roland-scialom Reviews

Alice in the Cities (1974)

An example of "âge de raison"

[9/10 · 18 September 2019]

I'm tempted to see 3 parts in this movie. In the first part, Winter, a writer, ousider and blasé, travels through a part of the backcountry of USA. His trip ends in the city of New York. He has no connection with society and only perceives the most superficial urban aspects he photographs thinking of writing later about what he photographed.

While he takes pictures, he has no idea of what he will write about what he is photographing. My reading of this is that travelling superficially in the society, without an apriori project does not induce to think anything about this society.

In the second part of the movie, because of the circumstances, Winter finds himself in charge of Alice, a 9-year-old girl. This girl is the daughter of a German citizen who will return to Germany on the same flight of Winter, flight scheduled the next day after they met at the airport.

The girl was initially left in Winter's care for a few hours by the mother herself. Yet, things evolve in such a way that a day or two later, being already in Europe, Winter realizes that the girl was frankly abandoned by her mother, in his hands.

At first, after unsuccessfully searching the girl's family for a day or two, Winter thinks of handing her over to the authorities. But things evolve in such a way that the girl, on her own, comes back to him.

There we enter the final part of the movie, where he decides to assume the responsibility for staying with the girl until he meets someone in her family. Thanks to this awareness he ceases to be the outsider blasé he use to be up to a few days ago and becomes a man capable of assuming the responsibilities that existence puts in his path and to make plans.

The Cakemaker (2017)

Suffering people who find their match

[15 March 2019]

The Cakemaker touched me because it is a story where (1) the charaters are authentic and each one is commited with his own beliefs; beliefs that are difficult to reconcile with each other; and (2) my wish to witness a happy ending for all of these characters kept me in suspense until the end; an end in which it is possible to foresee a happy end for Thomas and Anat. The direction and the actors did a good job, because the spectator can feel the feelings that the characters express. Yet two points remain unclear to me: (1) what was going through Oren's head to reconcile the vocation of a head of a small family, who loves his wife and young boy, with a vocation of a gay who enjoys sexual contacts with other men? It seems to me unliketly to develop these two personalities in the same psyche. I would have preferred the story if his friendship with Thomas didn't include sex. (2) What transformation took place in Thomas head to assume the role of Oren relatively to Oren's family? Did Thomas realized that it was existencially better to him to be Oren instead of Thomas? This scheme in which two personalities merge reminded me Bergman's Persona.

Manchester by the Sea (2016)

A drama developed with the rhythm of Manchester by the Sea

[7/10 · 23 March 2017]

The society shown in Manchester by the sea, is composed of ordinary people whose life has nothing special. I would say they are middle class folks of a back country town. These people are all banal and some of them even mediocre; for example, Lee ex-wife and Patrick with the youth he frequents. Lee is the guiding thread that drives us in the visit to this society. He travels from Boston to Manchester to take care of the family problems created by the sudden death of his brother. During this journey, he interacts with the people who are part of his past in this city. Throughout this interaction we are presented to episodes of his past, through his memories or through the initiative of the storyteller.

Some facts remain unexplained. The constant bad temper and rudeness of Lee's ex-wife, attitude, which is partly responsible for Lee's drunkenness that originated the fire that destroyed his home, his family and his life. Lee's profession before the tragedy and the reason he was known kind of popular in the city. The psychological process that led Lee to a kind of suicide that consisted of alienating life, leaving Manchester to adopt the life of a nonentity who lives in Boston. The reason why the people of Manchester are reluctant to to hire Lee.

The camera travelings through Manchester landscapes reminded me of the camera travelings through Bordeaux (France) in the movie Moderato Cantabile by Peter Brook. These camera travelings are in tune with the suffering felt in background by the people who are presented to us. Because of this resemblance between Manchester and Moderato, I felt some lack of a soundtrack in tune with the drama which is presented to us. The film proceeds slowly through situations that are not encouraging, except at the end, when Lee seems to have overcome partially the state of alienation in which he had plunged after the tragedy that marked his life. I liked the film in that it consists of a character study of a set of ordinary and banal people living in Manchester by the Sea, and hit by tragedies.

The Commune (2016)

The pivot of the story is a mediocre individual.

