Departures, 8/31/12, Best Foreign Language Film, 2008
This is a movie that kind of sneaks up on you and pulls you in to its warm embrace. Story revolves around a newly out of work cellist who moves back to his hometown, away from Tokyo. He needs a job and shows up for what he thinks is a travel agent. Not exactly. It’s an ‘encoffiner’, a type of mortician. If you’re grossed out, or think it’s creepy, it’s not. It’s a very sensitive portrayal of one of life’s milestones. While the topic is serious, and one we avoid, the story incorporates the right kind of humor, the humor that real-life situations bring us when we’re not expecting it. The job of an ‘encoffiner’ is not looked at as a prestige career, and you get the feeling they may be shunned, until they provide their very important service to the family. Watching his wife’s attitude, in particular, change and grow into respect for what her husband does is beautiful to see; to see through her eyes how tender and gentle he is with the deceased, the care he gives. The characters are likeable and relatable, you want to know how it ends, and to me, what’s more important, I really am interested in how the story continues after it’s over. The music for the film is fabulous. I haven’t looked to see who won for best score, but this should have been nominated in that category, and maybe a few others, as well. I tend to look for things not to like, because that’s what I do. I couldn’t find anything. There is no profanity, no nudity, no violence. This may be on the ‘watch again’ list. Do yourself a favor and watch it.
Slumdog Millionaire, 9/1/12, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Original Song, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing ,2008
Ok, I may be the last person on the planet to have seen this movie. I thought I’d wait until all the brouhaha settled. The movie was nominated for 10 awards and won 8; so the best thing is, I knock out 8 awards with one film J. The story is told with flashbacks, which I think can be overused and ruin a movie, but they work here; they help tell the story of how Jamal knows the answers when he has had no formal education. The younger actors were wonderful to watch; I can’t imagine how hard some of those scenes were to do. Danny Boyle directed Millions which has a similar feel, a kid with a dream who comes out on top at the end. He has a great way with child actors. He also directed Trainspotting, which I didn’t get at all. Anyway, it was a great movie, and if you haven’t seen it, you really should, if only for the Bollywood tribute at the ending credits.
The Private Lives of Henry VIII, 9/1/12, Best Actor, 1932/1933
Well, Charles Laughton was great….that’s it, that’s all I’ve got. I’m not sure how you tell the story of Henry VIII and only give Anne Boleyn about 10 minutes on screen, but Katherine Howard gets over 30 minutes. How does that happen? Katherine Howard? Really? Anne of Cleves, played by Elsa Lanchester, was refreshing and it always amuses me, his least favorite wife, but dear friend, always seems to make the most appearances in stories about Henry VIII. Maybe it’s because he didn’t kill her. Catherine Parr seems such a shrew at the end, and I’m not sure that’s accurate (but this movie isn’t exactly historically accurate). I don’t know why I disliked the movie so much, but I did. I think you can live without seeing it. Watch Laughton in The Hunchback of Notre Dame instead.
