Tsotsi

This  is a South African film which directed by Gavin hood. The film won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film and was nominated for the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film in 2006.

Tsotsi, the leader of a gang, which included his friends Butcher, Aap and Boston. They commit all sorts of crimes. In fact, David is Tsotsi's real name. He had a family before, however, his mother was on the point of dying because of a terminal disease. Young David ran away from his abusive father and lived with a group of homeless children. One day, Tsotsi stole a woman's car and shot her, who named Pumla. But Tsotsi discovered a three -month-old baby in the back seat when he was driving the car. From that time, there was a great change in Tsotsi. He became a kind people slowly when he took care of the baby just like a father. He met a young single mother who named Miriam and forced her to feed the kidnapped child.  Fortunately, Pumlma survived the attack and looked for her baby with her husband. Tsotsi  also realize he was not the baby's father gradually, and the baby should grew up with its own family. At last, Tsotsi decided to begin a new life with Miriam. He returned the baby and was arrested by police in the end of film.

I think the theme of the film is salvation. At the beginning of the film, Tsotsi and his friends committed all kinds of atrocities. However, Tsotsi was waken up with his essential goodness because of the baby. He could abandon the baby and drived away, however, he gave up the car and took the baby back his shack. The baby made Tsotsi feel the love of family. His soul get salvation when he looked after the baby. The baby implied Tsotsi get the rebirth in his mind. At the end of film,  he put up his hands and turned himself in, which indicated that he put down all of the past evil.
Meanwhile, I think the film reveal  a critical social phenomenon about the gap between the wealthy and poor in South Africa. As the pictures showed, the poor children lived in water pipes, and the wealthy lived in high buildings and large mansions.
Meanwhile, I think the film reveal  a critical social phenomenon about the gap between the wealthy and poor in South Africa. As the pictures showed, the poor children lived in water pipes, and the wealthy lived in high buildings and large mansions.

In addition, my favorite of this movie is the relationship between Tsotsi and the baby, which is touched me deeply, especially the scene of Tsotsi take the baby to the boundary between the rich area and the slum area before he return the baby. The background music is solemn and stirring. I can feel Tsotsi is reluctant to separate from the baby, however he hope the baby have a complete and warm family and bright future, which he can not give the baby. Tsotsi is more than a father to the baby in  my eyes. He regard the baby as himself, a reborn Tsotsi.

Eat Drink Man Woman

This is a Taiwanese film directed by Ang Lee, who ever won Oscar for Best Director. According to the information, the title of this film comes from a Chinese old saying, which means human nature.
Chu was a chef at Taipei Grand Hotel before retired. His wife had died and he lived with three daughters, Jia-Jen, Jia-Chien and Jia-Ning. He cooked a tableful of dishes for family every week in order to promot the commuication among the family. Jia-Jen, Chu's oldest daughter, is a school teacher, falling in love with a PE teacher and move out the house because they got married. Jia-Chien, the middle one, who was a career woman in a airlines. She was the one who most wanted to move out from the family because there was misunderstanding between her and Chu. In fact, Jia-Chien was Chu's favorite daughter. Jia-Ning, the youngest daughter, who was obedient and considerate. She also moved out because of marrying with a similar age boy. To our most surprise, Chu married with a young single mother, however, Jia- Chien was still single and lived in the original house.

In my opinion, the theme of this film is " burden of aging ". Chu was a semi- retired and windowed man in the film. His three daughter has grown up and he was getting old. Who would take care of father after the three daughters got married? This was a big problem in three daughters' mind. Although Chu had the ability to look after himself, he also felt lonely without family members. There are a lot of old people like Chu in current society, which means burden of aging is becoming a significant issue.

I like the relationship between Chu and his second daughter, Jia- Chien in the film. There was a interesting plot in the film. Chu waked his three daughters up every morning. One day, he came to Jia-Chien's room and asked her to get up as usual. He asked his daughter to wake up gently at the first time, but he got seriously during the second time. It informed that Chu hide his love to his daughter into mind, however, he revealed his love unconsciously. The ending of film was touching me deeply.  Chu lost taste at the start of film, however, he recovered taste when he had Jia-Chien's soup. They hold hands tightly, which revealed the deep love between the father and daughter.



