These Movies Matter

DVDS Worth Watching, Jan 27, 2007

How to Get the Films We Recommend:

Sources for the movie titles we recommend can be found by clicking the "read full review" link at the end of each critique below.

• Featured Title(s)
• Recommended Titles
• Worth a Mention
• Overlooked Comedy
• Better Mainstream
• Our Boxed Set Pick(s)

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Featured Title(s)

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JESUS CAMP, 2006, 87 min., Color

Genre: Documentary
Release Data: January, 2007
Director(s): Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady (The Boys of Baraka)

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What It's About: The riveting story of Pastor Becky Fischer and the evangelical Christian summer camp she runs in Devil's Lake, North Dakota. The camp, called Kids on Fire, teaches children the rudiments of becoming soldiers in "God's army." Fischer believes that these youngsters can be taught to become strong and courageous warriors in the crusade against the liberal forces that have brought America down and to "reclaim America for Christ."

What to Look For: This film takes us into the inner workings of the Christian conservative movement, which appears to differ little from the much-publicized Al-Quaeda madressa schools which indoctrinate young Islamists with the principles of fundamentalism and prepare them for Holy War. As Ms. Fischer sees it, the growing evangelical movement in the United States will one day end the constitutional ban separating church and state, and these children will be marching at the forefront of a culture war that is already supported by some 30 million Americans. Are we about to see a right-wing version of Mao Zedong's puritanical youth army, the Red Guards? As the New York Times reviewer of this film puts it: "Nowadays the possibility of a right-wing Christian American version of what happened in China no longer seems entirely far-fetched." This film is as important for you to see in relation to the fight for America’s soul as Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth is for global warming

Why It Matters: This is a world where Harry Potter is evil and the traditional Protestant churches are seen as "dead churches…where Jesus doesn’t visit" These children weep and speak in tongues as they are seized by the Holy Spirit. Indoctrinated when they are most impressionable (under 13 and preferably between 7 and 9), these children are being groomed to be God's Army, which will change the world. At home the majority are home-schooled by evangelical parents who teach them creationism and dismiss science, assuring them, for example, that global warming is not true. At Kids on Fire, we see them in camouflage and face paint, equipped with heavy wooden swords, practicing war dances and making straight-armed salutes reminiscent of Hitler Youth. Fischer says she wants them to know God's love, but the images she gives the kids bespeak fear.

Appreciate the way the filmmakers never comment directly on what is happening but leave you to decide on how much manipulation is taking place at the hands of parents, church and community based on what they document on-screen.
And, watch for the commentary from Air America Radio talk show host Mike Papantonio, a liberal Methodist who provides a counterpoint in his interview with Pastor Fischer.

Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

MOOLAADE, 2004, 123 min., Subtitles, Color

Genre: Drama
Release Data: January 2007, (Canada Only)
Director(s): Ousmane Sembene

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What It's About: The women of Djerisso, a small African village, rebel against the traditional practice of female genital mutilation (referred to in the subtitles as "excision"). The red-robed priestesses have come to town and it’s time for all the girls who are deemed old enough to go through the "purification" ritual that includes genital mutilation. Four of them flee from the ceremony and seek "moolaadé" (protection) from Colle, the second wife of a minor village chief. They feel sure she will protect them because two of her daughters died from the ritual and she refused to allow her youngest to undergo the procedure. Colle takes the girls in, sets the boundaries and invokes the ancient spell of moolaadé that decrees harm to anyone who dares to violate the protected area. While her decision regarding her own daughter has been tolerated as a personal foible, Colle's sheltering of other women's children is seen as a threat to the village social order. The men and the priestesses put various pressures on Colle and eventually decide the women need to be taught a lesson…leading to a finale that will bring tears and wonder in equal measure.

What to Look For: Moolaadé is both a critique of traditional forms of authority and a celebration of the warmth and dynamism of African village life. The 81-year-old Senegalese director Osmane Sembene is considered the "father of African cinema", and has explored the hardships facing African women and their capacity for resilience and heroism in many of his films. He has organized unions, written novels and here takes on the particularly controversial subject of genital mutilation. The film shows how one stubborn woman's resistance can alter the shape of the world.

