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

June 2009

New Reviews (added May 2009)

Arabic: The Syrian Bride, 2004
French: La Cérémonie, 1995
Italian: Verso Sera, 1991
Russian: Stilyagi, 2008
Spanish: Lobo, 2004

ARABIC, ENGLISH, HEBREW, RUSSIAN, FRENCH
The Syrian Bride, 2004
Run time: 97 min
Director: Eran Riklis
Country: France, Germany, Israel
Language: Arabic, English, Hebrew, Russian, French

The story takes place on the wedding day of a Druze woman in Majd Alshams, a pro-Syrian village located in the Golan Heights, land occupied by Israel. The bride is to marry a Syrian soap opera star whom she has never met. The wedding is to take place at the border and, when she enters Syria, she will have to give up her right to return to her native village. The wedding seems doomed not to take place as complications arise due to the tense political situation between Israel and Syria. A frazzled UN worker from France plays the go-between and the impasse is overcome. This film gives a glimpse into the difficult existence of the inhabitants of this part of the world.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor

FRENCH
La cérémonie, 1995
Run time: 112 minutes
Director: Claude Chabrol
Writer: Based on the novel by Ruth Rendell
Country: Canada
Language: French Cast: Isabelle Huppert (Jeanne), Sandrine Bonnaire (Sophie), Jean-Pierre Cassel (George Lelievre), and Jacqueline Bisset (Catherine Lelievre)

Sophie, a quiet and reserved young woman, obtains a position as a maid for an upper-class family in Brittany. She becomes friends with Jeanne, an outspoken individual, who works at the local post office. Sophie and Jeanne stoke each other’s feelings of jealousy and resentment against the bourgeois in general and Sophie’s employers, George and Catherine Lelievre, in particular. The consequences of their unhealthy association are dramatic. This is a disturbing film.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor

ITALIAN
Verso Sera (Towards Evening), 1991
Language: Italian
Country: Italy, France
Run time: 99 minutes
Cast: Marcello Mastroianni (Professor Bruschi), Giorgio Tirabassi (Oliviero) Sandrine Bonnaire (Stella), Lara Pranzoni (Papere)

Marcello Mastroianni stars in this moving film as Professor Bruschi, an elderly professor whose life is just the way he wants it. Suddenly his life spins out of control. His son Oliviero drops his daughter Papere on his father’s doorstep and disappears. After a short time, Papere’s mother Stella too unexpectedly ends up on Bruschi’s doorstep. Bruschi and Stella do not get along at all as they have conflicting ideologies. However, they gradually begin to understand and appreciate each other and develop real affection for each other.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor

RUSSIAN
Stilyagi (Стиляги), Jazz Seekers, 2008
Красная стрела
Language: Russian
Run Time: 135 minutes
Director: by Valeriy Todorkovsky Availability:

As of this writing, the movie is available in PAL from RussianDVD.com without subtitles; Clips dot video sharing sites like YouTube and RuTube, some of which have the entire film. The stilyági (jazz seekers) were a Moscow-based post-Stalinist 1950s counterculture movement. In defiance of approved lifestyles, they sported greaser hairstyles, adopted American names, danced the jitterbug, and surreptitiously copied American jazz and R&B onto x-ray film, the only available substitute for vinyl. The plot revolves around Mel, the ideologically correct hero drawn to these “alien” rhythms. Todorkovsky manages to capture the spirit of the Soviet 1950s by exaggerating the vividness of the counterculture world. The music is mostly from the glasnost years of the late 1980s (there was no native Russian jazz-rock during the 1950s). But the deliberate anachronism works. The 1980s soundtrack, much of which has a retro feel to begin with, portrays a Soviet reality that almost was but not quite. The film is beautifully shot with bows to any number of Western musicals: West Side Story, Dirty Dancing, Hair, and Grease. The choreography of the crowning number, “Chained” (Скованные), is a direct tribute to Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick in the Wall.” The Russian in the movie is easy to follow. Teachers will have to give students some background on the Soviet 1950s. High school teachers should know that there’s some nudity and some shots of Kama Sutra-style drawings.
- Recommended by Richard Robin, Russian Language Film Review Editor

