"After the wedding"/"Letters from Iwo Jima"
My spring cleaning saga is reaching it's ultimate heights - I have washed the walls and the ceiling in the kitchen yesterday and re-potted all my house plant collection. But oh my, this house needed cleaning. I am definitely winning at it, but I still have few big jobs (like washing the walls in the front room) left.
On Saturday, I went to watch a double of films in the Bradford National Museum of Media - "After the wedding" and "Letters from Iwo Jima".
After the wedding: "You only have one place where you belong, you can't run away from it"
Oh, this was a rarity! I was trying to remember the last Danish film I watched and I could not. And what a good film! My first and the most lasting impression was of the intensity of life that had been created by the clever use of camera work that gave the feeling of the Earth moving and shifting from under your feet. This was also reinforced by the use of strong and intense colours and close-ups.
"After the wedding" deals with human feelings. It is made on two actors whose performances are extraordinary strong - Mads Mikkelsen (last seen as "too attractive to be evil" Le Chiffre in "Casino Royale") and Rolf Lassgård (whom I must see more of!).
The story goes like this: Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) is a manager of an orphanage in India. He is invited back to his home country Denmark to meet Jørgen(Rolf Lassgård), successful businessman who wants to make a donation to help create a chain of orphanages in India. After Jacob attends the wedding of Jørgen's daughter secrets from the past and present are revealed.
I thought that the story itself went into melodrama territory from it's second half onwards, but strangely it didn't spoil the film for me. Mikkelsen and Lassgård were just so believable and true in their opposite personalities, so good and supporting cast was fabulous too, especially Stine Fischer Christensen as Anna, Jørgen's daughter. Jacob was like a wound-up spring, like conscience itself.. And Jørgen was success impersonated; success in business and family life.
Letters from Iwo Jima: "We all are the same, no matter what country we are from"
This Second World War film was also very unusual for me because it shows the war from the view of Japanese soldiers defending the lost cause, a small island Iwo Jima and is filmed in Japanese language even though it's director is American. It is deeply moving film that shows truthfully the situation in the Imperial Japan at the end of World War Two and doesn't take sides. This un-biasness is very difficult and rarely achieved and I applaud Clint Eastwood for his work and dedication in making something quite out of ordinary.
It did take me some effort to get through the first half of the film that was showing fortification works mostly and was a little too long for me, but it picked up from the middle and ended up on a wonderful note ,even though the ending was predictable.
One thing I was wondering about : I have seen some of Japanese dramas and films over the recent months and I like to watch and notice different facial expressions, gestures and manners. This is one of the best things about watching Japanese films and dramas, that different culture one can get a glimpse of. This felt strangely missing in "Letters of Iwo Juma", but it could be just me and my perception of things; may be they do make sandwiches in Japan? I wonder what other people who are more familiar with Japanese culture then me think.. I was trying to find responses of Japanese audience to "Letters of Iwo Jima", I wonder what do they think?
On Saturday, I went to watch a double of films in the Bradford National Museum of Media - "After the wedding" and "Letters from Iwo Jima".
After the wedding: "You only have one place where you belong, you can't run away from it"
Oh, this was a rarity! I was trying to remember the last Danish film I watched and I could not. And what a good film! My first and the most lasting impression was of the intensity of life that had been created by the clever use of camera work that gave the feeling of the Earth moving and shifting from under your feet. This was also reinforced by the use of strong and intense colours and close-ups.
"After the wedding" deals with human feelings. It is made on two actors whose performances are extraordinary strong - Mads Mikkelsen (last seen as "too attractive to be evil" Le Chiffre in "Casino Royale") and Rolf Lassgård (whom I must see more of!).
The story goes like this: Jacob (Mads Mikkelsen) is a manager of an orphanage in India. He is invited back to his home country Denmark to meet Jørgen(Rolf Lassgård), successful businessman who wants to make a donation to help create a chain of orphanages in India. After Jacob attends the wedding of Jørgen's daughter secrets from the past and present are revealed.
I thought that the story itself went into melodrama territory from it's second half onwards, but strangely it didn't spoil the film for me. Mikkelsen and Lassgård were just so believable and true in their opposite personalities, so good and supporting cast was fabulous too, especially Stine Fischer Christensen as Anna, Jørgen's daughter. Jacob was like a wound-up spring, like conscience itself.. And Jørgen was success impersonated; success in business and family life.
Letters from Iwo Jima: "We all are the same, no matter what country we are from"
This Second World War film was also very unusual for me because it shows the war from the view of Japanese soldiers defending the lost cause, a small island Iwo Jima and is filmed in Japanese language even though it's director is American. It is deeply moving film that shows truthfully the situation in the Imperial Japan at the end of World War Two and doesn't take sides. This un-biasness is very difficult and rarely achieved and I applaud Clint Eastwood for his work and dedication in making something quite out of ordinary.
It did take me some effort to get through the first half of the film that was showing fortification works mostly and was a little too long for me, but it picked up from the middle and ended up on a wonderful note ,even though the ending was predictable.
One thing I was wondering about : I have seen some of Japanese dramas and films over the recent months and I like to watch and notice different facial expressions, gestures and manners. This is one of the best things about watching Japanese films and dramas, that different culture one can get a glimpse of. This felt strangely missing in "Letters of Iwo Juma", but it could be just me and my perception of things; may be they do make sandwiches in Japan? I wonder what other people who are more familiar with Japanese culture then me think.. I was trying to find responses of Japanese audience to "Letters of Iwo Jima", I wonder what do they think?