Krigen (A War) comes out of Denmark, from director Tobias Lindholm. It stars Pilou Asbaek (Euron Greyjoy of Game of Thrones fame) as Claus, a commander of a group of soldiers hunting Taliban in Afghanistan. His troop loses one man when he steps on an IED, and it has shaken unit’s core. Shortly after, they are pinned down in a compound while on a patrol, taking heavy fire, when another member is critically wounded. The medevac can’t come in, so Claus orders an airstrike of the vicinity where he believes the enemy fire is coming from. It works, and the wounded soldier is rescued out, saving his life. Unfortunately for Claus, there were woman and children in that compound, and he is brought up on charges that he called the attack without having confirmation of an enemy presence there. The final section of the film shifts from the war zone to the court room. The movie is critically acclaimed, but I wasn’t moved. For one, I don’t think Asbaek is that great of an actor (wasn’t in Game of Thrones, and this film hasn’t changed my mind). Secondly, while Claus was obviously in a no-win situation, it’s still awfully egotistical to think the life of one soldier is more important than a house full of innocents. Very average film for me. ★★½
Theeb is much better. A joint production from a few countries including Jordan, UAE, and the UK, and from director Naji Abu Nowar, it takes place in the desert during World War I. Young Theeb (a name that means wolf) and his older brother Hussein are hired to guide an English soldier and his Arab companion Marji through the desert to a railway. The Englishmen’s orders are to get there fast, so they take a shortcut through the canyon, despite local warnings that the path has more bandits than pilgrims these days. The warnings prove prophetic, as they are waylaid at a well halfway through. Several bandits are killed and one badly injured before the soldier, Marji, and Hussein are all killed, leaving Theeb alone. After waiting at the well a couple days, the initially wounded bandit returns, having been abandoned by his thieving “friends.” Theeb is too small and not physically strong enough to get the bandit’s camel to follow orders, so he nurses the bandit well enough to take them out of there. This uneasy alliance is the focalpoint of the final third of the film. Fantastic, suspenseful film, and a bit of a coming-of-age in a world very different from the one we live here in the USA. The end will leave you thinking. ★★★½
Monos hails from Colombia, directed by Alejandro Landes. This is a powerful film about a group of teenagers, really not much more than boys and girls, who have been recruited into a guerrilla war. The commander looking over their regiment, a militant and abusive man known as “the messenger,” has charged them with watching over an American hostage whom they call the doctor. The kids all go by nicknames, or call-signs, themselves, including Dog, Rambo, Bigfoot, Wolf, Lady, Smurf, and others. They though are obviously “bad guys,” they really are just children playing at being grownups, and their play in the beginning of the film drives this home. However, as the film goes along, they become more violent, and the movie takes on an almost Lord of the Flies-esque feel, with one boy starting to call all the shots and punish those who go against him. The imagery and music in this film are incredible. It’s impossible to explain, but the jungle feels alive through the screen, and you feel like you are there with them. An incredibly touching and emotional film, with mostly an unknown cast, with only two recognizable faces if you watch a lot of films, and otherwise newcomers, all of whom are up to the task for the nuanced and difficult roles. ★★★★
Mustang is a powerful film, the debut of director Deniz Gamze Erguven, and a coproduction of France and Turkey. Drawing a lot of parallels to Sofia Coppola’s famous The Virgin Suicides, it is about five sisters growing up together in Turkey. Their parents are dead, and they’ve been raised by their grandmother and uncle. Seeing them as getting too wild in their strict conservative society, grandmother decides it is finally time to start marrying them off, though all are just teenagers, and still engage in childish games with each other. Worse yet, in their culture, they rarely get to pick the lucky husband. Not to mention, we see more is going on behind closed doors than we are aware of in the beginning, when we see that after the two oldest daughters are married out, the uncle secrets into the third daughter’s bedroom one night. Told from the perspective of the youngest sister, Lale, who sees and notices all, it is a compassionate film about the perseverance and bond of sisters’ love. Though the film received criticism in Turkey for not accurately depicting the culture towards women there, I’m sure there are still plenty of places in the world where they are treated as such, and it is an eye-opening film for the age we live in. ★★★★
First Love is a Japanese film, highly entertaining, which almost defies characterization. It is billed as a crime thriller, but I think it had more laugh-out-loud moments that suspenseful ones, and the fight scenes have so much gratuitous gore that it is beyond ridiculous. Many times in the film, you can’t help but chuckle and shake your head at the purposeful outlandishness of it all. Leo is a boxer who is told he has a huge inoperable brain tumor, on the same day that he crosses paths with Monica, a prostitute and drug addict who has been set up to take the fall in an inside drug deal that is supposed to go bad. Chased by the “good” bad guys, the “bad” bad guys, a corrupt cop, and a vengeful girl bent on getting revenge for her killed boyfriend, Leo and Monica spend a night just trying to survive. Thankfully for them, the pursuers are as inept as they come. I’m unfamiliar with director Takashi Miike’s work, but if they are all like this, they are probably all a wild ride. ★★★½
Jons Movie Takes 