So what does one do on a rainy Friday – when all the needed things are done – lessons for a class you’ll teach, sermon for next Sunday, and for all intents and purposes, it is actually a free day. What do you do when you can’t go out because you’re dead broke, and you’ve read all the books you have at least twice, thrice even? Brew a pot of Vietnamese coffee, bring out the DVDs and have yourself a foreign movie marathon.
Nuovo cinema Paradiso (Italian)
The magic and allure of movies, the call to a more innocent days and the heartbreaks that should have been forgotten, and the choices and sacrifices one makes haunts, and colors the waking hours and visits us in our dreams. The fierce friendships and alliances we make confront us: to hold on and never see the potentials we have, or to let go, albeit painfully, and yet reach heights never before scaled.
A touching scene: A conversation between Alfredo and Toto where the old blind man encourages the young man to leave their town, to seek his fortune, to never look back but instead pursue a life he will be good at. They were at the seaside graveyard of sorts for rusted, decaying anchors that became a metaphor for the act of letting go and release.
Balzac et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Chinese)
What is it about this poignant story of three youths during the Cultural Revolution in China that attracted and moved me? It is about friendship, it is about growing up, it is about discovering the beauty, the depth and the riches of literature in a world bereft of hope. It is also learning about love and the sacrifices love demands, and coping with loss and pain as a requisite of rites of passage into the adult world of responsibilities, and achievements.
A favorite scene, among many: the three friends reading aloud and listening to the sheer magic of the words of Honore Balzac while hiding in a cave. Ideas, poetry, stories captivate and stimulate them, and the dangers of being caught did not hamper their enthusiasm to read more, to know more, to be more.
Diarios de Motocicleta The Motorcyle Diaries(Argentinian)
A story about the coming of age of one of the most enigmatic figures of the 20th century, Che Guevarra and his friend, Alberto Granada, this film is literally about a journey through South America, but the journey represented something more meaningful. Discovering their people, their land, their legacy and eventually, their own identity, it is a classic mythic tale of the hero’s journey.
A haunting scene: Che, on his birthday celebration, swims across the river from where the doctors and the staff of the leprosarium were staying to the other side of the river where the leper colony was – a representation of his resolution and own struggle to bridge the gap between the lowly, suppressed poor and the elite, to somehow reach out to the downtrodden and take up their cause.
Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexican)
Casual betrayals, deceptions and lies do not make up a friendship, nor can it be a foundation for a relationship. The story of friendship that soon unraveled as they began to realize the extent of their pretensions and hypocrisy, it is also about a road trip that soon became a representation of their journey into their soul, and found that they are unable to face what confronts them there. It resulted to the end of what seemed to be a strong friendship.
A telling scene: As the friends were traveling, the narrator describes and tells stories of the people and events that took place along the way, while inside the car, the friends are caught up in their self-centered existence with no care what has happened or what is happening outside their own little worlds.
Como Agua Para Chocolate Like Water For Chocolate(Mexican)
Tita, a beautiful, and talented cook who can weave enchantment into the dishes she prepares is in love with her brother-in-law, Pedro. Pedro married her sister so that he could be with Tita. (Tita, by family tradition, should not marry). It is a story of repressed love and passion that soon found unique ways of expressing itself. Passion can burn up and free the soul and go back to where it originated is the overarching theme of the story underlines.
An interesting scene: all fall into a trance of ecstasy as the family partook of the dinner of quails in rose petal sauce that was prepared by Tita from the roses that Pedro gave her.
The pot of coffee is long gone. My eyes are bleary from watching too many movies, but what resonates within me is a passage I’ve read from Robert Johnston’s Reel Spirituality. He says that movies are significant “in defining both ourselves and our society seems beyond dispute. Movies broaden our exposure to life and provide alternate readings of life’s experiences, with movies providing the date of countless new stories...movies cannot be dismissed as mere entertainment and diversion. Rather, they are life stories that both interpret us and are being interpreted by us.”
Nuovo cinema Paradiso (Italian)
The magic and allure of movies, the call to a more innocent days and the heartbreaks that should have been forgotten, and the choices and sacrifices one makes haunts, and colors the waking hours and visits us in our dreams. The fierce friendships and alliances we make confront us: to hold on and never see the potentials we have, or to let go, albeit painfully, and yet reach heights never before scaled.
A touching scene: A conversation between Alfredo and Toto where the old blind man encourages the young man to leave their town, to seek his fortune, to never look back but instead pursue a life he will be good at. They were at the seaside graveyard of sorts for rusted, decaying anchors that became a metaphor for the act of letting go and release.
Balzac et La Petite Tailleuse Chinoise Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress (Chinese)
What is it about this poignant story of three youths during the Cultural Revolution in China that attracted and moved me? It is about friendship, it is about growing up, it is about discovering the beauty, the depth and the riches of literature in a world bereft of hope. It is also learning about love and the sacrifices love demands, and coping with loss and pain as a requisite of rites of passage into the adult world of responsibilities, and achievements.
A favorite scene, among many: the three friends reading aloud and listening to the sheer magic of the words of Honore Balzac while hiding in a cave. Ideas, poetry, stories captivate and stimulate them, and the dangers of being caught did not hamper their enthusiasm to read more, to know more, to be more.
Diarios de Motocicleta The Motorcyle Diaries(Argentinian)
A story about the coming of age of one of the most enigmatic figures of the 20th century, Che Guevarra and his friend, Alberto Granada, this film is literally about a journey through South America, but the journey represented something more meaningful. Discovering their people, their land, their legacy and eventually, their own identity, it is a classic mythic tale of the hero’s journey.
A haunting scene: Che, on his birthday celebration, swims across the river from where the doctors and the staff of the leprosarium were staying to the other side of the river where the leper colony was – a representation of his resolution and own struggle to bridge the gap between the lowly, suppressed poor and the elite, to somehow reach out to the downtrodden and take up their cause.
Y Tu Mama Tambien (Mexican)
Casual betrayals, deceptions and lies do not make up a friendship, nor can it be a foundation for a relationship. The story of friendship that soon unraveled as they began to realize the extent of their pretensions and hypocrisy, it is also about a road trip that soon became a representation of their journey into their soul, and found that they are unable to face what confronts them there. It resulted to the end of what seemed to be a strong friendship.
A telling scene: As the friends were traveling, the narrator describes and tells stories of the people and events that took place along the way, while inside the car, the friends are caught up in their self-centered existence with no care what has happened or what is happening outside their own little worlds.
Como Agua Para Chocolate Like Water For Chocolate(Mexican)
Tita, a beautiful, and talented cook who can weave enchantment into the dishes she prepares is in love with her brother-in-law, Pedro. Pedro married her sister so that he could be with Tita. (Tita, by family tradition, should not marry). It is a story of repressed love and passion that soon found unique ways of expressing itself. Passion can burn up and free the soul and go back to where it originated is the overarching theme of the story underlines.
An interesting scene: all fall into a trance of ecstasy as the family partook of the dinner of quails in rose petal sauce that was prepared by Tita from the roses that Pedro gave her.
The pot of coffee is long gone. My eyes are bleary from watching too many movies, but what resonates within me is a passage I’ve read from Robert Johnston’s Reel Spirituality. He says that movies are significant “in defining both ourselves and our society seems beyond dispute. Movies broaden our exposure to life and provide alternate readings of life’s experiences, with movies providing the date of countless new stories...movies cannot be dismissed as mere entertainment and diversion. Rather, they are life stories that both interpret us and are being interpreted by us.”
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