[21 July 2016]

The story is not a good study of characters. All of them are almost caricatures. When the existential problem between Erik and Ana arises, both behaves in a way too much elementary, taking in account the gravity of the situation which is going on. More precisely (1) Erik is absolutely incapable to realise that he is ruining the emotional life and the self respect of the woman with whom he has been married and living in a pleasant way during at least fifteen years. A woman who proved to be generous when she accepted that Emma could live with the community, and who had probably fantasies of living a ménage à trois, along with Erik and Emma, thing that I think reasonable and human, considering what was going on. Erik sticks with Emma as if he hadn't any responsibility with regard to Anna feelings. (2) Anna is incapable to react in time to rescue her dignity which is being hurt by the irresponsible behaviour of Erik. The rest of the characters manifest themselves very poorly with respect to the crisis between Erik an Anna. Except the young Freja, daughter of Erik and Anna which is the only one capable to say that her mother must leave the community and seek for a new life. In short, Erik who is almost a pivot of the whole story, behaves - in the light of existentialist philosophy - as an individual with bad faith. I would add also, on my part, that he is a kind of mediocre individual.

Shock Troops (1967)

There is no place for outsiders in serious conflicts.

[10/10 · 13 July 2016]

During the Second World War, somewhere in France, a group of fighters of the Résistance attacks a German police station to release some of its members imprisoned there. The released guys are taken, in a big hurry, to the camp of the people of the Résistance. Once in the camp, the résistants discover that among their companions who were released, there is a guy who was also detained by the Germans and who doesn't belong to their group. Inicially, they think that this guy is a spy, and in this case they should kill him to protect their group. But this guy tells to them that he was detained because of his smuggling activities and that he doesn't support in any way the Germans. He fails to convince them, they decide to kill him and appoint one of them to do the job. When this résistant takes the guy in the forest to shoot him, the guy succeeds to convince the resistant to let him free. After walking for a while in the woods, the guy discovers that the Germans have surrounded the place and are about to catch the résistants. Instead of getting away, the guy walks back to the camp of the résistants to tell them that they are being attacked by the Germans. Eventually, after some fighting, most of the resistants are killed and a handful of them caught alive. The last scene is on an iron bridge across a mountain gorge. The Germans line up the resistants and go killing them one after the other. The guy who is a the end of the line takes advantage of the distraction of the Germans, to escape, climbing down the iron structure of the bridge. The title of the film says all about this story: "Un De Trop", which means that there is no place in a conflict, for one person who doesn't belong to one of the parts of this conflict, or in other words for an outsider. It is a great and instructive story. I saw it more than thirty five years ago, but I remember very well of it. It is a pity that it has not been widely publicized.

Florida (2015)

Old age is much more light when you are wealthy.

[23 June 2016]

The story is about an old man, Claude, who entered the stage where memory and reasoning fail. He is wealthy and lives in a very comfortable house where caregivers hired by Carole, his elder daughter, takes care of him. He has divorced years ago and insists that his ex-wife died, whereas, in fact, she is alive and married. Besides Carole, who manages his life and administrates all their assets, he had another daughter, younger than Carole, who use to live in Florida(US) and died in a car accident (in Florida), some years ago. As a consequence of the trauma that this accident caused to him, he refuses to be aware of this loss and thinks that his younger daughter is still alive and living very well in Florida. All Claude messy moves are taken with good humor, including the last one, when he escapes from the France region where he lives and takes an Air France flight to Florida to visit his younger daughter. The only tense scene in the film is when he reaches the house where his younger daughter use to live and discovers that she is no longer alive. At this moment, he enters in a kind of anguish crisis which is the only move which transmits anguish and not good humor. During the whole story, Carole refuses to put him in a elderly home. After this episode of Florida, she decides to put him in the elderly home, which is, by the way very comfortable. The film is a light and pleasant entertainment. Yet, it gave me the impression that old age is much more light for a wealthy person than otherwise.

