Tag: Friendship
GREAT Films about the Immigrant Experience
Avalon (1990)
This is a gorgeous film directed by Barry Levinson (Diner, Homicide, Liberty Heights, etc.) It’s a talent-laden (Armin Mueller-Stahl, Aiden Quinn, and a very young Elijah Wood play the male leads) drama set in ’50s Baltimore. The film explores 3 generations of a tightly-knit, middle-class, Jewish-American family. My dad really liked this story; it’s suitable for all ages!
Mississippi Masala (1999)
I tell all my desi friends (and anyone who likes good films) about this one! I first saw it as an undergrad. This small-budget/educational/realistic film was directed by Mira Nair; she also plays a small role as a catty auntie. The screenwriter, Nair’s close friend/collaborator Sooni Taraporevela, said the basis for the love story between Meena (Sarita Choudhury) and Demetrius (Denzel Washington) was partly inspired by a fellow Indian gal pal at Harvard who fell in love with a black (Jamaican) man. The dialogue is spot-on and the sweet romance between Meena and Demetrius is as hot as the setting (small towns of Mississippi). There is another kind of love in this story- Jay (veteran Indian actor Roshan Seth), Meena’s father/lawyer-turned-motel manager, desperately trying to get back property/citizenship in his native Uganda (scenes were filmed in Nair’s own Kampala house).
Sidenote: I saw Sarita at a staged play reading in NYC (back in 2006). Film does NOT do her justice; she’s stunning in real life!
My Family/Mi Familia (1995)
Unfair deportation, police aggression, gangs/crime, Catholicism, and the ties that bind families are explored in one of my all-time favorite films. I saw this first during my 12th grade American History class; later I saw it w/ my family (they all liked it a lot, too). It was directed superbly by a Californian of Mexican heritage, Gregory Nava (Selena, Frida). The music is an integral part of the story, as is the moral compass/strength of matriarch Maria Sanchez, who is played by Jennifer Lopez (younger) and Jenny Gago (older). The male leads are played by Jacob Vargas (Jose), Esai Morales (Chucho), and Jimmy Smits (Jimmy). Edward James Olmos plays the aspiring writer, also the narrator. Scott Bakula plays the husband of Toni (Constance Marie). The setting is primarily East L.A. (a long-established Latino neighborhood).
Nuovomundo/Golden Door (1996)
Don’t let the language (primarily Italian) deter you from this unique/educational film; it contains some magical realism. It was produced by the famed Martin Scorcese, himself a proud Italian-American. The (nearly unspoken) love story in the film is between kind-hearted Italian peasant Salvatore (Vincenzo Amato) and mysterious/redheaded Englishwoman Lucy (Charlotte Gainsbourg). Salvatore decides to sail to the U.S. so his family, which includes two teen sons and mother, can survive. Crops won’t grow on his land, and his brother is already settled in NYC. However, after their ship lands on Ellis Island, there are more tests/tribulations ahead!
Liberty Heights (1999)
Another of Levinson’s fine films- this time focusing on brothers who live in a Jewish-American enclave of ’50s Baltimore. The narrator, 17 y.o. Van (Ben Foster), and his college-going brother, Ben (Adrien Brody) are good kids trying to figure themselves out. You will relate to this film, especially if you are a 1st generation American, as the Kurtzman brothers navigate around heritage, parents, and wider racial issues of the ’50s. Van befriends Sylvia (Rebekah Johnson), the only black girl in his class. Ben makes new friends at a party and eventually falls for Dubbie (Carolyn Murphy), a gorgeous/troubled WASP. Yussel (David Krumholtz), Ben’s best pal/smart-aleck, provides a lot of the comedy. The parents in the film are portrayed by Joe Mantegna and Bebe Neuwirth.
