Thursday, November 11, 2004
It's surprising, even to me, how little I talk about film on this blog. As a giant fan of the cinema, I feel I don't want to overwhelm people with my vast (and more often than not, quite useless)movie knowledge. I regularly refer to myself as the 'Cliff Claven' of film.
In a very distinct (and fairly recent) occurence, I completely dismantled an attempt to play a movie trivia game. I had been teamed up with my mom, with the rest of the immediate family teamed up in pairs. What had initially started as fun turned into an embarrassing display of Esther-the-movie-geek. I think I actually scared some of my family with my useless information. It can't be a good sign when I can name a director for a movie I have never seen. Hmmm...
Moving on, I do want to discuss a visually stunning movie called City of God. It is a Brazilian film which exposes the gritty life of the favelas (slums) in Rio de Janeiro. The cinematography garnered an Oscar nomination and it is absolutely gorgeous. I found myself drooling over the slum footage. In all it's squalor and disaster, it is lovingly filmed to endear the viewer to the culture of the City of God. Outside of the glorious photography, the content of the film is a page-turner. Often, the mayhem of the favela life displaced me, putting me into the ficticious pictures of a comic book. I was reeling at the culture of these streets, the display of emotion (or not) of the people, and the constant reminder that a gun in the hand is a part of one's anatomy rather than an addition to it. Despite the horror of the film, there are several hilarious moments. Maybe it's the film's comic feel, or the need to laugh out of shock, or the fact that the truth as we know it does not apply - so we're forced to get their humour, which is quite dark.
Ironically, my travel bug has heightened as a result of the film. No, not to visit Rio - but somewhere in which the overexposed light will tickle my camera lens and I'll be shocked by my place of birth, for which I am ever grateful.
In a very distinct (and fairly recent) occurence, I completely dismantled an attempt to play a movie trivia game. I had been teamed up with my mom, with the rest of the immediate family teamed up in pairs. What had initially started as fun turned into an embarrassing display of Esther-the-movie-geek. I think I actually scared some of my family with my useless information. It can't be a good sign when I can name a director for a movie I have never seen. Hmmm...
Moving on, I do want to discuss a visually stunning movie called City of God. It is a Brazilian film which exposes the gritty life of the favelas (slums) in Rio de Janeiro. The cinematography garnered an Oscar nomination and it is absolutely gorgeous. I found myself drooling over the slum footage. In all it's squalor and disaster, it is lovingly filmed to endear the viewer to the culture of the City of God. Outside of the glorious photography, the content of the film is a page-turner. Often, the mayhem of the favela life displaced me, putting me into the ficticious pictures of a comic book. I was reeling at the culture of these streets, the display of emotion (or not) of the people, and the constant reminder that a gun in the hand is a part of one's anatomy rather than an addition to it. Despite the horror of the film, there are several hilarious moments. Maybe it's the film's comic feel, or the need to laugh out of shock, or the fact that the truth as we know it does not apply - so we're forced to get their humour, which is quite dark.
Ironically, my travel bug has heightened as a result of the film. No, not to visit Rio - but somewhere in which the overexposed light will tickle my camera lens and I'll be shocked by my place of birth, for which I am ever grateful.
