Sunday, September 21, 2008

Very good movies: Red, The Twilight Samurai

We saw them this week. Both foreign with subtitles, both with unusual and out of the ordinary story lines, and both super.

Red here. From reviewer espoon at Netflix:
This is one of my very favorite films. It is a tale of romance, destiny, betrayal, love, and life. However, it is very subtle. It is a great piece of cinema, with terrific symbolism. The use of music and the color red is intriguing, and much more subtle than you'd expect. The story is simple enough. A lonely model meets a unscrupulous, old judge who spies on his neighbors. Her honesty and integrity touches the judge and he changes his ways. However, there is much more to it than this. They learn about each other, and learn about themselves. There are many parallels between the past of the judge and the present of the model, and I pick out something new every time I watch it. It is a film that makes you think, about life, fate, and love. It is really more a work of art than a piece of entertainment, and therefore probably not very interesting to the average viewer. I saw pieces of myself in the film, and was touched. Maybe you will be, too. Or maybe you'll just be bored. I recommend finding out.

The Twilight Samurai here. From a reviewer (Cult...) at Netflix:
OH my word what a surprising little gem. Much less a Samurai picture than the story of a single dad trying to raise his two girls and take care of a mom going senile. Being drawn into conflict isn't something he wants or seeks out. He doesn't desire glory or battle but merely to be a simple low class samurai. When he is drawn into conflict it is to protect people he loves. It is that desire to take care of those around him that makes him succeed. It's a surprising and very atypical example of the genre. Poetic and moving.

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