The Namesake (2006)
This is the first film exploring two generations of an Indian-American family (Bengali in heritage); it is based on Jhumpa Lahiri’s novel and directed by Mira Nair. I saw it in 3 different theaters w/ different groups of family/friends (who all loved it). Gogol/Nikhil (Kal Penn) and his little sister, Sonia, grow up on Long Island, the children of successful/overprotective immigrant parents, professor Ashok (Irrfan Khan) and homemaker Ashima Ganguli (Tabu). Though the novel’s main focus was Gogol, Nair takes a deeper focus into the slow-burn love story between Ashok and Ashima (I enjoyed their scenes most). Irrfan Khan is amazing; too bad he decided not to come to Hollywood!
Criss Cross (1949)
Tagline: The savage drama of an amazing double double-cross!
This meaty film noir is a follow-up to The Killers (1946). It reteams German director Robert Siodmak with star Burt Lancaster (age 35 here), who once again finds himself in a deadly love triangle. Lancaster, cast against type as a loser, Steve Thompson, a man who returns to his native LA after a year of wandering about the country. He doesn’t call up his ex-wife, Anna (Yvonne De Carlo), but they bump into each other. Steve still “has her in his blood,” much to the dismay of his mother. Maybe it was bad luck? Or fate?
She’s all right, she’s just young. -Steve
Hah! Some ways, she knows more than Einstein. -Mrs. Thompson
Anna and Steve rekindle their relationship for a time, but then she sneaks off to marry gangster Slim Dundee (Dan Duryea), who operates out of a local bar/nightclub. Steve almost can’t believe his ears when the sympathetic bartender breaks the news. Does Anna only care about money?
This is also the film debut (not credited) of Tony Curtis, who dances in the rhumba scene. Later, Curtis and Lancaster would costar in Trapeze and Sweet Smell of Success.
I should have been a better friend. I shoulda stopped you. I shoulda grabbed you by the neck, I shoulda kicked your teeth in. I’m sorry Steve. -Pete
This film is unusual for the genre, because Steve is not a loner, with no one to look out for his well-being. He has a loving family- mother, jovial little brother, and future sister-in-law. He has a good friend in Lt. Pete Ramirez, a cop he’s known since childhood. The many minor characters lend flavor to this film.
In time, he draws himself into Slim’s sphere, proposing an armored car heist. This heist involves a elderly co-worker who’s seeing his widowed mother. The main action scene was very well-done, as it looked quite modern.
Love… love! You’ve got to watch out for yourself! -Anna
He [Siodmark] fragments the narrative through flashbacks, counterposing the hopes of Lancaster’s return home with the desperation into which he has fallen. He also slows down for virtuosic sequences that only a great director could bring off: a long scene when the heist is being plotted, with the bored DeCarlo smoking cigarettes (“It passes the time”) while the railway criss-crosses the window behind her; and an equally long one in the hospital, involving a cranked-up bed, a tilted mirror on the bureau, and a visitor in the corridor- a good Samaritan who turns out to be his worst nightmare. -IMDB review excerpt
Anna is not like a typical femme fatale, as she’s not the planner. Steve takes agency in the robbery, though he never wanted anyone to be killed, if possible. He thinks naively, as he “wasn’t born into this” (Pete comments). He cared about love, not the money. The last quarter of the film is atmospheric, intense, and very well done. Anyone can become a fool for love, even Lancaster. Look at how young/sad/lost Steve looks when he sees Anna in the club (dancing carelessly) after so long. This is a fine performance, layered yet accessible.
Dallas Buyers Club (2013)
Matthew McConaughey (transformed physically) disappears into his role of real-life ’80s AIDS crusader, Ron Woodruff. This film was made with a very small budget, and directed by a French-Canadian, Jean-Marc Vallee (The Young Victoria). I never heard of this story until my friends and I went to see it (just before the holidays)!
Ain’t nuthin’ out there can kill Ron Woodruff in 30 days!
Ron is an electrician by trade, but (part-time) bull riding is his real love. Drinking and hooking up with random women (many of whom follow the rodeo) is also part of his dangerous lifestyle. When Ron gets injured at a jobsite, he’s taken to the local hospital. The attending doctor (matter-of-factly) tells him that he has HIV and only 30 days to live. Yes, it’s a very serious/heavy film!
