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Reviews
La otra conquista (1998)
Nice work of art
I don't know why people have said this film is too tedious and doesn't take the issue seriously. First off, the issue of what seriously? The colonization of the Spaniards in Mexico and how they imposed Catholicism on the Aztecs? I think the scene where the Aztec virgin is being sacrificed and the Spaniards interrupt is very powerful. I don't know how the filmmaker would be able to make this more "believable" or "serious" but I think it depicts colonization wonderfully with this scene and the ones that follow. It shows Aztecs being killed, captured, and their God is demolished. To me this conquest is very serious. Especially when he is torched at the feet while the Spaniards try to convert him to Catholicism. This film was aesthetically pleasing and inspiring to up and coming filmmakers to make films on topics that don't get a lot of attention in cinema.
Los olvidados (1950)
I understand the Mother
This is now one of my favorite black and white films. I like this movie because it shows a non conventional relationship between a son and mother that is not shown in cinema very often.
Pedro lives in Mexico City and causes trouble in the street with his friends. Whenever he comes home to his mother though she ignores him and doesn't feed him. We got into a big discussion in class, does he deserve this treatment or not? Pedro is the product of rape, his father raped his mother. So there is already a little bit of resentment towards him since she didn't want him to begin with. He is no older than 8 or 9, but can definitely think for himself. Does a child like Pedro deserve to be disregarded by his own mother and deprived of food? I don't think he "deserves" it but I do see where the mother is coming from. She has two other kids to feed, has most likely already given Pedro more than enough chances to shape up and stay out of the street, how many chances does it take for him to learn to behave? I know he is young and mothers should have infinite chances for their children but when all the weight is on the mother's shoulders she also needs to be cut some slack. I believe if he spent more time at home and less time fooling around with Jaibo his mother would have came around and he would have had a happier ending.
I like movies like this because it raises interesting questions such as the one above. It is good to be entertained but also good to be stimulated to think.
Once Were Warriors (1994)
See this movie
This is a great film. It shows what a post-colonization life for a Maoris family could be in modern day. It takes place in the outskirts of a town in New Zealand and shows how important it is to have dreams and love. Jake the Muss's family is poor, the older sons are involved with crime, and Beth his wife does what she can to make ends meet. Jake loves to drink and throw punches, especially at his wife when she doesn't keep her mouth shut. This is very damaging on the family to the point where the oldest daughter kills herself.
When Grace commits suicide it was definitely a self-sacrifice to redeem her family. There may have been other reasons for her suicide but I won't get into those. If Gracie didn't kill herself the family wouldn't have left Jake and they would have lived a sad and depressing life. A message in this movie is sometimes self-sacrifice is the only way to open eyes at how bad a situation can be.
As I said at the beginning this movie shows how important love and dreams are. I believe one of the reasons the older sons are involved with crime is they have no hopes or aspirations. Education is usually what stimulates hope and I believe that's what is lacking in this family. Love, dreams and education are some of the most important things in a child's life, I think people need to be aware of this and address these issues if they're not present.
White Dog (1982)
Banned in the U.S.?
This movie tackles racism from a very interesting point of view. Through a white dog. I didn't know what a white dog was until I saw this movie and after watching it I was affected greatly. It made me think that any hate or mentality ingrained in you when your young is hard to recondition, its just redirected. For example when the trainer is attacked at the end. They didn't "fix" the dog, they just redirected his hate towards someone new. This is why young minds are so fragile.
Another theme I liked in this movie is everyone is able to be corrupted. Look at Keys and the trainer for this. After the dog had killed someone in the church they convinced themselves that fixing the dog was the right thing to do. They even had a "celebration" after the man was killed, saying "You know Julie, we're doing the right by healing it, no one would understand this". I like this theme because you see it everyday. People get ahead of themselves and convince themselves and others that they're really doing "the right thing". For example tax breaks to wealthy.
Its a shame that a movies like this that tackle vital subjects through great metaphors would get banned. I enjoyed this movie a lot and if anyone has the chance to watch this I highly recommend it.
La battaglia di Algeri (1966)
A movie before its time
It's crazy this movie was made 40 years ago because I saw so many parallels with the french colonization and the United States' infiltration in Iraq today. Even though they are still different situations, I swear Bush took some lines right out of that movie... "The terrorists live among us".
This movie really shows how powerful culture can be, as a tool for better or for worse. It also shows if you impose values and beliefs on another culture enough, they will collide. This movie was before its time and is a classic.
Just a side note - Gillo Pontecorro and Marcello Gatti did a beautiful job on the photography, absolutely magnificent.