Take him to see yesterday's dogs - Umberto D.

Italian Neorealism - tough to watch when one is no longer clinically depressed. But the quality of the cinematography, the acting which seems to me from my largely untrained and ill-informed perspective to be of superior quality to most of what was coming out of Hollywood at the same time make these films compelling.

Lawerence Russell provides a thorough synopsis for anyone interested.

Umberto Domenico Ferrari. Umberto D. a retired pensioner who is forced to contemplate begging and suicide to escape financial hardships.

Cinematography:

Showing the sweat on Umberto's brow while the landlady is singing entertaining her friends.

Showing the horizontal blind shadows across Umberto and the maid.

The ants (formica) and the fire.

The dog extermination chamber.

Not being able to bring himself to beg, instead having the dog do so.

The cake remains uneaten.

The three sets of locks on the doors - the landlady named "Olga" - a clear reference to Germany.

Maria Pia Casilio had a great quote about her sudden rise to stardom after her first movie role in Umberto D. at the age of 15, "They called me Parsley because I was everywhere". De Sica put her in most of his films after Umberto D. On the Criterion Collection DVD, there is a short interview with her which was edited so that it is only her telling her story.

Finally a couple of films without pat hollywood endings

We watched a couple of interesting films this weekend. The first one Balzac and the Little Seamstress is about the relationship between two intelligent and resourceful teenage boys sent from the city into the countryside during Mao's cultural revolution and a very bright granddaughter of the local tailor, referred to as "The Little Seamstress." The boys educate the young girl and find other ways to share culture with their fellow students. There is humor throughout the show interspersed amongt the absurdity of condition and tragedy.
I don't want to spoil the plot but the film manages to end on somewhat of an upnote, but one that is very realistic and a bit melancholy.
I was expecting more of a comedy when I rented Broken Flowers starring Bill Murray. Quite a bit of substance and the movie leaves us as it does the main character - with a great deal of uncertainty. It was a very human movie - definitely worth watching. Most know by now that this movie is about a journey. I appreciate that this journey didn't have moments of epiphany or deus ex machina contrivances - it was simple and felt very real. Jim Jaramusch did a good job writing and directing this one. The casting of Bill Murray was spot on.
Life does not always lead to resolution.

Three Iron - Korean Cinematic Marvel

Rent the DVD, buy it if you must

Better... Steal it, view it, carefully repackage then return

Syriana, Good Night and Good Luck, Brazil

Original post was written in Sweden in February

George Clooney's Syriana and Good Night and Good Luck are well made substantive movies - whether you are liberal or conservative - you have to admit the Clooney is spending his media capital to send a very specific message about the excesses of government and government officials.

Now my conservative friends will see these movies as more liberal Hollywood propoganda - which is interesting - didn't it used to be that it was the conservatives that wanted to conserve power by limiting government and to control the threat of tyranny inherent in a centralized, pervasive government that controlled the press? Folks, George Orwell's 1984 was a warning about the future - it was not intended to be a road map for the Republican based government policy.

Speaking of good movies relevant to our times, take another look at Brazil, the movie by Terry Gilliam of Monty Python - watch the director's cut. What an interesting look at the combination of technology and terrorist inspired tyrannical reaction. What an incredibly different movie to watch. Be prepared to watch it a couple of times. Brazil - a tour de force by Jonathon Price and a real hoot of a near cameo appearance by Robert Deniro.