January 19, 2021
Director: Pietro Marcello
Writers: Maurizio Braucci, Pietro Marcello, based on the novel by Jack London
Martin Eden (Luca Marinelli) was a poor uneducated sailor who wanted to be a writer. Despite repeated rejections from magazines and publishers, Martin persisted to write and submit his stories and essays. He met a rich girl Elena (Jessica Cressy) who was fascinated by Martin yet aware of his lower social station. While Martin was very much in love with her, she ultimately decided to break up with him.
Martin met an old man Russ Brisenden (Carlo Cecchi), a socialist who influenced Martin to become more passionate about politics and individualism, which eventually led to his success in his writing career. However, despite his resultant fame, Martin still had so much anger and bitterness for life.
I was surprised to learn after watching this film that this Italian film was actually based on a 1909 novel by American novelist Jack London, whom I knew better for his Gold Rush adventure stories like "White Fang" and "Call of the Wild." Writer Maurizio Braucci and co-writer/ director Pietro Marcello brought this story of crossing the class divide from the US over to Italy with uneven results.
The film certainly looked very good, with the beautiful Italian vistas, as well as its attractive lead actors, however the pace was a little too slow. The English subtitles may have lost some of the passion and sense of the Italian speeches Marinelli was delivering. The Italian language sounded so good to the ear, so poetic despite being so angry, I wished I was conversant in Italian to appreciate this more. 7/10
Director: Thomas Vinterberg
Writers: Thomas Vinterberg, Tobias Lindholm
Martin (Mads Mikkelsen), Tommy (Thomas Bo Larsen), Peter (Lars Ranthe) and Nikolaj (Magnus Millang) are close friends since their youths. They were now employed as teachers at Copenhagen school, in history, soccer, music and psychology, respectively. All of them were going through a midlife crisis, with things going rough in both their home life and careers.
When Nikolaj turned 40, they talked about trying out the theory of psychiatrist Skårderud about the benefits of a blood alcohol content of 0.05. The minimal alcohol intake worked wonders at first as they started getting popular with their students, as well as their wives. Later on, their strict rules would be broken, and things would go out of hand.
I have to disclose that I am not fond of alcohol nor of watching people go drunk. I was about to give this film up when they were being drunk in school and even pointed out to kids that it was alright to drink. Something very bad did happen at one point, however, they were still drinking even after this event. So if there was a moral lesson in all this, it felt half-baked to me.
Mads Mikkelsen though was really the main reason to watch this film. He thoroughly captured the essence of a man who desperately wanted to recover the passion he'd lost, spiraled out of control and had to rebuild. His triumphant dance at the finale exhilaratingly signified that his zest for life is truly back. Now that was a great ending. 7/10.
Directors: Juliano Dornelles, Kleber Mendonça Filho
Writers: Kleber Mendonça Filho, Juliano Dornelles
Bacurau was a small remote village in the mountainous area in Brazil that suddenly disappeared from the map for no apparent reason. It was also being harassed with water issues as the river had been dammed up, so they had to resort to water rationing. Their current mayor Tony Junior (Thardelly Lima) who was seeking reelection was no help, and was probably even involved in the problem.
When female elder of the village Carmelita passed away, her estranged granddaughter Teresa (Barbara Colen) returned home for the funeral, something the old village doctor Domingas (Sonia Braga) was not too pleased about. However, when a mysterious group of outsiders materialized to terrorize the town with violence, the residents of Bacurau had to stand firm together in order to protect their village and fight for their survival.
This film was like two different films in one. The first half was like a familiar socio-political drama. With the mayor acting against his constituency yet still brazenly campaigning for their votes, this part was something we have seen variations of before. However, the second half came from totally out of left field to shock us. With a group of foreigners led by Michael (Ugo Kier) who came for a hunting expedition, this was unexpected craziness.
All the characters here were bizarre of behavior, very typical of indie films. Most of the actors were unknown, but there were a couple of familiar faces in there. The first scene of veteran actress Sonia Braga (whom I would always remember in "The Kiss of the Spider Woman") was a wildly emotional public rant at a funeral. German actor Udo Kier was right up his alley playing another memorable over-the-top antagonistic character. 6/10.
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