Ron is initially very angry and in denial that he would have a disease that only gay men have. Upon quick reflection, he comes to the realization that the diagnosis is probably true. (He’s no dummy!) Ron starts reading up on HIV/AIDS, which (at that time) seems to be most effectively treated by AZT, which was only in clinical trials.
Ron can’t get into the clinical trials, he learns from a sympathetic doctor, Eve (Jennifer Garner), a woman he mistakes for a nurse. So, he goes searching for meds on his own. Ron goes to a doctor in Mexico. He even flies to Japan to meet with a bigwig in the drug industry. In time, Ron forms an alliance with Rayon (Jared Leto), a transvestite who is on and off the wagon (struggling with heroine addiction). Rayon is in the clinical trial, and also shares a childhood connection with Eve. In one of the film’s most revealing scenes, Rayon puts on a suit to settle monetary concerns with a banker (also his father).
This film is educational, not merely entertainment. It was a big labor of love for all involved, including Brad Pittt and Ryan Gosling. Check it out before the Oscars!
LOTR: The Two Towers – Extended Edition (2002)
The two towers refer to Saruman’s (Isengard) and Sauron’s (Barad-Dur) strongholds. The fellowship has gone its separate ways, so there is much more to see in this film. Saruman’s army is getting bigger each day. We see how Uruk-hai are being bred (gross); Treebeard (voiced by John Rhys-Davies, who also plays Gimli) thinks they are orcs crossed w/ men.
Frodo (Elijah Wood) and Sam (Sean Astin) travel with Gollum (Andy Serkis), a creature that they can’t fully trust. Gollum says that he can’t be far from the ring, and calls Frodo “master.” He had the ring for 500 years, so is in its power (as Galadriel explained in FOTR).
One of the best things about the EE- Sean Bean! We get to learn more about Boromir, his younger brother Faramir (David Wenham), and their father Denethor (John Noble). Faramir offered to go to the council of Elrond at Rivendell, but his father refused him.
Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas meet Eomer (Karl Urban) and the horsemen loyal to him. He’s in despair, after losing his cousin (Theodred) in battle and being banished from Edoras by Grima. Théoden (Bernard Hill) is under Saruman’s spell, so he can’t function as king. I love the Rohan musical theme!
The White Wizard that everyone seems to fear turns out to be a good guy- Gandalf!
Merry and Pip first see him (in Fangorn Forest). We see the ingenuity of these two hobbits. After escaping from Saruman’s forces, Pip leaves a trail which Aragorn follows. Merry realizes that the Ents (tree herders) can help in the battle for Middle Earth.
The CGI effects on Théoden were very cool! He comes back to his old self in a few moments. But his only son is dead, and he laments this in a nice scene with Gandalf. The young are not supposed to die while “the old linger on.”
My favorite character in this film is Eowyn (Mirando Otto). She is caring, can handle a sword (will see just how well later), and develops a friendship w/ Aragorn. Does she love him? Or does she want to fight beside him as an equal? Maybe both! In the EE, we learn that Eowyn can’t cook very well. Aragorn grows to admire Eowyn.
Gimli is quite funny in this film, though he continues to fight very well (as in FOTR). He and Legolas are more friendly here, but have an ongoing rivalry. We learn that dwarf women also have beards.
Frodo and Sam learn that Boromir is dead from Faramir, captain of Gondor. Faramir is another of my faves in the LOTR films- he’s the reluctant warrior who’s a deep thinker. He sets the hobbits free after realizing the destructive power of the one ring, and the importance of the quest.
Elrond (Hugo Weaving) convinces Arwen (Liv Tyler) to leave Rivendell and travel to The Undying Lands. In a somewhat eerie sequence, he speaks of her future life should she marry Aragorn (a mortal man). I think this is a bit longer in the EE.
The toughest stuff to shoot was the battle at Helm’s Deep, the cast and crew explain on disc 4 of the EE. The elves, lead by Haldir (Craig Parker), come to fight beside the men/boys of Rohan. Then a new day comes, and Gandalf, Eomer, and his men ride in to defeat the Uruk-hai army.
Knightleyemma 