Whiplash (2014)

Fletcher's method is completely wrong

[8 September 2015]

This story mainly focuses on the relationship between a gifted music student, Andrew and his master, Fletcher. It turns out that this master uses an absolutely wrong method to deal with his students. Fletcher behaves more as a sergeant whose role in barracks is to form brute soldiers using violence, intimidation and humiliation, instead of behaving as an educator whose mission is to encourage his students to strive for excellence. I believe that values as love, friendship, solidarity, cooperation, team spirit, respect, stimulation of the self-confidence are more important to stimulate someone to focus on the search of excellence than threats and humiliating critics which undermine the self- confidence. Who is humiliated use to have one of these two reactions: he becomes traumatized and flees the challenges, or develops e great hatred against who has humiliated him. I believe much more in the approach of Andrzej Kijowski in the story The Orchestra Conductor, directed by Andrzei Wajda, where the conductor succeeds to improve the quality of the musicians of the orchestra that he conducts, by improving their self-confidence and not their hatred.

Lisbon Story (1994)

Existential issues of just madness in Lisbon old neighborhoods?

[25 June 2015]

The existential issue of the director Fredrich who doesn't succeed to finish his movie is something much beyond the understanding of most of the people, including myself. The facts that (1) he quits his house to live in a kind of Romiseta, (2) doesn't make any attempt to meet Phillip Winter to whom he asked to come to Lisbon, (3) is quickly convinced by the Phillip arguments to finish his film, these three facts suggest me that his problem is not an existential problem, but a kind of madness. The way Lisbon is shown through the eyes of Phillip is very nice. It reminds me scenes my youth in Alexandria (Egypt), and how were old neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro almost a century ago. The atmosphere of the music of Madredeus is magic, and Phillip has good reasons to fall in love with Teresa Salgueiro, I would fall in love with her also. The film deserves to be seen by a spectator who is looking for a story which will leave him with more questions than answers, in the company of friends with whom he will try to find answers.

Clouds of Sils Maria (2014)

Putting things in place above the clouds

[9/10 · 2 April 2015]

This film has something which reminds me of Antonioni's Blow Up. The speed at which things happens and force the characters to leave behind the context in which they were planning the next step of their action and take another direction which was not planned. This speed is materialized by the omni presence of the smart phones which bring all the information which will make the characters alter the move they were planning to do minutes ago. This speed is also materialized by many events which happens successively and urge the characters to react. In a time, Maria is invited by a director to play the character of Helena and refuses. A little time after she accepts and starts to rehearse with Valentine. Another very interesting aspect of the film is the interlacing of the relationship of Maria and Valentine on one hand and the relationship of Helena and Sigrid on the other hand. There are moments in which it's difficult to say if the dialogue we are witnessing is between Maria and Valentine or between Helena and Sigrid. Another interesting aspect is the evolution of Maria personality, as she progresses in the personification of Helena. It seems that she is having a serious existential insight related with herself. Yet, this is one additional step in her life during which she rearrange some existential issues.

Young & Beautiful (2013)

Why this girl decided to be a prostitute?

[7/10 · 27 February 2015]

Isabelle, a seventeen years old beautiful girl, who belongs to a middle class family with a good standing of living, who attends a good school in which she seems to be doing well, decides by herself to become a prostitute who fix rendezvous in hotel rooms, with customers much more old than her, via internet and mobile phone messaging.

Her decision comes after an episode which happened during a summer vacation when she lost her virginity with a boy friend with respect to whom she was indifferent. This experience was unpleasant to her.

The film don't give to the spectator any clue about the reason why she decided to become a prostitute.

My interpretation is that, instead of developing her libido in a healthy way, she did it in a wrong and vicious way. Actually, she doesn't enjoy sex but enjoy the idea of behaving as a prostitute very well rewarded for her job.

The story doesn't show this shocking behaviour as a disgrace, but just as something wrong.

Eventually, after the death of a customer whom she liked, Georges, and the threats from both the police and her mother, she quits prostitution.

The last scene in which the Georges' wife fix a rendezvous with her, in the same hotel room in which Georges died is very interesting, but also doesn't give any clue about what is right and what is wrong.

