IMHO

Le Cinema

I love movies. Just haven't had much time to see too many films though - and there are soooo many good motion pictures out there for the watching. I'm not talking about Hollywood movies either - which can, for the most part, be so limiting while there are so many excellent non-Hollywood/non-commercial films to see and (the next best thing after seeing a film) to talk about. My gauge of a good film is its transition from the screen to post-screening conversation (and I'm not talking about the trashing a bad movie tends to get after it's finally over, although that promotes conversation as well, to some extent). To be able to spend some amount of time analyzing and reflecting and throwing around your opinion on a particular movie means that it was actually worth your while - there are some films, like Breakfast at Tiffany's, Irreversible, Kurosawa's Dreams and Rashomon, The Passion of the Christ, Live Show, to name a few, that I'm still talking about. A good conversation about cinema ranks right up there with a good literary conversation...and I'm up for that kind of talk most of the time.

But anyway, today I saw two lovely French films on DVD - Les Choristes (The Chorus) by Christophe Barratier, starring Gerard Jugnot and Un long dimanche de fiançailles (A Very Long Engagement) by Jean-Pierre Jeunet, starring Audrey Tautou, who were likewise the director and star of my all-time favorite films, Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain (Amélie). Jodie Foster is in the movie as well!

French films are always great treats, since French filmmakers take their cinema very seriously (just like the French take their art, their food, their clothes, etc. seriously! Seems like the French take everything to the level of an art form). Insert horrific Paris movie anecdote here - one night, I had a Sunday late movie date with my flatmates David the Australian and Hunter the American to see *hold on to your seats* Scooby-Doo. In a French film theater. On the Champs-Elysées. It was almost as bad as being in France - the culinary capital of the Universe - and eating at McDonald's, or, good grief, that hideous place called Flunch. Good thing the two idiots got delayed at a very expensive duck dinner despedida I had the sense to pass up (hah, I had better things to do: had a salsa date at the Cafe Latina with Van and Nelson and other Pinoy friends) and it was too late to see any movies - we all ended up salsa'ing instead. Otherwise my Film Appreciation professor would probably deny me three times and have me thrown to the lions. Anyway, Scooby-Doo and Gallic biases aside, I don't think I've seen a French film I didn't appreciate, except perhaps François Ozon's Regarde La Mer (See the Sea), which was undoubtedly art, but was a little too disturbing (even more than Gaspar Noé's brutal but madly inspired Irreversible) for my personal tastes.

Les Choristes (2004)
Finally, a wholesome foreign film - none of that sex, nudity, or (not so much anyway) profanity that seems to be par for the course when it comes to independent/non-commercial/non-Hollywood motion pictures, especially those from Europe. Granted, the pedagogical plot is all-too familiar - the kindhearted, well-meaning teacher as redeemer of troubled students (Dead Poet's Society, Stand and Deliver, Mr. Holland's Opus, Mona Lisa Smile...need I go on?), but this French version is sweet. On a more personal note, the film heralds something I believe should be central in relating to children: love is always the answer. There is no such thing as a hopeless child, and those who turn out to be hopeless are the ones we've given up on. Take away their only source of love, and we take away their future...as the film clearly demonstrates.

Un long dimanche de fiançailles (2004)
Loved this film, particularly the cinematography and the characteristic Amélie-like whimsy despite the seriousness of the plot. And the plot itself was inspiring - the tag line alone says it all: Never let go. Uh, it means not letting go, in a good way. If you get my drift. Just see the film!

posted by Honey Oliveros @ 8:19 PM