The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas (2008)

A timeless story of innocence lost and humanity found

Directed by Mark Hernan

Featuring: Asa Butterfield, Vera Farmiga, David Thewlis, Zac Mattoon, Jack Scanlon

Rating: 2 1/2 stars

I was browsing pay per view channels the other day and I decided to watch this. There was literally nothing else on, so I figured: well, why not? Set during World War II, the film tells the story of Bruno, the naive eight-year-old son of the commandant at a concentration camp, who befriends Schmuel, a Jewish boy on the other side of the fence.

I am pretty much used to Nazi soldiers with British accents by now, so I did not mind the fact that this movie seemed to be taking place in England rather than in Germany. The acting by the Bruno and Schmuel is excellent. Their scenes together are pretty much the only interesting moments in the film. Vera Farmiga's role as a helpless mother is quite memorable, but in the end, it does not amount to much. Trust me, I tried to relate to the characters in the film. I just didn't find the situation believable. The film is shot at a rather slow pace and gets a little tedious at times. The tediousness arises from the fact that the film is quite predictable. There are not many possible outcomes for films set in the Holocaust. Either way, you know it is going to end badly.

This film is not a tragedy. It might play out like a tragedy, but the ending does not provide any sense of release. I need to quote Briony Tallis' here: "But what sense of hope or satisfaction could a reader derive from an ending like that?" None. Bruno and Schmuel were innocent children. I'm forced to ask: Who is the film trying to punish? Bruno's parents for participating in the Holocaust? The audience (i.e the rest of the world who sat idly by and did nothing) for allowing this to happen? I don't know.

The movie is a black and white snapshot of someones suffering. You know it happened. You know there is nothing you can do to change it. And you wonder, for what purpose was it preserved in such an inanimate state where it is completely irrelevant? The movie does not raise any questions. It just hits you in the face and leaves you shocked for a little while. If you want an amazing Holocaust film, see Spielberg's Schindler's List instead.

- Simulacrum

The Milagro Beanfield War (1988)

The Milagro Beanfield War

Milagro, New Mexico. Population 426. Nothing had changed here for 300 years. But there's something about this day...

Directed by Robert Redford

Featuring: Ruben Blades, Sonia Braga, John Heard, Christopher Walken, Melanie Griffith

Rating: 2 stars

I had to see this film for a class on Magical Realism. While everyone in my class was raving about Robert Redford's The Milagro Beanfield War, all I could do was sit there and wonder why I did not like it. The best way to explain my sentiment is by saying that I think this movie has an identity crisis. Is it a fable, magical realism, fantasy, or just a big old mess?

Redford's The Milagro's Beanfield War possesses many of the defining characteristics of Magical Realism, but it does not function as a Magical Realist work should. A work of Magical Realism must seamlessly carry each and every character in the story from the level of the real into the level of the marvelous. Now this is what bothered me the most: Some characters in The Milagro's Beanfield War such as Lad (Richard Bradford) and Flossie Devine (Melanie Griffith) seem to be completely oblivious to the supernatural level of the story, while others such as Ruby Archuleta (Sonia Braga) and Charlie Bloom (John Heard) are too preocuppied with political aspect of the story to really grasp what is going on. Sheriff Bernie Montoya (Ruben Blades) mediates between both parts at a superficial level, and for this reason, stands at the edge of the real and the fantastical for most of the film. Only Amarante Cordova (Carlos Rilqueme) through his interaction with Coyote Angel (Robert Carricart) is present in both levels of the story. It is in this regard that I agree with Roger Ebert's confusion:

“...the problem is, some of the people in the story know it's a fable and others do not. This causes an uncertainty that runs all through the film, making it hard to weigh some scenes against others.”

When watching The Milagro Beansfield War, I felt that the movie as a whole was in a state of indecision and that state was passed on to me to the point that I could not really pinpoint what the movie was trying to accomplish. Overall, I'd say the movie is okay. Good acting by everyone involved except for Christopher Walken who pretty much plays the same role in every movie. I thought the score did an excellent job at capturing the flair of Southwestern Mexican American culture). If you can get past the confusion regarding the plot, then I'd say this movie can be fairly entertaining, but nothing to call home about.

-Simulacrum

Walker (1987)

Walker (1987)

Before Rambo... Before Oliver North...

Directed by Alex Cox

Featuring: Ed Harris, Richard Masur, Peter Boyle, Marlee Matlin

Rating: 3 1/2 stars.

On the surface, Alex Cox's Walker is nothing more than a modern adaptation of American filibuster William Walker's incursion into Nicaragua in mid 19th century.

Walker bombed at the box office because people were expecting a biopic, something like Sid and Nancy, Cox's previous film. The film is not a biopic, as a matter of fact, it was was never meant to be taken seriously. Not even the characters in the film take themselves seriously. How do you judge the acting if it is intentionally bad? Yes, Ed Harris' acting is laughable and over the top but there is a reason for it. The film would not have worked without it.

The beauty of the film lies in that Cox intends to expose history as narrative and uses anachronisms (such as Coca-Cola bottles in the 1850s) and auto-referentiality (for example Walker is pictured on the cover of Newsweek Magazine) in order to remind us that what we are watching is fiction, but at the same time, this fiction is the unbelievable reality of the Nicaraguan people.

The film is a great example of Post-Modernism in film. At the end of Walker, we see a helicopter fly into the Nicaraguan city of Granada. This anachronism breaches the barriers of past and present, and invites us to reevaluate the presence of the United States in Latin America. In order to send Walker's message effectively, Cox required both the use of Magical Realism (or the fantastical elements) and Post-Modern hyperreality. As a whole, their unity is what modern art is all about: the pursuit of the hybrid as a source of beauty, and the understanding that this condition of hybridism in film is nothing more than a reflection of reality.

The only drawback is that this movie is trying to be too many things at once: a two hour long critique of the Iran-Contra affair, a historical drama, a comedy, a satire, the list goes on. At times, the movie does get very messy and seems to drag on, pick up suddenly, and move forward without any real direction. At least the score (done by the ever so great Joe Strummer) successfully establishes unity throughout the film.

Bottomline, Walker's strength lies in the message that it is trying to send. This movie is a must see for anyone interested in Postmodernism, Magical Realism, Latin American history and Cultural studies.

-Simulacrum