One Movie One Country
Recently, I started a project in which I will watch at least one movie from each of the countries in the world. The goal is to develop an understanding of people and cultures from all over the place. Of course it will be nice to visit all these place but I think in this day and age with so much media content it is possible to develop some sense of the world even if it is not always possible to travel for a variety of reasons. In this blog I will only include the movies which seemed very special and gives you a sense of what everyday life is like in that culture/community. There is so much more this world has to offer if we just look outside our recommendation bubble :).
I am just writing my thoughts on each movies. They are not supposed to be reviews. Rest assured, if a movie made me write about it is probably good. Also why people read reviews anyways. Just watch the movie. :)
This is such a beautiful and sweet movie. Once in a while you come across a movie which is borderline therapeutic in this busy world. To say the least the movie is just about a nomadic Mongolian family living in a yurt. The whole cast has the same last name so I just assume that they are a real family. It is very difficult to get any more information on them. But I found myself smiling most of the times during the movie. The kids asking questions to their parents and responding to their silly answers. There was not a hint of pretentiousness in the movie. It really gave me much appreciation for a simple nomadic life in a farm away from the excess of modern world.
The music is minimal in the movie and is often mixed with the lullaby's of the mother which is awesome. However, when the music swells up it gives a real sense of the tone the movie is going for.
I always think that we can only know if something happening to us is good or bad when we look back at it, we cannot know whether the thing that is happening to us is good or bad at that moment. The movie portrays that very succinctly.
It is a very very good movie.
2. Children of Heaven (1997, Iran)
3. Un condamné à mort s'est échappé (1956, France)
Not particularly a representation of French life. But nonetheless a really awesome suspense thriller about a man trying to escape from a French-Nazi prison.
4. Yeopgijeogin geunyeo (2001, South Korea)
5. Lilja 4-Ever (2002, Russia/Sweden)
6. Frances Ha (2012, United States)
A movie about two girls who are best friends and live in New York. Its a funny story about how their life and internal dynamics changes as they go though life. Kind of coming out of age movie, but its so funny and hilarious and relatable.
