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Culture Watch
Page Two of Angela Pressburger's May DVD Reviews
Deep Blue
2003, UK/Germany, 91 min., documentary
Directors: Andy Byatt and Alastair Fotherfill
A beautifully shot and well-researched underwater exploration into
what’s going on beneath the surface of the world’s oceans.
Loosely arranged on the cycle of the seasons, the same BBC team who brought us The Blue Planet, explores the never-ending process of survival and the lives of a variety of deep-sea creatures — from sharks and killer whales to strange-looking creatures that live in the black chasms of the deep ocean known as “liquid space” and which have never before been seen on film.
Narrated for North American audiences by actor and
environmentalist Pierce Brosnan.
Emmanuel's Gift
2005, USA, 80 min., documentary (DVD released Feb. 14,
2006)
Directors: Lisa Lax and Nancy Stern
Recognitions
Best Documentary, Cinequest; Audience Award, Newport
Beach; Audience Award, Atlanta; and Artivist Spirit Award, 2005
Emmanuel Ofosu Yeboah, was born without a tibia in his right leg in a
country that views disability as a curse of the gods: Ghana, West Africa.
His father abandoned him, but his mother’s strength of character and big heart, encouraged him to life with dignity and confidence. He receives a prosthetic leg, learns to ride a racing bike and sets off on a 600 kilometer ride across to Ghana. That ride through a country where two million out of a population of twenty million are disabled, made him famous.
Now married, the head of a charitable foundation, and a father himself, Emmanuel is shattering prevailing myths for what’s possible for the disabled in his country. He is currently pushing for a disability bill to entrench rights, such as vocational training and wheelchair accessibility, into Ghana’s constitution.
Narrated by an
admiring Oprah Winfrey.
The Chess Players
1977, India, 129 min., subtitles
Director: Satyajit Ray
Recognitions: Best Film, Director and Supporting Actor (Saeed Jaffrey),
Filmfare Awards, 1979; Nominated for Golden Bear, Berlin, 1978
A historical drama set in 1856 India on the eve of the famous Mutiny.
Lucknow, the capital of the Kingdom of Oudh, is the location the film uses chess
as a metaphor for General Outram’s secret mission to clear the way for
British annexation of this rich kingdom. Mirroring the civilian state
of things, two noblemen, Mir and Kumar, meet everyday to indulge their obsession with the game of chess while ignoring the upheaval taking
place around them. This is a witty and elegant film in which the director employs a light touch to tell what is, essentially, a heavy
story by inviting us to contemplate the birth-life-death rhythm of
civilizations through the lens of a small piece of history.
Late Spring
1949, Japan, B/W, 108 min., subtitles, Criterion Collection
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Recognitions
Kinema Junpo for Best Film, 1950; Mainichi Film Concours
awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress, and Best Screenplay,
1950
A poignant and slow-moving masterpiece set in post-war Japan.
Shukichi, a widowed professor, is caught up in his work, while his
unmarried daughter, Noriko, looks after the domestic arrangements and
keeps house. The two are entirely content with their lives until
Noriko's Aunt, Masa, declares that her niece should get married before it is too late. Her father reluctantly agrees, but Noriko is not so
easily persuaded.
In order to move things along, Masa suggests Shukichi take an attractive young widow, Mrs. Miya, as his wife. He agrees and plays his part so convincingly that Noriko capitulates; a suitor is found and she marries — to someone we never see but is only described.
After Noriko's wedding, the professor comes home alone and admits to himself — and us — that he only pretended to be in love again for his daughter's sake. And so both father and daughter will pay dearly for the rest of their lives for something neither of them wanted. The director’s handling of the debacle of these emotions is subtle, poignant and yet very direct. His ability to share his understanding of the characters’ innermost hearts is the genius that makes this work a masterpiece.
Late Spring is the first in a series of films by Ozu about
families and the complex emotions that run beneath the surface of a
seemingly minimalist plot. It was followed by Late Summer and An Autumn
Afternoon — all featuring the same two actors.
Lemonade Joe
1964, Czechoslovakia, 99 min., B/W + Colour, subtitles
Director: Oldrich Lipsky
Recognitions
Silver Seashell, San Sebastián, 1964
A delightful Czech new-wave parody of the Hollywood “western” presented
as a musical comedy. Silver-clad Lemonade Joe rides into town,
bringing law, order and Kola Loca Lemonade to the frontier. He goes on
to rescue saloon queen heroine Winifred Goodman from the clutches of
the dastardly villain Hogo Fogo.
Everyone bursts into song at the slightest provocation. Now that we’ve had 'Spaghetti Westerns' this may not seem quite as much fun, but it’s still pretty sparkling … and you really can’t beat such song titles as When the Smoke Thickens in the Bar and Do You See My Moist Lips?
This is a thoroughly silly movie, of the type we all need from time-to-time.
Angela Pressburger grew up in the film industry (father Emeric Pressburger made The Red Shoes, Black Narcissus and Stairway to Heaven). She has been been an international program consultant at the Vancouver International Film Festival for the past ten years, and has spoken about film and sat on festival juries in both Europe and North America. She has recently written Show It in Public! — a grassroots guide to showing film in public (www.showamovie.ca) and keeps busy writing reviews for her home video for discerning viewers website, MapToMovies.com
Return to Page One of Angela's DVD Reviews<<
