Julie Bertuccelli’s (Since Otar Left, 2004) The Tree (adapted from Australian writer, Judy Pascoe’s 2002 novel Our Father Who Art in The Tree) is centered around a family homestead something akin to a hippie compound on the outskirts of the agri-industrial township of Boonah in Queensland, Australia. Considered the “heart of Australia’s scenic rim,” Boonah is at once visually desolate and bursting; beautiful in its extreme ruggedness, making it the perfect landscape for telling the tales of The Tree. Through the lens of the Australian outback, the everyday and ordinary become magical. Grégoire Hetzel’s music works especially well, too, in…
Author: Mischa Geracoulis
Literally translated, “The Four Times” (stages may be more accurate in English) is Michelangelo Frammartino’s homage to the Calabria of his heritage and the homeland of 6th century BC Greek philosopher, Pythagoras. Frammartino poetically interprets Pythagoras’s four-fold transmigration theory, which in effect presupposes that four lives live within each human, one fitting inside another. Human being contain the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms, as well as “the gifts of will and reason.” Thoughtful and interesting film work exposes these four stages as they play out in a medieval, walled village roosted amid the Pollino mountains of Calabria, Italy.Weaving between the…
The tightly-made biopic traces the formation, deconstruction, and reconstruction of the Los Angeles band Fishbone. Experimental and exceptional, Everyday Sunshine is a show of raw honesty and integrity of character that commands respect and admiration. An already poignant behind-the-scenes-styled cinematic account is further intensified by Laurence Fishburne’s seamless narration, artful, Fat Albert-esque animation, and an array of interviews with the band’s family, friends, and celebrities ranging from George Clinton to Gwen Stefani. Everyday Sunshine is the story of Fishbone from their 1979 beginning through present day. Interweaving historical information intrinsic to their story, the individuals in the band as well…
Algerian-French filmmaker Rachid Bouchareb has said, “Cinema is a wonderful tool to converse with French society.” And beyond, I would add. As a filmmaker, Bouchareb is notorious for applying the art of cinematic storytelling to analyses of immigration, rootlessness, racism, alienation, and culture pluralism—matters, one would assume, that are close to his heart. He’s chosen the French colonization of Algeria (1830-1962) and subsequent decolonization (via the Algerian War 1954-1962) as his latest backdrop to the study. Outside the Law premiered in Cannes under the “protection” of riot gear-suited French gendarmerie in preparation for uprisings due to some supposed inaccuracies in…
Visually striking, Brides opens up with a little known, actual event that took place in 1920s Asia Minor— the transatlantic mail-order bride business. In the summer of 1922 a ship left port in Smyrna, Turkey with 700 Greek, Russian, Armenian and Turkish brides for 700 prearranged grooms in the United States and Canada. Set on the heels of World War I, the Armenian Genocide in Turkey, and the Greco-Turkish War of 1919–1922, the majority of the betrothed girls on this particular voyage are war orphaned Greeks. Commencing in a decimated, desperate Samothrace (northeastern Greece), we meet Niki Douka (Victoria Haralabidou)…
Clustering around the fictitious wedding between young, sweet, and narcoleptic Rym (Sarah Reguieg) and “a certain William Vancooten,” Masquerades lampoons Berber village life in mountainous Algeria. Although many of the characters are cartoonish, the cast is convincing and possessing of an alchemical sense of timing and wit. Mounir (Lyès Salem), the servile yet egotistical gardener (“horticulturist engineer” as he calls himself) is insecure with his lot in life, which he ineffectually tries to bolster with Ali G-esque affectation—minus the “bling.” Bling, nonetheless, is Mounir’s seemingly unattainable objet desire. His childlike admiration of all things ostentatious, especially cars, is entertainingly emphasized…
The annual Arpa International Film and Music Festival returned to Los Angeles in its 13th year with 50 films from 30 different countries. The festival’s namesake, Arpa, is the river that flows through Armenia and the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. To the Armenian people, the Arpa River is known for its great beauty and as a symbol of life’s creative, rejuvenating forces. Similarly, the mission of this festival is to foster creativity, cross-cultural understanding and revive compassion globally; as well as to showcase cinema that explores issues of Diaspora, exile, multiculturalism, independent thought, and social justice. Although the festival was born…
We first meet Max (Sean Bones), the twentysomething, almost hip, Generation Y guy, playing street soccer in his Brooklyn neighborhood— the significance of which is later revealed as integral to gripping a foothold in a distant land. The next scene is of Max – six-pack of Red Stripe in hand – and his girlfriend, Willow (Norah Jones whose cameo upgrades the film right away). Despite being booked for a couple’s cruise to Jamaica that sets sail the next day, Willow ditches Max. But after a night of commiserating and boozing with his mates at a local pub, Max decides to…