12films_poc, posts by tag: feature - LiveJournal

I missed The Fall when it was originally in the cinema, but it was showing at my local arthouse cinema this weekend so I finally got the chance.

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This was my twelfth and final film for this challenge, it took me much longer than a year but that was mostly because I didn't actually watch a lot of films. Because it was taking me so much longer to do the challenge than I'd expected it made me count how many films I'd never seen before that I was watching in general terms and the answer was very few. Since January this year I've watched ten films I hadn't seen previously, seven of those were for this challenge. (If nothing else this challenge has made me watch a lot of films that would otherwise have continued to lurk on my 'to watch' list and introduced my mum to the pleasures of Mira Nair's films.) It's somewhat challenged my perceptions of my own film watching, I'd always thought of my film watching as being fairly diverse, not as diverse as I'd like (obviously, I'd hardly be doing this challenge if I thought it was) but more diverse than a lot of people I know certainly. And while yes, the latter part remains true, my film watching is a lot less diverse than I would like to think and I really need to work to change that on a longer term basis. I think I really need to start at the beginning again, I've got a bunch of films from various parts of Africa that I intended to watch and never got round to for a start...

I seem to be bouncing between India and the Middle East with my film watching lately, I should really try for a bit more variety but when the films are as good as Caramel it’s so hard to resist.

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(I watch so few films that I'm not going to hold myself to the year; I'm going to count, however, because counting is a useful tool.)

1. Caramel.

So, I overheard a friend talking about the preponderance of "depressing middle eastern films" in her Netflix queue, came to 12films_poc to see if I could get any counter-recs for non-depressing middle eastern films, found anitabuchan's review of Caramel, and in the process of passing on the rec, decided that I was pretty interested in the film, too.

Six Lebanese women, not all of them young, not all of them straight, negotiating their lives and relationships, each looking for their own kind of happiness. Quite a lot of the plot points are about the paths of their romantic relationships, non-relationships, and relationships-to-be, but the core of the film is the women's relationships with each other, which made me very happy. Correspondingly, even though the movie's plot points mostly feature women negotiating their romantic relationships with men, the movie non-trivially passes the Bechdel test, which is another thing that makes me happy.

For more detail, I point you at anitabuchan's review.

I meant to post this review here but accidentally did so at my lj. Anyway, I liked it :)

IMDb plot summary: A story of love and enchantment set in the coldest of winters, it explores the issues, dilemmas and barriers facing the lucky and unlucky in love in the 21st Century, based on the novel of the same name by Pullitzer Prize-winning author Carol Shields. Tom is a charismatic late-night radio talk show host, whose unconventional upbringing has made him a little too quick to fall in love and marry, resulting in three divorces before the age of 40. Fay is his total opposite; her romantic ideal has not yet been attained and is unlikely ever to be due to her impossibly high expectations as a result of living with the perfection that is her parents' rock solid marriage. This unlikely pairing proves the rule that in love, there are no rules and the couple meet and fall deeply in love at first sight. All is faultless, until Fay's parents' marriage breaks down suddenly, out of nowhere, after 40 years of wedded bliss. Fay and their relationship are thrown into turmoil. Will Tom be able to persuade his naturally cautious and terminally confused fiancée to work through all the damage and chaos? The characters' connect in a maze of situations, underpinning the idea that 'geography is destiny' and that each of us has our own 'republic', where lives intersect.

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I watched this movie for Bruce Greenwood, but ended up loving the directing more than anything else.  The visuals are beautiful, especially the way the camera will capture characters standing on different levels of buildings or going different directions on escalators.  Simple things like this add an almost-dreamlike quality, taking the story out of reality and making it feel heightened. 

I also really enjoyed how Deepa Mehta wove bits of Indian culture through the film, like having white characters watch a Bollywood film.  No explanation needed, just a sense of cultural diversity (that term sounds so silly and outdated but I can't think of any other way to express this) that adds texture to the world.

Mainly this film really made me want to watch other films directed by Mehta.

Bride and Prejudice is essentially a retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern day India. Lalita (Lizzie) and her sisters Jaya, Maya and Lahki live in Amritsar. Their mother is determined that they should all marry rich men, and so is delighted when Mr. Balraj arrives, along with his sister Kiran and friend William Darcy.

You can probably all tell where this is going, right?

But I enjoyed this, more than I've enjoyed some traditional retellings of Pride and Prejudice. I'm a big Bollywood fan, so I loved the music and dance. It's not true Bollywood, and is in English rather than Hindi, so if you're looking for a good introductory film this might be it.

