047. Die weisse Massai / The White Massai (Germany - 2005)

Again, here I am, taking ages to update the blog, but I'm back! Some new films (some of them were fantastic and enlightening experiences, whereas others were just mediocres conventions of film), and I'll be adding them in the next four days or so. The first ones will account for the films that I watched during the months of March and April, mostly. I'm a little behind schedule, because of a book chapter I had to write and some other academic activities, but I'm catching up progressively, and me and Jéssica are finally rejoined in Florianópolis and we can watch more films together.
So, here we go with The White Massai, which I had watched mid-March for a course on Post-colonialism and De-colonialism.

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This is an interesting biopic as far as initial construction of plot and concept goes. The film begins well, and the tale of the white woman from the European reality comes in contact with the African otherness, and falls in love with the warrior spirit of the Masai warrior. Cliché enough, but cute enough, I must say. She immediately dumps her Swiss boyfriend - who was travelling with her - and goes after Lemalian, the Masai warrior. The failure of the film is in the poor representation of the brave white woman that wants to free herself from the chains of colonisation and blend in the African tribal society and ultimately sees that not all was a paradise that she thought it was primarily. The film only reaffirms the sense of otherness of the African, of the "primitive", the tribal. She snatches the riches of Africa, reiterates the image of the coloniser,and offensively dismisses Lemalian's culture in a disdainful manner fleeing cowardly from the country and taking with her their son, representing the soul of the African people. The fruit of her now faded away love is whitened violently. Okay, it's a biopic, but a film always has a soul of its own, and the right to distance itself from reality in order to avoid depreciative discourse.
Good initial attempt, but ultimately a failure.

Director: Hermine Huntgeburth.

Score
Cinematography: 7.0
Acting: 8.0
Editing: 7.0
Sound: 7.0
Text: 6.5
Concept: 8.0
Premise Execution: 4.5

Average Score: 6.6

042. Philomena (United Kingdom - 2013)

Simple film. A bit too simple. A biographical piece about a mother who's in a search for her son, taken from her 50 years before, when she was in a convent. She now asks a man (Martin Sixsmith, played by Steve Coogan, the beloved Alan Partridge) to write a book on her life, and what was just sessions of storytelling becomes a hunt for a long-lost son. Full of emotional clichés, the film didn't quite convince me, although it's well polished and with good enough performances from the actors. Very average film, about a theme that could also be considered average. Another one nominated for Best Film last Sunday, which I don't quite know why was there, if I'm being honest.

Director: Stephen Frears.

Score
Cinematography: 8.0
Acting: 8.5
Editing: 8.0
Sound: 7.5
Text: 7.5
Concept: 7.0
Premise Execution: 7.5


Average Score: 7.7

041. 12 Years a Slave (United Kingdom - 2013)

I was sobbing, I was speechless after we were done. This must be the most moving and socially relevant film made in the mainstream scene in the last five years or so. The conscience of human suffering that it awakens is remarkable. A truly moving experience, and a fine piece of art.

The beginning is just textbook editing all the way. We're showed the former situation of Solomon Northup's life before the film moves on to how he was kidnapped and sold to slavers. A black free man returned to his wretched past. The carnage of slavery in the mid-nineteenth century was still strong, unabating, and going southward. Lupita Nyong'o does an amazing job as Patsy (which earned her an Academy Award for Supporting Actress), and both Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Fassbender do a superb job in the protagonist-antagonist layer of the film. The storytelling is pristine, and no plot holes at all are left behind. The calm, thought provoking cinematography is also perfect.

12 Years a Slave is a film that doesn't come about too often. It's a story not only to be moved by, but also to reflect upon. The historical suffering of people can always be revisited by art; in fact, it must. Cinema serves well as a reminder of how society can be misled by dangerous conveniences and wrong perspectives. This film is an aesthetic portrait of that. 

Director: Steve McQueen

Score 
Cinematography: 9.5
Acting: 9.5
Editing: 9.0
Sound: 8.5
Text: 8.5
Concept: 8.5
Premise Execution: 9.5

Average Score: 9.0

026. Marie Antoinette (United States and France - 2006)

A lavish production with empty premises. Sure, the parodic way Sofia Coppola found to depict the historical figure of Marie Antoinette can be a bit interesting, but that's as far as it goes. A bit interesting. The film contains beautiful images, both of scenery and of costumes/make-up/setting, but the dialogues are completely out of place. It seemed as though Sofia hadn't made up her mind about whether she wanted a historical film or a temporal adaptation, bringing the thematic nuances of the production to today's fads and language, as well as music. But it was a failure. Empty dialogues, messed up dramas and conflicts, and a disservice as regards social conscience: the working classes are seriously taken as a rather dull hindrance to the queen's luxury, while she celebrates her own futile events and indifference to her people. And there's no resolution that justifies that in the end. The subjective figure of Marie keeps on going as materialistic as possible.
What a lousy job, Sofia...

Director: Sofia Coppola.

Score
Cinematography: 7.5
Acting: 7.0
Editing: 6.0
Sound: 6.0
Text: 5.0
Concept: 6.0
Premise execution: 4.5

Average Score: 5.9

009. I'm not there (United States - 2007)

On Saturday, while at my cousin Fellype's house, I watched I'm not there. Now, that's a unique experience in itself, a film that disembowels the most abstract aspects of Bob Dylan's career, sorting out all his memorable moments in life in six different personas throughout the film (played by Ben Whishaw, Marcus Carl Franklin, Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Cate Blanchett and Richard Gere, in order of appearance). I never expected to watch a biographical film like that. However, I'm not sure I grabbed every meaningful instance the film had to offer, so I finished it quite confused. I was certain that it had been a great cinematographically sensorial experience, but had little to comment on for my knowledge on Dylan's life is very short. Only the temporal and graphical continuation can be deceiving sometimes, and to me, that was a big con for I'm not there. Besides, the long length of it can wear one out, but just if you're not delved into the magnificent photography and the emblematic dialogues. Great film.

Director: Todd Haynes.

Score
Cinematography: 9.0
Acting: 9.0
Editing: 6.5
Sound: 8.5
Text (amazing one, but considering the viewer has got a previous - and wide - knowledge on Dylan's life) : 8.0

Average score: 8.4