Noi Albinoi: Reflection

Although this movie was dark and a bit degrading, I really enjoyed it. Noi Albinoi translates to, Noi the Albino. It is a film based in Iceland about a young albino man by the name of Noi. You will soon notice that Noi sees life through an interesting angle. In the movie he is portrayed to be extremely intelligent, however he finds school to be somewhat of a bother and hardly ever shows. He lives a very simple life in Iceland and doesn't let the pressures and stereotypes of society let him change how he wishes to live. This film shows how life in Iceland is very simple and the people who live there are always entertaining themselves. This movie follows Noi and his urge to get something more exciting out of life in such a cold, small and miserable town in Iceland.

This film has a simple style of directing and uses little, if any graphics at all. Throughout the movie you are following Noi in his everyday life. What I really enjoyed most about this film was that everything Noi did related to certain outcomes within the movie. For example, Noi didn't do well in school, therefore he was expelled. Once he was expelled, his grandmother became worried about his future and hired a fortune teller. The fortune teller said he saw death in Noi's future, and the movie continued on from there.

I would recommend this film to people. It is a quieter film and differs from many of our usual Hollywood films. It will give you a different look at other lifestyles and the way people choose to live. It shows little parts of Iceland that you would have probably never seen before the movie, and also truly reveals the natural beauties that Iceland has. Noi Albinoi is a great film.

Run Lola Run: Reflection

Run Lola Run was an interesting German film. It was not a film I would personally recommend to a friend or a film I would watch again. However, the film did have a clever and interesting concept. The concept of this film was to show that every second in our life counts, and that the decisions we make in life affect not only ourselves but the people around us.

In Run Lola Run, there is a couple who were involved with a drug deal. The boyfriend lost the money he was suppose to give to the drug lords, and called his girlfriend, Lola for help. She had twenty minutes to come up with 100,000 (German) dollars. In this film it showed numerous ways that she had recieved the money and only one way was the 'right' way. It was just interesting to see how many decisions that she made affected the future and everyone she was surrounded by.

I think this film had a lot of potential, but the style of directing was what lost its audience. I was interested in the type of music it continued to play over and over again. I also wasn't fond of the random cartoon clips that this film also displayed in random sections. In all, this film did show the local side of Germany that many of us aren't aware of. It showed different people and different building that all make up an average city in Germany.

The Color of Paradise: Reflection

Unfortunately, I was not able to do research before viewing this movie due to time restraints. However, the Color of Paradise was indeed a good film. It was an emotional roller coaster at times but did have some great scenes. In summary, the Color of Paradise is about a blind Iranian boy whose father neglects him. His grandmother and sisters however find him very entertaining and treat him no differently. His father eventually grows selfish and falls in love with a woman. He gives the woman and her family all he give and fails to mention that he is a father to a blind boy (He doesn't mention his blind son in the chance that the woman's family does not approve). Months later, his father sends his son away to become a carpenter, later realizing he had made a terrible mistake. He goes back to bring his son home, and on the way back something tragic happens to the young boy.

All of students in my class didn't think the Color of Paradise was a very good movie. I personally think this is because the older a movie is, the less adolescents tend to appreciate them. The Color of Paradise is somewhat of an older movie, and does require a bit of attention. Although, none of that seemed to bother me and I found that this film had many lessons that most of could learn from. It shows that greed and selfishness has and will never get us anywhere. It also proves that everyone is equal, despite their differences. I really enjoyed how the film ended as well, even though it was a bit depressing.

Eariler in the movie, the blind boy mentions that God must not love him because he has chosen for him to blind. He says that he is constantly reaching out into the open air in hopes to feel God, but never does. At the end of the movie all of this is proven differently, in a very clever way.

Persepolis: Reflection

At first, I thought Persepolis was going to be a boring film. I thought it would carry too much political issues and lose its audience. However, as the movie went on I really enjoyed how they it had through the point of view of a family during a crisis of war. Eventually, I found myself becoming very interested in the plot and I started to enjoy that the movie as a cartoon. I feel as if having it as an animation film made it possible to show and emphasize certain aspects of the film that could not be showed in a 'regular' film.

One thing that I really enjoyed this film was that it touched based on issues in Iran that many of us are no aware of. I became more aware of the issues in that country and was able to actually comprehend the issues simply. It clearly showed everything that was going on and how the citizens of Iran handled the war. I highly recommend this film to everyone. I think Persepolis shows both sides of the Iranian war along with other politcal issues that country faces extremely well. It was very creative and you can tell that there was a lot of thought put into the film.

Persepolis: Review

Persepolis is a French film that is based on the political issues in Iran. According to various sources this film does a good job is covering the before, during, and after of the war and struggles that are in Iran. I'm interested in seeing how well the film incorperates the cartoon theme with the intense, political plot that it carries. The film makers of this movie have chosen to take upon a task that I find rather daring and cool. Not too many films exist of this kind in our movie-making world so I'm really looking forward to seeing how it is.

Maria Full of Grace: Reflection

I enjoyed Maria Full of Grace because it gave its audience a dose of reality that many of us are completely unaware of. To me, it's hard to believe that these sort of events are happening everyday. This is film about a young girl and her friend who live in Columbia who are sick of the terrible working conditions they work in. They are easily persuaded into becoming a 'mule', or a drug trafficker into the United States. This is a story that shows all of the troubles they must go through in order to live this new life they had chosen.

I would highly recommend this movie to a friend, not only because of the stomach-turning plot, but because this film ended perfectly. It had an ending that was unpredictable, which many of us Hollywood-movie viewers are not always used too.

Maria Full of Grace: Review

I have seen Maria Full of Grace in the past. I do not want to get too far into the film because like I have stated in my earlier blogs, I don't like to give away the film. This is a great movie, although it is a bit graphic. This is a story that focuses on two women who will go to great lengths in hopes to one day live a happy life. They grew up in Columbia and wish to one day live in the United States.

They are told that by helping traffic illegal drugs to North America, they will one day be able to live the life they so longed for. This is a movie about their struggles and how they will do whatever it takes to one day be happy. To me, it's crazy to think that this sort of thing is actually happening. It's a very moving film and has won many awards in recognition of its plot and much more. I do look forward to viewing this film again.

Shall We Dansu?: Reflection

Shall We Dansu? was an 'okay' film, if you will. I did enjoy the plot of the story but compared to most of the films we have watched it did lose my attention. This was typical, predictable movie in which a man is bored with his life and wanted to finally try something new. On his daily commute to and from work his subway route always passes a dance studio. The studio seemed to always be of some interest to him, until one day he decided to finally go try it out.

The curious man found that he has a love for dancing. He continues to dance at the studio until he becomes fairly good. Before joining the studio, he was a very stiff, awkward man who had no rhythm whatsoever. He also chose not to tell his family or his fellow co-workers what he has been up too, because apparently within in the Japanese culture that sort of thing is not greatly accepted. To summarize, this movie showed how the Japanese lived and what was culturally accepted.

Throughout the film it seemed as if participating in any other activity, other than work, was not okay. This film showed that the Japanese people are extremely polite but live in an old school enviroment. It seemed as though they believed that men must work and the women must stay at home or have a small job; but they were not to work in an office like a man. Atleast, that was the connection I saw within the movie. Even though I was already aware that the Japanese people are huge worker bees, this movie did do a great job is showing how their jobs literally are their lives and nothing else. It showed how one man wanted to get out of the dull life he and millions of others had made for themselves to go and dance.