SPANISH
El Lobo, 2004
Director: Miguel Cortois
Language: Spanish
Run time: 119 or 134 minutes
Cast: Eduardo Noriega, José Coronado Won 2 Goyas with 7 nominations
Availability: from amazon.com in an abbreviated form and from elcorteingles.com in full-length original form with English or Spanish subtitles
Warning: Extreme violence, language, and sexually explicit scenes make this movie inappropriate for children.
English review follows

Esta película de intriga, ambientado en los primeros años de los 70 en España, se presenta la historia verdadera de un topo (espía) infiltrado en la ETA por las fuerzas policíacas. Un obrador de construcción, Txema tiene unos amigos que son miembros de la ETA. Cuando un policía le propone que se ponga parte del grupo, Txema no puede negar el dinero que le ofrece, y empieza una vida de secretos. Su vida doble causa la disolución del matrimonio, la muerte de muchos de sus amigos, y por fin la cirugía plástica y una nueva identidad. Siga “Lobo” mientras trabaja y sube por la cadena de mando en la ETA y acaba por posibilitar la detención de los líderes del grupo terrorista vasco. La película presenta un foco balanceado en la lucha por la ETA para obtener la independencia vasca de España, y su deseo de guardar viva la lengua y cultura durante los últimos años del régimen franquista. Mucha violencia, lenguaje, y explícitas escenas sexuales hace que esta película no es para niños. English Set in the early 1970’s in Spain, this thriller presents the true story of a mole planted inside the ETA by the police force. A construction worker, Txema falls in with friends who are part of ETA, the Basque Separatist Movement. When approached by a police detective, he cannot turn down the money he his offered. His double life leads to the dissolution of his marriage, the death of many of his friends, and finally plastic surgery and a new identity. Follow “Wolf” as he works his way up the chain of command within ETA and finally enables the rounding up of the leaders of the Basque terrorist group. The movie has a balanced focus on the struggle of the ETA to obtain independence from Spain for the Basque Provinces, and their desire to keep the Basque language and culture alive during the waning years of the Franco regime.
- Recommended by Sheila W. Cockey, Spanish Language Film Review Editor.

March 2009
French: Zéro de conduite: Jeunes diables au collège (Zero for conduct)
Italian: Mafioso; Larga Strada Azzurra (The wide blue road)
Russian: Изображая жертву (Playing the victim)
Spanish: Nadie conoce a nadie (Nobody knows anybody)

FRENCH

Zéro de conduite : Jeunes diables au collège (Zero for Conduct), 1933
Director: Jean Vigo
Run time: 41 minutes
Language: French
Available from netflix.com and amazon.com

Le modèle de tous les autres films d’adolescence au pensionnat. Jean Vigo fils d’anarchistes et malade de tuberculose d’un jeune âge, a tourné moins de trois heures de film en tout, Zéro en 1933 et Atalante l’année après, avant de mourir tragiquement à 29 ans. Ce film des premiers jours du cinéma sonore emploie les techniques des intertitres nécessaires au cinéma muet, quoiqu’il y ait dans ce film un peu de dialogue. Les enfants qui partent en pensionnat se moquent éperdument de l’expérience, ridiculisant et parodiant les adultes dans le train et puis les figures d’autorité à l’école. Ils volent; ils se battent, ils font des conneries innombrables. Deux ou trois séquences en particulier accentuent le climat de révolte du film: le maître du dortoir finit lié au lit, mais en vertical, comme une espèce de crucifixion; puis la bataille des oreillers où il neige des plumes, puis la figure absurde du nain ministre d’éducation, toutes mettent en scène le cinéma comme théâtre, comme mélodramme de vaudeville, en même temps qu’elles offrent des images parfaitement surréalistes, esthétique et éthique dominantes des années trente à Paris. A la fin du film, les étudiants montent un assaut du toit de l’école, assaut de pleine révolte sinon de révolution, au plein milieu des cérémonies officielles remplies de gens importants en visite, scène devenue classique qui sera reprise en hommage par Lindsay Anderson dans son film de 1968 (année révolutionnaire) de la révolte dans un pensionnat anglais, au titre If, film qui a gagné la Palme d’Or à Cannes.
- Recommended by Rebecca Pauly