Why It Matters: The colourful, bustling life of a Senegalese village, and the details of work, rest, domesticity and religious ritual that make up the calendar of days. How tradition rubs up against modern values in the form of the Chief’s favourite son who returns from his education in France in the middle of the story. The film's comic relief provided by Mercénaire ("Mercenary") a travelling salesman and bearer of news and gossip.

Notes: This title was widely released in 2005, then disappeared. It has recently become available again only in Canada so, if you want to see it, act quickly before it is withdrawn again.

Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

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Recommended Titles

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PRINCESS RACOON (Operetta Tanuki Goten), 2005, 111 min., Subtitles, Color

Genre: Drama
Release Data: January, 2007
Director(s): Suzuki Seijun (Yumeiji)

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What It's About: An original story, written by the director, but with a very traditional flavour, it tells the tale of Prince Amechiyo (Japan's hottest heartthrob, Odagiri Joe) whose father has abandoned him on a sacred mountain due to a prophecy foretelling that the son would be more beautiful than the father. He is rescued by an enigmatic Mandarin-speaking beauty (Chinese diva Zhang Ziyi Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Hero, Memoirs of a Geisha), a tanuki - a raccoon-like creature known for its shape-shifting - a princess in human guise, who takes him home to Tanuki (Raccoon) Palace. They fall in love only to face one obstacle after another . . .

What to Look For: If we relax and allow this film to unspool before our eyes, we might find enjoyment.

"To enjoy Princess Raccoon, viewers locked into logical, orderly plots must relax and open themselves to the flamboyant artifice, surreal logic, and reliably earthy humor, making do with the shreds of myth that support Suzuki's virtuoso imagery. His storytelling rewards not the heart but that pleasure center of the brain that delights in composition and wild flights of fancy..."
. . . Bright Lights Film Journal

Why It Matters: Japanese director Suzuki Seijun, now eighty-two, is considered a treasure of the cinema in his own country but is really only well-known on the festival circuit in the West. Best-known for his stylist yakusa films, he always wanted to make an "operetta" and has finally done so - but it turns out that it has little to do with the Western operetta tradition. Instead, he's come up with an idiosyncratic musical, which embraces everything from hip-hop to schmaltzy torch songs, alongside spectacular visuals - Kabuki introduced to Gilbert & Sullivan by the Buddha. It owes more to films from the magical realms of "pure spectacle" like Emeric Pressburger's The Tales of Hoffmann than anything else you might have seen. Variety prophesied it would be "dead in the water beyond fest situations…", but we have to say that we found it an enchanting rest from the American chorus girl…and a lot more fun. Lavish and delightfully over-the-top, we think you'll enjoy it too.

This DVD was previously only available as a specialty item from YesAsia, but it is now on general release in both the US and Canada

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THIS FILM IS NOT YET RATED, 2006, 97 min., Color

Genre: Documentary
Release Data: January, 2007
Director(s): Kirby Dick (Twist of Faith, Derrida)

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What It's About: The mystery of the U.S. movie industry's rating system that, for the most part, decides what you can or cannot see at your local cinema. Films are rated for violence, sexuality, potential for doing harm to children, etc. However, although we can all recognize nudity or drug use when we see it, it gets a bit confusing when tags such as "intense adventure violence" and "thematic elements" are appended. Do such judgements mean the film is harmful to children? When the box says "some language," just how much language does it mean? And which language? Would a movie with no language be less dangerous?

This film explores the murky workings of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the industry group founded in 1968 by the major Hollywood studios to take the place of the once-feared Production Code. Its ostensible mandate was to head off the threat of government censorship, and under the leadership of Jack Valenti, a former Lyndon B. Johnson White House staff member, it has ruled the ratings with an iron fist ever since.

What to Look For: The evidence gathered paints the MPAA as prusdish and repressive. In an interview, Bingham Ray, former president of United Artists, goes further, describing it as "fascist." When the director submits a cut of this film, it immediately receives an NC-17 – a rating that some of the biggest theatre chains and many retail stores and video outlets avoid as a matter of policy. This leads to some hilarious, Kafkaesque telephone conversations with the board. Eventually, the film is rescued by IFC Films, which is not owned by a major studio and therefore not required to submit its releases to the association, to be distributed without a rating.