  

Children of heaven

This is a Iranian film, which directed by Majid Majidi. Without stars or special effects techniques, the film reveals original and simplistic, however, touching people deeply. It tells a story about a brother and sister share a pair of shoes.
Ali, a little boy in the film, went to shoemaker's shop to get his sister shoes which had been repaired. Unfortunately, he lost his sister's shoes when he got some potatoes at the grocery store. Ali's family was poor so that they had to share the only shoes and did not talk to parents. Zahra wore them to school in the morning and returned them to Ali at midday so he could attend afternoon classes. But Ali still was late for classes three times. To their surprise, they found Zahra's lost shoes were worn by a student. The student's father is a blind so that they couldn't get the shoes back. One day, Ali went to the rich suburbs of Tehran with his father to earn money. His father found a job about gardening and got paid later. On their way home, his father injured in a crash because of bake failure which let the plan of buying the shoes for Ali and Zahra to be postponed. Finally, Ali participated a footrace because of the third prize, which rewarded a pair of shoes. But Ali get the NO.1. He and his sister felt so disapointed. At the end of film, a quick shot reveals that their father purchase two pair of shoes for them.

I think the theme of the film is " love between brother and sister ". As the plots in the film, Ali and Zahra shared one shoes in order to avoid being blamed by parents. It was a big adventure for them, however, they did their best to help each other solve this problem. They kept running after classes in order to change each other's shoes in time and do not be late for classes. During footrace, Ali stumbled and fell down, however, he standed up and continued to run regardless of the pain. Zahra's face was kept in his mind. He won the fist price to his surprise, whereas he cried because he couldn't get the reward which was a pair of shoes. What a deep love between them.

The film reflects the gap between the rich and poor in Iran directly. Ali went to Tehran with his father in order to make money. There were a lot of villas and high buildings in Tehran, however, Ali and his family lived in a rough shack. Before the footrace, there were many students in good shoes and sportswear, but Ali worn dirty shoes and ordinary clothes. And Ali looked too thin and weak in comparison with other students. These formed a sharp contrast and touched me deeply.

Central Station

This is a Brazilian film, which directed by Walter Salles. According to the information, it is ranked NO.57  in Empire magazines "The 100 Best Films Of World Cinema" in 2010.
This was a story about a friendship between a young boy and a middle-aged woman. Dona was a school teacher before she retired. Then, she worked at Rio de Janeiro's Central Station, writing letters for illiteracy to make a living, however, she never mailed these letters. Josue was a nine years old boy lived with his single mother. One day, Josue's mother sent a letter to Josue's father through Dona, which written that she hoped to reunite with him. Unfortunately, the woman died in a bus accident and Josue became a homeless child. Dona took him home and sold him. But she felt guilty and stole him back. Since then, they took a trip to find the boy's father. During the trip, they built a deep friendship. In the end of film, the boy reunited with his half-brothers, however, Dona left them quietly. They remembered each other by a photo. 

I think the theme of this film is " seek and find". As the plots, the young boy was looking for the father he never knew and the middle-aged woman was looking for a second chance. Finally, the young boy find his relatives and reunited with them. The middle-aged woman find herself. They met various difficulties and overcame them in different ways, which made them knew more about each other. They were more than a relatives though not related by blood. At the beginning of film, Dona was a cheater who never mailed her customers letters. Josue was a homeless boy who wouldn't like contact with others and accept other's assistance. They experienced a spiritual journey and find themselves. Dona found her initial kind-hearted. Josue found a happy and warm family.

I like the plots of their trip in the film. There was a lot of interesting and warm experience in their trip. For example, Dora tried to leave Josue on the bus and left her money in his rucksack, but Josue followed her and forgot to take the rucksack. Fortunately, they met a kind track driver. But they were abandoned because of Dona's pursuit. Besides, I was touched deeply by the ending of film. Dora left quietly when Josue was sleeping and she left a letter to Josue. Then Josue run out to seek Dora. Dora burst into tears on the bus and saw their photo. Meanwhile, Josue saw their photo. I thought there was a strange empathy between them because they loved each other and regarded each other as relatives.

Bombay

 
This is an Indian film directed by Mani Ratnam, which centred on Bombay Riots in December 1992 and January 1993. According to the information, the riots started as a result of communal tension prevailing in the city after the Babri Mosque demolition on 6th December 1992.
Shekhar fell in love with a Muslim  girl who named Shaila Bano at the first sight, however, Shekhar was the son of a traditional Hindu family in a seaside village in Tamil Nadu. Their love was forbidden in the both family. They have to escaped from the village and eloped to Bombay. The two get married and Shaila gave birth to twins, Kabir Narayan and Kamal Basheer. With the outbreak of religious riots, Shekhar's Hindu father and Shaila's Muslim father and mother visited the family because they worried about their children, and were overjoyed to see their two grandchildren. Meanwhile, they also reduce the
conflict with each other. Unfortunately, the riots became more and more critically. The Grandparents were died in the riots and the twins were separated. In the end of film, the bombay went to peace and the family reunioned.