Concluding, the film is interesting and caught my attention till the end, but it didn't answer my quests.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)

The existential crisis of a theater director in century XXI

[9/10 · 5 February 2015]

I watched the film last night. I would add that the existential crisis through which Riggan passes reminded me that of Guido in 8 1/2 Fellini. An existential crisis experienced by a director during the assembly of a work that looks like it will not reach an end because of problems which show up successively, and in a stunning way. These two crises are separated by about half a century, during which important changes took place in the scenario where we live, the rhythm of our lives and in people's heads. Riggan's crisis takes place in a Broadway theatre in the XXI century, in the middle of hubbub which surrounds the Broadway atmosphere, while Guido's takes place close to an Italian thermal waters resort where his movie is being filmed. Riggan interacts with Birdman while Guido interacts with his memories of situations that have marked him, from his childhood in a college of catholic priests, until his directing career, passing through his father's longing with whom he could never communicate and various passions for women extremely attractive. Riggan wants desperately to be recognised as an author and an actor while Guido is concerned about putting together the several pieces of his life up to the present. In the end, Riggan turns into a creature which fly through the window of the hospital, while Guido put all the characters of his memories in a circus ring where they parade with the sound of the great music of Nino Rota.

The Music Never Stopped (2011)

When music triggers a moving resurrection.

[8/10 · 29 January 2015]

The story reveals an important fact: the relationship between music and the brain. More precisely, the fact that in our brain there exists a domain of memories connected to music, i.e, memories of many subjects (including music) which can be accessed through music and not only through words and/or concepts (relationships). Gabriel lost part of his brain because of a tumor and is not able to interact with people because his brain fails to make the necessary connections to understand what people expect from him. Yet, hearing music, he succeeds to retrieve many of his memories related to the music he hears. The part of the story which hard to believe is how much Gabriel's father was narrow minded (considering that they were living in New York) and the fact that after Gabriel quit his family house, his parents made no attempt to bring him back home, no matter where he would have gone. I would never do this with any one of my children. Any way, the last scenes - when the father succeeds to connect strongly to his son via music - are very moving because it's a kind of resurrection for both. The film is good, the actors competent, and it made me weep at the end. It deserves to be seen for sure.

Boyhood (I) (2014)

The spectator travel through his memories

[23 January 2015]

Boy Hood is a banal story, and its merit consists precisely in this point, in having followed closely the lives of ordinary people. Because this initiative invites the spectator to travel through his own memories and to visit important experiences of his life. Yet, among those banal moves, many very interesting issues arise, like (1) when Dad interacts with Mason and Samantha, (2) when Dad interacts with Mom, (3) the fact that Dad is cherished from the beginning to the end in spite of having been incapable of staying married to Mom.

Watching this film came to my mind some important settings of my life in family. As I am of the generation of the grandparents Mason, I reminded the youth stages of my children and my interaction with them. I also reminded of episodes of my family life and why I struggled to keep married with the same woman instead of divorcing.

The idea of making a film over 12 years with the same actors is a brilliant idea. The result is a story which seems much convincing. All the actors did a great job, specially Ellar Coltrane, Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette.

The tribulations of Mom with her sequence of failed marriages is a reason for Americans to meditate on what ever happened to the American family.

The film is long yet it succeeds to catch the attention of the spectator from the beginning to the end. It deserves to be seen, for sure.

Tango libre (2012)

When tango made blow a breeze of freedom in a jail house

[8/10 · 19 January 2015]

The way tango is presented in this film is beautiful and remarkable. The inmates of a jail house - each one with a harsh appearance - are enchanted by the practice of tango, shown to them by two Argentinian inmates. They decide to practice in the court of the jail and as they practice, they make blow a breeze of freedom in the jail house. This happens because Fernand asks to an Argentinian inmate to teach him to dance tango because he wants to captivate his wife Alice who is dancing tango with the prison guard JC, in a school of tango. The practice of tango allows men to compete in dexterity, elegance and virility. It reminds the Brazilian "capoeira" which is at the same time dance and fight. Each actor is good playing his character. The problem is that the story is crazy or surrealistic in more than one aspect. (1) The relationship of Alice with Fernand and Dominic. These two guys are close friends and share the same woman Alice. They were sharing Alice before being imprisoned. Alice is legally married to Fernand but she in love with both men. Dominic is the father of Alice son, Antonio. Fernand treats Antonio as his own son. (2) The reaction of the prison guard, JC, with respect to the situation. In spite of being aware of what is going on with the trio Alice-Fernand-Dominic, JC falls in love with Alice, turning things much more complicated, especially for him. (3) The final decision of JC to release Fernand and Dominic to make the trio happy. (4) The final scene in which JC runs off with the trio and Antonio, because the trio decides to drive back and pick him up, is the craziest scene. The film is a good entertainment because its development is not predictable and the final scene is very funny: every body gets free, by miracle.