Beyond the personal story, the director strikes a blow for every independent filmmaker who has ever been forced to comply with the board's restrictive mandates. Filmmakers want their movies to be seen, but their funding often requires them to deliver a film with a certain rating – which compels them to cut their films to the MPAA's standards, a process that often involves guessing just what those standards are. For anyone who has ever wondered why the majority of mainstream films are become increasingly bland exercises in a formulaic synergy of violence and romance this documentary should answer a lot of questions. It should also inspire you to question some of the "language" on the box covers of the DVDs you rent/buy and to keep watching independent productions, to providing support for alternatives to the Hollywood studio mainstream.

Why It Matters: The Whodunit style that explores the secrecy of the MPAA regarding who exactly makes up its members; how it accounts for some seemingly curious inconsistencies in its procedures; whether the clergymen, theatre chain and film sales company representatives who sit in on appeals board meetings actually have a vote; and, the truth behind the perception that it favours the works of the Hollywood studios over independents? Although very little information seems to be forthcoming on these and most other questions related to the workings of the MPAA, the director gives it his best shot, which turns out to be surprisingly entertaining as well as packed with information. Beyond the expected interviews with filmmakers, critics, attorneys, authors and educators, the clips from movies that have run into trouble with the board, and occasional sound bites Mr. Valenti, he hires a private detective agency to spy on the board. To find out who determines the ratings and what criteria they use, the sleuths park themselves outside the MPAA's nondescript Los Angeles offices and scribble down license plate numbers, photograph employees on their lunch breaks and even rummages through the trash.

Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

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Worth a Mention

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BUDDHA WILD: MONK IN THE HUT, 2006, 60 min., Subtitles, Color

Genre: Documentary
Release Data: December 2006 (US Only)
Director(s): Anna Wilding

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This unpretentious small feel good documentary is a sort of scrap-book of New Zealand-born actress Anna Wilding’s recent travels in Sri Lanka and Thailand. It’s not quite a home movie, and not exactly a professional production either, but rests on the director’s down-to-earth approach and genuine curiosity about the tenets of Buddhism and the day-to-day lives of a group of Thai monks in a remote village. Against a new age score and some lovely natural scenery, the ever-smiling monks patiently answer her questions as they go about their daily routines. A local beauty pagent provides an opportunity to explore equality between men and women as Wilding tries to pick her way through the distinctions between cultural tradition and Buddhism. This proves difficult to distinguish in the smaller villages where a lack of formal community space has resulted in both types of activity taking place in one location. One of the monks explains that this is quite reasonable because although physical differences (land, weather, political history and so on) are reflected in culture, the mind of human beings is always the same. As a monk they have no children, no wife, but they look after everyone. It seems that monks tend to come from educated backgrounds and many have university degrees, and are learning English. One of the more interesting aspects of the film is the director’s wide-eyed innocence at the numerous rules of the vinaya which detail the appropriate conduct for monks, and her exploration of how these ancient traditions rub up against the modern world. Most of them use a computer, operate cameras and say they would drive in a culture where this would seem appropriate; however, they never seem able to explain why they don’t eat after noon to her satisfaction. A fine little film for family viewing and an initial introduction to Theravadan Buddhism.

Notes: There is a full-length 90 min. feature that has been released theatrically.

So far, we have not found this title for rent online but it may be available through your local specialty store. It is available for purchase at www.amazon.com

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COWBOY DEL AMOR, 2005, 86 min., Subtitles, Color