In my opinion, the theme of film is "two religions, one India". In the film, Shekhar came from a Hindu family and Shaila came from  a Muslim family. They got married and gave birth to twins which implied that Hindu and Muslim could live in harmony through respecting each other. Although Hindus and Muslims have two different religious beliefs, however, they are all Indian. In the end of film, people were aware of the point. They put down their arms and hugged each other. This was a good ending, and highlighted the theme " two relegions, one India ".
As an Indian film, there were some beautiful songs and dances among this film, which revealed the characters' inner world and the development of the plot. This is a special film narrative method, which is often applied to Indian film. I like the song and dance which describe Shekhar and  Shaila meet at the second time. Shekhar express his love to Shaila bravely by eyes. But Shaila is a shy girl, she keep avoiding the eye contact, meanwhile, she also begins to like Shekhar. The song and dance shows their inner activities vividly. In addition, I like the plot that two grandfathers quarrel with each other because of the twins' religious beliefs. The quarrel between them is interesting. They also let go of their enmity and join hands gradually.

The Unknown Woman

The Unknown Woman was directed by  Giuseppe Tornatore, an Italian director, ever directed Cinema Paradiso(1988), The Legend of 1990(1998). According to information, the film won:

David di Donatello (Italy)

•  Best Actress – Leading Role (Kseniya Rappoport)
•  Best Cinematography (Fabio Zamarion)
•  Best Director (Giuseppe Tornatore)
•  Best Film
•  Best Music (Ennio Morricone)

European Film Awards

• Audience Award – Best Film (Giuseppe Tornatore)

Moscow Film Festival (Russia)

• Audience Award (Giuseppe Tornatore; tied with Molière)
• Silver St. George – Best Director (Giuseppe Tornatore)

Norwegian Film Festival (Norway)

• Audience Award (Giuseppe Tornatore)

Irena, a mysterious woman , moved to Italia and looked for jobs in a elegant  apartment building eagerly. Nobody knew her past. In others' eyes, she was full of secrets.  She started by cleaning the stairs. However, this was not her final determine. In order to approach one of families in the apartment, she made friend with Gina, a nanny worked for the family. Irena tripped Gina on purpose which result in nanny's paralysis, however, presumed to be accidental. Then, Irena was hired by the family as a new nanny to take Gina's place. Irena developed loving relationship with the family's child, Thea. But Irena was fired by the mother because she misunderstood that Irena wanted to get the family from her. Later, a unknown man appeared. He came here to find Irena. The truth surfaced gradually. The unknown man is the boss of a illegal organization. Irena had been abused both in body and mind by him, and forced to bear nine children, all sold to adoptive families. The last one child was Irena and her lover's . Irena's lover  was murdered and buried in a dump by the boss. Irena was very depressed and she was trying her best to find her youngest child. She stabbed the boss and stolened the money to look for her youngest child, whom she believed is Thea. Especially  she saw the adoption documents which convinced her that Thea was the youngest child. Unfortunately, the mother was killed by the boss of using a car accident. The boss wanted Irena returned the money but he died during a struggle with her.  Irena was ready to start a new life with Thea and Thea's father, however, the police suspected that Irena murdered Thea's mother and arrested her. Finally, all the truth emerged as I metioned before. To Irena's surprise, Thea was not her daughter. Although Irena acquired that, she still regarded Thea as daughter. She encouraged and feed Thea who stopped eating. Then Irena was put into jail. After many years, a beautiful young lady appeared the out of jail when Irena was released.

I like the fragment that Irena trained Thea in a strict way to make Thea acquire self-protection because Thea could not protect herself after falling down. It is generally acknowledged that the maternal love is the greatest in the world. Irena fell Thea again and again. The pain was not only on Thea's body but also into Irena's mind, perhaps more painful. Irena just wanted Thea learn how to stand up by herself. I was touched deeply. Therefore, I think the theme of the film is maternal love.
Meanwhile the film also ask us a serious question about surrogacy. As the film described, Irena was controled by  a illigal organization and the organization benefit from forcing Irena and other women to bear children. These women were deprived of being real mothers. They didn't stopping give birth to children until they have no fertility, but no one is their legal children. They were physically and emotionally abused.
The Unknown Woman is a psychological thriller mystery film, which appears horror sense frequently. The director formed the Irena's complete past by her intermittent recalling. This skill absorbed audience easily and made audience grow many different conjectures about the unknown woman because of curious.