The Two Faces of January (2014)

The adventures of two honorable crooks who meet incidentally in Greece.

[7/10 · 5 January 2015]

The story is convincing and presents some thrilling moments. The scenario where the story happens shows nice details of Greece. The characters of Chester and Rydal are interesting because they put together traits which are difficult to conciliate. Each one, in his style is a kind of soft crook. Chester steals people in the investment business and Rydal tricks tourists getting a few bucks from them. Yet, they are nice companies and each one of them have his kind of ethic. Rydal has a poetic side and only tricks people who has money enough to be tricked. Chester who seemed to be unscrupulous, shows in the penultimate scene, that he had something good inside him: while he is dying in the street he deliberately confesses his crimes, in order to set Rydal free from the charges against him. The Two Faces of January is a good and intelligent entertainment. In a way, I would say that this story is the story of two honorable crooks whose paths crossed, once, in Greece and Istanbul.

The Best Offer (2013)

Good, yet, Cine Paradiso is better

[9/10 · 3 October 2014]

The story and the film are both well conducted. The story is very interesting. The suspense and curiosity of the spectator are kept high until the last scene, when the spectator wonder if Claire will show up, by chance, in the Prague restaurant Night And Day. In this film, nobody is seriously threatened, no fight, no crime, nobody dies; the worst which happens is that the rich auctioneer is fooled and looses his cherished collection of valuable paintings, which is only a part of his fortune. Yet the spectator is captivated from the begin to the end. About the way the auctioneer is fooled, what is hard to accept is the fact that during his stays at the pub, in front of the mansion, he never asked any information about the mansion, to the people of the pub. He decides to do this too late. I liked the film, yet, I liked much more Cine Paradiso a few years ago. This is why I would give 10 to Cine Paradiso and 9 to The Best Offer.

Chinese Puzzle (2013)

Very optimistic story

[8/10 · 11 September 2014]

The main characters in the story live fairly hectic lives, punctuated by small incidents that seem serious at first moment, but turn out to be overcome in a second moment. They never lose the enthusiasm to face the challenges that arise along the way. Xavier is a guy at the same time: (1) complicated in what is happening in his head, (2) spontaneous in his reactions face to adversities that arise on his way, and finally (3) a guy who has a good heart. His good heart attracts the sympathy of people he encounters in his life and the love of a few. The outcome of this story is very optimistic. Maybe even too optimistic. This makes the film conveys optimism and cheerfulness and is why it deserves to be seen.

The Butler (I) (2013)

revealing what was swept under the carpet

[10/10 · 23 June 2014]

I appreciate the movies which show aspects of the life style of societies which have been swept under the carpet by the spokesmen of these societies, in an attempt to hide the ugly aspects of their life style. I appreciate because it's a way of paying the due tribute to the building values of civilization and humanism. This is why I appreciate The Butler. Yet, many stories of this kind will have to be told to pay the above mentioned tribute. For example, what have done in Africa those nations who had colonies there (Belgium for instance, in Congo, France in Ruanda etc). The cast of the film is excellent. Particularly Forest Witaker who gave a show of talent representing the character in all the stages of his life; he deserves many applause.

The Broken Circle Breakdown (2012)

Spiritualism is important to face adversity

[8/10 · 19 June 2014]

Didier and Elise love each other very much. Didier's mind is mainly committed with rationalism while Elise's is more committed with spiritualism. Their life is quite happy since they met and have a baby a little after. Yet, The fatal illness of their daughter is a dramatic ordeal for their relationship, in a first moment, and for their existence, in a second moment. Didier insists keeping his rationalist attitude against Elise spiritualist attitude. Their relationship and marriage are torn apart, Elise commits suicide and die. Yet, Didier and Elise never stopped to love each other. The last scene, when the apparatus that keeps Elise in vegetative life are turned off and when Didier and his band play a music, seems to say that Didier started to put some spiritualism in his existence; sadly it's too late. I see two messages in this story. The first one is: certain ordeals can be overcome only with spirituality. The second, which derive from the first is: a marriage is much better if the couple share spirituality. The film is moving, the actors are convincing, and the sound track is nice.