Genre: Documentary
Release Data: January, 2007
Director(s): Michèle Ohayon

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The story of self-proclaimed "Cowboy Cupid" Ivan Thompson who wears lean jeans, a 10-gallon hat and dark glasses, his uniform for conducting his "wummin bizness". Thompson finds Mexican brides for disillusioned Americans searching for the perfect wife. Mostly these men are older, lonely and looking for a way to control the environment of their declining years. And, most importantly, they are willing to pay $3,000 to find the woman of their dreams. Once they've paid, they are taken to meet a selection of attractive candidates with Thompson's expertise as adviser and cultural intermediary to help sort out the details and make sure both sides say all the right things. The three thousand dollar misunderstanding is that the Mexican women are hoping for an American husband who will offer them not only security but greater equality and freedom than his Mexican counterpart. The American man, on the other hand, is seeking a wife who is low-maintenance and less hard to please. While one can sympathize with the participant's loneliness and pain, it's hard to find a similar appreciation for the inherent misogyny in Thompson's operation – especially after we learn that his own first marriage to a Mexican woman has ended in divorce, and his second is also on the rocks. But as the Cowboy Cupid says "That's the thing about wives and horses; they don’t come with a lifetime warranty." The female director gets a lot out of the interviews she has with the women once the initial "showing" is over and they are on their own. Most of them are bright and eager to start new lives with more opportunities. It's a skilful little movie that will leave you saddened beneath its stylish veneer and surface humour. Thompson is a great subject and reality unfolds in a way that most documentarians can only hope for.

Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

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Overlooked Comedy

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MRS. PALFREY AT THE CLAREMONT, 2005, 108 min., Color

Genre: Drama
Release Data: December 2006
Director(s): Dan Ireland

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A gentle comedy with a sharp and, at times, quite witty script, about septuagenarian Sarah Palfrey played by the legendary Joan Plowright at age 77. Mrs. Palfrey's husband, Arthur, has recently died and living with her daughter in Scotland doesn’t have much appeal, so she goes to London with plans to attend the theatre, read poetry, and become a significant member of social circles – in short, to pass her final solitary years in dignity. She ends up at the Claremont, a somewhat run-down London retirement hotel that feels like the archetypical transition into death. It harbours a cast of elderly characters who have created their own culture and whose mixture of boredom, jealousy and curiosity results in a host of whimsical eccentricities of the type only found in British comedies. Mrs. Palfrey has hoped to spend some time with her grandson Desmond, who works in the City, but he is obsessed with his own business and never returns her calls. However, having mentioned him, the Claremont residents expect him to make an appearance. Mrs. P. is feeling a keen embarrassment about the situation when one day, while returning from the local library, she has a fall and is rescued by a nice young man named Ludovic (Rupert Friend). He invites her into the borrowed basement flat when he lives, serves her tea, and attends to her bruises. Ludo, whose qualities, as he puts it are "more honeymoon than mortgage", explains he is a writer and poet who supports himself as a street musician. The relationship blossoms and it becomes apparent that both suffer the same problem: deliberately or not, they have become separated from modern society and are now alone, seemingly forgotten. A strange co-dependency develops between them and when Mrs. P. asks Ludo to pretend to be Desmond for an evening, he agrees – in exchange for the opportunity to pass Mrs. Palfrey off as his British-speaking American grandmother. Somehow, the relationship allows the world around them to flourish. The residents of the Claremont become more jovial, Mrs. Palfrey finds beauty and life in retirement, and Ludo writes a successful book and falls in love. This is a truly delightful film, not least because it allows its heroine to be her own, elderly self – a pleasure which is perhaps the result of the screenplay having been written by Ruth Sacks, a woman who is herself in her eighties.

Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

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Better Mainstream

Mentioned but not reviewed – these popular titles don’t really need us to publicize them, but we want you to know they’re now available on DVD.

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LAND OF THE BLIND, 2006, 110 min., Color

Genre: Drama
Release Data: January, 2007
Director(s): Robert Edwards

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Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

MODIGLIANI, 2004, 126 min., Color

Genre: Drama
Release Data: September 2005 (US); January, 2007 (Canada)
Director(s): Mick Davis

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Notes: Finally available on DVD in Canada, after being available in the US since September 2005

Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

SHERRYBABY, 2006, 96 min., Color

Genre: Drama
Release Data: January, 2007
Director(s): Laurie Collyer

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Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources

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Our Boxed Set Pick(s)

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ROBERT MITCHUM: THE SIGNATURE COLLECTION, 2007, Color

Genre: Drama
Release Data: January, 2007

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Notes: 6 discs. Titles include:Angel Face, Macao, The Sundowners, Home from the Hill, The Good Guys and the Bad Guys and The Yakuza

Available on DVD through our listed on-line sources