Movie reviews

APPRENTICE

Recommended. The clear structure and shots don't lead to a straightforward interpretation. Seeing how differently from me others perceive the movie only confirms its greatness. Everyone will find their own angle. Does the desctruction of the cupboard mean severing the ties with his sister? Or with his father? Or growing up? Coming to terms with what the absent father really was rather than a sailor? Does the apprentice's professional choice signify dealing with the trauma through internalizing the law hence asserting the inevitable  was righteous as well? Or is it a revenge on his father for his ruined life? Much better than the Oscar-nominated "Toni Erdmann" or "The Salesman". Disappointingly the Singaporean Oscar candidate got no nomination.


AKHER AYAM EL MADINA (IN THE LAST DAYS OF THE CITY)

Watchable. Very slow, with no beginning and no ending. Trying to present what lay beneath the once peaceful country, the dormant demons coming to light, however the message nearly gets lost in the daily grind and continously dusty air. An interesting bit is the radio broadcast mentioning Egypt as the No. 5 safest country for women in the world. The whole world knows what happened later in Tahrir Square. The first signs of violence can be seen in the movie, unfortunately are shown so indifferently it's easy to get bored.


TEREDDUT (CLAIR-OBSCUR)

Watchable. Truly feminine cinema. Female director Yeşim Ustaoğlu has made a movie about one woman treating another and realising in the process that her own life is not all rosy. Still, the contrast between her freedom and her patient's enslavement is stark, the girl's age mixed-up in the script and the whole thing is sceondary to "Mustang" which makes the film partly moving and partly forced.


POLANDJA

Watchable. I left 40 minutes early to get to the next movie on time. While "PolandJa" is full of vulgarity and nonsense, I'm still curious what happened to the snake one of protagonists was trying to get rid of encountering ridiculous obstacles.


HIDDEN FIGURES

Recommended. A few years into the space opera revival comes a fact-based tale of NASA in the Cold War space race. A powerful film about two parallel struggles: one to get a man to the outer space and back and one to abolish racial segregation. And it shows beautifully how civilizational and social progress have to go hand in hand to happen at all and how social predjudices hold people back stronger than technical advancement. Very well acted: Taraji P. Henson's performance as Katherine G. Johnson  and Jim Parsons' as Paul Stafford stay in memory. The subplots of the three black women provide as much suspense as the rocket launch.


LA PAZZA GIOIA (LIKE CRAZY)

Watchable. Wonderfully overacted by Valeria Bruni Tedeschi but these 'Thelma' and 'Louise on the run from a mental institution fail to evoke any deeper emotions. The joyful phase of bipolar disorder may raise some psychiatric interest but the two women are just too crazy to bear.


As the Oscars ceremony is coming up, now, two hours before, I'm listing my humble hopes:
Best Picture - Hell or High Water
Actor in a Leading Role - Denzel Washington
Actress in a Leading Role - Natalie Portman
Actor in a Supporting Role - Mahershala Ali or Jeff Bridges
Actress in a Supporting Role - Naomie Harris
Animated Feature Film - Zootopia
Cinematography - La La Land
Costume Design - La La Land
Directing - Barry Jenkins
Foreign Language Film - anything but Toni Erdmann
Makeup and Styling - Suicide Squad
Original Score - Passengers, alternatively La La Land
Original Song - City of Stars
Production Design - Passengers, alternatively La La Land
Visual Effects - anything but Doctor Strange
Adapted Screenplay - in the order of preference: Hidden Figures, Lion, Moonlight, I haven't seen Fences so not sure about this one, just not for tacky Arrival
Original Screenplay - Hell or High Water because I love it, haven't seen The Lobster or 20th Century Women though