ITALIAN

Mafioso, 1962
Director: Alberto Lattuada
Run time: 105 minutes
Language: Italian
Cast: Alberto Sordi, Norma Bengell, Ugo Atanasio
Distributor: Rialto Pictures
Available from netflix.com and amazon.com
(This film was re-released in the US in 2007.)

Per un film è un titolo senza eufemismo. Perciò, si è, in un certo senso, preparati per il soggetto. Il titolo avrebbe potuto anche essere “La Piovra” che arriva ovunque con i suoi lunghi tentacoli. Nino, un giovane siciliano, sposato con due figlie, dopo anni di servizio in una grande fabbrica del nord, riesce ad avere una vacanza per tornare in Sicilia con la famiglia. Inconsapevolmente lui è un anello (soldato) della Mafia. Il presidente della fabbrica è l’anello italo-americano. Don Vincenzo, che aveva fatto assumere Nino, è l’anello della Mafia nel suo paese. Nino ha avuto un favore da Don Vincenzo. Nelle regole della Mafia un favore va ricambiato con un altro favore. Il favore in questo caso è ..... (Stop! Non possiamo dire qui!). Nino, pur anche con la coscienza riluttante, deve eseguire l’ordine. Questa è la legge della Mafia che si tramanda da generazione a generazione. Il film è interessante non solo per la luce concentrata sulla Mafia ma anche sulle difference fra i costumi del Nord e del Sud. In un primo momento la moglie milanese e i parenti siciliani di Nino non riescono a capirsi per via delle grandi differenze di lingua, di abbigliamento, di pensieri, di mangiare, etc.
- Suggerito da Andrea Meloni

Grande Strada Azzurra (The Wide Blue Road), 1957
Directors: Gillo Pontecorvo and Maleno Malenotti
Run time: 1 hour 39 minutes
Language: Italian
Italian-French co-production
Cast: Yves Montand and Alida Valli
Available from netflix.com and amazon.com

Yves Montand plays Squarciò, a fisherman in a small Italian village, who struggles to make a living in a rather unorthodox and unpopular way. He takes his boat far from the shore and the other fishermen who use nets and drops his homemade bombs into the water. When the fish float to the surface, his two young sons quickly jump in and stuff the fish into bags. What he is doing is clearly illegal but he is tolerated by his community. However, the situation changes dramatically when a new Coast Guard captain comes to town. This outsider is determined to catch Squarciò in the act so that he can arrest him and send him to prison.
- Recommended by Christine Foster Meloni, Culture Club Editor

RUSSIAN

Изображая жертву (Playing the Victim)
Director: Kirill Serebrennikov
Writers: Oleg Presnyakov , Vladimir Presnyakov
Cast: Yuri Chursin, Vitali Khayev, Anna Mikhalkova, Liya Akhedzhakova
Runtime: 1h 37 min

Playing the victim is a Russian film of a new generation. Using a mix of animation and traditional cinematography, Playing the victim sucks you into a psychotic world of a modern Russian dude, Valya (short for Russian name Valentin), who sleeps in his baseball hat and represents a tortured Russian Hamlet with a very-very messed up family. Interested? Wait, it gets better. His daytime job is to portray a murder victim - stabbed, strangled, drowned, or one who fell out of the window - during police investigations.

