close-and-personal "shooting up" shots to make your veins ache. I'm not the kind of person who's easily
bothered by movies, but this one stayed with me for days, to the point where I
don't think I'd ever want to subject myself to it again. "Trainspotting" is an absolutely
unflinching portrayal of an addict's life, and as such it shows you every gory
detail of both the highs and lows.
Sure, it says, heroin will make you feel invincible...but perhaps the
things that wait to be dealt with after you come down are what make it such a
terrible thing. The Verdict: Forget the
"Just Say No" campaign...watch this movie and see if you ever again
feel the slightest bit tempted to do drugs.
3 out of 5.
Needing
a quick pick-me-up after "Trainspotting," I came to "Il
Postino" ("The Postman")...no, not the misbegotten Kevin
Costner film, but a small, quiet little Italian film which was once nominated
for Best Picture--an honor it richly deserved.
"Il Postino" tells the tale of a poor young man in a small
Italian fishing village who takes a job as a letter carrier. But the only house he delivers to is the
cottage of Nobel-Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda, who had been exiled from his
native Chile. The two become friends,
and Neruda teaches his young protégé about poetry, Communism, and how to
romance a beautiful girl from the village.
This opens the door to plenty of touching moments, some gentle humor, an
intelligent message, and an absolutely wonderful film. Perfectly written and acted, "Il
Postino" is truly heartwarming, a cut above the trite and sappy romantic
comedy it could have easily become.
In
particular, the things "Il Postino" has to say about politics and the
way an awareness of them can both help and harm poetry are smart and incisive
and, to my knowledge, have not been addressed anywhere else. All the protagonist wants to do is be with
his love, Beatrice, and maybe write poetry to be like Neruda. When he becomes aware of the world's
political situation and the injustices around him, they inspire him to write
and change things as well. But in the
end, his political awareness is what keeps his voice from being heard (you'll
understand this after you see the movie, which you should do!) How much should politics and poetry
mix? It's a fascinating question which
engaged me for days, especially after the film's indelible final images really
drove the point home. In short, "Il
Postino" is an easy-to-overlook yet magical movie The Verdict: Simply beautiful--and if this
doesn't make you want to read more of Neruda's poetry, I'm sorry, but you have
no soul. 4.5 out of 5.
Copyright (c) 2000 by Beth Kinderman. This is my original work, so please respect it.