Night Train to Lisbon (2013)

The outcome of his existence was in a booklet found chance

[9/10 · 10 December 2013]

An unforeseeable and dramatic encounter puts in the hands of Raimond Gregorius, a Latin professor in a Berne school, a booklet written by a Portuguese writer. Starting to read the booklet, Gregorius realise that these writings are a door to a universe in which he will find a key to his own existence. The booklet was found in the pocket of the raincoat of a young Portuguese lady that Gregorius rescued from suicide on the Kirchenfeld bridge, a few hours before, and who walked away without leaving any information about herself. Trying to find the girl, Gregorius finds a ticket for a night train to Lisbon, for this same night, in the booklet. Gregorius goes to the train station in an attempt to meet the girl there, and don't find her. As the train starts to move on, he decides in an impulse to take it, to go to Lisbon, to meet the author of the booklet. Gregorius search makes him discover the life of the author, the relationships of the author with his entourage and with the political context in which Portugal was immersed at that time (the dark and awful years of the dictatorship of Salazar). As this discovery goes on, Gregorius goes discovering himself and sewing an outcome to a story which had remained unfinished. This conclusion is also true for Gregorius who discovers also an outcome for his existence. Most of the actors are not Portuguese, yet each one is quite convincing in his respective role. Gregorius discovery of himself is absolutely exciting. The references to the years of the dictatorship in Portugal is welcome in a world where most of the history is forgotten.

Blue Jasmine (2013)

Narcissistic, yes, but also tragic.

[9/10 · 27 November 2013]

Woody Allen succeeded to grasp the tragic aspect of the character of Jasmine. And Cate Blanchett expressed perfectly this with a great skill. On one hand, Jasmine is a fascinating person because she is handsome, elegant and intelligent; she is a charming company for a wealthy man. On another hand, she is responsible for her own doom because she is the one who denounces her husband to FBI. And why? Because her husband fell in love for another woman. If she were exclusively interested in money and social status, she would have thought twice and would have chosen a lucrative divorce instead of destroying the source of her wealth and welfare. Jasmine has been defined as a narcissistic personality. I agree, but I think not narcissistic enough to put aside the jealousy which caused her misfortune. And this situation make her a tragic character. Blue Jasmine looks like a tale which could be adapted also for children, as an instructive story. The fact that the role of a sophisticated lady has no future, reminds me the choice of Woody Allen for simplicity. Choice that we can see in Midnight in Paris, when Gil dismisses his engagement with the very bourgeois American girl to stay with a girl from Paris who is full of simplicity, life and good taste.

Cherry Blossoms (2008)

An angel lost in Tokyo

[10/10 · 10 November 2013]

The life that people live here around, has a lot to do with the following verses of a famous and beautiful poem by Louis Aragon.

"Noting is taken for granted to man. Neither his strength Neither his weakness neither his heart. And when he believes that he opens his arms, his shadow has the shape of a cross. And when he believes that he seized his happiness, he smashes it. His life is a strange and a painful divorce.

There is no happy love"

Note particularly: "His life is a strange and painful divorce"

While Trudi was alive, Rudi made no effort to "bring his soul close to hers" (I do not know how to say it otherwise), I mean they were married, loved each other, were faithful, but "their souls were not married."

After Trudi dies, Rudi realizes this, and is desolate.

He finds a way to "help souls to get close to each other" through a fortuitous encounter with a girl who is a street performer. This girl has more of an angel than someone of flesh and blood, because during the relationship with Rudi, completely free from any interest - she is a homeless, living under a tarp in a public garden, and is apparently alone in the world - she gives to Rudi, as a present, the art of dancing with the shadows, with the ephemeral and with people who are no longer among the people alive. In other words, she gave to Rudi, for free, a key which may help Trudi to rediscover and "save his soul."

