International Features

IO CAPITANO: Italy

While international films can be difficult to watch, this one was absolutely brutal.  Seydou and his cousin Moussa leave Senegal dreaming of going to Europe to find jobs and send money home.  They are 15 years old and they know that it can be risky, but they have saved their money and set out not telling anyone from their family. The hardships they endure include being kidnapped, beaten, starving, and near death more times than I can count, and the film shows both the horrors and the occasional kindnesses they receive along the way. What shows through more than anything is not just their grit, but especially Seydou's humanity, his sense of morality and character, and that nothing will stop him from achieving his ultimate goal. This is an incredible cinematic feat, but it is NOT for the weak of heart.  I cried many times.

PERFECT DAYS: Japan

I really really wanted to love this movie.  It is from Wim Wenders who is responsible for movie masterpieces like Paris, Texas. And, the lead character Hirayama who is a diligent toilet cleaner by trade (and whoa, the public toilets featured are nicer than some people's homes for the designs and architecture, plus the Japanese people must be much more restrained than public toilets you find in the United States, so often soiled by the grossest of indiscretions). He appreciates all of the small things in life, and his daily routine, from which he never deviates, is simple.  He is an avid reader and a music lover. But this slice of life movie offers very little by way of plot (and I think that might be the point) - the first nearly 45 minutes is two full day rotations of his routine from dawn to dusk. I rarely enjoy slice of life films, and though this was certainly one of the better ones, if you like an engaging plot, this might not be for you.

SOCIETY OF THE SNOW: Spain

Society of the Snow is actually nominated for two Oscars, including for Makeup and Hairstyling.

On the other hand, Society of the Snow is Spain's version of the plane crash in the Andes. In the United States, the film was called Alive, and this is a far superior telling of the experience. After the crash, those left alive went through horror after horror, and the plane crash itself is responsible for only some of the deaths on the mountain. The crew had to balance conserving their small number of resources with building enough muscle and strength to try to hike their way out of there. The performances and indeed, the makeup and hairstyling, are phenomenal.

THE TEACHERS' LOUNGE: Germany

Carla, a teacher in a public school loves her profession, and loves her students. Some thefts in the teachers' lounge leave one of her students accused of the crime. She decides to set up a sting operation, leaving her wallet exposed and her computer open and recording. When a colleague's uniquely patterned shirt is identified in the video, all hell breaks loose at the school. Carla is attacked for gathering evidence illegally, and the colleague's son (one of Carla's students) begins to act out as he tries to discover why his mother has been placed on administrative leave.  It's an emotional journey as Carla begins to doubt her own accusation and the other teachers get whipped into a frenzy.  It's a really good movie that is absolutely worth your time.

THE ZONE OF INTEREST: United Kingdom

As a reminder, The Zone of Interest is actually nominated for 5 Oscars including Best Picture, and you can find the review of this film earlier in the blog list.

The Zone of Interest - 5 nominations

 

• 
  • Best International Feature Film

  • United Kingdom
• 
  • Best Sound

  • Tarn Willers 
  • Johnnie Burn
• 
  • Best Motion Picture of the Year

  • James Wilson
• 
  • Best Achievement in Directing

  • Jonathan Glazer
• 
  • Best Adapted Screenplay

  • Jonathan Glazer

Have you ever watched a Holocaust film without crying? Yeah, me neither. Until I saw The Zone of Interest. This is the most ordinary film - it's about a family, the dad has a prestigious job, they go on vacations, they tend their garden, they give birthday presents. Every now and then, someone stops by to deliver a bag of goodies from which everyone in the household including the domestic workers gets to pick an item - you know, a fur coat, some nice shoes, some lovely pieces of clothing.  Sometimes there's a black cloud or fire in the backdrop, but what a beautiful home for this little family to enjoy. 

But this family lives next door to Auschwitz, and the father is Rudolf Hoss, the architect of the horrific concentration camp apparatus, where his wife has built a magnificent life and celebrates their home without irony. She loves being called "the Queen of Auschwitz," and she worries more about her flowers than the terror being perpetrated at her feet by her husband.

This film is haunting for its normalcy. When Hoss talks about "promotions at work," he is talking about the Third Reich and not some widget company. There are some nauseating moments when he admits that at a party he likes to go to the balcony and calculate how he would gas everyone in the room to their deaths - because it's just another part of his job, and he is an overachiever. Ordinary. Normal. In this film, it's the ordinary that screams at you, it's the normalcy that violates your soul.  It reminds us moment after moment that monsters are just heroes in their own stories, just folks working a day for money. 

Glazer's brilliant direction and screenplay put a mirror in our faces.  And what do we make ordinary now? What comments do we laugh off? What steps toward fascism do we dismiss? What have WE normalized? The only way we learn from the past is to yell and scream and rant that things that are horrific are NOT normal. And may the memories of the souls who perished at Hoss' hands, along with so many others, forever and always be a blessing.