It wasn't a meaningful film with deep messages, but it was good fun, had a happy ending, and some catchy songs. So if that sounds like your sort of thing, you'll probably enjoy this.

This film is flawed, but a lot of fun. Basically, if you hear the premise "silly super-villain/spy lesbian romance-action-comedy" and think "I MUST WATCH THAT" then watch it.

And yes, this is another happy lesbian film. Huzzah!

Slightly longer review at my lj.

Right after Love My Life, here's a recommendation for another happy lesbian film: Nina's Heavenly Delights. The ”Nina” in question is a young Scottish woman of Indian descent who moved away from her family years ago after a botched engagement, but now returns for her beloved father's funeral. She finds out that her father had severe gambling depths and that the family will be forced to sell his restaurant This is something Nina very much wants to avoid,so she convinces her father's young business partner Lisa to help her save the restaurant (or at least up the price) – before he died, her father reached the finals in a cooking competition, and Nina wants to fulfil his wishes by winning the contest. Unfortunately, her ex-fiancé, a brilliant chef, is also in the competition. A good thing she has Lisa, and the two of them soon find themselves involved romantically as well as professionally, something Nina has trouble telling her family.

The "heavenly delights" in the title refer to food, of course, but the film itself is a delight too; perhaps not quite heavenly, but a sheer joy to watch. It managed to be both happymaking and bring tears to my eyes at the same time, which is no mean feat. From a queer perspective, I particularly liked that the romantic storyline was the B plot, because that doesn't happen very often. I also liked the many different kinds of relationships explored in the film, the various ways the message of being true to oneself was brought home, and the occasional moments of magic realism. Mostly, I just loved it because it was so utterly charming in every way; a fine example of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.

This is the first feature film by director Pratibha Parmar, who has mostly done shorts and documentaries. I discovered after the viewing, though, that co-writer Andrea Gibb has also written Dear Frankie, another beautiful film that could easily have been maudlin in lesser hands.

The film is available on DVD (Region 1, 2, or 4) as well as torrents.

Nina's Heavenly Delights trailer on YouTube

ETA: After reading a comment on this post, I went to look and realized that the critics hate it. Which is sad. I stand by my verdict, but, y'know, read the critics too for balance, or something.

Love My Life is a sweet film about a young woman called Ichiko, her relationship with her girlfriend Eri, and the world around them.

I collect happy lesbian films, so when I heard of this one I saw a chance to catch two birds with one stone by viewing it for this community.

The film is very sweet and likeable, and it was a welcome change to see a GLBTQ film where problems are on an everyday scale – relationships have their ups and downs, homophobia is more of an annoyance than a life-shattering tragedy, and introducing your girlfriend to your father means later being introduced to his boyfriend. On the other hand, a nail-biter this ain't. :-) The suspense is practically nonexistent, and the plot very loose. It's a piece of fluff, plain and simple, and if you're in the mood for it, a very enjoyable one.

The film is available on DVD as well as torrents.

Online trailer with (horrible) English subtitles. (Better subtitles exist, fortunately!)

Chak De! India begins when Kabir Khan, captain of the Indian men's hockey team, misses a penalty in the World Championship finals, leading to Pakistan winning the match. Kabir Khan is branded a traitor, and driven not just out of the team but out of the country. Seven years later he returns to coach the women's hockey team, which is underfunded, divided by their own prejudices, and battling sexism at every turn. They've never won anything, and aren't expected to do any better in the next World Championships.

You can probably guess the ending from that.

I did enjoy this film, but had a few problems with it. One was the emphasis on Kabir. It was his emotional journey that recieved most attention, he was the one who made all the big speeches and decisions, and he was generally the character who drove the plot forwards. This was described to me as the most feminist Bollywood film ever, but I'm not sure how feminist a film can be if it's based around a man inspiring and guiding a team to victory.

It's also a pity because I'd have loved for more attention to have been given to some of the women: I loved Preeti and Komal, Vidja and Balbir, and even Bindia. I'd have loved for them all to get more screen time. I did also get annoyed during the India vs England match, as they kept calling the England squad Great Britain, and were using the Union Jack. Which is less central to the plot, I admit, but it still got on my nerves!

But, despite that, there were some moments I loved. The McDonalds scene was fantastic, I loved the match against the men's team, despite the predictable ending it stayed entertaining, and I loved the clips played over the final credits (what happened to each woman as she arrived home).

So, overall: I liked this film, thought it had some great moments, and loved some of the characters. But I also felt a little disappointed it was so focused around their male coach.