Serious fare

2/15/08

4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days
Written and directed by Cristian Mungiu

This movie is simply one of the best things out there right now. It's from Romania, and therefore is not going to be on everyone's radar screen. Fans of art-house cinema already know about it, though. It won the Palme d'Or at at Cannes last year, and TVOR can find no reason to quibble with that. The film tells the story of two young women in late-1980's Romania. One of the young women wants an abortion, in a country where abortion is a criminal act. The other one is a friend helping her obtain the illegal procedure. There's not really a lot of plot here, but that doesn't mean there isn't a lot going on. People may be put off by the subject matter, and that would be a shame. It's not a critique of the ethics of the procedure. It's a story of specific people in a specific place at a specific time. And it's beautifully done. A side note--for some insane reason, 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days was not nominated in the Best Foreign Language Film category for the Oscars. TVOR does not know why. She wonders about the people who make those decisions, though.

Taxi to the Dark Side
Written and directed by Alex Gibney

This film is a horror film. Not the typical kind, where a mutant zombie monster does terrible things to unsuspecting humans. This is a horror movie about real people, U.S. soldiers, who torture detainees, sometimes (accidentally) killing them, and about the government that does not consider that torture to be wrong. Or torture, for that matter. This is way scarier than a mutant zombie monster, because the army and government in question are those of the United States, and if you're a U.S. citizen, that means you have to take some responsibility. The film is a documentary about U.S. government use of torture in prisons in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Guantanamo. The story used as a starting point is that of an Afghan taxi driver who is in the wrong place at the wrong time and is eventually murdered while in U.S. custody. The film goes on to be a more complete treatment of the use of torture as part of the "war on terror", and it is chilling and very disturbing. It's difficult to watch, but even-handed, as all sorts of people are interviewed, articulating various sides of the issue. Soldiers involved in the death of the Afghan taxi driver are also interviewed. This is a tough film but an important one. And this one did make the list of nominees for Best Documentary.

Video notes:

Alex Gibney made Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room in 2005. It tells the story of just how Enron blew up, taking Arthur Andersen, the utility markets, and a lot of other peoples' money along with it. Gibney does have a way with documentaries. Check this one out if you've missed it along the way.

And if all this is a bit too much for you, how about some lighter options?

Ratatouille
Written and co-directed by Brad Bird

What a wonderful film. TVOR lost her mind temporarily when Ratatouille was in the theaters and didn't see it on the big screen. She knew she was making a mistake, but just didn't get around to it. She won't make the same mistake next time a Brad Bird animated film is released. These are films for everybody, even for people who think that they are way too old and sophisticated for animated kids' films. That may be true most of the time, but films made by Brad Bird are a different story. They are smart and sweet and funny. And gorgeous to boot.

You probably already know the story of Ratatouille. It's about a gifted young chef (who happens to be a rat) pursuing his dreams in Paris. If you've missed it, you need to experience it first hand.

Brad Bird has done two other very good animated films, which also pass the grown-up test. His first one, The Iron Giant, was largely missed when it came out in 1999 (pre-Pixar and pre-Disney). People started paying attention when The Incredibles, the story of a family of superheroes, was released in 2004. They're both well-written, well-acted, well-directed, and the animation is excellent.