Post by klep on Mar 13, 2017 6:46:03 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/13: A Separation
MIDDLE-EASTERN FILM WEEK
We have an unfortunate tendency in America to take our adversaries and turn them into The Other. We equate the people of other nations and equate them with their leaders, and make gross generalizations which make us feel better about ourselves. But as Roger Ebert said - and I will never tire of quoting - "the movies are like a machine that generates empathy." Through film we can learn about the actual lives of people in these lands and what matters to them.
In A Separation, Asghar Farhadi shows us that family life in Iran really isn't much different from anywhere else. Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are a couple going through a divorce, and it's not an easy one. Simin wants to move abroad to seek a better future for their child Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), while Nader refuses to leave his Alzheimer's-suffering father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi) or give his consent for Simin to take Termeh. It's a struggle that's all-too familiar to too many of us here. The demands of a religious state complicate matters, but the core a messy divorce with a custody battle is something we all either went through or know someone who went through.
Without revealing too much, Simin leaving to live with her parents until the divorce goes through results in circumstances which raise the stakes to levels which require the family to work together even as they are tearing apart. Farhadi manages to capture the stress and contradictions of a couple that has lived together for many years, but has realized they are no longer capable of doing so. They hate each other and they love each other and they're totally independent and they need each other and they both want the best for their child and they have totally different ideas about what that entails.
They are, in short, people. Just like us.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/20: Winter's Bone
Just a few short years before the Hunger Games franchise vaulted her onto the A-list, Jennifer Lawrence had her breakthrough in this film from Debra Granik about the hardship of life in Appalachia. Join us next week as we head into the mountains of Arkansas. Winter's Bone is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/9: Get Out
Last week's podcast concludes with a look at Jordan Peele's directorial debut and excellent horror film Get Out. We'll have a thread to discuss the film, how it comments on race in America, and how much (or little) that has changed since Wes Craven did the same in 1991. Get Out is still in theaters.
MIDDLE-EASTERN FILM WEEK
We have an unfortunate tendency in America to take our adversaries and turn them into The Other. We equate the people of other nations and equate them with their leaders, and make gross generalizations which make us feel better about ourselves. But as Roger Ebert said - and I will never tire of quoting - "the movies are like a machine that generates empathy." Through film we can learn about the actual lives of people in these lands and what matters to them.
In A Separation, Asghar Farhadi shows us that family life in Iran really isn't much different from anywhere else. Nader (Peyman Moaadi) and Simin (Leila Hatami) are a couple going through a divorce, and it's not an easy one. Simin wants to move abroad to seek a better future for their child Termeh (Sarina Farhadi), while Nader refuses to leave his Alzheimer's-suffering father (Ali-Asghar Shahbazi) or give his consent for Simin to take Termeh. It's a struggle that's all-too familiar to too many of us here. The demands of a religious state complicate matters, but the core a messy divorce with a custody battle is something we all either went through or know someone who went through.
Without revealing too much, Simin leaving to live with her parents until the divorce goes through results in circumstances which raise the stakes to levels which require the family to work together even as they are tearing apart. Farhadi manages to capture the stress and contradictions of a couple that has lived together for many years, but has realized they are no longer capable of doing so. They hate each other and they love each other and they're totally independent and they need each other and they both want the best for their child and they have totally different ideas about what that entails.
They are, in short, people. Just like us.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 3/20: Winter's Bone
Just a few short years before the Hunger Games franchise vaulted her onto the A-list, Jennifer Lawrence had her breakthrough in this film from Debra Granik about the hardship of life in Appalachia. Join us next week as we head into the mountains of Arkansas. Winter's Bone is available for rent on Amazon Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 3/9: Get Out
Last week's podcast concludes with a look at Jordan Peele's directorial debut and excellent horror film Get Out. We'll have a thread to discuss the film, how it comments on race in America, and how much (or little) that has changed since Wes Craven did the same in 1991. Get Out is still in theaters.