Imagine, to find an angel in the midst of the madness that is the life in Tokyo!

On the other hand, Trudi loved Butoh but could never practice it, because of the total disinterest of Rudi and this was certainly one of the sorrows that she carried with her when she died.

Rudi takes that key and succeed to meet Trudi in some ineffable dimension, where she is now.

The film is really beautiful. Everything and everybody are perfect. It made me weep a lot because of the atmosphere of "painful divorce" in which plunged the life of Rudi and Trudi, and because of the beauty of Rudi's relationship with the angel of Butoh.

A Few Hours of Spring (2012)

A whole life of solitude

[8/10 · 9 November 2013]

Alain Evrard cannot stand with his mother's simple habits, which are the habits of someone used to take care of herself and of her household. The way she cooks, put the food on the table, eat methodically etc. He can not stand the worry of his mother with his person, when she asks him about his job and plans to get a job. He cannot stand with the worry of someone who wants to take care of him. He cannot deal with a spontaneous relationship with a girl friend he meets at the bowling club. In other words, he is unable to exchange feelings with another person. His mother is not particularly effusive, yet she is a good person and seems to the spectator as a person with whom it is perfectly possible to cohabit. His girl friend would like to improve the relationship with him, but fails because of his attitude of refusing to do the steps which would lead to the improvement of the relationship. This situation lasts until the very last moment of the life of his mother: when she is dying, both cry, sobbing, embracing each other strongly and confessing that they have always loved each other. The title suggests that those moments where a springtime. I don't think so. I think that it's rather the sad awareness of what they missed during their lives, and I think that this is the whole meaning of the story: how to live a whole life of solitude not developing love relationships with those who are close to you and are ready to correspond. So, I would put the title "a whole life of solitude".

One Night (2012)

Truth disunites members of a community

[7/10 · 12 October 2013]

In this story, there is no many room for actors to show all their skills. So, on the point of the performance of the actors, the film is rather dull. What is thrilling in this story, is the fact that the community of the neighborhood stays united while everybody lies about having heard the yelling of the woman savagely assassinated and nobody took the initiative of calling the police. That is, it seems that the lie cement the relationships between the members of the community. When truth comes to light, and the members of the neighborhood have to confess to the police that they heard, indeed, the yelling of the victim, each member gets aware of his own cowardice and the cowardice of each of the other members. So, the relationships between the members are severely shaken. And because of this trauma, the community takes Pierre Morvan as a scapegoat and start to abhor him. Also his wife, who during the hole story affirms to support him in any circumstance, his wife quits. The moral of the story seems to be that a lie is stronger than the truth to cement the relationship of a group of people.

American Justice: The Central Park Jogger Case: What Went Wrong? (2003) Season 12, Episode 12

Watch out, justice and police are fallible

[10/10 · 2 October 2013]

This story is very sad. The film was done flawlessly and is very impressive, particularly because of the fact that the director worked with the original characters. I couldn't sleep after watching it. Yet, the film shows an important fact: Justice and police are not infallible. So from this fact one can draw a lesson: if one wants to prevent problems with justice and police, he or she must prevent from giving any reason which might induce them to consider him a suspect and perhaps chase and catch him. This assertion is a simple behavior rule which usually is learned at home and at school, and which should be taken in account by people whose behavior exceeds the limits of the law. The guys who were suited and wrongly convicted where doing wrong and reprehensible things, so, they gave a reason to be mistaken for the true culprit. Putting this story in another context, look at what might happen to those who challenge the laws of nature, mountain climbers for instance; in spite of being good guys, they might suffer serious accidents which might cripple or even kill them. Take another example, on January 7, 1978, London city, Jean Charles was in a hurry and running to catch a metro in an underground station. The police which was doing a blitz in this station, mistaken him with a terrorist and shoot him to death. The behavior rule in the first example is: be aware of the limits of safety in a climb and don't exceed them. And in the Jean Charles drama: be aware of what is going on around you and if there is a blitz going on, be cool and do not run, because the police might think that you are running from them. This movie makes ridiculous all the TV series like Crime Scene Investigation (CSI), and Law & Order.