YNOT at the Movies

Emma is a lonely and eccentric girl struggling to pay off her debt for her pig farm. She refuses her police admire but falls in love with a stranger, Max. Max is dying from cancer so he stole a Jaguar and wants to die in Mexico. But instead he crashes into Emma's farm. Now, Emma gets involved in Max's situation.

The film is full of light humors while raising some serious questions about life and death. What's more important in life and how should we die if we can't win the battle with diseases? Emma definitely has her own views and answers. This is a refreshing character and terrifically played by Jördis Triebel. Emma seems to have so much energy, love, and happiness to share with you, till your death, even you are a pig on her farm.

Because the focal point of this film is to study the character of Emma, I forgive the sloppiness of the plot at the beginning of this film. Stealing a car and crashing it into Emma's farm? Nonsense.

Father Anatoly lives on a small island as an outcast among other monks but he has a reputation of being able to heal. The truth is he has been living with his sin he committed about 30 years ago at the end of the World War II. He isolates himself in a sanctuary in a remote island for many years, and all he does seem to pray and collect coal to heat the monastery where he lives. Will his soul be saved though?

I don't know much about Russian Orthodox even I have seen plenty Orthodox churches in my hometown since I was a little kid, so I can't say that I understand completely about the religion references in this film, which there are quite a bit. However, that doesn't stop me from enjoying this film. The outstanding performance by Pyotr Mamonov (Петр Николаевич Мамонов) as Father Anatoly and the breathtaking cinematography makes this an unforgettable film. During the film, I constantly feel the sharp contrast between the calmness of the snow covered island and the complex emotional struggle deep inside the protagonist.

Russian cinema has changed dramatically since the Soviet Union era. I hope Russians also change the way how they heat up their houses. Father Anatoly seems doing nothing but burning coal to heat the small monastery. While watching the film, I can't stop wondering how much he contributes to the global warming.

Would that be another sin he commits while he tries to salvage his soul? That should be the sequel to this film.

Orked is a quiet ten years old boy. He becomes best friends with Mukhsin, a twelve years old girl with a strong personality. They do ordinary things together like climbing a tree, flying a kite, playing sports, and riding bicycles. Orked began to fall in love with Mukhsin. Can they maintain their innocent friendship?

The film terrifically expresses the subtle feelings of these teenagers and gives us a profile of what life is like in the beautiful countryside of Malaysia. However, I think this film could have eliminated the subplot of the troubled brother who is drunk and away from home. It's simply a distraction from the main story and doesn't really contribute much to the main characters.

We all remember what it's like when we fall in love as a teenager, no matter where we live and what culture background we have. The feeling is universal and it's almost always bitter sweet. Watching this film makes me want to tell my own story: "when I was twelve years old..."

That nostalgia feeling is very seductive and lives with us forever.

So, when I was twelve years old, I fall in love with one my classmates...

The film's screen writer Hui Rao plays himself in this film as an unsuccessful screen writer who is bored and wants to escape Beijing to the most remote Northern village called Mo He (漠河) next to Russia. Before he gets to Mo He himself, he writes a fictional character Lin Hao in his script, who is an fugitive fleeing to Mo He first. In case the audience is confused, Hui Rao's voice narrates almost the entire film. Although he does have a pleasant voice, I just want him to shut up: I am watching a movie, so stop talking!

The film seems a documentary goes haywire, so it becomes a drama instead. However, it keeps all the documentary style, like watching "March of the Penguins" (La Marche de l'empereur) with nice landscape cinematography, and of course, the voice over just about every scene. Therefore, it's definitely not a docudrama like "The Story of the Weeping Camel." Everything is fictional, except the writer himself. Or is he?

Some people like the narrative throughout the film. I hate it, because it becomes babbling when the voice is not telling me an engaging story.

To me, visual is an essential part of the cinema (I can never imagine how a blind person "see" a movie). If the filmmaker thinks I won't get the image unless the narrative voice tells me what I am supposed to see with my eyes, I should have just read a book and use my own imagination for visual.

But, that's not the only part of the problem I have with this film. I just can't have the connection with the characters or the real writer. Yes, you are bored, so what?

The film tells a story about Richard Gazowsky, a pastor of the Voice of Pentecost Church in San Francisco. He never watched a feature film until he reached 40. But all of sudden, asked by God, he decided to make a film about God and for God. He formed a production company called "WYSIWYG" (What You See Is What You Get).

The production claims to have a 200 million dollars funding from Germany, and the crew went all the way to Italy to shoot the movie, yet they failed to pay rents to the city of San Francisco. However, you won't find the finished film at the festival.

You have to see it to believe it how the pastor is answering God's calling to make a film. Actually they think God has already seen the film they are about to make, they just need to finish it according to God's vision.

That really makes this engaging documentary a comedy to me. I laughed a lot, because I am still surprised for what I am seeing and hearing, and what I am getting. I almost admire the pastor and his followers for their determination if I can stop shaking my heads.

I bet God is laughing too, with a wink at the pastor: "Just kidding."

Young Jusce is a deep sea diver in a poor village in Brazil. He dives to the bottom of the sea to catch stingrays and lobsters. Even though life isn't easy, he wants to earn the heart of Ana, a girl in the village who is addicted to soap operas on TV. What he does to achieve that goal is quite extraordinary, if not insane.

