just a mirror for the sun
Movie club again last night! stv's choice, which was ostensibly "Road Movies" but in fact turned out to be "non-Hollywood politically sub-texted road movies set in rural areas of third-world countries and focusing on revelations of sexual infidelity". This is, of course, because there are no new ideas any more, but mostly because humans are pattern-recognising creatures and will make links between any two anythings juxtaposed. It worked very well last night. We watched Y tu mamá también and White Wedding, both of which were thoroughly enjoyable. Food check: abandoned the rare beef fillet in favour of giant cooked gammon on post-Christmas special, plus various Things To Put On Bread (snoek pâté, roasted red pepper hummus, camembert). Yum. Also, cold, which was necessary as Cape Town continues to continue hot.
I didn't see Y tu mamá también when it first came out, possibly because of the hype, but mostly, I suspect, because it looks like a Serious and Emotionally Difficult Film, and I avoid those like the plague most of the time. I am incredibly glad to have seen it - it's an amazing piece of cinema, which manages to be funny and filthy and affectionately real about teenaged boys while also delivering large quantities of pathos and insight, as well as ongoing political commentary which is all the more punchy for being hands-off and in the background. As represented, Mexico is scary, both in its poverty and its privilege, and horribly familiar. (As, in fact, are the teenaged boys - it's a bit odd, to watch this kind of film with my kind of job, where I am in daily contact with teenaged boys. I find it all too terribly believable that this lost, stoned, hyper-sexual ineptitude might go on in the bits of their lives I don't see). Mostly, though, I loved the way this film was made. It's real and gritty, the (good lord, wildly frequent) sex scenes are disturbingly un-soft-focus, but the whole thing is framed with a beautiful restraint and minimalism which delineates with a kind of detatched and rueful affection but doesn't insist on interpretation. Wonderful film.
I really didn't expect to enjoy White Wedding, which is a 2009 South African film about a hapless groom's attempts to get to his wedding in Cape Town, via the Eastern Cape. In fact, it's a blast to watch - a good-humoured, well-made, fast-moving romantic comedy which manages, in passing, to nod to, pillory and affectionately deconstruct a whole host of South African political subtexts. I'm amazed by how well they get away with some fairly howling stereotypes; black wedding couple negotiating the generational gaps between Westernised and traditional township weddings; black player best friend; white English tourist; rural black grannies and township mothers; and the delirious scene with the drunk black hero singing "Delarey" in an Afrikaner pub. It's full of happy little throwaway moments, characters and jokes which makes it busy and vibrant without actually detracting from the coherence of the overall plot. This movie honestly shouldn't be as much fun to watch as it was. Also, Cape Town scenes cause all onlookers to cheer and punch the air in civic loyalty.
I didn't see Y tu mamá también when it first came out, possibly because of the hype, but mostly, I suspect, because it looks like a Serious and Emotionally Difficult Film, and I avoid those like the plague most of the time. I am incredibly glad to have seen it - it's an amazing piece of cinema, which manages to be funny and filthy and affectionately real about teenaged boys while also delivering large quantities of pathos and insight, as well as ongoing political commentary which is all the more punchy for being hands-off and in the background. As represented, Mexico is scary, both in its poverty and its privilege, and horribly familiar. (As, in fact, are the teenaged boys - it's a bit odd, to watch this kind of film with my kind of job, where I am in daily contact with teenaged boys. I find it all too terribly believable that this lost, stoned, hyper-sexual ineptitude might go on in the bits of their lives I don't see). Mostly, though, I loved the way this film was made. It's real and gritty, the (good lord, wildly frequent) sex scenes are disturbingly un-soft-focus, but the whole thing is framed with a beautiful restraint and minimalism which delineates with a kind of detatched and rueful affection but doesn't insist on interpretation. Wonderful film.
I really didn't expect to enjoy White Wedding, which is a 2009 South African film about a hapless groom's attempts to get to his wedding in Cape Town, via the Eastern Cape. In fact, it's a blast to watch - a good-humoured, well-made, fast-moving romantic comedy which manages, in passing, to nod to, pillory and affectionately deconstruct a whole host of South African political subtexts. I'm amazed by how well they get away with some fairly howling stereotypes; black wedding couple negotiating the generational gaps between Westernised and traditional township weddings; black player best friend; white English tourist; rural black grannies and township mothers; and the delirious scene with the drunk black hero singing "Delarey" in an Afrikaner pub. It's full of happy little throwaway moments, characters and jokes which makes it busy and vibrant without actually detracting from the coherence of the overall plot. This movie honestly shouldn't be as much fun to watch as it was. Also, Cape Town scenes cause all onlookers to cheer and punch the air in civic loyalty.