Movie reviews

THE POST

Watchable. Steven Spielberg's in good form. The movie packs a punch even if the story's very feminist. It explains how women's indoctrination through history became a self-fulfilling prophecy which may serve the majority who don't understand the complex psychology of prejudice but it's so straight in your face I just found it vexing. Nevertheless the story is masterfully structured, maintaining suspense and bringing to mind several events from the most recent times, at least in Poland where the Parliament tried to restrict journalists' access and recently has been attempting to silence inconvenient media suing them on whatever feeble grounds they find. The movie's just about that but in a different place and time: the early 70s in the US, during the Vietnam War. First Nixon takes "The New York Times" to court which is the core of the story, then the penultimate scene is his call in which he denies "The Washing Post" journalists entry to the Congress. The very final one is about Watergate which looks as if a sequel was likely. Sasha Spielberg, the director's daughter, makes a cameo as "Woman with package". John Williams' music adds gravitas, as it always does. Bruce Greenwood's unrecognizable as a nearly bald, bespectacled, shrewedly lying politician.

CALL ME BY YOUR NAME

Recommended. As subtle as "Moonlight" but also much more than a gay movie as it tackles the thorny issue of love which we all experience regardless of our gender or preference. With sad truths of how love makes the heart emotionally bankrupt by the age of 30 and how the body, with age, stops being looked at, let alone desired - it gets mentioned in one conversation only but immediately adds gravitas and becomes indelible. Unlike "Moonlight" the film's about the upper class. "Apricot" harks back to ancient times and occurs in each civilization as we know from the history of vocabulary in various languages and, more literally as homosexuality, from the presentation of ancient sculptures. The fruit reoccurs when the teenager makes a hole in it and uses for physical satisfaction and again when he pukes something orange seeing his beloved dancing with a woman. One guy is hot and the other not too bad-looking either so you feel sex in the air. The final call the boy receives is heart-warming and heart-breaking at the same time. The movie manages to be explicit and finely drawn at the same time.

假孔子之名 (IN THE NAME OF CONFUCIUS)

Watchable. A documentary revealing the secret policy behind China funding Confucius Institutes worldwide: they serve as espionage cells both procuring information and moulding the minds and hearts of the future generations of students of Chinese as the second language. As the communist party supporters clash with dissidents, especially Falun Gong practitioners, the existence of the Confucian Institutes is debated by the Canadian education board. Is China just assuring the offspring of Chinese diaspora won't forget the language or is the country spending far more on foreign education than domestic for a more sinister reason? A bit bureaucratic but on a vital issue.

HARD TO BELIEVE

Recommended. "Organ harvesting" is the term used in the documentary about the practice of obtaining human "spare parts" from still living prisoners. Not any serial murderers but Falun Gong members 65 thousand of whom died for the sake of their organs over 8 years. They don't drink or smoke so their bodies are sought after, e.g. by - mind it - people with ill children. Tortured prisoners  overlook the physical they get in the middle of their ordeal but each account is the same: a cornea examination, a chest X-ray, kidney and liver tests etc. Chilling. Provides details on how the system works without scaring the viewer with anything graphic. So if your heart transplant is scheduled in two weeks' time, on a specific date, blood is on your hands.