"The 100 Year Old Man" - A Felix Herngren Film (2015)

This is a very good film. I’m not quite sure how to review it without taking anything away from the steady stream of surprises which this film holds in store for the viewer. 

I have to confess something here; I am probably the only person on the planet who disliked the film “Forrest Gump.” I have never made it through more than 15 minutes of it. And yet this film is somewhat similar. And that’s all I will tell you. I will give you this much though; here are the notes, right from the back of this exceptionally creative film.

“After a long and explosive life in munitions, involving a multitude of seminal moments from the 20^th Century, including the Spanish Revolution, the atomic bomb, and the Cold War, Allean Karlsson finds himself  - on his 100^th birthday – stuck in a tranquil Swedish nursing home. Determined to escape the monotony he hops out a window and kicks off a hilarious and unexpected comic-adventure by way of a stolen briefcase, a hardcore biker gang, and an escaped circus elephant named Sonya.”

It’s funny that as I read the liner notes today I think I understand more fully the difference between “Forrest Gump” and Allan Karlsson. While Gump was a somewhat of a bystander caught up in the circumstances around him, Karlsson is more pro-active, inserting himself in the situations which present themselves. And for me, that makes all the difference.

"Ida" - A Film by Pawel Pawlikowwski (2015) Polish

In this film from Poland, Agata Trzebuchowska  plays the role of Anna , a novitiate nun in 1960s Poland. She is about to take her vows when she is summoned by the Mother Superior and instructed to go home to visit her only living relative; her mother’s sister. When Anna meets the woman who is her Aunt she is perplexed as to just why she is there.  Aunt Wanda, played by Agata Kulesza, works as a judge for the Polish Government and informs Anna that she is a Jew, just as her mother was.

When the Nazis took over Poland they didn’t have too much trouble convincing the people to turn on the Jews. The Catholic Church did hide many of the children of the Jews who were transported to death camps. But they raised them as Catholics to protect them. When the war ended many were never told of their true identities. The Polish people were not very interested in giving back the properties which they had acquired after the Jews were expelled.

But some churches let God decide the issue by releasing the refugee children and requiring them to go back home before making the decision whether to remain a Christian or return to the religion of their birth. Anna’s story; although fictitious; is emblematic of those stories. The film is starkly realistic in it’s filming. Poland of the early 1960’s was a bleak place under Communist rule and the film captures that expertly.

There is a lot to learn from this film about people and how they act under extraordinary circumstances. After briefly tasting some odf the outside world which she has missed while in the convent, Anna must finally make a choice for her future based on the experiences of her past.

"Wages of Fear" by Henri-Georges Clouzot (1952)

I saw this film about 40 years ago in the Village in Manhattan, across the river from Brooklyn, where I lived. It held me mesmerized with its myriad of languages and cultural differences. Little did I know that in a few short years I would be one of the characters in a similar drama; many times; as I worked aboard oil-tankers, transporting millions of gallons of fuel on ships which were often crewed by merchant seamen who did not speak the same language as one another. When you’re working with millions of gallons of fuel, this can become a concern, and so you have to learn how to communicate; and trust; the people with whom you are working. This film has always reminded me of that. So, when it beckoned from the foreign film section of the library, it was a natural for me to pick it up and take it home.

I was very interested with how I might view it differently after all these years; as well as my own personal experiences. Not much has changed in my interpretation of the film. Basically it is the story of 4 men who work for an oil company in South America. They are tasked with the most dangerous mission of all; they are to transport the nitroglycerine which is needed at an oil field located in the jungle. To get there they will have to transport the volatile cargo over some very rough terrain.

The men are divided into two teams, each with a truck of nitro to deliver to the same location. The men develop a sort of rivalry between them; as they struggle not only against their own uncertainty about the mission at hand; but also begin to question the validity of their own motives in undertaking the job in the first place.

A lot of things have changed over the years, and the village life depicted in this film was largely on the way out when I was traveling. Still, I did get to a number of places which were almost identical to the villages and airstrips shown in the movie. And I met a lot of the same characters, too. Some were good; and some bad. I’m glad that I did. No doubt these places still exist, but they have grown fewer and further between. Also, at the time this film was made, donkeys and burros really did compete for space on the road and in the marketplaces.

