Change Your Image
morganhiatt
Reviews
Sen to Chihiro no kamikakushi (2001)
Beauty and Greed
Spirited Away is a great foreign film that represents the filth and corruption of society. Hayao Miyazaki, the director of this film, represented throughout his movie the problems of the modern society compared to the ideas and vies of the traditional society. The bathhouse in this movie is seen as a symbol of purity, which is a more traditional view that covers many Buddhist ideas. The two demon beings that were incorporated by the director represented the bad and evil of modern society. The first one represented the pollution that is constantly around us and the second one represented greed.
The movie's picture and color was very unique and different from today's animation, where every scene was hand painted, which made the movie seem more real. Another aspect of the movie that made it seem very real was the fact that the characters lips matched there words. These beautiful paintings and close attention to detail made for a very out of the ordinary animated movie.
Miyazaki presented the older ignorant generations as pigs of society because they were being greedy and would not stop eating the food. He also pointed out that they were unwilling to change from there corrupt ways and adjust to make society a better place to live. However, the younger generation did not seem to have as big a problem changing. Through symbolism, Miyazaki showed how the younger generations have the ability to change their views and take on society from one that is corrupt, dishonest, and modern to that of a more traditional society. Miyazaki used Chihiro in the movie as a symbol of this younger generation's ability to change more so than the older generation like her parents. Spirited Away portrays this generational change to show the arrogance of the Western more modern world and the idea that they will be able to clean up society.
I would recommend this movie to someone who does not have a problem with anime but also someone that can appreciate the beauty of art since each scene was hand painted. There were also a lot of underlying factors in this movie that made you think about society and the way that we live today, so if you like to ponder and dig deeper into things this movie will make you happy. And I would not recommend it to an American audience considering there are a lot of Buddhist and Taoist views that are represented and can give a negative connotation to Western society.
Rashômon (1950)
Lying to Oneself
Rashoman is a great foreign film that follows four different views from four different people that experienced the same episode. The episode was the story of a husband and wife, and a bandit that gets in the way of the couple's travels. This movie does not have a satisfying ending where it is revealed what really happened. All of these differing views do not give the ending any help either because none of them seem to overlap one another or have many ideas that are the same throughout them. This relates to the credibility of the people as well seeing that none of them seem to know what the truth is and it is about lying to oneself.
This movie definitely did not have a big budget as there were only about three major scenes that were seen over and over again. This film did not seem to be based on the landscape or the many different places but more on the characters and what they had to say. The one scene that stood out the most was the one that dealt with the whole story which was in the woods. There was a lot of focus on the emotions of all the characters and the animation they used when telling there side of the story. The plot was very simple considering the whole idea was to see the lie that everyone was telling themselves in order to seem more honorable or a good person. Conflict is undeniably apparent in this film because of the inconsistency of the stories and what takes place in the woods.
This film has one of those endings that leave you thinking about what really happened. This story is not scary to keep people from taking a walk in the woods but rather to show how people tell stories and make them out to look good. I would definitely suggest this to people that enjoy foreign films and would like to experience something different from American films.
Gomgashtei dar Aragh (2002)
Chaos and Landscapes Encourage the Director
Marooned in Iraq is a great foreign film that follows these three gentlemen through their journey from Iran to Iraq. Throughout this journey there are many obstacles that they face to find a woman, Hanareh. This film does a great job of focusing on the ideas of the Iran/Iraq border. There is also a lot of focus on the landscape and chaos throughout the film.
For instance, throughout the film there is a lot of chaos that the men face while trying to get into Iraq. They are faced with robbers who take everything from them. During this incident the director pans out in a wide view of the area as they are forced to walk. This view of the landscape shows that the director thought the land itself was an important aspect to the quality of the film. They also encounter many refugee camps in which they try to find Hanareh or ask others if they know anything about her whereabouts. In this there is much chaos because of all the people that are trying to cross the Iran/Iraq border and are taking a break before they get the opportunity to cross.
Another aspect of the area of Iran is that this is all taking place during the war and all around you can hear the sounds of the war. There are the planes and bombs going on everywhere and the people keep going on with their lives as if this is nothing. This is a nice representation that the director shows that even though there are horrible things going on these people are trying to make a better life for themselves.
I think that all in all this is an interesting film to watch. There are many controversies that surround Iran and Iraq and it gives an inside view of what it is like and how the people in this region react. I would definitely suggest this to people that enjoy foreign films and would like to experience something different from American films.
Bacheha-Ye aseman (1997)
Children of Heaven
The Children of Heaven is a great foreign film that follows these two children through all their ups and downs and journeys. I believe that this movie does a great job of symbolizing the ideas of modernity vs. tradition and the values of Islam.
For instance, the will of God was presented through out this movie and shown in a good light. In the movie Ali and Zahra were very effective in changing their lives and having an effect on what was going on and how they were going to do things. This was also done better than the parents because they were not shown in a very leading light like the children were but more in the background and shadows. This also demonstrates the idea that the younger generation is more open and willing to change than the older generation.
An example of this effect that the children have would be when Zahra finally finds her shoes. When the two of them chase down the girl and see her family and how they live they decide that it is not worth taking the shoes back since the family seemed to be much poorer than they were.
Another effect would be when Ali went with his father to find work in the uptown city; he showed more backbone than his father did. Ali found a way to ask others is they needed any gardeners and eventually he found someone they could work for. In this effect Ali was able to get his father the job which in turn earned them quite a bit of extra money. And in a round about way this money eventually gets the two children gifts that they would enjoy.
These are just a few of the examples throughout the movie that show a lot of effect from the children that from the parents. This is a great movie and it depicts a different culture in a very interesting light.