Secret Sunshine
Director: Chang-dong Lee
Starring: Do-yeon Jeon, Kang-ho Song,
And Yeong-jin Jo
Secret Sunshine is a long movie, 142 minutes long, which for
some of you might require dedication when one film almost meets the length of
two films. However, Secret Sunshine is captivating, it wasn’t until my second
viewing that I realized that I spent two hours watching a movie. This is a sad
film, devastating at times because of the overwhelming emotional content the characters
are dragged through. A widowed woman and her son move to small town in South
Korea called Miryang. While trying to establish a new foundation/life in a town
of rigged structure, her family is upended by yet another terrible life
altering act. I don’t want to give too much away, since much of the films power
depends on this narrative element. While this film might not be for every film
taste, and trust me it’s a difficult film to watch, it is nonetheless a
powerfully acted and written film.
Brick
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas,
and Emilie de Ravin
Rian Johnson is a great writer and director, and he’s only
done three full-length films. Johnson has a film coming out later this year
called Looper, and from the trailer
it looks to be a really interesting film that takes a stab at time travel
elements. However, Brick was my first
encounter with Johnson and I was completely floored after watching it. Brick plays with elements of film noir
and classic detective crime stories. The
film utilizes character to promote a mix of contemporary lifestyles with
archetypes of hard-boiled personalities usually seen in detective stories of
the early 1930’s. The fact that the story surrounds a murder is secondary to
the characters interacting within a structure. There is a distance felt early
on between the characters, a strategy used to create tension and atmosphere
since the viewer is left to wander through the story and around unexpected
corners with the characters, a technique typical in noir films. This is a film
that excels at execution, both from the character and story perspectives.
For the Horror Fans!!!
Visiting Hours
Director: Jean-Claude Lord
Starring: Michael Ironside, Lee Grant, William Shatner,
and Linda Pur
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