Movie reviews

WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

ERASE AND FORGET

Watchable. Jim Bo Gritz comes across as a down to earth guy. He's fought in a few wars, killed roughly 400 people but opposes excessive militarisation as well as any violations of personal freedoms and equality. I'm impressed by his personality. Fascinating how his life affected movies and the other way round. It was unsettling to learn the original ending of "Rambo: First Blood", eventually rejected by test audience, was one in which he gets killed - on his own request. In reality many of Bo Gritz's mates committed suicide on return. I only didn't have enough knowledge of wars of the time to fully understand the film.

BEHIND THE CURVE

Recommended. It's funny, especially when an astronaut talks about how he heard of Flat Earthers when he was just back from space: "I can't believe I'm even talking about it." Who are they? People with insufficient knowledge and a penchant for research, who came across the theory out of boredom, who feel outcasts and are happy to be in a club and who believe in lots of conspiration theories. Funny and dangerous they are - they spread fake news which undermine belief in science as such. Their ill-informed decisions affect everyone since they have a right to vote and make all other decisions in public life. Luckily from the documentary it's clear it's Flat Earthers who make money spreading the false theory. And they can't prove their theory themselves nor can they point who's behind the alleged conspiracy.

CESKY ALLAH (CZECH ALLAH)

Walked out. Mostly obscure Czech politicians discussing statutes. Little about Muslims.


CINDERELLA AND THE SECRET PRINCE

Watchable. It's very warm. Delightful animation with picture-perfect colours. Grass blades and water in the river look like real. The mice are drolly, endearing and funny, especially when they are trying to stay quiet around the cat. Brilliant dialogues, e.g. the prince to Cinderella while dancing: "Where do you come from?" "Ah, a wizardess has sent me." or the mice: "So we're expected to help them? I somehow can't see it happen". The only problem is that the altered fairy tale is a bit confusing. Additionally, in Poland the movie's dubbed including the song. 


WATCH DOCS FILM FESTIVAL

THE JUDGE

Recommended. Very comprehensible even for non-Muslims. Sunny Palestine boasts the enlightened and egalitarian Hanafi school of thought which allows women to be judges in Shari'a courts - the courts dealing with family law. The film shows how badly needed women judges are in a country where some men overtly say they're "against full equality of women" and where male judges try to "fix the woman and send her back to her husband". The protagonist starts with one year under a liberal Chief Justice. Then he gets retired in favour of a corrupt one and I felt chills down my spine as she stopped getting cases. Then she impressed me when she started a petition to remove the corrupt Chief Justice and she won. She's very headstrong and law-abiding. I keep my fingers crossed for her to become Chief Justice herself like she wants to "maybe in 10 years". Inspiring.

THE DEAL

Watchable. While I'm impressed with the number of people of good will helping refugees, it's still not clear to me why the EU-Turkey deal is not working or how it could be implemented efficiently. The most unsettling question is: what's happening to the hundreds of millions poured into the crisis? The money never reaches those who need aid. But the film only mentions the money is there somewhere as if to be used.

THE DEMINER

Watchable. A glimpse inside an al-Nusra Front training camp and jihadists' minds: a two-year-old without a hijab deserves to be killed, wives should be many to breed new militants, animals are good only for beheading and eating. No background info.

In the meeting with the director I learnt that the tales of aliens the children read are, in fact, against Islam. I inquired about the organization funding. It turns out locals bankroll them.