This weekend should be the conclusion of the 73rd Cannes Film Festival and the crowing of the new Palme d’Or, but it was not to be. A highly communicable virus had other plans, so we soldier on without one. Thankfully, … Continue reading This week in Film — THE TREE OF LIFE and other Palme d’Or winners
Truth is a slippery thing. So are lies. There are bald-faced lies, little white lies, and evasions. But there are also constructs; stories and parables that aren’t necessarily true but point to an underlying and undeniable truth. Where the lies … Continue reading THE TRUTH (LA VÉRITÉ)
Even though The Midwife — the latest from writer/director Martin Provost — opens with a live birth, the story revolves around an off-screen death, with Claire (Catherine Frot) at the center of both. She is a midwife, and we come to know the type of woman she is by watching her make her rounds delivering babies all day and all night. Fastidious and capable, its no surprise when we find out she doesn’t drink, smoke, or stray outside the line. Then a rupture comes: Claire’s father has committed suicide. Claire deals with it, but she feels an obligation to inform … Continue reading THE MIDWIFE
Most movies are based on true stories, true events or at the very least, have some root in reality. That’s how the mind works, the moment of inspiration often comes from real experience and then the mind extrapolate outward. That is why the disclaimer, “Based on a true story” is often so frustrating. Movies, like imagination, are best when they are allowed to run wild. Instead, an adherence to reality shackles a movie, forcing it to never truly blossom the way a writer or director may want it to. That is problem that lies at the root of In the Name of … Continue reading IN THE NAME OF MY DAUGHTER
The Anonymous People – It would be safe to say that everyone knows someone who either is or has been an addict. Two out of every three families deal with someone who has a destructive and crippling addiction, and as a nation we turn a blind eye to it. Far too often we assume that the addict could simply decide to take control and wake-up, or that they are make a conscious decision to continue the addiction. It’s a shameful cross these Anonymous People carry, but they are doing what they can to get the message out and spread the … Continue reading Movie Beat – 03.14.14