Three colours: Blue

This is a French film which directed by Krzysztof Kieslowski, who is a Polish director. This film won:

• Venice Film Festival, 1993: Best Film and Juliette Binoche, Best Actress, Best Cinematography
•  César Award, 1993: Best Actress: Juliette Binoche, Best Sound, Best Film Editing
• Goya Awards (Spain's Academy Awards): Best European Film;

Blue is the first in the three colors trilogy, followed by white and red . The title comes from the colors of French flag.According to Krzysztof Kieslowski,Blue is the symbol of liberty, White is the symbol of equality, and Red is the symbol of fraternity.

In this film, Julie, the heroine who had a happy family of home at firsrt., however, her husband who is a famous composer and her daughter died in a automobile accident except she survived. She became very depressed and attempted suicide by swallowing the pills, but it wasn’t successful. After her discharge from hospital, she moved to a new apartment without telling anybody. She left everything except her daughter’s chandelier of blue bead in order to escape from the suffering of the past. She destroyed her husband’s music scores, included the one celebrating European Unity, following the end of the cold war. By chance, the couple’s friend Olivier get the score, who is in love with Julie and try to complete the score. Meanwhile, Julie discovered his late husband was having a affair and the mistress was pregnant. Julie was  kindhearted and generous who arrange for the mistress to live her late husband's house. Finally, Julie began to build her complete new life without pressure.

The theme of the film was liberty because the entire film descibed the woman how to release herself from past and pursue a complete new life. Blue is the main color in the film, and also is one of three colors on the French flag which symbolizes the  liberty. Meanwhile, the color makes audience feel the atmosphere of  depression and sadness.

Juleitte Binoche acted the heroine in the film. Although the dialogues among characters in the film  were simple, Juleitte showed great prowess at acting through facial expression and body language. Such as Julie bit lips and touched the coffins in the funeral video which showed that she bore the pain with resignation.  Especially, there was a sense touched me deeply. Julie rubbed her hand with wall, which led her hand to bleeding. It implied that she underwent great mental aguish. She released herself from physical pain.  Music went through all the film as a significant element. I like the Symphony which is played off and on in the film. The melody was powerful, inspiring and encouraging, which revealed that Julie couldn't isolation from everything as music couldn't be made with a single note.

Krzysztof Kieślowski, the director, whose style was exquisite. He expressed character mainly through tiny details. Such as Julie was scared because there were a brood of mice in her storage. She even prefered to move again. From the detail, we acknowleged that Julie was a vulnerable actually not as strong as she looked.

Talk to her

This is a Spanish film which directed by Pedro Almodovar. According to the source "the film won the 2002 Academy Award for Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen and the 2003 Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film".

This film is about two man who never met before, and they were getting know each other in a concert. They are young male nursing, Benigno, who acted by Javier Camara and a writer, Marco, who acted by Dario Grandinetti. Filled with wooden tables and chairs on the stage, two women closed their eyes, open arms, dance to Henry Purcell's "The Fairy Queen". Marco can not stop sobbing because of the scene is touching. A few months later, they met again in El Bosque which is private clinic. Marco's girlfriend Lydia is a professional bullfighter, she was injury, and in a coma. By this time, Benigno is taking care of a young ballet student, Alicia, who is in coma. Benigno fall in love with Alicia, and he raped her. Unfortunately, Alicia got pregant, and Benigno arrested by police. Few mounth later, because of  Benigno could not see and take care of Alicia, he committed suicide. At the end of the movie, Alicia woke up and met Marco in a concert. It seemed that there would be a couple.

"Talk to her" was the major theme in the movie. Lydia and Alicia became vegetative patients in different reasons. Benigno was a experienced carer, and he kept talking to Alicia, although  Alicia couldn't repond to him. From these talks, we could see obviously that Benigno loved Alicia deeply. For the other couple, Marco was unable to adapt to his girlfriend being a vegetative patient. At begining, he didn't know how to look after her, then he began taking care of Lydia as what Benigno to do for Alicia till Lydia's ex-boyfriend came back to break them up. There is a warm scene that Benigno and Marco took the two women out to enjoy the sun which moved me to tears . Although Alicia and Lydia were vegetative patients, the two men still believed they maybe heard what they said. I think this is the power of love.

I like the song "Cucurrucu Palom" which is sang by Caetano Veloso in the movie. I am deeply touched because of beautiful melody and singer's soulful singing. This song is sorrow and heartleft. As the sad love in movie, Marco loved Lydia deeply, Benigno loved Alicia deeply, however, they did not become couples in the end because of many sakes. In addition, the silent film inside film is bold and unique which also impressed me. The director implied that Benigno raped Alicia by the indirect skill, which shocked audience.