Shall We Dansu?: Review

When most of us think of Shall We Dansu? many of us may think of the 2004 film starring Richard Gere. However that Hollywood film is based off a Japanese film, Shall We Dansu? which was filmed in 1996. I did not read too far into this film, but it recieved 7.8 out of 10 stars on the internet movie database website. In summary, this is basically a film about two people who live completely different lives that find one another at a ball room dance class. This film focuses on their journey through dancing and through both of their lives. I am looking forward in seeing the original Shall We Dance? (More to come in my reflection!)

Please Vote For Me: Reflection

Please Vote for Me was a great film. As many of us know, China is a communist country so the idea of a democracy is foreign to some. Teachers at an elementary school in China had the idea to introduce democracy by having that year's class monitor be voted for. What I found most interesting, was the fact that regardless of what age category or who where democracy is; people tend to react the same way. As you can see in this movie, there are third graders bribing their classmates, there are arguments and almost anything you can imagine that happens within in a democracy occurs throughout the film with these children.

I really enjoyed this movie and would recommend it to a foreign-film junkie. Not only are you able to see democracy at its finest but you are also able to see the way of life of the Chinese. Before this movie, I was not aware that China had a law in which each household can only have one child due to over population. It was just interesting to see how similar each family was to say, an average American family. It was an interesting documentary with a great plot.

Please Vote For Me: Review

Please Vote For Me was released in 2007. I usually don't like reading too far into reviews about movies because I like for movies to be some what of a surprise when I watch it. However, based off a couple of websites this film did recieve good critiques. In summary, this film is about a class of 3rd graders at a Primary school in China that learns the meaning of democracy when an election for class monitor is held. Three students are picked by their teachers, and the teachers ask the class to pick a student for whom they think is best fit for the job.

It should be an interesting film; it has an interesting plot. I will be back in a few days with my reflection on the film!

Betrayal: Reflection

To my surprise, Betrayal wasn't as intriguing as I thought it would be. The storyline was extremely interesting, but in my opinion the directing itself wasn't very good. It didn't attract its audience well.
Betrayal is a documentary film based on one Hmong family who lived in Laos and moved to America after the war during the 60's. They moved to America in hope to find a more comfortable, happy life but to no avail. This was a Hmong family of 11, one mother and 10 children. Their father came in and out of the picture on occasion, but due to the war he was always away from home. The mother of 10 took all of her children to America in hopes to begin a new life, to also make money and to no longer live in fear. Once they arrived, as time went on more and more of her children began to grow more distant from her. They grew up, some got married, some joined gangs and many do not keep in contact with their mother, except for one of her sons. In summary, when you watch the film you will get a feel as to how terrible war is, and how it tears so many families apart.
Although this documentary did not catch my attention in the beginning, I was very interested on the historical aspect of the film. You learn about things that are not written in history books about what else the U.S was doing during 60's; other than the Vietnam war. Betrayal did do a great job in not only touching base historically, but in watching the family grow and showing how war truly effects everyone.

Gran Torino: Reflection

Like I had stated earlier in my Review, I have seen Gran Torino in the past. Only this time I was to watch this movie through more of a cultural perspective, rather than a Hollywood one. In doing this, I have found that we do live in a very racist society, many of us catergorize people based off of their apperance and where they live. We tend to underestimate those who do have a lot of potential just because of their background.
This movie, as many of you may already know, is based on an old, bitter, racist old man who lives in what is quickly becoming a ghetto. Many of his neighbors are of Asian descent whom he immediately assumes are barbaric, if you will. This is a story about a boy and his Hmong family who changes this man's perspective on others and even life.
Even though the acting was awful, in my opinion, this movie had a strong plot and showed how gangs can largely affect other people and their society. This movie also did a good job is showing the clash between the Hmong culture and the stereotypical American culture as well. Personally, if the acting was more convincing I would have probably liked this movie more. Otherwise I enjoyed the suspense and the moving story that it had.

Gran Torino Review

I have already seen this movie in the past. I thought the acting was sort of mediocre but the story had a strong plot. However the first time I was viewing this movie I was not looking at it through a cultural bridge point of view, rather I was being more of a Hollywood critic. I am already familiar with the story line; it basically focuses on one bitter, old man who lives in a neighborhood that is quickly taking a turn for the worse. As more and more gang affiliated problems are continuing to arise; this is a story about this old man and a boy who live in the neighborhood who are fighting the every day battles of gangs. I will come back with a reflection as to what I thought about the film and how I also viewed this film, culturally.

Like Stars On Earth: Reflection

Throughout the couse of this class, we have seen 2 films from India; and so far I have liked them both very much. Like Stars on Earth is a story about a boy who suffers academically but has a unique, artistic imagination. It is a story about the trouble he given from his piers and from his parents because of his lack of success at school. It isn't until his parents send him off to boarding school for being 'naughty' when he meets someone who changes his life forever. Eventually he meets an art teacher who realizes the young boy suffers from dyslexia. It is an extremely moving film that I enjoyed watching very much. This movie as well as our other previous Indian film both show struggle and determination. As we already know, in Chak de India! many Indians had no faith in the women's field hockey team except for one man; he later changed the lives of everyone on the team and went on to show the Field Hockey Administration that the women's team can be successful. This story plot is very similar to that of Like Stars on Earth.

This film was able to show how rigorous the country of India is regarding academics. I now have a clearer understanding as to how important academics are to those in India who can afford it. There is a scene where the main character walks the streets of India, this is also another great scene where I was able to see how many are actually in India and what the street life is like. I loved this movie and will recommend it to many friends.

Chak de India! Reflection

I loved Chak de India. It was your typical 'Bad News Bears' team, only this time with field hockey. What I enjoyed most about this movie was how it showed one team go from having very little support and faith in one another, to the complete opposite. It truly empahsized the importance of teamwork when playing a sport.

When the movie first started playing, I saw field hockey as a sort of awkward sport; it almost seemed silly. I have heard of the sport int the past, but I would have never thought it as popular as it was in this movie. However by the end of the film I saw field hockey as a new sport that I would like to try sometime. It was also interesting how this movie was placed in India. When I think of this country, I am so brainwashed with what the media tells me. I think of India as a poverty stricken, over populated country. Althought this movie did show some of the poverty that India suffers, never in a million years would I imagine field hockey being a big sport within the Indian culture. It was just a new cultural bridge for me that I wouldn't have ever imagined to be true.

I would watch this movie again and I would also recommend it to a friend. It is the perfect example of a Cinderella story and you leave not only leanring a few things about the Indian people, but how important friendship and teamwork is.