Mongol -- Film Review

This seems like it is a film that I would enjoy watching based on this review. It is a foreign language film and was nominated for an Oscar this past year in the Best Foreign Language film category. I do not know why, but I have been watching foreign language films since I was a kid. Generally, I watch films in languages that I do not speak but that seems to be no hindrance to my enjoyment of the spectacle of film.

It might also be the reason that I have an affinity for languages and pick them up so easily. I am very lucky that way. I once enrolled to learn Vietnamese at the Bankstown Community College and after a couple of classes the teacher wanted to move me to the intermediate class because he did not believe me that I had not studied the language before. Unfortunately, I have forgotten most of the language for the purposes of being able to use it in an immediate setting. However, I do find that after only a couple of hours listening to it, it starts to come back...

Back to the film.

The film is a work of fiction but apparently draws on a number of sources including the epic poem, The Secret History Of The Moguls, which was written about Genghis Khan shortly after his death in 1227. The film was shot on the steppes of China, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. This along with the fact that the cast resembles in physical appearance the people of whom the story is about should give it a great deal of authenticity.

I do not know if the film will get into theatres in Jakarta, but with a bit of luck I might be able to pick it up of DVD.

Here's looking forward to a good flick!

The Great Debaters

Maybe I should convert this blog into a film review blog...because what follows is a film review sort of. I have just finished watching 'The Great Debaters' which is kind of a historical fiction as it is based on a true story. But as with any good story some of the facts change and the debate team debates Harvard instead of the University of Southern California like they did for real.

The story is an inspiring one and well worth the time spent to watch it. I wanted to watch it because I love to debate and I love to talk and this movie promised those things with a background of race relations, the power of words, and the desire to succeed despite the odds and despite the forces lining up against you.

The story follows a small African American college located in Marshall, Texas, Wiley College, through their participation in debate competitions culminating in the national debate finals against Harvard University. The film has some big stars in it, which you would expect from an Oprah Winfrey funded film. Denzel Washington and Forest Whitaker are the established stars but it also includes some up and coming stars of the future such as Denzel Whitaker, Jurnee Smollet, and Nate Parker...

The main characters are Professor Melvin Tolson, James L. Farmer Sr and Jr, Henry Lowe, and Samantha Brooke. Professor Tolson was a man before his time, at least in the movie, as he was advocating ideas and action in the deep south of America in the 1930s that become building blocks of the civil rights movement three decades later. It is not surprising that James L. Farmer Jr went onto to be one of the leaders of the Civil Rights Movement after the sort of grounding given to him by his father and Tolson. James L. Farmer Sr was a determined soul in his own right walking from Florida to Massachusetts to continue his education. And I am having trouble finding the time to fill in a computer based electronic application!

The film forces the watcher to confront race relations head on but it touches on so many more issues of the time that still have currency now such as the difficulties faced by farmers and unorganized labor, and the topics of the debates themselves are intriguing insights into the minds of the writers and producers of the script--quality education and civil disobedience as a means of forcing change, among others.

Even though the film is based on a true story it is interesting that the story itself was not considered to be good enough to stand on its own as it occurred at the time. In this age of political correctness there seems to always be a need to make sure that all segments of the community are covered in the demographic of the film. The 1935 Debate Team at Wiley College included no women, aside from the Tolson and Farmer Jr characters the others on the team are composites of many Wiley College debaters. The previous note that the team did compete against all white colleges and universities but not Harvard and the Wiley College team did win championships. So, the question that lingers will always be why was it considered that the real history of the Wiley College Debate Team of 1935 was not good enough to stand on its own merits? It still would of made for a hell of a drama!

That criticism aside it is an inspiring movie and is worth the time to watch it!

National Treasure - Book of Secrets

Who is not intrigued by a little conspiracy theory? Besides it is always nice that the good guys win in the end and it is even better that they always find the treasure and get the girls! This is what happens in National Treasure - Book of Secrets...Yet, it seems to be a premise for a franchise that is going to work, and perhaps work even better than its predecessor in Indiana Jones.

The beauty of this film is that it really is an action film that the whole family can enjoy. It is intellectually stimulating from the perspective of plot and will undoubtedly intrigue anyone ever dreaming about a lost city of gold or wanting to improve their abstract historical knowledge for their next 'trivial pursuit' competition with their friends or down the pub on a Friday night. For the kiddies it is action non-stop without the blood, gratuitous violence, and swearing.

