This marks the third film directed by Jiang Wen that we’ve watched so far. I believe that this actually constitutes most of his output as he is much more prolific as an actor than as a director. For the two previous films I’d watched, his style struck me as being very distinctive and unique for a Chinese director but I can’t say that I really liked them. This one is the exception. There’s still plenty here that I don’t understand but the experience of watching it is absolutely delightful.
True to its title, this is shortish film about a small scale conflict between two families and the children who get caught up in them. I’ve never seen anything by its director Ira Sachs before. His filmography isn’t very long but he seems to have been around for a while. There are at least a couple of recognizable performers in this low budget production but I’d bet most people would have a lot of trouble placing them.
This film is again obligatory watching due to its excellent reception from critics but it’s certainly puzzling to me how director Jim Jarmusch makes films that are each so different from one another. I’d found The Limits of Control to be almost incomprehensible and Only Lovers Left Alive to be a rather shallow comedy. I can’t say that I really cared much for either of them. Paterson on the other hand is easily one of my favorites of the year and is a pleasant, almost very light, watching experience.
This is a Colombian film filmed almost entirely in black and white and since you’re seeing it here, that means that it was very highly regarded by critics. It was made by little known Colombian director Ciro Guerra and filmed in the jungles of the Amazonia region of the country. An ending blurb suggest that parts of it were inspired by diaries kept by real European explorers and these are almost the only records that still exist of the tribes described therein.
Only Yesterday is one of Studio Ghibli’s earliest films but it received an official U.S. release only last year on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, giving it a new burst of attention. Since I’d never watched I added to our list and I guess I’ll probably eventually work my way through the rest of the studio’s early works someday. This one was directed by Isao Takahata and loosely based on a manga.
This is a documentary with an insanely high Rotten Tomatoes rating and was cited by multiple critics last year as one of the year’s best films, so naturally it was added to our watch list. It was made by Kirsten Johnson, who seems to be more of a cinematographer than a director. She asks that this film, compiled from footage of other documentaries that she has worked on plus personal videos of her and her family, be considered as her memoir.
So our regular cinephile friend had nothing but high praise for this little known Chinese film, making it a must watch. Unfortunately finding a copy of it anywhere proved almost impossible and I had to eventually get it from that same friend. When I finally sat down to watch it, I found it abstruse with its highly abbreviated Chinese speech almost indecipherable. Even my wife ended up giving up on understanding it. I eventually had to look up the plot on Wikipedia to work everything out.