Jusce's longing for Ana is so overwhelming that he is willing to do anything to build a new life with Ana. Is it possible for him in a poor village like the one they live in? The actor does a terrific job to express Jusce's emotions and his determination.

This film gives us a stunning closer look at these fishermen's lives, including how they catch a stingray by using homemade diving gears. It's almost as realistic as a documentary on PBS.

After seeing this film, I will probably never go to a gym again. Instead, I can just move to that village Jusce lives in, because everyone live there seems to have a tanned beautiful body full of muscles. Who needs iron weights when there are plenty grandmas around that you can lift? How can anyone forget the amazing dances those "super tanned" children perform on the beach? The strength shown by these kids is outstanding, and obviously none of them needs a gym membership.

This a decent film with many exotic details.

A depressed young nurse Fred (a woman actually) wants to kill herself, and for the reason I don't believe, or for no reason at all, she turns the gun and shoots a kid. Then the movie goes to show how she feels about while she has to take care of the kid as his patient.

So much of the story is not credible. I can't develop any sympathy toward Fred when she walks like a zombie and gets drunk on her bicycles. I don't even feel bad for that kid who gets shot, and I am definitely a compassionated person; because I think the kid is faking it in the bed and I never believe any of these characters.

If one wants to see people living with guilt, another Russian film "The Island" can be easily found at the festival. If one wants to see depressed people, there is even another French movie " Dans Paris" at the festival.

To your own safety, stay away from this sharp shooter.

Eleven-year-old Tommy lives with his mischievous sister Viola and his hot tempered, sometimes violent father, Renato. Where is the mother? I asked myself at the beginning of the film. So did Tommy's friends. "She comes and goes." Tommy answered. How this sensitive 11 years old deals with his family's conflicts will touch anyone who gets to see this film.

This is a remarkable film telling a heart felt family story with rich and complex characters. Alessandro Morace gives a striking performance for this tender 11 year old boy Tommy who shows his enduring love toward his family members despite the hardships he has to handle. He has a pair of observant eyes that can say so much without any word. He is very quiet, but we get into his mind and world through his eyes, and observe as much as he does.

Although some subplots could have been eliminated to make the film more focused on this loving and troubled family, and the film's ending makes the film looks like unfinished, this film is still no doubt a great piece of solid work.

I wish this film had been the opening night film for the 50th SFiFF.

Daisy lives in a tropical village in the Philippines, where boys win their brides by singing their hearts out under the girls' windows. The film opens with Daisy's father circumcises four young boys, who are around Daisy's age, and she has to help her father during the act. After they grow up, those boys can't win Daisy's heart because she believes that she doesn't need a man to be a family. She wants a girl to marry her.

This is the second feature from director Auraeus Solito. His critically acclaimed feature debut "The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros" is about a teenager boy falling in love with a cop in the city. Now, it is girl's turn, and it sets in a jungle instead of the inner city, but it's equally refreshing.

The film is very sweet and funny, when it's not shocking. How can I not to have a big grin when I see the reaction from the girls to the boys singing outside their windows?

When I travel, I love to go to a place that does not resemble places I have been to. Solito has the ability taking me to places that are extremely exotic. This time, he shows me the circumcision tradition in the Philippines while two girls fall in love. I wish I had not known, the circumcision part. It gives me goose bumps.

I wonder what his next film gonna be.

Sozaemon is a poor young samurai who is more affluent with a pen than a sword. After his father was killed, following a samurai's tradition, he comes to Edo (now Tokyo) seeking revenge for his late father. However, to avenge is not really what Sozaemon wants for his life. Falling in love with a widow makes him even question more about the existence of samauri, and the meaning behind the endless killing cycle.

It's a surprise to see director Kore-Eda making a samurai comedy about a samurai who doesn't know much about swordplay. But I am not surprised to receive the message delivered by the film's cheerful melodrama characters. In the film, people wonder why samurai exists at all while they don't produce any product nor sell any merchant. Shouldn't we ask the same question about the military?

They live to kill, and be killed, and kill, and be killed... What about try to brace lives for a change?

However, I didn't expect how light the film is. I am disappointed because I had a much higher expectation before the screening. I feel less satisfied.

Rahne's family live in a small village in East Africa, where water is drying out quickly. In order to survive, Rahne, his wife Mouna, and their three young children begin their journey to the Northwest searching for water. Along the path, the scorching sun and endless desert are not the only enemy they must face. However, they are determined to go on, searching for water, and to live.

For me, watching the family marching on foot under the unbearable condition is almost as hard as how the characters are suffering in the movie. The film is astonishingly beautiful, yet profoundly sad. Although the breathtaking landscapes are just as gorgeous as in National Geographic, they are the worst enemy to the family.

I am captivated by their amazing journey but I never figure out where the lead character Rahne gathers his strength to maintain his strong will to go on and to live. He becomes numb to the tragic incidents around him. All he wants to do is to keep going. But why? What does Rahne keep going for? Even his daughter asks him that question, but there is no answer from this film.

I really hated the ending of this film, but I still appreciate the opportunity to witness Rahne's family's existence and their struggle to survive, even just on the big screen.