Filmed using 4 different languages; including English in the appropriate parts; lends a reality to the film, as that is the way it is when working overseas. You either learn to communicate with one another; using a variety of methods; or you fail at your assignment. In the end it’s all about teamwork, and the desire to prevail. This film captures; perfectly; the grit of the do or die nature inherent in some of the hardest jobs on earth, as well as the motivations behind those who take on those tasks.

Note: I have aged since I last saw this film; and though I can still pick out parts of the foreign languages, I found the English sub-titles to be very helpful.

"The Story of Qiu Ju" with Li Gong and Kesheng Lei (1992) Subtitled

This film, based on the novel "The Wans Family Lawsuit" by Chen Yuan Bin, is the story of Qiu Ju, a pregnant Chinese woman, played by Li Gong, whose husband, Qinglai, is kicked and humiliated by the local Village Chief Wang Shantang, played by Kesheng Lei. In actuality, Qinglai really started the fight when he ridiculed Wang for only having 4 girls and no sons. This questions Wang’s virility, and so he responds with a resounding kick to Quiling's groin. When confronted by Qiu Ju over this assault, Wang ridicules her for having to come to the aid of her husband.

Qiu Ju then takes her case to a local party Official, Officer Li, who suggests a monetary settlement to cover Qinglai's medical expenses. Wang then throws some cash at her, telling her that for every piece of cash she picks up, she bows to his superiority. Incensed, she begins her quest for justice.

The film is set in China, just on the verge of the Cultural Revolution in 1966. Seeking re-dress for her husband’s humiliation, she takes her case from court to court, appealing each verdict of Not Guilty against Wang. As the appeals mount, taking Qiu Ju from her small country village to larger and larger cities for the trials, the penalty for the loser mounts in severity, until an ultimate climax occurs, one with swift and irrevocable consequences for all involved.

During the time in which these trials are taking place, China is rocked by Chairman Mao's Cultural Revolution. All public institutions are closed, or overtaken by youth cadres of the Red Guard, who systematically destroy everything they are in disagreement with. This solidifies Mao's hold on the country, as purge after purge dislodges all semblance of order. Wang, although a gruff and uneducated man, is not without compassion. In one of the most telling scenes in the movie he is called upon to use the only motorized vehicle in the village in order to save the life of Qiu Ju's baby. The viewer begins to see beyond his outward gruffness, as does Qiu Ju, but the wheels of justice are in motion and nothing will stop the case against the Village Chief.

One of the finer aspects of this film is that it takes place right at the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, giving the viewer a lesson in Chinese history that will linger on long after the film has ended. The lesson imparted by this film is one about compromise. When both sides refuse to back down, tragedy can be the only outcome.

Filmmaker Zhang Yimou really outdid himself on this epic film. He is the Chinese born director who supposedly sold his own blood to buy his first camera. With this film he created a statement about compromise, and the consequences of refusing to meet one another somewhere in the middle.

"Adam's Apples" with Ulrich Thomsen and Mads Mikkelsen

This is one of the best films I have ever read. A man, Adam Pedersen, played by Ulrich Thomsen, is newly released from prison into the custody of an overly optimistic Priest, named Ivan, and finds himself torn between admiration for the man, and blind hatred. Ivan, played by Mads Mikkelsen, has a son; the child is suffering from MS and bound to a wheelchair. Ivan treats his child with the same love and expectations which any father would show towards their offspring. He talks with him as though there were nothing wrong. His willingness to ignore all the evil in his life drives Adam crazy! This is not comical type crazy, this is pure hatred.

Adam is asked to take on a goal. He states that he wishes to bake a pie, using apples from the tree in the churchyard. Ivan consents to this arrangment, aware that Adam is merely trying to make a fool of him.

Slowly, as Adam's anger at Ivan's seeming indifference to hardship mounts, his anger bursts, causing an ugly confrontation which has surprising results. Which is the stronger of the two; faith, or hatred?

Directed with great sensitivity by Anders Thomas Jensen, who also wrote the script, this is a film you will want to visit again, even after you have seen it once. Though the film is in Danish, you will forget that you are reading within 5 minutes of starting this remarkable film.