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Ejroeder
Reviews
Gomgashtei dar Aragh (2002)
Random plot in Iran
Directed by Ghobadi, this film was set in Northern Iran. The film follows two major conflicts, one being Mirza's struggle to find his ex-wife Hanareh and the other is the Kurds ability to deal with attacks from Iraq while still trying to maintain a normal life. To build up to these ideas the director gives us a lot of random scenes which I feel do nothing to build on the movies plots.
First the director shows the men being robbed of everything, which seems pointless to add to the film since I feel it does nothing to enhance the plot. Next, we see that the men stop in a town to enquire about Hanareh's whereabouts and they end up playing there instruments in a wedding while a jealous man shots up the place. Events such as these coupled with how the director uses camera shot which dwarf the actors and enhance the landscape, shows a different style of directing and storyline then our Western culture is use to. Given where the director is from and his experience he does a great job filming and adding political symbolism into the film. His symbolism displays to the viewers that the Kurds will not allow themselves to be effected by Iraqi attacks. This scene is displayed when Mirza while carrying a toddler on his back steps over the barbed wire boarder between Iraq and Iran with no problem at all. These aspects of the film make it an interesting film to watch since it gives the viewer a good feel for Kurdish life and landscape, but the film I feel lacks and overall message.
Twist à Popenguine (1994)
Cultural Distractions.
The movie to me was basically teaching the viewer about the cultural distractions that the Wolof people in Senegal are beginning to be more influenced by other then there own. In the movie we see that the youth in the village of Popenguine dress in a European style of clothing while there parents stay true to there culture and dress in the traditional clothing. The youth also are very interested in music but not of there culture, but rather music from the United States and Europe.
The director, Moussa Sene Absa's did a below average job directing, since there are scenes that are shot in the day then suddenly are in the night time. The actors were not impressive either, but one interesting note is that they were non-actors cast for there roles. This really does the movie some justice and gives you a very raw and authentic feel.