~Tuesday~ I'm nearing the end of the five movies I decided to watch after reading a list at the beginning of May of "the best movies you never saw."
My friend, Bob, has patiently waited for me to be able to fit movie-watching into my schedule, and he has generously ordered them from his Netflix account to make available to me and/or watch with me when I could, and for that I’m very grateful.
A recap of the list and where I stand with viewing the five selections:
| Movie | Status | Thoughts |
|---|---|---|
| The Century of the Self | Partially viewed | This is a long, 4-episode documentary that “focuses on how the work of Sigmund Freud, Anna Freud, and Edward Bernays influenced the way corporations and governments have analyzed, dealt with, and controlled people,” as described in Wikipedia. I’ve completed the first episode and started the second episode. It’s drier, and more intellectual (which may have a cause and effect relationship) than I thought it would be, but my intent is to finish it. Bob was kind and generous enough to purchase this one on DVD for me, because he found it at a bargain price, which may also directly correlate with that drier and more intellectual thing. |
| Prime | Viewed | May 20th blog entry |
| Last Night | Viewed | May 21st blog entry |
| I've Loved You So Long | Viewed | See my thoughts below in this entry |
| Broken English | In the queue | To be enumerated in a future entry |
Note: I don’t know why the embeded trailer is not resolving. I’m assuming it’s a temporary LiveJournal issue. If it doesn’t appear here when you’re viewing the entry, and you’re interested in seeing it click here. It’s one minute and 35 seconds.
Synopsis: A woman struggles to interact with her family and find her place in society after spending fifteen years in prison.
My thoughts and observations about this film:
- I loved it.
- I was frustrated by the protagonist long bouts of silence and the time it took her to answer (or not) questions, which means it was played well.
- I don’t at all mind reading subtitles, and with regards to that, there were two things about the ones in this movie that I liked:
- I didn’t find any typos or grammar errors in them, and
- They were English translations of French. Of all the foreign films, I like French ones best, because I actually understand some of the native language, and I can just confirm my interpretation with the subtitles in those cases.
- I liked the diversity in the family at the center of the film, which includes two Vietnamese children and a father/grandfather left mute by a stroke.
- Conflict is what makes great fiction, and there is enough conflict within the protagonist herself that the conflict with her family members, co-workers, and society and general is really just gravy.
- I also loved that this film didn’t have a grandiose, sappy, contrived “Hollywood ending.”
I like this review on cimemablend.com.
If you have my taste in movies, you’ll like this one. That’s a big if, however, so YMMV.