possibly the longest post I ever made - mainly about movies

[floatingleaf]

Today the temperature went up so much that all the snow is melting and there is a flooding warning in effect; but it's all supposed to freeze up solid again by tomorrow.:/ Oh, and there's supposed to be more snow and sleet and all kinds of nice stuff like that.:| Today was gloomy, rainy, windy and dark and I just couldn't force my ass out of the apartment. I meant to go see my parents and take care of a three weeks' worth of laundry, but somehow it didn't happen (I do my laundry at my parents' house, because the laundry room here in the building is nasty and I'd rather avoid visiting it unless absolutely necessary). Even though it seemed like such a good idea to go today, because I still have tomorrow off - while on a regular two-day weekend it pretty much takes half of it away. *sigh* (it takes me well over an hour to drive there, it would seem rude & pointless to stay less than 3-4 hours, then another hour to drive back + however long it takes me to find a parking spot, which is always a pain on Sunday nights, even if there are no mounds of frozen snow piled up by the curb...:/) So it's always way too easy to find an excuse not to go - especially on a moody, sleepy day like this. If not for the convenient free laundry facilities they offer, the old folks would probably see even less of me.;P I am horrible, I know. It will probably come back to kick me in the ass one day - when they get really old & infirm and have to be watched over all the time. *bites nails and fervently hopes it doesn't happen anytime soon*

But that's not what this post was supposed to be about. I watched an amazing movie yesterday - The Lives of Others. Oscar winner for best foreign film in 2006. And, if I recall correctly, the lead actor, Ulrich Muhe, was one of the recent BAFTA nominees, along with Viggo & Daniel Day-Lewis. Anyway... it's been labelled as a political thriller, but I definitely wouldn't be gushing about it if that were all there was to it. I am not a political intrigue movie person at all. To me, this film is about personal redemption. About how a Stasi officer (for anyone not familiar with the historical background, it's the communist East Germany, 1984) - an aging, lonely, dried-up husk of a man, whose life seems to have no purpose or meaning other than serving the system - suddenly discovers he has a heart and a conscience. And how he begins to risk his own career in order to protect the people he is supposed to monitor and find incriminating evidence against. It's a very subtle character development, almost Viggo-style, and it's extremely cathartic to watch. It's also a very educational movie for anyone who didn't have the rare pleasure of growing up in a communist country.;) Not to sound snotty or anything, but it shocks me sometimes how little most Americans know about such a recent period in human history. On the other hand, maybe they're lucky that they don't have to know much about it. I am pretty sure some of the childhood/early youth memories I occasionally share with my coworkers - nothing bad or traumatic, just casual stuff that seeemed pretty normal to me at the time - sound like morbid fairy tales to them.:P Not to mention the truly morbid things that I myself - or my parents, for that matter - had no idea about until much, much later. Of course, nowadays there is a wild abundance of sources available to anyone who wishes to know - at least in theory - what it was like to live under a totalitarian regime; and I will gladly admit I lack the courage or desire to go too deep into the topic myself... but if you want to have a general idea without doing a lot of research, I strongly recommend seeing this movie. It will chill you to the bone, but it will definitely tell you something important. Much like Eastern Promises does. Or Dirty Pretty Things. Or a number of other movies that aren't solely about entertainment...

Well... time to step off my soapbox, I guess.;) But while I'm on the subject of movies, and morbid ones at that, let me just mention another one I've seen recently - The Quiet. I'm not quite sure why I'm so drawn to the theme of dysfunctional families and/or troubled childhood & youth stories - but that's a whole another spin (maybe because they make me feel so much better about my own pathetic bio... lol). Regardless of that, I always appreciate a unique script, an emotionally engaging plot and good acting - and The Quiet has it all. It may seem cliche at first glance, but I love how it develops into something quite unexpected towards the end. All in all, it is about female bonding, and there's always something deeply reassuring about that - even if the circumstances that brought it about are rather disturbing. But there's something else I found disturbing in relation to this movie - and that was a quote from an interview with the director (a gorgeous young woman, btw). She said something to the effect that the sexually abusive father in the film is 'deeply in love' with his 16-year-old daughter, and that he just has the bad luck of being in love with the wrong person. I am sorry, but in my understanding real love does not involve any kind of abuse - physical, mental, sexual or what have you. I do admire the kind of absolute empathy that would let you see it that way - and I know you can't probably make a really good movie unless you find a human side to every villain - but I just don't buy it in this particular situation. I mean, if he was just unhappily in love with her, he would suffer in silence and do his best to never let her discover the true nature of his feelings, wouldn't he?... If you love someone - whether platonically or not - you care about their feelings too. You do not use your position of authority or their emotional dependence to procure sexual favors from them - and you certainly do not fucking rape them. Where's the love in that??? I am generally a very compassionate person, but here's where I draw the line. I have no sympathy for child abusers whatsoever. Yes, you can't help feeling what you feel - but you certainly have the power not to act on it. So let me just say, without giving a major spoiler to anyone who hasn't seen the movie, that I found the conclusion of this particular storyline VERY satisfying. *nods*

And that somehow brings me to another great movie I had seen some time ago, but never mentioned here - Almodovar's Volver. Simply beautiful. I LOVE Penelope Cruz. She is not only drop-dead-gorgeous and smoking hot, but has that deep, captivating warmth of a real, down-to-earth woman who knows life in its worst manifestations and still loves it with a wild, contagious passion that takes your breath away. Particularly in this role. She totally had me swooning there, let me tell you. And if she happens to occasionally provide bearding services to handsome, closeted gay actors - all the more power to her, LOL. If all Hollywood closets opened at once, there would be a frightful scarcity of straight movie stars around, methinks.;) *dreams on*

Okaaay... I think I might have possibly had my say for tonight. And the next couple weeks... lol. *checks the time and blinks in disbelief* Must be a particularly talkative aspect of my Gemini moon or something.:P

Comments

[floatingleaf.livejournal.com]

Yes, I watched the interview with the director and he said it was a fictional story. You're probably right it's not very likely something like this would actually happen. But I found it believable on screen, and that only proves what a good movie it was.:) Or maybe I'm just a hopeless idealist who wants to believe in a scenario like that... *wistful sigh*