Note to teachers: Keep in mind that the purpose of these reviews is to acquaint foreign language teachers with films of interest in languages other than English. Although some of the films may be appropriate in the FL classroom, please do not consider showing them to your students without viewing them yourself.

Reviews:
French: Nos Jours Heureux (Those Happy Days), 2006
Russian: Мне не больно (It doesn’t hurt), 2006
Italian: Ragazza del Lago (Girl by the Lake), 2007
Swedish: Scener ur ett äktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage (1974)
Spanish: Alatriste, 2006

FRENCH

Nos Jours Heureux (Those Happy Days), 2006
Director: Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache
Language: French
Run Time: 103 minutes
Cast: Jean-Paul Rouve, Marilou Berry, Omar Sy, Lannick Gautry, Julie Fournier, Guillaume Cyr, Josephine de Meaux
Availability: amazon.com

For three summer weeks, Vincent Rousseau (Jean Paul Rouve) is the director of "Ces Jours Heureux" camp where campers and counselors alike are making friendships, dating and learning to be themselves. Vincent encourages the parents to cut the umbilical cord by prohibiting them from riding on the train to camp with their children and allows phone calls for emergencies only, but he himself cannot stop his father from constantly checking in. Meanwhile, the chef, having been let go from a restaurant because he could not get egg rolls right, cooks food that isn't exactly child friendly. In between surprise visits by camp inspectors and visiting the carpet slipper museum, both campers and counselors have fun camping, dancing, singing and competing in Olympic sports. Because of its humorous take on camp life, this movie will make you want to go to experience it all over again.
- Recommended by Susan Cuff, Bruce Museum, Greenwich, Connecticut

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RUSSIAN

Мне не больно (It doesn’t hurt), 2006
Director: Aleksei Balabanov
Language: Russian
Run time: 100 minutes
Availability: Soyuz video, http://RussianDVD.com

Aleksei Balabanov’s beautifully photographed film puts St. Petersburg on display. Three young interior designers (also apartment squatters) are on the verge of professional success. They find rich clients looking to redo fixer-uppers. But what happens when one of their clients, a fancy lady, apparently loaded, makes a pass at one of the 20-somethings in the company. The surprise development of the relationships among the characters is as beautiful as the Petersburg photography.
- Recommended by Richard Robin, Russian Language Music and Internet Review Editor

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ITALIAN

Ragazza del Lago (Girl by the Lake), 2007
Director: Andrea Molaioli
Language: Italian
Run time: 95 minutes
Availability: amazon.com in PAL format
Cast: Toni Servillo

As I was watching this film set in the Italian Dolomites, I kept thinking that the scenery was almost as beautiful as scenes I had experienced in mountainous Norway. This was obviously no coincidence as this film is based on the novel Don’t Look Back by the Norwegian writer Karin Fossum. A beautiful young woman is found murdered near a lake in a provincial town in northern Italy. Toni Servillo is excellent as the inspector who finds numerous suspects. The audience is kept guessing as he examines them all before reaching his final verdict.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor

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SWEDISH

Scener ur ett äktenskap (Scenes from a Marriage (1974)
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Run time: 163 minutes
Language: Swedish
Cast: Liv Ullman, Erland Josephson

I am a huge Ingmar Bergman fan, and I would put this film near the top of my list of favorite Bergman films. Marianne and Johan seem to be a happily married couple but we soon discover that he has been having an affair with another woman. In fact, he has decided to leave his wife. Marianne is shocked beyond belief but eventually pulls herself together and establishes a more or less satisfactory relationship with Johan who marries his lover. The truth of the matter is that the two still really love each other. In short, it is a fascinating film.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor

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SPANISH

Alatriste, 2006
Director: Agustín Díaz Yanes
Clasificación: sin clasificación. Tiene escenas violentas de la guerra del siglo XVII, escenas sexuales y lengua fuerte
Duración: 120 minutes
Lengua: español con subtítulos en español, francés, e inglés
Reparto: Viggo Mortensen, Elena Anaya, Unax Ugalde
Review in English below

Por fin encontré el tiempo de ver la película que las novelas me dio tantas ganas de ver. Lástima que la película no alcanza al mismo nivel que las novelas. Es la falta de tratar de combinar todas las novelas Alatristes en una película. Puesto que no dan mucho tiempo al desarrollo de las tramas menores, es un poco difícil entender aquellas tramas y las relaciones entre los personajes. A pesar de las detracciones, es una película bastante buena. Está llena de escenas de espadas y de las guerras del siglo XVII y es fácil de entender la lengua. Si se busca algo que se enseña la historia o las costumbres de la gente de aquella época, esta película se le llama su nombre. Está llena de personajes históricos como el Príncipe de Gales y el Conde Duque de Olivares, o los escritores famosos de la época, Quevedo y Góngora. Lo que me interesó muchísimo era la técnica de presentar las escenas como ecos de varias escenas de la obra de Diego de Velásquez. Dos de sus cuadros aparecen en la película varias veces y el cinematógrafo adoptó la técnica de luz y sombra que es tan característica de Velásquez. También los actores están arreglados en la pantalla como si fueran cortados de uno de sus cuadros. Me fascinó esa técnica y voy a mirar la película otra vez simplemente por verla de nuevo. Aunque todavía no he leído todas las novelas en la serie, le película sigue las que sí he leído. Está fiel a las personalidades de los personajes, a la historia de aquel entonces, a la intriga en el corte, y las costumbres y el vestuario común. Me impresionó suficientemente Alatriste para recomendarla a alguien que quiera ver una película llena de acción y aventura sin tener que pensar en asuntos pesados.
- Recomendado por Sheila Cockey, Editora.

ENGLISH

Director: Agustín Díaz Yanes
Rating: Not rated. Contains violent scenes of 17th century war, sexual scenes, and strong language
Run time: 120 minutes
Language: Spanish with Spanish, French and English subtitles
Cast: Viggo Mortensen, Elena Anaya, Unax Ugalde

I finally found the time to match the movie that the novels made me want to see so much! Sad to say, the movie does not reach the same heights that the novels do. That’s because the director tires to combine the entire series of Alatriste novels into one movie. Since not much time is devoted to developing the subplots, it is very difficult to understand those subplots and the relationships between and among the characters. In spite of the detractions, it’s a fairly good movie. Filled with sword fighting and 17th century battle scenes, the language is easy to understand. If you are looking for something that teaches history or local customs of the time, this movie is calling your name. It is full of historical personages such as the Duke of Wales and the Count Duke of Olivares, or Quevedo and Góngora, famous Spanish writers of the era. What interested me the most was the way the scenes were filmed to echo scenes from Diego Velázquez’s work. Two of his paintings appear several times in the movie and the cinematographer adopted the chiaroscuro technique that is so characteristic of Velázquez. Additionally, the characters were arranged on the screen as if they had been cut from one of his paintings. This technique fascinated me so much that I will watch the movie again, just to get the full impact.

Although I have not yet read all of the novels in the series, the movie follows those that I have read. It is faithful to the characters and their personalities, to the history of the era, to the court intrigue, and to the daily customs and clothing. Alatriste impressed me enough to recommend it to anyone who may wish to watch a movie full of action and adventure and that doesn’t make you think a lot.
- Recommended by Sheila Cockey, Spanish Film Review Editor

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