Valya’s father died under suspicious circumstances, which cause Valya to suffer from recurring nightmares in which his dad talks to him. Valya’s mother is having an affair with Valya's uncle. His girlfriend is desperate to get married. Expectedly, Valya is not happy with his life and searches for that elusive something to make sense of his existence. He tries many things. He sleeps in his baseball hat - always. His room is full of creepy looking toys. His relationships with his girlfriend and mother are complicated. Briefly, Valya is a product of his generation - lost, self-centric, and misunderstood.

The best characters of the film, though, are police captain and an old waitress in a Japanese restaurant. Both represent an older generation - old-fashioned and fatigued by modern way of life. Subsequently, they are the only people who speak reason during 96 minutes of the movie. The captain goes on a violent, moral "what the hell is wrong with you people that you feel the need to drug and drink and kill each other like animals" rant. The waitress dressed as geisha, played superbly by Lia Akhedzhakova from "Irony of Fate," gets drunk on sake and talks about humanism.

Playing the victim is intense: its raw quality and violent, in-your-face words and images outline new Russian cinema, where abundance of curse words is always a must.

(Note: mature content)

SPANISH

Nadie conoce a nadie (Nobody knows anybody), 1999
Director: Mateo Gil
Run time: 110 minutos.
Language: Spanish
Cast: Eduardo Noriega, Jordi Mollà
Available from netflix.com and amazon.com
Rated R for sexuality, violence, language

Spanish (English version below)
Ubicada en Sevilla durante la Semana Santa, este misterio lleno de acción siempre hace la pregunta: ¿Quién es quién, de veras? La trama nos lleva por una semana desesperada de buscar al presunto predador de varios asesinatos que puedan acabar con la muerte de mucha de la gente que abarrota las calles estrechas de la ciudad durante los desfiles. El entorno de la Semana Santa en Sevilla provee el fondo para juegos de “pilla-pilla” computerizados y vivos, pasando por muchos de los sitios famosos de Sevilla, el periodismo y la investigación, y la psicología del grupo. El personaje principal (Eduardo Noriega) es un escritor frustrado que gana la vida como el experto y escritor de crucigramas para el periódico local, comparte su piso con un nuevo “amigo” desconocido (Jordi Mollá). Se siente atraído al trama por un mensaje que aparece en su contestador telefónico que le manda incluir palabras específicas en la crucigrama para el domingo de las pascuas. Por pasos progresivos y bien afinados, la tensión sube a una búsqueda desesperada por la procesión final de la Semana Santa y una conclusión muy dramática e inolvidable.
- Recommended by Sheila Cockey, Film Review Editor

English
Set in Seville during Easter Week, this action mystery of who is who takes the viewer through a week of desperate searching for the perpetrator of unique murders that may culminate in the deaths of the many people crowding Seville’s narrow streets. The milieu of Holy Week in Seville is the backdrop for computerized and live laser tag games, touring many of the famous landmarks of Seville, journalism and research, and group psychology. The main character (played by Eduardo Noriega) is a frustrated writer making his living as the crossword expert for the local newspaper, and sharing his apartment with a newfound friend (played by Jordi Mollà). He is drawn into the plot through a message on his answering machine that tells him to include particular words in his Easter Sunday crossword puzzle. In cadenced, finely tuned steps, the tension rises to a desperate search through the final Holy Week procession and a dramatic conclusion.
- Recommended by Sheila Cockey, Film Review Editor

Reviews:
French: Le Papillon (The Butterfly), 2002

Le Scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), 2007

Yves Saint Laurent: 5 avenue Marceau 75116 Paris (Yves St. Laurent: His Life and Times), 2002

Italian: Deserto dei Tartari (Desert of the Tartars), 1976

Luce Dei Miei Occhi (Light of My Eyes), 2001

Korean: Chunhyang, 2000
Wang-ui namja (The King and the Clown), 2005