The cynics among us might suggest the whole movie (the second in what is destined to be a series) is designed to set up the sequel. The mysterious page 47 seems destined to become the plot for the next installment, but what is on page 47? This is the unanswered question although we do know it to be life-altering. Life altering here is in fact taking on a life of its own in the blogosphere with many people suggesting the next big treasure hunt is going to be the search for the fountain of youth or life (done and re-done in numerous movies including one of the Tomb Raiders films starring Angelina Jolie, which is a good connection seeing her real life father plays the father to Nicholas Cage's character in National Treasure--coincidence or something more?).

Life altering in this movie was unscripted but designed to draw interest form movie goers. It has worked and worked so well that it is likely to spur an industry of its own, at least until there is a sequel come out to quell the suspicions. But with suggestions being that the franchise is to go more international then another mythical long lost treasure is the most likely choice, and possibly something from the age of antiquity. As one pundit stated page 47 seemed to be a good number of pages before the information that Ben Gates was looking for relating to Abraham Lincoln and John Wilkes Booth. This, as the logic goes, rules out some of the more modern treasure stories associated with looted treasures from the world wars.

With the rape and pillage of great civilizations over the many thousands of years of human existence means that the possibilities for the next big treasure hunt for the Gates family are endless.

The search for the mysterious cities of gold, and there are seven of them, has been something that has peaked the interest in many an explorer and treasure hunter, seeing many of them die in the cause or become disillusioned by it. Or the contemplation of support by Queen Victoria for the Confederate cause. Or the fact that there are three Statues of Liberty. These are all interesting tid-bits of historical trivia.

But for me the more interesting facts relate to the idea that there is a book that passes from one president to the next that in essence contains all the nitty gritty details of all the unsolved mysteries that conspiracy buffs live on such as the JFK assassination and the Watergate scandal and the missing Nixon tapes. Maybe its me, or maybe I am more of a conspiracy buff than I imagine...did anyone else find it interesting that there are supposedly 18 pages missing from the JWB diary and there are also 18 minutes (and a little bit) missing from the Nixon tapes? I should add though that there is a suggestion that further analysis by the FBI has stated that there are maybe as many as 52 pages missing from the diary...

All in all the movie is good entertainment and anyone with an interest in historical fact will need to do a little research of their own to separate the fact from the fiction. It is not the nest movie I have ever seen but it is satisfying in the manner in which it sets up the sequel and leaves you wondering and anticipating the next installment and this is what a franchise film must do!

If you have an interest in history, particularly US history, and a thirst for trivia, then this is a movie you must see!

The Book of Secrets appears to have many more secrets to reveal!

American Gangster

American Gangster is definitely not a Christmas movie but worth the time needed to watch it!

The plot is an interesting one, particularly for those that are not familiar with the African-American mobsters of the 1960s and 1970s. This is a time when political correctness had not really kicked in and these gangsters were black gangsters. However, based on a true story, and as with most films it probably has a few dramatic embellishments, yet it does convey a message. The message might not always be the one we hope for as the film does provide an element of glamour to the bad guy. So, perhaps some impressionable minds might turn to crime. But generally the film is about the corruption driven by greed and the scourge of drugs.

It really does plot good against evil. The good guy being Ritchie Roberts, played by Russell Crowe, against the cold, calculating and deadly evil Frank Lucas, played by Denzel Washington. With the ultimate outcome never in doubt for any history buff familiar with the story, it is still possible to feel empathy for the bad guy even when you do not want to or know that it is misplaced. The reality is that Frank Lucas may in fact be a self-made man but he was so on the misery and suffering of those people that consumed his product, heroin.

But, there is more to this film in that it highlights the absolute brazen nature of the crimes being committed alongside the creativity and genius being employed to pull them off. Frank Lucas created a business model that cut out the middle man in the supply and distribution routes increasing profits. Yet, it was the importing of the heroin in the coffins of US soldiers being repatriated from Vietnam. Uncle Sam may not have realized it at the time but is was the middle man in a transportation sense from the Southeast Asian based-supplier to the chop factories in the US.

The film highlights the almost wild west nature of the late 60s and early 70s where lawlessness abounds with police on the take and criminals seeking celebrity and what's more getting it.

Crime may pay over the short term but the long term is never so secure.