New International Sleepers
©
People, people! I don't want to hear that any of you are renting "Freddy Got Fingered," "Swordfish" or the torturous "Tomb Raider" -- or at least don't say I didn't warn you if you do. It just so happens that there are plenty of other choices in that New Releases section, many of them with an international flavor, just waiting to be plucked from the shelves. If you can stand subtitles -- and you can, I know you can -- then try one of these fulfilling sleepers.
Aimee and Jaguar
In WWII Berlin, Felice lives a dangerous life: she is a Jew and a lesbian,
and works undercover at a Nazi newspaper from which she finds information
to take to the Jewish underground. When she falls in love with Lilly, a
bourgeois, Nazi-supporting hausfrau, they embark on an intense and risky
affair. Maria Schrader and Juliane Kohler are both excellent in the lead
roles, and make for a captivating (and occasionally enervating) love story.
A real sleeper, this German film is, with great cinematography and period
detail.
Amores Perros
It makes some sense as to why this film by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro
Gonzalez Inarritu was compared to Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction
-- both used an elliptical narrative of different stories and different
characters whose lives ultimately intersect at the end, and both certainly
offered up their share of disturbing violence -- but the comparison does
a major disservice to this brilliant film. For one thing, it's more profound,
encased with far more humanity and reality than any of Tarantino's films.
And it's probably even more disturbing. But if you can make it through
the first story -- the brilliant but bloody dogfighting and crime-gone-wrong
tale -- you're home free: the second tale is sad but unforgettable, and
the third, featuring a wayward homeless man and friend to many dogs, brings
it all together beautifully. It's an amazing achievement, one of the best
from the past year. Great Mexi-rock soundtrack, too.
Calle 54
If you liked Buena Vista Social Club,you'll enjoy... Well, it
does this film a disservice even though it's true because it stands well
on its own, focusing much more on the music itself. A journey of the senses
thatt searches the globe for the heart and soul of Latino
culture, Fernando Trueba's film is an innovative tapestry of sound and
imagery, blending footage of Latin music masters with intimate in-studio
live performances photographed beautifully in various styles that much
the mood of each song. A particular standout is keyboardist Chucho Valdez,
as spiritually rewarding as music gets, but every performer is winning.
Infectious.
Diva
New only in the sense that it's been newly remastered for DVD, methinks
Go To Page: 1 2
